investmentwatchblog--2020-07-24--Are You Ready to Surrender?

Are You Ready to Surrender?

Last week , Tyler at Zero Hedge ran an article from a site called Adventures in Capitalism , in which the writer ( Kuppy ?
! )
lets his light shine on the CIVD19 situation .
He concludes that we ’ re all going to get it , it ’ s no use resisting , there will never be a vaccine and herd immunity is all we have left to hope for .
And I was thinking : what if he ’ s -largely- right ?
What if the utter lack of preparedness and the glaring incompetence we see displayed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has made escape -almost- impossible ?
Surely at the very least we should prepare for that , too , even if it ’ s not the only thing we should prepare for .
Not that I ’ ve strayed much from my original viewpoints , that it ’ s very dumb to for instance have lengthy discussions about how efficient facemasks and lockdowns are , as long as they ’ re the only tools you have .
But if nobody has a playbook for such things , including the WHO that gets paid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run the risk of making your only tools obsolete .
It ’ s been a pretty wild year so far what with the spectacle of all the politicians bending like pretzels to avoid being caught unprepared .
So many of them have solemnly declared that masks and testing don ’ t work , simply because they had no access to either .
After decades of warnings that a new virus could pop up at any moment .
But you ’ re right , we now have to look ahead .
So first I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kuppy ” quotes with my comments on them , and we ’ ll take it from there .
Oh , but first this on the morality of a policy aimed at herd immunity , from a BBC piece on the “ achievements ” of the British gov ’ t in the virus crisis .
“ Anthony Costello , professor at University College London and a former director at the WHO , tweeted ” : And then we can turn to Kuppy : I think a lot of people at this point in time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there .
But do they oversee the consequences ?
More things many would agree with .
But will there really always be infected humans , and will they always spread the virus around the entire planet ?
Is that true ?
The virus needs new hosts all the time , and if you keep potential hosts sufficiently separated from each other , it can not spread .
We may have a global economy with global citizens , but we ’ ve seen plenty evidence that what has caused hospitality and travel to plummet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s fear of getting infected .
Is that irrational , and will you be able to convince them otherwise ?
Hmmm .
How exactly would you slow it down without masks and lockdowns ?
Does it seem like a good idea to bring people together again in offices , elevators , planes , trains , restaurants and bars ?
Right now it doesn ’ t appear to make much difference , most people wouldn ’ t go anyway .
I read today that in the UK , almost half of workers -well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work from home , whereas that number was 5 % before virustime .
And now the gov ’ t wants them all back in the workplace .
Think they ’ ll go as long as the virus is out there ?
Millions of jobs , and there come hospitality and travel again , are lost forever .
People are afraid .
And no , that has little to do with a media fear-porn campaign , though the media are as clueless as the politicians , and it ’ s a comforting thought to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can figure what things may mean without first accepting them as inevitable .
Many are doing that right now .
But yes , the US has been a mess and still is .
It ’ s too large for a one-size-fits-all approach , especially if that has to be made up on the spot .
But the “ leaders ” , whether in politics , health care or elsewhere , have a fool-proof take on that : they blame each other .
Still , the US debacle is something that has grown over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t suddenly appeared , you just didn ’ t see it before .
And it ’ s not only the US ; the entire rich world has the exact same problem .
As an aside , the stupidest thing around must be people who wear facemasks outside , unless they ’ re in close proximity to others .
Still , there are gov ’ ts that demand they do .
Closing a beach falls in that same category .
Unless people get close together .
As for the protests , the most cynical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least the rioters cover their faces .
Darn , Kuppy , you were doing just fine , and now you have to bring up the dead “ just a bad cold ” idea ?
Read on .
It ’ s not .
We haven ’ t protected the elderly and health compromised during the lockdowns .
What makes you think we will when things are supposed to “ return to normal ” ?
We locked up the elderly in the petri dishes we call carehomes , and we let kids and the poor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think we ’ ve learned something from that ?
I think when outbreaks flare up again , as they do right now all over Europe , they ’ re going to isolate the old and the young again , and let the poor rot some more .
I ’ m pretty sure that ’ s what we call a false dichotomy .
Lockdowns don ’ t destroy economies , the virus , and people ’ s fears of getting infected , plus seeing their loved ones be infected , does .
Opening everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the better .
From there it ’ s just a small step for man and giant leap for mankind towards Kuppy ’ s only solution left : herd immunity .
The idea has already been burned to the ground by numerous parties , but since it ’ s the only thing he has left , let ’ s humor him , shall we ?
Here ’ s from a recent BBC piece on the topic , which seems sort of based on the notion that it ’ s all Britain has left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I must say , they tried to make something out of the whole minestrone : Did ‘ Herd Immunity ’ Change The Course Of The Outbreak ?
“ Herd immunity ” is a concept describing the point at which a population has developed protection against a disease .
There are two ways to do this .
Vaccination is one route .
But with any new virus it ’ s impossible to say how long it will take to develop a vaccine , if ever .
The other way is for people to catch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of immunity .
If exposed to the virus again , it is assumed they have protection .
If most people in a population are protected then the virus can not spread .
But there are two problems .
One is that with a new virus – like this particular coronavirus – it ’ s not always clear how much protection having had the disease , particularly a mild case , gives you or how long it lasts .
And if most of the population catches the disease , many thousands might die .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that about 60 % of the population would need to become infected for society to have “ herd immunity ” – effectively some 40 million people in the UK .
“ Communities will become immune to it and that ’ s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term , ” he told Sky News .
These comments sparked an immediate backlash .
Anthony Costello , professor of health and sustainable development at University College London and a former director of maternal and child health at the WHO , tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a policy that threatens immediate casualties on the basis of an uncertain future benefit ?
” And from Britain we can go seamlessly to Sweden , perceived as the -internationally heralded- poster child of herd immunity policy , though they never officially endorsed it .
A group of 25 Swedish doctors and scientists sounds the alarm on the entire approach , and even suggest it is a “ secret goal ” .
Sweden Hoped Herd Immunity Would Curb COVID19 .
Don ’ t Do What We Did .
It ’ s Not Working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Agency ’ s light-touch approach are somewhat of a mystery .
Some other countries that initially used this strategy swiftly abandoned it as the death toll began to increase , opting instead for delayed lockdowns .
But Sweden has been faithful to its approach .
Why ?
Gaining herd immunity , where large numbers of the population ( preferably younger ) are infected and thereby develop immunity , has not been an official goal of the Swedish Public Health Agency .
But it has said immunity in the population could help suppress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some agency statements suggest it is the secret goal .
Further evidence of this is that the agency insists on mandatory schooling for young children , the importance of testing has been played down for a long time , the agency refused to acknowledge the importance of asymptomatic spread of the virus ( concerningly , it has encouraged those in households with COVID-19 infected individuals to go to work and school ) and still refuses to recommend masks in public [ .. ] Several authorities , including the WHO , have condemned herd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can lead to a very brutal arithmetic that does not put people and life and suffering at the center of that equation , ” Dr. Mike Ryan , executive director of WHO ’ s Health Emergencies Program , said at a press conference in May .
Regardless of whether herd immunity is a goal or a side effect of the Swedish strategy , how has it worked out ?
Not so well , according to the agency ’ s own test results .
The proportion of Swedes carrying antibodies is estimated to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ herd immunity .
And yet , the Swedish death rate is unnerving .
Sweden has a death toll greater than the United States : 556 deaths per million inhabitants , compared with 425 , as of July 20 .
Sweden also has a death toll more than four and a half times greater than that of the other four Nordic countries combined — more than seven times greater per million inhabitants .
For a number of weeks , Sweden has been among the top in the world when it comes to current reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the strategy in essence remains the same .
7 months of pandemic without a lockdown , under 10 % have antibodies , and the death toll is 7 times that of their neighbors .
Something ’ s not working right ?
!
But Kuppy said it was our only remaining option… Then again , something that did pique my interest is this very recent development .
I could see this concept becoming more potent than any vaccine , if only because as Kuppy rightly notes , there has never been a vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antibodies do not come without their own risk .
There ’ s always the risk of a cytokine storm in some form or another .
No exception in the case of SARS-CoV-2 .
It looks like it ’ s high time , in fact it ’ s long overdue , that we stop calling COVID19 a respiratory disease .
The SARS-CoV-2 virus may enter the body through mouth and nose , but once it ’ s in , the lungs are merely the first organ it reaches .
But it ’ s through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the body .
What we see even in patients that have been declared “ recovered ” , and we see this time and again , is crippling fatigue , lung damage , heart damage , brain damage , nerve damage , multiple organ damage .
And , as a recent report spelled out , blood clotting was found in every organ in the body , including veins , during autopsies .
Many “ recovered ” patients report symptoms , such as debilitating fatigue , that can last for at least months .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ how long , because it ’ s only been around for 7 months .
These are things to consider when you say we must surrender to the virus and let it run its course .
Even if it doesn ’ t overwhelm a certain area ’ s health care system today , we may well be left with huge amounts of people who carry its scars , and need medical assistance , for the rest of their lives .
That appears to be the minimum price you ’ re going to pay for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Is that worth it ?
Well , not for the girl who ’ s unlucky enough to catch it , I tell you .
For society as a whole then ?
What ’ s the price we ’ re willing to pay for keeping a bar open ?
I don ’ t have to answer that question , I only have to ask it .
But we as societies do need to come up with an answer .
Is large scale infection inevitable , as Kuppy claims ?
If so , the consequences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do more lockdowns .
Agreed .
Totally .
You tell me .
What ’ s the price you ’ re willing to pay ?
A closed bar , a facemask in a store , or a friend ’ s body crippled for life ?
You tell me .
To wrap this up , a last study , this one conducted in 69 countries across six continents .
I don ’ t think I ’ ve seen anything over the past 7 months that I find scarier than this .
You see , heart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many people , who would be gone without it .
So what happens to your health care system if you let half the population catch the virus , and half of those end up with heart damage in one form or another , to one degree or another ?
And that ’ s just the heart , that ’ s not lungs or brain or nerves or blood vessels .
“ 55 per cent of patients had an abnormality .
One in seven patients were found to have severe abnormalities.. ” More Than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Have Damaged Hearts An international survey of heart scans in people treated for COVID-19 found that 55 per cent of patients had an abnormality .
One in seven patients were found to have severe abnormalities .
The study adds further evidence to the emerging picture of COVID-19 as a disease of the vascular system in a significant number of cases , and not always primarily a respiratory disease .
It also suggests that a significant of COVID-19 patients will need to be monitored and assessed for permanent damage to the heart .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which COVID-19 is a disease you may not fully recover from .
The research is from a team at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science , University of Edinburgh , UK .
They studied echocardiograms from 1216 patients , aged 52 to 71 , 70 per cent of them male .
The patients came from 69 countries across six continents .
They were all presumed or confirmed cases of COVID-19 when the echocardiograms were taken ( between April 3 and April 20 , 2020 ) .
An echocardiogram uses ultrasound to show how your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ About three-quarters of the patients ( 901 of them ) had no pre-existing cardiac disease .
But 46 per cent of their echocardiograms were abnormal , and 13 per cent were found with severe disease .
According to the study : Left and right ventricular abnormalities were reported in 479 ( 39 per cent ) and 397 ( 33 per cent ) patients , respectively .
There was evidence of new myocardial infarction in 36 ( three per cent ) , myocarditis in 35 ( three per cent ) , and takotsubo cardiomyopathy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sixty percent of the scans were performed in an ICU unit or emergency room .
About 54 percent of the patients had severe COVID-19 .
Abnormalities were often “ unheralded or severe , and imaging changed management in one-third of patients.
” Study co-author Marc Dweck , consultant cardiologist at the University of Edinburgh , U.K. , said in a statement : “ COVID-19 is a complex , multi-system disease which can have profound effects on many parts of the body , including the heart .
“ Many doctors have been hesitant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because it ’ s an added procedure which involves close contact with patients .
“ Our work shows that these scans are important—they improved the treatment for a third of patients who received them.
” Dr Dweck continued : “ Damage to the heart is known to occur in severe flu , but we were surprised to see so many patients with damage to their heart with COVID-19 , and so many patients with severe dysfunction.
” Really , you tell me .
But don ’ t tell me only old people die @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past that point .
And don ’ t tell me younger people are not affected .
That ’ s like 19th century wisdom .
If you want to argue for herd immunity , by all means , but don ’ t just blurt out something .
Let ’ s see what you got .
I ’ ve always , as noted before , disliked the wartime , military talk when it comes to this virus , the “ we must beat this enemy because it ’ s out to get us ” .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ or the -imaginary- Russians of today .
A virus is smaller than you can imagine and it ’ s not even alive according to science .
But staying with that war talk for a moment , are you sure you want to surrender to it regardless ?
Or do you want to go with : it ’ s not that bad , and it ’ s not that deadly , and those old folk would have died anyway ?
So open up the bars and everything will be just hunky dory !
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to run the Automatic Earth on donations .
Since ad revenue has collapsed , your support is now an integral part of the process .

