Free Republic

The state-wide shutdowns have only been in place for a couple of weeks at most, but people are already starting to get understandably jumpy. Even if we assume that the governments, both state and federal, are handling this pandemic in the wisest way possible, when does it all end? When can we declare this emergency to be in our rearview mirror and have our lives return to some semblance of normality? This weekend, the Boston Globe put that question to some experts in epidemiology and the answers aren’t terribly comforting, at least in my opinion. “That’s one of the...

How long until the citizenry rebels not only against voluntary and forced quarantine, but also the forced shuttering of businesses. We have already seen the young adults flagrantly ignore recommendations to avoid being in the presence of, or congregating in, large groups. This is not meant to discuss nor dismiss the constitutionality of the significant curtailment of our rights, and the outright inflation that will be caused by runaway monetary spending/printing. But rather, will America allow itself to succumb to economic death in favor of physical survival? This is not to say that we wouldn't still exercise reasonable precautions, but...

This drug has received fanfare for its treatment for lupus and is best known as an anti-malarial medication. The mechanism of action of hydroxychloroquine in both diseases is the inhibition of intracellular processes that are pH-dependent. In patients with malaria, it prevents degradation of hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying component of blood), while for lupus patients it prevents T-cell activation. Hydroxychloroquine also plays a role in inhibiting the movement of some types of white blood cells, and this inhibition can help decrease inflammation.

Folks, in response to the well-written piece by John Nolte over at Breitbart commenting on the worthlessness of Hollywood elites verses the people who actually make this country move: TRUCKERS and STOCKERS. The former offers nothing of value other than mindless entertainment, the latter will in the coming months, subject themselves to the inherent risks of the virus so that this country continues to thrive. Some facts you probably are unaware of: Truckers have no champion. Business likes cheap freight. Consumers like cheap freight. Guess who gets the short end? Yep. It has been my experience that as soon as...

Health care workers are widely complaining that they lack sufficient masks, which they need to protect them from being infected by Coronavirus patients. This is consistent with well established prudent health care practice. So it's apparent that the task force lied to us when it advised that healthy people shouldn't wear a mask, based on the lie that a mask doesn't protect the wearer, but rather protects others from being infected by an infected person wearing the mask. This advice seemed very strange when news programs regularly showed most people in public in China wearing a mask. This lie apparently...

At least 400 people have died due to the novel coronavirus in the United States, another grim milestone as the number of US cases topped 32,000 on Sunday. Almost half of those cases -- 15,168 -- were in New York state, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday morning that an estimated 40% to 80% of residents could get the coronavirus over the course of the pandemic. "All we're trying to do is slow the spread, but it will spread. It is that contagious," he said, adding most people will overcome the illness unless they're older or have an underlying condition....

In a rare interview, China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, told "Axios on HBO" that he stands by his belief that it's "crazy" to spread rumors about the coronavirus originating from a military laboratory in the United States. Why it matters: Cui called this exact conspiracy theory "crazy" more than a month ago on CBS' "Face the Nation." But that was before the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, began publicly promoting the conspiracy. The fact that Cui distanced himself from his colleague's statements sends an important signal from the top Chinese government official in...

President Donald Trump shot off a furious tweet to Gov. J.B. Pritzker after the Illinois leader told CNN Sunday he needs more federal help to procure masks and other protective equipment sorely needed as the coronavirus pandemic swells. “@JBPritzker Governor of Illinois, and a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News @CNN & Concast (MSDNC), shouldn’t be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings. We are there to back you up should you fail, and always will be!” Trump fumed in the tweet. Pritzker, at his Thompson Center briefing, brought up Trump. “I’m finding it...

Over the past three days a bipartisan group of senators, not leadership, constructed a $1.6 Trillion emergency aid package to rescue the U.S. economy and American workers. The package had the support of Mitch McConnell. However, at the last minute House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, having returned from her House recess vacation sipping cocktails poolside, instructed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to crush the senate effort. Secondly, Speaker Pelosi wants unilateral control over which companies will receive any financial assistance or loans to survive the crisis. Power hungry Pelosi sees an opportunity to use the looming economic crisis as leverage for...

