theblaze--2020-05-03--Samaritan's Purse gets booted from Central Park day after NYC councilman's vile message

Samaritan 's Purse gets booted from Central Park day after NYC councilman 's vile message 'Hate has no place in @ @ @ @

Samaritan's Purse, which had been operating a field hospital in Central Park, has been effectively booted from the city.
The Christian-based humanitarian relief organization, run by Franklin Graham, established a field hospital in Central Park as New York City quickly became the global epicenter for COVID-19. The move was immediately decried by the left due to Samaritan Purse's biblical views on sexuality despite the organization's commitment to serve every patient without discrimination.
But on Saturday, Mount Sinai Health System announced it was shutting down the field hospital. Sources told local media the decision was due in part to Samaritan Purse's Christian beliefs.
"Source tells me a decision was made to sever ties after controversy over the group's religious views on the LGBTQ community caused concerns in NY," local NYC reporter Melissa Russo said.
The announcement came one day after Corey Johnson, speaker of the New York City Council, lashed out at Samaritan's Purse in a vile message.
"It is time for Samaritan's Purse to leave New York City," Johnson said in a statement. "This group, which is led by the notoriously bigoted, hate-spewing Franklin Graham, came at a time when our city couldn't in good conscience turn away any offer of help. That time has passed."
"As a city that values diversity and compassion for all, we cannot continue to allow a group with the track record of Samaritan's Purse to remain here when we are past the point they are needed," he continued. "Hate has no place in our beautiful city."
Several other field hospitals in New York City that were assembled to treat COVID-19 patients will remain in place, according to WABC-TV. Only the Samaritan's Purse field hospital is being permanently shut down.


theblaze--2020-05-03--Dr. Birx: 'We underestimated, very early on, the number of asymptomatic cases'

Dr. Birx : 'We underestimated , very early on , the number of asymptomatic cases' The member of the White @ @ @ @ @ the medical community made some mistakes early on .

Dr. Deborah Birx, the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said that the medical community might have underestimated the number of asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
On Saturday night, Dr. Birx appeared on Fox News' "Justice with Judge Jeanine" to discuss the coronavirus pandemic. Host Jeanine Pirro questioned the early figures regarding the mortality rate of COVID-19.
In early March, the World Health Organization declared that the fatality rate for coronavirus was 3.4%. Birx admitted that the health community underestimated the number of asymptomatic cases of COVID-19.
"I think we're learning every day about the virus and how it interacts with us as human hosts," Birx told Pirro. "And that's been very important, to constantly be triangulating data."
"I think we underestimated, very early on, the number of asymptomatic cases. And I think we're really beginning to understand there are people that get infected -- that those symptoms are so low-grade that they don't even know that they're infected," Birx explained. "And we're beginning to see that with the New York studies of their zero-antibody studies."
Pirro asked Birx if it was fair to attribute the cause of death of someone who already had preexisting conditions as COVID-19 if the person has coronavirus symptoms.
"This is a very complex virus, and I want to be very clear: It's highly transmissible, very infectious, and a lot of people have become infected," Birx responded. "And what we've known now from the very beginning, if you have co-morbidities, if you have heart disease, if you have diabetes, if you have asthma, if you have cancer, if you're immunosuppressed — all of those issues make you susceptible to a much more difficult course."
"And still we're seeing the majority of the people that we're losing to this disease have those other diseases that you just described," Birx added. "And so, I do believe that a lot of the diseases we're seeing in the hospital right now, yes, they may have preexisting conditions but those preexisting conditions are resulting in them having a much more serious course when they're infected with this virus."
Pirro later asked Birx if herd immunity is "essential to ultimately getting rid of this virus" until a vaccine is developed.
"We have to remember that in America, we have a lot of people, even young people with diabetes and asthma and hypertension," Birx replied. "And so protecting them really becomes very critical because they can have a very difficult course. And so if we knew everybody who would do well off — right immediately, then you could really have that discussion. But we don't know who has preexisting conditions when we see them on the street."


theblaze--2020-05-03--Pompeo announces there is 'enormous evidence' that COVID-19 leaked from infamous Wuhan lab

Pompeo announces there is 'enormous evidence ' that COVID-19 leaked from infamous Wuhan lab 'There 's enormous evidence that that @ @ @ @ @

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Sunday that the U.S. government has "enormous evidence" proving coronavirus originated in a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
"There's enormous evidence that that's where this began," Pompeo said on ABC's "This Week."
"These are not the first times that we've had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab," Pompeo went on to say. "I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan."
However, Pompeo did not state what that evidence is.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a statement last week saying they were "rigorously" investigating whether the virus came from the Wuhan lab.
Intelligence sources have since said that the consensus among U.S. intelligence agencies is that COVID-19 did, in fact, come from the lab, though they believe its leak was accidental.
"I've seen what the intelligence community has said," Pompeo said Sunday. "I have no reason to believe that they've got it wrong."
President Donald Trump also stated last week that he has a "high degree of certainty" that the COVID-19 outbreak began at the Wuhan lab.


theblaze--2020-05-03--Michigan pilot says 'F U' to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in flight path

Michigan pilot says ' F U ' to Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer in flight path That 's how you send @ @

A frustrated pilot expressed his frustrations with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home extension by writing a brazen message of indignation in the sky.
On Thursday night, Whitmer extended her emergency lockdown order through May 28, 2020. Ed Frederick, a small business owner from Michigan, wanted to voice his disapproval of the stay-at-home order extension. Instead of firing off an angry email to the Democratic governor, Frederick broadcast his indignation for Lansing and the rest of the world to see.
Frederick got in his Piper propeller plane on Friday morning, and spent an hour crafting a poignant and straightforward message to Whitmer. While flying over the city of Grand Rapids, Frederick spelled out "F U" in the sky with his flight path.
He capped off his disgruntled communication in the sky with an arrow that pointed to the Michigan Governor's Mansion, where Whitmer currently resides.
"The government, no matter Democrats or Republicans, always seem like they're trying to do something just to prove they're doing something, without weighing the ramifications," Frederick told the New York Post on Friday. "It's a power trip."
"That's been an issue for a lot of people in the rural counties," Frederick explained. "There are 82 counties, but really only four need to be locked down."
"[Whitmer] says this is for the safety of Michigan, but I think it's for the safety of her keeping her votes, because the southeast is highly democratic," he continued.
"I don't need the government to wipe my tushie every two minutes," Frederick, 45, said. "Let me know what the problems are going to be and let me know what the ramifications are; I'm responsible for myself."
The spirited sky signal came a day after there was a lockdown protest at the state Capitol in Lansing, where some dissenters were armed. Frederick supports his fellow Michiganians protesting against the lockdown extension, but he doesn't think that demonstrators need to arm themselves because it's "not painting them in a good light."
"We have an open carry, but just because it's legal, doesn't mean you should do it — it's sort of like [the virus]," Frederick said.


theblaze--2020-05-03--Federal appeals court reinstates California law requiring background checks for ammo purchases

A federal judge previously ruled that the California law violated a citizen 's Second Amendment right to bear arms

Last month, a federal judge struck down a California law requiring background checks for people buying ammunition, saying that it violated a citizen's Second Amendment right to bear arms. Now, a federal appeals court has reinstated the law requiring background checks for ammo.
California became the first state in the U.S. to require background checks for ammunition when the law went into effect on July 1, 2019.
Two weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego said California's ammo regulations were "constitutionally defective." Benitez argued that the ammo background checks hurt legal ammunition buyers while doing very little to prevent criminals from obtaining ammunition.
"California's new ammunition background check law misfires, and the Second Amendment rights of California citizens have been gravely injured," Benitez wrote in his 120-page opinion. "In this action, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction enjoining California's onerous and convoluted new laws requiring ammunition purchase background checks and implementing ammunition anti-importation laws."
"Criminals, tyrants, and terrorists don't do background checks," the judge stated. "The background check experiment defies common sense while unduly and severely burdening the Second Amendment rights of every responsible, gun-owning citizen desiring to lawfully buy ammunition."
Benitez blocked the ammunition law and ruled in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association and six-time Olympic medalist skeet shooter Kim Rhode, who asked to halt the background checks.
On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reversed the decision made by Benitez. TheNational Rifle Associationreacted to the ruling.
"Late Friday night, the following order came out from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, granting a temporary stay on the injunction issued on Thursday, April 24, in the NRA funded case of Rhode v. Becerra," theNRAwrote. "This means that the same restrictions that have been previously in effect regarding ammunition in California are back for the time being, pending further order from the court."
The law requires buyers to pay a $1 background check fee each time they buy ammunition, even if they already passed a background check.


theblaze--2020-05-03--Chicago mayor threatens anyone who disobeys lockdown: 'We will shut you down, we will take you to ja

Chicago mayor threatens anyone who disobeys lockdown: 'We will shut you down, we will take you to jail'

Chicago mayor threatens anyone who disobeys lockdown : 'We will shut you down , we will take you to jail' @ @ @ @ @ .
We mean business , and we will shut this down one way or another @

