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In the miasma of the Chinese Virus, at least I have my cat.Waking up is the unnerving part. Another day to dwell inside cut off from the world with only our screens slowly leaking information. Bagheera, my black cat seems confused. She is more attentive than usual and I have the sense she knows something is wrong, or maybe I’m just going crazy. What time is it? What day is it? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? I’ve always felt that time well spent feels like it goes by very quickly, but in retrospect it feels like it lasted for...

We lost Joe Diffie yesterday, reportedly from complications associated with the coronavirus. Here are 10 songs by Diffie that I enjoy. Eight are country tunes, and the last two are from his bluegrass album. 1. If The Devil Danced in Empty Pockets 2. Pickup Man 3. Prop Me Up Against the Jukebox 4. Good Brown Gravy 5. Hollow Deep As Mine 6. Third Rock From The Sun 7. The Grandpa That I Know 8. What Would Waylon Do (w. George Jones) 9. Stormy Weather Once Again 10. Somehow Tonight

Garage Door The boss walked into the office one morning not knowing his zipper was down and his fly area wide open. His assistant walked up to him and said, 'This morning when you left your house, did you close your garage door?' The boss told her he knew he'd closed the garage door, and walked into his office puzzled by the question. As he finished his paperwork, he suddenly noticed his fly was open, and zipped it up. He then understood his assistant's question about his 'garage door' He headed out for a cup of coffee and paused by...

Please FReep Mail me regarding the ping list for these reports. Thanks. COVID-19 Update As of 03/29/2020 23:08 PDT (taken at 23:59) Editor's note: The data source I was using bombed out on me for a good portion of a single day. When it did, it added in and deleted a number of reporting entities. The housekeeping to keep the data sound was pretty heavy for about five days. We're talking about them adding in seven accounts and deleting two or three per each report. And then there was the issue of their data being able to pass my check...

But there are other sources of doubt too, including how many coronavirus victims would have died of other causes if no pandemic had occurred. In a typical year, around 56m people die around the world — an average of about 153,000 per day.

When considering that possibility patterns in CDC’s regular ILI (Influenza Like Illness) surveillance data become interesting. I’ve taken their data, and applied my meager Excel skills to chart out some things that surprised me. Going into this, I expected to see mortality rates somewhere bump. Prior to January we weren’t looking for this virus. We’ve only had useful testing capability for a few weeks now. Given the information we have on disease progression, I assumed that there would be an upward trend in Pneumonia mortality as without looking for and testing for SARS-COV-2, victims should have been classified as deaths...

Rev_2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Hos_4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Num_24:14  And now, behold, I go unto my people: come therefore, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the LATTER DAYS. Deu_4:30  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee,...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Religion Forum threads labeled "Prayer" are closed to debate of any kind.

Much of the Russian aid that has arrived in Italy to combat the spread of coronavirus is of little use, say senior politicians in Rome. Military vehicles with Russian flags carried the aid on its 600-kilometre journey from an Italian airbase south of Rome to Lombardy, the region worst affected in the world by Covid-19. Footage of the convoy was shared on social media along with images of Russian military doctors dressed in fatigues poring over maps with Italian colleagues. But the expedition has been interpreted in the Italian media as a public relations stunt. Senior political sources told the...

Video at link.

While swathes of Europe's population endure lockdown conditions in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, one country stands almost alone in allowing life to go on much closer to normal. After a long winter, it's just become warm enough to sit outside in the Swedish capital and people are making the most of it. Families are tucking into ice creams beneath a giant statue of the Viking God Thor in Mariatorget square. Young people are enjoying happy-hour bubbles from pavement seating further down the street.

The price of oil has sunk to levels not seen since 2002 as demand for crude collapses amid the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude fell to $23.03 a barrel at one point on Monday morning, its lowest level since November 2002. Meanwhile the price of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell below $20 a barrel and close to an 18-year low.

Elmo, Rooster and Cookie Monster are doing their part to help keep kids safe as the coronavirus pandemic grinds on. The beloved Sesame Street Muppets are featured in some of four new animated public service spots reminding young fans to take care while doing such things as washing hands and sneezing. One of Elmo’s signature songs, the toothbrush classic “Brushy Brush,” has been updated to “Washy Wash.”Rooster pops up in another of the 30-second spots to remind kids to “wash hands now” before eating, playing sports or using the bathroom.

Today’s CG is from The Arkansas Gazette. ZQNPP KTMHHNIGNZXR, MTZ, LJGEBKG EMPGN, HBXXBL GEN IEMTFNP JT GEN IKQQNTG GMPGN. —YBXJNQN

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of two anti-malaria drugs to treat patients infected by the new coronavirus. On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine could be prescribed to teens and adults with COVID-19 "as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible," after the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization. (EUA) That marked the first EUA for a drug related to COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the statement. Currently, there are no specific drugs for COVID-19 which, as shown...

The real death rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. may be 140 times smaller than what is being reported It’s possible that the number of people in the U.S. who are infected with COVID-19 is much bigger than the number that is being currently reported, but many of those people haven’t gotten substantially sick, and so haven’t gotten tested.The death rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who die by the number who get infected.But while we do have accurate information about the numerator, we really have no idea what the denominator is. It’s possible that the real denominator...

If you have ever watched a single sketch from "The Carol Burnett Show," you know that it’s the crown jewel of sketch comedy. The silliness, the quick wit, and the chemistry of the four principals in the show — Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, and Harvey Korman — that ran for 11 seasons may never be matched again. Today we’re revisiting a sketch that is hilariously relevant to the state of panic buying and hoarding that the state of Utah (among others) has found itself in during the COVID-19 breakout. You guessed it: We will never seem to get...

A pet cat has been infected with the Covid-19 coronavirus in Belgium after being contaminated by its owner, Belgian health authorities said on Friday. Covid-19 Cases of contamination of pets are rare and authorities ruled out any risk of contamination to humans from home animals. The report follows similar cases in Hong Kong where two dogs tested positive for Covid-19 during a screening campaign carried out on 17 dogs and eight cats living in contact with people carrying the virus.

COVID-19, the Elephant, and the House Cat The really scary thing about this latest health scare is not the disease but the unexpected depths of passivity it revealed. • | , Here’s something special: a headline in The Economist that speaks the truth: “In Europe, and around the world, governments are getting tougher.” You betcha. Last week, I wrote with contempt about San Francisco’s mayor who had just announced she would “legally prohibit residents from leaving their homes except to meet basic needs.” “Well,” I thought, “It’s California, what do you expect?”But now several other states, including New York, Connecticut,...

Brasilia, March 30 (IANS) Microblogging site Twitter has blocked two videos posted on Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro''s official handle showing his visit to several parts of capital Brasilia in violation of health recommendations to contain the coronavirus pandemic. "This tweet is no longer available because it violated the Twitter Rules," says a message where the videos in question were. In the two deleted videos on Sunday, the 65-year-old President defended the end of the confinement measures in effect in many of the states and the use of chloroquine to treat the disease, even though its effectiveness has still not been...