hotair--2020-05-14--Uh oh: FBI serves warrant on Burr over insider-trading allegations

Perhaps a few other figures on Capitol Hill should be worried as well .
Richard Burr , the Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee , found out the hard way that the Department of Justice has taken allegations of insider trading during the COVID-19 pandemic very seriously .
The Los Angeles Times reported last night that the FBI has seized Burr ’ s cell phone and other computer records as investigators scrutinize stock transactions that took place while and other members of Congress got briefed on the pandemic .
Needless to say , the decision to target Burr wouldn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ field office : Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department ’ s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S. , a law enforcement official said .
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina , the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee , turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area , the official said , speaking on condition of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The seizure represents a significant escalation in the investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work .
It turns out that the FBI had already served a warrant for Burr ’ s data , only not on Burr himself .
They went for his cellphone because they ’ d already found something in Burr ’ s iCloud account : Burr hasn ’ t commented on this development , nor has anyone else on Capitol Hill , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visit from the FBI , too .
Burr wasn ’ t the only one who had some interestingly prescient stock moves in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis .
NBC News reminds of a few names that popped up in ProPublica ’ s review of transaction records : Disclosure records also show that three other senators sold major holdings around the same time , including Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif. , Kelly Loeffler , R-Ga. , and James Inhofe , R-Okla. , according to The New York Times .
Loeffler has defended the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband ’ s knowledge or involvement.
” Her husband is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange .
A Feinstein spokesman in March said that the senator did not sell any stock and that “ the transactions you ’ re referencing were made by her spouse.
” The spokesman said all of Feinstein ’ s assets are in a blind trust , and it ’ s been that way since she came to the Senate .
If her spouse is managing the portfolio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be ?
Besides , former Rep. Christopher Collins pled guilty to an insider-trading scheme in which he passed along inside information to family members and friends .
A blind trust managed by one ’ s spouse doesn ’ t exactly provide a solid alibi .
Loeffler ’ s arrangement makes a more robust defense agains such allegations , assuming it holds up .
In fact , that scenario might exist with Burr , too .
ProPublica also noted that Burr ’ s brother-in-law also got lucky in stock market trading at the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though , the issue of insider trading involves the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue : Sen. Richard Burr ’ s brother-in-law , Gerald Fauth , dumped up to $ 280,000 in stocks on the same day Burr did , as the coronavirus began gaining a foothold in the US , ProPublica reported Wednesday .
In all , he sold between $ 97,000 and $ 280,000 in shares from six companies , including a number of stocks that were particularly hard hit when the stock market and US economy began cratering amid the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has a position on the National Mediation Board and was tapped for the post in 2017 by President Donald Trump .
Yikes .
This might serve to help Trump , however , if anyone thinks to accuse him of going after Burr for other reasons .
That ’ s not the kind of scandal Trump needs to amplify at the moment .
This raises another question , though .
Normally , this type of transgression would be handled by Congress itself .
The legislative branch has tangled with the executive-branch law enforcement agencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over corruption probes as violations of the separation-of-powers doctrine .
That tension most notably arose during the long probe into Rep. William “ Dollar Bill , ” “ Cold Cash ” Jefferson , who was found with $ 90,000 in his freezer .
What makes this different is that Congress itself passed a statute that makes such insider trading a crime rather than an ethics violation , opening the door to executive-branch-based investigation and prosecution .
That doesn ’ t mean that Congress has to cooperate , however .
In order to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to find specific information Burr received from those briefings that were not publicly known and directly related to the trades he made .
Will Congress allow the FBI to probe its deliberations to get that evidence ?
This might get spicier in the coming weeks , and Congress might have reason to quietly repeal that insider-trading bill after its first real application .

Perhaps a few other figures on Capitol Hill should be worried as well. Richard Burr, the Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, found out the hard way that the Department of Justice has taken allegations of insider trading during the COVID-19 pandemic very seriously. The Los Angeles Times reported last night that the FBI has seized Burr’s cell phone and other computer records as investigators scrutinize stock transactions that took place while and other members of Congress got briefed on the pandemic.
Needless to say, the decision to target Burr wouldn’t have come from a low-level field office:
Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a law enforcement action. The seizure represents a significant escalation in the investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work.
It turns out that the FBI had already served a warrant for Burr’s data, only not on Burr himself. They went for his cellphone because they’d already found something in Burr’s iCloud account:
A second law enforcement official said FBI agents served a warrant in recent days on Apple to obtain information from Burr’s iCloud account and said agents used data obtained from the California-based company as part of the evidence used to obtain the warrant for the senator’s phone.
Burr hasn’t commented on this development, nor has anyone else on Capitol Hill, but perhaps they should plan on getting a visit from the FBI, too. Burr wasn’t the only one who had some interestingly prescient stock moves in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis. NBC News reminds of a few names that popped up in ProPublica’s review of transaction records:
Disclosure records also show that three other senators sold major holdings around the same time, including Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., according to The New York Times. Loeffler has defended the sales and said, “investment decisions are made by multiple third-party advisors without my or my husband’s knowledge or involvement.” Her husband is chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. A Feinstein spokesman in March said that the senator did not sell any stock and that “the transactions you’re referencing were made by her spouse.” The spokesman said all of Feinstein’s assets are in a blind trust, and it’s been that way since she came to the Senate.
If her spouse is managing the portfolio, how “blind” can it be? Besides, former Rep. Christopher Collins pled guilty to an insider-trading scheme in which he passed along inside information to family members and friends. A blind trust managed by one’s spouse doesn’t exactly provide a solid alibi. Loeffler’s arrangement makes a more robust defense agains such allegations, assuming it holds up.
In fact, that scenario might exist with Burr, too. ProPublica also noted that Burr’s brother-in-law also got lucky in stock market trading at the same time Burr did. This time, though, the issue of insider trading involves the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue:
Sen. Richard Burr’s brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, dumped up to $280,000 in stocks on the same day Burr did, as the coronavirus began gaining a foothold in the US, ProPublica reported Wednesday. In all, he sold between $97,000 and $280,000 in shares from six companies, including a number of stocks that were particularly hard hit when the stock market and US economy began cratering amid the pandemic, according to ProPublica. Fauth also has a position on the National Mediation Board and was tapped for the post in 2017 by President Donald Trump.
Yikes. This might serve to help Trump, however, if anyone thinks to accuse him of going after Burr for other reasons. That’s not the kind of scandal Trump needs to amplify at the moment.
This raises another question, though. Normally, this type of transgression would be handled by Congress itself. The legislative branch has tangled with the executive-branch law enforcement agencies FBI and Department of Justice at times over corruption probes as violations of the separation-of-powers doctrine. That tension most notably arose during the long probe into Rep. William “Dollar Bill,” “Cold Cash” Jefferson, who was found with $90,000 in his freezer. What makes this different is that Congress itself passed a statute that makes such insider trading a crime rather than an ethics violation, opening the door to executive-branch-based investigation and prosecution.
That doesn’t mean that Congress has to cooperate, however. In order to make the case stick, the DoJ will have to find specific information Burr received from those briefings that were not publicly known and directly related to the trades he made. Will Congress allow the FBI to probe its deliberations to get that evidence? This might get spicier in the coming weeks, and Congress might have reason to quietly repeal that insider-trading bill after its first real application.


hotair--2020-05-14--Wisconsin Supreme Court shoots down stay-at-home order

I don ’ t know if this is going to change things on the national level , but the Wisconsin state Supreme Court has stepped in and put the brakes on the Governor ’ s latest stay at home order .
In a closely divided ruling , the court declared that the order was both unlawful and invalid , as well as being “ unenforceable.
” In their decision , the executive order was described as a “ vast seizure of power.
” But at the same time , they left the door open for a very similar rule to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the legislature is involved in crafting it .
( NBC News ) The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the state ’ s stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic as “ unlawful , invalid , and unenforceable ” after finding that the state ’ s health secretary exceeded her authority .
In a 4-3 ruling , the court called Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm ’ s directive , known as Emergency Order 28 , a “ vast seizure of power.
” The order directed all people in the state to stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residence , subject only to exceptions allowed by Palm , the ruling says .
The order , which had been set to run until May 26 , also restricted travel and business , along with threatening jail time or fines for those who don ’ t comply .
I should clarify that the stay at home order was technically issued by the Wisconsin Health Services Secretary , but you know it wouldn ’ t have happened without a thumbs up from Governor Tony Evers .
So in that sense , it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ruling was far from unanimous .
Justice Rebecca Dallet dissented , claiming that her conservative colleagues on the bench were the ones who were overreaching , saying that the majority ruling was “ one of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court ’ s history.
” I ’ ll confess that I find this ruling both surprising and confusing .
While I ’ m gratified to see the courts ( any court , really ) exercising some level of restraint on executive authority during a time of crisis , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unanswered questions .
On the plus side , calling for the legislature to get involved in the process is a very hopeful sign .
If you ’ re going to temporarily curtail the rights of your citizens regarding freedom of movement and assembly , a far better approach is to pass an actual law rather than having one person dictate the rules .
But with that said , the court ’ s ruling clearly says that they are not trying to “ undermine the executive authority ” of Governor Evers .
Really ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ exactly what they are doing .
This may still wind up being a good thing , but the wording is confusing at best .
Also , the door has been left open for virtually the same stay at home order to be put in place if the legislature goes along with it .
If the Health Services Secretary ’ s order was so far out of bounds , how would the same directive suddenly become lawful , valid and enforceable if it received the rubber stamp of the legislature ?
Finally , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or should be appealed to the Supreme Court just to get some sort of definitive guidelines on the books .
Other states have issued very similar , if not even more severe stay at home orders without so much as a peep of protest out of their courts .
( Gretchen Whitmer comes to mind immediately . )
As we ’ ve noted here frequently , the courts in the United States have traditionally granted executives wide latitude in terms of executive powers during a declared state of emergency .
The Wisconsin Supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an outlier in this regard .

