Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
May 5, 2020
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
US researchers warn of virus surge as states reopen . . . The U.S. death toll could approach 135,000 by early August, according to IMHE, which produces a Covid-19 forecast sometimes cited by the White House. The institute doubled its previous death-toll projection to reflect
increasing movement of people and the relaxation of social-distancing guidelines in some places as many states start to reopen their economies, the institute said. “Growing contacts among people will promote transmission of the coronavirus,” the institute said. Factors such as warming temperatures won’t offset the rising mobility, “thereby fueling a significant increase in projected deaths,” it said. Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned that relaxing the social distancing that is helping
to contain the spread could bring a rebound in cases, considering the virus’s “phenomenal capabilities of spreading like wildfire.” Wall Street Journal
Unrelenting crush of US cases and deaths . . .
In New York City, the daily onslaught of death from the coronavirus has dropped to half of what it was. Yet across America, those signs of progress obscure a darker reality. The country is still in the firm grip of a pandemic with little hope of release. For every indication of improvement in controlling the virus, new
outbreaks have emerged elsewhere, leaving the nation stuck in a steady, unrelenting march of deaths and infections. As states continue to lift restrictions, impatient Americans are freely returning to shopping, lingering in restaurants and gathering in parks. Regular new flare-ups and
super-spreader events are expected to be close behind. Any notion that the coronavirus threat is fading away appears to be magical thinking, at odds with what the latest numbers show. New York Times
Mutation may show virus getting weaker . . . Scientists have discovered a unique mutation to coronavirus in Arizona - and it's a pattern that they've seen before. One of the 382 samples they collected from coronavirus patients in the state was missing a sizeable segment of genetic material. In the middle and late stages of the SARS epidemic of 2003, this very same kind of deletion started cropping up in patients around the globe. It's not just any mutation - the change robs the closely related viruses of one of their weapons against the host's immune response,
making the infection weaker. As that mutation became widespread, the SARS outbreak wound down. Daily Mail
Scientists create antibody that kills coronavirus in a lab . . . Scientists created a monoclonal antibody that can defeat the new coronavirus in the lab, an early but promising step in efforts to find treatments and curb the pandemic’s spread. The experimental antibody has
neutralized the virus in cell cultures. While that’s early in the drug development process -- before animal research and human trials -- the antibody may help prevent or treat Covid-19 and related diseases in the future, either alone or in a drug combination, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Communications. More research is needed to see whether the findings are confirmed in a clinical setting and how precisely the antibody defeats the virus. Bloomberg
Sleeping well on a regular schedule can help fight the virus
Fauci: No evidence virus leaked from Chinese lab . . . Dr Anthony Fauci says there is 'no evidence' that coronavirus escaped from a Chinese lab - contradicting repeated claims by the Trump administration. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, panned the conspiracy theory that China's outbreak began at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 'If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, [the scientific evidence] is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have
been artificially or deliberately manipulated,' Fauci said. 'Everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that [this virus] evolved in nature and then jumped species.' Daily Mail
Fifteen kids hospitalized in NYC with mystery illness possibly related to COVID-19 . . . Fifteen children, many of whom had the coronavirus, have recently been hospitalized in New York City with a mysterious syndrome that doctors do not yet fully understand but that has
also been reported in several European countries. Many of the children, ages 2 to 15, have shown symptoms associated with toxic shock or Kawasaki disease, a rare illness in children that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, including coronary arteries, the
city’s health department said. None of the patients with the syndrome have died, according to a bulletin from the health department, which describes the illness as a “multisystem inflammatory syndrome
potentially associated with Covid-19.” New York Times
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Elizabeth Warren deems Biden Tara Reade denial "credible and convincing" . . . Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Monday that Vice President Joe Biden’s denial that he sexually assaulted one of his Senate aides in the 1990s was “credible and convincing.” She also reaffirmed her support for the likely Democratic presidential nominee. “The vice president’s answers were credible and convincing,” Warren told the reporters before entering the Senate chamber for a vote. She was responding to questions about Biden’s alleged sexual assault of Tara Reade, one of the former vice president’s Senate aides in 1993. Daily Caller
It's amazing how credible someone can sound when they might make you vice president.
