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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on March 17 lifted all restrictions on telehealth services for Americans covered by Medicare to address the threat of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. President Donald Trump announced the lifting of the limits during a press conference at the White House, calling it a “historic breakthrough.” “This has not been done before either,” the president said. Previously Medicare only covered telehealth services for those living in rural areas and brief visits for established patients. With the restrictions lifted, all 62 million Medicare beneficiaries can call a doctor’s office and request to have their...

Thanks to blaring headlines and the 24-hour news cycle, avoiding news of the coronavirus is difficult. That is, unless you’re silently meditating in the desert far from civilization. That is, unless you’re Jared Leto. The actor was self-isolating, before it was recommended by governments and health experts. Leto had taken a break from the world and retreated to the desert for some quiet time only to emerge 12 days later to a wildly changed world facing the pandemic. He took to Instagram to express his feelings. “Wow. Twelve days ago I began a silent meditation in the desert,” Leto wrote...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's coronavirus bill is not enough. It is not nearly enough. And if there is any hope of keeping the U.S. economy from free fall, its deficiencies must be addressed this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus bill is not enough. It is not nearly enough. And if there is any hope of keeping the U.S. economy from free fall, its deficiencies must be addressed this week with a combination of immediate and direct aid to the businesses that feed our families, host our celebrations, employ our neighbors, sponsor our Little Leagues, and make our towns our...

New Theory: Coronavirus Is Punishment – From Gaia Leonardo Boff, 81, believes that the coronavirus is “a retaliation from Gaia for the insults we inflict upon her” (ATerraERedonda.com, March 14).For Boff, a lapsed priest and hero of communist Liberation Theology, it’s not accidental that the virus exploded there “where pollution is greatest.”Through it, the “Great Mother” Gaia gives us signs “that she's sick.” Boff replaces God with Gaia explaining that “the earth wants a different attitude towards her.”We should not forget “that the Earth herself feels, thinks, loves, worships and heals.”

The French Open was postponed for about four months because of the coronavirus pandemic, juggling the tennis calendar by shifting from May to September. The French Tennis Federation said Tuesday it will hold its 15-day clay-court event at Roland Garros in Paris from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, instead of May 24 to June 7, "to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved in organizing the tournament." Federation president Bernard Giudicelli described it as "a difficult yet brave decision in this unprecedented situation."

Microsoft has been betting big on open source for past few years. Apart from open sourcing a few things here and there, Microsoft is contributing a lot to Linux kernel (for its Azure cloud platform). To further strengthen its position in the open source world, Microsoft acquired the popular open source code hosting platform GitHub for $7.5 billion. Now Microsoft owned GitHub has acquired npm ( short for Node Package Manager). npm is the world’s largest software registry with more than 1.3 million packages that have 75 billion downloads a month. ...snip... Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

Image from Bryan Berg cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten In September of 2017, In the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana, near Glacier National Park, Bryan Berg had to shoot a big boar grizzly. You may have seen the AP story where the federal investigators confirmed he shot the bear in self-defense.Bryan got into trouble for not reporting the shooting, and for cutting off the bear claws as a memento. The plea bargain was under the Lacy Act, for transporting the bear claws across state lines.   From startribune.com: Acting on a tip, authorities interviewed Berg in March 2018. He admitted...

The popular Spring Break destination of South Padre Island is now off limits to large groups of crowds, and the South Texas county due west is banning all public gatherings of more than 50 people in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus The City of South Padre Island on Monday evening declared a local state of disaster and banned gatherings over 50 people, something many locals had called for to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The city’s convention center is closed, but the beach and causeway remain open, as well as businesses and local restaurants, however city officials...

VIDEO You might not be familiar with Fernand Amandi if you are not from South Florida although he appears a lot on national network shows. Amandi suffers from EXTREME Trump Derangement Syndrome which hit him especially hard right after the 2016 election. Leading up-to that election, Amandi hosted a show in Miami on WIOD radio in which he exhibited a smug arrogant certainty that Hillary Clinton would win the election. He encouraged Trump supporters to call in so he could condescendingly mock them for actually thinking that Trump had a chance of winning the election. After the election, Amandi...