I don’t know if this is going to change things on the national level, but the Wisconsin state Supreme Court has stepped in and put the brakes on the Governor’s latest stay at home order. In a closely divided ruling, the court declared that the order was both unlawful and invalid, as well as being “unenforceable.” In their decision, the executive order was described as a “vast seizure of power.” But at the same time, they left the door open for a very similar rule to be put in place, but only if the legislature is involved in crafting it. (NBC News)
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the state’s stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic as “unlawful, invalid, and unenforceable” after finding that the state’s health secretary exceeded her authority. In a 4-3 ruling, the court called Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm’s directive, known as Emergency Order 28, a “vast seizure of power.” The order directed all people in the state to stay at home or at their places of residence, subject only to exceptions allowed by Palm, the ruling says. The order, which had been set to run until May 26, also restricted travel and business, along with threatening jail time or fines for those who don’t comply.
I should clarify that the stay at home order was technically issued by the Wisconsin Health Services Secretary, but you know it wouldn’t have happened without a thumbs up from Governor Tony Evers. So in that sense, it’s still an “executive order.”
The ruling was far from unanimous. Justice Rebecca Dallet dissented, claiming that her conservative colleagues on the bench were the ones who were overreaching, saying that the majority ruling was “one of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court’s history.”
I’ll confess that I find this ruling both surprising and confusing. While I’m gratified to see the courts (any court, really) exercising some level of restraint on executive authority during a time of crisis, the way this is being done leaves several unanswered questions. On the plus side, calling for the legislature to get involved in the process is a very hopeful sign. If you’re going to temporarily curtail the rights of your citizens regarding freedom of movement and assembly, a far better approach is to pass an actual law rather than having one person dictate the rules.
But with that said, the court’s ruling clearly says that they are not trying to “undermine the executive authority” of Governor Evers. Really? It sounds as if that’s exactly what they are doing. This may still wind up being a good thing, but the wording is confusing at best.
Also, the door has been left open for virtually the same stay at home order to be put in place if the legislature goes along with it. If the Health Services Secretary’s order was so far out of bounds, how would the same directive suddenly become lawful, valid and enforceable if it received the rubber stamp of the legislature?
Finally, I find myself wondering if this decision could or should be appealed to the Supreme Court just to get some sort of definitive guidelines on the books. Other states have issued very similar, if not even more severe stay at home orders without so much as a peep of protest out of their courts. (Gretchen Whitmer comes to mind immediately.) As we’ve noted here frequently, the courts in the United States have traditionally granted executives wide latitude in terms of executive powers during a declared state of emergency. The Wisconsin Supreme Court seems to be a bit of an outlier in this regard.


hotair--2020-05-14--Joe Rogan: If California continues to be this restrictive, I might have to move to Texas

Like I said a few days ago after Los Angeles County decided to lock down through July ( ! )
, “ If you ’ re one of the many Californians who ’ ve grown tired of the tax burden and cost of living , an indefinite lockdown might be the last little bit of motivation you need to finally pack up and go.
” Isn ’ t Rogan a Berniebro , though ?
How ’ s he going to fit in in Texas ?
Trump should probably wall off California before there ’ s a mass exodus to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among them , that finally flips them to blue .
Watch , then read on .
Some people groused at me following the post about L.A. that I had changed my tune after weeks of skepticism of the “ reopen now ” push .
But I didn ’ t .
Here ’ s what I said last week amid a long rant about the risk that reopening too quickly will tank the economy even worse than it is now : “ I ’ m fine with ending lockdowns sooner rather than later because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ data I ’ ve seen in reading over the last few weeks that lockdowns don ’ t matter much to people ’ s behavior .
Americans were self-isolating in March before most stay-at-home orders were issued .
As long as people are being given honest , accurate daily information about the state of the epidemic I ’ m okay with experimenting by opening businesses back up and having the public act in accordance with its own level of collective risk tolerance.
” If you want to reopen , reopen .
My worry isn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s that consumers will be misled by the fact that businesses are operating into believing that conditions are safer than they actually are .
We ’ re not going to BS people into thinking they ’ re not at risk because we ’ re afraid they won ’ t patronize the local pizza joint if they know the truth .
Case in point : Rogan ’ s talking up a state that ’ s in the process of gradually reopening even though it *might* be trending towards a nasty outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you should be aware of the number of new cases and deaths and act according to your comfort level in visiting those newly reopened businesses .
I said last week , and I ’ ll say it again here , that the vibe I get from some of the “ reopen now ” group isn ’ t so much that we need to reopen now as that we need to reopen and then say and do whatever it takes to keep people marching into retail shops and restaurants , potentially up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We won ’ t be able to keep the economy afloat if consumers are very reasonably afraid of commercial activity .
Ideally we ’ d reopen when it ’ s “ safe , ” i.e .
when we ’ ve built out the capacity we need to detect new outbreaks early and snuff them out .
More testing , more tracing of contacts .
“ Reopen now ” has nothing to say about capacity .
But by the same token , neither does “ reopen at the end of July , ” as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t understand the arbitrary timeline of “ reopen now ” and I don ’ t understand the arbitrary timeline of what California wants to do .
How about “ reopen when we think we have the ability to douse any new viral wildfires once they start burning ” ?
Anyway .
There continue to be signs of national improvement , strengthening the case for reopening sooner rather than later : I ’ m not sure why , or even whether , there ’ s still a debate over reopening .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in motion in all but the very bluest states , whatever the local case and death counts may be .
Even some of the very bluest states are reopening .
Check out Massachusetts , which has been hit hard by the virus .
Health policy professor Marty Makary published an op-ed today chock full of common-sense ideas on how to slow the spread and keep it slow as commerce resumes .
Do as much as possible outdoors .
Keep businesses hygienic , with surfaces sanitized frequently and everyone on the premises separated as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ send infected people back into nursing homes , for cripes sake .
Have the most at-risk members of society stay home as much as possible .
And of course , wear a mask .
If we can ’ t wait for testing and contact tracing to ramp up before reopening , we can minimize the risk of contagion through insistence on basic precautions .

Like I said a few days ago after Los Angeles County decided to lock down through July(!), “If you’re one of the many Californians who’ve grown tired of the tax burden and cost of living, an indefinite lockdown might be the last little bit of motivation you need to finally pack up and go.”
Isn’t Rogan a Berniebro, though? How’s he going to fit in in Texas?
Austin or bust, I guess.
Trump should probably wall off California before there’s a mass exodus to a bunch of reddish-purple states, Texas foremost among them, that finally flips them to blue. Watch, then read on.
Some people groused at me following the post about L.A. that I had changed my tune after weeks of skepticism of the “reopen now” push. But I didn’t. Here’s what I said last week amid a long rant about the risk that reopening too quickly will tank the economy even worse than it is now: “I’m fine with ending lockdowns sooner rather than later because I’ve been persuaded by the data I’ve seen in reading over the last few weeks that lockdowns don’t matter much to people’s behavior. Americans were self-isolating in March before most stay-at-home orders were issued. As long as people are being given honest, accurate daily information about the state of the epidemic I’m okay with experimenting by opening businesses back up and having the public act in accordance with its own level of collective risk tolerance.”
If you want to reopen, reopen. My worry isn’t that businesses will be operating, it’s that consumers will be misled by the fact that businesses are operating into believing that conditions are safer than they actually are. We’re not going to BS people into thinking they’re not at risk because we’re afraid they won’t patronize the local pizza joint if they know the truth. Case in point:
BREAKING: Texas officials report 58 new deaths since yesterday – single largest death toll in one day since this started. We have had 116 deaths over three days. Worst three day total this month. — Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) May 14, 2020
Rogan’s talking up a state that’s in the process of gradually reopening even though it *might* be trending towards a nasty outbreak. If you’re a Texan, you should be aware of the number of new cases and deaths and act according to your comfort level in visiting those newly reopened businesses. I said last week, and I’ll say it again here, that the vibe I get from some of the “reopen now” group isn’t so much that we need to reopen now as that we need to reopen and then say and do whatever it takes to keep people marching into retail shops and restaurants, potentially up to and including suppressing public health information. We won’t be able to keep the economy afloat if consumers are very reasonably afraid of commercial activity.
Ideally we’d reopen when it’s “safe,” i.e. when we’ve built out the capacity we need to detect new outbreaks early and snuff them out. More testing, more tracing of contacts. “Reopen now” has nothing to say about capacity. But by the same token, neither does “reopen at the end of July,” as L.A. officials want to do. I don’t understand the arbitrary timeline of “reopen now” and I don’t understand the arbitrary timeline of what California wants to do. How about “reopen when we think we have the ability to douse any new viral wildfires once they start burning”?
Anyway. There continue to be signs of national improvement, strengthening the case for reopening sooner rather than later:
We're seeing a sustained decline in #Covid19 deaths nationally, another indication that the U.S. epidemic is slowing. pic.twitter.com/b1aE6ZQEs0 — Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) May 14, 2020
About 6.5% of Americans tested for Covid-19 are now testing positive, per the Johns Hopkins coronavirus testing hub, a new low. (The World Health Organization has recommended that nations have a positivity rate of 10% or less, as sign of adequate tests.) https://t.co/7UyqSzX5v7 pic.twitter.com/sS0QECFffS — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 14, 2020
I’m not sure why, or even whether, there’s still a debate over reopening. It’s happening. It’s in motion in all but the very bluest states, whatever the local case and death counts may be.
Even some of the very bluest states are reopening. Check out Massachusetts, which has been hit hard by the virus.
Health policy professor Marty Makary published an op-ed today chock full of common-sense ideas on how to slow the spread and keep it slow as commerce resumes. Do as much as possible outdoors. Keep businesses hygienic, with surfaces sanitized frequently and everyone on the premises separated as much as possible. Don’t send infected people back into nursing homes, for cripes sake. Have the most at-risk members of society stay home as much as possible. And of course, wear a mask. If we can’t wait for testing and contact tracing to ramp up before reopening, we can minimize the risk of contagion through insistence on basic precautions.


