theblaze--2020-04-17--Stock market takes a sharp upturn after coronavirus drug shows promising results

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by more than 800 points in futures trading on Thursday after a report showed that a drug meant to treat coronavirus had promising results .
The Dow Jones has cratered after a historic drive upward after the coronavirus pandemic began to shut down economies all over the world .
Futures traded upward on the news that Remdesivir , a Gilead Sciences drug , was shown to be effective in treating coronavirus patients with severe symptoms in a trial at a Chicago hospital .
The stock market could have also been responding positively to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Deborah Birx to slowly ease the restrictions on economic activity .
S & P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also up sharply on the drug news .
`` This is obviously good news .
Of course , we 've heard a few other pieces of good news like this recently and they did n't pan-out as well as people had hoped , '' said market strategist Matt Maley to CNBC .
`` The big question is whether it 's going to be enough to help the economy 're-open ' more quickly than people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explained .
About 22 million Americans have lost work because of the economic shutdown ordered by state and local governments to help stop the spread of the virus that originated in Wuhan , China .
Here 's more about the new coronavirus treatment :

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by more than 800 points in futures trading on Thursday after a report showed that a drug meant to treat coronavirus had promising results.
The Dow Jones has cratered after a historic drive upward after the coronavirus pandemic began to shut down economies all over the world.
Futures traded upward on the news that Remdesivir, a Gilead Sciences drug, was shown to be effective in treating coronavirus patients with severe symptoms in a trial at a Chicago hospital.
The stock market could also have been responding positively to the Trump administration revealing a plan by Dr. Deborah Birx to slowly ease the restrictions on economic activity.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were also up sharply on the drug news.
"This is obviously good news. Of course, we've heard a few other pieces of good news like this recently and they didn't pan out as well as people had hoped," said market strategist Matt Maley to CNBC.
"The big question is whether it's going to be enough to help the economy 'reopen' more quickly than people are thinking right now," he explained.
About 22 million Americans have lost work because of the economic shutdown ordered by state and local governments to help stop the spread of the virus that originated in Wuhan, China.
Here's more about the new coronavirus treatment:


theblaze--2020-04-17--The Biden campaign invited people to make their own 'Team Joe' meme. It did not go as planned.

The Biden campaign invited people to make their own 'Team Joe ' meme .
It did not go as planned @

The campaign for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is promoting a tool inviting supporters to create their own customized meme showing that they are on "Team Joe" for 2020.
But it is not just Biden supporters who have taken them up on the offer, and jokesters on social media got creative, having a lot of fun with the opportunity on Thursday.
What are the details?
Twitter users uploaded fake "endorsements" featuring Chinese President Xi Jinping, the devil, several members of the media including CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, "Corn Pop," and a "lying dog-faced pony soldier."
The Trump War Room also weighed in, making an avatar showing that MS-13 gang members are "on Team Joe," with a caption, "Thanks for pledging not to deport us!"
Other users posted pictures of Biden invading women's personal space on several occasions, and one posted a meme featuring Tara Reade, the woman who recently filed a police report accusing Biden of a sexual assault in 1993.
Even images of Democrats who have already endorsed Biden were used in the meme creation, such as Biden's former rivals Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and former President Barack Obama, who was branded in one meme as a "reluctant endorser."


theblaze--2020-04-17--Dan Crenshaw pummels Jen Rubin on her claims that Trump bungled coronavirus response

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) took on Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin over her claims that President Donald Trump bungled the response to the coronavirus pandemic and cost the U.S. trillions in tax funds and many American lives.
Rubin made the accusations in a Washington Post editorial that Crenshaw dismantled in a detailed Twitter thread.
"STOP. REWRITING. HISTORY," the conservative Texan tweeted.
"Instead of attempting to spin the public into a hateful, frightened frenzy, let's try reporting some facts with the correct context," he said.
Crenshaw pointed out that the World Health Organization was downplaying the threat of the coronavirus on March 3, the date Rubin opined that Trump should have shut the economy down.
"Would the America public really have accepted millions of jobs destroyed for a virus that had infected just 102 people by March 2? Especially considering Italy would not lock down until March 10th, Spain on March 14th, and the UK on March 23?" he asked.
Crenshaw then took issue with Rubin's quote: "Because we did not act earlier to ramp up testing at a massive scale and prepare our health-care system, social distancing — shutting down most of the economy — was required."
Not sure where the magic COVID-19 testing switch is. The truth is that long-standing regulations - in place for decades - prevented us from doing so. https://t.co/fDtnnbLg0i
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 16, 2020
"First, you argue that we should have shut down the economy weeks before we did. Then, you argue that the shut down, resulting job loss, and economic devastation are his fault too. Which is it? You can't have it both ways," Crenshaw continued.
"Your analysis makes it seem like our government deliberately decided not to buy more PPE. The truth is there was a global production shortage when China began stopping exports, and demand soared. This is still happening," he added.
Crenshaw cited headlines from the Washington Post, where Rubin contributes, to support his argument.
"When it's all said and done, this bad-faith analysis isn't fact-based and lacks important context," Crenshaw said in the last tweet of the thread.
When it's all said and done, this bad-faith analysis isn't fact-based and lacks important context. Hating Trump is not an excuse for lazy argumentation and emotional reasoning.
Now, more than ever, we need critical thinking and productive deliberation.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) April 16, 2020
"Hating Trump is not an excuse for lazy argumentation and emotional reasoning," he concluded. "Now, more than ever, we need critical thinking and productive deliberation."
Rubin has been criticized by many on the right for claiming to be a conservative while using her platform to bash Trump and other Republicans.
Here's more from Crenshaw on the coronavirus:


theblaze--2020-04-17--Gov. Whitmer hit with multiple lawsuits from Michigan residents over 'draconian' pandemic orders

Gov .
Whitmer hit with multiple lawsuits from Michigan residents over 'draconian ' pandemic orders 'It 's taking a sledge @ @ @ @ @

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been hit with at least two federal lawsuits from residents pushing back on what they say are "draconian" mandates during the coronavirus pandemic, with one attorney likening her actions to "taking a sledge hammer to an ant."
What are the details?
Reuters reported that separate complaints were filed in federal court on Tuesday and Wednesday wherein "several Michigan residents and one business accused the Democratic governor of violating their constitutional rights by imposing her 'Stay Home, Stay Safe' order."
The plaintiffs in Wednesday's lawsuit claimed they "reasonably fear that the draconian encroachments on their freedom set forth in this complaint will, unfortunately, become the 'new norm.'"
David Helm, an attorney who represents four of the plaintiffs suing Whitmer, told WJBK-TV of the governor's executive order, "It's like taking a sledge hammer to an ant. We believe it is over-broad and over-reaching. There is a way to do it appropriately without infringing on Constitutional rights like the governor has."
Whitmer's stay-at-home orders go far beyond what most governors have issued during the COVID-19 pandemic and are some of the most stringent measures in the nation — barring Michiganders from purchasing seeds for planting and even banning travel between households.
Along with the lawsuits, Whitmer has faced major pushback for her policies. A petition has been launched to have her recalled, thousands of demonstrators surrounded the capitol building in Lansing in protest of her mandates earlier this week, and several county sheriffs in the state announced they would not strictly enforce her policies, saying she was "overstepping her executive authority."
Anything else?
For better or worse, the attention surrounding Whitmer's orders has gained her national name recognition to the point that she is now being floated by pundits as a possible vice presidential pick of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.


theblaze--2020-04-18--'I'm not asking, I'm opening': Ohio racetrack owner vows to reopen despite government dictates

' I 'm not asking , I 'm opening ' : Ohio racetrack owner vows to reopen despite government dictates

The owner of an Ohio racetrack announced this week that whether state officials approve or not, he will reopen for the 2020 season despite government dictates to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
During a Facebook live video explaining his decision, Bill Bader Jr. said, "I'm not asking, I'm opening."
What are the details?
Bader, who owns Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, says if he doesn't open he will lose the business his family has owned since 1974 — leaving job losses in its wake.
The businessman mentioned that he noticed a message on a friend's social media feed on Wednesday that read: "Small business owners: Government will not save you. Open up and save yourselves." Bader told his own followers, "I think that's where we're at."
He added, "We are starving."
Bader has stopped taking a paycheck himself, and has had to lay off all but three of his 26 full-time employees. The track also typically hires another 430 event staff.
"The hardest day of my life was several weeks ago on Friday when I had to basically lay off the whole company," Bader said, according to CNN. "That was an incredibly painful day that I think about often and haunts me."
The owner told WKYC-TV, "This isn't a situation where I'm a greedy capitalist that's trying to make more money. I'm simply trying to survive."
Bader hopes to begin adding events to the calendar in the next week, and says he can still safely allow around 6,000 spectators into the 30,000-seat stadium while putting social distancing measures in place.
Summit Motorsports Park says they're opening for the 2020 season no matter what www.youtube.com
"Please understand something, and hear me when I say this," Bader said on Facebook: "I'm not asking, I'm opening."
He explained, "As I sit here at this desk, I am being asked to sit here and — slowly, daily, hourly, and by the minute — I'm being asked to slowly die, and I don't do that well. I am not going to sit passively by and watch my family's hard work go down the drain at the hands of a machine I don't even understand."


theblaze--2020-04-18--Jim Jordan rips Nancy Pelosi for delaying coronavirus relief: 'Get back to work' for the American pe

Jim Jordan rips Nancy Pelosi for delaying coronavirus relief: 'Get back to work' for the American people

