hotair--2020-03-25--The Wuhan option: Consider a cordon sanitaire around New York City, says former Trump advisor

The city is already locked down , with residents asked to remain at home as much as possible per one of Andrew Cuomo ’ s orders a week ago .
What Tom Bossert has in mind is a lock-in .
No one in or out , except suppliers .
Wall the city off until the spread of infection there is under control , whenever that is .
Otherwise we ’ re risking the same problem that the Chinese had in Wuhan , moving too slowly to restrict the outflow of people and allowing them to seed outbreaks elsewhere .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in New York State as of this afternoon , roughly half of all confirmed cases in the United States .
New York City has nearly 18,000 , a higher number than all but six countries on Earth .
Bossert ’ s ready to go nuclear : The feds may already be moving towards Bossert ’ s position .
At yesterday ’ s briefing Deborah Birx recommended that anyone who ’ s left New York in the past 14 days should self-quarantine at their new location just in case they ’ ve brought COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen outbreaks on Long Island which they believe were seeded by people traveling from the city .
They must be considering the logical next step , especially with Trump complaining that the country needs to reopen for business soon .
Maybe that ’ ll be the next stage of denialism .
“ We closed the border with China so the problem is largely solved.
” “ We cordoned off New York City so the problem is largely solved.
” A cordon sanitaire of NYC will help slow down the national spread , at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new hot spots are already developing : The trends in Atlanta and New Orleans are ominous .
There are reasons to think NYC will end up being America ’ s hottest hot spot , if not its only hot spot .
Why ?
Density , for starters .
New York is both the country ’ s most populous city and its most densely populated .
Vinetz said both the city ’ s high density and the fact that it is densely populated across a large region could be exacerbating factors .
Vinetz also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a hub for global travel as a factor that could be contributing to the outbreak there… Indeed , interviews with New York residents and officials suggested that both the New York lifestyle — replete with shoulder-to-shoulder public transportation , frequent dining out because of the limits of apartment living , and reliance on crowded city parks for daily recreation — as well as a certain stubbornness in curbing it may have contributed to New York ’ s high infection rate .
“ We ’ re used to the city being our living room @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state and local policy at conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute .
“ We have smaller living quarters ; we live with roommates .
We make this choice because New York City has so much to offer.
” New York is also cooler this time of year than many southern states are , which *may* be conducive to contagion in this case .
In some ways it ’ s a perfect petri dish .
Oh , and it also has an imbecile for a mayor , per this tweet from as recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ metropolises in the Far East , like Hong Kong , also have high density but don ’ t have morons in charge , so they ’ ve been spared an outbreak of NYC ’ s scale .
New Yorkers do have a weapon against the virus , though .
They ’ re using it , and there ’ s some evidence that it ’ s working : The governor cited Tuesday projections that showed a doubling of hospitalization numbers is expected to occur every 4.7 days , compared to a Sunday projection that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now , that is almost too good to be true , ” he said , adding that the data indicates about 15 percent of people who test positive need hospitalization .
“ This is everything , ” he added .
“ Slowing the hospitalization rates coming into the hospitals are everything so the hospitals can deal with the rate of people coming in.
” Social distancing may be flattening the curve already .
Checking the Kinsa “ fever map , ” I see that this trend ( in Brooklyn ) looks similar in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City : Because it takes several days for coronavirus infections to develop , it ’ ll take time for that trend to show up in a reduced patient load in city hospitals .
People who were infected eight days ago , when the fever rate was still highly atypical , may only be starting to feel the effects now ; it might be several more days still before they need hospital care .
But if the Kinsa data is reflecting a drop in coronavirus transmission , presumably we ’ ll see hospital admissions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , two weeks .
Which is not to say they ’ ll slow to normal rates , of course .
Even today , although the rate of fever has dropped , it ’ s still atypically high .
Here ’ s Scott Gottlieb talking about MASH units for the city .

The city is already locked down, with residents asked to remain at home as much as possible per one of Andrew Cuomo’s orders a week ago.
What Tom Bossert has in mind is a lock-in. No one in or out, except suppliers. Wall the city off until the spread of infection there is under control, whenever that is. Otherwise we’re risking the same problem that the Chinese had in Wuhan, moving too slowly to restrict the outflow of people and allowing them to seed outbreaks elsewhere.
There are nearly 31,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York State as of this afternoon, roughly half of all confirmed cases in the United States. New York City has nearly 18,000, a higher number than all but six countries on Earth. Bossert’s ready to go nuclear:
2/ Cordon sanitaire of NYC and messaging and planning aggressively for the other hot spots about to jump into exponential growth (like it appears New Orleans might). — Thomas P. Bossert (@TomBossert) March 25, 2020
The feds may already be moving towards Bossert’s position. At yesterday’s briefing Deborah Birx recommended that anyone who’s left New York in the past 14 days should self-quarantine at their new location just in case they’ve brought COVID-19 with them. They’ve already seen outbreaks on Long Island which they believe were seeded by people traveling from the city. They must be considering the logical next step, especially with Trump complaining that the country needs to reopen for business soon.
Maybe that’ll be the next stage of denialism. “We closed the border with China so the problem is largely solved.” “We cordoned off New York City so the problem is largely solved.” A cordon sanitaire of NYC will help slow down the national spread, at least. But as Bossert says, new hot spots are already developing: The trends in Atlanta and New Orleans are ominous.
There are reasons to think NYC will end up being America’s hottest hot spot, if not its only hot spot. Why? Density, for starters.
New York is both the country’s most populous city and its most densely populated. Vinetz said both the city’s high density and the fact that it is densely populated across a large region could be exacerbating factors. Vinetz also cited the city’s status as a hub for global travel as a factor that could be contributing to the outbreak there… Indeed, interviews with New York residents and officials suggested that both the New York lifestyle — replete with shoulder-to-shoulder public transportation, frequent dining out because of the limits of apartment living, and reliance on crowded city parks for daily recreation — as well as a certain stubbornness in curbing it may have contributed to New York’s high infection rate. “We’re used to the city being our living room,” said Michael Hendrix, director of state and local policy at conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute. “We have smaller living quarters; we live with roommates. We make this choice because New York City has so much to offer.”
New York is also cooler this time of year than many southern states are, which *may* be conducive to contagion in this case. In some ways it’s a perfect petri dish. Oh, and it also has an imbecile for a mayor, per this tweet from as recently as March 2:
Since I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions. Here’s the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see “The Traitor” @FilmLinc. If “The Wire” was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film. — Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) March 3, 2020
Lots of major metropolises in the Far East, like Hong Kong, also have high density but don’t have morons in charge, so they’ve been spared an outbreak of NYC’s scale.
New Yorkers do have a weapon against the virus, though. They’re using it, and there’s some evidence that it’s working:
The governor cited Tuesday projections that showed a doubling of hospitalization numbers is expected to occur every 4.7 days, compared to a Sunday projection that had shown every two days. “Now, that is almost too good to be true,” he said, adding that the data indicates about 15 percent of people who test positive need hospitalization. “This is everything,” he added. “Slowing the hospitalization rates coming into the hospitals are everything so the hospitals can deal with the rate of people coming in.”
Social distancing may be flattening the curve already. Checking the Kinsa “fever map,” I see that this trend (in Brooklyn) looks similar in the four other boroughs of New York City:
Because it takes several days for coronavirus infections to develop, it’ll take time for that trend to show up in a reduced patient load in city hospitals. People who were infected eight days ago, when the fever rate was still highly atypical, may only be starting to feel the effects now; it might be several more days still before they need hospital care. But if the Kinsa data is reflecting a drop in coronavirus transmission, presumably we’ll see hospital admissions start to slow down in, say, two weeks. Which is not to say they’ll slow to normal rates, of course. Even today, although the rate of fever has dropped, it’s still atypically high.
Here’s Scott Gottlieb talking about MASH units for the city.


hotair--2020-03-25--UK plans to have a home blood test for coronavirus available soon on Amazon (Update: High failure ra

UK plans to have a home blood test for coronavirus available soon on Amazon (Update: High failure rate?)

