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Madrid (AFP) - An ice rink inside a Madrid shopping mall was on Monday turned into a temporary morgue to deal with a surge in deaths in the Spanish capital due to the coronavirus, local officials said. The ice rink at the Palacio de Hielo, or Ice Palace, shopping centre -- which according to its web page has the capacity for 1,800 skaters -- will be used "to store bodies", a spokeswoman for Madrid city hall told AFP. The coronavirus death toll in Spain, one of the worst-hit countries in the world, surged to 2,182 on Monday after 462 people...

Rabbi Yehuda Richter of Kfar Tapuach (Apple Village) delivered a lecture on the subject of Coronavirus. Throughout the lecture, the rabbi made several comparisons between the Coronavirus Era and the Book of Ezekiel. Most notably, Ezekiel 36:34: and the desolate land, after lying waste in the sight of every passerby, shall again be tilled. (Ezekiel 36:34) Rabbi Richter relates that this prophecy is happening as we speak saying: “you look out in the streets you look out in the streets of America, in the world, in Europe. in Italy they’re desolate” He explains that the reason for the desolation relates...

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he plans to “keep pushing” to continue working with President Trump on his coronavirus task force — despite recent disagreements between the two on specific solutions to the pandemic. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was asked in an interview with Science Magazine how he had managed to stay in Trump’s good graces and work through their disagreements. “Well, that’s pretty interesting because to his [Trump’s] credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens,” Fauci said. “He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive...

Posted at 2:10 EDST: As previously reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came back to Washington D.C. last night after a week long recess and blew up days of emergency relief work done by the Senate. She wants to write her own far left bill and now we know what will be in it. According to a source close to the process on Capitol Hill, in order to move forward with any kind of relief package, Pelosi and her far-left Democrat caucus will demand the following be included: -Publication of corporate pay statistics by race and race statistics for all corporate...

The fate of a third coronavirus response bill -- a massive amalgam of stimulus checks and other economic aid -- has been only further clouded by the fact that five Republican senators remain stuck in quarantine. The package was blocked by Senate Democrats late Sunday, leading to fiery condemnations from GOP colleagues. But the math is made even harder for majority Republicans as more and more of their members are forced to the sidelines, unable to vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has been pushing the legislation in its current form, warned of the new obstacle at hand....

Urgent economic relief package setback over protections detailsSenate Democrats voted to prevent the massive economic relief bill from proceeding toward a final vote, but minority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said its closer to an agreement and must continue to improve. The novel coronavirus pandemic is spreading around the globe and in the United States, reaching some 3,500 cases domestically and nearly 500 deaths. The federal government has been rolling out its response to the virus and efforts to stem the tide as well as to stimulate the economy, which has taken a severe hit.

Outdoor winter play has long been blamed for colds and the flu. Our parents told us to " bundle up or you'll catch a cold," and their parents probably told them the same thing. But winter play gets a bad rap. Although going outside unprepared for the elements is unwise, viruses that are spread by other human beings and cause colds and the flu are [mainly] indoors. The indoor circulation of germs and bacteria is much more harmful to your child than playing outside... Breathe fresh air. It's no secret that most parents blame winter air as the cause for...

The University of Tampa said Saturday that five of its students who traveled together during their spring break recently tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "UT has been notified that five UT students, traveling together and with other UT students during Spring Break, have tested positive for COVID-19," the university said in a tweet on Saturday. The university did not disclose the names of the students, nor where they traveled during the break, which was earlier this month. However, the university added that it "sincerely" wishes the students and others "who may be affected, a full and rapid recovery."

More than 1.5 billion people around the world have been asked or ordered to stay home to slow the spread of coronavirus, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is refusing to do the same -- and pointing to New York as a reason why. The Tampa Bay Times reports DeSantis said Monday that New Yorkers are fleeing the state and flocking to Florida to avoid NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s stay-at-home order, a near lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “If you look at what happened in New York, when they did the stay at home order, what did people do?” DeSantis said....

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic games will be postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, a committee member told USA Today in an interview Monday. "On the basis of the information the IOC [International Olympic Committee] has, postponement has been decided," veteran IOC member Dick Pound told the newspaper. "The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know." The IOC will announce its next steps soon, said Pound, a Canadian former swimming champion. "We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which...

President Donald Trump hinted in a tweet late Sunday night that his administration is considering reassessing its coronavirus regulations restricting people going to work. "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself," Trump wrote in all capital letters. “At the end of the 15 day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go!” Vice President Mike Pence also signaled a change in tone when he said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is going to issue guidance permitting those exposed to the coronavirus to go back to work earlier by...

House Democrats will introduce a sprawling plan to blunt the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic as efforts to pass a bill in the Senate hit roadblocks Monday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her caucus would unveil legislation Monday “that takes responsibility for the health, wages and well-being of America’s workers.” It would include, according to a statement from the California Democrat: Requirements that corporations getting bailout money shield workers’ wages and benefits, and limits on CEO compensation, stock buybacks and layoffs. Direct payments to Americans, along with expanded paid family and medical leave. Grants and loans to small businesses....

Multiple liberal outlets have capitalized on the coronavirus outbreak to push climate change propaganda. The essential message: Hey, at least pollution is down. The New York Times, Bloomberg News and Axios all published stories touting how the quarantines, restrictions, social distancing policies and business shutdowns are helping climate and reducing pollution. Really.

Prudential donates 153K masks and respirators, as company steps up to help during coronavirus outbreak in N.J. Prudential Financial, the Newark-based insurance giant, donated a stockpile of 153,000 protective face masks and respirators to the state over the weekend to aid in the rapidly escalating coronavirus outbreak.The masks and respirators, expected to provide a two-week respite for hospitals until additional masks and other supplies can be delivered, had been in storage at the company's Newark headquarters. They had been stockpiled after the 9/11 terror attacks as part of the company's emergency preparedness efforts for possible use by employees in the...

The International Olympic Committee decided on Monday to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic, despite wanting to wait to make a decision. Initially the IOC had been firm on wanting to wait until late April before deciding whether the games should be cancelled, postponed or moved. The speed with which the pandemic has escalated forced the committee to act more quickly, however.

Flubros day 5! It’s just the flu, bro. Starting this thread earlier in the day today so that East Coasters can see it more easily. How do you become a flubro (or flubra) and join the caucus? Easy - all you have to do is correctly recognize that Wuhan Chinese flu is not really that dangerous compared to an ordinary flu and the government/media/health care industrial complexes are overblowing things. Swine flu killed 12k in one year a decade ago in the USA and hardly anything got shut down. The economic consequences of this overreach will kill more than this...

Developing Live presser w/gov.

<p>The Democrats, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), pulled an eleventh hour political move Sunday night, voting to pull a massive coronavirus recovery package after spending days negotiating with Republicans and top administration officials, in order to produce their own hastily constructed stimulus bill packed with handouts to Democratic constituencies.</p>

I am wondering if the stimulus money we get will be tax free...or are going to have to claim it as income on our taxes next year.

House Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) are proposing to cancel student debt with new legislation aimed at helping borrowers adversely affected by the coronavirus, or COVID-19. The legislation, called the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act, proposes the cancellation of at LEAST $30,000 in outstanding debt, tax-free, and proposes that the Education Department (ED) “immediately assume responsibility” for the monthly payments of borrowers who hold federal loans while suspending involuntary collections or garnishments of wages or federal income tax returns amid the crisis. “During this unprecedented crisis, no one should have to choose between paying their student loan...