hotair--2020-05-14--Here is how your next Uber ride will be different

The next time you use Uber as transportation , your ride will likely be different than in the past .
The coronavirus pandemic delivered a wallop to the rideshare market and adjustments are being made now that America is slowly reopening .
Starting Monday , drivers and riders will be required to wear face masks .
At this point in the mitigation process , that should not be a surprise .
There is no getting around the face mask requirement for drivers – they must take a selfie to prove they are wearing a face mask before accepting a booking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries that Uber services , not just the United States .
Uber is also available in Canada , India , and most of Europe and Latin America .
The face mask requirement doesn ’ t apply to the U.K. , though , oddly enough , given it is so hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic .
Riders don ’ t have to prove the use of a face mask but they must ride in the back seat .
Don ’ t most people already hop in the back seat ?
Maybe this addresses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The company recommends no more than three passengers for its standard Uber X service .
Before the new requirements , four passengers were allowed .
Besides confirming that they are wearing a face mask , passengers must confirm they have washed their hands .
Drivers must also confirm that they don ’ t have COVID-19 symptoms .
Once Uber has verified that the user has taken the necessary safety steps , it will let the rider know in the app .
Drivers not wearing a mask will not be allowed to go online @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to keep the windows open for ventilation .
I understand the idea behind this requirement .
In tight spaces like an automobile that may have several passengers , air circulation is important .
Air systems may be a factor in spreading around the coronavirus .
But , speaking as someone who lives on the Gulf coast , an air-conditioner going full blast in a car is a necessity for most of us during ten out of 12 months a year .
Uber is investing in supplies for its drivers like other companies are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
The San Francisco-based company , which has been heavily affected by shelter-in-place measures worldwide , will also invest $ 50 million to distribute supplies such as masks , hand sanitizer and disinfectant to drivers and couriers .
Uber is partnering with Clorox in the U.S. and Unilever in Europe to provide the supplies .
“ Keeping everyone safe means that everyone must take proper precautions , not only to protect yourselves , but to protect your driver and protect the next person who may be getting into the car after , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday over a Zoom call .
Drivers and riders will both have the ability to cancel a trip if either of them aren ’ t wearing a face covering .
Uber said it has already acquired 20 million masks and distributed 5 million of them to drivers .
“ Self-certification is good but sometimes verification is really important , ” Sachin Kansal , senior director of product management at Uber , said on the call .
“ It is one thing for us to issue guidelines and requirements , but sometimes we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and its competitor , Lyft , have received pressure to provide paid sick leave for drivers during the pandemic .
Both companies have also been targeted with lawsuits over classifying their drivers as contractors .
Recently Uber announced it would lay off 14 % of its workforce .
The company also had a huge loss of $ 2.9 billion in the first quarter .
Will the new guidelines give passengers a sense of safety against coming in contact with the coronavirus ?
The precautions sound like common sense actions but what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passenger to take off the face mask after the confirmations are completed ?
And confirming hand washing ?
How is that done other than a passenger saying handwashing was completed ?
Other than obvious signs of dirt on hands , it ’ s just the passenger ’ s word , right ?
This only works if everyone cooperates .

The next time you use Uber as transportation, your ride will likely be different than in the past. The coronavirus pandemic delivered a wallop to the rideshare market and adjustments are being made now that America is slowly reopening.
Starting Monday, drivers and riders will be required to wear face masks. At this point in the mitigation process, that should not be a surprise. There is no getting around the face mask requirement for drivers – they must take a selfie to prove they are wearing a face mask before accepting a booking. This is a requirement in all countries that Uber services, not just the United States. Uber is also available in Canada, India, and most of Europe and Latin America. The face mask requirement doesn’t apply to the U.K., though, oddly enough, given it is so hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Riders don’t have to prove the use of a face mask but they must ride in the back seat. Don’t most people already hop in the back seat? Maybe this addresses a capacity restriction in the vehicle. The company recommends no more than three passengers for its standard Uber X service. Before the new requirements, four passengers were allowed. Besides confirming that they are wearing a face mask, passengers must confirm they have washed their hands.
Drivers must also confirm that they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms. Once Uber has verified that the user has taken the necessary safety steps, it will let the rider know in the app. Drivers not wearing a mask will not be allowed to go online to start work.
Passengers must agree to keep the windows open for ventilation. I understand the idea behind this requirement. In tight spaces like an automobile that may have several passengers, air circulation is important. Air systems may be a factor in spreading around the coronavirus. But, speaking as someone who lives on the Gulf coast, an air-conditioner going full blast in a car is a necessity for most of us during ten out of 12 months a year.
Uber is investing in supplies for its drivers like other companies are finding it necessary to do during the pandemic.
The San Francisco-based company, which has been heavily affected by shelter-in-place measures worldwide, will also invest $50 million to distribute supplies such as masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant to drivers and couriers. Uber is partnering with Clorox in the U.S. and Unilever in Europe to provide the supplies. “Keeping everyone safe means that everyone must take proper precautions, not only to protect yourselves, but to protect your driver and protect the next person who may be getting into the car after,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told reporters Wednesday over a Zoom call. Drivers and riders will both have the ability to cancel a trip if either of them aren’t wearing a face covering. Uber said it has already acquired 20 million masks and distributed 5 million of them to drivers. “Self-certification is good but sometimes verification is really important,” Sachin Kansal, senior director of product management at Uber, said on the call. “It is one thing for us to issue guidelines and requirements, but sometimes we have to enforce those requirements.”
Both Uber and its competitor, Lyft, have received pressure to provide paid sick leave for drivers during the pandemic. Both companies have also been targeted with lawsuits over classifying their drivers as contractors. Recently Uber announced it would lay off 14% of its workforce. The company also had a huge loss of $2.9 billion in the first quarter.
Will the new guidelines give passengers a sense of safety against coming in contact with the coronavirus? The precautions sound like common sense actions but what’s to stop either a driver or a passenger to take off the face mask after the confirmations are completed? And confirming hand washing? How is that done other than a passenger saying handwashing was completed? Other than obvious signs of dirt on hands, it’s just the passenger’s word, right? This only works if everyone cooperates.


hotair--2020-05-14--Leaked database of coronavirus outbreaks from Chinese military university has 640,000 "updates"