Because I am tired of Covid19 stuff 24/7. So, how about some cryptozoology? You either like Bob Gymlin's presentations or you don't.

The Office of the Secretary of State today announced that Texas will become the 30th state to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a non-profit consortium of member states. ERIC’s mission is to assist states in increasing voter participation and improving the accuracy of America's voter rolls. ERIC is governed and managed by the member states, and was formed in 2012 with assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts. During the 2019 session, the 86th Texas Legislature appropriated $1.5 million for Texas to join the consortium. Participation in ERIC will assist Texas elections officials in identifying and conducting outreach to...

Beijing has, according to President Trump's trade advisor Peter Navarro, already nationalized one American factory making medical masks. Moreover, Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo on air repeatedly said the Chinese forced at least one ship carrying masks, gloves, and other protective gear to the United States to return to China. Trump's optimism is not shared in Beijing.... China, using the epidemic as an excuse, is now pushing to change the agreement by deferring its purchase obligations, the heart of the arrangement as far as the U.S. is concerned.[snip]Americans — and the Chinese people, who are now demanding fundamental political change...

CALIFORNIA IS DEAD WRONG WITH AB 5 – HERE’S WHY Did you know that booth rental in California is currently illegal? Now that I have your attention, let’s get into how the State of California is poised to kill a portion of our industry, and how you can help fix it. The beauty industry needs your help. The Dynamex Decision In April of 2018, the California Supreme Court handed down a decision that determines who can be labelled an independent contractor in that state. If the worker doesn’t pass the ABC test, then the worker must be classified as an...

"Saturday Night Live" will not be live from New York anytime soon. The NBC variety series, which was scheduled to return from hiatus on March 28, will not resume production until further notice, the network said on Monday.

She faces charge of willfully poisoning food A former McDonald's worker has been ordered to stand trial on a felony charge of willfully poisoning food after she allegedly spit on a hamburger before serving it to a police officer. Tatyana Hargrove, then 21 years old, was arrested last November in Bakersfield, California, and is due in court March 23. She is accused of rubbing a hamburger bun on the floor of the restaurant and then spitting in it while preparing an order for a uniformed police officer using the drive-thru, KGET-TV reported. Hargrove also allegedly shouted, "Black lives matter" and...

The White House announced Tuesday that it wants to give Americans checks in order to combat the economic devastation many will feel amid the coronavirus outbreak. “We are looking at sending checks to Americans immediately,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a news conference at the White House on Tuesday. “Americans need cash now and the president wants to get cash now,” Mnuchin said. “And I mean now in the next two weeks.” President Donald Trump, who had initially floated a payroll tax holiday, said that he favored more immediate action that could inject cash into American’s pockets faster than...

A voice of reason in the current hysteria. Makes the case for living life rather than always looking for safety. Put this whole insanity in perspective.

2 instant leaders after first round

Key Points Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus crisis. The latest daily briefing came as stocks struggled to recover from one of the worst trading sessions ever. Markets have shed trillions of dollars amid the coronavirus spread, which has crippled major industries and forced governments around the world to take drastic steps to try to slow the spread of the disease. ==================================================================== Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that the Trump administration wants to get emergency funds in Americans’ pockets “immediately” amid the coronavirus...

General Motors is offering loans at no interest to new buyers, plus assistance to current owners, to address COVID-19 pandemic. General Motors is going to offer zero-interest loans for up to 84 months, in a deal available to customers in top credit tiers. The manufacturer is also going to work with current owners who owe money for loans or leases so they don't miss a payment during the pandemic. GM has not yet rolled out a website or contact details for consumers wanting to take advantage of the newly announced program. The spread of COVID-19 has very quickly disrupted daily...