Free Republic

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a warning Tuesday for residents of “lowest common denominator” states with lax policies and restrictions to address the coronavirus pandemic: You might have to stay away from New Jersey for a while once the outbreak slows here. Murphy said he can’t allow residents from states that “didn’t take this as seriously” and make decisions “not based on science and fact” to “start the fire again” in the Garden State after the outbreak finally dies down. The peak in cases could still be weeks away, health officials have said. “We’re not going to go through this pain...

Japanese conglomerate Fujifilm, most famous for its film and instant cameras, does more than sell point-and-shoots: it also makes medical equipment, anti-aging skincare, hair products—and now a potential coronavirus treatment. In late February, when the coronavirus had sickened 80,000 people worldwide—on Friday the total topped 530,000—and the World Health Organization had not yet declared a pandemic, shares in Fujifilm Holdings Corp soared after Japan's health minister said the government was considering using a drug called Avigan, also known as favipiravir, to treat patients sickened by COVID-19. More than a month later, favipiravir has showed promise in two trials involving coronavirus...

Member corps vote to cancel 2020 DCI Tour by Drum Corps International We know this is a difficult time for everyone as we all respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The events worldwide have impacted Drum Corps International as well, forcing cancellation of the 2020 Summer Tour as of Wednesday, March 25. DCI’s voting membership unanimously reached the difficult decision with great regret after thorough evaluation of numerous factors affecting participant health and safety, travel requirements, logistics, venue availability, and other associated issues. The membership also agreed that in order to preserve the opportunity for this year’s class of age-outs, performers...

AN OPEN LETTER TO VIRGINIA GOVERNOR RALPH NORTHAM ================================================= Dear Governor Northam, So, now it's official: Your earlier "suggestion" is today an "order". In other words, there really never was a choice in the matter. It was either your way or the highway. Well, I have some news for you. Virginians have never taken kindly to those who believe they ought, and have a right, to substitute their judgment for the judgment of free citizens. Virginians have a dislike of dictatorial mindsets, however well-meaning or apparently benevolent. Your notions are appropriate for other lands, where the peoples there are wards...

Amy Litz’s baby shower was cancelled due to the state’s stay-at-home order, but her family found a creative way to celebrate and surprise her.

The resurgence of Joe Biden and the inevitable defeat of Bernie Sanders led the pundits to declare that the Democratic Party is rejecting socialism -- a development all decent men would celebrate if it were true. Yet, in a supreme irony, the Land of the Free dangerously underestimates or underappreciates the ideological nature of the contemporary Democratic Party. Neither education nor life experience has prepared Americans for grasping the Party’s epochal ideological shift toward the ideology that signifies the total inversion of the Nation’s historical traditions and values. Every time the Democratic presidential contenders took the stage, whether it was...

Canadian pipeline operator TC Energy is moving forward with plans to build the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, a project to move heavy crude oil from the tar sands region of Canada to Nebraska where it will then move on to refineries in Illinois and along the Gulf Coast. After years of legal battles, TC Energy confirmed Tuesday morning that the company plans to invest $8 billion on the crude oil pipeline project. The controversial pipeline project faced opposition and legal challenges from Native American groups, environmentalists and landowners. “We appreciate the ongoing backing of landowners, customers, Indigenous groups and numerous...

A Canadian company said Tuesday it plans to start construction of the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline through the U.S. Midwest in April, after lining up customers and money for the project that is bitterly opposed by environmentalists and some American Indian tribes. Construction is set to begin at the pipeline’s border crossing in Montana, said TC Energy spokesman Terry Cunha. That would be a milestone for a project first proposed in 2008. The company said it lined up $1.1 billion in financing from the Canadian provincial government of Alberta to cover construction through 2020 and agreements for the...

Judgement on Dr. Zelenko's Covid-19 treatment from Snopes: Has Dr. Zelenko Successfully Treated 669 Coronavirus Patients? A blog post asserting that people responded well to an experimental COVID-19 treatment is in no way an evidence-based contribution to science. Dr. Vladimir Zelenko's 669 COVID-19 patients that were treated with a combination of hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and zinc have seen zero hospitalizations, complications, or deaths. As has been noted elsewhere, combining hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can cause serious problems for people with certain heart conditions. Though zinc appears to be an important factor in several immune functions, a potential mechanism for how it might...