This piece is two days old yet somehow I didn ’ t see a word about it in big media or social media until the New York Post picked it up late this afternoon .
I can sort of understand why .
Foreign Policy , the site that obtained the database , is a respected publication but their write-up of the results is frustrating in its vagueness .
The document clearly includes case counts ( “ one case of coronavirus in a KFC in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on March 14 , for example , while a church in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two cases on March 17 ” ) but FP doesn ’ t offer any grand totals .
I can only assume that ’ s because the format of the database somehow doesn ’ t easily allow for tallying .
Maybe it ’ s a scan of a print document .
Or maybe it ’ s a spreadsheet and each entry is a combination of text and numbers , not a pure numeric amount listed in a single column that can be summed with a simple function .
Look at it this way , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ claims 80,000+ confirmed cases .
If each “ update ” in the database reflects *at least* one new confirmed case , then we ’ re talking about a lot more than 80,000 .
A dataset of coronavirus cases and deaths from the military ’ s National University of Defense Technology , leaked to Foreign Policy , offers insight into how Beijing has gathered coronavirus data on its population .
The source of the leak , who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of sharing Chinese military data , said that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school publishes a data tracker for the coronavirus : The online version matches with the leaked information , except it is far less detailed—it shows just the map of cases , not the distinct data… While not fully comprehensive , the data is incredibly rich : There are more than 640,000 updates of information , covering at least 230 cities—in other words , 640,000 rows purporting to show the number of cases in a specific location at the time the data was gathered .
Each update includes the latitude , longitude , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the location , for dates ranging from early February to late April… The data reviewed by Foreign Policy includes hospital locations , but it also includes place names corresponding to apartment compounds , hotels , supermarkets , railway stations , restaurants , and schools across the breadth of the country .
The dataset reports one case of coronavirus in a KFC in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on March 14 , for example , while a church in the northeastern provincial capital of Harbin saw two cases on March 17 .
( The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the individuals who contracted or died from the disease , and the reports of the cases in the dataset could not be independently verified . )
That ’ s 640,000 “ updates ” minus everything that happened in Wuhan in January , when the epidemic exploded .
The database does apparently include some information on “ recovered ” patients in Wuhan , but as noted in the excerpt , the earliest information in it is from early February , not January .
FP notes that the data set does include certain unspecified “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comprehensive enough to contradict Beijing ’ s official numbers.
” Could it be disinformation , propaganda fabricated by some entity that ’ s hostile to China with phony numbers added to the public data tracker described in the excerpt ?
In that case you ’ d think that it would have been leaked to a more prominent outlet than FP ( although it ’ s possible that it was , and that those outlets rejected it as suspicious ) and/or that there ’ d be a clearer total count of deaths and confirmed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Needless to say , 640,000 separate entries is a lot of work to undertake to falsify a document .
If you wanted to fool western media into believing there are , say , 500,000 Chinese dead , you could achieve that much more quickly by forging some sort of internal communique within the bureaucracy highlighting that number .
It ’ s also possible that each individual confirmed patient is the subject of multiple updates , in which case there may be far fewer patients than 640,000 .
E.g.
, Patient 1 gets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then another when they ’ re sent to centralized quarantine , then another when their case worsens , then another when they ’ re hospitalized , and so on .
Another thought : How likely is it that a document this sensitive would leak to westerners , potentially exploding China ’ s months of lies about the state of its epidemic ?
It ’ s not inconceivable ; embarrassing Chinese secrets do leak from time to time .
But this information would be very closely held .
On the other hand , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other nations last year .
And this leak to FP happens to have come at the very moment that China is reportedly trying to hack U.S. companies to steal information on COVID-19 vaccine research .
Maybe the database was swiped by U.S. military hackers and handed over to FP as a way to punish China for that .
Although again , in that case , why FP instead of the Times or the Washington Post or the WSJ ?
Speaking of conflict between the U.S. and China , there ’ s a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Chinese leaderships .
We haven ’ t paid much attention to it on the site but we probably should given the potential implications .
News broke just within the last few hours : That ’ s the tip of the iceberg .
Senate Republicans are planning to move a bill that would impose heavy sanctions on Chinese officials who covered up information about the initial outbreak in Wuhan in January .
A few days ago Trump ordered the government to divest federal retirement funds from Chinese equities , and told Fox Business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good relationship with Xi Jinping he doesn ’ t want to talk to him right now and could conceivably cut off the entire U.S. relationship with China if it came to that .
The Chinese , meanwhile , are warning that they plan to take punitive measures against certain members of Congress , potentially with consequences for November ’ s elections .
If this cold war turns hot , will we win ?
Well , no , probably not .
When do we ever rise to meet any great challenge anymore ?
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wear masks to tamp down a killer plague , for cripes sake .
Exit quotation from David Ignatius , assessing how an initial confrontation between the U.S. and Chinese militaries is likely to go : “ Our spy and communications satellites would immediately be disabled ; our forward bases in Guam and Japan would be ‘ inundated ’ by precise missiles ; our aircraft carriers would have to sail away from China to escape attack ; our F-35 fighter jets couldn ’ t reach their targets because the refueling tankers they need @ @ @ @ @ @

This piece is two days old yet somehow I didn’t see a word about it in big media or social media until the New York Post picked it up late this afternoon.
I can sort of understand why. Foreign Policy, the site that obtained the database, is a respected publication but their write-up of the results is frustrating in its vagueness. The document clearly includes case counts (“one case of coronavirus in a KFC in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on March 14, for example, while a church in the northeastern provincial capital of Harbin saw two cases on March 17”) but FP doesn’t offer any grand totals. I can only assume that’s because the format of the database somehow doesn’t easily allow for tallying. Maybe it’s a scan of a print document. Or maybe it’s a spreadsheet and each entry is a combination of text and numbers, not a pure numeric amount listed in a single column that can be summed with a simple function.
Look at it this way, though. The official Chinese coronavirus data claims 80,000+ confirmed cases. If each “update” in the database reflects *at least* one new confirmed case, then we’re talking about a lot more than 80,000.
A lot lot.
A dataset of coronavirus cases and deaths from the military’s National University of Defense Technology, leaked to Foreign Policy, offers insight into how Beijing has gathered coronavirus data on its population. The source of the leak, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of sharing Chinese military data, said that the data came from the university. The school publishes a data tracker for the coronavirus: The online version matches with the leaked information, except it is far less detailed—it shows just the map of cases, not the distinct data… While not fully comprehensive, the data is incredibly rich: There are more than 640,000 updates of information, covering at least 230 cities—in other words, 640,000 rows purporting to show the number of cases in a specific location at the time the data was gathered. Each update includes the latitude, longitude, and “confirmed” number of cases at the location, for dates ranging from early February to late April… The data reviewed by Foreign Policy includes hospital locations, but it also includes place names corresponding to apartment compounds, hotels, supermarkets, railway stations, restaurants, and schools across the breadth of the country. The dataset reports one case of coronavirus in a KFC in the eastern city of Zhenjiang on March 14, for example, while a church in the northeastern provincial capital of Harbin saw two cases on March 17. (The data does not include the names of the individuals who contracted or died from the disease, and the reports of the cases in the dataset could not be independently verified.)
That’s 640,000 “updates” minus everything that happened in Wuhan in January, when the epidemic exploded. The database does apparently include some information on “recovered” patients in Wuhan, but as noted in the excerpt, the earliest information in it is from early February, not January.
FP notes that the data set does include certain unspecified “inconsistencies” and “may not be comprehensive enough to contradict Beijing’s official numbers.” Could it be disinformation, propaganda fabricated by some entity that’s hostile to China with phony numbers added to the public data tracker described in the excerpt? In that case you’d think that it would have been leaked to a more prominent outlet than FP (although it’s possible that it was, and that those outlets rejected it as suspicious) and/or that there’d be a clearer total count of deaths and confirmed cases to make things easy on reporters. Needless to say, 640,000 separate entries is a lot of work to undertake to falsify a document. If you wanted to fool western media into believing there are, say, 500,000 Chinese dead, you could achieve that much more quickly by forging some sort of internal communique within the bureaucracy highlighting that number.
It’s also possible that each individual confirmed patient is the subject of multiple updates, in which case there may be far fewer patients than 640,000. E.g., Patient 1 gets an update after they test positive, then another when they’re sent to centralized quarantine, then another when their case worsens, then another when they’re hospitalized, and so on.
Another thought: How likely is it that a document this sensitive would leak to westerners, potentially exploding China’s months of lies about the state of its epidemic? It’s not inconceivable; embarrassing Chinese secrets do leak from time to time. But this information would be very closely held. On the other hand, Trump authorized U.S. cyber offensives against China and other nations last year. And this leak to FP happens to have come at the very moment that China is reportedly trying to hack U.S. companies to steal information on COVID-19 vaccine research. Maybe the database was swiped by U.S. military hackers and handed over to FP as a way to punish China for that.
Although again, in that case, why FP instead of the Times or the Washington Post or the WSJ?
Speaking of conflict between the U.S. and China, there’s a lot of antagonism right now between the American and Chinese leaderships. We haven’t paid much attention to it on the site but we probably should given the potential implications. News broke just within the last few hours:
The Senate just now approved a bill to sanction Chinese government officials responsible for internment camps in Xinjiang, where up to two million ethnic Muslims have been forcibly detained. — Haley Byrd Wilt (@byrdinator) May 14, 2020
That’s the tip of the iceberg. Senate Republicans are planning to move a bill that would impose heavy sanctions on Chinese officials who covered up information about the initial outbreak in Wuhan in January. A few days ago Trump ordered the government to divest federal retirement funds from Chinese equities, and told Fox Business this morning that although he has a good relationship with Xi Jinping he doesn’t want to talk to him right now and could conceivably cut off the entire U.S. relationship with China if it came to that. The Chinese, meanwhile, are warning that they plan to take punitive measures against certain members of Congress, potentially with consequences for November’s elections.
If this cold war turns hot, will we win? Well, no, probably not. When do we ever rise to meet any great challenge anymore? We can’t even get some people to wear masks to tamp down a killer plague, for cripes sake. Exit quotation from David Ignatius, assessing how an initial confrontation between the U.S. and Chinese militaries is likely to go: “Our spy and communications satellites would immediately be disabled; our forward bases in Guam and Japan would be ‘inundated’ by precise missiles; our aircraft carriers would have to sail away from China to escape attack; our F-35 fighter jets couldn’t reach their targets because the refueling tankers they need would be shot down.”


hotair--2020-05-15--"Aggrieved" Tara Reade acquaintances: She was manipulative -- and she spoke favorably of Biden