Michael Levitt, a Nobel laureate and Stanford biophysicist, began analyzing the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide in January and correctly calculated that China would get through the worst of its coronavirus outbreak long before many health experts had predicted. Now he foresees a similar outcome in the United States and the rest of the world. While many epidemiologists are warning of months, or even years, of massive social disruption and millions of deaths, Levitt says the data simply don't support such a dire scenario — especially in areas where reasonable social distancing measures are in place. "What we need is...

Several months before the coronavirus pandemic began, the Trump administration eliminated a key American public health position in Beijing intended to help detect disease outbreaks in China, Reuters has learned. The American disease expert, a medical epidemiologist embedded in China’s disease control agency, left her post in July, according to four sources with knowledge of the issue. The first cases of the new coronavirus may have emerged as early as November, and as cases exploded, the Trump administration in February chastised China for censoring information about the outbreak and keeping U.S. experts from entering the country to help. “It was...

Flubros stay strong. People will attack us for saying this is an overblown and overhyped flu. We will be proven right in the end. A global economic depression will cost more lives than this social distancing will save.

The ‘good cop bad cop’ routine with deBlasio just seemed a little too scripted… Then the framework of a usefully constructed contrast narrative started to become clear… Then, as if on cue, all national broadcasts started being interrupted for maximum exposure; again a little odd. A deep, very deep, connection to Bloomberg reappeared as a little flashing light in the corner of the picture… Then the Murdoch’s started to shape the landscape; curiosity piqued… Followed by positioning that seems a little too centrally located in the political sphere.. Then Hannity and Bannon started singing his praises. Well, Bannon doesn’t exactly...

I wanted to note two birthdays this March 22: Happy 133rd birthday to Leonard (Chico) Marx. Happy 90th birthday to Stephen Sondheim

When this China/Wuhan Virus illness fades in about a month, all of the people who publicly scared the hell out of everyone and caused the market to crash and the economy to suffer incredible damage MUST be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for deliberately tanking our economy for political gain. I may die of the disease and it STILL needs to happen. The rantings and ravings of those who stand to gain politically MUST be stopped. I am not going to go through a long list here, but all of you know who they are. The overreaction...

With cases of the coronavirus in California nearing 1,500, state officials called on residents to self-isolate and tried to increase the speed of testing. Amid some reports that people were gathering with friends or not maintaining the recommended social distance, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday pleaded for residents to avoid unnecessary social contact. The staff of the Los Angeles Times has been documenting the changing landscape of everyday life. Here are views from on high of the Southland in the time of the coronavirus.

Russia holds large-scale military exercise on Ukraine’s border that involves hundreds of airborne assault vehicles, tanks, attack helicopters, fighter jets and thousands of soldiers.

Even if the country cut its rate of transmission in half — a tall order — some 650,000 people might become infected in the next two months. “We’re looking at something that’s catastrophic on a level that we have not seen for an infectious disease since 1918,” said Jeffrey Shaman, a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia and the leader of the research team, referring to the Spanish flu... at least 1 in 5 Americans will be under orders to stay home in the coming days, and more states are expected to follow suit. But other places have resisted....

ANALYSIS/OPINION: On Saturday, Italy announced that 793 people had died that day from COVID-19, the coronavirus that originated in China that has rapidly spread across the world. That was up from 627 deaths that had occurred on Friday and 427 on Thursday. The death toll is now well over 5,000 in that country alone. Also on Saturday, two Alitalia flights took off from Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport and landed at New York’s JFK Airport. February 24, meanwhile, was China’s deadliest day from COVID-19; if Beijing’s possibly suspect statistics are to be believed, 149 people died from the coronavirus...

President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Sunday that Sen. Mitt Romney was currently isolated after spending time with Sen. Rand Paul who tested positive for the virus. “Romney’s in isolation?” Trump asked. “Gee, that’s too bad.”When the reporter asked if the president was using a sarcastic tone, the president replied, “None whatsoever.”Romney’s office said Sunday the senator would self-quarantine after learning that Sen. Rand Paul had tested positive for the virus, noting that he had spent time with Paul and that the attending physician ordered him not to vote on the Senate floor.