Nearly a week ago Allahpundit pointed out some tweets from a Seattle researcher named Trevor Bedford who suggested one way we could start to see the end of the current lockdown is through the widespread use of home testing for the virus .
He was talking about nasal testing but he did say that eventually the goal would be widespread serological testing to determine who can return to work without danger of a ) getting sick or b ) spreading the virus .
Today , there are reports from the UK that this is what they hope to have up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to provide a home blood test which can be ordered on Amazon .
Apparently these tests would just require a drop of blood and you ’ d be able to find out if you have recovered from the virus : Millions of people will soon be able to order a home finger-prick test from Amazon that will tell them if they have had Covid-19 , health chiefs have promised .
People could be allowed back to work if they have recovered and tests show they are now immune , Sharon Peacock , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Public Health England , said .
About 3.5 million antibody tests have been bought and millions more are being ordered with the aim of selling them to the public within days , she told MPs .
However , government sources cautioned that the timetable was likely to slip as they decided who should get priority .
Boris Johnson has described the tests as a “ total game-changer ” , allowing people to know once they are no longer at risk of catching or passing on the virus .
The Guardian adds that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test .
One of them is designed to be as simple as a pregnancy test : The home test , which looks like a pregnancy test , involves pricking a finger to produce a drop of blood , which is then analysed by the device .
“ Several million tests have been purchased for use .
These are brand new products .
We have to be clear they work as they are claimed to do , ” Peacock said .
“ Once they have been tested this week and the bulk of tests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the community.
” … The test detects the presence of IGM , an antibody that arises very early on in the infection , and IGG , which is increased in the body ’ s response to the virus .
The results of some of the tests on order can be read by anyone , but others would need to be interpreted by healthcare professionals .
The only hitch here is that the test hasn ’ t been evaluated for accuracy yet .
That ’ s what the health service will be trying to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the tests , the UK ’ s chief medical officer tamped down the enthusiasm a bit saying that if the the tests prove accurate they will be released , but if not then they will be not be .
What appears to be the same test could be coming to the U.S. soon .
Earlier this week , Time magazine reported a California company has already licensed the test from a Chinese company : Scanwell Health , an at-home test company based in California , licensed the rights to a test developed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used extensively at the height of country ’ s epidemic earlier this year… Scanwell ’ s request for FDA emergency authorization could take six to eight weeks , says company founder and CEO Stephen Chen .
If approved , it would be the first at-home test for the disease in the world—in China , because of government regulations , the test was only administered by doctors and health officials .
Chen says at-home testing is more common in the U.S. , and federal regulators are more comfortable approving properly designed kits , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways for people to connect with doctors about the results .
The UK stories don ’ t mention the name of the company that developed the test but it appears to be the same one and tests for the same two antibodies .
The US version of the test would also be mailed out but only after people pass an online pre-screening which is intended to establish that someone actually has relevant symptoms before requesting a test .
Prior to the run on toilet paper I might have said the pre-screening wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who aren ’ t sick hoarding these the moment they became available on Amazon , so maybe the pre-screening is a good idea .
I guess the one remaining question I have is why the UK is hoping to have this evaluated in a matter of days while the FDA is saying 6-8 weeks .
According to the Time story , this test was used extensively in China , including in some hospitals .
With the peak of the New York infection 2-3 weeks away , and other states potentially following close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FDA approval seems unwise .
I ’ m not saying they should throw this out there without testing but maybe they could coordinate with the UK on a quicker timeline to evaluate this ?
Update : Hmmm .
This is from a Czeck news site I ’ ve never heard of but it sounds like the rapid tests they received from China are giving false readings 80 % of the time compared to lab testing : I don ’ t know if this is the same test but it is a quick antibody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s why the UK ’ s chief medical officer wanted to tone down the anticipation about this ?

Nearly a week ago Allahpundit pointed out some tweets from a Seattle researcher named Trevor Bedford who suggested one way we could start to see the end of the current lockdown is through the widespread use of home testing for the virus. He was talking about nasal testing but he did say that eventually the goal would be widespread serological testing to determine who can return to work without danger of a) getting sick or b) spreading the virus.
Today, there are reports from the UK that this is what they hope to have up and running fairly soon. The idea is to provide a home blood test which can be ordered on Amazon. Apparently these tests would just require a drop of blood and you’d be able to find out if you have recovered from the virus:
Millions of people will soon be able to order a home finger-prick test from Amazon that will tell them if they have had Covid-19, health chiefs have promised. People could be allowed back to work if they have recovered and tests show they are now immune, Sharon Peacock, director of the national infection service at Public Health England, said. About 3.5 million antibody tests have been bought and millions more are being ordered with the aim of selling them to the public within days, she told MPs. However, government sources cautioned that the timetable was likely to slip as they decided who should get priority. Boris Johnson has described the tests as a “total game-changer”, allowing people to know once they are no longer at risk of catching or passing on the virus.
The Guardian adds that there are two different varieties of this new test. One of them is designed to be as simple as a pregnancy test:
The home test, which looks like a pregnancy test, involves pricking a finger to produce a drop of blood, which is then analysed by the device. “Several million tests have been purchased for use. These are brand new products. We have to be clear they work as they are claimed to do,” Peacock said. “Once they have been tested this week and the bulk of tests arrive, they will be distributed into the community.”… The test detects the presence of IGM, an antibody that arises very early on in the infection, and IGG, which is increased in the body’s response to the virus. The results of some of the tests on order can be read by anyone, but others would need to be interpreted by healthcare professionals.
The only hitch here is that the test hasn’t been evaluated for accuracy yet. That’s what the health service will be trying to establish this week. After the announcement about the tests, the UK’s chief medical officer tamped down the enthusiasm a bit saying that if the the tests prove accurate they will be released, but if not then they will be not be.
What appears to be the same test could be coming to the U.S. soon. Earlier this week, Time magazine reported a California company has already licensed the test from a Chinese company:
Scanwell Health, an at-home test company based in California, licensed the rights to a test developed by Chinese company Innovita, which was used extensively at the height of country’s epidemic earlier this year… Scanwell’s request for FDA emergency authorization could take six to eight weeks, says company founder and CEO Stephen Chen. If approved, it would be the first at-home test for the disease in the world—in China, because of government regulations, the test was only administered by doctors and health officials. Chen says at-home testing is more common in the U.S., and federal regulators are more comfortable approving properly designed kits, as long as the companies behind them provide ways for people to connect with doctors about the results.
The UK stories don’t mention the name of the company that developed the test but it appears to be the same one and tests for the same two antibodies. The US version of the test would also be mailed out but only after people pass an online pre-screening which is intended to establish that someone actually has relevant symptoms before requesting a test. Prior to the run on toilet paper I might have said the pre-screening wasn’t necessary but I can absolutely imagine people who aren’t sick hoarding these the moment they became available on Amazon, so maybe the pre-screening is a good idea.
I guess the one remaining question I have is why the UK is hoping to have this evaluated in a matter of days while the FDA is saying 6-8 weeks. According to the Time story, this test was used extensively in China, including in some hospitals. With the peak of the New York infection 2-3 weeks away, and other states potentially following close behind, a 6-8 week delay for FDA approval seems unwise. I’m not saying they should throw this out there without testing but maybe they could coordinate with the UK on a quicker timeline to evaluate this?
Update: Hmmm. This is from a Czeck news site I’ve never heard of but it sounds like the rapid tests they received from China are giving false readings 80% of the time compared to lab testing:
“We checked them on Saturday at the University Hospital Ostrava, but unfortunately the error rate was quite high, so now we are waiting for the results of further testing across the country, they have never been tested positively because it works with antibodies, ”said Svrčinová. She added that the tests showed false positive and false negative results.
I don’t know if this is the same test but it is a quick antibody test from China. Maybe that’s why the UK’s chief medical officer wanted to tone down the anticipation about this?


hotair--2020-04-16--Whitmer: You don't need your property rights when it's snowing, or something

Nothing quite captures the smug elitism of petty tyranny better than this short clip of Gretchen Whitmer laughing off concerns about civil rights .
Why should anyone care , Whitmer says , that she has taken a valid and exigent public-health emergency to arbitrarily infringe on activities that pose no threat — such as planting seeds on one ’ s own land to grow food , or traveling between their homes without coming into contact with others ?
It ’ s snowing , sillies !
Americans don ’ t need their rights when it ’ s snowing , at least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that governors and mayors have authority to order rights-infringing limits in emergencies .
Even then , though , they have to find ways to service a legitimate government purpose by the least-intrusive method possible .
It also helps if they sound somewhat reluctant to exercise that authority and acknowledge that they are indeed burdening people with those limitations .
Whitmer here sounds positively giddy about it , while sneering at anyone who might object to her inane orders .
What , pray tell , does forbidding planting and gardening on one ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community transmission of a disease ?
Even a ban on landscaping someone else ’ s property stretches credulity as a rational policy to stop COVID-19 , as long as proper social distancing takes place .
Similarly , traveling from one house to another poses no threat , assuming that any stops are handled with the proper precautions for conducting essential business .
Michiganders have begun to rebel against Empress Whitmer , and not just the Republicans .
Jazz wrote about it yesterday , and Townhall ’ s Reagan McCarthy points more of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mike Duggan , Mayor of Detroit , called his state ’ s system for reporting COVID-19 “ not reliable , ” as hospital officials also blame the state government for an inefficient system that ultimately leads to longer wait times .
Michigan State Rep. Karen Whitsett , a Democrat representing Detroit , alleged that Gov .
Whitmer was giving federal officials incorrect information on the COVID-19 situation in Detroit , and told a Michigan news outlet that Gov .
Whitmer was not doing enough : “ There is no need for me to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not doing anything .
I mean , if you are going to do something , then I want to have a conversation with you .
If you are not going to do anything , I don ’ t have time to have a conversation with you .
I have people dying in my city .
I don ’ t have time to waste , ” Rep. Whitsett said .
Mayor of Warren , Michigan , Jim Fouts , criticized a provision in Gov .
Whitmer ’ s order that bans Michigan residents from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m not going to support giving any citation .
We have a large number of senior citizens , and many of them have special needs .
They don ’ t own lawnmowers ; they rely on commercial services , ” he told Detroit News .
Michigan Live reports that a handful of sheriffs in the state say they will refuse to enforce the more ridiculous parts of Whitmer ’ s orders : In a joint press release issued as thousands of residents protest at the state capital in Lansing , Leelanau County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ted Schendel , Manistee County Sheriff Ken Falk and Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole said they will not strictly enforce Whitmer ’ s orders in their counties .
“ While we understand her desire to protect the public , we question some restrictions that she has imposed as overstepping her executive authority , ” the sheriffs wrote .
“ She has created a vague framework of emergency laws that only confuse Michigan citizens.
” Instead of strict enforcement , the sheriffs say they “ will deal with every case as an individual situation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the more because Whitmer clearly wants to position herself for consideration as Joe Biden ’ s running mate .
On paper , Whitmer has a lot to offer .
Her gender would fulfill Biden ’ s pledge to choose a woman , a big key for the campaign .
Whitmer has executive experience ; she ’ s young enough to contrast with Biden and to attract younger voters .
Most importantly , Michigan is a state Democrats need to put back in the blue column to win the White House , too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Hillary Clinton there .
This , however , is simply embarrassing .
Michigan appears more ready to jettison Whitmer than to rally around her , thanks to this high-handed attitude toward the voters who entrusted her with this office .
If this clip is any indication of how she ’ d campaign for the ticket , Amy Klobuchar has to be looking better and better to Team Biden .