One way or another , it feels like the Reade saga will be a watershed for # MeToo .
Either it ’ ll wreck liberals ’ feminist credibility for prioritizing partisan interests over justice for sexual assault victims or it ’ ll damage accusers ’ collective credibility because Reade ’ s allegations fell apart .
“ Believe All Women ” is taking a major hit either way .
Or both ways , actually .
Even if Reade is discredited , the wave of “ I can overlook Joe ’ s sexual battery ” pieces from Democrats to this point revealed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when they have political skin in the game .
You should read this new Politico piece in full rather than rely on me to describe it to you , as there ’ s lots of detail .
I ’ ll tell you up front that there ’ s no smoking gun in it that Reade ’ s lying about Biden .
It ’ s a character analysis based on people who ’ ve known her personally , mainly people who rented property to her and now hold grudges about how she handled her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a chronic deadbeat on paying her rent , with Politico alleging a “ pattern ” to her behavior : “ Reade ingratiated herself , explained she was down on her luck and needed help , and eventually took advantage of their goodwill to extract money , skip rent payments or walk out on other bills.
” No fewer than five peopled interviewed claimed she told them “ positive ” things about her time in Joe Biden ’ s office .
At least three claim to have been misled by her in different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ deceitful ” and another as a “ liar.
” ( One , who claims Reade damaged a property he rented to her , describes himself as one of several “ Alexandra/Tara survivors , ” a reference to another name used by Reade . )
The impression you ’ re left with is that she ’ s untrustworthy .
Untrustworthy enough to invent a story about a sexual assault committed by a presidential candidate ?
Read it yourself and draw your own conclusion .
But also be sure to read this post from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PBS about details in Reade ’ s Biden story that don ’ t add up .
There ’ s no location in the Russell Senate building that matches her description of where the assault happened ; another Biden staffer claims she was fired because her performance on the job was poor ; other Biden staffers told PBS they don ’ t recall any Biden fundraisers held in D.C. , contradicting Reade ’ s claim that she was asked by Biden to serve drinks at one .
Reade ’ s lawyer accused Politico of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assassination that victims of sexual assault who accuse prominent men have faced forever , which ends up discouraging # MeToo victims from coming forward .
And he made a fair point in reminding them that some of Harvey Weinstein ’ s victims had “ positive ” things to say about him too in the years after they were allegedly assaulted .
One of Reade ’ s former landlords said she spoke of Biden in the context of “ I can get my life together , I worked for Joe Biden .
I had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that capacity , ” which might explain why she never mentioned an assault by him .
It sounds like she was desperate for a chance and took to name-dropping Biden to impress them .
There ’ s also the small matter of how Politico came into contact with all of these people .
Did Biden ’ s campaign reach out to them first and put them in touch ?
How many of the people interviewed are supporting Biden over Trump this fall ?
Here ’ s a noteworthy passage describing how another former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , interacted with Reade .
Klett claims she cut Reade a break on rent and even lent her her old law books to help her study for the bar .
In return , she says , Reade skipped out on the reduced rent , never returned the books , and ended up asking her for money repeatedly even after she was asked to leave .
Then , last year , Reade called her again .
Reade called Klett in 2019 after first publicly lodging allegations that Biden inappropriately touched her .
At the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of an assault .
“ I felt two things when she contacted me : that she was feeling me out to see if I would represent her pro bono .
And there was a sense that she was trying to plant a story with me , so she could later say : ‘ I told the story to this attorney I worked with , ’ ” Klett said .
“ I support women who have been assaulted .
Unfortunately , I can not support Tara Reade , ” she said .
“ When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she could not provide enough credible information .
And since that time the story has evolved in the media .
I question her motives.
” That bit about planting a story reminded me of a passage from Vox ’ s recent story about Reade .
Reporter Laura McGann was researching Reade ’ s story last year and Reade put her in touch with an unnamed friend who supposedly could corroborate her account of what happened with Biden — sort of .
Here ’ s what the friend told McGann in 2019 : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , McGann went back to the friend and asked her about the discrepancy : Did the friend lie to McGann in 2019 or is she lying to her now ?
What sort of details did Reade disclose to her friend for the first time in the “ many conversations ” they had in 2019 , coincidentally the same year Klett got the impression that Reade was trying to “ plant a story ” with her ?
One point shouldn ’ t be lost amid all of this , though : If I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no evidence that Reade has tried to monetize her story about Biden .
She ’ s not shopping a book , is she ?
She didn ’ t go to the tabloids and try to cash in there .
The takeaway from the Politico story is that she was desperate for cash during the period when she was alienating her former landlords , which would conceivably provided a motive for her to smear Biden now .
But that motive is lacking .
So if she ’ s lying about him , why ?

One way or another, it feels like the Reade saga will be a watershed for #MeToo.
Either it’ll wreck liberals’ feminist credibility for prioritizing partisan interests over justice for sexual assault victims or it’ll damage accusers’ collective credibility because Reade’s allegations fell apart.
“Believe All Women” is taking a major hit either way.
Or both ways, actually. Even if Reade is discredited, the wave of “I can overlook Joe’s sexual battery” pieces from Democrats to this point revealed just how seriously they take sexual violence when they have political skin in the game.
You should read this new Politico piece in full rather than rely on me to describe it to you, as there’s lots of detail. I’ll tell you up front that there’s no smoking gun in it that Reade’s lying about Biden. It’s a character analysis based on people who’ve known her personally, mainly people who rented property to her and now hold grudges about how she handled her obligations to them. Supposedly she’s a chronic deadbeat on paying her rent, with Politico alleging a “pattern” to her behavior: “Reade ingratiated herself, explained she was down on her luck and needed help, and eventually took advantage of their goodwill to extract money, skip rent payments or walk out on other bills.”
No fewer than five peopled interviewed claimed she told them “positive” things about her time in Joe Biden’s office.
At least three claim to have been misled by her in different ways, with one describing her as “deceitful” and another as a “liar.” (One, who claims Reade damaged a property he rented to her, describes himself as one of several “Alexandra/Tara survivors,” a reference to another name used by Reade.) The impression you’re left with is that she’s untrustworthy. Untrustworthy enough to invent a story about a sexual assault committed by a presidential candidate? Read it yourself and draw your own conclusion. But also be sure to read this post from this morning citing an extensive report from PBS about details in Reade’s Biden story that don’t add up. There’s no location in the Russell Senate building that matches her description of where the assault happened; another Biden staffer claims she was fired because her performance on the job was poor; other Biden staffers told PBS they don’t recall any Biden fundraisers held in D.C., contradicting Reade’s claim that she was asked by Biden to serve drinks at one.
Reade’s lawyer accused Politico of engaging in the same ol’ character assassination that victims of sexual assault who accuse prominent men have faced forever, which ends up discouraging #MeToo victims from coming forward. And he made a fair point in reminding them that some of Harvey Weinstein’s victims had “positive” things to say about him too in the years after they were allegedly assaulted. One of Reade’s former landlords said she spoke of Biden in the context of “I can get my life together, I worked for Joe Biden. I had a really high-level job. I have that capacity,” which might explain why she never mentioned an assault by him. It sounds like she was desperate for a chance and took to name-dropping Biden to impress them.
There’s also the small matter of how Politico came into contact with all of these people. Did Biden’s campaign reach out to them first and put them in touch? How many of the people interviewed are supporting Biden over Trump this fall?
Here’s a noteworthy passage describing how another former landlord, an attorney named Kelly Klett, interacted with Reade. Klett claims she cut Reade a break on rent and even lent her her old law books to help her study for the bar. In return, she says, Reade skipped out on the reduced rent, never returned the books, and ended up asking her for money repeatedly even after she was asked to leave. Then, last year, Reade called her again.
Reade called Klett in 2019 after first publicly lodging allegations that Biden inappropriately touched her. At the time, Reade did not share details of an assault. “I felt two things when she contacted me: that she was feeling me out to see if I would represent her pro bono. And there was a sense that she was trying to plant a story with me, so she could later say: ‘I told the story to this attorney I worked with,’” Klett said. “I support women who have been assaulted. Unfortunately, I cannot support Tara Reade,” she said. “When she first contacted me regarding this issue, she could not provide enough credible information. And since that time the story has evolved in the media. I question her motives.”
That bit about planting a story reminded me of a passage from Vox’s recent story about Reade. Reporter Laura McGann was researching Reade’s story last year and Reade put her in touch with an unnamed friend who supposedly could corroborate her account of what happened with Biden — sort of. Here’s what the friend told McGann in 2019:
“On the scale of other things we heard, and I feel ashamed, but it wasn’t that bad. [Biden] never tried to kiss her directly. He never went for one of those touches. It was one of those, ‘sorry you took it that way.’ I know that is very hard to explain,” the friend told me. She went on: “What was creepy was that it was always in front of people.”
After Reade accused Biden of sexual assault, McGann went back to the friend and asked her about the discrepancy:
I spoke with Reade’s friend again this week. She said that Reade had told her about the alleged assault the week it happened in 1993. I asked the friend why, then, did she volunteer so explicitly that Biden “never tried to kiss her” or touch her inappropriately. “It just organically rolled out that way,” the friend said. “[Reade] and I had many conversations a year ago about what her degree of comfort was. She wanted to leave a layer there, and I did not want to betray that. It just wasn’t my place.”
Did the friend lie to McGann in 2019 or is she lying to her now? What sort of details did Reade disclose to her friend for the first time in the “many conversations” they had in 2019, coincidentally the same year Klett got the impression that Reade was trying to “plant a story” with her?
One point shouldn’t be lost amid all of this, though: If I’m not mistaken, there’s no evidence that Reade has tried to monetize her story about Biden. She’s not shopping a book, is she? She didn’t go to the tabloids and try to cash in there. The takeaway from the Politico story is that she was desperate for cash during the period when she was alienating her former landlords, which would conceivably provided a motive for her to smear Biden now. But that motive is lacking. So if she’s lying about him, why?


