Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
April 7, 2020
Good morning
Leading the News . . .
British PM Boris Johnson remains in ICU but does not have pneumonia . . . Boris Johnson has not been diagnosed with pneumonia and is not on a ventilator, despite being in intensive care with coronavirus, his spokesman said
today. The Prime Minister's official spokesman insisted he was "stable" and in "good spirits" some 17 hours after he was taken to the critical unit at St Thomas' Hospital. No10 admit his condition "worsened" last night after he was admitted to the London hospital with a cough and fever on Sunday. But asked if the PM had pneumonia - which indicates the most critical complications from Covid-19 - his spokesman said "That is not the case, no." The spokesman added not only had
the PM not been on a ventilator at this stage, he had also not received "non-invasive" oxygen, thought to include CPAP. The Prime Minister's official spokesman confirmed that Mr Johnson "has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits". He added: “He is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any other assistance. Mirror
Trump, Congress begin to discuss next relief package . . . Congressional leaders and the White House are converging on the need for a new assistance package to try to contain the coronaviruspandemic’s
economic devastation, fearful that a $2 trillion bailout law enacted last month will have only a limited effect. House Democrats are eyeing a package of spending increases that would “easily” cost more than $1 trillion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told lawmakers Monday, according to two officials on the conference call who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it. Democrats are looking to extend unemployment aid and small-business assistance for additional months, as well as
authorize another round of direct checks to taxpayers. Trump has signaled support for some of the ideas that Democrats back, such as expanded help for small-business owners and new bailout checks for households. Republican leaders, meanwhile, have also called for more corporate aid and money to boost the overwhelmed health-care system. Washington Post
Grocery workers are beginning to die of coronavirus . . . Major supermarket chains are beginning to report their first coronavirus-related employee deaths, leading to store closures and
increasing anxiety among grocery workers as the pandemic intensifies across the country. A Trader Joe’s worker in Scarsdale, N.Y., a greeter at a Giant store in Largo, Md., and two Walmart employees from the same Chicago-area store have died of covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, in recent days, the companies confirmed Monday. Though more than 40 states have ordered nonessential businesses to close and told residents to stay home to stem the spread of the virus,
supermarkets are among the retailers that remain open. Washington Post
US coronavirus deaths reach 10,000 . . . The USA reached a grim milestone in its fight against the coronavirus Monday: More than 10,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the nation.That total surpasses the number of battle deaths from six U.S. wars combined, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA data says a total of 9,961 soldiers died on the battlefield during these six wars: The American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American Warand Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The data does not include other deaths related to the wars. USA Today
India selling anti-malaria drug again after Trump threatens realization . . . India, the world’s main supplier of generic drugs, said on Tuesday it will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted as a potential weapon in the fight against the coronavirus. The Indian government had put a hold on exports of hydroxychloroquine as well as on the pain reliever, paracetamol, saying stocks
were depleting because of the hit to global supply chains after the coronavirus emerged in China late last year. But Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend seeking supplies and on Monday said India may face retaliation if it didn’t withdraw the ban on exports. Reuters
Obama and Bush would never have picked up the phone and threatened a foreign leader on behalf of the US. Just saying.
Brooklyn Hasidic Jews violating social distancing with mass funerals . . . Hundreds of Hasidic Jews once again defied social distancing orders amid the coronavirus pandemic, taking over a Brooklyn street to hold a funeral for a local rabbi.
The massive funeral, reportedly for Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Meislish, was held Sunday night on Hewes Street near Marcy Avenue in Williamsburg. The rabbi died of COVID-19 at the age of 80, The Yeshiva World reported. Photos and online videos show hundreds of members of the Jewish community crowding on stoops, sidewalks and on the street. New York Post
Portraits of New Yorkers felled by the virus . . . One of the many things this pandemic has taken from us is the chance to comfort the grieving. For now, at least, we can’t attend a funeral mass or gravesite, or visit the homes of friends and family members who’ve suddenly, shockingly lost someone they loved. As
of Monday, there were 4,758 coronavirus-related deaths in New York State, 2,738 of them from NYC alone. In New Jersey, there have been 1,003 fatalities, and 206 in Connecticut. The plague doesn’t discriminate. In the past three weeks, it’s taken firefighters and social workers,
Holocaust survivors and classic-car collectors, doctors and drag performers, parents and priests. Each will be missed. New York Post
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Biden searching for running mate with coronavirus creds . . . Joe Biden is expected to begin the vetting process for his running mate this month, as the coronavirus pandemic poses a key test for several potential contenders who have been involved in the response. Mr. Biden and his allies have recently named several women as strong candidates, including Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. If Mr. Biden chose one of them, he could point to their efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19 cases, hold the Trump administration accountable or secure help for struggling Americans as one way to show how Democrats would lead during a crisis. Wall Street Journal
RNC Chairwoman: Dems using coronavirus to promote voter fraud . . . Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accused top Democrats of trying to use the coronavirus pandemic to promote lax voting measures. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden have both urged
Congress to support language in future coronavirus legislative packages that would change the way votes are cast in 2020. Pelosi tried to include a mandate that would require states to allow mail-in voting in the latest coronavirus economic relief bill, but Republicans blocked it.