Nothing quite captures the smug elitism of petty tyranny better than this short clip of Gretchen Whitmer laughing off concerns about civil rights. Why should anyone care, Whitmer says, that she has taken a valid and exigent public-health emergency to arbitrarily infringe on activities that pose no threat — such as planting seeds on one’s own land to grow food, or traveling between their homes without coming into contact with others?
It’s snowing, sillies! Americans don’t need their rights when it’s snowing, at least in Michigan:
Emperor Whitmer actually says “we’re cracking down on people planting,” and then explains why you don’t need your liberties anyway when it snows. pic.twitter.com/TcuOrfpUUo — Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 16, 2020
It’s true that governors and mayors have authority to order rights-infringing limits in emergencies. Even then, though, they have to find ways to service a legitimate government purpose by the least-intrusive method possible. It also helps if they sound somewhat reluctant to exercise that authority and acknowledge that they are indeed burdening people with those limitations. Whitmer here sounds positively giddy about it, while sneering at anyone who might object to her inane orders.
What, pray tell, does forbidding planting and gardening on one’s own property have to do with stopping community transmission of a disease? Even a ban on landscaping someone else’s property stretches credulity as a rational policy to stop COVID-19, as long as proper social distancing takes place. Similarly, traveling from one house to another poses no threat, assuming that any stops are handled with the proper precautions for conducting essential business.
Michiganders have begun to rebel against Empress Whitmer, and not just the Republicans. Jazz wrote about it yesterday, and Townhall’s Reagan McCarthy points more of the rebellion out in her round-up:
Democrat Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit, called his state’s system for reporting COVID-19 “not reliable,” as hospital officials also blame the state government for an inefficient system that ultimately leads to longer wait times. Michigan State Rep. Karen Whitsett, a Democrat representing Detroit, alleged that Gov. Whitmer was giving federal officials incorrect information on the COVID-19 situation in Detroit, and told a Michigan news outlet that Gov. Whitmer was not doing enough: “There is no need for me to have a conversation with someone who is not doing anything. I mean, if you are going to do something, then I want to have a conversation with you. If you are not going to do anything, I don’t have time to have a conversation with you. I have people dying in my city. I don’t have time to waste,” Rep. Whitsett said. Mayor of Warren, Michigan, Jim Fouts, criticized a provision in Gov. Whitmer’s order that bans Michigan residents from utilizing commercial lawn service: “I’m not going to support giving any citation. We have a large number of senior citizens, and many of them have special needs. They don’t own lawnmowers; they rely on commercial services,” he told Detroit News.
Michigan Live reports that a handful of sheriffs in the state say they will refuse to enforce the more ridiculous parts of Whitmer’s orders:
In a joint press release issued as thousands of residents protest at the state capital in Lansing, Leelanau County Sheriff Mike Borkovich, Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel, Manistee County Sheriff Ken Falk and Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole said they will not strictly enforce Whitmer’s orders in their counties. “While we understand her desire to protect the public, we question some restrictions that she has imposed as overstepping her executive authority,” the sheriffs wrote. “She has created a vague framework of emergency laws that only confuse Michigan citizens.” Instead of strict enforcement, the sheriffs say they “will deal with every case as an individual situation and apply common sense.”
This matters all the more because Whitmer clearly wants to position herself for consideration as Joe Biden’s running mate. On paper, Whitmer has a lot to offer. Her gender would fulfill Biden’s pledge to choose a woman, a big key for the campaign. Whitmer has executive experience; she’s young enough to contrast with Biden and to attract younger voters. Most importantly, Michigan is a state Democrats need to put back in the blue column to win the White House, too, after Donald Trump stole a march on Hillary Clinton there.
This, however, is simply embarrassing. Michigan appears more ready to jettison Whitmer than to rally around her, thanks to this high-handed attitude toward the voters who entrusted her with this office. If this clip is any indication of how she’d campaign for the ticket, Amy Klobuchar has to be looking better and better to Team Biden.


hotair--2020-04-16--Dr. Oz: We could reopen schools and probably only lose two to three percent

Well , I ’ m relieved .
Here I was , worried that we weren ’ t taking the threat of a second wave triggered by a premature reopening seriously enough .
But now I ’ m told we could reopen U.S. schools and only lose a few million people .
Why wasn ’ t I informed sooner ?
Or am I misunderstanding him ?
Watch this clip , which is making the rounds of political Twitter today .
There ’ s confusion over whether he meant ( 1 ) two to three percent of the *current* U.S. COVID-19 death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 30,000 , ( 2 ) two to three percent of *all American schoolchildren* , or ( 3 ) two to three percent of the *entire U.S .
population .
* It can ’ t be number two , I think ; one of the few certainties about this disease is that it almost never kills children , certainly not at a rate anything near two to three percent .
If this is the Lancet article to which he ’ s referring then he means two to three percent of … the entire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across mainland China and Hong Kong for COVID-19 .
However , there are no data on the relative contribution of school closures to transmission control .
Data from the SARS outbreak in mainland China , Hong Kong , and Singapore suggest that school closures did not contribute to the control of the epidemic .
Modelling studies of SARS produced conflicting results .
Recent modelling studies of COVID-19 predict that school closures alone would prevent only 2–4 % of deaths , much less than other social distancing interventions .
Policy makers need to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school closures for COVID-19 , and that combinations of social distancing measures should be considered .
Other less disruptive social distancing interventions in schools require further consideration if restrictive social distancing policies are implemented for long periods .
That “ 2-4 % ” figure appears to be a reference to the now famous Imperial College model , which predicted millions of deaths in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands in the UK unless social distancing measures were adopted .
One of their models imagined a two to four percent reduction in total deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s government did was close schools and nothing else .
The point of the Lancet article is that , under the Imperial College model , school closings have a relatively weak effect on containing the disease while doing major damage to children ’ s education , so policymakers should look for more effective and less disruptive social-distancing measures to limit deaths .
The point was not — not — that we should feed two to four percent of the population to the fire so that kids can get back to learning their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offers a fourth possibility .
Maybe Oz meant two to three percent of the death toll based on current projections .
Dr. Oz was not describing a death toll in the millions .
He said the cost could be “ 2–3 percent in terms of total mortality , ” not among all school-aged children or the population at large .
That Lancet article argues that school closures may not be a particularly effective social distancing measure .
It cites modeling from Imperial College London that estimates the U.K. ’ s school closures will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In other words , if there are 100,000 COVID-19 deaths despite the schools being closed , having had the schools open anyway would have yielded 2,000–4,000 additional deaths .
That ’ s thousands , not millions .
The IHME model expects 70,000 or so dead by August .
The White House ’ s model announced a few weeks ago projected 100-240,000 dead total depending upon how diligent we were about social distancing .
Two to three percent of those numbers are still big numbers , but they ’ re orders of magnitude @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s what he probably meant .
I hope that ’ s what he meant .
It seems like we ’ ve come a long way in a short time down a dark path since the start of this national debate over whether pandemic calamity or economic calamity is worse .
At the beginning there was a semi-serious argument over whether the virus or an economic depression engineered to contain it would kill more people .
The virus will bring thousands of deaths from disease , the depression will bring thousands of deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus will also bring some deaths from despair , and ( weirdly ) the economic slowdown will also inadvertently save some lives .
E.g.
, there are bound to be many fewer fatal car accidents in April 2020 due to so many people being off the roads .
Putting together a serious model of which option will cause more human misery would be difficult and complex , but it ’ s worth doing .
At some point the toll from a sustained economic shutdown certainly would exceed the toll from the epidemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ be would be valuable .
We ’ re not really having that debate anymore , though .
The debate now is between “ the American people can not conceivably bear a lockdown past May 1 , no matter the price ” versus “ yeah , they can.
” Comparative deaths , whether containment measures are in place — that ’ s really all secondary .
May 1 , whatever the cost .
Or at least , that was the debate until 6 p.m. today .
Maybe it ’ ll be different now .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve read about COVID-19 over the past month , this passage from — of all things — a Sports Illustrated piece about the prospects of playing baseball again soon is among those that have stuck with me .
After 9/11 the thought was that America should bear any burden to save innocent lives .
Less so now .
“ If people just decide to let it burn in most areas and we do lose a couple million people it ’ d probably be over by the fall , ” says [ epidemiologist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d have football .
You ’ d also have two million dead people .
And let ’ s talk about that number .
We ’ re really bad at dealing with big numbers .
That is a Super Bowl blown up by terrorists , killing every single person in the building , 24 times in six months .
It ’ s 9/11 every day for 18 months .
What freedoms have we given up , what wars have we fought , what blood have we shed , what money have we spent in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
This is 9/11 every day for 18 months.
” 9/11 every day .
We ’ re almost there now .
Despite 95 percent of the population being locked down , despite school closures everywhere , despite a herculean effort to contain the disease that ’ s resulted in the national economy being shattered , almost 2,500 Americans died of COVID-19 yesterday alone .
Imagine the number if the country went back to work without any sort of containment strategy on the ground .
Update : Here ’ s Oz walking it back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afternoon .