hotair--2020-05-15--Antibody tests in Washington state indicate the coronavirus was in the U.S. much earlier than though

Antibody tests in Washington state indicate the coronavirus was in the U.S. much earlier than thought

The first confirmed case of the coronavirus in the Unites States was a man who lived north of Seattle in Washington state .
He had been traveling in Wuhan and returned to the Unites States on January 15th .
At the time , he didn ’ t feel sick or have any symptoms but a few days later he developed a cough .
His case was confirmed on January 21 .
But today the Seattle Times reports that investigation has uncovered two cases of people where sick weeks earlier who have since tested positive for coronavirus antibodies : She came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christmas , and for the next week or so , Jean , a 64-year-old retired nurse , suffered through a series of worsening symptoms : a dry , hacking cough , a fever and body aches , and finally , a wheeze that rattled her lungs… Months later , after the novel coronavirus pandemic had exploded across Western Washington , the nation and into American consciousness , Jean and dozens of others like her , have wondered if their early winter colds really were undiagnosed cases of COVID-19 , the illness caused by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t seem to fit the profile .
She hadn ’ t traveled abroad , and the official timeline was off : The first known patient infected by COVID-19 — a Snohomish County man who ’ d recently traveled to China — wasn ’ t even confirmed until more than three weeks after she became ill… But after Jean received word from her doctor earlier this month that a highly touted serology test found a sample of her blood positive for antibodies to COVID-19 , she ’ s now convinced the official timeline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say she may be right .
A second case like Jean ’ s has also been identified but no details about it have been released .
All that is known is that the second individual has tested positive for antibodies ( presumably using samples collected months ago ) and was sick with corona-like symptoms in December .
The Seattle Times doesn ’ t offer a lot of detail about the samples that were tested and I suppose it ’ s always possible there could be some kind of lab contamination or false positive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increasing amount of evidence that the virus was here and spreading around the world earlier than previously thought .
The first U.S. death from the virus was believed to be a man who died in Washington state on February 29 .
However , last month Santa Clara County announced it had identified two earlier deaths from the virus .
The first of those was on February 6 .
Patricia Dowd was 57 years old and had not traveled abroad in the few weeks before her death , indicating the virus was spread to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clara .
The emerging picture is that the virus may have been introduced into the U.S. multiple times in places like San Francisco , Seattle and New York where there is heavy international travel .
The virus was spreading in these locations throughout January , but because we had no testing in place we really had no idea how widespread it was .
If the CDC hadn ’ t botched the initial test it created in January , we might have had a better idea what was happening .
Alternatively , if China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but hesitated to clamp down on travel , the virus wouldn ’ t have been able to seed U.S. travel hubs for several weeks .
Trump ’ s travel restriction at the end of January helped slow the spread , but if these new cases from Washington state are confirmed they prove the virus was here long before that .

The first confirmed case of the coronavirus in the Unites States was a man who lived north of Seattle in Washington state. He had been traveling in Wuhan and returned to the Unites States on January 15th. At the time, he didn’t feel sick or have any symptoms but a few days later he developed a cough. His case was confirmed on January 21. But today the Seattle Times reports that investigation has uncovered two cases of people where sick weeks earlier who have since tested positive for coronavirus antibodies:
She came down with a bug two days after Christmas, and for the next week or so, Jean, a 64-year-old retired nurse, suffered through a series of worsening symptoms: a dry, hacking cough, a fever and body aches, and finally, a wheeze that rattled her lungs… Months later, after the novel coronavirus pandemic had exploded across Western Washington, the nation and into American consciousness, Jean and dozens of others like her, have wondered if their early winter colds really were undiagnosed cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. But her case didn’t seem to fit the profile. She hadn’t traveled abroad, and the official timeline was off: The first known patient infected by COVID-19 — a Snohomish County man who’d recently traveled to China — wasn’t even confirmed until more than three weeks after she became ill… But after Jean received word from her doctor earlier this month that a highly touted serology test found a sample of her blood positive for antibodies to COVID-19, she’s now convinced the official timeline is wrong — and public health officials say she may be right.
A second case like Jean’s has also been identified but no details about it have been released. All that is known is that the second individual has tested positive for antibodies (presumably using samples collected months ago) and was sick with corona-like symptoms in December. The Seattle Times doesn’t offer a lot of detail about the samples that were tested and I suppose it’s always possible there could be some kind of lab contamination or false positive test. But there has been an increasing amount of evidence that the virus was here and spreading around the world earlier than previously thought.
Researchers in France recently found a COVID-19 case dating to Dec. 27 — nearly a month before that nation’s first previously confirmed case on Jan. 24. A genetic study published by researchers in Britain this month also found evidence to support “extensive worldwide transmission of COVID-19” likely infecting people in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere weeks or possibly months before some of the first reported cases in January and February.
The first U.S. death from the virus was believed to be a man who died in Washington state on February 29. However, last month Santa Clara County announced it had identified two earlier deaths from the virus. The first of those was on February 6. Patricia Dowd was 57 years old and had not traveled abroad in the few weeks before her death, indicating the virus was spread to her from some other source in Santa Clara.
The emerging picture is that the virus may have been introduced into the U.S. multiple times in places like San Francisco, Seattle and New York where there is heavy international travel. The virus was spreading in these locations throughout January, but because we had no testing in place we really had no idea how widespread it was.
If the CDC hadn’t botched the initial test it created in January, we might have had a better idea what was happening. Alternatively, if China hadn’t clamped down on information but hesitated to clamp down on travel, the virus wouldn’t have been able to seed U.S. travel hubs for several weeks. Trump’s travel restriction at the end of January helped slow the spread, but if these new cases from Washington state are confirmed they prove the virus was here long before that.


hotair--2020-05-15--Hackers threaten to release damaging info on Trump, raise ransom

Really ?
At this point , what could that damaging information be against President Trump ?
A hacking group called REvil hit the New York law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks and has doubled its ransom demand .
REvil hacked into the firm ’ s server and stole confidential documents from lots of Hollywood celebrities and music stars .
Contracts and personal emails were included in the 756 gigabytes stolen .
The hackers also deleted or encrypted the firm ’ s backups .
Now the firm must pay the criminals for a key to get their files back .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ most prominent entertainment attorney in the world .
His clientele includes Lady Gaga , Madonna , Mariah Carey , U2 , Bruce Springsteen , Priyanka Chopra , Elton John , Robert De Niro , and Bette Midler .
Up until yesterday , the ransom demanded by REvil was $ 21M .
Now that number has gone to $ 42M , with the deadline in just a week .
Along with doubling the ransom , the group is now claiming that it has some “ dirty laundry ” on Trump to expose , especially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On Thursday , the hackers upped the ante by posting a chilling new message saying , “ The ransom is now [ doubled to ] $ 42,000,000 … The next person we ’ ll be publishing is Donald Trump .
There ’ s an election going on , and we found a ton of dirty laundry on time.
” They added , “ Mr .
Trump , if you want to stay president , poke a sharp stick at the guys , otherwise you may forget this ambition forever .
And to you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that after such a publication , you certainly don ’ t want to see him as president … The deadline is one week .
“ Grubman , we will destroy your company down to the ground if we don ’ t see the money.
” Ok .
So , that ’ s some standard threatening language used by hackers , right ?
Give us the money or else we ’ ll expose something really bad about you .
Here ’ s the twist , though – Trump isn ’ t even a client @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump has never been a client , whether it was during his days in the private sector or during his presidency .
It ’ s unclear why the hackers added Trump ’ s name to the ransom demand .
President Trump was elected after being called every name in the book and stories written about every rumor and innuendo possible .
There were countless stories about his business dealings , his personal relationships , claims of sexual misconduct , and on and on .
You name it , the story was written @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only stories that weren ’ t written were of drug abuse or alcohol abuse , as he has a lifetime record of abstaining from drugs and alcohol .
It was a wild primary .
Trump survived , overwhelmingly won the Electoral College , and became president .
This group also claimed on Thursday that they successfully hacked another prominent U.S. firm and posted a file of stolen documents on the dark web with the title “ Lady Gaga ” .
A cybersecurity software company , Emsisoft , caught the breach .
Emsisoft specializes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Brett Callow , said , “ Companies in this situation have no good options available … Even if they pay the ransom demand , there is no guarantee the criminals will destroy the stolen data if it has a high market value .
The data may still be sold or traded … In these cases , it ’ s possible that the criminals will attempt to extort money directly from the people whose information was exposed.
” He added that the requested ransom from the hacker group — which has previously attacked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the largest demands ever heard , ” with the previous known record demand being $ 25 million to an unnamed company , which was not paid .
Travelex , known for its foreign-exchange kiosks in airports and tourist sites around the world , was hacked earlier this year .
The company ended up paying the equivalent of $ 2.3 million in ransom , though at the time that wasn ’ t reported .
Only the cyberattack was reported .
Allen Grubman isn ’ t playing the game .
He isn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t a Trump supporter according to FEC filings in 2019 and 2020 .
He donated to the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris and Cory Booker .
It ’ s probably a smart move to deny the hackers their ransom demand .
Why trust thieves ?
And , it sounds as though they are using the name of Trump to garner publicity as they double their ransom demand .
It ’ s hard to imagine that hackers have found something that would change any voter ’ s mind at this point .