In an opinion piece for Fox News, McDaniel said such measures would facilitate election fraud. "After failing with their first left-wing laundry list disguised as coronavirus relief, Democratic leaders are already plotting their next attempt to use the pandemic for political
gain," she wrote. Washington Examiner
Never waste a crisis . . .
Trump and Biden chat about the coronavirus . . . The president made sure to note twice that it was Biden who called him, and not the reverse: “I also spoke just a few minutes ago with former Vice President Biden, who called. We had a really wonderful, warm conversation,” Trump said. He gave me his point of view,
and I fully understood that. We just had a very friendly conversation. Lasted probably 15 minutes. And, it was It was really good . . . I appreciate his calling.” White House Dossier
WH advisor warned colleagues in January of pandemic . . . A memo from Peter Navarro said failure to contain a coronavirus outbreak could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and trillions of dollars in economic losses. It is the most direct warning known to have circulated at a key moment among top administration officials. New York Times
Wisconsin primary to go forward . . . Wisconsin is asking hundreds of thousands of voters to ignore a stay-at-home order in the midst of a pandemic to participate in Tuesday’s presidential primary election, becoming a test case for dozens of states struggling to balance public health concerns
with a core pillar of democracy. The National Guard will help run voting sites across the state after thousands of election workers stepped down fearing for their safety. Dozens of polling places will be closed, but those that are active will open at 7 a.m. CDT. Associated Press
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Navy secretary apologizes for attacking ousted ship captain . . . President Trump on Monday said at a press conference that he might get involved in the public crisis playing out in the Navy after an aircraft carrier commander was ousted after raising the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on the ship in a
leaked letter. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly appeared to worsen the situation when he gave a surprise speech to sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt and called ousted Captain Brett Cozier "too naïve or too stupid" to be a commanding officer of a ship like this, Reuters reported. Modly later
issued an apology to the Navy and Crozier and said, "Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Cozier is naive nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite. We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. Captain Crozier is smart and passionate." Fox News
Chinese propaganda outlet gains access to daily White House briefing . . . Republicans are sounding the alarm after a reporter with
ties to China's propaganda machine gained access to Monday's White House coronavirus press briefing and used the platform to promote Beijing's efforts -- even as right-leaning outlets, including One America News Network (OANN), were being denied seating privileges at the briefings. Several lawmakers said late Monday that the possibility China was spreading propaganda in the White House clearly merited immediate action, especially given Democrats' stated concerns about foreign interference in U.S. politics. Fox News
Foreign workers enter US without being tested for virus . . . Foreign workers brought to the United States on the H-2A and H-2B visa programs, through a fast-tracked process by the State Department, will only undergo additional medical screening if they have symptoms of the Chinese coronavirus, Breitbart News has learned. As jobless claims for Americans have reached more than ten million in just weeks, the State Department announced waivers for H-2A and H-2B foreign workers. The plan, spearheaded by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, allows American businesses to more quickly bring foreign workers to the U.S. Breitbart
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China claims it had no coronavirus deaths for first time since January . . . China reported no coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time since it started publishing daily figures in January. The National Health Commission said it had 32 confirmed cases, down from 39 on Monday. It comes as the government is under scrutiny as to whether it is underreporting its figures.
The government says more than 3,331 people have died and 81,740 have been confirmed as infected. All of the confirmed cases on Tuesday had arrived from overseas. BBC
China ends coronavirus lock down and crowds gather . . .