Well, I’m relieved. Here I was, worried that we weren’t taking the threat of a second wave triggered by a premature reopening seriously enough.
But now I’m told we could reopen U.S. schools and only lose a few million people. Why wasn’t I informed sooner?
Or am I misunderstanding him? Watch this clip, which is making the rounds of political Twitter today.
DR OZ: "Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality. Any, you know, any life is a life lost, but … that might be a tradeoff some folks would consider." 😳 pic.twitter.com/aifMeKTsIv — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 16, 2020
There’s confusion over whether he meant (1) two to three percent of the *current* U.S. COVID-19 death toll, which is a little north of 30,000, (2) two to three percent of *all American schoolchildren*, or (3) two to three percent of the *entire U.S. population.* It can’t be number two, I think; one of the few certainties about this disease is that it almost never kills children, certainly not at a rate anything near two to three percent.
If this is the Lancet article to which he’s referring then he means two to three percent of … the entire population.
School closures were deployed rapidly across mainland China and Hong Kong for COVID-19. However, there are no data on the relative contribution of school closures to transmission control. Data from the SARS outbreak in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore suggest that school closures did not contribute to the control of the epidemic. Modelling studies of SARS produced conflicting results. Recent modelling studies of COVID-19 predict that school closures alone would prevent only 2–4% of deaths, much less than other social distancing interventions. Policy makers need to be aware of the equivocal evidence when considering school closures for COVID-19, and that combinations of social distancing measures should be considered. Other less disruptive social distancing interventions in schools require further consideration if restrictive social distancing policies are implemented for long periods.
That “2-4%” figure appears to be a reference to the now famous Imperial College model, which predicted millions of deaths in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands in the UK unless social distancing measures were adopted. One of their models imagined a two to four percent reduction in total deaths in Great Britain if all Boris Johnson’s government did was close schools and nothing else. The point of the Lancet article is that, under the Imperial College model, school closings have a relatively weak effect on containing the disease while doing major damage to children’s education, so policymakers should look for more effective and less disruptive social-distancing measures to limit deaths.
The point was not — not — that we should feed two to four percent of the population to the fire so that kids can get back to learning their ABCs.
At Reason, Robby Soave offers a fourth possibility. Maybe Oz meant two to three percent of the death toll based on current projections.
Dr. Oz was not describing a death toll in the millions. He said the cost could be “2–3 percent in terms of total mortality,” not among all school-aged children or the population at large. That Lancet article argues that school closures may not be a particularly effective social distancing measure. It cites modeling from Imperial College London that estimates the U.K.’s school closures will reduce overall deaths by about 2–4 percent. In other words, if there are 100,000 COVID-19 deaths despite the schools being closed, having had the schools open anyway would have yielded 2,000–4,000 additional deaths. That’s thousands, not millions.
The IHME model expects 70,000 or so dead by August. The White House’s model announced a few weeks ago projected 100-240,000 dead total depending upon how diligent we were about social distancing. Two to three percent of those numbers are still big numbers, but they’re orders of magnitude removed from millions.
I think that’s what he probably meant. I hope that’s what he meant. It seems like we’ve come a long way in a short time down a dark path since the start of this national debate over whether pandemic calamity or economic calamity is worse. At the beginning there was a semi-serious argument over whether the virus or an economic depression engineered to contain it would kill more people. The virus will bring thousands of deaths from disease, the depression will bring thousands of deaths from despair. But of course the virus will also bring some deaths from despair, and (weirdly) the economic slowdown will also inadvertently save some lives. E.g., there are bound to be many fewer fatal car accidents in April 2020 due to so many people being off the roads. Putting together a serious model of which option will cause more human misery would be difficult and complex, but it’s worth doing. At some point the toll from a sustained economic shutdown certainly would exceed the toll from the epidemic. A thoughtful inquiry into when that might be would be valuable.
We’re not really having that debate anymore, though. The debate now is between “the American people cannot conceivably bear a lockdown past May 1, no matter the price” versus “yeah, they can.” Comparative deaths, whether containment measures are in place — that’s really all secondary. May 1, whatever the cost.
Or at least, that was the debate until 6 p.m. today. Maybe it’ll be different now. Anyway, among the many stories I’ve read about COVID-19 over the past month, this passage from — of all things — a Sports Illustrated piece about the prospects of playing baseball again soon is among those that have stuck with me. After 9/11 the thought was that America should bear any burden to save innocent lives. Less so now.
“If people just decide to let it burn in most areas and we do lose a couple million people it’d probably be over by the fall,” says [epidemiologist Zach] Binney. “You’d have football. You’d also have two million dead people. And let’s talk about that number. We’re really bad at dealing with big numbers. That is a Super Bowl blown up by terrorists, killing every single person in the building, 24 times in six months. It’s 9/11 every day for 18 months. What freedoms have we given up, what wars have we fought, what blood have we shed, what money have we spent in the interest of stopping one more 9/11? This is 9/11 every day for 18 months.”
9/11 every day. We’re almost there now. Despite 95 percent of the population being locked down, despite school closures everywhere, despite a herculean effort to contain the disease that’s resulted in the national economy being shattered, almost 2,500 Americans died of COVID-19 yesterday alone. Imagine the number if the country went back to work without any sort of containment strategy on the ground.
Update: Here’s Oz walking it back in a new clip released late this afternoon.


hotair--2020-04-16--Hokkaido, Japan ended its coronavirus state of emergency last month. This week it reimposed it

Japan ’ s northern island of Hokkaido is home to about 5 million people .
When the coronavirus began spreading around the world in February , Hokkaido was the first place in Japan to declare a state of emergency .
And that early decision appeared to work .
The number of new cases dropped and the emergency order was lifted .
When the emergency ended , Hokkaido Gov .
Naomichi Suzuki said , “ There was no surge of infected patients that led to the collapse of the medical environment .
We overcame without the fearful circumstance.
” In essence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overwhelming the health system .
The emergency was lifted on March 19 but earlier this week Hokkaido declared a second state of emergency as the number of infections began to climb again : “ We are facing a crisis of a second wave in the spread of ( the coronavirus ) infections , ” Hokkaido Gov .
Naomichi Suzuki told reporters , asking residents to refrain from making nonessential outings .
Hokkaido had declared its own state of emergency on Feb. 28 ahead of the government and lifted it on March 19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abating in the prefecture , a popular area for both Japanese and foreign tourists .
Schools in Sapporo , which have just gradually resumed classes since April 6 , will be closed again from Tuesday to May 6 .
Residents of the prefecture are also asked not to travel to Sapporo or to the areas covered by the state ’ s declaration of emergency .
The BBC reports that none of the new cases in Hokkaido come from foreigners , so this isn ’ t a case of a new outbreak that was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Japan Institute for Global Health said the lesson is that it ’ s easy to knock the numbers down through concerted effort but harder to keep them down : In the last week , Hokkaido has recorded 135 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 .
Unlike the first outbreak in February , there is no evidence the virus has been re-imported from outside Japan… “ It is relatively easy to tackle clusters , to contact trace and isolate , ” says Professor Kenji Shibuya of King ’ s College London… “ The major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even if you are successful in the containment the first time around , it ’ s difficult to isolate and maintain the containment for a long period .
Unless you expand the testing capacity , it ’ s difficult to identify community transmission and hospital transmission.
” The new state of emergency is set to end May 6th but a local health official suggested the real end of this is much further away : “ We feel we have to keep on doing the same thing , ” he said .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop the spread of the virus.
” So how long does that mean ?
“ Till we find a vaccine , ” he says .
“ We have to keep on trying to stop the expansion.
” It ’ s worth noting that Governor ’ s in Japan don ’ t have the same police powers to keep people home as Governors in America .
But the point is that Hokkaido did initially do enough to bend the curve at the cost of some real harm to the island ’ s economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But it turns out that doing that once only bought them a few weeks before they had to start doing it again .
The same could be true here once things begin to reopen .
We could in fact be facing several cycles of opening and closing until there is a vaccine or some other treatment .

Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido is home to about 5 million people. When the coronavirus began spreading around the world in February, Hokkaido was the first place in Japan to declare a state of emergency. And that early decision appeared to work. The number of new cases dropped and the emergency order was lifted. When the emergency ended, Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki said, “There was no surge of infected patients that led to the collapse of the medical environment. We overcame without the fearful circumstance.”
In essence, Hokkaido had flattened the curve without overwhelming the health system. The emergency was lifted on March 19 but earlier this week Hokkaido declared a second state of emergency as the number of infections began to climb again:
“We are facing a crisis of a second wave in the spread of (the coronavirus) infections,” Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki told reporters, asking residents to refrain from making nonessential outings. Hokkaido had declared its own state of emergency on Feb. 28 ahead of the government and lifted it on March 19, citing signs that the coronavirus spread was abating in the prefecture, a popular area for both Japanese and foreign tourists. Schools in Sapporo, which have just gradually resumed classes since April 6, will be closed again from Tuesday to May 6. Residents of the prefecture are also asked not to travel to Sapporo or to the areas covered by the state’s declaration of emergency.
The BBC reports that none of the new cases in Hokkaido come from foreigners, so this isn’t a case of a new outbreak that was imported from abroad. The president of the Japan Institute for Global Health said the lesson is that it’s easy to knock the numbers down through concerted effort but harder to keep them down:
In the last week, Hokkaido has recorded 135 new confirmed cases of Covid-19. Unlike the first outbreak in February, there is no evidence the virus has been re-imported from outside Japan… “It is relatively easy to tackle clusters, to contact trace and isolate,” says Professor Kenji Shibuya of King’s College London… “The major lesson to take from Hokkaido is that even if you are successful in the containment the first time around, it’s difficult to isolate and maintain the containment for a long period. Unless you expand the testing capacity, it’s difficult to identify community transmission and hospital transmission.”
The new state of emergency is set to end May 6th but a local health official suggested the real end of this is much further away:
“We feel we have to keep on doing the same thing,” he said. “The goal is to minimise contact between people to stop the spread of the virus.” So how long does that mean? “Till we find a vaccine,” he says. “We have to keep on trying to stop the expansion.”
It’s worth noting that Governor’s in Japan don’t have the same police powers to keep people home as Governors in America. But the point is that Hokkaido did initially do enough to bend the curve at the cost of some real harm to the island’s economy, which relies heavily on tourism. But it turns out that doing that once only bought them a few weeks before they had to start doing it again. The same could be true here once things begin to reopen. We could in fact be facing several cycles of opening and closing until there is a vaccine or some other treatment.


hotair--2020-04-16--Declassified Horowitz: FBI knew Steele dossier tainted by Russian disinformation -- but never told F

Declassified Horowitz: FBI knew Steele dossier tainted by Russian disinformation -- but never told FISA court

Could this be one reason why Democrats objected so sharply to the interim appointment of Ambassador Richard Grenell to Director of National Intelligence ?
In his capacity as DNI , Grenell declassified a number of footnotes from Inspector General Michael Horowitz ’ damning report on the FBI ’ s handling of Operation Crossfire Hurricane .
Not only did the bureau mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ( FISC ) about Carter Page to secure warrants , its use of the Christopher Steele dossier was even more indefensible than the unclassified report suggested .
The FBI had reason to believe that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him disinformation about Trump — and yet pursued the warrants anyway .
Most of the national media has ignored this development today , but the New York Times did pick up on it : The Trump administration has declassified several footnotes from a report about the F.B.I.
’ s Trump-Russia investigation , providing details hinting anew at the possibility that Russia may have sown disinformation in a dossier used to investigate a former Trump campaign aide .
… Mr. Horowitz ’ s report had said that the F.B.I .
worried about “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Steele , and the possibility that disinformation was included in his election reports.
” “ The F.B.I .
was aware of the potential for disinformation in the Steele election reporting and , in part to address that issue , made some effort to assess that possibility , ” the report said .
“ However , in view of information we found in F.B.I .
files we reviewed , and that was available to the Crossfire Hurricane team during the relevant time period , we believe that more should have been done ” to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Horowitz ’ s team added .
Townhall ’ s Katie Pavlich has more on that issue and the reaction from Senate Republicans Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson .
According to the declassified footnotes , the FBI had already assessed the Steele dossier as unreliable before even applying for the warrant : “ Despite multiple reports in 2017 warning that claims in an anti-Trump dossier were ‘ false ’ and ‘ part of a Russian disinformation campaign , ’ the FBI continued to rely on the Democrat-funded opposition research to spy on a Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in footnotes of the Justice Department Inspector General ’ s postmortem of the FBI ’ s flawed spying operation were unmasked at the repeated urging of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley ( R-Iowa ) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson ( R-Wis. ) ” Grassley released Wednesday night .
“ Earlier this month , the Justice Department provided the senators with a partially-declassified version of three footnotes following their January request , but key information detailing exactly when the FBI became aware of exculpatory intelligence reports remained redacted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the assistance of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence , sheds new light on the remaining redactions as well as additional information that was previously classified in the IG report , ” the release continues .
Details in the footnotes reveal the FBI knew the dossier wasn ’ t credible before applying for FISA renewals on at least one Trump campaign official .
This information was also known before the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller .
Adding insult to injury , Russian intelligence officials were aware of Steele ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 .
This information helped Russia with disinformation campaigns against the United States .
And that ’ s not all .
While the FBI was using the Steele dossier to support its warrant on Page , they were also opening up investigations into Steele ’ s sources as disinformation agents : What can we conclude from these footnotes ?
Well , for one thing , it ’ s tough to believe that Russia worked to get Trump elected if they were passing along disinformation about him through Steele to first the Hillary Clinton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reinforces the perception that Moscow played a malicious Merry Prankster role in 2015-16 , hoping to disrupt the election and call its legitimacy into question rather than go all-out for a particular outcome .
Why else would Russian intel feed disinformation through Steele to the Clinton campaign ?
The insanely dumb decision to meet with Natalia Veselnitskaya at the Trump Tower was perhaps Russia ’ s attempt to balance the equation by passing along disinformation about Hillary , as well as making an opening into Trump ’ s inner circle .
Second , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the FBI didn ’ t have political motivations of its own in pursuing Carter Page if they knew that Steele was a potential conduit for disinformation .
That information alone should have prompted a sharp reverse on Crossfire Hurricane , and had they shared that information with FISC , that reversal might have been forced on them .
The FBI agents involved must have known that too , which is why they made sure that information never made it to FISC at all .
And as we have since discovered , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ misleading the court in that fashion since the bureau never effectively policed that process nor held anyone accountable for errors , inadvertent or otherwise .
This time , however , it blew up in their faces — and it ’ s likely to get worse .
With all of this in mind , one has to imagine that US Attorney John Durham has a number of threads to pursue , and perhaps so too does his grand jury .
Addendum : Just as a fun aside , Ann McIlhenny and Phelim McAleer have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Undercovers available after a supporting actor ’ s objections forced the original off YouTube .
His objection ?
He thought the verbatim play was unfair to Peter Strzok and Lisa Page : McAleer and his team were forced to re-edit the film after politically-inspired legal objections by one of the play ’ s actors , Christopher T. Wood .
The anti-Trump actor claimed his contract meant he could refuse to allow the play to remain on YouTube .
This forced the play ’ s removal meaning that the truth about the FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidency was no longer available to the public .
The team behind FBI Lovebirds : Undercovers has re-edited the film of the play and removed Wood entirely .
The edited version of the play is now available on YouTube .
It can be accessed at FBILovebirds.com .
McAleer condemned Wood ’ s attempt at censorship , noting that it had only started after President Trump announced his support for the project and after he hosted Cain , Swanson and McAleer in the Oval Office .
… “ Hollywood actors and art organizations have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 crisis and yet actors like Christopher T. Wood refuse work because of their radical political beliefs , ” McAleer continued .
“ Not only is it a display of arrogance while millions of Americans are out of work , Wood ’ s actions also affect other actors .
If Hollywood can reject decent jobs and roles and venues cancel productions then there is obviously plenty of work and money in the sector and they don ’ t need a bailout .
Working America should just say no to the privileged class who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ colleagues from getting work and demand the rest of us pay their wages anyway.
” Lame , Christopher … very lame .
Check out the rest of the story at the link , but here ’ s the new , Wood-free version of FBI Lovebirds : Undercovers .
It ’ s been “ declassified , ” you might say .