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot threatened to issue citations and even arrest anyone who violated stay-at-home orders. Lightfoot issued a strong warning to her constituents who don't comply with the lockdown orders during a COVID-19 press conference on Saturday.
"We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you and we will take you to jail," Lightfoot said. "Don't make us treat you like a criminal, but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in this city in the middle of a pandemic we will take you to jail, period."
Lightfoot said that compliance with the stay-at-home order has gone down from 82% to 77% over the last week.
"This frankly doesn't come as a surprise, given the warm weather. We've all been cooped up. We all miss our friends, and we all want to go outside and gather in groups," Lightfoot said. "However, those aspirations simply cannot become a reality in the middle of a pandemic."
Lightfoot also addressed the numerous house parties that have grabbed headlines in the past week, including one shindig that allegedly had 1,000 people.
"When you go out and party, when you go home to your momma, your grandma, or anybody in your household who has an underlying medical condition, you are bringing death to their doorstep," Lightfoot said.
Lightfoot said Chicago police broke up several social gatherings between 50 and 150 people on Friday night. She added that the authorities were tipped off to at least six parties that were scheduled to happen on Saturday night.
"If you host a party, promote a party, or go to a party, we are not playing games. We mean business, and we will shut this down one way or another," the Democratic mayor said. "The time for educating people into compliance is over. Don't be stupid. We're watching you, and we're going to take decisive action."
"Your actions are going to make a difference between whether or not we get out sooner or later, whether or not we have a summer or we do not," Lightfoot said. "It's absolutely essential that we stay the course and people stay home."
CPD Superintendent David Brown said on Saturday, "We've lost officers to COVID-19, we've lost firefighters to COVID-19. They've given the ultimate sacrifice, willing to risk their lives, to save all of us. For a silly party, you are risking first responders' lives."
"We have given enough warning. We're getting to the point where we're trying to save lives and if our message is not resonating with people who are promoting parties, or coming out to parties, we have to take that next level of enforcement to make sure that we save lives," Brown said.
Lightfoot and Chicago police also encouraged residents to anonymously submit tips about anybody breaking the lockdown rules, including throwing house parties.
After her news briefing, Lightfoot and police officers patrolled the streets and ordered a group of young kids to go home. One young man responded: "Y'all need to find a cure. You talk about going home. You go home."
In early April, Lightfoot faced backlash and was called a "hypocrite" after photos revealed that she had gotten a haircut during the lockdown. The Chicago Department of Public Health issued a shelter-in-place order on March 18 and Lightfoot issued a stay-at-home order that shut down all non-essential businesses, such as barbershops and salons, on March 21.
On April 4, Lightfoot's stylist posted photos with the mayor on Facebook with the caption: "I had the pleasure of giving Mayor Lightfoot a hair trim." In the photos, the two women are not social distancing and neither, are wearing face masks. The stylist is not wearing gloves in the photo.
Lightfoot defended her actions, which violated her own city's orders, by saying: "I'm the public face of this city. I'm on national media and I'm out in the public eye."
"The woman who cut my hair had a mask and gloves on so we are, I am practicing what I'm preaching," Lightfoot said.
This is the same city that last month released nearly a quarter of its prisoners from Chicago jails, many of which were released because of coronavirus fears.
"On cases we agree on, we've gone into court together and asked for a release. On cases where we disagree, we go before a judge and present our evidence for the courts," Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx said. "We've been able to reduce the jail population in the course of four weeks by almost 25 percent."
Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D) said on Monday, "We've overall reduced the population in our prisons by more than 1,300. Many of those were near the end of their terms or actually their sentences were up. But also many of them were under this program of either medical furloughs due to COVID-19 or other reasons."
The Illinois Department of Corrections said they had released nearly 4,000 state inmates since March 1. There have been 304 inmates and state corrections staff who were confirmed to have been infected by the coronavirus since the outbreak started.
Illinois has the fourth-most confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. with over 58,500 and 2,559 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.


theblaze--2020-05-03--Report: Majority of US intelligence agencies believe COVID-19 originated in Wuhan lab

Report : Majority of US intelligence agencies believe COVID-19 originated in Wuhan lab China claims it came from their infamous @ @

The majority of American intelligence agencies believe the coronavirus outbreak originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, according to Fox News' John Roberts, the network's top White House reporter.
Roberts reported on Saturday, citing a senior intelligence source, that there is "agreement" among the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies "that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan lab."
However, according to Roberts, U.S. intelligence officials believe the release was "a MISTAKE, and was not intentional."
"Sources say not all 17 intelligence agencies agree that the lab was the source of the virus because there is not yet a definitive 'smoking gun'. But confidence is high among 70-75% of the agencies," Roberts added.
Intelligence sources who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation corroborated Roberts's reporting, adding that those agencies that do not currently believe the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab remain open to the possibility that it did.
The news outlet reported:
While not all of the 17 agencies that make up the IC are fully behind the idea that the novel coronavirus was an accidental laboratory leak, most believe that to be the case, according to the senior official. The official added that the holdouts are still open to the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory.
The unanimous view of the IC is that the virus was not the result of an intentional act, the senior official noted.
Indeed, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed in a statement last week that the U.S. is "rigorously" investigating whether the virus came from the Wuhan lab.
"The IC will continue to rigorously examine emerging information and intelligence to determine whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan," the agency said.
President Donald Trump has also said he believes the COVID-19 outbreak originated from the Wuhan lab, not wet markets like China's communist government claims.


theblaze--2020-05-03--'This is false': Tara Reade hits back at media report that implied she did not report 'harassment,'

'This is false': Tara Reade hits back at media report that implied she did not report 'harassment,' 'assault'

'This is false ' : Tara Reade hits back at media report that implied she did not report 'harassment , @ @ @ @ @ since updated its story

Tara Reade, the woman who accused Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her in 1993, hit back at the Associated Press on Saturday after the news outlet claimed she did not refer to the incident with Biden as "assault" or "harassment" in a document reporting the incident.
The AP reported that Reade filed a "limited report" with the congressional personnel office that did not "explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment."
"The main word I used — and I know I didn't use sexual harassment — I used 'uncomfortable.' And I remember 'retaliation,'" Reade told the AP.
"I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable," Reade explained. "I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault."
In reporting the story on social media, the AP said, "Tara Reade says a Senate report she filed against Joe Biden didn't refer to sexual harassment or assault."
But according to Reade, the AP's characterization is not true of what she actually said.
"This is false," Reade responded on Twitter.
Though Reade did not clarify what she was referring to, the AP's story was being used by Biden's defenders as evidence that Reade's allegations are not credible.
It is likely that Reade was referring to the phrasing of the AP's headline and social media copy, which implied that Reade did not actually report the incident with Biden in documents to the CPO.
By Sunday morning, the Associated Press had updated its headline and included new material in its story to better reflect what Reade said.
An editor's note on the story read, "The headline of this story was changed for clarity and to incorporate a direct quote from Reade. The AP also added material to the story, which details the specific words and examples Reade says she used in a Senate complaint about Joe Biden. The AP is adding the material to reflect that while Reade says she did not specifically use the words "sexual harassment" in the complaint, she says the behavior she was describing amounts to sexual harassment."


theblaze--2020-05-03--Ted Cruz slams WaPo coronavirus origin video as Chinese propaganda: 'Let's review the facts'

Sen. Ted Cruz decided to fact-check the fact-checkers over the origins of the coronavirus and China 's responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic .
The Washington Post has released a video titled `` Did coronavirus accidentally escape from a Wuhan lab ?
It 's doubtful . ''
In the 10-minute video , WaPo talks to virologists , professors , and health experts to try to determine the origin of the coronavirus .
Glenn Kessler , editor and chief writer of Washington Post 's Fact Checker , said the video is `` amazing '' and shared a link to the video on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ video and disagreed with WaPo over its claims that coronavirus did n't come from a Chinese lab in Wuhan .
`` 'Amazing ' is definitely right word for this video .
WaPo 'abandoning all pretenses of journalism to produce CCP propaganda ' would be another way to put it , '' Cruz tweeted .
`` If this reporter submitted this video in a freshman logic class , it would n't receive a passing grade .
Let 's review facts . ''
Cruz picked apart the video and challenged the fact-checkers by presenting his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cruz then poked holes in WaPo 's facts and questioned the experts who were used in the fact-check video .
It also does n't help that China has reportedly refused to allow the World Health Organization to participate in an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus .
The U.S. intelligence community has launched an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic , and while they have ruled out that the virus is a bioweapon , they have found no proof that the coronavirus did not come from a virology lab in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe that the coronavirus started in the wet markets in Wuhan , and said he has a high degree of confidence that the coronavirus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology .

Sen. Ted Cruz decided to fact-check the fact-checkers over the origins of the coronavirus and China's responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Washington Post has released a video titled "Did coronavirus accidentally escape from a Wuhan lab? It's doubtful." In the 10-minute video, WaPo talks to virologists, professors, and health experts to try to determine the origin of the coronavirus.
Glenn Kessler, editor and chief writer of Washington Post's Fact Checker, said the video is "amazing" and shared a link to the video on his Twitter account.
Cruz watched the video and disagreed with WaPo over its claims that coronavirus didn't come from a Chinese lab in Wuhan.
"'Amazing' is definitely right word for this video. WaPo 'abandoning all pretenses of journalism to produce CCP propaganda' would be another way to put it," Cruz tweeted. "If this reporter submitted this video in a freshman logic class, it wouldn't receive a passing grade. Let's review facts."
Cruz picked apart the video and challenged the fact-checkers by presenting his own facts in a Twitter thread.
FACT 1: WaPo admits two separate labs in Wuhan were studying coronaviruses derived from bats. One lab was just 300 yards from Wuhan wet market.
FACT 2: WaPo admits bats with similar coronaviruses "live in caves 1000 miles away."
FACT 3: WaPo admits both labs had SERIOUS ... safety concerns, resulting in multiple US Dept wires—before this crisis—warning that shoddy safety protocols could lead to a global coronavirus pandemic.
FACT 4: WaPo admits China DESTROYED the lab samples after the pandemic started (raising the natural inference that they were afraid what the samples, if examined, would show. ALL OF THESE FACTS strongly suggest the virus escaped from one of these CCP labs. At this point, the evidence is circumstantial (because the CCP is hiding/blocking any direct evidence). BUT what is WaPo's conclusion? "The balance of scientific evidence strongly suggest the conclusion that the new coronavirus emerged from nature, be it in the Wuhan market or somewhere else." This is a non sequitur. None of the aforementioned evidence leads to that conclusion. What's WaPo's basis?
Cruz then poked holes in WaPo's facts and questioned the experts who were used in the fact-check video.
WaPo COUNTER-FACT ONE: The CCP and the lab director (who initially wrote "could [the pandemic virus] have come from our lab?") now deny it. "Shi, her team & the Chinese govt have adamantly denied that it could have come from this lab." WaPa takes that denial as true.
WaPo COUNTER-FACT TWO: They quote Dr. Peter Daszak, the head of "EcoHealth Alliance" as saying "China's been incredibly open. I believe it's because it's a scientific collaboration & in China they're really proud of their science; they do good work, especially in virology." That's it. Those two counter-facts form 100% of the basis for WaPo's "fact check." And #2, the claim that "China's been incredibly open," is laughably absurd. They DESTROYED THE LAB SAMPLES. They PUNISHED & SILENCED the pandemic whistleblowers. And who is this objective source, Dr. Daszak? Well, his organization, "EcoHealth Alliance" was receiving (now cancelled) US taxpayer $ to support bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology! Why does WaPo NOT disclose his enormous bias, litigation exposure & conflict of interest??
And is it relevant that WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, who stands to make billions in China if he pleases the communist overlords? Whatever WaPo is doing, this is NOT journalism. It is apologizing for the CCP, trying to cover up their culpability.
It also doesn't help that China has reportedly refused to allow the World Health Organization to participate in an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus.
The U.S. intelligence community has launched an investigation into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while they have ruled out that the virus is a bioweapon, they have found no proof that the coronavirus did not come from a virology lab in Wuhan.
President Donald Trump doesn't believe that the coronavirus started in the wet markets in Wuhan, and said he has a high degree of confidence that the coronavirus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.


theblaze--2020-05-05--Largest supermarket chain in the US is limiting beef and pork purchases over shortages from pandemic

Largest supermarket chain in the US is limiting beef and pork purchases over shortages from pandemic Supply is down and @ @ @ @ @ usual

Meat consumers might be faced with some difficult choices in the weeks ahead as the largest supermarket chain the United States signals that coronavirus is negatively impacting the supply of beef and pork.
A representative from the Kroger Company told FOX-59 in Indianapolis that they would have no problem bringing other protein sources to market.
"We feel good about our ability to maintain a broad assortment of meat and seafood for our customers because we purchase protein from a diverse network of suppliers," the representative said. "There is plenty of protein in the supply chain. However, some processors are experiencing challenges."
Costco also indicated that they would be limiting purchases of meat to three per customer.
Domestic meat manufacturing plants have seen some of the worst coronavirus cases, causing some to shut down.
At the end of April, President Donald Trump ordered the plants to stay open and had his administration seek policies that would provide liability protections and safety measures for the workers.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) warned in an interview with Glenn Beck that the summer could get "ugly" for meat production.
"I can tell you the price of cattle is going down, meanwhile, the price of beef is going up in the supermarket and is caused because the supply chains are brittle," Massie said. "We need to change course because by the middle of this summer, if something hasn't changed, it's going to be ugly."
Here's more about Kroger's announcement:


theblaze--2020-05-05--Michigan security guard shot and killed allegedly over asking customer to wear a face mask

Michigan security guard shot and killed allegedly over asking customer to wear a face mask Three people have been charged @ @ @ @ @ of the suspects remain at large

A Michigan security guard was fatally shot on Friday over what prosecutors say was a dispute that was sparked after the victim asked a customer at a Family Dollar store to wear a face mask as required under the state's coronavirus orders.
What are the details?
The Associated Press reported that Calvin Munerlyn, a 43-year-old father of eight, was working as a security guard at the Family Dollar in Flint when witnesses say he told a female customer that her daughter — who was not wearing a mask — would need to wear one in order to be in the store. Muerlyn and the woman ended up engaging in a verbal altercation.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton told the press that the woman, later identified as Sharmel Teague, 45, then spit on Munerlyn and was forced to leave.
Teague left the premises, but roughly 20 minutes later, her husband, Larry Teague Jr, 44, and son, Ramonyea Bishop, 23, arrived at the store and confronted Munerlyn. According to Leyton, Larry Teague accused Munerlyn of disrespecting his wife and Bishop then shot the security guard in the head. Munerlyn died at a local hospital.
NBC News reported that Sharmel Teague, Larry Teague, and Bishop have all been charged with first-degree murder and other charges in connection with Munerlyn's death. Sharmel Teague has been arrested, but Bishop and Larry Teague Jr. remain at large.
Customer shot and killed a store security guard over face mask policy. www.youtube.com
Anything else?
On Sunday night, roughly 150 people in the Flint community joined Munerlyn's grieving family in holding a candlelight vigil in memory of the beloved husband, father, and son.
Tina James, a cousin of Munerlyn's, told WJRT-TV of the slain security guard, "He will be sadly missed. He will truly be sadly missed. Our parents grew up together and our kids grew up together. This was just senseless—over a mask! Over a mask, I don't understand it."


theblaze--2020-05-05--New evidence shows Dr. Fauci, NIAID backed research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan: report

New evidence shows Dr. Fauci , NIAID backed research on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan : report And they knew it @ @ @

A Newsweek article reported that coronavirus task force adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) backed the infectious disease lab in Wuhan, China, that was researching coronaviruses in bats when the coronavirus pandemic began.
While under the direction of Dr. Fauci, NIAID gave more than 7 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund a research initiative at the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab, according to the report. Not only did the study involve the surveillance of bat coronaviruses, but it also used risky "gain-of-function" research to determine how easily those viruses could attach to human cells.
But there's a reason why hundreds of scientists argue against gain-of-function research: all it takes is one leak to significantly increase the risk of a human pandemic. And the National Institutes of Health, which oversees NIAID, continued to fund the controversial research right up until last week.
On Monday's radio program, Glenn Beck broke down the details and questioned why the mainstream media continues to ignore the abundant evidence that the Wuhan lab is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic the world currently faces.
Watch the video below for more details:
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theblaze--2020-05-04--Pat Gray: Look at the size of that thing!

Pat Gray : Look at the size of that thing !

On Monday's episode of Pat Gray Unleashed, Pat Gray discussed a new threat here in the United States. If COVID-19 has not been enough to cause Americans to fear to leave their homes, a giant hornet is likely to keep you indoors.
The first Asian "Murder" Hornet found in America was discovered recently in Washington State. Though this hornet typically wipes out entire colonies of honey bees, they're also known to kill dozens of people in Asia each year.
For Pat's politically incorrect take on the terrifying insect, watch the video below.
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Want more from Pat Gray?
To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution and live the American dream.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Israeli lab says they have reached a coronavirus antibody breakthrough, will begin mass production

Israeli lab says they have reached a coronavirus antibody breakthrough , will begin mass production 'The Jewish creativity and ingenuity @ @ @ @ @ . '

The Israel Institute for Biological Research announced on Monday that they had completed the development phase of an antibody to battle the coronavirus, and it will head to mass production.
Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett visited the lab on Monday and made a joint announcement about the advancement.
"A significant breakthrough has been achieved in finding an antidote to the Corona virus that attacks the virus and can neutralize it in the sick body," read the statement from the IIBR and Bennett.
The IIBR is seeking to patent the antibody and to produce it commercially in partnership with the Israeli Defense Ministry.
"I am proud of the Biological Institute staff, who have made a major breakthrough," said Bennett according to the Jerusalem Post.
"The Jewish creativity and ingenuity brought about this amazing achievement," he added.
Israel has more than 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, with only 234 deaths from the virus. The country is on track to begin reopening after seeing a decline in cases and deaths in recent days.
There have been protests from desperate business owners demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allow the open-air markets to operate once again.
Here's more about coronavirus is Israel:


theblaze--2020-05-04--Amazon VP quits, calls company 'chickens**t' for firing workers who protested warehouse conditions

A Vice President for Amazon Web Services quit the retailer in protest on Friday , but he did not make a quiet exit .
Tim Bray wrote a scathing letter explaining his departure , wherein he called the company `` chickens**t '' for firing a group of activist workers who were exposing employees ' fears over warehouse conditions during the coronavirus pandemic .
What are the details ?
Mr. Bray announced on his personal blog that he left Amazon on May 1 , saying he `` quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engineer accused management of grossly mishandling the situation over the workers ' protests , and even accused the company of discrimination for firing six employees who were all either `` a person of color , a woman , or both . ''
Bray explained that he `` snapped '' after the workers were fired , and tried to address the issue internally .
But ultimately , he determined , `` remaining an Amazon VP would have meant , in effect , signing off on actions I despised .
So I quit . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are some descriptive phrases you might use to describe the activist-firing .
1 .
'Chickens**t. ' 2 .
'Kill the messenger . '
3 .
'Never heard of the Streisand effect . '
4 .
'Designed to create a climate of fear . '
5 .
'Like painting a sign on your forehead saying , 'Either I am guilty , or has something to hide . '
'' According to Bray , his departure from Amazon means he is leaving nearly $ 1 million in salary and vested shares on the table , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the best job '' he 's ever had .
The New York Post reported that Amazon 's `` warehouses in areas hit hardest by the coronavirus — including New York , Detroit and Chicago — have seen protests amid reports that dozens of warehouse workers have fallen ill. '' The outlet noted that Amazon has defended its firing of a number of activist workers who have attempted to stage protests over conditions during the COVID-19 crisis .
Two of the workers mentioned in Bray 's open letter , Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violating internal policies , '' according to the company .

