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The mayor of Champaign, Illinois has declared a town emergency over the Wuhan coronavirus that includes a potential ban on the sale of firearms and ammunition. According to a local report from WAND 17, Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has issued an executive order that would give her office "extraordinary powers." She has issued the order despite the town and surrounding area not having a single case of the disease.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced today that he is stepping down from the two Board of Director seats he holds, one on Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, and Microsoft. Gates made the announcement in a LinkedIn post, and Microsoft has also announced the change in the Board in a press release. Gates says that he is stepping down from Microsoft, not stepping away: With respect to Microsoft, stepping down from the board in no way means stepping away from the company. Microsoft will always be an important part of my life’s work and I will continue to be engaged with Satya...

[Catholic Caucus] TX Bishop Calls for Eucharistic Processions to Fight Coronavirus Meanwhile, other bishops cancel Mass and force Communion in the hand TYLER, Texas (ChurchMililtant.com) - A Texas bishop is calling for Eucharistic processions to battle the coronavirus, even as fellow bishops are canceling Masses and banning the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. On Wednesday, Bp. Joseph Strickland of the diocese of Tyler tweeted, "I call on every Catholic priest to lead a simple Eucharistic Procession around your Church sometime before the Feast of St Joseph, March 19, for repentance, Christ’s healing hand on the Coronavirus & that all men may be...

For once, the conversation over closing the US-Mexico border is being driven b Mexican health officials who say they are considering shutting out Americans to keep coronavirus out of their country. There are currently more than 2,000 cases of the virus in the US and it is spreading rapidly. Forty-three people have died from it. By contrast in Mexico, there have only been 16 confirmed cases and no deaths. At a press conference on Friday, health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said: 'Mexico wouldn't bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here. 'The possible flow...

We must learn important lessons from the coronavirus outbreak and make major changes to ensure that every American is taken care of in times of crisis. I’m addressing the nation now. Watch live: https://t.co/qGhaKWMl3G— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) March 13, 2020

Song and video of Deliverance "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

In light of our day's national and global fears and panic relating to the Coronavirus; do your part to be safe and relax, especially if you are a child of Almighty God (John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:26-39). Be the stability and light in Jesus that this fallen world needs to see and may Almighty God use us to share His ETERNAL LIFE and PEACE to a dying world who needs Him desperately. For we serve the ETERNAL KING of LIFE and NOT the murdering king of fears (John 1:14; 8:44; 11:25, Heb. 1:2-3; 2:12-16, Rev. 1:17-18; 5; 19:11-21)! Have faith in...

Microsoft on Friday said cofounder and technology adviser Bill Gates has stepped down from the company's board of directors. Gates left in order to "dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities including global health, development, education, and his increasing engagement in tackling climate change," according to a release. He'll remain a technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella, as well as other Microsoft leaders.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is promising as part of his “education” plan to send what he calls “child development specialists” into the homes of Americans who have young children. The program was initiated under Obamacare. “President Biden will double funding for home visiting so more families benefit from this program every year,”

My email box is filled each day with spam from the various banks, vendors, financial institutions, non-profits, hospitals, doctors, and government agencies all anxious to tell me how well they are washing doorknobs and taking other precautions. Please make them stop!

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Bernie Sanders acknowledged Friday that fears about the spread of coronavirus have damaged his ability to leverage large rallies into support at the polls, and suggested that future Democratic presidential primary voting should be delayed if health officials deem doing so appropriate. “We do more rallies than anybody else, and (they’re) often very well attended. I love to do them,” the senator told reporters at a hotel in his home state of Vermont. “This coronavirus has obviously impacted our ability to communicate with people in the traditional way that we do. That’s hurting.” “If this isn’t a...

Shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc closed up more than 9% after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the search giant would create a website to help determine whether individuals need a coronavirus test or not. “I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website, it’s gonna be very quickly done, unlike websites of the past, to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location…,” Trump said. “Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now, made tremendous progress.” Vice President Mike Pence said the launch date of the...

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department on Friday summoned the Chinese ambassador to the United States to protest against comments by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman who had suggested the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to Wuhan. “He was summoned with regard to what the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said over COVID-19,” a State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, referring to Cui Tiankai, Beijing’s top diplomat in the United States. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The episode is the latest in an increasing war of words between...

So far we have 144,094 Coronavirus Cases 5,397 Died 70,920 Recovered. Things are serious bu the mainstream media is pushing for even more panic. There are currently no proven therapies for the latest outbreak, which has spread worldwide since emerging from the Chinese city of Wuhan a little over two months ago. Things should relax after a team of US scientists confirmed that they have completed a Coronavirus vaccine. As the Daily Mail reported: Scientists at Greffex, a Houston, Texas-based genetic engineering company, claim they’ve created a coronavirus vaccine. The company told the Houston Business Journal that it had completed...

It has taken a good deal longer than it should have, but Americans have now seen the con man behind the curtain. When, in January 2016, I wrote that despite being a lifelong Republican who worked in the previous three GOP administrations, I would never vote for Donald Trump, even though his administration would align much more with my policy views than a Hillary Clinton presidency would, a lot of my Republican friends were befuddled. How could I not vote for a person who checked far more of my policy boxes than his opponent? What I explained then, and what...

The federal student loan program has enriched Sallie Mae, private banks, and colleges, but exposed U.S. taxpayers to enormous financial risk. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a new assessment of the cost of the federal government’s income-driven repayment (IDR) plan for student loans. The numbers are depressing. The federal government expects to write off $207 billion in student loan debt in the next decade. How did we get here? Back in the 1960s, based on the notion that going to college is a good investment and hoping to level the playing field for minorities and the poor to...

Fancy grocery stores like Trader Joe's in affluent neighborhoods have lines out the door, regular stores, not so much. Different types of people handle situations differently, especially when it comes to stuff like a pandemic of a deadly Wuhan virus. But in New York City and elsewhere, an interesting pattern is emerging in regard to fancy chain grocery stores like Trader JoeÂ’s and Whole Foods which have been picked over like a carcass and still have long lines. Meanwhile, regular neighborhood chain stores have a few shortages, but are operating pretty normally.The evidence is anecdotal, but itÂ’s reflected on social...

LIVE improvisation on original Bach-style tune composed and performed by by pianist Oscar Peterson - with Joe Pass (guitar), David Young (bass), Martin Drew (drums) LINK

JERUSALEM: Scientists in Israel are expected to announce in the coming days that they have completed development of a vaccine for the new coronavirus COVID-19, according to a media report here. Quoting medical sources, Israeli daily Ha'aretz, reported on Thursday that scientists at the Israel's Institute for Biological Research, supervised by the Prime Minister's office, have recently had a significant breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanism and qualities of the virus, including better diagnostic capability, production of antibodies for those who already have the virus and development of a vaccine. The development process, however, requires a series of tests and...

Stocks ended sharply higher after a volatile session Friday as Wall Street rebounded from the deep losses suffered in the previous session, the worst since the Black Monday market crash in 1987. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1,985 points, or 9.3%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also surged 9.3%. The averages posted their biggest one-day gains since October 2008.