by Raúl Ilargi Meijer
Constantin Brancusi Portrait of George 1911
Last week, Tyler at Zero Hedge ran an article from a site called Adventures in Capitalism, in which the writer (Kuppy?!) lets his light shine on the CIVD19 situation. He concludes that we’re all going to get it, it’s no use resisting, there will never be a vaccine and herd immunity is all we have left to hope for.
And I was thinking: what if he’s -largely- right? What if the utter lack of preparedness and the glaring incompetence we see displayed before our eyes all across the globe has made escape -almost- impossible? Surely at the very least we should prepare for that, too, even if it’s not the only thing we should prepare for.
Not that I’ve strayed much from my original viewpoints, that it’s very dumb to for instance have lengthy discussions about how efficient facemasks and lockdowns are, as long as they’re the only tools you have. But if nobody has a playbook for such things, including the WHO that gets paid millions for exactly that, you do run the risk of making your only tools obsolete.
It’s been a pretty wild year so far what with the spectacle of all the politicians bending like pretzels to avoid being caught unprepared. So many of them have solemnly declared that masks and testing don’t work, simply because they had no access to either. After decades of warnings that a new virus could pop up at any moment.
But you’re right, we now have to look ahead. So first I’ll give you a few “Kuppy” quotes with my comments on them, and we’ll take it from there. Oh, but first this on the morality of a policy aimed at herd immunity, from a BBC piece on the “achievements” of the British gov’t in the virus crisis. “Anthony Costello, professor at University College London and a former director at the WHO, tweeted”:
“Is it ethical to adopt a policy that threatens immediate casualties on the basis of an uncertain future benefit?”
And then we can turn to Kuppy:
You’re Probably Gonna Get It…
[..] had they stopped this thing in Wuhan, we would be right to use a containment approach to COVID-19. Instead, it’s everywhere and despite your personal opinions on the issue, it isn’t going away until most of us get it. There, I said it; you can hide in your basement, but you’re still probably going to get COVID-19. You can quarantine a whole nation; they’ll just get it next year. We are a global economy and this is now a global disease.
Whether you like it or not, the world is going for “herd immunity.” Unfortunately, there is no other viable option; there will be no vaccine, there will be no miracle cure and besides, the virus isn’t even all that dangerous if you are young and healthy. Simply put, COVID-19 won’t flame out until 50 to 80% of us get it (the precise number is open to debate).
I think a lot of people at this point in time would mostly agree with what he says there. But do they oversee the consequences?
Unlike smallpox or polio, there will never be a vaccine (there has never been a COVID vaccine for a variety of reasons)—therefore, as soon as quarantine ends, we’d all begin to spread it again, as there will always be infected humans. Countries that hermetically sealed their borders would not be immune either—they’ve simply deferred infection.
You can quarantine a village in Africa and stop a disease like Ebola that strikes fast and often kills the host. You cannot stop the spread of something that tens of millions of global citizens unknowingly have, while lying dormant for up to three weeks.
More things many would agree with. But will there really always be infected humans, and will they always spread the virus around the entire planet? Is that true? The virus needs new hosts all the time, and if you keep potential hosts sufficiently separated from each other, it can not spread.
We may have a global economy with global citizens, but we’ve seen plenty evidence that what has caused hospitality and travel to plummet has not been lockdowns, but people’s fear of getting infected. Is that irrational, and will you be able to convince them otherwise?
I think it should be obvious that you cannot stop COVID from spreading, at best, you can slow it down so that hospitals do not become overwhelmed. Instead, governments are passing draconian and arbitrary laws that do little to slow the spread, yet destroy businesses and communities.
Hmmm. How exactly would you slow it down without masks and lockdowns? Does it seem like a good idea to bring people together again in offices, elevators, planes, trains, restaurants and bars? Right now it doesn’t appear to make much difference, most people wouldn’t go anyway.
I read today that in the UK, almost half of workers -well, those that still have a job- work from home, whereas that number was 5% before virustime. And now the gov’t wants them all back in the workplace. Think they’ll go as long as the virus is out there?
Millions of jobs, and there come hospitality and travel again, are lost forever. People are afraid. And no, that has little to do with a media fear-porn campaign, though the media are as clueless as the politicians, and it’s a comforting thought to be able to blame them.
[..] putting your head in the sand and hoping COVID-19 goes away is foolish. It is time for everyone to accept the inevitable and figure out what that means for themselves and their countries. The current checker-board approach in the US where each state and even each county takes a different approach—is simply making a mess of things.
People can figure what things may mean without first accepting them as inevitable. Many are doing that right now. But yes, the US has been a mess and still is. It’s too large for a one-size-fits-all approach, especially if that has to be made up on the spot.
But the “leaders”, whether in politics, health care or elsewhere, have a fool-proof take on that: they blame each other. Still, the US debacle is something that has grown over years, decades, it hasn’t suddenly appeared, you just didn’t see it before. And it’s not only the US; the entire rich world has the exact same problem.
Here in Miami Beach; we have a 10pm curfew, we have fines and jail time for not wearing masks in public, bars are closed, restaurants can only have outdoor seating and the beach was closed last weekend. It is not clear what any of these measures actually accomplish if tens of thousands are marching around in protests without masks.
As an aside, the stupidest thing around must be people who wear facemasks outside, unless they’re in close proximity to others. Still, there are gov’ts that demand they do. Closing a beach falls in that same category. Unless people get close together. As for the protests, the most cynical remark I can muster is that at least the rioters cover their faces.
As I made my rounds at some of my favorite restaurants this week, owners finally broke down the brave façade; they confessed that they’re financially bleeding to death. Dozens of prominent restaurants have already shut their doors for good—some of these restaurants have been around for decades and survived multiple economic cycles. If the laws are consistent, you can manage your business—if the government changes the rules every few days to combat a bad cold, what are you supposed to do?
Darn, Kuppy, you were doing just fine, and now you have to bring up the dead “just a bad cold” idea? Read on. It’s not.
I think it is time for everyone globally to finally admit that COVID-19 is here, that we are powerless to stop its spread and that most of us are going to get it. The focus should be on protecting those who are elderly or compromised from a health standpoint. When you start from that framework, you can then think through the consequences and adapt policy appropriately.
We haven’t protected the elderly and health compromised during the lockdowns. What makes you think we will when things are supposed to “return to normal”? We locked up the elderly in the petri dishes we call carehomes, and we let kids and the poor stew in their own misery.
You think we’ve learned something from that? I think when outbreaks flare up again, as they do right now all over Europe, they’re going to isolate the old and the young again, and let the poor rot some more.
If you hope you can protect everyone from it, you’re going to postpone the inevitable, while destroying the economy. Once again, I don’t know what the right approach is, but I know that what’s being done today is asinine. It’s time for global leaders to wake up.
I’m pretty sure that’s what we call a false dichotomy. Lockdowns don’t destroy economies, the virus, and people’s fears of getting infected, plus seeing their loved ones be infected, does. Opening everything up is not going to change that for the better.
From there it’s just a small step for man and giant leap for mankind towards Kuppy’s only solution left: herd immunity. The idea has already been burned to the ground by numerous parties, but since it’s the only thing he has left, let’s humor him, shall we?
Here’s from a recent BBC piece on the topic, which seems sort of based on the notion that it’s all Britain has left as well. Interesting article though, I must say, they tried to make something out of the whole minestrone :
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Did ‘Herd Immunity’ Change The Course Of The Outbreak?
“Herd immunity” is a concept describing the point at which a population has developed protection against a disease. There are two ways to do this. Vaccination is one route. But with any new virus it’s impossible to say how long it will take to develop a vaccine, if ever. The other way is for people to catch the disease and build up some form of immunity. If exposed to the virus again, it is assumed they have protection. If most people in a population are protected then the virus cannot spread. But there are two problems. One is that with a new virus – like this particular coronavirus – it’s not always clear how much protection having had the disease, particularly a mild case, gives you or how long it lasts. And if most of the population catches the disease, many thousands might die. On 13 March, Sir Patrick stated that about 60% of the population would need to become infected for society to have “herd immunity” – effectively some 40 million people in the UK. “Communities will become immune to it and that’s going to be an important part of controlling this longer term,” he told Sky News. These comments sparked an immediate backlash. Anthony Costello, professor of health and sustainable development at University College London and a former director of maternal and child health at the WHO, tweeted: “Is it ethical to adopt a policy that threatens immediate casualties on the basis of an uncertain future benefit?”
And from Britain we can go seamlessly to Sweden, perceived as the -internationally heralded- poster child of herd immunity policy, though they never officially endorsed it. A group of 25 Swedish doctors and scientists sounds the alarm on the entire approach, and even suggest it is a “secret goal”.
Sweden Hoped Herd Immunity Would Curb COVID19. Don’t Do What We Did. It’s Not Working.
The motives for the Swedish Public Health Agency’s light-touch approach are somewhat of a mystery. Some other countries that initially used this strategy swiftly abandoned it as the death toll began to increase, opting instead for delayed lockdowns. But Sweden has been faithful to its approach. Why? Gaining herd immunity, where large numbers of the population (preferably younger) are infected and thereby develop immunity, has not been an official goal of the Swedish Public Health Agency. But it has said immunity in the population could help suppress the spread of the disease, and some agency statements suggest it is the secret goal. Further evidence of this is that the agency insists on mandatory schooling for young children, the importance of testing has been played down for a long time, the agency refused to acknowledge the importance of asymptomatic spread of the virus (concerningly, it has encouraged those in households with COVID-19 infected individuals to go to work and school) and still refuses to recommend masks in public [..] Several authorities, including the WHO, have condemned herd immunity as a strategy. “It can lead to a very brutal arithmetic that does not put people and life and suffering at the center of that equation,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said at a press conference in May. Regardless of whether herd immunity is a goal or a side effect of the Swedish strategy, how has it worked out? Not so well, according to the agency’s own test results. The proportion of Swedes carrying antibodies is estimated to be under 10%, thus nowhere near herd immunity.
And yet, the Swedish death rate is unnerving. Sweden has a death toll greater than the United States: 556 deaths per million inhabitants, compared with 425, as of July 20. Sweden also has a death toll more than four and a half times greater than that of the other four Nordic countries combined — more than seven times greater per million inhabitants. For a number of weeks, Sweden has been among the top in the world when it comes to current reported deaths per capita. And despite this, the strategy in essence remains the same.
7 months of pandemic without a lockdown, under 10% have antibodies, and the death toll is 7 times that of their neighbors. Something’s not working right?! But Kuppy said it was our only remaining option…
Then again, something that did pique my interest is this very recent development. I could see this concept becoming more potent than any vaccine, if only because as Kuppy rightly notes, there has never been a vaccine for any coronavirus.
New Antibody Mix Could Form ‘Very Potent’ COVID19 Treatment
Researchers have identified a potent cocktail of antibodies that may help doctors treat Covid-19 infections and protect people at risk from falling ill with the disease. The antibodies were collected from patients hospitalised with severe Covid-19, and they could be manufactured at scale by pharmaceutical firms and transfused into the blood to fight the virus or prevent it from taking hold. Scientists at Columbia University in New York screened antibodies from 40 Covid-19 patients and identified 61 types from five individuals that effectively wiped out coronavirus. Among them were nine that displayed “exquisite potency” for neutralising the pathogen. Tests on cells showed that the antibodies killed off the virus, while experiments with hamsters revealed that an infusion of one of the more potent antibodies protected the animals from disease. “It shut off infectious virus completely in the lung tissue of the hamsters we treated,” said David Ho, a professor of medicine at Columbia who led the research. [..] Professor Sachdev Sidhu at the University of Toronto also has plans to take neutralising antibodies into clinical trials later this year. “In my opinion, the more antibodies the better, as scaling up antibodies, although standard, still requires time,” he said. “Having multiple options will be good to ensure as many patients as possible can receive the therapies.” He said every country that is capable of doing so “owes it to their population” to manufacture therapeutic antibodies, and that countries should work together to ensure they can be made available to as many patients as possible at affordable cost.
Then again, antibodies do not come without their own risk. There’s always the risk of a cytokine storm in some form or another. No exception in the case of SARS-CoV-2.
Study Sees Harmful Effect Of Coronavirus Antibodies In ICU
Antibodies generated by the immune system to neutralise the novel coronavirus could cause severe harm or even kill the patient, according to a study by Dutch scientists. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is a fork-shaped molecule produced by adaptive immune cells to intercept foreign invaders. Each type of IgG targets a specific type of pathogen. The IgG for Sars-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19, fights off the virus by binding with the virus’ unique spike protein to reduce its chance of infecting human cells. They usually appear a week or two after the onset of illness, when the symptoms of most critically-ill patients suddenly get worse. A research team led by Professor Menno de Winther from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands said they might have found an important clue that may answer why the IgG appears only when patients are ill enough to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The scientists found that the blood from Covid-19 patients struggling for their life on ventilators was highly inflammatory. They observed during a series of experiments that it could trigger an overreaction of the immune system, destroy crucial barriers in tissues and cause water and blood to spill over in the lungs.
It looks like it’s high time, in fact it’s long overdue, that we stop calling COVID19 a respiratory disease. The SARS-CoV-2 virus may enter the body through mouth and nose, but once it’s in, the lungs are merely the first organ it reaches. But it’s through the vascular system that it spreads all through the body.
What we see even in patients that have been declared “recovered”, and we see this time and again, is crippling fatigue, lung damage, heart damage, brain damage, nerve damage, multiple organ damage. And, as a recent report spelled out, blood clotting was found in every organ in the body, including veins, during autopsies.
Many “recovered” patients report symptoms, such as debilitating fatigue, that can last for at least months. We simply don’t know for how long, because it’s only been around for 7 months.
These are things to consider when you say we must surrender to the virus and let it run its course. Even if it doesn’t overwhelm a certain area’s health care system today, we may well be left with huge amounts of people who carry its scars, and need medical assistance, for the rest of their lives.
That appears to be the minimum price you’re going to pay for letting the virus run its course. Is that worth it? Well, not for the girl who’s unlucky enough to catch it, I tell you. For society as a whole then? What’s the price we’re willing to pay for keeping a bar open? I don’t have to answer that question, I only have to ask it. But we as societies do need to come up with an answer.
Is large scale infection inevitable, as Kuppy claims? If so, the consequences look dire. But yes, so do more lockdowns. Agreed. Totally. You tell me. What’s the price you’re willing to pay? A closed bar, a facemask in a store, or a friend’s body crippled for life? You tell me.
To wrap this up, a last study, this one conducted in 69 countries across six continents. I don’t think I’ve seen anything over the past 7 months that I find scarier than this. You see, heart surgery is a life saving procedure for many people, who would be gone without it.
So what happens to your health care system if you let half the population catch the virus, and half of those end up with heart damage in one form or another, to one degree or another? And that’s just the heart, that’s not lungs or brain or nerves or blood vessels.
“55 per cent of patients had an abnormality. One in seven patients were found to have severe abnormalities..”
More Than Half Of All COVID19 Patients Found To Have Damaged Hearts
An international survey of heart scans in people treated for COVID-19 found that 55 per cent of patients had an abnormality. One in seven patients were found to have severe abnormalities. The study adds further evidence to the emerging picture of COVID-19 as a disease of the vascular system in a significant number of cases, and not always primarily a respiratory disease. It also suggests that a significant of COVID-19 patients will need to be monitored and assessed for permanent damage to the heart. And it raises questions about the extent to which COVID-19 is a disease you may not fully recover from. The research is from a team at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. They studied echocardiograms from 1216 patients, aged 52 to 71, 70 per cent of them male. The patients came from 69 countries across six continents. They were all presumed or confirmed cases of COVID-19 when the echocardiograms were taken (between April 3 and April 20, 2020). An echocardiogram uses ultrasound to show how your heart muscle and valves are working. About three-quarters of the patients (901 of them) had no pre-existing cardiac disease. But 46 per cent of their echocardiograms were abnormal, and 13 per cent were found with severe disease. According to the study: Left and right ventricular abnormalities were reported in 479 (39 per cent) and 397 (33 per cent) patients, respectively. There was evidence of new myocardial infarction in 36 (three per cent), myocarditis in 35 (three per cent), and takotsubo cardiomyopathy in 19 (two per cent). Sixty percent of the scans were performed in an ICU unit or emergency room. About 54 percent of the patients had severe COVID-19. Abnormalities were often “unheralded or severe, and imaging changed management in one-third of patients.” Study co-author Marc Dweck, consultant cardiologist at the University of Edinburgh, U.K., said in a statement: “COVID-19 is a complex, multi-system disease which can have profound effects on many parts of the body, including the heart. “Many doctors have been hesitant to order echocardiograms for patients with COVID-19 because it’s an added procedure which involves close contact with patients. “Our work shows that these scans are important—they improved the treatment for a third of patients who received them.” Dr Dweck continued: “Damage to the heart is known to occur in severe flu, but we were surprised to see so many patients with damage to their heart with COVID-19, and so many patients with severe dysfunction.”
Really, you tell me. But don’t tell me only old people die of it. We’re way past that point. And don’t tell me younger people are not affected. That’s like 19th century wisdom. If you want to argue for herd immunity, by all means, but don’t just blurt out something. Let’s see what you got.
I’ve always, as noted before, disliked the wartime, military talk when it comes to this virus, the “we must beat this enemy because it’s out to get us”. This is not the -real- German nazis or the -imaginary- Russians of today. A virus is smaller than you can imagine and it’s not even alive according to science.
But staying with that war talk for a moment, are you sure you want to surrender to it regardless? Or do you want to go with: it’s not that bad, and it’s not that deadly, and those old folk would have died anyway? So open up the bars and everything will be just hunky dory! You sure? Surrender?!
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investmentwatchblog--2020-07-24--Stock Market Disconnected From Economic Reality? Don’t Fight The Narrative

