Free Republic

Addressing the media alongside the coronavirus task force on Thursday, Donald Trump said he would “slash red tape like nobody has even done it before” to get approval for coronavirus treatments. That would be a welcome development indeed. What’s unfortunate is that there was no similar push at the beginning of the crisis to expedite coronavirus testing. The U.S. response to the pandemic has been hampered at every level due to insufficient testing capacity. The first coronavirus case in the U.S. and South Korea was detected on January 21. Since then, South Korea has effectively contained the coronavirus without shutting...

.... the Black Death in the mid-1300s killed 30–50% of the world's population. Modern medicine makes it unlikely that this will happen in the here and now. All of this gets us back to Mike Rowe. He points out that, despite the lack of knowledge we have, Americans — especially Americans in government — are making instant, big decisions with consequences that may be disastrous and far-reaching. He writes, too, that people cannot perpetually maintain a state of panic. Even if we wanted to keep people locked in their houses for a year, wiping out entirely the American economy, Americans...

BREAKING: Ground stop now in effect — all departures stopped — for JFK, LGA, EWR due to positive covid-19 tests. Other regional airspace sectors halted through key “gates” through NY air traffic areas. -Sources

With no antibodies built up in the population, no known cure, and no existing vaccine against COVID-19, some may fear that there's no hope for those suffering with the disease now or in the future. However, there have actually been green shoots of positive results from several existing anti-viral and anti-inflammatory drugs already on the market, albeit on an anecdotal basis.While no official U.S. trials have been completed and data is scarce, anecdotal successes with these drugs are giving people hope, and the government is now loosening red tape to get them where needed as fast as possible. Here are...

GUARDIA Civil are cracking down on movements across the country with a particular focus on roads which lead to the coasts. It means if you are caught travelling with families and suitcases to your second residence, you will be ordered to return to your home with a fine of between €601 and €30,000. The state security forces began the ‘high impact operation’ today in a bid to stop people planning to break the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. One of the biggest focuses has been on stopping people heading to the Costa del Sol after Andalucia surpassed 1,000 cases today. Guardia Civil...

I have created an audio server (currently for music) that can play audio over the internet. It can be any type of audio. Not just music. The preferred audio format is mp3. It is portable too and can be moved to any internet client.

Univision broke from its afternoon coronavirus newscast and delivered on a longstanding policy item: opposition to the Second Amendment and to the private ownership of firearms. But in their coronavirus-themed rant against gun ownership, they also revealed something about themselves. Watch as Univision’s panel rant about a coronavirus-fueled increase in gun sales, and notice how Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Juan Rivera otherizes his fellow citizens: ORGE RAMOS: But as we were saying before going to commercial, something’s going on. Because in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, people’s fears are reflected in different ways. MARIA ANTONIETA COLLINS: Well yeah, some...

I pray Jim Thompson and family are well secluded, prepared and stay healthy

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first coronavirus diagnostic test that can be conducted entirely at the point of care. The test from California-based Cepheid will deliver results in about 45 minutes – much faster than current tests that require a sample to be sent to a centralized lab, where results can take days. The test has been designed to operate on any of Cepheid's more than 23,000 automated GeneXpert Systems worldwide, of which 5,000 are in the U.S., the company said. The systems are already being used to test for conditions like HIV or tuberculosis. The...

In a case that has many scratching their heads, a Belmont resident is under investigation by the Chinese government for flying with her family last week back to her homeland without informing the airline, Chinese officials that she had recently tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Jie Li, who lived with her husband and their son on Sharpe Road since 2015, landed in Bejing from Los Angeles on March 13, according to the Xinhua News Agency, the official media outlet of the Chinese government. ... While an investigation determined that Li did...

What are negative interest rates? A negative interest rate is exactly how it sounds — it’s when an interest rate (or a yield) falls below 0 percent. It seems counterintuitive. After all, how can a rate actually fall below zero, a number that’s literally meant to be a floor for traditional borrowing and lending activities? Take Germany, for example. Its government bond yields are trading in the negative territory all the way out to 20 years. Bond yields are negative in France, Denmark and the Netherlands right now, and they were once sub-zero in Belgium. The Riksbank of Sweden, the...

The German government is planning an economic aid package worth €822 billion to prevent companies from going under during the coronavirus pandemic. The planned funds are to be made available according to a draft bill seen by AFP on Saturday. The funds will go towards a slew of aid programs, including help for employees forced into shorter work hours. They may also be used to fund the partial nationalization of large enterprises in order to keep them afloat, according to the text. […] Germany’s so-called “debt brake” was written into its constitution in 2009, and limits a federal budget deficit...

Mar. 20, 2020 - 2:46 - President Trump gets into a contentious battle with NBC's Peter Alexander over coronavirus drug treatments and for sensationalizing the pandemic VIDEO

With New York City accounting for a disproportionately large share of the coronavirus cases in the US, Mayor Bill de Blasio is blaming President Trump because "we need radical action right away." The Mayor declined to take any radical action himself, saying "that's not my job. There needs to be a single point from which all dictates must be issued. That point is the President. Those of us at the local level must remain free, as we have been thus far, to criticize any mistakes or flaws that might taint the President's actions." One of the "flaws" that the President's...

A suspected coronavirus sufferer in Kenya was beaten by a group of youths armed with stones and later died in hospital. The man, named locally as George Kotini Hezron, was going home after visiting a bar in the village of Msambweni in Kwale County when he was attacked yesterday. Residents suspected him of having the virus and decided to set upon him as he walked home at around 9pm, according to local media. The vigilante mob argued with Hezron and accused him of having the deadly disease and threw stones at him before fleeing.

Posted on March 12, 2020March 13, 2020 by Msgr. Charles Pope Some Teachings on Hell Given today’s Gospel on Lazarus and the rich man (Dives), we do well to ponder some of the teachings we have on Hell, most of which come from St. Thomas Aquinas.The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in today’s climate. The most difficult questions that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy.1. Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes.How could they continue to exist if...

Commentators have noted the dishonest reporting of statistics to buttress the false claim that deaths from the coronavirus (hereafter, COVID-19) are far in excess of mortality from the common flu when in fact the opposite is likely the case.  Others have noted that, like the common flu, the most vulnerable cohort from COVID-19 is the elderly.  For example the average age of those who have died of COVID-19 in Italy is 81.  One thing is clear.  The panic and hysteria are at levels never before seen or witnessed by most people alive today.  It seems like a time of war.  My dad fought in World...

Last night, the MLB Network presented a one-hour program about the career of Mark “The Bird” Fidrych. Then, it showed the entirety of a game he pitched against the New York Yankees on June 26, 1976 — a complete game 5-1 win. For those who missed the Mark Fidrych experience, here’s some background. Fidrych debuted as a 21 year old rookie for the Detroit Tigers in 1976. He made the club with only a year and a half of experience in the minor leagues. Inserted into the starting rotation in mid-May, Fidrych won nine of his first ten starts. His...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kenny Rogers, the smooth, Grammy-winning balladeer who spanned jazz, folk, country and pop with such hits as “Lucille,” “Lady” and “Islands in the Stream” and embraced his persona as “The Gambler” on records and on TV, died Friday night. He was 81. He died at home in Sandy Springs, Georgia, representative Keith Hagan told The Associated Press. He was under hospice care and died of natural causes, Hagan said. …..

There will be massive bailouts. I hope FR realizes this. Most Americans are in debt anyway, fiscal conservatives are declining. This virus will damage this economy and the nation. My governor Phil Murphy wants a NJ Transit aid package. It's over.