Really? At this point, what could that damaging information be against President Trump? A hacking group called REvil hit the New York law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks and has doubled its ransom demand.
REvil hacked into the firm’s server and stole confidential documents from lots of Hollywood celebrities and music stars. Contracts and personal emails were included in the 756 gigabytes stolen. The hackers also deleted or encrypted the firm’s backups. Now the firm must pay the criminals for a key to get their files back.
Allen Grubman is said to be the most prominent entertainment attorney in the world. His clientele includes Lady Gaga, Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Priyanka Chopra, Elton John, Robert De Niro, and Bette Midler. Up until yesterday, the ransom demanded by REvil was $21M. Now that number has gone to $42M, with the deadline in just a week. Along with doubling the ransom, the group is now claiming that it has some “dirty laundry” on Trump to expose, especially since this is an election year.
On Thursday, the hackers upped the ante by posting a chilling new message saying, “The ransom is now [doubled to] $42,000,000 … The next person we’ll be publishing is Donald Trump. There’s an election going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry on time.” They added, “Mr. Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever. And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don’t want to see him as president … The deadline is one week. “Grubman, we will destroy your company down to the ground if we don’t see the money.”
Ok. So, that’s some standard threatening language used by hackers, right? Give us the money or else we’ll expose something really bad about you. Here’s the twist, though – Trump isn’t even a client of the firm. According to sources, Trump has never been a client, whether it was during his days in the private sector or during his presidency. It’s unclear why the hackers added Trump’s name to the ransom demand.
President Trump was elected after being called every name in the book and stories written about every rumor and innuendo possible. There were countless stories about his business dealings, his personal relationships, claims of sexual misconduct, and on and on. You name it, the story was written with a connection to Trump. The only stories that weren’t written were of drug abuse or alcohol abuse, as he has a lifetime record of abstaining from drugs and alcohol. It was a wild primary. Trump survived, overwhelmingly won the Electoral College, and became president.
This group also claimed on Thursday that they successfully hacked another prominent U.S. firm and posted a file of stolen documents on the dark web with the title “Lady Gaga”. A cybersecurity software company, Emsisoft, caught the breach. Emsisoft specializes in ransomware.
An analyst at Emsisoft, Brett Callow, said, “Companies in this situation have no good options available … Even if they pay the ransom demand, there is no guarantee the criminals will destroy the stolen data if it has a high market value. The data may still be sold or traded … In these cases, it’s possible that the criminals will attempt to extort money directly from the people whose information was exposed.” He added that the requested ransom from the hacker group — which has previously attacked Kenneth Cole and Travelex — “was one of the largest demands ever heard,” with the previous known record demand being $25 million to an unnamed company, which was not paid.
Travelex, known for its foreign-exchange kiosks in airports and tourist sites around the world, was hacked earlier this year. The company ended up paying the equivalent of $2.3 million in ransom, though at the time that wasn’t reported. Only the cyberattack was reported.
Allen Grubman isn’t playing the game. He isn’t paying the ransom.
“His view is, if he paid, the hackers might release the documents anyway,” the source said. “Plus the FBI has stated this hack is considered an act of international terrorism, and we don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Grubman isn’t a Trump supporter according to FEC filings in 2019 and 2020. He donated to the presidential campaigns of Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.
It’s probably a smart move to deny the hackers their ransom demand. Why trust thieves? And, it sounds as though they are using the name of Trump to garner publicity as they double their ransom demand. It’s hard to imagine that hackers have found something that would change any voter’s mind at this point.


hotair--2020-05-15--Defense secretary: We will deliver a vaccine at scale to the American people -- by the end of this y

Defense secretary: We will deliver a vaccine at scale to the American people -- by the end of this year

A big , bold , brassy promise from Mark Esper at this afternoon ’ s press conference to introduce the new head of Operation Warp Speed , pharmaceutical exec Dr. Moncef Slaoui .
I ’ ve heard other professionals , including Scott Gottlieb , suggest that a vaccine could be available later this year for emergency-use authorization , i.e .
for rapid deployment to a city where there ’ s a major outbreak .
But I think this is the first time someone in a position of influence has suggested delivering a full batch for the entire nation by year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bright , the former head of the federal government ’ s top vaccine agency , said that even the now-familiar 12-to-18-month timeline was unrealistically optimistic .
And he stressed that 12 to 18 months wasn ’ t the timeline from initial development to FDA authorization and delivery to the public ; it was the timeline from initial development to results from clinical trials proving that the vaccine was safe and effective .
Esper seems to be imagining 12 months from initial development to the vaccine being ready to roll out to pharmacies and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ willing , he ’ s right , but that really would be “ Manhattan Project ” -type results .
How many different “ timelines ” for a vaccine are the feds on right now , by the way ?
I can think of at least four .
Timeline one : 12 to 18 months , just as the experts — including Fauci — keep saying .
Timeline two : ~12 months or slightly less for full-scale delivery .
That ’ s Esper ’ s timeline , per the clip .
Timeline three : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s timeline , whether he admits it or not .
It ’ d be spectacular if he and Operation Warp Speed could deliver a vaccine by New Year ’ s , but it ’ s not going to do him much good politically if he ’ s a lame duck at that point .
At a minimum , there ’ ll be tremendous pressure within the White House on Slaoui to deliver encouraging news about the vaccine before Election Day .
If Trump can announce in late October that the top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that may be worth a meaningful number of electoral votes in November even though the vaccine itself will still be a few months away from widespread availability .
On the other hand , science done under political pressure isn ’ t optimal : Timeline four : Before China announces a vaccine .
We ’ re in an arms race here with our enemies in Beijing , who want to win this competition to produce the first viable vaccine both as a matter of prestige for their totalitarian system of government and so that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weaker nations .
If China unveils a viable vaccine before we do , they ’ ll crow that it ’ s further proof that America can ’ t handle major challenges anymore , or at least not as well as communism can .
They ’ d love to have their vaccine ready before Election Day in the U.S. too in hopes of embarrassing Trump and costing him electorally .
A plausible scenario is that the ChiComs don ’ t manage to develop a viable vaccine before Election Day but decide to claim that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the WHO giving them cover .
Then Trump will be forced to either say that we lost the arms race or call BS on their propaganda , which will mean more antagonism between the U.S. and China .
Or would we … ask China for access to their vaccine ?
Elsewhere in vaccine news , the researchers at Oxford are speeding ahead with trials of their candidate , which is on a slightly accelerated timetable relative to the competition .
They reported their findings on rhesus monkeys in a paper published a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good so far .
Slaoui said today that he ’ d recently seen clinical data from a trial involving an unnamed vaccine candidate that made him even more confident that they ’ ll be able to meet Esper ’ s timetable of delivering a vaccine at scale by the end of the year .
He didn ’ t say which candidate that was but he sits on the board of Moderna , which is developing one of the leading candidates here in the U.S. Moderna just announced last week that it was done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and was moving to phase two , with 600 participants lined up .
If everything goes well , their vaccine could be ready by early next year .
Hey , if it doesn ’ t work , there ’ s always daily mouthwash .
I ’ ll leave you with Trump reiterating that he supports reopening with or without vaccine because we can always just go for herd immunity or something .