A Vice President for Amazon Web Services quit the retailer in protest on Friday, but he did not make a quiet exit.
Tim Bray wrote a scathing letter explaining his departure, wherein he called the company "chickens**t" for firing a group of activist workers who were exposing employees' fears over warehouse conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.
What are the details?
Mr. Bray announced on his personal blog that he left Amazon on May 1, saying he "quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19."
The high-level engineer accused management of grossly mishandling the situation over the workers' protests, and even accused the company of discrimination for firing six employees who were all either "a person of color, a woman, or both."
Bray explained that he "snapped" after the workers were fired, and tried to address the issue internally. But ultimately, he determined, "remaining an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised. So I quit."
The former VP added, "Here are some descriptive phrases you might use to describe the activist-firing. 1. 'Chickens**t.' 2. 'Kill the messenger.' 3. 'Never heard of the Streisand effect.' 4. 'Designed to create a climate of fear.' 5. 'Like painting a sign on your forehead saying, 'Either I am guilty, or has something to hide.'"
According to Bray, his departure from Amazon means he is leaving nearly $1 million in salary and vested shares on the table, and that he walked away from "the best job" he's ever had.
Anything else?
The New York Post reported that Amazon's "warehouses in areas hit hardest by the coronavirus — including New York, Detroit and Chicago — have seen protests amid reports that dozens of warehouse workers have fallen ill."
The outlet noted that Amazon has defended its firing of a number of activist workers who have attempted to stage protests over conditions during the COVID-19 crisis. Two of the workers mentioned in Bray's open letter, Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, were let go for "repeatedly violating internal policies," according to the company.


theblaze--2020-05-04--The man behind the '2.2 million Americans could die' COVID-19 model is wrong

The man behind the ' 2.2 million Americans could die ' COVID-19 model is wrong

If you're like me, you've always questioned the "experts" who'd predicted a 2.2 million COVID-19 death toll in America.
Though the mainstream media continued reporting that social distancing was our only chance at avoiding such a large number of Americans, my gut led me to believe the "experts" were way off.
Steven Crowder offers piece of mind (a.k.a. ammunition the next time someone tries to tell you they trust the experts) by explaining why you questioned the experts.
EXPOSED: The Man Behind the Overblown COVID Predictions! | Louder with Crowder youtu.be
Use promo code LWC to save $30 on one year of BlazeTV.
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theblaze--2020-05-04--WATCH: Communism lauding leftists try to shame 'Reopen California' protesters — it doesn't end well

WATCH: Communism lauding leftists try to shame 'Reopen California' protesters — it doesn't end well for them

WATCH : Communism lauding leftists try to shame 'Reopen California ' protesters — it does n't end well for them @ @ @ @ @ but not for me

BlazeTV host of "Slightly Offens*ve," Elijah Schaffer, hit the streets of Los Angeles to attend one of the hundreds of protests across the country against stay-at-home orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and to expose the hypocrisy of the far-left radicals, or as he called them 'communist trash,' who oppose the bipartisan fight to reopen our country.
Throughout the demonstration, Schaffer was continually approached, physically confronted, and threatened by counterprotesters, many carrying signs lauding communism, who simultaneously demanded that he comply with social distancing orders.
"You guys aren't socially distancing. You guys are counterproductive to the goal of reopening by spreading the disease like this," noted one counterprotester, who stood mere inches away wearing a mask over his chin, his nose and mouth fully exposed.
Another self-identified "hard core leftist" actually removed his mask to speak closely into the potentially virus-infested microphone.
"What surprises me the most out of all of this is that communists who are opposing this, being the people of the worker, are opposing workers getting back to work," Elijah said.
Watch the video below to see Elijah take on the left-wing hypocrites at the "Reopen California" protest in Los Angeles:
(Content warning: Strong language and violent content.)
Want more from Elijah Schaffer?
Subscribe to Elijah's "Slightly Offens*ve" channel on YouTube for FREE access to his man-on-the-street interviews, protest coverage and more craziness that happens everyday in the USA.


theblaze--2020-05-04--VIDEO: Park ranger shoved into lake while giving social distancing instructions to crowd that was il

VIDEO: Park ranger shoved into lake while giving social distancing instructions to crowd that was illegally drinking, smoking

VIDEO : Park ranger shoved into lake while giving social distancing instructions to crowd that was illegally drinking , smoking

Cellphone video captured the moment a park ranger was shoved into a lake in Austin, Texas, while giving coronavirus social distancing instructions to a crowd that was illegally smoking and drinking near the water, the Statesman reported.
What are the details?
The ranger was standing on a dock along Lake Austin in Commons Ford Metropolitan Park around 5 p.m. Thursday speaking to a crowd illegally drinking and smoking there, the paper said, citing an arrest affidavit.
The ranger can be heard in the video telling the crowd to disperse and observe social distancing guidelines.
"Keep that six feet of distance with each other," he said.
Replies from the crowd included "will do" and "I got you, man" — when all of a sudden an individual is seen stepping into the camera frame and shoving the ranger in the water. Both fall into the drink, but the culprit gets out first and is seen running away.
Content warning: Language:
Officers detained Brandon Hicks, 25, shortly after the incident — and several witnesses at the scene confirmed Hicks pushed the park ranger into the lake, Austin police Officer Justin Berry, who arrested Hicks, told the Statesman.
After the incident, Berry told the paper that parkgoers "actually came to the aid of the park ranger. Several people came up to the ranger and apologized for the guy's behavior. That's the Austin we know, and that's the Austin we love."
Police temporarily closed the park because of overcrowding after the incident, and people departed without any issues, Berry added to the Statesman.
What happened to Hicks?
Hicks was charged with attempted assault on a public servant — a state jail felony — and was booked into jail Friday on $7,500 bail, the paper said, adding that the charge is punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
Watch the birdie!
Brandon Hicks Image source: Austin Police Department
"Brandon's intentional and reckless action could have caused the Ranger to strike his head on the dock as he was falling, and render himself unconscious in at least 3 feet of water where he could have drowned to death," the affidavit added, according to KXAN-TV.
'The park ranger was actually being really sweet'
The station added that park rangers are not law enforcement officers but do provide education about parks and recreation facilities, the paper said, citing the parks department.
The person who took the cellphone video of the incident, was glad the culprit got in trouble for pushing the park ranger into the lake, KXAN reported: "The park ranger was actually being really sweet and understanding before."


theblaze--2020-05-04--Army chaplain faces heat for 'egregious' act of sharing evangelical ‘Coronavirus and Christ’ book wi

Army chaplain faces heat for 'egregious' act of sharing evangelical ‘Coronavirus and Christ’ book with colleagues

Army chaplain faces heat for 'egregious ' act of sharing evangelical ‘ Coronavirus and Christ ’ book with colleagues He @ @ @ @

A group of 22 military chaplains are calling for a senior Army chaplain to be disciplined after he shared an evangelical book with them using his military email.
In a letter sent Wednesday to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a nonprofit organization, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, requested that Col. Moon H. Kim be punished for the "absolutely egregious and deplorable act" of sharing a digital copy of the book with 35 subordinate chaplains.
What are the details?
The book in question, "Coronavirus and Christ," was written by popular evangelical author John Piper, the founder and senior teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem Bible College and Seminary.
According to Michael Weinstein, founder and president of the MRFF, a number of Christian chaplains reached out to his organization after receiving the email. They sought the MRFF's representation due to fear that they would be subjected to "reprisal, retribution, revenge, and retaliation" if they had reached out without anonymity.
"Obviously, his sending of this book was clearly meant as a full-fledged endorsement and validation of what the book espouses and proclaims," states the letter, written by Weinstein. "Thus, in CLEAR effect, especially to the recipients of his shocking e-mail, Chaplain (Colonel) Kim is likewise endorsing and validating the very same dictates as established by the author of this book."
"The book, pushing the belief that the Coronavirus is God's judgment, is written by fundamentalist Christian preacher and author John Piper, and singles out, among other things, 'the sin of homosexual intercourse' as deserving 'due penalty,'" Weinstein adds.
In the book, Piper uses homosexuality as an example of occasions where God sends specific judgments on specific sins, but he never links homosexuality with the coronavirus, as Weinstein suggests. Rather he quotes Romans 1:27 to show "that 'due penalty' is the painful effect 'in themselves' of their sin."
The letter also takes issue with the book's assertion, in general, that the coronavirus is being used by God to warn sinners of the coming judgment.
"Calamities are God's previews of what sin deserves and will one day receive in judgment a thousand times worse," Piper wrote. "They are warnings. They are wake-up calls to see the moral horror and spiritual ugliness of sin against God."
Anything else?
In the letter, Weinstein argues that the views expressed in Piper's book do not reflect the views of many mainline protestant denominations nor the regulatory policy of the Department of Defense and U.S. Army.
As such, Weinstein asked that Kim be "officially, swiftly, aggressively, and visibly investigated and disciplined." Weinstein did not mention a specific punishment in the letter, but the Christian Post notes in its coverage of the news that Kim could be court-martialed.
A copy of Kim's email obtained by the Christian Post shows that the senior chaplain shared the book in an effort to encourage others.
"This book has helped me refocus my sacred calling to my savior Jesus Christ to finish strong," Kim wrote. "Hopefully this small booklet would help you and your Soldiers, their Families and others who you serve."
(H/T: The Washington Examiner)


theblaze--2020-05-04--Baseball pitcher Blake Bivens says he learned his family was dead on Facebook. Now he says his job i

Baseball pitcher Blake Bivens says he learned his family was dead on Facebook. Now he says his job is to 'pile-drive' Satan 'every morning.'