Could this be one reason why Democrats objected so sharply to the interim appointment of Ambassador Richard Grenell to Director of National Intelligence? In his capacity as DNI, Grenell declassified a number of footnotes from Inspector General Michael Horowitz’ damning report on the FBI’s handling of Operation Crossfire Hurricane. Not only did the bureau mislead the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) about Carter Page to secure warrants, its use of the Christopher Steele dossier was even more indefensible than the unclassified report suggested. The FBI had reason to believe that Steele’s sources in Russia fed him disinformation about Trump — and yet pursued the warrants anyway.
Most of the national media has ignored this development today, but the New York Times did pick up on it:
The Trump administration has declassified several footnotes from a report about the F.B.I.’s Trump-Russia investigation, providing details hinting anew at the possibility that Russia may have sown disinformation in a dossier used to investigate a former Trump campaign aide. … Mr. Horowitz’s report had said that the F.B.I. worried about “the possibility that Russia was funneling disinformation to Steele, and the possibility that disinformation was included in his election reports.” “The F.B.I. was aware of the potential for disinformation in the Steele election reporting and, in part to address that issue, made some effort to assess that possibility,” the report said. “However, in view of information we found in F.B.I. files we reviewed, and that was available to the Crossfire Hurricane team during the relevant time period, we believe that more should have been done” to examine whether that had happened, Mr. Horowitz’s team added.
Townhall’s Katie Pavlich has more on that issue and the reaction from Senate Republicans Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson. According to the declassified footnotes, the FBI had already assessed the Steele dossier as unreliable before even applying for the warrant:
“Despite multiple reports in 2017 warning that claims in an anti-Trump dossier were ‘false’ and ‘part of a Russian disinformation campaign,’ the FBI continued to rely on the Democrat-funded opposition research to spy on a Trump campaign aide. The once-classified details contained in footnotes of the Justice Department Inspector General’s postmortem of the FBI’s flawed spying operation were unmasked at the repeated urging of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)” Grassley released Wednesday night. “Earlier this month, the Justice Department provided the senators with a partially-declassified version of three footnotes following their January request, but key information detailing exactly when the FBI became aware of exculpatory intelligence reports remained redacted. The new material, provided with the assistance of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, sheds new light on the remaining redactions as well as additional information that was previously classified in the IG report,” the release continues. Details in the footnotes reveal the FBI knew the dossier wasn’t credible before applying for FISA renewals on at least one Trump campaign official. This information was also known before the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Adding insult to injury, Russian intelligence officials were aware of Steele’s investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016. This information helped Russia with disinformation campaigns against the United States.
And that’s not all. While the FBI was using the Steele dossier to support its warrant on Page, they were also opening up investigations into Steele’s sources as disinformation agents:
Further, the “FBI had open counterintelligence case on Steele’s key source, but failed to apprise the FISA Court” and “despite repeated warnings of tainted evidence, FBI continuously sought FISA renewals.” “As we can see from these now-declassified footnotes in the IG’s report, Russian intelligence was aware of the dossier before the FBI even began its investigation and the FBI had reports in hand that their central piece of evidence was most likely tainted with Russian disinformation,” Senators Grassley and Johnson said about the confirmed revelations.
What can we conclude from these footnotes? Well, for one thing, it’s tough to believe that Russia worked to get Trump elected if they were passing along disinformation about him through Steele to first the Hillary Clinton campaign and then the FBI. This reinforces the perception that Moscow played a malicious Merry Prankster role in 2015-16, hoping to disrupt the election and call its legitimacy into question rather than go all-out for a particular outcome. Why else would Russian intel feed disinformation through Steele to the Clinton campaign? The insanely dumb decision to meet with Natalia Veselnitskaya at the Trump Tower was perhaps Russia’s attempt to balance the equation by passing along disinformation about Hillary, as well as making an opening into Trump’s inner circle.
Second, it’s very difficult to believe that the FBI didn’t have political motivations of its own in pursuing Carter Page if they knew that Steele was a potential conduit for disinformation. That information alone should have prompted a sharp reverse on Crossfire Hurricane, and had they shared that information with FISC, that reversal might have been forced on them. The FBI agents involved must have known that too, which is why they made sure that information never made it to FISC at all. And as we have since discovered, they would have felt almost no risk in misleading the court in that fashion since the bureau never effectively policed that process nor held anyone accountable for errors, inadvertent or otherwise.
This time, however, it blew up in their faces — and it’s likely to get worse. With all of this in mind, one has to imagine that US Attorney John Durham has a number of threads to pursue, and perhaps so too does his grand jury.
Addendum: Just as a fun aside, Ann McIlhenny and Phelim McAleer have made a new version of FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers available after a supporting actor’s objections forced the original off YouTube. His objection? He thought the verbatim play was unfair to Peter Strzok and Lisa Page:
McAleer and his team were forced to re-edit the film after politically-inspired legal objections by one of the play’s actors, Christopher T. Wood. The anti-Trump actor claimed his contract meant he could refuse to allow the play to remain on YouTube. This forced the play’s removal meaning that the truth about the FBI plot to undermine the Trump candidacy and presidency was no longer available to the public. The team behind FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers has re-edited the film of the play and removed Wood entirely. The edited version of the play is now available on YouTube. It can be accessed at FBILovebirds.com. McAleer condemned Wood’s attempt at censorship, noting that it had only started after President Trump announced his support for the project and after he hosted Cain, Swanson and McAleer in the Oval Office. … “Hollywood actors and art organizations have been begging for a bailout during the COVID-19 crisis and yet actors like Christopher T. Wood refuse work because of their radical political beliefs,” McAleer continued. “Not only is it a display of arrogance while millions of Americans are out of work, Wood’s actions also affect other actors. If Hollywood can reject decent jobs and roles and venues cancel productions then there is obviously plenty of work and money in the sector and they don’t need a bailout. Working America should just say no to the privileged class who reject work and try to stop their colleagues from getting work and demand the rest of us pay their wages anyway.”
Lame, Christopher … very lame. Check out the rest of the story at the link, but here’s the new, Wood-free version of FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers. It’s been “declassified,” you might say.


hotair--2020-04-16--<span class='red'>Live at 6 p.m. ET: Trump to announce guidelines on reopening for business; Update:

Live at 6 p.m. ET: Trump to announce guidelines on reopening for business; Update: DeWine to open May 1; Update: Fauci supports; Update: Guidelines added

An anxious nation waits in suspense .
Will he recommend a reckless May 1 reboot or an even more reckless reboot sometime this month ?
Actually , if this WSJ preview is correct , he ’ s going to take a smarter and safer course by punting to the governors .
Yes , that ’ s a reversal from his “ total authority ” and “ mutiny ” talk of a few days ago but it ’ s the wise play politically .
The worst thing that could happen to his reelection chances is if he strong-armed governors into reopening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outbreak or even a second wave nationally .
Better to hang back , put it on them to make the fateful call , and then watch .
If it backfires he can say , “ Wasn ’ t my decision.
” If it succeeds he can say , “ Didn ’ t I tell you all along that we needed to reopen early ?
” I don ’ t think he ’ ll really sit back and watch , though .
His base , encouraged by Fox News , is starting to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Michigan and elsewhere .
It ’ s a matter of time before he begins cheerleading those on his Twitter account .
Governors will have the final say but he ’ s going to make their jobs harder by complaining loudly about the slow pace of ending the lockdowns .
There won ’ t be any calls for patience or national unity until conditions on the ground hopefully improve .
President Trump is planning to outline new federal guidelines for opening up the country that will put the onus on governors to decide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states amid mounting fallout from the coronavirus outbreak… “ The buck stops with the governors , ” said one senior administration official involved with the planning… “ You ’ re going to call your own shots , ” Mr. Trump told the governors , according to a person who was briefed on the call .
“ We ’ ll be standing right alongside of you and we ’ re going to get our country open.
” … It will ultimately be up to individual governors to formally lift state stay-at-home orders .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government for guidance and may feel political pressure to follow Mr. Trump ’ s lead , most governors will make the decision based on evolving conditions in their states .
He knows that most red states will follow his lead , which means many will try to reopen on May 1 .
If new infections in those states are slow , Trump can declare victory at the end of the month .
It might even encourage some blue states to experiment with reopening parts of their own jurisdictions .
A thought : Did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by ( mostly ) Democratic governors twist his arm on deferring to state leaders ?
I didn ’ t realize it , but in addition to the mid-Atlantic , west coast , and midwest confederations , a northeastern coalition of Maine , New Hampshire , and Vermont formed a few days ago .
I believe we ’ re now up to 20 states , accounting for a huge chunk of the country ’ s economic productivity , that have formally declared their intention to go their own way on reopening regardless of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and knowing that governors have ultimate authority here , the president may have decided that it ’ d be silly to force a confrontation he was destined to lose and opted to roll with it instead .
Governors want to set their own timetables ?
Fine .
They can take the blame for the slow economic recovery then .
More than a dozen states have already extended their stay-at-home orders past Trump ’ s May 1 target date .
Looking at that map , I ’ m thinking that we must be close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regional coalitions .
Presumably no clusters of red states will be banding together ; these confederations are about resisting pressure from Trump , after all , and they wouldn ’ t dare do that .
I ’ m looking at the mountain region there and thinking that maybe there ’ s something brewing there with the ( mostly ) blue states involved .
Nevada , Colorado , and New Mexico all have Democratic governors ; Utah is bright red , but Utah is the land of Romney and tends to go its own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coalition to form , and then we ’ ll be out of Democratic governors .
( Hawaii excepted . )
Trump ’ s job approval numbers have stabilized after climbing above 47 percent during the first weeks of the crisis and then sliding to 45 .
He got a bad number today from Gallup , though , and this data from Pew suggests some political peril to come : Note the second line .
The protests in Michigan are good Fox fodder but they ’ re still a minority view .
Two or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be a different story .
The thing to watch at today ’ s briefing is his comments on testing .
He ’ s been glib about that in public remarks but the new federal guidelines apparently do reference testing capacity as a key criterion in weighing whether to reopen for business .
( Trump reportedly mentioned progress in testing via saliva on the call with the governors . )
He ’ s also expected to announce today that the CDC will hire hundreds of people to assist the states on contact tracing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — one estimate is that we ’ ll need 300,000 — but a move in the right direction .
Stay tuned .
While we wait , something for your amusement .
Update : Ah , here ’ s some good news for Trump .
Mike DeWine , the governor of Ohio , has probably been the single most aggressive Republican governor in shutting things down .
But he ’ s going to comply with Trump ’ s recommended timetable to some degree , reopening some parts of the state on May 1 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear yet .
But having DeWine vouch for an earlier reopening will give other governors confidence to move more quickly .
I ’ m not sure de Blasio said the city won ’ t reopen until July or August .
This story quotes him as saying it won ’ t get back to normal until July or August .
Maybe he ’ s imagining reopening of some businesses late next month and then a gradual reopening of more over the following months .
But yeah , July is … a long way away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unsurprisingly unimpressed with the new guidelines .
Former Trump advisor Tom Bossert likes them more , but note the bit at the end here about testing and contact tracing .
Update : Here ’ s Fauci on “ multiple checkpoints of safety ” in the guidelines .
Update : Here are the guidelines at the White House website for your perusal .
I hope Trump sticks to them instead of shifting back tomorrow to pressuring governors to open up ASAP .