It ’ s widely believed that the stock market looks ahead and discounts the future .
But consider this November ’ s presidential election… Joe Biden has a substantial lead over President Trump in the polls .
But Biden ’ s platform is not what you would call market friendly .
For example , it calls for a 39.6 % tax rate on dividends and capital gains .
But the stock market is near all-time highs again , with the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearing 27,000 , the S & P over 3,200 and the Nasdaq actually at record highs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that stock markets are clueless when it comes to discounting future outcomes ?
Now , it ’ s true you can ’ t always trust the polls .
I know it well since I was one of very few analysts who predicted a Trump victory in 2016 , even though he was behind in the polls .
But the same analytical tools that led me to predict a Trump win last time are showing me his chances are poorer this time .
OK , a true believer might say , but maybe the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovery .
That ’ s why it ’ s rebounded so strongly .
But that argument just doesn ’ t hold much water .
Yes , unemployment dropped from over 13 % to just over 11 % last month , but that ’ s still the highest level since the end of World War II .
And there ’ s good reason to believe the unemployment rate will surge again heading into August as Payroll Protection Plan loans run out , lockdowns resume and states catch up with a backlog of claims that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business may be doing fine because it ’ s crowded into technology , finance and telecommunications , which are relatively unaffected by the pandemic .
But almost half the economy and half of all jobs are the domain of small-and-medium sized enterprises that have been decimated .
These restaurants , salons , dry cleaners , boutiques and other mainstays of neighborhoods across America are operating at half-capacity ( at best ) or have shut their doors permanently ( at worst ) .
Meanwhile , a wave of bankruptcies is sweeping across the nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recovery that many analysts have been touting simply isn ’ t in the cards .
My own estimate is that this year may be even worse than the Great Depression .
We ’ re probably in for an L-shaped recovery , where the economy goes down steeply and is followed by low growth for an indefinite period of time .
But it ’ s full speed ahead for the stock market .
The market dip in March was the shortest bear market in history .
Someone who just looked at stock charts could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic had never really happened .
So , why the strong stock market in a weak economy ?
The simplest answer is that the stock market doesn ’ t have much to do with the economy .
It ’ s just a casino driven by fear , greed , momentum , robots and indexation .
There ’ s certainly something to that .
A more sophisticated answer is given by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller .
Shiller writes that stock markets are driven by “ narratives ” or stories market participants tell each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even as the coronavirus was spreading out of control , the narrative was that the virus was contained to China .
Markets reached new highs .
In March and April , the narrative changed to panic as Italy shut down and the U.S. did likewise .
This is when the market fell over 30 % ending the record bull market of 2009-2019 .
The third phase started in late April as the market rallied 40 % based on massive Fed money printing and $ 5 trillion of new government spending .
The narrative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ market .
All of these narratives were wrong in the sense that the virus was not under control in February , it did not necessitate a lockdown in April , and the money printing and spending won ’ t solve the problem today .
Still , the narratives prevailed .
“ Don ’ t fight the Fed ” is one of the oldest sayings on Wall Street .
The new conventional wisdom might be , “ Don ’ t fight the narrative .
”