Baseball pitcher Blake Bivens says he learned his family was dead on Facebook .
Now he says his job is @ @ @ @ @ morning . '

Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Blake Bivens said that he discovered his family was dead in one of the worst ways imaginable: through a disturbing Facebook headline.
Bivens' brother-in-law Matthew Thomas Bernard, 19, was accused of killing Bivens' wife, son, and mother-in-law in August.
Authorities charged Bernard with three counts of first-degree homicide and is being held without bond.
What are the details?
Bivens, 24, discussed the tragedy during a church service Sunday at The River church in Danville, Virginia.
During the service, he recalled the moment he heard the tragic news. Bivens was in an airport in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when he heard the news.
"First headline [on Facebook] I see is two females and a small child were gone," Bivens said. "I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport."
Authorities said that Bernard's alleged killing of his mother, 62-year-old Joan Bernard, his sister, 25-year-old Emily Bivens, and his nephew, 14-month-old Cullen Bivens, was reportedly motivated by religion.
Bivens said that the hardest moment he experienced was when he walked into his toddler son's bedroom.
"[I] realized I was never going to see him on this Earth again," he said. "That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing will ever come to feeling the way I felt at that moment. Then again, I know I will see him again one day, and it won't be long."
Bivens relies on his faith
The baseball player said he leaned on his faith to get him through the hard times, and said that he continues to rely on the power of Jesus Christ to get him through his life on a daily basis.
"[W]hen I read, 'Take heart, for I have overcome the world,' it changed, it completely flipped a switch in my heart," he said during the appearance. "And from that moment on, I knew that this was not going to beat me, this was not going to beat family. I was going to live in victory the rest of my life, and I was going to use this as a testimony to show what He has done for me He can also do for others."
Bivens said that when he learned of his freedom through Jesus, he could only "laugh in the enemy's face."
"That moment for me was one of the biggest moments where I just knew God was with me," he said, "and the only thing I knew to do was just laugh in the enemy's face, because he thought he had won. But all he's done is awoken a sleeping giant, and as long as I'm here on this earth, every day I wake up, my goal is to pile-drive him right in the face every morning when I get up."
May 3, 2020 River Church Danville www.youtube.com
(H/T: ESPN)


theblaze--2020-05-04--College students are not happy with the education they're paying for during the pandemic, so they're

College students are not happy with the education they're paying for during the pandemic, so they're suing their schools to get their money back

College students are not happy with the education they 're paying for during the pandemic , so they 're suing @ @ @ @ @ money back At least 26 colleges are reportedly being targeted with class-action lawsuits demanding tuition @

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, colleges across the nation sent students packing, telling them to get off campus. The schools vowed to the students that shortly they would resume classes, but only in an online format. The students didn't need to fear: The education would be just about as good.
Well, students from more than 25 U.S. universities are calling balderdash on their colleges' promises and are now suing the schools to get at least part of their tuition and fees back, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Why? The students say they are not getting the quality of education the universities promised when the whole COVID-19 crisis hit.
What's happening?
According to the AP, at least 26 colleges are being targeted with class-action lawsuits demanding tuition refunds. The schools include wealthy private schools — such as Drexel, Vanderbilt, Brown, Cornell, and Columbia — and large public universities like Michigan State, Purdue, the University of Colorado, and the University of California, Berkeley.
The students say they are frustrated with the online classes that schools "scrambled to create" when the campuses closed, the AP said. The suits state that students should pay lower tuition rates for the part of the year that was moved to online-only, saying that the quality of the education has gone way down.
One student who filed a suit against Drexel University told the AP that the online courses have little interaction with professors — and some are even pre-recorded and offer zero discussion.
A lawsuit against Cal-Berkeley, the AP reported, says professors are just uploading assignments without providing any video component.
The schools, of course, disagree, saying no refunds are in order because students are still learning form the same professors and are still earning credits that count for their degrees.
The AP cited one school spokesman, Ken McConnellogue of the University of Colorado, who said that not only are the lawsuits disappointing, considering they are coming just weeks into the pandemic, but also the suits look like they are being pushed by some "opportunistic" law firms.
The AP pointed out that some of the suits do "draw attention to schools' large financial reserves, saying colleges are unfairly withholding refunds even while they rest on endowments that often surpass $1 billion."
Lawyers for the students said that it's all about fairness and giving the money back to the families that need it. From the AP:
“You cannot keep money for services and access if you aren't actually providing it," said Roy Willey, a lawyer for the Anastopoulo Law Firm in South Carolina, which is representing students in more than a dozen cases. “If we're truly going to be all in this together, the universities have to tighten their belts and refund the money back to students and families who really need it."
Willey said his office has received hundreds of inquiries from students looking to file suits, and his firm is looking into dozens of possible cases. Other firms taking on similar cases say they're also seeing a wave of demand from students and parents who say they deserve refunds.
When combined with the demands for refunds for student fees covering things like gyms, labs, and libraries, schools are looking at complaints seeking several thousand dollars per student.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Texas judge asks citizens to report local businesses that ‘shouldn’t be’ open

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is now requesting that residents in the Houston area report local businesses that are open at full capacity rather than with limitations , as per Texas Republican Gov .
Greg Abbott 's recent order .
What are the details ?
In a Sunday Twitter post , Hidalgo — who gained notoriety in April for mandating all county residents to wear masks in public or be arrested — made the request .
She wrote , `` See a restaurant at full capacity ?
Businesses open that should n't be ?
Help us save lives .
If @ @ @ @ @ @ @ order , please report them at bit.ly.com/Covidform1 . ''
Hidalgo 's tweet takes you to a form that points out any businesses that absolutely must be closed , including beauty salons , bingo halls , fitness centers , tattoo parlors , and more .
Following Abbott 's announcement to open the state 's economy and businesses on May 1 with phases , such as occupancy limits and more , Hidalgo said , `` We ca n't ignore what is right around the corner .
Some see today as a day of celebration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ them is not so fast .
Reopening does n't mean mission accomplished , it does n't mean the virus goes away . ''
In April , a Houston-area physician sued to block Hidalgo 's order mandating residents to wear face masks in public .
Dr. Steven Hotze , who filed the petition with the Harris County District Court , wrote , `` The rights we enjoy under the Texas Constitution are being trampled on by Judge Hidalgo , while millions of individuals have lost their jobs and thousands of businesses are on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's Order is not declared unconstitutional and void , once this virus passes , the rights we are afforded under the Texas Constitution will be forever damaged . ''
You can read more on the order here .

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is now requesting that residents in the Houston area report local businesses that are open at full capacity rather than with limitations, as per Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's recent order.
What are the details?
In a Sunday Twitter post, Hidalgo — who gained notoriety in April for mandating all county residents to wear masks in public or be arrested — made the request.
She wrote, "See a restaurant at full capacity? Businesses open that shouldn't be? Help us save lives. If you see violations of Governor Abbott's order, please report them at bit.ly.com/Covidform1."
Hidalgo's tweet takes you to a form that points out any businesses that absolutely must be closed, including beauty salons, bingo halls, fitness centers, tattoo parlors, and more.
Following Abbott's announcement to open the state's economy and businesses on May 1 with phases, such as occupancy limits and more, Hidalgo said, "We can't ignore what is right around the corner. Some see today as a day of celebration. ... [M]y message to them is not so fast. Reopening doesn't mean mission accomplished, it doesn't mean the virus goes away."
In April, a Houston-area physician sued to block Hidalgo's order mandating residents to wear face masks in public.
Dr. Steven Hotze, who filed the petition with the Harris County District Court, wrote, "The rights we enjoy under the Texas Constitution are being trampled on by Judge Hidalgo, while millions of individuals have lost their jobs and thousands of businesses are on the brink of bankruptcy. If Judge Hidalgo's Order is not declared unconstitutional and void, once this virus passes, the rights we are afforded under the Texas Constitution will be forever damaged."
You can read more on the order here.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Internal CDC document projects daily death rate to nearly double over the next month

Internal CDC document projects daily death rate to nearly double over the next month They do n't think the curve @ @ @ @