An anxious nation waits in suspense. Will he recommend a reckless May 1 reboot or an even more reckless reboot sometime this month?
Actually, if this WSJ preview is correct, he’s going to take a smarter and safer course by punting to the governors. Yes, that’s a reversal from his “total authority” and “mutiny” talk of a few days ago but it’s the wise play politically. The worst thing that could happen to his reelection chances is if he strong-armed governors into reopening too soon and triggered a major local outbreak or even a second wave nationally. Better to hang back, put it on them to make the fateful call, and then watch. If it backfires he can say, “Wasn’t my decision.” If it succeeds he can say, “Didn’t I tell you all along that we needed to reopen early?”
I don’t think he’ll really sit back and watch, though. His base, encouraged by Fox News, is starting to get wound up about protests against stay-at-home orders in Michigan and elsewhere. It’s a matter of time before he begins cheerleading those on his Twitter account. Governors will have the final say but he’s going to make their jobs harder by complaining loudly about the slow pace of ending the lockdowns. There won’t be any calls for patience or national unity until conditions on the ground hopefully improve.
President Trump is planning to outline new federal guidelines for opening up the country that will put the onus on governors to decide how to restart the economies in their states amid mounting fallout from the coronavirus outbreak… “The buck stops with the governors,” said one senior administration official involved with the planning… “You’re going to call your own shots,” Mr. Trump told the governors, according to a person who was briefed on the call. “We’ll be standing right alongside of you and we’re going to get our country open.”… It will ultimately be up to individual governors to formally lift state stay-at-home orders. While some governors are looking to the federal government for guidance and may feel political pressure to follow Mr. Trump’s lead, most governors will make the decision based on evolving conditions in their states.
He knows that most red states will follow his lead, which means many will try to reopen on May 1. If new infections in those states are slow, Trump can declare victory at the end of the month. It might even encourage some blue states to experiment with reopening parts of their own jurisdictions.
A thought: Did those multistate coalitions that are being formed by (mostly) Democratic governors twist his arm on deferring to state leaders? I didn’t realize it, but in addition to the mid-Atlantic, west coast, and midwest confederations, a northeastern coalition of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont formed a few days ago. I believe we’re now up to 20 states, accounting for a huge chunk of the country’s economic productivity, that have formally declared their intention to go their own way on reopening regardless of what Trump says. Faced with that, and knowing that governors have ultimate authority here, the president may have decided that it’d be silly to force a confrontation he was destined to lose and opted to roll with it instead. Governors want to set their own timetables? Fine. They can take the blame for the slow economic recovery then.
Regional coronavirus agreements are criss-crossing the country. The US is gonna look like a big Risk map by the time this is done. pic.twitter.com/KAld6binoJ — Neoliberal 🌐 (@ne0liberal) April 16, 2020
More than a dozen states have already extended their stay-at-home orders past Trump’s May 1 target date. Looking at that map, I’m thinking that we must be close to done in terms of any new regional coalitions. Presumably no clusters of red states will be banding together; these confederations are about resisting pressure from Trump, after all, and they wouldn’t dare do that. I’m looking at the mountain region there and thinking that maybe there’s something brewing there with the (mostly) blue states involved. Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico all have Democratic governors; Utah is bright red, but Utah is the land of Romney and tends to go its own way. That might be one last coalition to form, and then we’ll be out of Democratic governors. (Hawaii excepted.)
Trump’s job approval numbers have stabilized after climbing above 47 percent during the first weeks of the crisis and then sliding to 45. He got a bad number today from Gallup, though, and this data from Pew suggests some political peril to come:
Note the second line. The protests in Michigan are good Fox fodder but they’re still a minority view. Two or three weeks from now, that may be a different story.
The thing to watch at today’s briefing is his comments on testing. He’s been glib about that in public remarks but the new federal guidelines apparently do reference testing capacity as a key criterion in weighing whether to reopen for business. (Trump reportedly mentioned progress in testing via saliva on the call with the governors.) He’s also expected to announce today that the CDC will hire hundreds of people to assist the states on contact tracing, which is a drop in the bucket — one estimate is that we’ll need 300,000 — but a move in the right direction. Stay tuned. While we wait, something for your amusement.
Based on list the White House just sent, Romney appears to be the only GOP senator not on the congressional task force. https://t.co/B1JU4wWlVb — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 16, 2020
Update: Ah, here’s some good news for Trump. Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, has probably been the single most aggressive Republican governor in shutting things down. But he’s going to comply with Trump’s recommended timetable to some degree, reopening some parts of the state on May 1. Which parts? How extensively? Not clear yet. But having DeWine vouch for an earlier reopening will give other governors confidence to move more quickly.
DeWine — whose stay-at-home order expires May 1 — said he received a verbal update on a plan from a task force to reopen the state. That includes safeguards for companies where employees will return to work, including taking temperatures, wearing masks, wiping surfaces and more, at both offices and stores… DeWine did not detail a plan for how businesses will reopen, when sporting events can take place or whether kids will go back to school in May. He said he expects to announce something on schools next week. As for mass gatherings like county fairs, “the stuff we all really like,” DeWine said it will be tough.
Meanwhile…
NYC Mayor Deblasio tells Bill Hemmer that the city will start to reopen in July or August at the earliest. — Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) April 16, 2020
I’m not sure de Blasio said the city won’t reopen until July or August. This story quotes him as saying it won’t get back to normal until July or August. Maybe he’s imagining reopening of some businesses late next month and then a gradual reopening of more over the following months. But yeah, July is … a long way away.
Update: Biden advisor Ron Klain is unsurprisingly unimpressed with the new guidelines. Former Trump advisor Tom Bossert likes them more, but note the bit at the end here about testing and contact tracing.
.@TomBossert reacts to Pres. Trump’s plan to reopen the American economy. https://t.co/Eeg2bGCId2 “A number of states in the West and Midwest have enough…track record to show that they've not only gone on the downward side of this curve, but they've been there for awhile.” pic.twitter.com/2R3xuKNLja — ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) April 16, 2020
Update: Here’s Fauci on “multiple checkpoints of safety” in the guidelines.
Dr. Anthony Fauci on guidelines for reopening: "There are multiple checkpoints of safety there." Full video here: https://t.co/wMt4ud0X8m pic.twitter.com/92r91J54yB — CSPAN (@cspan) April 16, 2020
Update: Here are the guidelines at the White House website for your perusal. I hope Trump sticks to them instead of shifting back tomorrow to pressuring governors to open up ASAP.


hotair--2020-04-16--A man released from a Florida jail to help prevent the spread of coronavirus murdered someone the ne

A man released from a Florida jail to help prevent the spread of coronavirus murdered someone the next day