via The Daily Reckoning.
It’s widely believed that the stock market looks ahead and discounts the future. But consider this November’s presidential election…
Joe Biden has a substantial lead over President Trump in the polls. But Biden’s platform is not what you would call market friendly. For example, it calls for a 39.6% tax rate on dividends and capital gains.
But the stock market is near all-time highs again, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearing 27,000, the S&P over 3,200 and the Nasdaq actually at record highs.
What more proof do you need that stock markets are clueless when it comes to discounting future outcomes?
Now, it’s true you can’t always trust the polls. I know it well since I was one of very few analysts who predicted a Trump victory in 2016, even though he was behind in the polls.
But the same analytical tools that led me to predict a Trump win last time are showing me his chances are poorer this time.
OK, a true believer might say, but maybe the market’s anticipating a robust economic recovery. That’s why it’s rebounded so strongly.
But that argument just doesn’t hold much water.
Yes, unemployment dropped from over 13% to just over 11% last month, but that’s still the highest level since the end of World War II.
And there’s good reason to believe the unemployment rate will surge again heading into August as Payroll Protection Plan loans run out, lockdowns resume and states catch up with a backlog of claims that have not been processed yet.
Big business may be doing fine because it’s crowded into technology, finance and telecommunications, which are relatively unaffected by the pandemic.
But almost half the economy and half of all jobs are the domain of small-and-medium sized enterprises that have been decimated.
These restaurants, salons, dry cleaners, boutiques and other mainstays of neighborhoods across America are operating at half-capacity (at best) or have shut their doors permanently (at worst).
Meanwhile, a wave of bankruptcies is sweeping across the nation.
In other words, the V-shaped recovery that many analysts have been touting simply isn’t in the cards.
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My own estimate is that this year may be even worse than the Great Depression.
We’re probably in for an L-shaped recovery, where the economy goes down steeply and is followed by low growth for an indefinite period of time.
But it’s full speed ahead for the stock market.
The market dip in March was the shortest bear market in history. Someone who just looked at stock charts could not be blamed for believing that the pandemic had never really happened.
So, why the strong stock market in a weak economy?
The simplest answer is that the stock market doesn’t have much to do with the economy. It’s just a casino driven by fear, greed, momentum, robots and indexation. There’s certainly something to that.
A more sophisticated answer is given by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller.
Shiller writes that stock markets are driven by “narratives” or stories market participants tell each other.
From January to mid-February, even as the coronavirus was spreading out of control, the narrative was that the virus was contained to China. Markets reached new highs.
In March and April, the narrative changed to panic as Italy shut down and the U.S. did likewise. This is when the market fell over 30% ending the record bull market of 2009-2019.
The third phase started in late April as the market rallied 40% based on massive Fed money printing and $5 trillion of new government spending. The narrative was that easy money would rescue the market.
All of these narratives were wrong in the sense that the virus was not under control in February, it did not necessitate a lockdown in April, and the money printing and spending won’t solve the problem today.
Still, the narratives prevailed. “Don’t fight the Fed” is one of the oldest sayings on Wall Street.
The new conventional wisdom might be, “Don’t fight the narrative.”
Regards,
Jim Rickards
for The Daily Reckoning


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-24--Tucker: Coronavirus response is being driven by politics

It ’ s likely that Americans have never been as unhappy as they are right now .
And for Democrats @ @ @ @ @ win .
# FoxNews # Tucker

It’s likely that Americans have never been as unhappy as they are right now. And for Democrats, that’s a win. #FoxNews #Tucker
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investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--CA Gov Newsom compromised with China; Media blackout on his botched Billion dollar Mask deal

Has Newsom sold out California to the Chinese ?
The only reason this didn ’ t go through is because @ @ @ @ @ he had been successful ?
The Chinese would basically own one of the biggest economies @ @ @ @ @ these people sold out ?
What is going on ?

newsomwatch.com/2020-07-07-newsom-wired-half-billion-communist-china-face-mask-money-laundering.html
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Has Newsom sold out California to the Chinese? The only reason this didn’t go through is because people intervened…Can if imagine if he had been successful? The Chinese would basically own one of the biggest economies in the US. Are these people sold out? What is going on?