Jim Jordan rips Nancy Pelosi for delaying coronavirus relief : 'Get back to work ' for the American people 'Instead @ @ @ @ @ the time , and sitting out there in San Francisco ... '

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) joined Glenn Beck on the radio program to discuss controversial reports that the coronavirus originated from a lab in Wuhan, and ask why Congress isn't getting back to work for the American people.
"Farmers are in the field right now, working. You've got food processors processing food. You've got truckers hauling the food. You've got people putting it on the shelves, and working in the 'essential' businesses. But the United States Congress can't meet?" Jordan said. "Why don't we get back in session? Lots of other people are working ... we have all kinds of task forces, Glenn, doing good work. But the task force that's supposed to address the biggest issues in our country -- called the United States Congress -- is missing in action."
He went on to single out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has recently been under fire for showcasing her expensive freezer full of gourmet ice cream during an appearance via livestream on CBS's "Late Late Show." Meanwhile, she and other Democrats are holding up coronavirus relief with a litany of progressive proposals.
"Maybe Speaker Pelosi, instead of criticizing the president all the time, and sitting out there in San Francisco, why don't you put together the plan that says how Congress is going to get back to work?" he said. "We could actually be in committees, doing the work we're supposed to be doing on behalf of the American people."
Watch the video below for more details:
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theblaze--2020-04-17--Former SBA chief under Obama scolds Nancy Pelosi for stalling bill on small business relief

Former SBA chief under Obama scolds Nancy Pelosi for stalling bill on small business relief 'We do n't have time @ @ @

Karen G. Mills, the former chief of the Small Business Administration during the Obama presidency, said Democrats should stop stalling on refunding a program to help businesses hurt by the shutdown from the coronavirus pandemic.
The rescue loan program provides money to small businesses but it quickly ran out of funding after only a few days and Republicans want to refund it to provide more relief to the economy.
Democrats have been stalling in order to make other demands to the legislation.
Mills said she told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democrats directly to join Republicans and fund the program quickly.
"Congress has to act as soon as possible," Mills said in an interview with CQ Roll Call. "What I'm saying is: Number one, get the money replenished."
Democrats want to add provisions in the bill to send $150 billion to the states, $100 billion to hospitals, and $60 billion for lenders including community development financial institutions.
Mills said it's simply not the time for such add-ons.
"Complexity is not our friend here," she said. "Things that have to be implemented quickly can't have a lot of bells and whistles, or else there will be too many unintended consequences — one of which is delay. And we don't have time to delay."
Pelosi and the Democrats have been lambasted by Republicans for stalling a program during such a destructive economic disaster.
Here's more about the economic relief program:


theblaze--2020-04-17--Stimulus cash is being sent to dead people. Rep. Thomas Massie says it's 'just the tip of the iceber

Stimulus cash is being sent to dead people. Rep. Thomas Massie says it's 'just the tip of the iceberg.'

Stimulus cash is being sent to dead people .
Rep. Thomas Massie says it 's 'just the tip of the @ @ @ @ @ the misplaced $ 12 million loan or $ 20 million through these other programs ?
@

Stimulus funds meant to assist Americans amid the coronavirus crisis are being sent to deceased individuals according to multiple reports, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says such instances are "just the tip of the iceberg" of misplaced spending in the COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress.
What are the details?
On Wednesday, Massie tweeted out a screenshot from his cellphone showing a friend had texted him the message, "Dad got his stimulus check of $1200. He died in (redacted) 2018. Does he have to spent it online?"
"Ok this is insane, but just the tip of the iceberg," the congressman tweeted. "This is a direct text to me from a friend. I called to confirm this actually just happened."
In an interview with The Washington Examiner the same day, Massie said, "It's the tip of the iceberg because what about the misplaced $12 million dollar loan or $20 million through these other programs?"
He added, "Everyone is in such a rush to get this money out the door and into the economy that the normal tests that you run on these accounts and recipients before you give the money shouldn't have all been suspended. It's just like a mad rush to get the money out the door."
On Friday, reports emerged from multiple mainstream media outlets confirming numerous instances of stimulus cash going to dead people from the $2 trillion CARES Act.
Jeanne Siracuse, who lives in Virginia, told NBC News that $1,200 had been deposited into her deceased mother's account. "Obviously, she does not need stimulus right now," Siracuse told the outlet. "It's not something she would have wanted to happen She was very conservative and would not want to see that kind of waste."
Forbes reported that several people have taken to Twitter asking what to do with the funds sent to their dead relatives, concerned that the government would want the extra cash paid back at some point.
NBC News interviewed a number of experts and sources who concluded loved ones can "probably" keep the government funds sent to the deceased.
The outlet reported that "one congressional aide said there's no provision in the law to claw back the money and that doing so would mean taking money away from widows and widowers."
As for Ms. Siracuse, she plans to return the $1,200 sent to her deceased mother back to the U.S. Treasury. "We don't want it," she said. "It's not who this stimulus was supposed to benefit."


theblaze--2020-04-17--'I stand behind what I said': GOP congressman doubles down on controversial push to reopen US econom

'I stand behind what I said': GOP congressman doubles down on controversial push to reopen US economy

' I stand behind what I said ' : GOP congressman doubles down on controversial push to reopen US economy @ @ @ @ @ we the people stand up and start demanding that of our elected officials '

Indiana Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R) joined Glenn Beck on the radio program Friday to clarify a controversial statement he made concerning the coronavirus crisis and the devastating effects it's having on the U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, Rep. Hollingsworth told WIBC in Indianapolis that getting Americans back to work and American businesses reopened would be the best decision for the most Americans.
"There is no zero harm choice here. We are going to have look Americans in the eye and say 'we are making the best decisions for the most Americans possible' and the answer to that to get Americans back to work, to get Americans back to their businesses," he said.
Asked if he "understands and appreciates what scientists are saying about the impact of the coronavirus," Hollingsworth replied, "But certainly the social scientists are telling us about the economic disaster that is going on. Our GDP is supposed to be down 20% alone this quarter. It is policymakers' decision to put on our big boy and big girl pants and say it is the lesser of these two evils. It is not zero evil, but it is the lesser of these two evils and we intend to move forward that direction. That is our responsibility and to abdicate that is to insult the Americans that voted us into office."
Predictably, the "liberal elites" in Washington, D.C., and the media were quick to pounce, taking the Republican lawmaker's words out of context to accuse him of saying American lives are less important than the all-mighty dollar.
"There's a real cost to this economic shutdown. Twenty-two million Americans out of work. Small businesses shutdown. Religious freedom all but ended," explained Hollingsworth on Friday's show. "And we need to start counting those costs alongside the biological costs of the coronavirus, and weigh those two judiciously, not just think about the coronavirus losses."
Glenn responded, "There is a real cost to the coronavirus, and we want to make sure that we help as many people as we can. But in the process, we don't want to hurt more people. You have to balance the head and the heart, and it doesn't seem like anyone is willing to do that right now."
"You're exactly right," Hollingsworth continued. "That's why it's so important that we the people stand up and start demanding that of our elected officials. This is what I said, and I stand behind what I said. This is our way of life that is at stake. Our religious freedoms. Our ability to create opportunities for our families. Our ability to put food on the table for our families. Our ability to go out and travel freely. We have to weigh the loss of our way of life, against the loss of American lives. That is not the easy thing to do. It should not be taken lightly. This is what we elect officials to do, and by gosh, I hope we start doing it!"
Watch the full interview now on BlazeTV.
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theblaze--2020-04-17--BOMBSHELL: New coronavirus study could be a GAME CHANGER

BOMBSHELL : New coronavirus study could be a GAME CHANGER

Researchers at Stanford University suggest that the lockdowns have been an overreaction. COVID-19 could be much more widespread and much less deadly than models originally predicted.
The Goal
Stanford set out to do the first random-sample antibody test for SARS-2 coronavirus In the United States. The study focused on areas most affected by the virus, so the worst-case scenarios.
The presence of antibodies suggests a person has had exposure to the virus, never was sick, or recovered and is now immune. Scientists believe it is highly unlikely a person be infected or reinfected if antibodies are present.
How soon Americans can return to our usual way of life depends on how widespread antibodies are currently.
Stanford found that between 2.46% and 4.16% of people it randomly sampled had SARS-2 coronavirus antibodies.
BlazeTV's Steve Deace broke down the numbers, and they are shocking.
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Update: This story has been corrected to note that Stanford found between 2.46 % and 4.16% of the people it sampled had the coronavirus antibodies.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Native American maiden on Land O'Lakes package — which 'devolved into a stereotype' — is gone after

Native American maiden on Land O'Lakes package — which 'devolved into a stereotype' — is gone after nearly 100 years

Native American maiden on Land O'Lakes package — which 'devolved into a stereotype ' — is gone after nearly 100 @ @ @ @ @ American artist who revamped maiden 's image in 1950s has 'mixed feelings ' about move @ @ @ @ @ politically correct time '

