Free Republic

Is the U.S. Intelligence Community suddenly waking up under its new leadership? – While Democrats and the corrupt national news media apparatus desperately scramble to try to blame President Trump for the Wuhan Virus, the U.S. IC – under the guidance of Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell – was keeping itself busy producing a new report for the President. To the surprise of no one who has actually been paying attention, that new report – apparently delivered to the White House last week – finds that the communist government of China has been lying to the world about COVID-19,...

March 31, 2020   5:30 P.M. EDT  THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everyone.  Our country is in the midst of a great national trial, unlike any we have ever faced before.  You all see it.  You see it probably better than most. We’re at war with a deadly virus.  Success in this fight will require the full, absolute measure of our collective strength, love, and devotion.  Very important.Each of us has the power, through our own choices and actions, to save American lives and rescue the most vulnerable among us. That’s why we really have to do what...

All New York City playgrounds will be shut down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on orders of Gov. Andrew Cuomo — supplanting Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has resisted mass closures. “I’ve talked about this for weeks,” said a fed-up Cuomo in an Albany press conference. “I warned people.” Cuomo noted that he’s been in touch with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, “who feels very strongly about this and did from day one,” as well as de Blasio.

At the same time, the spread of COVID-19, especially along Afghanistan’s western border with Iran, is further destabilizing the peace effort. In Herat Province, “thousands of Afghans are returning from Iran” to escape the outbreak, Mahdi said. Their arrival puts more stress on a woefully inadequate health care system. Instead of Afghan government action, “the Taliban has established their own set of groups fighting COVID-19,” including enforcing quarantines, while also but relying on non-governmental organizations to deliver care, Mahdi said. “If the Taliban really wanted” to cooperate with Ghani’s government, “they should stop fighting” and contain the pandemic as best...

This has got to be the stupidest thing I've heard yet out of our gubermint. First paragraph, last sentence: "However, some seniors and others who typically do not file returns will need to submit a simple tax return to receive the stimulus payment." SERIOUSLY??? We're all locking down, seniors are the most vulnerable, and the IRS is going to send them out to file a tax return they otherwise are not required to file??? What nimrod came up with that idea?

President Trump joins the Coronavirus Task Force to provide updates.

But scientists say it’s unclear whether felines can spread the virus to people so pet-owners need not panic yet. Cats can be infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and spread it to other cats, but dogs are not really susceptible to the infection, according to researchers in China. The team, at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute in China, also concludes that chickens, pigs, and ducks are not likely to catch the virus.

Britain’s Pearson (PSON.L) has seen an “explosion” in demand for online learning, with traffic across its platforms quadrupling as millions of children start to adapt to home schooling during the coronavirus pandemic, its chief executive said. Pearson, a leading global education company, has made some programs available for free and expanded others to help teachers, parents and students fill the gap caused by school and college closures that have followed the spread of coronavirus from China to other parts of Asia, Europe to North America. The company has mobilized resources to train more teachers to deliver lessons online and provide...

It is a national disgrace that our health care workers still don't have the protective equipment they need.— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 1, 2020

Tom Cotton was both the first and the loudest voice in Congress to sound the alarm about the looming pandemic. While others slept, Tom Cotton was warning anyone who would listen that the coronavirus was coming for America. On January 22, one day before the Chinese government began a quarantine of Wuhan to contain the spread of the virus, the Arkansas senator sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar encouraging the Trump administration to consider banning travel between China and the United States and warning that the Communist regime could be covering up how dangerous...

Horowitz Found ‘Apparent Errors or Inadequately Supported Facts’ in Every Single FBI FISA Application He Reviewed T he Office of the Inspector General released a “Management Advisory Memorandum” for the FBI yesterday. The memorandum is an audit “to examine more broadly the FBI’s execution of, and compliance with, its Woods Procedures relating to U.S. Persons covering the period from October 2014 to September 2019.” Specifically, “as an initial step in our audit, over the past 2 months, we visited 8 FBI field offices of varying sizes and reviewed a judgmentally selected sample of 29 applications relating to U.S. Persons and...

A little less than two months ago, the U.S. State Department made a curious announcement that suggests President Trump’s “America First” administration put “China First” at a critical moment during the burgeoning Wuhan pandemic. I asked the State Department about the controversy this week—and the vague and nonresponsive responses I received on background from a Foggy Bottom spokesperson raise more questions than they answer. The Feb. 7, 2020 press statement attributed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is headlined: “The United States Announces Assistance to Combat the Novel Coronavirus.” That week, we are told, the State Department “facilitated the transportation...

When asked about what role drugs will play in bringing this health emergency under control, Carson said progress is happening at a rapid pace, including more than 100 clinical trials for medication to treat the virus now under way. “People are really jumping into this with both feet,” Carson said. Carson said last week a plasma treatment that uses antibodies from people who have recovered from the virus to be infused into people who are ill was approved. “It gives [patients] a jumpstart on fighting this,” Carson said. Carson said there is also some promise surfacing in New York City...

The Communist Party is using the pandemic to expand its global influence, Retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general and author... Spalding said in an interview that the Chinese regime has seized the pandemic fallout as an opportunity to extend its control on the global supply chain, and to deflect responsibility for having created the disaster. On the information warfare front, Chinese diplomats and state media have peddled conspiracy theories speculating about the virus origin putting the blame on the US. Fake accounts linked to Beijing have swarmed Twitter acting as “cheerleaders for the government.” White House adviser Peter Navarro told...

Posting as VANITY as it 2005 article relevant today: Abstract Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus (SARS-CoV). No effective prophylactic or post-exposure therapy is currently available. Results We report, however, that chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the...

Grocery giant Costco has enacted a new rule to limit crowding in its stores across the country as the company faces a surge in business and sees items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer fly off the shelves. Costco announced Wednesday that starting Friday April 3 only two people per membership card will be allowed into stores at a time. 'Costco will allow no more than two people to enter the warehouse with each membership card. This temporary change is for your safety and the safety of our employees and other members, and to further assist with our social distancing...

...shutdown the mosque in Tampa (Islamic Society of Tampa Bay Area). 2 packed Friday services.

Buses and cars filled a Louisiana church parking lot for another service Tuesday evening as worshippers flocked to hear a Louisiana pastor who is facing misdemeanor charges for holding services despite a ban on gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic. A few protesters turned out, too, including a man shouting through a bullhorn against those gathering at the Life Tabernacle Church in the city of Central, where pastor Tony Spell has been holding services. Another demonstrator held up a sign reading: "God don't like stupid."

... Disneyland passholders are outraged that Disney continues to charge its most die-hard fans who use the annual pass monthly payment plan and won’t defer payments while the Anaheim theme parks remain closed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Annual passports, which offer year-round access to the parks on select days, range in price from the $419 for the Select annual pass with the most block out days to the $1,449 Signature Plus pass that provides unlimited access to Disney’s Anaheim theme parks. Disneyland raised prices on its annual passes in February to $649 for the Flex pass,...