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--Pelosi shouts “NO” 11 times after she’s asked to put vote-by-mail in a separate bill from economic r

The HEROES act bill that passed the House in May has legislation around Mail in voting which would change how @ @ @ @ @ legislation would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to “ prohibit states from @ @ @ @ @ provide more than the last four digits of their social security numbers.
” The change @ @ @ @ @ next election and stay in place for future elections .
Under the proposal , any @ @ @ @ @ transmitted to qualified individuals ” must have prepaid return postage .
State governments are prohibited @ @ @ @ @ and process an absentee ballot from a qualified individual based on notarization or witness signature @ @ @ @ @ envelope type requirements.
” The bill also addresses states that have voter identification requirements in @ @ @ @ @ voting .
“ An individual may make a sworn written statement attesting to their identity @ @ @ @ @ , ” reads the legislation .

Pelosi shouts “NO” 11 times after she’s asked to put vote-by-mail in a separate bill from economic relief: pic.twitter.com/0WyOVzZrUk — Jewish Deplorable (Parler: TrumpJew) (@TrumpJew) July 24, 2020
The HEROES act bill that passed the House in May has legislation around Mail in voting which would change how it works today.
The legislation would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to “prohibit states from requiring voter registration applicants to provide more than the last four digits of their social security numbers.”
The change would also apply for the next election and stay in place for future elections.
Under the proposal, any “electronic blank absentee ballots transmitted to qualified individuals” must have prepaid return postage. State governments are prohibited from “refusing to accept and process an absentee ballot from a qualified individual based on notarization or witness signature, paper type, or envelope type requirements.”
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The bill also addresses states that have voter identification requirements in place for in-person or mail voting.
“An individual may make a sworn written statement attesting to their identity to fulfill the identification requirement,” reads the legislation.
justthenews.com/government/congress/pelosis-new-3t-stimulus-bill-expands-vote-mail-adds-new-federal-rules-november
h/t Facts-Over-Opinion


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--Elect Our Guy And We’ll Stop Rioting

Elect Our Guy And We’ll Stop Rioting

This week ’ s Liberal Media Scream features biographer and former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham urging MSNBC viewers to get out and vote in November to “ end this reign of terror ” of President Trump .
Comparing the president to former President Richard Nixon and former Alabama Democratic Gov .
George Wallace , he said , “ If you want to end this reign of terror … you ’ ve got to vote .
And the idea that somehow or another because you think — one thinks that Trump is an idiot or he ’ s , you know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whatever you might think … it ’ s not going to matter if what happened in 2016 happens again.
” He is concerned that the 2020 election is similar to 1968 when Nixon and Wallace won 55 % of the vote .
“ If you go back and look at what Wallace and Nixon were saying , it ’ s what Trump is saying , ” he claimed .
WHY , INDEED ?
Why Do Democrats Defend Disorder ?
My party always stood for principled dissent , not lawless chaos .
Democrats should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The current round of violence isn ’ t being undertaken by civil-justice or other reformers but by radicals using Jacobin street-violence tactics .
The idea is to provoke confrontation and violence with constituted authority so as to discredit it , counting on a few gullible local residents to see police as oppressors .
The pretense of peaceful protest is rapidly disappearing .
Deaths , serious injuries , arson , public and private property damage , and economic dislocation have resulted .
The longer this continues , the greater demand to see it stopped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , homeowners , taxpayers and voters .
Families of public safety and emergency personnel already have been alienated .
Any president dating back to Franklin D. Roosevelt would have taken action under these circumstances .
First , there would be denunciation of the violence .
Then the president would ask local officials if they needed federal help .
If the answer was yes , it would be sent immediately .
If the answer was no but disorder continued , the president would no doubt dispatch officers to protect federal buildings and otherwise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He would know that the country at large looked to the president as the ultimate guarantor of public safety .
I can ’ t imagine Joe Biden , as vice president or a senator , hesitating to denounce lawlessness .
Nor can I imagine past congressional , state and local leaders condoning such destruction .
Democrats have always supported dissent , not disorder .
Many of Mr. Trump ’ s policies deserve criticism , but this isn ’ t one of them .
Democrats are presenting a pro-chaos caricature of themselves , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if they maintain it .
Especially at the local level , elected officials must recognize that a majority of Americans want to live normal lives without threat of violence or harm .
I think of BLM and Antifa as the most valuable get-out-the-vote troops for Trump2020 .
Post-election , Democrats will be claiming that the protests they ’ re supporting now were actually manipulated by Russia to get Trump re-elected .
Portland PD Declares Riot , Works With Federal Officers To Battle Rioters After Courthouse Fencing Is Torn Down .

Liberal Media Scream: Media darling demands voters choose Biden, ‘end this reign of terror.’
This week’s Liberal Media Scream features biographer and former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham urging MSNBC viewers to get out and vote in November to “end this reign of terror” of President Trump. Comparing the president to former President Richard Nixon and former Alabama Democratic Gov. George Wallace, he said, “If you want to end this reign of terror … you’ve got to vote. And the idea that somehow or another because you think — one thinks that Trump is an idiot or he’s, you know, he’s a racist, whatever you might think … it’s not going to matter if what happened in 2016 happens again.” He is concerned that the 2020 election is similar to 1968 when Nixon and Wallace won 55% of the vote. “If you go back and look at what Wallace and Nixon were saying, it’s what Trump is saying,” he claimed.
WHY, INDEED? Why Do Democrats Defend Disorder? My party always stood for principled dissent, not lawless chaos.
Democrats should forget President Trump for a second. The current round of violence isn’t being undertaken by civil-justice or other reformers but by radicals using Jacobin street-violence tactics. The idea is to provoke confrontation and violence with constituted authority so as to discredit it, counting on a few gullible local residents to see police as oppressors. The pretense of peaceful protest is rapidly disappearing. Deaths, serious injuries, arson, public and private property damage, and economic dislocation have resulted. The longer this continues, the greater demand to see it stopped will grow among wage-earning families, small-business people, homeowners, taxpayers and voters. Families of public safety and emergency personnel already have been alienated. Any president dating back to Franklin D. Roosevelt would have taken action under these circumstances. First, there would be denunciation of the violence. Then the president would ask local officials if they needed federal help. If the answer was yes, it would be sent immediately. If the answer was no but disorder continued, the president would no doubt dispatch officers to protect federal buildings and otherwise restore order as authorized by the Constitution. He would know that the country at large looked to the president as the ultimate guarantor of public safety. I can’t imagine Joe Biden, as vice president or a senator, hesitating to denounce lawlessness. Nor can I imagine past congressional, state and local leaders condoning such destruction. Democrats have always supported dissent, not disorder. Many of Mr. Trump’s policies deserve criticism, but this isn’t one of them. Democrats are presenting a pro-chaos caricature of themselves, which will discredit them with the public if they maintain it. Especially at the local level, elected officials must recognize that a majority of Americans want to live normal lives without threat of violence or harm.
I think of BLM and Antifa as the most valuable get-out-the-vote troops for Trump2020. Post-election, Democrats will be claiming that the protests they’re supporting now were actually manipulated by Russia to get Trump re-elected.
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Portland PD Declares Riot, Works With Federal Officers To Battle Rioters After Courthouse Fencing Is Torn Down.
Mostly peaceful.
Can someone please explain to me how this works? We are willing to spend all credibility to defend what can be INSTANTLY invalidated. Who came up with this policy, why does it exist, and how is anyone able to maintain it without deviating from the script?pic.twitter.com/K4RFozkQde — Eric Weinstein (@EricRWeinstein) July 27, 2020
h/t Glenn


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--ROGER KIMBALL: The lunacy of the ‘largely peaceful protest.’

By now , the mainstream media has perfected the mendacious gambit with a sort of stereoscopic vision , saying one thing while also saying the opposite .
One of the best of the bunch came a few days ago when ABC , reporting on efforts of those ‘ largely peaceful ’ rioters to burn down a courthouse in Oakland , acknowledged that some of the ‘ largely peaceful ’ protesters ‘ smashed windows , spray-painted graffiti and pointed lasers at officers ’ .
Lasers ?
Yes , they ’ re a new favorite .
As White House press secretary Kayleigh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ A federal agent ’ s hand was impaled by planted nails , another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun , leaving a wound deep to the bone , and tragically , three federal officers were likely left permanently blinded by the rioters using lasers pointed directly into their eyes.
’ But then ABC got out the sugar and tweeted this about the Oakland incident : ‘ Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse , damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified.
’ ‘ Intensified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ?
The Twittersphere loved that one .
It brought out everyone ’ s inner imp .
The Wall Street Journal ’ s James Taranto was quick off the mark with a delectable contribution to the general levity : ‘ It became even more intensely peaceful , ’ he wrote in response to ABC ’ s absurd tweet .
And Steve Hayward deserves honorable mention for this gem : ‘ If ABC News covered Pearl Harbor : “ Honolulu , Dec. 8 : A peaceful flyover by Japanese pilots intensified yesterday… ’

via spectator:
By now, the mainstream media has perfected the mendacious gambit with a sort of stereoscopic vision, saying one thing while also saying the opposite. One of the best of the bunch came a few days ago when ABC, reporting on efforts of those ‘largely peaceful’ rioters to burn down a courthouse in Oakland, acknowledged that some of the ‘largely peaceful’ protesters ‘smashed windows, spray-painted graffiti and pointed lasers at officers’.
Lasers? Yes, they’re a new favorite. As White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany noted when describing other incidents, ‘A federal agent’s hand was impaled by planted nails, another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a wound deep to the bone, and tragically, three federal officers were likely left permanently blinded by the rioters using lasers pointed directly into their eyes.’
But then ABC got out the sugar and tweeted this about the Oakland incident: ‘Protesters in California set fire to a courthouse, damaged a police station and assaulted officers after a peaceful demonstration intensified.’
‘Intensified’? ‘A peaceful demonstration intensified’? The Twittersphere loved that one. It brought out everyone’s inner imp. The Wall Street Journal’s James Taranto was quick off the mark with a delectable contribution to the general levity: ‘It became even more intensely peaceful,’ he wrote in response to ABC’s absurd tweet. And Steve Hayward deserves honorable mention for this gem: ‘If ABC News covered Pearl Harbor: “Honolulu, Dec. 8: A peaceful flyover by Japanese pilots intensified yesterday…’


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--Failing NY Gov. Cuomo presides over a CoVid mortality rate that is TWICE the national average. YET T

Failing NY Gov. Cuomo presides over a CoVid mortality rate that is TWICE the national average. YET THE MSM CHEERS HIM.