While dozens of states across the country begin easing lockdown restrictions, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document obtained by the New York Times paints a pessimistic picture about how the pandemic will progress over the next month.
According to the internal document from the CDC, the number of daily new COVID-19 cases is projected to increase from 25,000 per day now to 200,000 per day by June. In the same time period, the number of daily deaths is expected to increase from 1,750 to 3,000.
"There remains a large number of counties whose burden continues to grow or are in an elevated incidence plateau, including in the Great Lakes region, parts of the Southeast, Northeast, and around Southern California," the document states.
The CDC reportedly disavowed the report, according to the Washington Post, even though its logo is on the slides. The creator of the model that produced the projections, Justin Lessler of Johns Hopkins, said it was an unfinished projection and that he didn't know how or why it was put into presentation form and distributed to the media.
The White House issued a statement distancing itself from the CDC document and its projections.
"This is not a White House document nor has it been presented to the Coronavirus Task Force or gone through interagency vetting," White House spokesman Judd Deere said, according to Axios. "This data is not reflective of any of the modeling done by the task force or data that the task force has analyzed. The president's phased guidelines to open up America again are a scientific driven approach that the top health and infectious disease experts in the federal government agreed with. The health of the American people remains President Trump's top priority and that will continue as we monitor the efforts by states to ease restrictions."
Trump's public predictions for the total number of deaths during this COVID-19 outbreak have varied significantly. After predicting a best-case scenario of 100,000 to 240,000 deaths, the president later projected 50,000 deaths. Sunday night, however, he again said the death toll could reach 100,000.
The persistence of the coronavirus even in the face of widespread lockdowns, combined with economic pressure for governments to allow businesses to reopen, could lead to further rejection and protest of lockdown restrictions by individuals and business owners who question the effectiveness of the mitigation efforts of the past two months.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Democrats and millennials admit they are way more likely than Republicans to snitch on neighbors for

Democrats and millennials admit they are way more likely than Republicans to snitch on neighbors for violating lockdown orders

Suppose you saw your neighbor with 15-20 people at his home in clear violation of your state's lockdown orders? Would you report him or leave him be?
Pollsters recently posed this exact question to Americans and found that more than a third of all of us would snitch on our neighbor. Within that, a strong plurality of Democrats said they would call the cops, while a minority of Republicans said the same. The poll also found that liberals and younger Americans were far more likely to report their neighbors than conservatives and older Americans.
What were the numbers?
A poll from JustTheNews.com conducted by Scott Rasmussen asked adults this question: "Suppose that, in violation of stay-at-home rules, your neighbor had 15-20 people at their home. Would you report them to the police?"
According to Rasmussen, 36% of Americans said they would report their neighbors, while 43% said they would not.
There was a huge difference in responses by Democrats and Republicans. Among Democrats, 44% said they would call the cops, and just 31% said they would not. Republicans were far less likely to rat out their neighbors: 25% said they would, while 60% said they would leave well enough alone. Similarly, those who said they planned to vote for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would turn in their neighbors by a margin of 47% to 30%. People who planned to vote for President Donald Trump would not, by a margin of 61% to 24%.
The margins by political ideology were consistent, too: very conservative, 24% to 63%; somewhat conservative, 33% to 52%; somewhat liberal, 40% to 35%; and very liberal, 46% to 28%.
The poll also showed that younger Americans were far more likely to snitch than older Americans: ages 18-24, 43% to 38%; ages 25-34, 44% to 36%; ages 35-44, 34% to 42%; ages 45-54, 34% to 46%; ages 65+, 28% to 48%.
Here's full breakdown from the poll's crosstabs:


theblaze--2020-05-04--Testing finds that majority of N95 and KN95 masks imported from China do not function correctly

Testing finds that majority of N95 and KN95 masks imported from China do not function correctly Confirming what European authorities @ @ @ @ @ is exporting defective masks

According to a study conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which was first reported by Business Insider, a majority of imported masks — nearly all of which were manufactured in China — may not function as intended or adequately protect health care workers from infection with the coronavirus.
According to the report, researchers from NIOSH tested imported masks that were made by 67 different companies, and concluded that almost two-thirds of them do not block 95% of all particles from the air. Many of the masks that were tested performed abysmally, blocking less than half of all air particles at their maximum efficiency, meaning that they are actually less effective at blocking particles than the very cheapest cloth masks available on the market.
Based upon the names of the companies whose masks were tested, the vast majority of the tested masks were manufactured in China. The problem of defective Chinese masks has been noted before. European officials sounded the alarm weeks ago that the vast majority of masks manufactured in China were defective and did not perform as advertised.
It should be noted that some of the Chinese companies produced masks that were apparently quite good, registering above 99% at both maximum and minimum efficiency. Some, however, were barely better than having no face covering at all. For example, masks manufactured by Anhui RYZUR Medical Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. blocked only 33.9% of particles at maximum efficiency and an abysmal 27% of particles at minimum efficiency.
Even before these tests were performed, U.S. officials stated that they suspected that many of the imported N95 masks were not functioning properly, but felt that they had no choice other than to use them due to a worldwide shortage of the masks.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Horowitz: As murder skyrockets and criminals are released in Chicago, mayor threatens political diss

Horowitz: As murder skyrockets and criminals are released in Chicago, mayor threatens political dissenters with arrest

Horowitz : As murder skyrockets and criminals are released in Chicago , mayor threatens political dissenters with arrest 'We will @ @ @ @ @ Period . '

This juxtaposition of perversion is probably the most powerful display of the America we knew and loved being turned upside down beyond the worst nightmares of our early founders.
"We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you," announced Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a public address on Saturday. "Don't make us treat you like a criminal, but if you act like a criminal and you violate the law and you refuse to do what is necessary to save lives in the city in the middle of a pandemic, we will take you to jail. Period."
How many of us have longed for the moment when big-city mayors would finally get tough on crime again and restore ordered liberty in our communities! But this errant mayor is finally discovering her "law and order" moxie to support unconstitutional edicts that violate the Bill of Rights and interstate commerce.
As you review the unprecedented words of this wayward mayor, now ponder the following reality. Illinois has released 4,000 prisoners, including 64 murderers and child sex offenders, under the faulty science of stopping a viral spread. Chicago is also notorious for releasing the worst criminal aliens imaginable and infamous for releasing gang-bangers and gun felons who violate their parole. Yet that same faulty science is leading to policies of arresting political dissenters who are fighting unconstitutional house arrest edicts.
Murderers released, everyday Americans placed under house arrest and threatened with jail time!
What are the results? In one of the most unreported stories in the country right now, murders have skyrocketed in Chicago even though everything is shut down. While some places are experiencing almost no crime (as one would expect with a panicked lockdown), Chicago murders are tracking ahead of this time last year, and there have been 73 more shooting victims than last year. Again, that is simply astounding given that almost a quarter of the year so far has been spent on lockdown.
So, what it is going to be, Mayor Lightfoot? If you rob someone with a mask, you are free to go, but if you take off the mask, then it's OK to arrest the dangerous criminal? Perhaps he is not a danger to the community so long as he pulls his gun out six feet away from the victim?
It's funny how these same blue-city politicians are justifying violating the Constitution under the premise of "if it only saves one life," it's worth it. For example, the police department of Elizabeth, New Jersey, comically produced drone footage of spying on the city while at the same time saying they are not spying on the city, yet ultimately justifying it as being worthwhile "if this plan saves one life."
Well, what about the lives lost because of coronavirus jailbreak, which in itself was supposedly orchestrated to save lives? In Boston, the police commissioner believes these criminal releases are sending the message to criminals that it's open season on our streets.
"Just last week, a known gang member, carrying a firearm, firing a firearm, home invasion — released. When you do things like that, it sets a mentality on these streets that people can do what they want," said Boston Police Commissioner William Gross after a weekend of violence. "This is unacceptable. People who have been locked up for violent offenses and carrying a firearm should not be released on personals, and I could care less if they get sick in jail or not."
In Cincinnati, murder is up 115% and robbery is up 31% relative to this time last year. That's a lot of lives lost due to the jailbreak and misallocation of police resources to "save lives" from coronavirus.
The criminals know that the politicians are only focused on clamping down on peaceful, law-abiding Americans and their civil rights. As such, just how nonexistent is the deterrent?
Last Tuesday, one career criminal in Orange County, California, was arrested three times for theft and was released each time … all within 12 hours!
Last month, Orange County Court Commissioner Joseph Dane released seven high-risk sex offenders, including Rudy William Grajeda Magdaleno, 39. According to Breitbart, he had been previously convicted for sexually assaulting a special-needs woman, masturbating in public at a Santa Ana law firm, and breaking into the home of an 11-year-old girl while he was naked. Just three weeks later, he was arrested again for indecent exposure.
In March, Matthew Parris, a teaching assistant in Raynham, Massachusetts, was charged with raping two children in the schools where he worked. He was deemed so dangerous by the judge that he was held without bond. He has since been released under coronavirus jailbreak, even though, at age 29, he is more likely to be struck by lightening than to die of the virus.
In Philadelphia, after city officials publicly announced they wouldn't arrest burglars during the shutdown, merchants who are crushed by the shutdown are dealing with a rash of shoplifting. "People are coming in the store, they're loading their bag and they're actually telling us the law, that they're not gonna get locked up," said one merchant to ABC6. "It's a lawless city, it's the Wild West. That's what's happening here," said another.
The message has gone out loud and clear to criminals that the only "high-level" crime in the eyes of our government at this point is defying illegal orders restricting civil liberty and opening a business. If you loot the business, you are good to go, especially if you were wearing a mask during the act.
Governments are instituted to protect the rights of the citizens through ordered liberty. Protecting us against criminals is the core reason we have government. Now that government has released these people and turned their guns on us, this is no longer a legitimate government. The inmates are running the asylum; the criminals are running the government.
Perhaps it's time to end the lockdown of our society, lock up the real criminals, and throw out the criminal politicians.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Nearly three dozen people died in Ontario because coronavirus policies delayed their heart surgeries

'It certainly was not intended' Nearly three dozen people died in Ontario because coronavirus policies delayed their heart surgeries Christine @ @ @ @ @ Deputy Premier of Ontario and Ontario Minister of Health speaks Nov. 21 , 2019 , @ @ @ @ @ Queen 's Park in Toronto .
( Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images )