Trump cheers on governors who ignore White House guidelines to reopen . . . States across the country are moving swiftly to reopen their economies despite failing to achieve benchmarks laid out by the White House for when social distancing restrictions could be eased to ensure the public’s safety during the coronavirus pandemic. These governors’ biggest cheerleader is President Trump. A slew of states — such
as Texas, Indiana, Colorado and Florida — have pushed forward with relaxing social distancing guidelines even as the number of people testing positive in many states has increased in recent weeks and testing continues to lag behind. White House recommendations released last month encouraged states to wait to see a decline in cases
over a two-week period, as well as having robust testing in place for front-line workers before entering “Phase One” of a gradual comeback. Washington Post
She could become the most unqualifed president since . . . Barack Obama
White House disavows administration forecast of 3,000 deaths a day by June . . . The White House distanced itself from a bleak administration forecast published on Monday by the New York Times suggesting that the coronavirus death toll will increase to about 3,000 a day by early June. The projection, based on modeling collated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, forecasts the number of deaths will almost double from the current level of about 1,750 — at a time when President Trump is encouraging states to lift social distancing restrictions. It also forecasts about 200,000 new cases each day by the end
of the month, a huge increase from about 25,000 cases a day now. White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said the data did not reflect the models analyzed by the president’s team. Washington Examiner
Mueller prosecutor may have failed to comply with court order in Flynn case . . . Explosive, newly unsealed evidence documenting the FBI's efforts to target national security adviser Michael Flynn --
including a top official's handwritten memo debating whether the FBI's "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired" -- calls into question whether Brandon Van Grack, a Justice Department prosecutor and former member of Special Counsel
Robert Mueller's Team, complied with a court order to produce favorable evidence to Flynn. Fox News
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Trump poised to propose letting Taiwan into the WHO . . . The U.S. has circulated a draft proposal to give Taiwan “observer status” in the World Health Organization, according to Fox news. There is no reason other than to appease China that Taiwan is not in the organization, and furthermore, no other reason that Taiwan is an international pariah. Meantime, the Chinese Community Party is viciously oppressing the Uighurs in
Xinjiang Province, not to mention its own Han Chinese. Tibet is long forgotten. Anyway, nobody cares, as long as they can get trinkets for their Happy Meals or pay $100 less for the iPhone 12. White House Dossier
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Third Russian doctor plummets from window under hazy circumstances . . . Three Russ ian health care workers have mysteriously plunged from hospital buildings in the past two weeks after criticizing working conditions and hospital administrators amid the corona virus pandemic. Two of the workers have died from their injuries and one remains hospitalized, the Moscow Times reported. Alexander Shulepov, a paramedic who tested positive for COVID-19, suffered a skull fracture after falling Saturday from the second floor of a hospital in western Voronezh region, located 320 miles south of Moscow. Fox News
Ex-Pope Benedict XVI links gay marriage, abortion with the Antichrist . . . The 93-year-old ex-pope has an authorized biography out in Germany this week, which ends with an interview between Benedict and the journalist Peter Seewald. In the exchange, Benedict sharply attacked gay marriage, abortion and scientific methods of conception, inserting himself into the debates that have defined the Catholic Church for decades. “A century ago,
anyone would have thought it absurd to talk about homosexual marriage. Today those who oppose it are excommunicated from society,” he said. “It’s the same thing with abortion and creating human life in the laboratory."