Here ’ s Exactly How Andrew Cuomo Covered up His Deadly Nursing Home Policy New York , particularly downstate New York , isn ’ t just the hot-spot of the coronavirus pandemic of the United States .
Nowhere else in the world did as poorly , thanks to Governor Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio .
The Wall Street Journal conducted an extensive investigation into the failures of New York ’ s coronavirus response that is worth reading , but the deadly nursing home policy , and the cover-up that followed , is perhaps the most notable failure , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poor performance .
On March 25 , Cuomo ordered nursing homes to accept patients regardless of their coronavirus status .
Even then it was well-known that the elderly were more vulnerable to the virus .
Despite the folly of this policy , Cuomo defended it .
Nursing homes “ don ’ t have a right to object .
That is the rule and that is the regulation and they have to comply with that , ” Cuomo said in April .
He finally rescinded the order on May 11 , but the damage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massive outbreak in New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities ( NH/LTC ) and has been trying to cover up his mistakes ever since with the help of the New York Department of Health .
The first step in the cover-up was to not count the deaths of nursing home residents who died in hospitals in their tallies of nursing home resident deaths .
New York was the only state to do this , and , of course , it resulted in a massive undercounting of nursing home deaths .
The New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) admitted a couple of months ago that they quietly changed their reporting policy around late April/early May so that nursing home and long-term care patients who died from COVID-19 in a hospital were not included as nursing home COVID-19 fatalities .
“ Deaths of nursing home and adult care facility residents that occurred at hospitals is accounted for in the overall fatality data on our COVID-19 tracker , ” explained NYSDOH spokeswoman Jill Montag .
So , what ’ s the real number of NH/LTC deaths from COVID-19 in New York ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deaths at just four nursing homes from March through early May , and found the following discrepancies : • Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation , Woodbury , LI : 115 actual deaths , 23 state tally ( Actual deaths 5x higher than official state tally ) • Cypress Gardens Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation , Flushing : 76 actual deaths , 7 state tally ( Actual deaths 10.85x higher than official state tally ) • Townhouse Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing , Uniondale , LI : 41 actual deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2.56x higher than official state tally ) Based on these four facilities , the actual COVID-19 deaths are anywhere from 2.5 times to nearly 11 times higher than New York ’ s official tally .

Here’s Exactly How Andrew Cuomo Covered up His Deadly Nursing Home Policy
New York, particularly downstate New York, isn’t just the hot-spot of the coronavirus pandemic of the United States. Nowhere else in the world did as poorly, thanks to Governor Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Wall Street Journal conducted an extensive investigation into the failures of New York’s coronavirus response that is worth reading, but the deadly nursing home policy, and the cover-up that followed, is perhaps the most notable failure, contributing greatly to the state’s poor performance.
On March 25, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to accept patients regardless of their coronavirus status. Even then it was well-known that the elderly were more vulnerable to the virus. Despite the folly of this policy, Cuomo defended it. Nursing homes “don’t have a right to object. That is the rule and that is the regulation and they have to comply with that,” Cuomo said in April. He finally rescinded the order on May 11, but the damage had been done. Cuomo enabled a massive outbreak in New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities (NH/LTC) and has been trying to cover up his mistakes ever since with the help of the New York Department of Health.
Cuomo undercounted nursing home deaths
The first step in the cover-up was to not count the deaths of nursing home residents who died in hospitals in their tallies of nursing home resident deaths. New York was the only state to do this, and, of course, it resulted in a massive undercounting of nursing home deaths.
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) admitted a couple of months ago that they quietly changed their reporting policy around late April/early May so that nursing home and long-term care patients who died from COVID-19 in a hospital were not included as nursing home COVID-19 fatalities.
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“Deaths of nursing home and adult care facility residents that occurred at hospitals is accounted for in the overall fatality data on our COVID-19 tracker,” explained NYSDOH spokeswoman Jill Montag.
So, what’s the real number of NH/LTC deaths from COVID-19 in New York? The New York Post investigated the number of deaths at just four nursing homes from March through early May, and found the following discrepancies:

Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, Woodbury, LI: 115 actual deaths, 23 state tally (Actual deaths 5x higher than official state tally)
115 actual deaths, 23 state tally (Actual deaths 5x higher than official state tally) Cypress Gardens Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, Flushing: 76 actual deaths, 7 state tally (Actual deaths 10.85x higher than official state tally)
76 actual deaths, 7 state tally (Actual deaths 10.85x higher than official state tally) Seagate Rehabilitation & Nursing Center, Coney Island: 74 actual deaths, 25 state tally (Actual deaths 2.96x higher than official state tally)
74 actual deaths, 25 state tally (Actual deaths 2.96x higher than official state tally) Townhouse Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing, Uniondale, LI: 41 actual deaths, 16 state tally (Actual deaths 2.56x higher than official state tally)
Based on these four facilities, the actual COVID-19 deaths are anywhere from 2.5 times to nearly 11 times higher than New York’s official tally.


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-28--Forget $1,911 – Gold Soars Towards $2,000 (And Silver Climbs Even Faster)

This week , Your News to Know rounds up the latest top stories involving gold and the overall economy .
Stories include : Calls for even higher gold prices are growing louder , the levels that gold could capture next , and silver prices hit seven-year high as gold moves up .
Forget $ 1,911 , as $ 2,000 seems to be the next target for gold Analysts who were hesitant to commit to an overly bullish forecast for gold a week or two ago might have been taken aback as gold has smashed through its prior record , set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief market analyst at Insignia Consultants , the all-time high is no longer a level that investors should pay particular attention to .
Rather , they should focus on $ 2,000 as the next target that looks very reachable in the near future .
Karnani , like Metals Daily CEO Ross Norman , expects the next week or two to have some pullbacks or profit taking , yet not in any manner significant enough to warrant a correction .
Norman , whose forecast that gold will reach a new all-time high this year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surprised that the move was so rapid , especially as it happened during what is traditionally the weakest quarter for gold .
While the pandemic has and continues to play a major role in the price gains , Norman points to a myriad of other factors that have been propelling gold for over a year , such as low or negative interest rates , massive amounts of sovereign debt and an unprecedented expansion of money supply .
With relations between the U.S. and China worsening by the day and another heated election coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at RBC Wealth Management , notes that there is plenty of room for gold to continue running higher for a very long time .
Taking into account gold ’ s nearly 50 % gain over the past two years , the run will most certainly be an interesting one .
What are some of gold ’ s next levels ?
Over the past few months , $ 1,600 , $ 1,750 and $ 1,800 were all upside levels that forecasters pointed to as key points for gold to capture and hold onto .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Forbes contributor Clem Chambers has looked into some of the next price targets that the metal could be aiming for .
To Chambers , $ 2,400 seems like a realistic price level , and one that isn ’ t too far off .
While there is no shortage of drivers pushing gold up , Chambers believes the global monetary stimulus will play a key role in gold being re-valued once again .
The pandemic has forced countries to print out billions of dollars , and in the U.S. ’ case , trillions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ correlation with inflation , the 30 % increase in U.S. money supply over the past few weeks should , and appears to be , translating to a 30 % gain in gold prices .
From here , Chambers is watchful in regards to how much more money will be printed .
In a worst-case scenario for gold , not much stimulus will be issued further , and prices will remain close to where they are right now .
To Chambers , this scenario is highly hypothetical and perhaps naively optimistic due to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have suffered and the need to patch up the red-flagging budget deficits of individual countries .
Aside from what looks like guaranteed currency depreciation , Chambers points to two other factors that could work in gold ’ s favor and perhaps materialize very bullish predictions by certain forecasters whom are expecting gold to reach $ 5,000 over the next few years .
The first is the keenness of sovereign nations to accumulate gold during times of massive uncertainty , such as the one we are facing right now .
The second is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gold market as faith in the U.S. economy and the dollar erodes , which could turn gold into far more than just a hedge in most portfolios .
In reaching $ 24 for the first time since 2013 , silver might have taken just a bit of attention from gold After being suppressed for a long period of time even amid gold ’ s gains , silver finally posted a round of catch-up by gaining 18 % last week .
It has started this week even better , by topping $ 24 for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making its way to a seven-year high , the metal has undoubtedly shaken off its recent reluctance to keep up with the strength of gold ’ s gains , despite their fairly tight correlation throughout history .
The heightened demand for silver is easy to decipher , as investors rush to safe havens amid uncertainty and there fewer of those with each passing day .
Silver ’ s trajectory might be one to closely monitor over the coming months .
Despite the economic downturn , silver remains a key component in many sought-after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually comes from the industrial sector .
The recent gains in silver , however , were likely fueled almost exclusively by investors noticing that the metal is sporting an unusually low valuation compared to gold .
The gold-to-silver ratio has only been as high as it currently is on three occasions over the past two decades , and each of them was followed by a prolonged bout of massive price gains for silver .
Before the pandemic , many experts were merely waiting to see how long the fourth instance will take to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have their differences , the unprecedented increase in safe-haven demand compared with historically-low silver prices could make way for some interesting market action over the coming months .