The familiar Land O'Lakes Native American maiden — front and center on the Minnesota company's packaging for nearly 100 years — is no longer on butter, cheese, and other products, the Star Tribune reported.
In some packaging, the figure known as Mia will be replaced by photos of Land O'Lakes member farmers, the paper said, adding that the words "Farmer-Owned" have been given prominent placement.
A company news release about the new packaging makes no mention Mia's disappearance, and the Star Tribune said nearly every trace of her has been erased from the Land O'Lakes website.
What's the background?
The paper said the Native American maiden was illustrated by Arthur C. Hanson, and that her appearance was modified over the years.
Patrick DesJarlait of the Ojibwe tribe remade Mia in the mid-1950s, the Star Tribune said, adding that he also created the Hamm's Beer bear, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul features his work.
'Mixed feelings'
But Robert DesJarlait — the son of Patrick DesJarlait and an artist and writer — told the paper he has "mixed feelings" about getting rid of the Mia imagery.
"I'm sad to see it go, but I can understand why it's gone," he noted to the Star Tribune. "We live in a politically correct time, so maybe it was time to get rid of it. It certainly devolved into a stereotype. But in our family, my dad's work is a source of pride for us. He broke barriers as an Ojibwe artist from Red Lake. Back then, you didn't find native people in those kinds of jobs, and this gave him the opportunity to put his spin on a well-known native image."
More from the paper:
Much like the use of Native American names and imagery in sports and other popular culture arenas — the Washington Redskins come to mind — the Land O'Lakes maiden has generated controversy for years.
In 2006, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe artist David P. Bradley created "Land O Bucks, Land O Fakes, Land O Lakes," a sculptural representation of the Land O'Lakes butter box. It is part of the permanent collection of the Denver Art Museum.
The museum notes that Bradley "reformulates pop imagery such as this Land O'Lakes butter box — found in American grocery stores — to combat cultural myths and the treatment of Native Americans."
"For five hundred years, American Indians have had everything taken from them," Bradley told the museum, according to the Star Tribune. "One of the last valuable things they own is their identity. Now that Indian identity has become a marketable commodity, it is being taken, as well."
'Hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls'
Native people have called the maiden's imagery racist, and that it goes "hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls.… by depicting Native women as sex objects," North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo (D) — a registered member of the Mandan, Hidatsa Arikara Nation — told the Grand Forks Herald.
"Yes, it's a good thing for the company to remove the image," Buffalo — who's also from Fort Berthold Reservation — added to the paper. "It's kinda like with land acknowledgements, it's a good gesture and a step forward. But we can't stop there. We as a whole need to keep pushing forward to address the underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide."


theblaze--2020-04-17--President Trump redirects World Health Organization funds to Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse

The White House Budget Office instructed federal agencies to redirect the money normally intended for the World Health organization to groups that perform similar work such as the Red Cross and Samaritan 's Purse .
The move indicates that President Donald Trump intends to make his temporary halt on funding to the WHO permanent , the New York Post reported Thursday .
The Post report noted that `` Trump administration officials have ceased 'voluntary ' contributions from agencies including USAID , the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services — totaling about $ 300 million- $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president on Tuesday announced that he would suspend U.S. funding of the United Nations relief organization due to its role in parroting China 's lies and misinformation about COVID-19 in the early stages of the global pandemic .
The WHO repeated without scrutiny the Chinese government 's dubious claims that the disease was not spread as a result of human-to-human transmission , and failed to call the communist government out when it had become apparent they were misleading the global community about the virus .
The U.S. was the largest donor to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the WHO 's yearly $ 4.8 billion budget .
Aside from its role in repeating misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic , Trump administration officials have reportedly taken issue with the WHO 's sizable travel budget and penchant for supporting liberal policies such as climate change and abortion .
According to the Associated Press , the annual WHO travel budget is about $ 200 million , dwarfing many of its health programs .
In 2016 , the WHO spent $ 71 million on AIDS and hepatitis , $ 61 million on malaria and @ @ @ @ @ @

The White House Budget Office instructed federal agencies to redirect the money normally intended for the World Health organization to groups that perform similar work such as the Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse.
The move indicates that President Donald Trump intends to make his temporary halt on funding to the WHO permanent, the New York Post reported Thursday.
The Post report noted that "Trump administration officials have ceased 'voluntary' contributions from agencies including USAID, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services — totaling about $300 million-$400 million a year."
The president on Tuesday announced that he would suspend U.S. funding of the United Nations relief organization due to its role in parroting China's lies and misinformation about COVID-19 in the early stages of the global pandemic. The WHO repeated without scrutiny the Chinese government's dubious claims that the disease was not spread as a result of human-to-human transmission, and failed to call the communist government out when it had become apparent they were misleading the global community about the virus.
The U.S. was the largest donor to the organization, accounting for roughly 10% of the WHO's yearly $4.8 billion budget.
Aside from its role in repeating misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, Trump administration officials have reportedly taken issue with the WHO's sizable travel budget and penchant for supporting liberal policies such as climate change and abortion.
According to the Associated Press, the annual WHO travel budget is about $200 million, dwarfing many of its health programs. In 2016, the WHO spent $71 million on AIDS and hepatitis, $61 million on malaria and $59 million on tuberculosis.


theblaze--2020-04-17--California county's antibody study suggests 50-80 times more cases than official tally

It creates a 'difficult choice ' about how to reopen the country California county 's antibody study suggests 50-80 times @ @ @ @ @ A health care worker offers a coronavirus test kit to a driver on Friday at @ @ @ @ @ Airport testing site in El Monte , California .
( FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty @ @

The results of an antibody test study including thousands of residents in California's Santa Clara County suggests that there have been tens of thousands more COVID-19 infections in the county than officially reported, according to ABC News.
What the study found: The study tested 3,300 residents of Santa Clara County and found that between 2.5% and 4% of them tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating that they had been infected in the past and had possibly developed immunity.
From that result, researchers estimated that between 48,000 and 81,000 people in the county (population 2 million) have already gotten COVID-19. Currently, the county has officially recorded approximately 1,000 cases.
What this could mean: This is just the latest data providing evidence that the coronavirus has spread far more broadly than we are able to confirm through COVID-19 tests, which are still scarce and typically only administered to those who are exhibiting symptoms.
"Our findings suggest that there is somewhere between 50- and 80-fold more infections in our county than what's known by the number of cases than are reported by our department of public health," Dr. Eran Bendavid, the associate professor of medicine at Stanford University who led the study, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer.
Other considerations: With this study, it's important to note that the use of online ads to recruit participants in the study could have skewed the sample some.
It's also not clear what level of immunity people with the antibodies have, and how long it might last. Assuming the antibodies provide some level of immunity, however, this study also indicates that potentially 95% of the country has not been exposed to the virus and therefore has no immunity.
As states prepare to gradually ease social distancing mandates and allow public life to resume normally, a lack of immunity in the population creates a possibility of coronavirus outbreaks once people start gathering again.
"[W]hat that means for things like, are we going to wait for people to get infected to get antibodies in order for them to get back to work ... knowing that well upwards of 90% of the population doesn't have antibodies is going to make that a very difficult choice," Bendavid told ABC News.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Texas Gov. Abbott announces plan to reopen businesses in the Lone Star State

Texas Gov .
Abbott announces plan to reopen businesses in the Lone Star State Abbott formed a Strike Force to @ @ @ @ @ names from business world

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Friday that Texas would soon be open for business. The governor also announced a new statewide task force comprised of health and economic experts that will assist him in determining how to proceed with opening up the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a news conference at the Texas Capitol, the Republican governor announced that state parks could reopen on Monday, but all visitors must wear face coverings.
Gov. Abbott teased that some businesses, but not all, might be able to open in early May.
"Understand this: Opening in Texas must occur in stages," Abbott said. "Obviously, not all businesses can open all at once on May the first. Some businesses, if fully open, without better distancing standards, would be more likely to set us back, rather than to propel us forward. A more strategic approach is required to ensure that we don't reopen only to have to shut down once again."
Gov. Abbott will announce a more detailed strategy on April 27, as to what kinds of businesses will be allowed to reopen and what restrictions they will have to abide by. Abbott wants to see how many coronavirus cases and deaths Texas will have in the next 10 days, and if the state can assuredly flatten the curve.
Abbott said that the reopening of Texas, the second most-populated state in the U.S. with 29 million people, would be determined by "data and by doctors," and as long as citizens continued to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
"Because of the efforts by everyone to slow the spread, we're now beginning to see glimmers that the worst of COVID-19 may soon be behind us," Abbott said during the news conference.
Abbott, who issued a stay-at-home order on April 2, may soon allow retail stores to provide product pickups that he called the "Retail-To-Go" model. He also may loosen surgery restrictions at medical facilities, permitting people to get elective operations again.
"Even more openings will be announced in May when it is determined that the infection rate continues to decline and when testing capabilities are sufficient to test and contain outbreaks of the virus," Abbott stated.
More than 1 million Texans filed for unemployment insurance between March 15 to April 11 following widespread business closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
What won't open any time soon is the schools. Abbott said schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year. Teachers will be permitted to use classrooms for administrative work and online classes.
Texas has more than 17,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 428 deaths, but only 15 deaths per million people. Abbott pointed out that Texas has the "second-most recoveries from COVID-19 of all states in America."
Gov. Abbott's "Strike Force to Open Texas" will include Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt.
Health experts will include Dr. Mark McClellan, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner and U.S. Medicaid and Medicare administrator; Dr. John Zerwas, who is executive vice chancellor for Health Affairs at the University of Texas system; and Dr. Parker Hudson, an assistant professor of internal medicine and infectious diseases at Dell Medical School.
Assisting the advisory board on the economic side will be several entrepreneurs, including Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies; Nancy Kinder, the CEO of Kinder Foundation; Brad Heffington, the owner of Heffington Farms; Don Evans, the chairman of the President George W. Bush Foundation; Kathy Britton, the CEO of Perry Homes; Richard Fisher, senior adviser at Barclays; and businessman Ross Perot Jr.
"We will focus on protecting lives while restoring livelihoods. We can, and we must do this," Abbott said last Saturday at a COVID-19 news conference. "With Texans helping Texans; with Americans helping Americans, we can conquer this coronavirus outbreak."
"We've learned from past disasters that from suffering comes perseverance. From perseverance comes character. From character comes hope," Abbott said.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Cops reportedly threaten teen with jail after she says she has COVID-19. Now she’s suing, alleging a

Cops reportedly threaten teen with jail after she says she has COVID-19. Now she’s suing, alleging a free speech violation.