A big, bold, brassy promise from Mark Esper at this afternoon’s press conference to introduce the new head of Operation Warp Speed, pharmaceutical exec Dr. Moncef Slaoui. I’ve heard other professionals, including Scott Gottlieb, suggest that a vaccine could be available later this year for emergency-use authorization, i.e. for rapid deployment to a city where there’s a major outbreak. But I think this is the first time someone in a position of influence has suggested delivering a full batch for the entire nation by year’s end.
Yesterday Dr. Rick Bright, the former head of the federal government’s top vaccine agency, said that even the now-familiar 12-to-18-month timeline was unrealistically optimistic. And he stressed that 12 to 18 months wasn’t the timeline from initial development to FDA authorization and delivery to the public; it was the timeline from initial development to results from clinical trials proving that the vaccine was safe and effective. Esper seems to be imagining 12 months from initial development to the vaccine being ready to roll out to pharmacies and doctor’s offices nationwide. God willing, he’s right, but that really would be “Manhattan Project”-type results.
How many different “timelines” for a vaccine are the feds on right now, by the way? I can think of at least four.
ESPER: “Winning matters and we will deliver by the end of this year a vaccine at scale.” (That’s a very bold promise.) pic.twitter.com/lKKEzBMCJp — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 15, 2020
Timeline one: 12 to 18 months, just as the experts — including Fauci — keep saying.
Timeline two: ~12 months or slightly less for full-scale delivery. That’s Esper’s timeline, per the clip.
Timeline three: By Election Day. That’s Trump’s timeline, whether he admits it or not. It’d be spectacular if he and Operation Warp Speed could deliver a vaccine by New Year’s, but it’s not going to do him much good politically if he’s a lame duck at that point. At a minimum, there’ll be tremendous pressure within the White House on Slaoui to deliver encouraging news about the vaccine before Election Day. If Trump can announce in late October that the top vaccine candidate is safe and effective, that may be worth a meaningful number of electoral votes in November even though the vaccine itself will still be a few months away from widespread availability.
On the other hand, science done under political pressure isn’t optimal:
I am concerned that the President is promising a vaccine by the end of the year and that decision-makers will be under immense pressure to approve/endorse one by then whether or not such approval/endorsement is scientifically warranted. — IncitementToResurrectionHat (@Popehat) May 15, 2020
Timeline four: Before China announces a vaccine. We’re in an arms race here with our enemies in Beijing, who want to win this competition to produce the first viable vaccine both as a matter of prestige for their totalitarian system of government and so that they can use the vaccine to extort weaker nations. If China unveils a viable vaccine before we do, they’ll crow that it’s further proof that America can’t handle major challenges anymore, or at least not as well as communism can. They’d love to have their vaccine ready before Election Day in the U.S. too in hopes of embarrassing Trump and costing him electorally. A plausible scenario is that the ChiComs don’t manage to develop a viable vaccine before Election Day but decide to claim that they have anyway, with their cronies at the WHO giving them cover. Then Trump will be forced to either say that we lost the arms race or call BS on their propaganda, which will mean more antagonism between the U.S. and China.
Or would we … ask China for access to their vaccine?
Questions: What happens if It’s China who develops the vaccine? Will the US still have access to that vaccine?
Trump: Uhhh I would say the answer to that would be yes pic.twitter.com/vRJMl4tKFe — Acyn (@Acyn) May 15, 2020
Elsewhere in vaccine news, the researchers at Oxford are speeding ahead with trials of their candidate, which is on a slightly accelerated timetable relative to the competition. They reported their findings on rhesus monkeys in a paper published a few days ago. Verdict: Looking good so far.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 20191,2 and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic3. Vaccines are an essential countermeasure urgently needed to control the pandemic4. Here, we show that the adenovirus-vectored vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, encoding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, is immunogenic in mice, eliciting a robust humoral and cell-mediated response. This response was not Th2 dominated, as demonstrated by IgG subclass and cytokine expression profiling. A single vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 induced a humoral and cellular immune response in rhesus macaques. We observed a significantly reduced viral load in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and respiratory tract tissue of vaccinated animals challenged with SARS-CoV-2 compared with control animals, and no pneumonia was observed in vaccinated rhesus macaques. Importantly, no evidence of immune-enhanced disease following viral challenge in vaccinated animals was observed.
Slaoui said today that he’d recently seen clinical data from a trial involving an unnamed vaccine candidate that made him even more confident that they’ll be able to meet Esper’s timetable of delivering a vaccine at scale by the end of the year. He didn’t say which candidate that was but he sits on the board of Moderna, which is developing one of the leading candidates here in the U.S. Moderna just announced last week that it was done with “phase one” human trials and was moving to phase two, with 600 participants lined up. If everything goes well, their vaccine could be ready by early next year.
Recent data "made me feel even more confident" that a vaccine will be available by the end of 2020, Dr. Moncef Slaoui says. pic.twitter.com/ToAVI5ksHw — The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) May 15, 2020
Hey, if it doesn’t work, there’s always daily mouthwash. I’ll leave you with Trump reiterating that he supports reopening with or without vaccine because we can always just go for herd immunity or something.


hotair--2020-05-15--Iranian leadership split into factions over downplaying of coronavirus numbers

The coronavirus has become the focus of an internal battle within Iran between the government of President Hassan Rouhani and the Revolutionary Guard controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei .
Rouhani reportedly wants to do more to slow the spread of the virus while Khamenei and the Guard have decided they want to save face by downplaying the real numbers and claiming Iran is doing well .
“ [ The Supreme Leader Ali ] Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard have been downplaying the extent of the COVID problem since the initial outbreak hit their guys hard in Qom at the start of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intelligence official in the Middle East who does not have permission to speak about a top military rival… “ Any of the numbers the Iranians have put out since late April are considered extremely suspect because we have indications that the Revolutionary Guard — which means this comes from Khamenei ’ s office directly — are not reporting cases from its health and military infrastructure and possibly intimidating reporting from other areas as well because the leadership has decided this is a national security issue , where too many cases will make Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of American pressure , ” one source told Insider .
So what are the real numbers that Iran is trying to hide ?
Wednesday the Associated Press published a story about the regime ’ s efforts to hide the real coronavirus numbers .
The AP cited a report connected to Iran ’ s parliament which suggests the real numbers of cases could be 10 times the official count : Official government figures show that around 100,000 people were infected by the virus and around 6,500 have died .
But a report by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the number of cases could be eight to 10 times higher , making it among the hardest hit countries in the world .
The report said the number of deaths could be 80 percent higher than officials numbers from the Health Ministry , about 11,700 .
The clamp down on the real numbers came directly from the Revolutionary Guard : The feared paramilitary Revolutionary Guard kept health facilities under tight control and medical statistics were treated as top secret , the medical staffers said .
Death certificates were not recording the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because not all severe cases were tested or just for the sake of keeping the numbers down .
Thousands of unaccounted deaths were attributed to secondary causes like “ heart attack ” or “ respiratory distress.
” And a doctor in Tehran said the Health Ministry gave orders not to refer critical cases to hospitals to be tested for the virus — to keep the numbers low , she said… A nurse at Shafa Hospital in the provincial capital of Rasht said ventilators were removed from dying patients to let others live .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ died , ” the nurse said with a hoarse voice .
On the death certificates , the doctor scribbled , “ heart attack ” or “ respiratory distress ” as a cause of death .
But Business Insider reports that Rouhani is trying to regain some control because of the series of unrelated failures which have put the Guard in a terrible light .
The first was the shooting down of a Ukrianian passenger jet full of Iranian citizens .
More recently , a military test of a ship-to-ship missile resulted in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ship was struck by accident instead of the intended target .
“ They have refused to say if the missile test last Sunday was the IRGC or the proper Iranian Navy , but it ’ s assumed that a high-profile test of a high tech weapon system in plain view of all their enemies in the Gulf would have only been a Revolutionary Guard production .
But the incident as well as the tragedy in January with the airliner has given Rouhani a legitimate claim that the Guard is failing at both its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as poorly responding to COVID , ” said the regional intelligence source .
Finally , even the official numbers aren ’ t trending the way Iran wants them to .
That ’ s the highest single day total of new cases since early April .

The coronavirus has become the focus of an internal battle within Iran between the government of President Hassan Rouhani and the Revolutionary Guard controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei. Rouhani reportedly wants to do more to slow the spread of the virus while Khamenei and the Guard have decided they want to save face by downplaying the real numbers and claiming Iran is doing well.
“[The Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard have been downplaying the extent of the COVID problem since the initial outbreak hit their guys hard in Qom at the start of the outbreak,” said a regional intelligence official in the Middle East who does not have permission to speak about a top military rival… “Any of the numbers the Iranians have put out since late April are considered extremely suspect because we have indications that the Revolutionary Guard — which means this comes from Khamenei’s office directly — are not reporting cases from its health and military infrastructure and possibly intimidating reporting from other areas as well because the leadership has decided this is a national security issue, where too many cases will make Iran look inept and weak in the face of American pressure,” one source told Insider.
So what are the real numbers that Iran is trying to hide? Wednesday the Associated Press published a story about the regime’s efforts to hide the real coronavirus numbers. The AP cited a report connected to Iran’s parliament which suggests the real numbers of cases could be 10 times the official count:
Official government figures show that around 100,000 people were infected by the virus and around 6,500 have died. But a report by the research arm of Iran’s parliament said the number of cases could be eight to 10 times higher, making it among the hardest hit countries in the world. The report said the number of deaths could be 80 percent higher than officials numbers from the Health Ministry, about 11,700.
The clamp down on the real numbers came directly from the Revolutionary Guard:
The feared paramilitary Revolutionary Guard kept health facilities under tight control and medical statistics were treated as top secret, the medical staffers said. Death certificates were not recording the coronavirus as the cause of deaths — either because not all severe cases were tested or just for the sake of keeping the numbers down. Thousands of unaccounted deaths were attributed to secondary causes like “heart attack” or “respiratory distress.” And a doctor in Tehran said the Health Ministry gave orders not to refer critical cases to hospitals to be tested for the virus — to keep the numbers low, she said… A nurse at Shafa Hospital in the provincial capital of Rasht said ventilators were removed from dying patients to let others live. “Death certificates were written before they died,” the nurse said with a hoarse voice. On the death certificates, the doctor scribbled, “heart attack” or “respiratory distress” as a cause of death.
But Business Insider reports that Rouhani is trying to regain some control because of the series of unrelated failures which have put the Guard in a terrible light. The first was the shooting down of a Ukrianian passenger jet full of Iranian citizens. More recently, a military test of a ship-to-ship missile resulted in the death of 19 Iranian sailors when their ship was struck by accident instead of the intended target.
“They have refused to say if the missile test last Sunday was the IRGC or the proper Iranian Navy, but it’s assumed that a high-profile test of a high tech weapon system in plain view of all their enemies in the Gulf would have only been a Revolutionary Guard production. But the incident as well as the tragedy in January with the airliner has given Rouhani a legitimate claim that the Guard is failing at both its international responsibilities with these failures as well as poorly responding to COVID,” said the regional intelligence source.
Finally, even the official numbers aren’t trending the way Iran wants them to.
Iran on Friday reported its highest number of new coronavirus infections in more than a month as it warned of clusters hitting new regions. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 2,102 new cases were confirmed across the country in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall total to 116,635.
That’s the highest single day total of new cases since early April.