From Birch Gold Group
This week, Your News to Know rounds up the latest top stories involving gold and the overall economy. Stories include: Calls for even higher gold prices are growing louder, the levels that gold could capture next, and silver prices hit seven-year high as gold moves up.
Forget $1,911, as $2,000 seems to be the next target for gold
Analysts who were hesitant to commit to an overly bullish forecast for gold a week or two ago might have been taken aback as gold has smashed through its prior record, set in 2011.
To Chintan Karnani, chief market analyst at Insignia Consultants, the all-time high is no longer a level that investors should pay particular attention to. Rather, they should focus on $2,000 as the next target that looks very reachable in the near future. Karnani, like Metals Daily CEO Ross Norman, expects the next week or two to have some pullbacks or profit taking, yet not in any manner significant enough to warrant a correction.
Norman, whose forecast that gold will reach a new all-time high this year came in December 2019, is only surprised that the move was so rapid, especially as it happened during what is traditionally the weakest quarter for gold. While the pandemic has and continues to play a major role in the price gains, Norman points to a myriad of other factors that have been propelling gold for over a year, such as low or negative interest rates, massive amounts of sovereign debt and an unprecedented expansion of money supply.
With relations between the U.S. and China worsening by the day and another heated election coming up, George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management, notes that there is plenty of room for gold to continue running higher for a very long time. Taking into account gold’s nearly 50% gain over the past two years, the run will most certainly be an interesting one.
What are some of gold’s next levels?
Over the past few months, $1,600, $1,750 and $1,800 were all upside levels that forecasters pointed to as key points for gold to capture and hold onto. Now that gold has reached record highs, Forbes contributor Clem Chambers has looked into some of the next price targets that the metal could be aiming for.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
To Chambers, $2,400 seems like a realistic price level, and one that isn’t too far off. While there is no shortage of drivers pushing gold up, Chambers believes the global monetary stimulus will play a key role in gold being re-valued once again. The pandemic has forced countries to print out billions of dollars, and in the U.S.’ case, trillions. Given gold’s fairly rigid correlation with inflation, the 30% increase in U.S. money supply over the past few weeks should, and appears to be, translating to a 30% gain in gold prices.
From here, Chambers is watchful in regards to how much more money will be printed. In a worst-case scenario for gold, not much stimulus will be issued further, and prices will remain close to where they are right now. To Chambers, this scenario is highly hypothetical and perhaps naively optimistic due to the massive amount of damage that global economies have suffered and the need to patch up the red-flagging budget deficits of individual countries.
Aside from what looks like guaranteed currency depreciation, Chambers points to two other factors that could work in gold’s favor and perhaps materialize very bullish predictions by certain forecasters whom are expecting gold to reach $5,000 over the next few years. The first is the keenness of sovereign nations to accumulate gold during times of massive uncertainty, such as the one we are facing right now. The second is the wave of speculators that have entered the gold market as faith in the U.S. economy and the dollar erodes, which could turn gold into far more than just a hedge in most portfolios.
In reaching $24 for the first time since 2013, silver might have taken just a bit of attention from gold
After being suppressed for a long period of time even amid gold’s gains, silver finally posted a round of catch-up by gaining 18% last week. It has started this week even better, by topping $24 for the first time since 2013.
In making its way to a seven-year high, the metal has undoubtedly shaken off its recent reluctance to keep up with the strength of gold’s gains, despite their fairly tight correlation throughout history. The heightened demand for silver is easy to decipher, as investors rush to safe havens amid uncertainty and there fewer of those with each passing day.
Silver’s trajectory might be one to closely monitor over the coming months. Despite the economic downturn, silver remains a key component in many sought-after products, and half of its demand usually comes from the industrial sector. The recent gains in silver, however, were likely fueled almost exclusively by investors noticing that the metal is sporting an unusually low valuation compared to gold.
The gold-to-silver ratio has only been as high as it currently is on three occasions over the past two decades, and each of them was followed by a prolonged bout of massive price gains for silver. Before the pandemic, many experts were merely waiting to see how long the fourth instance will take to come about. While the two metals have their differences, the unprecedented increase in safe-haven demand compared with historically-low silver prices could make way for some interesting market action over the coming months.


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-27--Study: 55% of coronavirus cases in long-term care facilities in Maryland were ASYMPTOMATIC at the ti

Study: 55% of coronavirus cases in long-term care facilities in Maryland were ASYMPTOMATIC at the time of testing

( Natural News ) More than half of nursing home residents in Maryland that have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) did not have any symptoms at the time of testing .
According to a report by the The New York Times , more than 40 percent of coronavirus-related fatalities in the United States have come from long-term care facilities , such as nursing homes , memory care facilities , assisted-living facilities , rehabilitation centers and retirement and senior communities .
Because these facilities have emerged as coronavirus hotspots , a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ determine how the deadly virus was able to spread largely undetected through these institutions .
“ My thought in doing this is that we had an opportunity in the nursing home setting to be South Korea – to provide widespread testing , really identify the burden of disease and then try to isolate based on that , ” said Morgan Katz , one of the authors of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at JHU ’ s School of Medicine .
Katz and her colleagues decided to study nine nursing homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had confirmed COVID-19 cases .
Initially , these facilities had 153 cases that were identified through targeted , symptom-based testing .
When the researchers tested the remaining 893 residents , they found an additional 354 cases of COVID-19 , which meant that more than half of the residents in these 11 long-term care facilities had the coronavirus .
According to the study , around 55 percent of all the infected residents were asymptomatic at the time of testing .
Many of these positive residents developed serious illnesses soon afterward .
Katz ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilities after two weeks and found that 20 of the 154 then-asymptomatic patients required hospitalization , while seven passed away due to COVID-19 complications .
Katz believes their research highlights the necessity of following the guidelines set by the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) , which require all residents and staff members of nursing homes to be tested if even one positive case is found .
Unfortunately , the federal government only requires facilities to report infections and deaths and does nothing but offer recommendations on how often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents .
Many states have different policies on testing nursing home workers , and some states like California are beginning to reopen even their nursing homes to allow visitors to come and go .
Katz believes that this policy reduces the efficacy of one-time baseline testing , and what these facilities need are “ on-site tests with rapid turnaround times so they really can respond immediately to any potential outbreaks.
” ( Related : Cuomo claims nursing home outbreaks spread by workers , not his directive that FORCED facilities to bring in more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Brighteon Conversations with Mike Adams , the Health Ranger , as he has a very engaging and illuminating discussion with Dr. Paul Cottrell about a new strain of the Wuhan coronavirus known as “ D614G , ” which spreads a lot more easily than older variants of COVID-19 .
One Maryland nursing home able to repel the coronavirus by acting quickly and locking down the facility While many long-term care institutions in Maryland have to deal with rising COVID-19 cases within their facilities , the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in Baltimore has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since the beginning of the outbreak in America .
The head of the facility , Rev .
Derrick DeWitt , said that the key to his nursing home ’ s success was early mitigation , and the application of proactive protocols that prevented the coronavirus from entering .
Back in February when the U.S. only had around 15 cases , the nursing home sprung into action before the rest of the country even began locking down .
On March 1 , the nursing home went into a full lockdown .
Visitors were not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they instituted a very thorough , rigorous screening process for their employees , which included providing the facility with the details of where the workers were during their time off , the regular taking of body temperatures and the wearing of protective gear – masks , gowns and gloves – whenever they had to come into contact with any of the home ’ s residents .
Maryland Baptist also benefited from the fact that DeWitt hired a full-time quality assurance and infection control nurse who set up many of the anti-coronavirus measures the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeWitt cared for the emotional well-being of his residents by bringing in extra activity staff who made sure that the residents had visitors to interact with on a daily basis .
He even hired a chef who came to help his staff prepare the residents ’ meals and make them more pleasing .
The story of Maryland Baptist and Rev .
DeWitt ’ s quick response to the pandemic shows how institutions can keep the coronavirus outside of their walls .
Maryland Baptist ’ s success is a bright spot in the otherwise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all across the country .
According to The New York Times , at least 296,000 residents in long-term care facilities have contracted the coronavirus , and 55,000 have died .
If long-term care facilities learn from Maryland Baptist ’ s example and apply Katz ’ s recommendation to conduct regular and rapid COVID-19 testing on nursing home employees and residents , future fatalities in many nursing homes could be prevented .
Learn about how other institutions are fighting back against the coronavirus by reading the articles at Pandemic.news .