Cops reportedly threaten teen with jail after she says she has COVID-19 .
Now she ’ s suing , alleging @ @ @ @ @

An Oxford, Wisconsin, teenager and her family are suing the local sheriff's department after an officer reportedly threatened to arrest the teen if she didn't delete a COVID-19-related Instagram post on her personal social media page.
What are the details?
Amiyah Cohoon, 16, had just gotten back from a school-sponsored March trip to Disney World when she came down with a respiratory illness. The illness was identical in symptoms to the coronavirus.
Amiyah, a student at Westfield Area High School in Westfield, Wisconsin, said that she began developing symptoms of a COVID-19 infection after returning home from the trip, which was cut short because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Her family sought medical care for her, but she was unable to receive a coronavirus test at the time. Instead, local medical professionals diagnosed her with an upper respiratory infection, but pointed out that her symptoms were "consistent with COVID-19," according to the lawsuit.
After Amiyah went home, she posted on her Instagram page telling people that she had the coronavirus and had placed herself in self-quarantine as a result.
When her condition worsened, her family took her to a local hospital, where she was tested for coronavirus. The test came back negative, but the suit states that medical professionals told Amiyah and her family that she did likely have the coronavirus, but that she had missed the window of testing to render a positive result.
An April 3 Live Science article reported that experts have seen an influx of false positives in the U.S.'s coronavirus testing.
Amiyah's visit to the hospital, of course, constituted another Instagram post — this time a photo of herself at the facility wearing an oxygen mask.
Enter the police
A day after the photo went up, Patrol Sgt. Cameron Klump from the Marquette County Sheriff's Department paid a visit to the Cohoon residence. The lawsuit points out that Sheriff Joseph Konrath — who caught wind of the Instagram post from Amiyah's high school — requested that Klump visit the Cohoons and direct them to remove the teen's Instagram post.
Klump reportedly told the family that that if they did not comply with Konrath's request, they could face disorderly conduct charges, and that he would have to start "taking people to jail."
According to the suit, Konrath reportedly felt it was within his right to demand the teen remove the post as there were reportedly no confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county at the time.
Naturally concerned over a possible arrest, the teen complied and deleted the post in question.
Later that day, the family discovered that Westfield Schools District Administrator Bob Meicher issued a statement to district families who were concerned about the teen's post.
A portion of his message to the families read,"Let me assure you there is NO truth to this. This was a foolish means to get attention and the source of the rumor has been addressed. This rumor had caught the attention of our Public Health Department and she was involved in putting a stop to this nonsense."
The message — sent on March 27 — is still live on the district's website at the time of this writing.
So what happened then?
Outraged, the Cohoon family reached out to the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
The organization sent Konrath and the sheriff's department a letter notifying them that they had violated the teen's First Amendment rights. The letter also requested an apology, as well as a clarification on any potential charges over the Instagram post.
The suit alleges that Konrath refused to issue an apology.
In response, the family chose to sue both Konrath and Klump in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin on allegations that they violated the teen's First and 14th Amendment rights.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the family's suit seeks "nominal damages" as well as an injunction barring the sheriff from arresting, jailing, or citing the family for free speech.
Also, the Associated Press reports that the teen also demands that she be "permitted to post on social media again without fear of being charged or taken to jail."
You can read the lawsuit here.
What is the sheriff's department saying?
In a statement, Sam Hall — an attorney for the sheriff — said that the teen "caused distress and panic" with her post.
"This case is nothing more than a 2020 version of screaming fire in a crowded theater," Hall said. "It is unfortunate that the plaintiff brings this lawsuit now, while law enforcement should be able to focus solely on the public health crisis that we currently face. However, we plan to mount an aggressive defense to this lawsuit."


theblaze--2020-04-17--WaPo writer takes a look at WHO's history of cozying up to dictators — and it's not pretty

WaPo writer takes a look at WHO 's history of cozying up to dictators — and it 's not pretty

Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin — who earlier this week broke news about leaked State Department cables that suggest SARS-CoV-2 originated in a Wuhan lab — is now hitting the World Health Organization for its dubious past of supporting dictators.
The WHO has been roundly condemned for its role in parroting China's lies about the coronavirus at the start of the global pandemic, such as that the infectious disease could not be spread through human-to-human transmission. The Trump administration on Tuesday halted funding to the organization for repeating such lies and taking the communist government's "assurances at face value."
"But the WHO's penchant for cozying up to dictatorships at the expense of public is not limited to China," Rogin argued in a Friday report. "The WHO has done the same things and worse when it comes to the regime led by Bashar al-Assad" in Syria.
Here's more from Rogin:
The WHO is striving to maintain good relations with a regime that is bombing hospitals, using starvation as a weapon of war, and driving millions into homelessness or internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Conditions in those camps were subhuman long before the pandemic.
As humanitarian aid worker Simone Jeger wrote last year, almost all U.N. aid money goes through Damascus. Assad dictates how the funds are disbursed, stealing huge portions for his coffers, his cronies, and the Syrian military. This has the effect of undermining international sanctions and bolstering Assad's army, essentially helping him slaughter civilians and win the war.
Here's the upshot: The WHO's "humanitarian" efforts effectively offset sanctions and fund the regime's inhumane war on its own people.
Yet while hospital bombing wouldn't meet anyone's criteria for a functioning health care system, when WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Syria's health minister last year, he was quoted by Syrian state media as praising the country's health system. One of the organization's Twitter accounts later repeated the notion.
Rogin says that the WHO is hellbent on compromising with brutal regimes in order to maintain access to the vulnerable populations the regime's oppress. Problem is, despite any good in the intentions, the outcome is usually just more oppression.
His report included a statement from David Adesnik, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, that said as much and added that it's not just the WHO who has this problem — it's all the U.N. relief agencies.
"The WHO works hand-in-glove with the most brutal regimes, praising their health programs while ignoring or even subsidizing their war crimes," Adesnik said.
He added: "In Syria, even the deliberate bombing of hospitals hasn't led the WHO to reconsider its relationship with Assad. The WHO has a dictator problem because U.N. relief agencies all have a dictator problem."
As it pertains to the global COVID-19 outbreak, the WHO assesses that Syria's population is at high risk. But in order to advance containment and treatment in the country, the WHO is hamstrung to work through the Assad regime. Given its history of oppression, there is no reason to believe that the regime will do anything helpful for the Syrian population.
As of Friday afternoon, Syria had only reported 38 confirmed cases of the disease resulting in just 2 deaths, but health officials suspect the problem could soon, if not already, be much worse.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Pregnant woman who steals TV news van has no idea reporter — who's also pregnant — is in back. Then

Pregnant woman who steals TV news van has no idea reporter — who's also pregnant — is in back. Then the terrifying chase is on.

Pregnant woman who steals TV news van has no idea reporter — who 's also pregnant — is in back @ @ @ @ @ is on .

After completing a live report on a vehicle crash for Atlanta's WGCL-TV early Tuesday morning, reporter Iyani Hughes returned to her station's news van, turned it on, and began to edit video in the back of the van.
Image source: WGCL-TV video screenshot
But as Hughes reached over the seat to lock the doors, a woman pulled the driver's side door open, jumped into the driver's seat, and sped away from the scene, the station said, adding that Hughes fell to the floor of the van and screamed.
The alleged carjacker was identified as 38-year-old Seniqua Lunsford, who's pregnant, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.
Thing is, Hughes also is pregnant, the paper said.
'I could hear her scream'
Veteran journalist Karen Greer was anchoring the station's morning broadcast and could hear the incident unfolding in her earpiece, WGCL reported in an earlier story on the incident.
"It is frightening when you become the news story as a journalist," Greer told the station. "I could hear in my ear because they realized in master control that something was going on, so they were rolling on it, and I could hear her scream, and I could hear ... our photographer yelling somebody just drove off in our car."
Police were nearby
Atlanta police were nearby investigating the crash of a Toyota Highlander into a condominium gate, the paper said, adding that Lunsford allegedly was behind the wheel in that crash and had slipped away from the scene.
As it turns out, it was the very crash Hughes had been covering, WGCL said.
Fortunately, nearby officers heard her scream for help and immediately began to chase the news van, the station added.
"I started texting her once I knew it was her, and I thought maybe they had just stolen the [van], and she didn't respond, so I started calling her and no answer, and I didn't know what was going on, and then I get wind that she's in the [van], and she has been kidnapped," Greer added to the station.
Police spokesman Officer Steve Avery told the paper that Hughes "tried to make the woman stop and pull over. The suspect wouldn't do that, so she did the smart thing: She got into her seat and put her seat belt on."
Crash
The chase ended when the suspect jumped a curb and hit a small tree, WGCL reported, adding that the airbags deployed and Hughes managed to escape from the van and run to safety.
Image source: WSB-TV video screenshot
Lunsford was arrested at the scene, and both she and Hughes were taken to a hospital, the station said.
Hughes was not injured, the Journal-Constitution said. Her station said she's recovering at home.
Image source: WSB-TV video screenshot
The paper added that Lunsford was treated for an arm injury.
Witnesses at the scene told police Lunsford was behaving strangely before the alleged hijacking, the Journal-Constitution said.
"They don't know if she is emotionally disturbed or on intoxicants, drugs, something like that," Avery told WSB-TV. "That hasn't been determined yet."
Lunsford was denied bond and is facing the following charges, WGCL reported:
Aggravated assault
Criminal damage to property
Failure to obey signs or control devices
Hijacking a motor vehicle
Kidnapping
Possession of amphetamine with intent to distribute
Reckless conduct
Simple battery
Willful obstruction of law enforcement officers by use of threats of violence
She was booked into jail after being released from a hospital, the station said.
Anything else?
Avery also said the incident shows how important it is to keep the doors locked when a vehicle is running, WSB noted, even when someone else is inside with no one in the driver's seat.
"Get a second key, so at the very least you can lock your door," Avery told the station. "It happens so fast, and this could have been tragic."
(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)


theblaze--2020-04-17--Coronavirus outbreak may have started in September and possibly not in Wuhan, scientists say

Coronavirus outbreak may have started in September and possibly not in Wuhan , scientists say University of Cambridge scientists say @ @ @ @ @ previously thought .