Benedict added to this thought, claiming that these developments in the world represent an existential threat to Christianity. NY Daily News
American mercenaries nabbed in failed Venzuela raid . . . Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said authorities arrested two U.S. citizens among a group of “mercenaries” on Monday, a day after a beach raid purportedly aimed at capturing the socialist leader that authorities say they foiled. Maduro held up a pair of blue U.S. passports, reading off the names and birth dates on them in a nationwide broadcast on state television. He showed images of the fishing boats the alleged attackers
rode in on and equipment like walkie-talkies and night-vision glasses collected in what Maduro called an “intense” couple of days. He blamed the attacks on the Trump administration and neighboring Colombia, both of which have denied involvement. New York Post
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United Airlines to cut 30% of management, preparing to axe pilots . . . United Airlines plans to cut at least 3,400 management and administrative positions in October as the coronavirus pandemic crushes air travel demand, and has told pilots to brace for changes as well. Chicago-based United is among the U.S. airlines that have accepted U.S. government payroll aid that bans job or pay cuts before Sept. 30. However, United and
other carriers have warned that demand is unlikely to recover to pre-crisis levels by that date, forcing them to shrink in the fall. The United cuts are the first indication of just how much major airlines might downsize due to the health crisis. Reuters
Airfare on one of world's busiest routes could fall to $12 . . . Air fares between Sydney and Melbourne, one of the world’s busiest routes, could fall as low as A$19 ($12) to persuade the public to fly after the coronavirus pandemic, according to Qantas Airways Ltd. Qantas’s low-cost airline Jetstar could charge between A$19 and A$39 for those tickets once Australia lifts travel restrictions, Qantas Chief
Executive Officer Alan Joyce said on a call with reporters on Tuesday. Bloomberg
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Meat shortages begin as supermarkets warn of limited supply . . . The meat shortages have come sooner than expected — likely thanks to the hoarders. Costco on Monday said it will be limiting customers to just three packages of meat per shopper, while Kroger supermarkets posted an alert on the meat section of its website warning that it may have limited inventory “due to high demand.” Grocers have been bracing for a run on
meat in mid-May as major meat processing plants, including Tyson Foods, have been forced to shut down production. But the shortages appear to have come earlier than expected as consumers worried about the meat shortage have been stocking up, experts say. New York Post
Wendy's takes burgers off the menu in some locations . . . Wendy's restaurant has taken burgers off the menu in some locations and grocery stores Costco and Kroger have announced limited stocks of beef as Americans start to feel the impact of the pandemic-triggered meat shortage. On Monday angry customers realized the Wendy's hallmark item was no longer available for order and only chicken items were available for takeout and delivery at
select locations across the country. 'Where's the beef?' some outraged social media users asked, invoking Wendy’s catchphrase from 1980s. Daily Mail
Three quarters of college students back safe spaces . . . More than three-in-four college students want "safe spaces" on their campuses that are free of "threatening actions, ideas, or conversations," even as a majority support President Trump's threat to withhold taxpayer dollars from universities that restrict speech, according to a new poll. While 97 percent of college students believe that free speech is an essential pillar of American democracy, a significant majority of students also support policies to restrict specific types of
speech on campus. The poll found that 78 percent of students support "safe spaces" where threatening ideas and conversations would be barred. Washington Free Beacon
I think every college student who loses an argument should get a hug
No, not that kind of mask: Man wears KKK hood to Calif. grocery store . . . A man wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood was spotted shopping in a California grocery store over the weekend, igniting outrage from shoppers, management and the city’s mayor. Photos of the incident at a Vons store in the city of Santee, northeast of San Diego, were posted on Facebook Saturday by a local resident who called the man’s actions “disgusting.” New York Daily News
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Five-year-old boy caught driving to Calif. to buy a Lamborghini . . . A 5-year-old boy was caught driving his parents’ car on a freeway in Utah on Monday — apparently on his way to California to buy a Lamborghini. The kid driver made it a handful of miles, from his home in Ogden to I-15’s 25th Street offramp, Utah State Police said. Troopers initially thought they’d stumbled upon an impaired driver, but soon found their perp was actually a child with a penchant for luxury cars. The boy told them he left home after an argument with his mom, in which she refused to buy him a Lamborghini. So he decided to go get one himself. New York Post
Finally, some parents willing to say "no" to their kid.
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Keith
Keith Koffler
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