Ready or not, China is open for business. The nation where the coronavirus is believed to have began saw massive crowds over the weekend, including tourists who crowded into sites like Huangshan mountain park, according to the state sponsored Global Times. That attraction waived its entry free to locals, encouraging visitors to make the trek after months of isolation. More than 20,000 guests, who do not appear to be practicing social distancing in photos, had packed the popular tourism spot before 8 a.m. New York Daily News
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SBA struggles to get loans out to small businesses . . . Banks on Monday struggled to assist thousands of small businesses vying for $350 billion in government-backed loans as lenders reported that a Small Business Administration system used to process the applications was crashing. The small business aid program — a crucial part of the government's record $2 trillion plan to rescue the economy from the coronavirus pandemic
— has been snarled since it was launched Friday in large part because of technical problems with the SBA's "E-Tran" system, which banks must use to authorize the loans. Politico
Your government in action.
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Body of RFK granddaughter Maeve McKean found . . . After searching for four days, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police have found the body of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s missing daughter.
Authorities found Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean’s body at 5:31 p.m. Monday, submerged 25 feet and about 2½ miles from her mother’s residence in Shady Side in Anne Arundel County. McKean’s 8-year-old son, Gideon Joseph Kennedy McKean, has not been found. Police said they will resume the search Tuesday. Baltimore Sun
Hackers target videoconference calls . . . Ceri Weber had just begun to defend her dissertation when the chaos began: Echoes and voices interrupted her. Someone parroted her words. Then Britney Spears music came on, and someone told Weber to shut up. Someone threatened to rape her. Hackers had targeted the
meeting on the video conference platform Zoom while Weber was completing the final step of her doctoral degree at Duke University. The harassment lasted 10 minutes — the result of an increasingly common form of cyber attack known as “Zoom bombing.” Associated Press
Michigan State University lists "acceptable" names for virus . . . Michigan State University is advising its students use only “acceptable” terminology when speaking about the Chinese virus, insisting that the Wuhan coronavirus must be referred to as the “novel coronavirus” or “COVID-19.” The school is also
encouraging all students to sign a pledge entitled, “Hate Has No Home Here.”
As coronavirus-related death tolls continue surge around the globe, Michigan State University (MSU) has prioritized informing students to be careful about their choice of words. Breitbart
MLB discusses having all teams play in Arizona . . . Putting all 30 teams in the Phoenix area and playing in empty ballparks was among the ideas discussed Monday by Major League Baseball and the players’ association. The sides held a telephone call to talk about paths forward for a season delayed by the new
coronavirus pandemic, people familiar with the discussion told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because no details were announced. New York Post
Baseball great Al Kaline dead at 85 . . . Alan Trammell remembers it vividly. It was in 1977. He and Lou Whitaker had just been called up to the Tigers and they were on the plane, their first big-league road trip. Onto the plane walked Al Kaline and Trammell was star-struck. “It was just Al, Al Kaline, Hall
of Famer, you know?” Trammell said. “Just the classiness. That was the first thing you noticed. He always dressed appropriately. The way he handled himself. I had the utmost respect for Al and then being around him for all these years now — he never changed. “That’s just how he was — a consummate professional. The Tigers’ organization and baseball lost an icon today.” Detroit News
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Scammers trying to sell the world's largest statue . . . Police in India lodged a case this week against an unknown online fraudster who tried selling the world’s largest statue for $4 billion,
claiming the proceeds would be used to help the Gujarat state government fund its fight against the coronavirus. While the plot to sell the ‘Statue of Unity”, a monument that is nearly twice the height of New York’s Statue of Liberty, is among the most brazen cases, police say cybercrimes have surged since the health scare gripped the country. Reuters
Brooklyn Bridge now only available online.
Zoo pandas finally having sex as crowds disappear . . . Apparently, the mood was finally right. After a decade of unsuccessfully trying to get their two pandas to get it on, zoo officials at Ocean Park in Hong Kong announced on Monday that the bears had finally engaged in natural mating. All it took was over two months without visitors, due to the park’s shutdown during the coronavirus pandemic." The successful natural mating process today is extremely exciting for all of us, as the chance of pregnancy via natural mating is higher than by artificial insemination," said Michael Boos, executive director for zoological operations and conservation at Ocean Park. New York Daily News
They needed their privacy. Would you have sex with crowds of pandas watching?
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Have a great day.
Keith
Keith Koffler
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