by: Arsenio Toledo
(Natural News) More than half of nursing home residents in Maryland that have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) did not have any symptoms at the time of testing.
According to a report by the The New York Times, more than 40 percent of coronavirus-related fatalities in the United States have come from long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, memory care facilities, assisted-living facilities, rehabilitation centers and retirement and senior communities.
Because these facilities have emerged as coronavirus hotspots, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) set out to determine how the deadly virus was able to spread largely undetected through these institutions.
“My thought in doing this is that we had an opportunity in the nursing home setting to be South Korea – to provide widespread testing, really identify the burden of disease and then try to isolate based on that,” said Morgan Katz, one of the authors of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at JHU’s School of Medicine.
Katz and her colleagues decided to study nine nursing homes and two assisted-living facilities in Maryland that had confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Initially, these facilities had 153 cases that were identified through targeted, symptom-based testing. When the researchers tested the remaining 893 residents, they found an additional 354 cases of COVID-19, which meant that more than half of the residents in these 11 long-term care facilities had the coronavirus.
According to the study, around 55 percent of all the infected residents were asymptomatic at the time of testing. Many of these positive residents developed serious illnesses soon afterward.
Katz’s team followed up on seven of the facilities after two weeks and found that 20 of the 154 then-asymptomatic patients required hospitalization, while seven passed away due to COVID-19 complications.
Katz believes their research highlights the necessity of following the guidelines set by the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which require all residents and staff members of nursing homes to be tested if even one positive case is found. Unfortunately, the federal government only requires facilities to report infections and deaths and does nothing but offer recommendations on how often they should conduct COVID-19 tests on their residents.
Many states have different policies on testing nursing home workers, and some states like California are beginning to reopen even their nursing homes to allow visitors to come and go. Katz believes that this policy reduces the efficacy of one-time baseline testing, and what these facilities need are “on-site tests with rapid turnaround times so they really can respond immediately to any potential outbreaks.” (Related: Cuomo claims nursing home outbreaks spread by workers, not his directive that FORCED facilities to bring in more coronavirus patients.)
Watch this episode of Brighteon Conversations with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he has a very engaging and illuminating discussion with Dr. Paul Cottrell about a new strain of the Wuhan coronavirus known as “D614G,” which spreads a lot more easily than older variants of COVID-19.
One Maryland nursing home able to repel the coronavirus by acting quickly and locking down the facility
While many long-term care institutions in Maryland have to deal with rising COVID-19 cases within their facilities, the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in Baltimore has not reported a single case of infection since the beginning of the outbreak in America.
The head of the facility, Rev. Derrick DeWitt, said that the key to his nursing home’s success was early mitigation, and the application of proactive protocols that prevented the coronavirus from entering. Back in February when the U.S. only had around 15 cases, the nursing home sprung into action before the rest of the country even began locking down.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
On March 1, the nursing home went into a full lockdown. Visitors were not allowed to enter the facility, and they instituted a very thorough, rigorous screening process for their employees, which included providing the facility with the details of where the workers were during their time off, the regular taking of body temperatures and the wearing of protective gear – masks, gowns and gloves – whenever they had to come into contact with any of the home’s residents.
Maryland Baptist also benefited from the fact that DeWitt hired a full-time quality assurance and infection control nurse who set up many of the anti-coronavirus measures the facility greatly benefited from.
Lastly, DeWitt cared for the emotional well-being of his residents by bringing in extra activity staff who made sure that the residents had visitors to interact with on a daily basis. He even hired a chef who came to help his staff prepare the residents’ meals and make them more pleasing.
The story of Maryland Baptist and Rev. DeWitt’s quick response to the pandemic shows how institutions can keep the coronavirus outside of their walls.
Maryland Baptist’s success is a bright spot in the otherwise bleak events that have affected nursing homes all across the country. According to The New York Times, at least 296,000 residents in long-term care facilities have contracted the coronavirus, and 55,000 have died.
If long-term care facilities learn from Maryland Baptist’s example and apply Katz’s recommendation to conduct regular and rapid COVID-19 testing on nursing home employees and residents, future fatalities in many nursing homes could be prevented.
Learn about how other institutions are fighting back against the coronavirus by reading the articles at Pandemic.news.
Sources include:
DailyMail.co.uk
NYTimes.com 1
USNews.com
NYTimes.com 2
BeckersHospitalReview.com
PBS.org


investmentwatchblog--2020-07-27--U.S. attorney unveils more evidence of blatant corruption involving state House Speaker in the broke

U.S. attorney unveils more evidence of blatant corruption involving state House Speaker in the broke, Democrat-run state of Illinois

( Natural News ) Illinois ’ moniker is “ The Land of Lincoln , ” but the president who reunited our country after he was victorious during the Civil War would be appalled and disgusted by the Democrats who have run his home state for decades .
A cesspool of corruption and a den of systemic political abuse is the only way to describe a state who ’ s largest city , Chicago , has been a hub of Democrat scandal and criminal enterprise for a century .
And in 2020 , not much has changed , as Breitbart News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lausch , Jr. announced Friday that the federal government had discovered that electric utility ComEd had been paying bribes and providing favors to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan , the state ’ s Democratic kingpin .
Though Madigan was only identified as “ Public Official A ” in the announcement , his identity was unmistakable in what federal officials called an “ old fashioned patronage system ” … ABC-7 separately noted — and this is the biggest problem with our politics today — that Madigan has been a state rep since 1971 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer doing it ‘ to serve the public , ’ but rather to continue reaping the ‘ rewards ’ of granting ‘ political access ’ to the highest bidders .
( Related : Several states set to collapse under crushing weight of bankrupt pensions : Will Illinois become the first ? )
Interestingly , the station reported that Madigan has not yet been charged , but that the U.S. attorney is filing notes that he “ is clearly implicated in the scheme ” so hopefully charges are coming .
Meanwhile , ComEd has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ settle what was a seven-year ( !
! )
federal probe of suspected corruption — bribery , political graft , lobbying , and “ sweetheart contract deals for the near-monopoly power utility , ” the station reported .
The deal that ComEd made with the Feds is called “ deferred prosecution.
” That means the company ’ s legal liability vanishes when terms of the agreement are fulfilled .
In this case , conditions will be met after ComEd pays its $ 200 million ‘ fine ’ and remains under federal supervision and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also notes that ComEd has admitted that it tried to influence and reward “ Public Official A , ” or the Illinois House speaker , and that such influence peddling “ began in or around 2011 and continued through 2019.
” Federal prosecutors claim that the person identified as Madigan sought favored contracts from ComEd as well as money for himself and associates “ such as precinct captains ” who served as Democratic political operatives in his district .
( See how Dems rail against our capitalist system but have no problem exploiting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? )
Naturally , Madigan is trying to slink back under a rock now that he ’ s been exposed as just another Dem political grifter in crime-plagued Illinois .
“ The Speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer , nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended , ” his office said in a statement to ABC-7 .
“ He has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here .
Any claim to the contrary is unfounded .
This morning the Speaker accepted subpoenas related to his various offices for documents , asking for , among other things , documents related to possible job recommendations , ” the statement continued .
“ He will cooperate and respond to those requests for documents , which he believes will clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper.
” Right .
And Al Capone was just a ‘ public servant ’ responding to ‘ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrorized the city last century .
Not much has changed , has it ?
Only now , the corruption artists don ’ t use Tommy guns .
For the record , ComEd has essentially outed Madigan .
According to federal court filings , the company “ corruptly gave , offered , and agreed to give things of value , namely , jobs , vendor subcontracts , and monetary payments associated with those jobs and subcontracts ” for Madigan ’ s benefit and with “ intent to influence ” him and his cronies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ rolling over in his grave .

by: JD Heyes
(Natural News) Illinois’ moniker is “The Land of Lincoln,” but the president who reunited our country after he was victorious during the Civil War would be appalled and disgusted by the Democrats who have run his home state for decades.
A cesspool of corruption and a den of systemic political abuse is the only way to describe a state who’s largest city, Chicago, has been a hub of Democrat scandal and criminal enterprise for a century.
And in 2020, not much has changed, as Breitbart News reported last week:
U.S. Attorney John Lausch, Jr. announced Friday that the federal government had discovered that electric utility ComEd had been paying bribes and providing favors to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, the state’s Democratic kingpin.
Though Madigan was only identified as “Public Official A” in the announcement, his identity was unmistakable in what federal officials called an “old fashioned patronage system”…
ABC-7 separately noted — and this is the biggest problem with our politics today — that Madigan has been a state rep since 1971.
Anyone in office that long is no longer doing it ‘to serve the public,’ but rather to continue reaping the ‘rewards’ of granting ‘political access’ to the highest bidders. (Related: Several states set to collapse under crushing weight of bankrupt pensions: Will Illinois become the first?)
Interestingly, the station reported that Madigan has not yet been charged, but that the U.S. attorney is filing notes that he “is clearly implicated in the scheme” so hopefully charges are coming.
Meanwhile, ComEd has agreed to pay $200 million to settle what was a seven-year (!!) federal probe of suspected corruption — bribery, political graft, lobbying, and “sweetheart contract deals for the near-monopoly power utility,” the station reported.
The deal that ComEd made with the Feds is called “deferred prosecution.” That means the company’s legal liability vanishes when terms of the agreement are fulfilled. In this case, conditions will be met after ComEd pays its $200 million ‘fine’ and remains under federal supervision and monitoring for three years.
The agreement also notes that ComEd has admitted that it tried to influence and reward “Public Official A,” or the Illinois House speaker, and that such influence peddling “began in or around 2011 and continued through 2019.”
Federal prosecutors claim that the person identified as Madigan sought favored contracts from ComEd as well as money for himself and associates “such as precinct captains” who served as Democratic political operatives in his district. (See how Dems rail against our capitalist system but have no problem exploiting it to enrich themselves and their cronies?)
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Naturally, Madigan is trying to slink back under a rock now that he’s been exposed as just another Dem political grifter in crime-plagued Illinois.
“The Speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer, nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended,” his office said in a statement to ABC-7.
“He has never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here. Any claim to the contrary is unfounded. This morning the Speaker accepted subpoenas related to his various offices for documents, asking for, among other things, documents related to possible job recommendations,” the statement continued.
“He will cooperate and respond to those requests for documents, which he believes will clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper.”
Right. And Al Capone was just a ‘public servant’ responding to ‘the needs of the people’ when he terrorized the city last century.
Not much has changed, has it? Only now, the corruption artists don’t use Tommy guns.
For the record, ComEd has essentially outed Madigan.
According to federal court filings, the company “corruptly gave, offered, and agreed to give things of value, namely, jobs, vendor subcontracts, and monetary payments associated with those jobs and subcontracts” for Madigan’s benefit and with “intent to influence” him and his cronies.
That sound you hear is Honest Abe rolling over in his grave.
Sources include:
Breitbart.com
ABC7Chicago.com
NaturalNews.com