Dozens of Canadians have died because they couldn't get heart surgery under hospital coronavirus policies that delayed many procedures viewed as nonurgent, according to the Toronto Sun.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the deaths last week, which were found in a study by researchers associated with the United Health Network.
Elliott said 35 people died in Ontario because of delayed heart surgeries, an unintended — although not totally unforeseen — consequence of hospital policies meant to put more resources toward treating COVID-19
Any death that happened because of COVID-19 — whether directly or indirectly — is a tragedy," Elliott said, the Sun reported. "We feel for those families who've lost family members — whether it has been from cancer death, cardiac death or a COVID-19 death. But these were decisions that we had to make. The decisions were made by medical personnel."
Ontario, like many U.S. states, has postponed nonemergency surgeries to free up personal protective equipment and hospital beds for potential surges in COVID-19 patients. But, like in many U.S. states, anticipated surges did not arrive, leaving thousands of hospital beds empty and thousands of important non-coronavirus procedures delayed indefinitely.
Some types of surgery that can be delayed to make room for anticipated coronavirus patients include cancer-related procedures, heart surgeries, and hip replacements, among others.
From the Toronto Sun (emphasis added):
Ontario continues to delay over 12,000 elective surgeries a week even as thousands of hospital acute and critical care beds lie empty, a provincial fiscal watchdog has found.
The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) released a new report Tuesday that looks at hospital capacity and health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To free up beds, Ontario's hospitals have cancelled 52,700 surgeries since March 15, and are delaying 12,200 additional surgeries each week that operation rooms remain idle.
The FAO report said that as of April 23, there were only 910 COVID-19 patients in the hospital in Ontario, leaving 9,000 hospital beds empty. The report states that the steps taken to open up hospital capacity, including the delay of surgeries, freed up 585 ICU beds.
Approximately 1,300 people have died of COVID-19 in Ontario.
(H/T Washington Examiner)


theblaze--2020-05-04--NYPD officer points taser at bystander during arrest that started as social distancing violation — t

NYPD officer points taser at bystander during arrest that started as social distancing violation — then takes bystander to ground, punches him

NYPD officer points taser at bystander during arrest that started as social distancing violation — then takes bystander to ground @ @ @ @ @ said the bystander 'took a fighting stance against the officer ' — and video just @ @ @ @

A New York City police officer was caught on video pointing a taser at a bystander during a Saturday arrest on the lower east side of Manhattan that escalated from a social distancing violation — and then the officer took down the bystander, punched him, slapped him, and placed him under arrest, Gothamist reported.
But police told the outlet the bystander "took a fighting stance against the officer" — and surveillance video recorded from an opposite angle may back that up.
What are the details?
Witness Daquan Owens recorded cellphone video of the incident that's gone viral and told Gothamist it all started when plainclothes officers approached a man and a woman talking outside a deli around 5:30 p.m. and ordered them to separate. Owens told the outlet the man and woman were six feet apart in keeping with social distancing rules to fight the coronavirus spread.
"They were social distancing," Owens added to Gothamist. "The girl was standing by the phone booth, the guy was sitting on a milk crate."
But according to the surveillance video, while the pair appeared to stay six feet apart, the woman eventually walked up to the man and stood right next to him — and then police approached them.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
"When the cops pulled up, she said he's not doing anything," Owens added to the outlet. "They grabbed her and started tussling with her. Then the guy on the milk crate got mad and started yelling at police."
Police told Gothamist that Shakiem Brunson, 31, "became aggressive towards officers and resisted arrest" while Ashley Serrano, 22, allegedly tried to stop police from taking Brunson into custody and also was arrested.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
NYPD Sgt. Mary Frances O'Donnell told Gothamist in a statement that "a group was observed" on the corner "in violation of social distancing orders" — and when officers approached them to order them to disperse, police "observed a bag of alleged marijuana in plain view."
A third arrest
Owens' video begins as the pair were being placed under arrest — and soon one of the officers turns and walks toward bystander Donni Wright, 33, and points a taser at him, the outlet said. The taser's pulse is audible, but it isn't clear if it's discharged.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
The cellphone video also appears to show Wright advancing toward the arresting police before the officer turns and walks toward Wright and orders him to "move the f*** back right now." As the officer places the taser back into his holster, he asks Wright, "What are you flexin' for? Don't flex."
NYPD stated that Wright "took a fighting stance against the officer," Gothamist reported, adding that the clip shows Wright from behind holding his hands at his side with one fist clenched.
"Donni wasn't being aggressive, he was just talking," Owens told the outlet. "He never raised his hands or hit him. Cop just took it upon himself to start beating on him. I was standing right next to him. I could hear everything."
However, both Owens' cellphone video and the surveillance video appear to show Wright taking a step toward the officer before the officer took him down.
What happened next?
Owens' video shows the officer punching Wright, slapping him, then dragging him by the wrist to the edge of the sidewalk where the officer gets help from a fellow officer in handcuffing Wright.
Image source: Twitter video screenshot
Here's Owens' cellphone video. ( Content warning: Language and racial slurs):
Here's the surveillance video recorded from an opposite angle. ( Content warning: Racial slurs):
PSA4 NYPD Anti-Crime Officers Assault 1 girl & 2 guys Over Social Distancing (STORE VIDEO) youtu.be
What else are police saying?
The NYPD told Gothamist the incident is under investigation, and the outlet added that NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said he's seen the video and that one officer has been placed on modified duty.
"It started out as a social distancing enforcement," Shea added to Gothamist. "It's being investigated currently by our Internal Affairs Bureau.
What happened to Wright?
Wright is charged with assaulting an officer, menacing, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, and disorderly conduct, the outlet reported.
His mother Donna Wright added to Gothamist that her son was still in jail Sunday morning.
"This is our neighborhood for over 35 years," she said. "Donni happens to be an employee with [NYC Housing Authority] for 10 years. He doesn't have a criminal record. He was going to the store after work, and the officer punched him to the floor."
What about the other suspects?
Brunson faces charges including criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of marijuana, and resisting arrest while Serrano also faces a charge of criminal possession of a weapon, as well as resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, the outlet said.
What are other officials saying?
City Councilmember Carlina Rivera and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein both called for an investigation of the incident, Gothamist said.
The Legal Aid Society condemned the arrests and called on the NYPD to release the names of all officers involved in the incident, the outlet noted.
"City Hall and the NYPD need to seriously reconsider social distancing enforcement that leads to escalations involving the use of tasers and violent assaults," Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice at The Legal Aid Society told Gothamist. "What is equally disturbing is that some of these officers — who were ostensibly enforcing social distancing laws — were in violation of those same very laws themselves by not wearing protecting masks, endangering the lives of all New Yorkers around them."


theblaze--2020-05-04--After his remote Alaskan town was cut off from food supply, a grocer saved the day with a Costco car

After his remote Alaskan town was cut off from food supply, a grocer saved the day with a Costco card and a ship

After his remote Alaskan town was cut off from food supply , a grocer saved the day with a Costco @ @ @ @

The coronavirus-related shutdowns pose a major threat to America's food supply chain, and nowhere is this threat more real than in rural and remote areas of the country.
But fortunately for Gustavus, Alaska — where moose outnumber the 446 permanent residents — the town grocer was keen to improvise last winter after the state cut off ferry access and the town dock was closed for repairs.
Using a Costco card and a small boat, the town grocer began making the 7-hour trip to Juneau to buy groceries and resell them back home, in a move that is now providing a lifeline to residents during the coronavirus pandemic.
What are the details?
Gustavus, Alaska, is about as remote a town as you will find anywhere in America. It's a place that had no electricity until the mid-1980s and no phones until the mid-'90s, and that to this day is only accessible by plane or boat, reports the Hustle in its original write-up of the story. The only reason outsiders ever come is for lodging on their way to nearby Glacier Bay National Park.
Up until a few years ago, the town would import food from Juneau by private plane or barge at a significant mark-up due to transportation costs. For example, a $5 carton of eggs in Juneau would cost $12 in Gustavus.
Then, a young shopkeeper, Toshua Parker, dreamed up a better method. Parker, a descendant of the town's original settler who had moved back home from Arizona after he lost his real estate business during the Great Recession, started taking the state-subsidized ferry to Juneau to the world's smallest and most remote Costco, where he would buy groceries and sell them for a smaller mark-up back in Gustavus.
Before long, business was booming at Ice Strait Wholesale, or "Toshco," as the locals call it — a combination of Toshua's name and the chain where he sources the bulk of his goods.
What else?
But then last winter, after the state cut off ferry access to Gustavus and the town dock was closed for repairs, Parker was forced to improvise again. Thankfully, he was prepared.
Using earned money from the store, Parker and his father had launched their own freight company, bought the town's gasoline station, and purchased two ships, which Parker told the Hustle was a $300K "insurance policy" against emergency food supply chain disruption.
The report noted that these preemptive moves proved to be crucial ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fall-back option, an air taxi, charges $0.50 a pound for deliveries, meaning that Gustavus residents could have been left without affordable groceries even as social distancing guidelines lightened wallets.
Instead, Parker now loads his 96-foot barge with shipping crates and sets sail for the Juneau Costco himself every week. He tallies what residents need and stocks up his store.
"It's an art form, not a science," Parker notes. "The town might have a 100-gallon swing in demand for milk from one week to the next without any explanation of why. One week, nobody wants whole milk; the next week, everyone wants 2%."
And sometimes Parker runs into problems with Costco's restrictions that guard against panic buying.
"We'll place a $20K order, but they'll still only give us one pack of paper towels," he says. "I understand why they'd do that, but we're not a single person panic buying; we're trying to feed a whole community."
Nonetheless, Parker loves the work and Gustavus residents are appreciative. He said it's "like Christmas" whenever the load returns from Juneau: "Everyone is waiting for it. Word gets out, and they all seem to know when it's coming."
"Toshua pretty much saved the town," town Mayor Calvin Casipit told the Hustle. "I really don't know what we would've done without him."