Inmates around the world have been released because of legitimate concern that prisons and jails would be an ideal place for the coronavirus to spread .
In the United States the virus spread to nearly 1,000 people at New York ’ s Rikers Island .
Cook County Jail in Chicago has been hit even worse .
So the decision to release as many prisoners as possible to reduce the density in the jails is something many state and local officials have been doing .
Last month , Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister announced the release of 164 prisoners from the county @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Hillsborough county is located in Florida and contains the city of Tampa .
The Tampa Bay Times reported on the conditions in the jails there at the time .
There are no confirmed cases of the virus among the roughly 2,700 inmates housed at the county ’ s two jails , on Falkenburg and Orient roads , Chronister said .
The jails aren ’ t facing an overcrowding problem .
But public health officials warn against crowds and close contact and advise practicing social isolation .
Civil-rights groups have urged jails to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reduce the risk of outbreaks .
Chief among their suggestions is the release of inmates who have been arrested but not sentenced .
Unfortunately , in this case one of the inmates released that day killed someone the very next day .
Joseph Edward Williams , 26 , was arrested Monday in connection with a March 20 murder in the 8000 block of Ash Avenue , according to the Sheriff ’ s Office .
At about 10:40 p.m. that day , deputies fielded multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots .
Responding deputies found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Authorities took him to Tampa General Hospital , where he later died .
In a news release , deputies said they did not believe the shooting was random… Williams is charged with second-degree murder , resisting an officer , being felon in possession of a firearm and possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia .
His bail has been set at $ 280,500 .
For the most part , authorities have tried to release non-violent offenders .
In this case , Williams had been arrested on drug charges : “ Williams was booked into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possession of heroin ( less than four grams ) , a third-degree felony , and possession drug paraphernalia , a first-degree misdemeanor.
” However , the rest of Williams ’ history suggests he was a career criminal : “ He was previously convicted of two felony offenses including burglary of an unoccupied conveyance in 2012 and felon in possession of a firearm in 2018 , in addition to five misdemeanor convictions .
Throughout the course of his criminal history , Williams has been arrested for 35 charges in total.
” Although he had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felony convictions , none of those seem to have involved violence against other people .
Williams is the only one of the 164 inmates released last month to be re-arrested so far .
However , something similar happened in Utah .
There a man released early from a halfway house and two days later he broke into a woman ’ s home , tied her up and threatened to kill her : Joshua J. Haskell , 42 , of American Fork , “ forcibly entered a home … ( and ) using a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the homeowner and tied her up with shoelaces , ” according to charging documents .
The woman told police that she was sleeping when she woke up to the sound of creaking stairs and discovered a man she had never seen before standing in her room holding a knife “ raised toward his head with the knife pointing down , ” according to a police affidavit .
“ The victim began screaming and yelling , at which point the male told her to be quiet or he was going to cut her head @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman ’ s son heard his mother ’ s screams and called 911 .
When officers arrived at the house , Haskell was still in the bedroom with the woman .
After realizing police were downstairs , Haskell got into the bed with the woman and told her to tell them he was her “ lover , ” the affidavit states .
Finally , in northern California a man named Jason Gaul who has four past convictions for stealing cars was released last Friday under a $ 0 bail order designed to prevent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jails .
He was rearrested this week trying to steal another car .
The San Joaquin County Sheriff published a video on Tuesday describing his frustration at having been forced to release Gaul , then rearrest him knowing that under the new policy he would only be released again .
After Gaul was arrested on Tuesday he was released Tuesday , you ’ ll never guess what happened next .
Yes , on Wednesday he was arrested again trying to steal yet another car : Thankfully , he ’ s going to remain @ @ @ @ @

Inmates around the world have been released because of legitimate concern that prisons and jails would be an ideal place for the coronavirus to spread. In the United States the virus spread to nearly 1,000 people at New York’s Rikers Island. Cook County Jail in Chicago has been hit even worse. So the decision to release as many prisoners as possible to reduce the density in the jails is something many state and local officials have been doing.
Last month, Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister announced the release of 164 prisoners from the county jail in response to a judicial order. Hillsborough county is located in Florida and contains the city of Tampa. The Tampa Bay Times reported on the conditions in the jails there at the time.
There are no confirmed cases of the virus among the roughly 2,700 inmates housed at the county’s two jails, on Falkenburg and Orient roads, Chronister said. The jails aren’t facing an overcrowding problem. But public health officials warn against crowds and close contact and advise practicing social isolation. Civil-rights groups have urged jails to take immediate action to shrink jail populations to reduce the risk of outbreaks. Chief among their suggestions is the release of inmates who have been arrested but not sentenced.
Unfortunately, in this case one of the inmates released that day killed someone the very next day.
Joseph Edward Williams, 26, was arrested Monday in connection with a March 20 murder in the 8000 block of Ash Avenue, according to the Sheriff’s Office. At about 10:40 p.m. that day, deputies fielded multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots. Responding deputies found a man who had been shot. Authorities took him to Tampa General Hospital, where he later died. In a news release, deputies said they did not believe the shooting was random… Williams is charged with second-degree murder, resisting an officer, being felon in possession of a firearm and possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. His bail has been set at $280,500.
For the most part, authorities have tried to release non-violent offenders. In this case, Williams had been arrested on drug charges: “Williams was booked into Orient Road Jail on March 13 for possession of heroin (less than four grams), a third-degree felony, and possession drug paraphernalia, a first-degree misdemeanor.” However, the rest of Williams’ history suggests he was a career criminal: “He was previously convicted of two felony offenses including burglary of an unoccupied conveyance in 2012 and felon in possession of a firearm in 2018, in addition to five misdemeanor convictions. Throughout the course of his criminal history, Williams has been arrested for 35 charges in total.” Although he had a long history of arrests and multiple felony convictions, none of those seem to have involved violence against other people.
Williams is the only one of the 164 inmates released last month to be re-arrested so far. However, something similar happened in Utah. There a man released early from a halfway house and two days later he broke into a woman’s home, tied her up and threatened to kill her:
Joshua J. Haskell, 42, of American Fork, “forcibly entered a home … (and) using a large, serrated knife, he threatened the homeowner and tied her up with shoelaces,” according to charging documents. The woman told police that she was sleeping when she woke up to the sound of creaking stairs and discovered a man she had never seen before standing in her room holding a knife “raised toward his head with the knife pointing down,” according to a police affidavit. “The victim began screaming and yelling, at which point the male told her to be quiet or he was going to cut her head off,” the affidavit states… The woman’s son heard his mother’s screams and called 911. When officers arrived at the house, Haskell was still in the bedroom with the woman. After realizing police were downstairs, Haskell got into the bed with the woman and told her to tell them he was her “lover,” the affidavit states.
Finally, in northern California a man named Jason Gaul who has four past convictions for stealing cars was released last Friday under a $0 bail order designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in local jails. He was rearrested this week trying to steal another car. The San Joaquin County Sheriff published a video on Tuesday describing his frustration at having been forced to release Gaul, then rearrest him knowing that under the new policy he would only be released again.
https://www.facebook.com/208695935999448/videos/153030409460793/
After Gaul was arrested on Tuesday he was released Tuesday, you’ll never guess what happened next. Yes, on Wednesday he was arrested again trying to steal yet another car:
The Stockton Police Department reports Jason Gaul was arrested Wednesday after being released Tuesday for the second time under a new COVID-19 policy. Gaul was found in a stolen vehicle and charged with grand theft of an automobile, grand theft during a state of emergency, committing a crime while released from custody on a felony and vandalism. Police say he does not qualify for a zero-bail release due to his charges.
Thankfully, he’s going to remain in jail this time.


hotair--2020-04-16--Today's hot topics on #TEMS: The Brave Sir Robin Congress, PPP-less, Whitmer empress?, FBI's due pro

Today's hot topics on #TEMS: The Brave Sir Robin Congress, PPP-less, Whitmer empress?, FBI's due process, Biden's -- and Hollywood's --#MeToo mess, and more!

Today on The Ed Morrissey Show ( 4 pm ET ) , we have another great lineup for the news of the day !
The show will be streamed on Hot Air ’ s Facebook page and embedded here and on the show page for those who are not on Facebook .
Join us as we welcome : • Duane “ Generalissimo ” Patterson brings us up to date on the week ’ s top stories and gives us a preview of tomorrow ’ s Hugh Hewitt show .
We will once again note that the Brave Sir Robin Congress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the smugness of petty tyrants in veepstakes shortlister Gretchen Whitmer .
We ’ ll also check the status of the Paycheck Protection Act on a day where the Dept of Labor announced that 5 million more Americans filed jobless claims last week .
And , of course , whatever other hot topics arise !
• How much embarrassment will Hollywood experience in championing both # MeToo and Joe Biden ?
Hollywood in Toto ’ s Christian Toto joins us to discuss the Gaga-Biden ticket , why America is obsessed with Joe Exotic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reject Hollywood ’ s take on Phyllis Schlafly .
Plus , one best-selling author is taking aim at the “ Woke Mob ” — find out who !
The Ed Morrissey Show and its dynamic chatroom can be seen on the permanent TEMS page .
Be sure to join us , and don ’ t forget to keep up with the debate on my Facebook page , too !
How can Republicans and conservatives keep winning after 2016 ?
Find out in GOING RED , published in April from Crown Forum !

Today on The Ed Morrissey Show (4 pm ET), we have another great lineup for the news of the day! The show will be streamed on Hot Air’s Facebook page and embedded here and on the show page for those who are not on Facebook.
Join us as we welcome:
Duane “Generalissimo” Patterson brings us up to date on the week’s top stories and gives us a preview of tomorrow’s Hugh Hewitt show. We will once again note that the Brave Sir Robin Congress is still turning tail, plus look at the smugness of petty tyrants in veepstakes shortlister Gretchen Whitmer. We’ll also check the status of the Paycheck Protection Act on a day where the Dept of Labor announced that 5 million more Americans filed jobless claims last week. And, of course, whatever other hot topics arise!
How much embarrassment will Hollywood experience in championing both #MeToo and Joe Biden? Hollywood in Toto’s Christian Toto joins us to discuss the Gaga-Biden ticket, why America is obsessed with Joe Exotic, and how red-pilled America is set to reject Hollywood’s take on Phyllis Schlafly. Plus, one best-selling author is taking aim at the “Woke Mob” — find out who!
The Ed Morrissey Show and its dynamic chatroom can be seen on the permanent TEMS page. Be sure to join us, and don’t forget to keep up with the debate on my Facebook page, too!
How can Republicans and conservatives keep winning after 2016? Find out in GOING RED, published in April from Crown Forum!