CNN host Don Lemon disagreed with his boss on Monday night when he questioned the network’s decision to air President Trump’s coronavirus briefings. The Daily Beast reported late on Monday afternoon that CNN president Jeff Zucker defended the network's decision to air Trump’s coronavirus task force briefings live, despite employees complaining about them. Citing “multiple sources,” the Beast reported that Zucker told staffers that CNN viewers should hear from coronavirus experts like Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, who regularly appear alongside Trump at the briefings. “It’s a very difficult decision… as of now, we are going to continue to...

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell announced his factories will be cranking out 50,000 face masks by Friday in an effort to help Americans during a time of crisis. Lindell said he dedicated 75% of his manufacturing to produce cotton face masks: “In 3 days I was up to 10,000 a day — by Friday I want to be up to 50,000 a day,” he said. Under Armour also agree to pivot production to assist in the fight against novel coronavirus. The Baltimore-based footwear and apparel brand announced on March 31 it plans to manufacture and distribute more than 500,000 fabric...

We already know how the United States has decided to handle the coronavirus pandemic. States are going on lockdown. Stay at home. Social distancing. And both schools and businesses are shuttered all across the country or operating on a limited basis at best. Not so in Sweden. Unlike nearly every other country in the EU, their children are still attending school, businesses remain open and public parks and playgrounds are as crowded as ever. They are counting on herd immunity to give them long term protection in exchange for some short term risks. (Telegraph) Swedish children continued to pour...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to remove Sheriff Alex Villanueva as head of the county's emergency operations. On Monday, Villanueva came out and blasted the vote. "If you're asking the public to stay home, cooperate with authorities, the same applies to the Board of Supervisors," the sheriff said. "They need to remain focused on this united front against the spread of the coronavirus so that together we can save lives." The move is based on a report on the communications efforts after the 2018 Woolsey Fire and comes as more cases of...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Tuesday there was no evidence that a drug touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential miracle cure against COVID-19 was effective against the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Trump had said that hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, could be among "the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" for its potential effects against COVID-19. "The efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients has to date not been proved," a spokesman for the European Commission said on Tuesday, relaying an internal opinion from the European Medicine Agency. The...

That's not social distancing!9 minute video

The art of John William Waterhouse to an aria from Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet sung by Marianne Crebassa. Daniele Gatti is conducting the National Orchestra of France. Wikipedia: John William Waterhouse RA (6 April 1849 – 10 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend.

The father of a two-month-old infant in Shanghai has created a custom-built pod complete with an air purification system to keep his baby safe from the coronavirus outbreak. Cao Junjie, 30, refashioned a cat carrier to make the sealable pod that includes an air-quality monitor displaying the concentration of carbon dioxide inside.

Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said on Tuesday that he prefers constant hand sanitization and washing over wearing gloves for safety purposes during the coronavirus outbreak. “Gloves accumulate germs, gloves accumulate viruses,” Siegel told “Fox & Friends," responding to a viewer's question about whether wearing gloves at the grocery store is necessary. “You’re going to not even realize when you touch something then you have it on the gloves, then you transfer it to your face, then you can get infected," he explained. Siegel said that gloves are not necessarily the right answer. “You can’t change them enough to...

CDC guidance on masks remains under development, the federal official said. The official said the new guidance would make clear that the general public should not use medical masks — including surgical and N95 masks — that are in desperately short supply and needed by health-care workers. Instead, the recommendation under consideration calls for using do-it-yourself cloth coverings, according to a second official who shared that thinking on a personal Facebook account. It would be a way to help “flatten the curve,” the official noted. Such DIY cloth masks would potentially lower the risk that the wearer, if infected, would...

President Trump & Coronavirus Task Force Briefing 3/30/20 🔴 Subscribe to RSBN for more LIVE streams and Breaking NEWS: http://bit.ly/2gDGbkh 🔴 Donate to RSBN and help keep us on the air: http://rsbn.tv/donate