The origin of the coronavirus outbreak may have been outside of Wuhan, China, and the deadly respiratory disease may have started as early as September, months before it was initially believed to have begun to infect humans.
A team of scientists led by geneticist Peter Forster, from the United Kingdom's University of Cambridge, is carrying out research to discover the origin of COVID-19. On April 8, 2020, the research team published a paper titled, "Phylogenetic network analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes" in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.
The paper, which has not been peer-reviewed, examined the first 160 strains collected after late December. The scientists "expanded the database to include 1,001 high-quality full genome sequences released by scientists across the globe."
The team analyzed the strains using a phylogenetic network, which is a "graph used to visualize evolutionary relationships (either abstractly or explicitly) between nucleotide sequences, genes, chromosomes, genomes, or species."
Forster and his colleagues, including scientists from the Institute of Forensic Genetics in Munster, Germany, calculated that the original coronavirus outbreak occurred between Sept. 13 and Dec. 7.
"Then, it started infecting and spreading among humans between Sept. 13 and Dec. 7, generating the network we present in [the journal] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," Forster stated.
According to the Chinese government, the first known coronavirus case was traced back to Nov. 17, 2019. The patient was a 55-year-old from the Hubei province, which has Wuhan as its capital.
There is data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local health departments in California, that suggest that the coronavirus may have infected Americans as early as December, weeks earlier than previously believed.
"Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated from bats. It has been found to share 96 percent identical genes with a coronavirus isolated by Chinese scientists from bat droppings in the southwestern province of Yunnan in 2013," according to the South China Morning Post.
There were hundreds of mutations between Sars-CoV-2 and the one in Yunnan. But coronavirus usually only undergoes one mutation per month. Scientists started counting the mutations, which caused them to suspect that the virus may have been spreading in host animals and humans for years until the virus eventually evolved into a deadly pathogen that could infect humans.
"The virus may have mutated into its final 'human-efficient' form months ago, but stayed inside a bat or other animal or even human for several months without infecting other individuals," Forster said on Thursday.
Forster also said that a consistent mutation rate is "admittedly unlikely to be the case, and the time estimate could therefore be wrong."
There was a report this week that had several sources claim that the coronavirus originated from China's first Biosafety Level 4 lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and not a wet market.
Forster was asked if he thinks that COVID-19 emanated from the virology laboratory in Wuhan, China.
"If I am pressed for an answer, I would say the original spread started more likely in southern China than in Wuhan," Forster said.
The research of the 1,001 coronavirus genomes allowed scientists to categorize COVID-19 into three types: A, B, and C. Type A is the most genetically similar to the coronavirus found in bats, and is believed to be the original human virus genome.
The scientific research said, "A was not the virus type found in most cases in Wuhan, the city in China where COVID-19 was first identified. Instead, most people there had type B," as reported by Newsweek.
The research found that the disease possibly originated from Guangdong, a Chinese province about 500 miles south of Wuhan. That is where seven of the 11 isolates were type A.
"These case numbers are small because few genomes are available for the early stage of the outbreak, before the Chinese New Year travel pre-January 25 would have started mixing patterns up geographically," Forster said.
Mutated versions of type A were found in patients from the U.S. and Australia. Type C, the "daughter" of type B, was discovered in early cases in Europe, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, but the scientists did not find this version in mainland China.
Forster confessed that they don't have all the data, and the sample size is small. He stressed that in order to be able to paint a clear picture as to where the coronavirus originated, more analysis was needed, especially of "bats, possibly other potential host animals, and preserved tissue samples in Chinese hospitals stored between September and December."
"This work may provide some important clues to future investigations, but the conclusions should be treated with caution," Forster said.


theblaze--2020-04-17--'The View's' Sunny Hostin is paranoid that mask-wearing will result in racial profiling, arrests

'The View 's ' Sunny Hostin is paranoid that mask-wearing will result in racial profiling , arrests Because apparently everything @ @ @ @ @ about race nowadays

Sunny Hostin, co-host on "The View," said this week that COVID-19 guidelines encouraging public mask-wearing could be a detriment to black men.
What are the details?
During Friday's broadcast of the hit ABC show, Hostin said, "Something that I have been thinking about, because you see all of these cases that have been coming up, especially about black men wearing masks and then being racially profiled and being pulled over and arrested."
She pointed out a recent news item in which a police officer handcuffed a black doctor who was on his way to hand out tents to Miami's homeless population. The incident is currently under investigation.
"There was an article about a black doctor in Miami that was handcuffed because he was taking some things out of his truck," she said. "I have a friend saying he won't wear a bandana, he's going to wear something like a pig mask so that he's not profiled, so that he doesn't scare anyone."
"For black men or Latino men, I think there is a fear that if you follow the guidelines, which is wear a mask when you're outside, will that lead to racial profiling? And so it's a real concern in certain communities," she insisted.
Whoopi Goldberg chimed in, "Better to wear the mask and let people figure out if they're afraid of you or don't wear the mask and know that they're gonna be afraid. I pose that to the people who are nervous about seeing black men in masks."
Earlier in April, the Centers for Disease Control directed the American public to wear face coverings when they leave the house in order to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus pandemic.
Some governors — including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) — have made the suggestion a mandate in their states.


theblaze--2020-04-17--What an unbelievable abuse of power

What an unbelievable abuse of power

What an unbelievable abuse of power COVID-19 has ushered in many abuses of power

Conservatives in Michigan are concerned about their governor abusing their power amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"We just don't pay attention. That's when they swoop in and take our rights," Pat Gray said on "Pat Gray Unleashed."
Here's Pat to discuss the dangerous power grabs that can be observed across the nation, at all levels of government.
Use code PAT to save $30 on one year of BlazeTV.
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--2020-04-17--Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: Abortions are ‘life-sustaining’

You ca n't make this stuff up

The Democratic governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, recently called access to abortion during the coronavirus pandemic "life-sustaining."
Whitmer was discussing health care and abortion during a recent podcast interview with CNN correspondent and former Obama adviser, David Axelrod, when she made the comments. After being asked about her plans regarding other states who have banned abortions during the outbreak, Whitmer suggested that while elective surgeries have been paused in Michigan, abortions are considered essential and can still be performed.
"We stopped elective surgeries here in Michigan," the governor said. "Some people have tried to say that that type of a procedure is considered the same [as abortion] and that's ridiculous."
"A woman's health care, her whole future, her ability to decide if and when she starts a family is not an election, it is a fundamental to her life," she continued. "It is life-sustaining and it is something that government should not be getting in the middle of."
Whitmer has faced considerable backlash from conservatives over her restrictive stay-at-home orders since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Wednesday, thousands flooded the state capitol in protest of the restrictive orders, which are some of the strictest in the nation, some chanting "lock her up." That same day, four Michigan county sheriffs announced that they would not be strictly enforcing the governor's order, arguing that the governor was "overstepping her executive authority."
On Thursday, news broke that at least two federal lawsuits had been filed against Whitmer for her "draconian" mandates.


theblaze--2020-04-17--60% of coronavirus-infected sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt showed no symptoms

60 % of coronavirus-infected sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt showed no symptoms The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves @ @ @ @ @ Jan. 17 .
( U.S. Navy via Getty Images )

Most of the nearly 5,000 members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt crew has been tested for COVID-19, and a majority of those who tested positive had no symptoms at all, according to Reuters.
More than 600 sailors have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and 60% of those sailors were asymptomatic.
"With regard to COVID-19, we're learning that stealth in the form of asymptomatic transmission is this adversary's secret power," said Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, surgeon general of the Navy, Reuters reported.
The situation aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt gained national attention when the ship's former captain, Brett Crozier, sent a letter to military leaders asking for help to deal with a small but growing coronavirus outbreak on the ship.
Crozier was fired by former Navy Secretary Thomas Modly for sending the message through unclassified channels to multiple recipients. Shortly after that, Modly resigned due to backlash from comments he made to the ship's crew about Crozier.
The percentage of sailors with the virus but no symptoms is cause for concern for the Navy, as sailors around the world are in tight quarters on ships where the virus could spread without anyone even knowing that it's present. One sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt has died, and five others are hospitalized.
Asymptomatic spread is also a concern for President Donald Trump, state governors, and the public health officials tasked with deciding when to reopen businesses and allow public gatherings. The United States is still mostly testing patients who display significant COVID-19 symptoms, meaning there is no way to know or even accurately estimate how many asymptomatic cases exist.
The data from the USS Theodore Roosevelt tests give some insight into the potential that many young, otherwise healthy people in the general population could be infected and may be spreading COVID-19 without their knowledge. It could also mean that the virus' actual mortality rate is much lower than currently believed.
"The findings are of enormous interest because the proportion of people who are asymptomatic is just simply not known," said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, to Reuters.