theblaze--2020-05-04--Whopping 373 workers at meatpacking plant test positive for COVID-19 — and they were all asymptomati

Whopping 373 workers at meatpacking plant test positive for COVID-19 — and they were all asymptomatic

At least 373 workers at a Missouri pork plant tested positive for coronavirus, CNN reported on Monday.
All 373 positive cases were asymptomatic employees.
What are the details?
A news release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services revealed that no less than 373 workers tested positive for COVID-19 at Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri. Triumph Foods is a pork processing plant.
At the time of this writing, CNN — citing the state's department of health website — reports that the state has reported 8,386 cases with 352 deaths as of Sunday night.
The release pointed out that testing has been ongoing at the plant since last week.
Dr. Randall Williams, director of the department of health and senior services, said, "We continue to work this weekend contacting these asymptomatic patients and have initiated the process of contact tracing with those determined to be close contacts of our positive cases."
In a Sunday video message, Mark Campbell, the company's CEO, issued a statement.
"Being swabbed wasn't much fun, yet the test results will be critical to helping us understand where the coronavirus is in our facility and our communities," Campbell said.
Employees who tested positive for the virus, symptomatic or not, will remain at home in self-isolation, and will continue to receive pay.
The News-Press reports that Triumph Foods is just one of several COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking plants across the Midwest and elsewhere across the United States.
"Coronavirus outbreaks have hit meatpacking operations throughout the Midwest, with some plants closing temporarily and farmers expressing concern about losing an end market for livestock," the outlet reported.
What else?
Last week, President Donald Trump ordered meatpacking plants across the country to remain open so that the food chain supply in the U.S. would not be disrupted.
Trump issued the order under the Defense Protection Act, labeling meatpacking plants "critical infrastructure."
"The vast majority of processing plants could have shut down, reducing processing capacity in the country by as much as 80%," a White House official said at the time. "We see it as an urgent need and there should not be a panic on food supply at the moment when our country is embarking on the path of recovery from the fallout of COVID."


theblaze--2020-05-04--San Francisco police chief caves to outrage, bans pro-police 'thin blue line' face masks for cops

'Thin Blue Line masks shall not be worn by our on-duty members '

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott has banned his rank-and-file officers from wearing "thin blue line" face masks that show support for law enforcement.
Bay Area officers who were working to enforce stay-at-home and other lockdown orders last week wore face masks designed to look like the "thin blue line" flag, KTVU-TV reported. The symbol is associated with Blue Lives Matter, a movement made in reaction to Black Lives Matter.
Photos and videos of the officers quickly generated online attention and outrage.
"Thin Blue Line masks shall not be worn by our on-duty members," Scott told San Fransisco police officers last Friday, KTVU reported.
Scott said in a statement:
The San Francisco Police Department stands for safety with respect for all, and in consideration of concerns some community members have expressed that 'thin blue line' symbolism on some of our officers' face masks may be perceived as divisive or disrespectful, we are taking steps with our officers and the Police Officers Association to provide alternative, neutral personal protective equipment.
In the midst of a global pandemic that has seen far too many first responders lose their lives, across the nation and around the world, it's important to remember that the masks our officers wear were meant to honor all who make the ultimate sacrifice for the people we serve.
Retired American Civil Liberties Union lawyer John Crew told the San Francisco Chronicle that the biggest issue with the masks is that they violate policy regarding political symbols.
"This is two issues combined," he claimed. "The thin blue line is a political symbol. And it's a POA-branded mask. It's like wearing a political button."
In a separate interview with the San Francisco Examiner, Crew said, "Who the heck in the command staff, anybody from sergeant and above who saw these masks, thought that this would be okay?"
Police union president Tony Montoya said Scott's command staff were shown the masks before they were used by officers.


theblaze--2020-05-04--Fact check: Did the protests against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer feature 'nooses and swastikas'?

Fact check : Did the protests against Michigan Gov .
Gretchen Whitmer feature 'nooses and swastikas ' ?

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has instituted some of the harshest and arguably least constitutional stay-at-home orders in the country in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and as such has been the target of some eminently predictable protests.
Whitmer, for her part, has largely dismissed the protests and the protesters with divisive and dismissive rhetoric, which she ratcheted up a notch during a television interview Sunday, when she claimed that the protests "depicted some of the worst racism and most awful parts of U.S. history" and that they specifically included people displaying "confederate flags, nooses and swastikas."
Many in the media have uncritically repeated Whitmer's claim about the protesters without verifying whether they are true or not.
After reviewing hundreds of pictures of the protesters that were posted on social media, and by media photography services like Getty Images, as well as news accounts from other media outlets repeating Whitmer's claim, it appears that Gov. Whitmer's claim is partially true, but misleading.
We were able to locate exactly two protesters who displayed swastikas on their signs while protesting. However, as you will see, no reasonable person would conclude that these people were displaying the swastika as a symbol of white supremacy. Rather, they were obviously using the swastika in an admittedly over-the-top criticism of the harshness of Whitmer's policies.
The first one is not even technically a swastika, although it is certainly trying to be:
AFP via Getty Images
It should be noted that this picture was NOT taken at the April 30 rally that was the subject of Gov. Whitmer's Sunday remarks, but rather at the April 15 protests that occurred on the steps of the state capitol. However, in the interest of being as fair as possible to Gov. Whitmer, and including all of the protests against her orders that have occurred, the above photograph should be noted.
The other sign featuring a swastika appears to be the only instance of a swastika being displayed at the April 30 protests. And, as you can see, no reasonable person could interpret the sign as being pro-Nazi or pro-Swastika:
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Thus, the claim that swastikas have been on display at the protests against Whitmer is true; however, the claim that the swastikas were used as an expression of racism or white supremacy is clearly false. These protesters were not comparing Whitmer to Hitler because they are huge fans of Hitler and therefore also huge fans of Whitmer. Rather, they are comparing her to Hitler because, in their mind, that is the worst comparison that could be made. If anything, that is an expression opposing racism rather than supporting it.
As far as the claim regarding "nooses," we were not able to find any pictures taken by any of the many media photographers who covered the event that depicted a noose.
Neither, for that matter, were any of the other media outlets that repeated Whitmer's claims. Several of them included as featured images with their story the above photograph of the individual with the Whitmer-as-Hitler poster, and others included pictures of a confederate flag in the audience. See, for example, the Chicago Tribune, MSN, The Guardian, and NBC News.
Some users on social media claim, however, that a noose was in fact present.
However, further examination (from another apparently liberal twitter user) clearly demonstrates that the noose in question was not displayed as a symbol of racism but as a symbol against tyranny, as the person to whose truck the noose was attached was carrying a sign that read, "Tyrants get the rope."
This is not a display intended to threaten black people with lynching; if anyone is being threatened, it is the white governor of Michigan.
Comparing Whitmer to Hitler, and suggesting that she is a tyrant deserving of "the rope" might well be criticized as over-the-top and/or unacceptable rhetoric. Neither of these displays, however, has any obvious racist intent. Nor would such displays even make sense within the context of a protest about stay-at-home orders, which have nothing to do with race or racism.
In conclusion, it is literally true that there was at least one swastika and at least one noose on display at the anti-Whitmer protests last Thursday. It is, however, false (or at the very least misleading) to claim that they were displayed as symbols of racism.
Gov. Whitmer's office did not respond to a request for comment on this story.


theblaze--2020-05-04--About 25% of US coronavirus deaths have been nursing home residents and staff

About 25 % of US coronavirus deaths have been nursing home residents and staff 'We ca n't overstate the gravity @ @ @ @

Roughly 25% of all documented coronavirus deaths in the United States have been nursing home residents or staff, according to data compiled and released by states, USA Today reported.
More than 16,000 people have died of COVID-19 in nursing homes in the United States because nursing homes present a lethal combination of high-risk patients and an environment in which the virus can thrive and easily be spread. More than 2 million Americans live in such facilities, according to the CDC.
"More needs to be done," said Rhonda Richards, senior legislative representative at AARP, according to USA Today. "The number of deaths is appalling. We can't overstate the gravity of this situation."
Nearly 100,000 nursing home residents and staff members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to available data compiled by USA Today from states, and that data is incomplete due to inconsistency in the level of reporting from state to state, and six states not providing data.
More than 5,700 facilities across 46 states have had at least one resident or staff member test positive for COVID-19. Some have been hit particularly hard, such as one facility in Maryland that has had 97 infected residents and 34 deaths, or two veterans homes in New Jersey that have seen a total of 97 deaths.
One problem in nursing homes has been the lack of personal protective equipment and access to testing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is now sending PPE to nursing homes across the nation. In Illinois, workers at 64 homes plan to strike for hazard pay and better protection.
The coronavirus is significantly more dangerous to elderly people and those with underlying health conditions. It survives longer in indoor, temperature-controlled environments and spreads rapidly when people are in close contact with one another. All of those factors exist in many nursing homes.
Additionally, some nursing homes, such as those in New York have been required to readmit patients even if they test positive for COVID-19 as a matter of state policy.