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<p>WASHINGTON—On Jan. 29, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told President Trump the coronavirus epidemic was under control.</p> <p>The U.S. government had never mounted a better interagency response to a crisis, Mr. Azar told the president in a meeting held eight days after the U.S. announced its first case, according to administration officials. At the time, the administration’s focus was on containing the virus.</p>

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told MSNBC in an interview Wednesday that a portion of the funds contained in the next COVID-19 relief bill should be used to support mail-in and absentee voting efforts. “We have to have an important chunk of money in this next bill that will enable us to protect the integrity of our elections, as well as enable the American people to vote-by-mail, especially at this time of a health danger in going to the polls,” Pelosi told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, referring to the risk of contracting COVID-19 by voting in person amid the pandemic.

The Houston Police Officers’ Union unleashed on liberal Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo for imposing a “Draconian” mask order. “Now we want to be very clear, HPOU believes everyone should be wearing a mask in public, in order to protect themselves from the virus and we are encouraging all of our officers to wear a mask. However, we draw the line…” the police union said in a Twitter post. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a “proud progressive,” on Wednesday will be making it mandatory for anyone over the age of 10 to wear a mask in public in response to...

Mitch McConnell is effectively telling New York and other coronavirus-stricken states to drop dead. The iron-fisted Senate majority leader announced Wednesday that his Republican caucus won’t support federal bailouts for New York and other states under enormous economic pressure because of the coronavirus pandemic, drawing harsh backlash from Democrats. “My guess is their first choice would be for the federal government to borrow money from future generations to send it down to them now so they don’t have to do that. That’s not something I’m going to be in favor of," McConnell (R-Ky.) said of hard-hit states like New York...

On April 8, roughly eleven minutes into a video press conference, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz displayed a line graph created by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). This graph compared confirmed COVID-19 cases in Minnesota to confirmed cases in 16 other states. By the looks of it, these states are all on the same trajectory. In short, it appears it’s just a matter of time before each state is facing New York-levels of COVID-19 cases, but there’s a slight problem with the line graph...This is why Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) created new graphs with a consistent Y-axis scale....

The University of Louisville announced a coronavirus “breakthrough” Wednesday that even University of Kentucky fans can get behind. The school said researchers have developed technology that it believes will block coronavirus from infecting human cells. It is seeking fast-track development for the new technology and has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for testing approval.

CBS This Morning anchor and Barack Obama donor Gayle King gushed over Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams on Tuesday morning, saying the former state legislator and failed gubernatorial candidate is "extremely qualified" to be vice president of the United States. Abrams is openly lobbying to serve as Joe Biden's running mate come November, despite never being elected to any office beyond the state legislature. As she touted her voting rights work and "competence and skills and willingness to serve," King cut in to praise her as ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. "That's a great nuts and bolts...

We are in the midst of an event that is completely unique in the history of our country, and as far as I can tell, in the history of the world: namely, the intentional suppression by governments (in the U.S., both federal and states) of a very large percentage of economic activity, in an effort to control a dangerous disease...Surely this kind of devastating government response would not be undertaken unless this disease represented a true crisis, and unless there was also solid evidence that the economic suppression would quickly end the crisis. But how do you distinguish what constitutes...

A Georgia Democratic state lawmaker announced Wednesday that he will not complete his current term, a week after he got blowback for endorsing President Trump, and said he is “leaving the plantation,” an expression popularized by black conservatives and independents. “I’m sick and tired of me and my family being attacked and harassed by the Democrat Party for putting my country before my party,” state Rep. Vernon Jones, who is black, said. “Turn the lights off, I have left the plantation . . . I intend not to complete my term effective April 22, 2020. However, I will remain woke...

A “glaring scientific breakdown” at the CDC’s main laboratory was behind the federal agency’s failure to quickly make a coronavirus test kit... One of the three test components became contaminated because the way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laboratory put the kits together violated sound manufacturing practices... cross contamination because the chemical mixtures were put together into testing kits in a lab space that was also dealing with synthetic coronavirus material. The Food and Drug Administration also concluded the CDC violated its own laboratory standards,

Andrew Ng’s startup Landing AI has created a new workplace monitoring tool that issues an alert when anyone is less than the desired distance from a colleague. Six feet apart: On Thursday, the startup released a blog post with a new demo video showing off a new social distancing detector. On the left is a feed of people walking around on the street. On the right, a bird’s-eye diagram represents each one as a dot and turns them bright red when they move too close to someone else. The company says the tool is meant to be used in work...