theblaze--2020-04-17--After lawsuits, uproar over $500 tickets for church members listening to radio sermon in church park

After lawsuits, uproar over $500 tickets for church members listening to radio sermon in church parking lot, mayor has come-to-Jesus moment

After lawsuits , uproar over $ 500 tickets for church members listening to radio sermon in church parking lot , @ @ @ @ @ actions taken by an over-burdensome government actually put more people at risk '

When Errick D. Simmons become mayor of Greenville, Mississippi, in 2016, he looked to keep God at the center of his administration by promoting a faith-based initiative called "Worship on the Water" to bring residents together.
"Psalm 100 demands us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord," Simmons said, according to his page on the city's website. "On the fifth Sunday of every month, residents and citizens come and worship at the water on our levee front to make a joyful noise together in corporate worship. Folks are not restricted by the color of their skin nor confined by their churches' addresses. We come to exalt God as one community."
But these days the noise around Simmons has been anything but joyful.
Church attendance restrictions
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Simmons issued an executive order last week closing all Greenville church buildings for both in-person and drive-in services.
"It's all about trying to save lives," the mayor told the Delta Democrat-Times. "If people continue to gather, it's going to spread."
Well, the day after Simmons' executive order, folks showed up to the parking lot of Temple Baptist Church in Greenville and listened to Pastor Arthur Scott's sermon on the radio in their cars.
Lee Gordon — a 23-year member of the church as well as a representative for the Washington County Board of Supervisors — told the Democrat-Times he and his wife were among those gathered in the church parking lot, and they figured everybody was abiding by coronavirus social distancing guidelines given they were in their cars with the windows rolled up.
But that wasn't the case. Gordon told the paper he and his wife were both issued $500 tickets.
'Somewhere right now in the city of Greenville, real crime is going on'
Another Temple Baptist church member recorded video of police issuing tickets in the parking lot.
"Somewhere right now in the city of Greenville, real crime is going on," the man said from behind the wheel of his vehicle. "They got half of the police squad at Temple Baptist Church. Seventy- and 80-year-old people ... most of them never even had a speeding ticket. But this is a better use of Greenville's resources."
Image source: YouTube screenshot
The man recording the video got a ticket, too.
Image source: YouTube screenshot
"Just handed a ticket by a man with no gloves. He gave me an ink pen to sign it ...," he said, adding that he and other church members were "complying 100% with the governor's ordinance on COVID-19. And they come and force us not to comply. They force us to make human contact. Your city dollars at work for you."
Here's the video:
Police Raid Drive-In Church Service for Elderly, Issue Fines to Entire Congregation youtu.be
Fallout
In the wake of the $500 ticket incident, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit last Friday saying the order banning church services is unconstitutional, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General William Barr warned state authorities that social distancing mandates do not include the right to restrict religious organizations more than nonreligious ones. First Liberty Institute also filed a lawsuit against Greenville, the AP said.
Simmons also told the outlet he's received death threats.
A change of heart
Finally the Democratic mayor said Monday the city wouldn't make people pay the $500 tickets but that he wanted Republican Gov. Tate Reeves to give clear guidance about how his statewide stay-at-home order affects religious services, the AP said.
Reeves has said during public appearances in the last two weeks that he doesn't believe government can ban religious services, but he's also asked pastors and other religious leaders to hold worship services online rather than in person, the outlet added.
Simmons said Reeves provided clear guidance about worship services Wednesday during a call with mayors, the AP said.
"The governor stated today ... for the very first time that drive-in church services where families stay in their cars with windows up are safe," he said.
With that, Simmons said people may attend drive-in church services but must keep their windows up, the outlet said, adding that he also said churches may allow up to 10 people at a time in a building for worship services shown online or carried on TV or radio, as long as those inside the church follow public health guidelines to maintain a safe distance from one another.
During a news conference Wednesday, Reeves criticized the fact that Greenville police made motorists roll down their windows at drive-in church services to receive their tickets, the AP reported.
"The actions taken by an over-burdensome government actually put more people at risk," he said.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Severe coronavirus patients recover quickly on experimental drug in Chicago study: 'Remdesivir was a

Severe coronavirus patients recover quickly on experimental drug in Chicago study: 'Remdesivir was a miracle'

Severe coronavirus patients recover quickly on experimental drug in Chicago study : 'Remdesivir was a miracle' Patients being discharged in @ @ @ @

The antiviral drug remdesivir has shown effectiveness in quickly reducing or eliminating symptoms in COVID-19 patients in a University of Chicago Medicine study, according to STAT News.
"Most of our patients are severe and most of them are leaving at six days, so that tells us duration of therapy doesn't have to be 10 days," said Kathleen Mullane, the infectious disease specialist who is overseeing the study. "We have very few that went out to 10 days, maybe three."
About the study: Gilead Sciences recruited 125 people who had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, to participate in clinical trials. Almost all of them, 113, were in severe condition. They were treated with daily infusions of remdesivir.
Mullane said most of the patients have been discharged, and two have died.
"Fever is now not a requirement for people to go on trial, we do see when patients do come in with high fevers, they do [reduce] quite quickly," Mullane said. "We have seen people come off ventilators a day after starting therapy. So, in that realm, overall our patients have done very well."
Mullane cautioned that the encouraging results can't yet be used to draw too many conclusions, as the clinical trials don't include a placebo group for comparison. Randomized controlled studies would be necessary to get sufficient data about the drug's effectiveness.
What's next? Remdesivir has the potential to become the first approved treatment for the coronavirus if it continues to produce safe and effective results. Regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, are watching Gilead's clinical trials closely.
One patient in the study, 57-year-old Slawomir Michalak, called the drug a "miracle." He went to the hospital on April 3 because he was struggling to breathe and had a fever of 104. He said he began to feel better almost immediately after starting remdesivir treatments on April 4, and he was able to go home by April 7.
"Remdesivir was a miracle," he said.
(H/T: The Hill)


theblaze--2020-04-17--Twitter bans popular conservative for joke Joe Biden meme

Twitter has suspended a popular conservative account for posting a joke meme about presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden .
It all started when the Biden campaign made the incredibly questionable decision to promote a create-your-own `` Team Joe '' meme generator on its campaign website — a move that certainly did not go as planned .
But before the campaign could realize its mistake , social media jokesters had taken full advantage of the opportunity .
By late Thursday night , Twitter was teeming with fake Joe Biden `` endorsements '' featuring `` the devil , several members of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Acosta , convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein , North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un , 'Corn Pop , ' and a 'lying dog-faced pony soldier , ' '' wrote TheBlaze 's Breck Dumas .
One popular account , ALX , run by a production administrator for Turning Point USA , took advantage of the Biden campaign 's failed project by posting an endorsement from Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping .
Twitter evidently did n't find the joke amusing and suspended the account Thursday night , according to reports on Twitter confirmed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be seen since the account has been suspended , RedState included a screenshot of it in its report .
The screenshot tweet in its story matches the one that Twitter users are suggesting as the one that ALX posted .
One example is shown below .
In a statement to RedState , ALX said , `` I am a young Conservative just starting out and I have worked hard to get to the point I am today .
For Twitter to remove my account without a clear reason after CEO Jack Dorsey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transparent before Congress is deeply troubling . ''
ALX was a popular account often retweeted by President Donald Trump .
Interestingly , other users on Twitter also posted images of Chinese leader Xi Jinping , but as of yet have not been suspended by the platform .
Even the Trump campaign joined in on the fun , posting its very own meme of Xi saying he 's on `` Team Joe ! ''
`` Your son Hunter is a very good businessman ! ''
the bio in the meme states .

Twitter has suspended a popular conservative account for posting a joke meme about presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
It all started when the Biden campaign made the incredibly questionable decision to promote a create-your-own "Team Joe" meme generator on its campaign website — a move that certainly did not go as planned. But before the campaign could realize its mistake, social media jokesters had taken full advantage of the opportunity.
By late Thursday night, Twitter was teeming with fake Joe Biden "endorsements" featuring "the devil, several members of the media including CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, 'Corn Pop,' and a 'lying dog-faced pony soldier,'" wrote TheBlaze's Breck Dumas.
One popular account, ALX, run by a production administrator for Turning Point USA, took advantage of the Biden campaign's failed project by posting an endorsement from Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.
Twitter evidently didn't find the joke amusing and suspended the account Thursday night, according to reports on Twitter confirmed by RedState.
Though the offending tweet cannot be seen since the account has been suspended, RedState included a screenshot of it in its report. The screenshot tweet in its story matches the one that Twitter users are suggesting as the one that ALX posted. One example is shown below.
In a statement to RedState, ALX said, "I am a young Conservative just starting out and I have worked hard to get to the point I am today. For Twitter to remove my account without a clear reason after CEO Jack Dorsey said the that company would be more transparent before Congress is deeply troubling."
ALX was a popular account often retweeted by President Donald Trump.
Interestingly, other users on Twitter also posted images of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but as of yet have not been suspended by the platform. Even the Trump campaign joined in on the fun, posting its very own meme of Xi saying he's on "Team Joe!"
"Your son Hunter is a very good businessman!" the bio in the meme states.


theblaze--2020-04-17--FDA says no need to wipe down groceries. CDC, epidemiology experts say otherwise.

FDA says no need to wipe down groceries .
CDC , epidemiology experts say otherwise .

The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that consumers don't have to worry about contracting the coronavirus from grocery packaging.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and other experts say the opposite.
What is the FDA saying?
In a release on its website, the FDA wrote, "We want to reassure consumers that there is currently no evidence of human or animal food or food packaging being associated with transmission of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19."
The organization does not cite the evidence — or, in this case, lack of evidence — to support its claim.
It goes on to note that while the COVID-19 virus is spread from person-to-person contact, it cannot be spread through "contaminated food."
"This particular coronavirus causes respiratory illness and is spread from person-to-person, unlike foodborne gastrointestinal or GI viruses, such as norovirus and hepatitis A that often make people ill through contaminated food," the release added.
The organization does not address, however, whether the virus is transmissible from contaminated surfaces, such as plastic milk cartons or cardboard pasta boxes.
It does note, though, that shoppers should wash their hands when they return home from the grocery store, and then once more after putting away the groceries.
"Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds when you return home and again after you put away your groceries," the release continued.
It also offers up the idea of wiping groceries down anyway — just as a precaution.
"If you wish, you can wipe down product packaging and allow it to air dry, as an extra precaution," it concluded.
What are others saying?
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, for one, says that while it's not necessarily likely that consumers can contract COVID-19 from grocery parcels, it's not unreasonable to take the proper protective precautions.
"It's very unlikely you're going to get it from packages, but we do know that the virus can live on surfaces, for example, steel and plastic for up to three days. ... We know it can live up on cardboard for 24 hours."
He later added, "Respiratory droplets that are in the air, you can touch surfaces and then you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. I think it's a very low likelihood ... but being cautious is a good idea."
The CDC also notes, "[T]ransmission of novel coronavirus to persons from surfaces contaminated with the virus has not been documented."
"Current evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials," the organization added.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham say that the virus is "more stable" on surfaces like plastic — a common food container material — and steel when compared to more porous surfaces like paper or cardboard.
"Viable virus was detected for up to three days on plastic and stainless-steel surfaces," one researcher said. "While on copper, no viable virus was measured after four hours or on cardboard after 24 hours."
Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, who is assistant professor in UAB's Division of Infectious Diseases, adds, "Packages will be coming from a number of hands, and you might not know the symptom status of everyone who touched it along the way. Wash your hands after opening and handling the package. That will kill the germs."
Harvard University Medical School also advises to take the safer road.
"Recent studies have shown that the COVID-19 virus may remain on surfaces or objects for up to 72 hours," researchers write. "This means virus on the surface of groceries will become inactivated over time after groceries are put away. If you need to use the products before 72 hours, consider washing the outside surfaces or wiping them with disinfectant. The contents of sealed containers won't be contaminated."
"After unpacking your groceries, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds," researchers advise. "Wipe surfaces on which you placed groceries while unpacking them with household disinfectants."
The conclusion?
Wipe down your groceries as well as your counters after grocery shopping — and then wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
It's better to be safe than sorry.


theblaze--2020-04-17--VIDEO: Plane makes incredible emergency landing on busy highway

What are you going to do when a plane cuts you off on the highway ?

A viral video shows a plane making a miraculous emergency landing on a busy highway near Quebec City, Canada.
The steel-nerved pilot of a Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing, and the only available landing strip was a highway. The plane touched down on Highway 40 near Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the CBC.
Numerous cars driving on the highway, overpasses, and several exits signs added an extra degree of difficulty to the emergency landing. Drivers collectively slowed down to provide enough room for the plane to stick the landing on the Canadian highway.
Twitter user @Lauthfee posted the nail-biting video on Twitter, where it has over 1.2 million views, over 8,000 retweets, and more than 22,000 Likes.
One driver had a front-row seat to the marvelous landing and was directly behind the small airplane as it touched down. The tailgating video was uploaded on YouTube by an account under the name of "Sly Tortuously."
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IznsVtc5O1c&feature=emb_title expand=1] View from the Yaris tailgating the plane www.youtube.com
Jean-Paul Daoust witnessed the incredible landing from the parking lot of a nearby garden center.
"I was pretty surprised," said Daoust. "First time I've ever seen a plane on a highway, except in the movies."
Quebec provincial police said that a mechanical problem forced the pilot to make the emergency landing only a few miles south of the Jean Lesage International Airport.
"We received calls mentioning that an airplane was landing on westbound Highway 40. Fortunately, the aircraft landed without a collision, and then no one was injured," said Sgt. Helene Nepton of the provincial police. "In fact, traffic was able to resume quickly in the area."
Traffic was stopped for less than an hour as emergency crews escorted the plane off the highway.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Rep. Ilhan Omar funnels nearly $300,000 so far this year to her husband's political firm

Rep. Ilhan Omar funnels nearly $ 300,000 so far this year to her husband 's political firm The Minnesota Democrat @ @ @ @ @ $ 500,000 in 2019

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) continues to funnel campaign funds to her husband's political firm. So far this year, Omar paid nearly $300,000 to Tim Mynett's political consulting company, according to several reports.
Campaign finance filings show that the Minnesota Democrat's campaign paid $292,905 to the E Street Group, which was founded by her husband. The money paid for a range of services, including advertising, campaign merchandise, consulting, and research. The payments to E Street accounted for over 40% of the Omar campaign's $674,892 in disbursements.
The Star Tribune reported that Omar paid E Street more than $500,000 in 2019.
Last month, the Washington Post reported: "The campaign also paid $7,000 to Mynett directly for fundraising consulting before hiring his consulting firm."
Omar's campaign raised $456,374 during the first three months of 2020, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
E Street Group self-describes the firm as: "Progressive political consultants working with candidates and causes to tell authentic stories — constantly innovating, motivating and inspiring donors to give, people to vote, and neighbors to mobilize."
Federal Election Commission records show E Street Group has worked with other politicians such as The Young Turks creator Cenk Uygur, Rep. Debra Haaland (D-N.M.), Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), as well as the Democratic National Committee.
The National Legal and Policy Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in August that Omar used campaign funds to pay for Mynett's personal travel expenses. The FEC has taken no action regarding the complaint.
"My relationship with Tim began long after this work started. We consulted with a top FEC campaign attorney to ensure there were no possible legal issues with our relationship. We were told this is not uncommon and that no, there weren't," Omar tweeted last month. "As a family, we are committed to the practice of joy, compassion and love in our politics. And we are giving ourselves the permission to be happy and hope others will as well."
The relationship between Omar and Mynett was brought to light in August when Dr. Beth Jordan Mynett told the New York Post that her then-husband was having an affair with the then-married congresswoman, who was also her client.
Previously, Omar, 38, and Mynett, 39, had denied that they were having an affair.
"I have no interest in allowing the conversation about my personal life to continue and so I have no desire to discuss it," Omar said in August.
At the time, Omar was still married to her then-husband Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi. Omar filed for divorce in October, and it was finalized a month later.
Omar and Mynett announced their marriage in March 2020 with an Instagram post. Mynett is Omar's third husband. Omar and Hirsi were married twice, and she also married Ahmed Elmi.


theblaze--2020-04-17--CNN published more than 700 stories on allegations against Kavanaugh. They haven’t published a singl

CNN published more than 700 stories on allegations against Kavanaugh. They haven’t published a single one on Biden's accuser.

CNN published more than 700 stories on allegations against Kavanaugh .
They haven ’ t published a single one on @ @ @ @

In 2018, after Christine Blasey Ford accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault while the two were in high school, CNN salivated at the news, producing seven articles the same day that the news became public.
In all, the left-wing outlet would go on to publish more than 700 articles about the accusations in the coming weeks, according to a search of CNN's website by Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist.
It has been more than three weeks since Tara Reade, a former staff assistant to then-U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, accused the presumptive Democratic nominee of sexually assaulting her in 1993 — and CNN has not published a single story on the news.
It's hard to imagine a more stark example of mainstream media bias.
In a podcast interview with journalist Katie Halper on March 25, Reade accused Biden of aggressively pinning her against a wall and then penetrating her digitally after she had been sent to retrieve his gym bag.
"We were alone, and it was the strangest thing. There was no, like, exchange really, he just had me up against the wall," Reade said. "His hands were on me and underneath my clothes," she added before with explaining with graphic detail what he went on to do. Reade would later file a formal criminal complaint against the former vice president.
But in the days and weeks following the accusation, mainstream media outlets quite obviously decided to dismiss the news and refused to cover the story. It wasn't until Easter Sunday — more than two weeks after the allegations surfaced — that the Washington Post and the New York Times finally made brief mention of them, Hemingway noted.
Moreover, in contrast to the wall-to-wall coverage the allegations against Kavanaugh received two years ago, the allegations against Biden have gone almost without mention on air.
Biden has sat down 10 times for interviews with major news outlets like MSNBC and CNN since the news broke, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Yet despite being asked 81 questions during those two hours of interviews, not one of the questions has been about Reade's sexual assault accusations against him.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Alleged purse snatcher picks wrong woman to mess with — and pays for it with bite to the wrist, kick

Alleged purse snatcher picks wrong woman to mess with — and pays for it with bite to the wrist, kick in the stomach before arrest

Alleged purse snatcher picks wrong woman to mess with — and pays for it with bite to the wrist , @ @ @ @ @ arrest 'People ought to be able to walk around at nighttime , and you 've @ @ @ @ @ wanting to rob somebody '