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO, April 22 (Reuters) - Apple Inc is planning to fix a flaw that a security firm said may have left more than half a billion iPhones vulnerable to hackers. The bug, which also exists on iPads, was discovered by ZecOps, a San Francisco-based mobile security forensics company, while it was investigating a sophisticated cyberattack against a client that took place in late 2019. Zuk Avraham, ZecOps' chief executive, said he found evidence the vulnerability was exploited in at least six cybersecurity break-ins. An Apple spokesman acknowledged that a vulnerability exists in Apple's software for email on iPhones and...

Human fossils, an amber room and a Raphael masterpiece all went missing during WWII.War has always brought chaos, and with it an opportunity for pillage and plunder. This was especially true during World War II, when countless pieces of priceless art, artifacts and other treasure were destroyed and spirited away from both Europe and the Asia Pacific. Nazis, in particular, systematically looted cultural property from museums, private homes and royal palaces, some of it to help Adolf Hitler build his proposed Führermuseum, but other armies carried away their own spoils as well. When the war ended, tales of real and...

Pitmaster Ray Sheehan’s recipe won the title in international competition in LouisianaWe are blessed to have year-round grilling weather here, and for many of us, our current stay-at-home status means there’s more time for improving our skills. Ray Sheehan, a pitmaster and judge for the Kansas City Barbecue Society, shares 60 recipes, including 10 of his own barbecue sauces, in a new book, “Award-Winning BBQ Sauces and How to Use Them.” Sheehan’s philosophy is to omit any artificial ingredients in his sauces and build a complex flavor profile through a lot of experimentation. His Memphis Mop BBQ Sauce won the...

Jamie Black-Lewis felt like she won the lottery after getting two forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. Black-Lewis saw the $177,000 and $43,800 loans, one for each of the spas she owns in Washington state, as a lifeline she could use for payroll and other business expenses. She’d halted pay for the 35 employees — including herself — at Oasis Medspa & Salon, in Woodinville, and Amai Day Spa, in Bothell, in mid-March, when nonessential businesses in Washington closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When Black-Lewis convened a virtual employee meeting to explain her good fortune, she expected jubilation...

Mr. Still reports on the diabolical plot by Dr. Fauci to thwart the use of HCQ so as to promote Big Pharma's high priced therapeutics.

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. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled "Prayer" are closed to debate of any kind.

Cardinal Burke criticizes Vatican for thanking China but not Taiwan Both China and Taiwan donated medical supplies to the Vatican. VATICAN CITY, April 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke has criticized the Holy See for publicly thanking communist China for its generosity but remaining silent about Taiwan’s after both nations donated much-needed medical supplies to the Vatican. “Something is badly wrong’’ with China seemingly enjoying “a place of privilege with the Vatican,’’ Burke told The Australian.  “The Holy See made a point to praise the People’s Republic of China for sending masks and medical equipment to the Vatican, while...

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported earnings after the market close on Tuesday, and the all-important subscriber acquisitions far exceeded even the most bullish forecasts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic marched across the globe, Netflix had guided for 7 million new paying members. As the number of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders increased, however, so did analysts' growth estimates, with some exceeding 10 million. Even that wasn't enough. The streaming pioneer added a record 15.77 million new monthly subscribers, up nearly 23% year over year, bringing its global total to 182.86 million. Domestic growth -- which had recently stagnated -- was reignited by those...

Watch a sunrise. Plant a flower. Walk through nature. These are some of the ways the Archdiocesan Care for Creation Team suggests Catholics observe Earth Day, April 22. And then, after intentional time in nature, the team is inviting Catholics to unite online that evening in prayer for that creation. It’s the first event hosted by the Archdiocesan Care for Creation Team, which is still taking form. It was sparked by an email from a Catholic asking what the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was doing in the area of caring for creation, and within a few months, grew...