Sheriff's deputies said that as a woman was walking home Tuesday night in Naples, Florida, a man ran up behind her and forcefully snatched her purse, WBBH-TV reported.
But he picked the wrong woman to mess with.
His victim put up a fight, biting his wrist to get the robber to stop, the station said. And when he didn't relent, deputies told WBBH that the woman kicked her assailant in the stomach.
Turns out there was something of critical importance in the purse: Her anti-seizure medication, the station said.
What happened next?
As deputies were responding to the incident, her assailant threw the purse and ran, WBBH said.
Fortunately, the woman gave deputies a detailed description of the suspect, and just as she was giving her statement a K-9 found the suspect in a nearby bush, the station said.
And while the suspect wasn't willing to come out, the K-9 was only too happy to persuade him by delivering a bite, WBBH noted.
The suspect — Jesus Gonzalez — was checked by EMS and taken to jail, the station said, adding that he's facing charges of robbery by sudden snatching and resisting law enforcement.
Records indicate that Gonzalez, 20, bonded out of jail Wednesday. He's scheduled to appear in court May 11.
Anything else?
One man reacting to the incident told WBBH, "People ought to be able to walk around at nighttime, and you've got these thugs out here wanting to rob somebody. We work hard for what we get ... and it's not right, you know?


theblaze--2020-04-17--China discloses more than 1,000 previously unreported coronavirus deaths, blames medical staff short

China discloses more than 1,000 previously unreported coronavirus deaths, blames medical staff shortages

Military medics salute the Huoshenshan Hospital on April 15 in Wuhan , China .
With the approval of President Xi @ @ @ @ @ were dispatched to Hubei Province to assist with the treatment of COVID-19 patients have left @ @ @ @ @ Wuhan after completing their mission .
( Xinhua/Fei Maohua via Getty Images )

China reported more than a thousand COVID-19 deaths that the communist nation had previously not disclosed, and blamed strained hospital capacity and medical staffing shortages for the lag in reporting, according to Forbes.
The sudden change casts more doubt on COVID-19 statistics out of China that are almost certainly severely underreported due to an ongoing effort by the Chinese government to conceal the impact of the virus that originated in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province.
What was the update? China had previously reported a death toll of 2,579 in Wuhan. On Thursday, another 1,290 deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 3,869 in the city.
Overall, China claims 4,632 people died nationwide from COVID-19. In recent weeks, China has been reporting very few new cases and deaths, and claiming that many of the new cases have been imported from elsewhere.
Why the sudden change? "In the early stage, due to limited hospital capacity and the shortage of medical staff, a few medical institutions failed to connect with local disease control and prevention systems in a timely manner, which resulted in delayed reporting of confirmed cases and some failures to count patients accurately," an unidentified Chinese official said on state TV.
Why we shouldn't believe this, either: China attempted to hide the outbreak when it began, doctors who tried to get word out were chastised or disappeared, and there is evidence that there are actually more than 40,000 coronavirus deaths in Wuhan alone based on levels of cremation activity.
More recently, growing evidence has emerged that the virus was transmitted from bat to human in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with that human then spreading it into the general population. That lab reportedly operates at the highest level of safety, BSL-4, but its work with bats was conducted at the lower level of BSL-2.


theblaze--2020-04-17--Man allegedly breaks into eatery amid COVID-19 lockdown — and spends 4 days eating, drinking thousan

Man allegedly breaks into eatery amid COVID-19 lockdown — and spends 4 days eating, drinking thousands of dollars in inventory.

Man allegedly breaks into eatery amid COVID-19 lockdown — and spends 4 days eating , drinking thousands of dollars in @ @ @ @ @ all caution to the wind

According to police, a Connecticut man broke into a closed eatery in New Haven and camped out for four days, eating and drinking his way through thousands of dollars of the store's inventory.
What are the details?
Authorities identified the intruder as Louis Angel Ortiz.
The manager of Soul de Cuba Cafe was reportedly visiting his restaurant during the COVID-19 lockdown, and discovered Ortiz asleep inside the restaurant on Tuesday.
The unnamed manager phoned police, and caught up to Ortiz — who was reportedly making his way down the road with one of the restaurant's bottles of rum in hand.
A review of the restaurant's surveillance footage determined that Ortiz broke into the restaurant on Saturday and "helped himself over the course of four days to the restaurant's food, liquor, and beer."
Authorities say that Ortiz is accused of drinking or stealing approximately 70 bottles of liquor.
New Haven Restaurant Week: Soul de Cuba Cafe www.youtube.com
What else?
The New Haven Police Department shared further information on its Facebook page, writing, "The 42 year old New Haven man was found in possession of a bottle of the restaurant's rum. Investigators reviewed security video footage which confirmed the initial burglary occurred several days prior on Saturday when Ortiz made entry through a side window of the restaurant."
"Officers learned Ortiz helped himself over the course of four days to the restaurant's food, liquor, and beer. In addition to eating and drinking at the restaurant, Ortiz removed beverages and property from the building," the post continued. "The business had been closed during this time and it was a manager's routine check of the establishment that led to the discovery of the burglary."
The department reported that the restaurant estimates the loss of inventory to total "several thousand dollars."
Authorities charged Ortiz with burglary, larceny, criminal mischief, and failure to appear on a warrant.
Ortiz was held in lieu of $12,500 bail and is awaiting an arraignment hearing on Friday.
(H/T: Fox News)


theblaze--2020-04-18--Watch: This 'Dadosaur' has become a viral sensation during quarantine

Watch : This 'Dadosaur ' has become a viral sensation during quarantine Whenever his kids say the word , he @ @ @ @ @ and his wife does not seem pleased .

As Americans remain largely isolated in their homes during the coronavirus crisis, families are finding ways to entertain themselves in new and different ways.
One father has taken the internet by storm with his intense impression of a dinosaur. His alter-ego, "Dadosaur," comes alive whenever his kids mention its name — and whether or not she is acting, his wife is convincingly unimpressed.
What are the details?
The videos first appeared on Tik Tok under the handle @olivemannella and quickly spread through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Yahoo News described the sensation as "a seemingly mild-mannered father (who) transforms into a cake-eating monster at the mere mention of his name."
On Twitter, one user reacted by telling her followers, "y'all are so blessed to have dads in y'all life's...especially the fathers who entertain you." Another declared, "Dadosaur is the best thing on the internet."
You can view a compilation here:


theblaze--2020-04-18--WHO director was accused of covering up epidemics in 2017

WHO director was accused of covering up epidemics in 2017 And he blamed his accusers of a `` colonial '' @

A report accusing the director of the World Health Organization of covering up epidemics has resurfaced in light of current accusations that the WHO aided China in covering up the global coronavirus pandemic.
The report was first documented in a 2017 New York Times article about Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who goes by the name Dr. Tedros, and his campaign to become the director of the WHO.
The accusations centered around his time as health minister of his native Ethiopia.
"Dr. Tedros is a compassionate and highly competent public health official," said global health law expert Lawrence O. Gostin of Georgetown University at the time.
"But he had a duty to speak truth to power and to honestly identify and report verified cholera outbreaks over an extended period," he added.
Dr. Tedros denied the allegations that he had covered up cholera epidemics in Ethiopia in 2006, 2009 and 2011.
He fired back that his accusers had a "typical colonial mind-set."
He was later elected to lead the World Health Organization and oversaw the response to the pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.
The debate over the culpability of the WHO came to a head when President Donald Trump announced that he was cutting off payments to the organization pending an investigation into recent questionable mistakes.
Democrats quickly claimed that the president did not have the authority to cut off funding to the WHO and condemned him for the decision.
The 2017 report resurfaced when critics of the WHO began circulating it on social media.
Here's more about WHO and China:


theblaze--2020-04-18--In first interview free from gag rule, Roger Stone says his prison sentence will likely kill him

In first interview free from gag rule , Roger Stone says his prison sentence will likely kill him Stone was @ @ @ @ @ in the investigation into Russian interference

Roger Stone claimed that he was being wrongly persecuted in the first interview free from a gag rule after he was denied a new trial on Thursday.
The former Trump campaign official and longtime friend to President Donald Trump talked to Tucker Carlson on his Fox News show on Friday.
"I'll just get right to it. I'm a little bit confused by why with all the pardons going around, everyone I've ever met has been pardoned, you haven't been by a White House that has done a lot to push criminal justice reform and let a lot of really bad people out of jail in the name of humanitarian concerns, but you're not in that category," said Carlson. "Why is that, do you think?"
"Well, I really don't know, Tucker, I was very hopeful that the motion for a mistrial in my case based on flagrant and blatant, even egregious juror misconduct would have won me a new trial," responded Stone.
Stone was sentenced to more than three years in prison over charges from the investigation into Russian election interference, and his request for a new trial was denied after allegations that the jury foreman was biased against him and the president.
He was convicted on charges of witness tampering and lying to Congress.
"At this point, the judge has ordered me to surrender in two weeks, and at 67 years old, with some underlying health problems, including a history of asthma, I believe with the coronavirus, it is essentially a death sentence!" he claimed.
"Well of course it is," agreed Carlson, who called it the "most corrupt political criminal justice proceeding" he had ever seen and that Bob Dylan should be writing a song about Stone.
"Tucker, I wasn't prosecuted because I was covering anything up for the president, I was prosecuted because I refused to bear false witness against the president," claimed Stone.
Stone had previously admitted that he had communicated with WikiLeaks, the group that released hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign, but he denied that he ever colluded with Russian agents. U.S. intelligence officials say WikiLeaks is a front for Russian espionage efforts.
"I refused to dissemble, as the prosecutors wanted, about numerous phone calls between myself and candidate Trump in 2016," Stone added.
Stone also said that he is reacquainting himself with his Catholic faith and praying for the best outcome.
Here's the video of the interview: