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In the years when the United States fought Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II, life became radically different for everyone. Food was rationed. Supply chains were interrupted. Manufacturing plants, that previously made things Americans wanted, were turned into armaments producers. Millions of young men were drafted and sent off to fight. Hundreds of thousands would never return, and many more would be changed forever by the physical and mental toll. Many women who might have previously stayed home went to work to replace the men on the battlefield. Society was altered and life was different in countless...

More US states are beginning to lift lockdown orders even as US leaders say social distancing guidelines will be necessary throughout the summer. But governors warn that life will not quickly return to normal, and that restrictions will remain in some places to keep the virus from resurging. On Friday, the US saw its largest single-day spike in cases. But the infection rate has dropped significantly in several hotspots, including New York, the US epicentre.

VIDEO: US Coast Guard says it’s keeping an eye on 27 oil tankers anchored off the coast of Southern California. Another great example of floating storage build-up as demand for oil and refined products plunge | #OOTT #Contango video via @USCGLosAngeles     https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1253722290266738689?s=20    

On April 24, the DOJ produced exculpatory evidence to Michael Flynn's defense team. While the contents are currently under seal, we received a glimpse of what was handed over through Flynn's defense filing with the court. The new evidence "proves Mr. Flynn's allegations of having been deliberately set up and framed by corrupt agents at the top of the FBI," wrote Michael Flynn's lawyers, Sidney Powell and Jesse Binnall, in a scathing brief to the court, supplementing their prior motion for a dismissal of Flynn's criminal charges. "This case is a shameful blight on the American justice system," the defense...

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Lawrence Reed lit “an unknown substance” on the glass of the building minutes before Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his daily COVID-19 news conference, authorities said. A man has been charged with starting a fire at the Thompson Center Thursday minutes before Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his daily COVID-19 news conference in the building. Lawrence Reed, 44, is charged with a felony count of aggravated arson knowing people were present, according to Chicago police. Reed poured an “unknown substance” on the glass of the building about 2:15 p.m. in the 100 block of West Lake Street and lit it, police said....

Japan will deny entry to foreign travelers from a further 14 countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, strengthening its border controls to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday. With the ban effective from Wednesday, those who have been to the countries within two weeks of their arrival in Japan will be turned away at the border. Speaking at a meeting of the government's task force on the coronavirus response, Abe also said Japan will extend its suspension of visas issued to foreign travelers to the end of May. Japan...

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" that it was a "scandal" that the United States has trained some Chinese nationals to "go back to China to compete for our jobs, to take our business, and ultimately to steal our property and design weapons and other devices that can be used against the American people." Cotton, who has vowed that China will "pay" for what he has called its deliberate choice to unleash the coronavirus on the world, went on to say that the U.S. should take a "hard look at the visas" awarded to Chinese nationals....

PING LIST - Please contact me as needed... COVID-19 Update As of 04/26/2020 23:45 PDST     Johns Hopkins University - Capture Nations InformatonAs of 00/00/2020 23:45 PDST     Johns Hopkins University - Capture Counties InformatonAs of 00/00/2020 23:46 PDST     Johns Hopkins University - Process JHU DataAs of 00/00/2020 23:59 PDST     WorldofMeters - Document Core NumbersAs of 00/00/2020 23:59 PDST     WorldofMeters - Capture Nations InformatonAs of 00/00/2020 23:59 PDST     WorldofMeters - Capture States InformatonAs of 00/00/2020 00:00 PDST     WorldofMeters - Data Processing begins...As of 00/00/2020 ??:?? PDST    ...

With much of the world still in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s diplomats are fighting an uphill battle to fend off criticism of the country’s initial handling of the crisis and reset the narrative about the origins of the deadly coronavirus. Elsewhere in the world, Beijing’s critics and opponents are redoubling their efforts as they go in pursuit of justice and reparations, or at the very least, a scapegoat. In recent weeks, some of China’s most seasoned ambassadors have found themselves embroiled in a war of words with their host countries. But rather than adopting the traditional approach...

The police power, aka internal police, is the capacity of the states to regulate behavior and enforce order for the betterment of the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of their citizens. As for public emergencies, statutes define the extent of police/executive authority and the public purposes they serve. While “police” isn’t found in the US Constitution, this power is natural to state sovereignty and predates the Constitution. As is happening all across the country, we can and should publicly debate, argue and demonstrate at state capitols over the many excessive, counter-productive and Pyrrhic measures against the CCP virus. In...

California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks says he wants to protect victims. Shielding victims from “further damage,” is why he decided to bury the party’s official investigation of the sexual misconduct charges that ended former party chair Eric Bauman’s reign in 2018, he says. Which victims is Hicks talking about? The five former party staff members who filed lawsuits that the party settled for a reported $2.9 million last year? Or the numerous other alleged victims who declined to sue but still demand justice? “In terms of talking about victims or survivors of abuse by Eric Bauman, we’re talking about...

Latin America has some of the most overcrowded jails in the world. With prisoners crammed into tiny cells by the dozen, social distancing is impossible and poor medical facilities mean any outbreak of coronavirus would spread like wildfire. The United Nations has urged governments to do more to protect inmates and has suggested the most vulnerable be temporarily released to ease overcrowding. Chile, Colombia and Nicaragua have announced they will move thousands of prisoners into house arrest with priority given to the elderly, pregnant women and those with underlying conditions. Brazil has already started moving inmates over 60 into house...

Dr. Deborah Birx said the media’s continuing focus on President Trump’s comments about people being injected with disinfectant as a coronavirus treatment “bothers” her and jeopardizes the administration’s ability to get information to people about the pandemic. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday “I worry that we don’t get the information to the American people that they need when we continue to bring up something that was from Thursday night.” “Because I think we’re missing the bigger pieces of what...

One of the greatest tragedies of our time is how the world has convinced so many women that they need to abort their own children to succeed. In a column at Newsweek Friday, California abortion activist Nik Zaleski fed into this deception when she described her own abortion in March just as the coronavirus fears began to grow. Zaleski, a cultural organizer working to promote abortions, claimed her abortion was “essential.” She said her “internal compass … was immediately certain of my decision.” So, on March 16, the day when California leaders announced their first shelter-in-place order, Zaleski tamped down...

Sydney (AFP) - China's ambassador in Australia has warned that demands for a probe into the spread of the coronavirus could lead to a consumer boycott of Aussie wine or trips Down Under. Australia has joined the United States in calling for a thorough investigation of how the virus transformed from a localised epidemic in central China into a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 people, forced billions into isolation and torpedoed the global economy. In a thinly veiled threat, ambassador Cheng Jingye warned the push for an independent inquest into the origins of the outbreak was "dangerous". "The...

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned a lot of things in an effort to save lives during the coronavirus crisis, but life-destroying abortions were not among them. On Wednesday, leaders of a Detroit suburb urged the pro-abortion Democrat governor to protect unborn babies, too. WDIV News 4 reports the Shelby Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved the message urging Whitmer to amend her stay-at-home order to include elective abortions. The governor’s order prohibits elective and non-essential medical procedures, among other things, during the coronavirus crisis. The purpose is to preserve medical supplies for those who need them most and prevent further...

Rather than helping to save lives, “Hunger Games” star Elizabeth Banks is working to “save” abortions through a new fundraiser with other abortion activists and celebrities. The “Operation Save Abortion” fundraiser is a project of the pro-abortion “comedy” group Abortion Access Front, founded by former Daily Show writer Lizz Winstead, according to Broadway World News. Using the coronavirus as an excuse for urgency, the organizers said their goal is “to help independent abortion providers keep their doors open.” They estimated the average independent abortion facility needs about $50,000 per month to stay open right now. On April 30, Banks and...

WASHINGTON (WJLA/CNN) - A Walmart customer concerned with social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic but not wearing a face mask is accused of using pepper spray on other customers who were trying to board the same elevator. Many Walmart shoppers at a Washington, D.C., location were trying to get on an elevator to the parking garage Monday when a woman without the required face mask got on first and tried to close the doors. “She was talking about some social distancing, six feet, but she was real serious with it, though,” said shopper Dominick Gamble, who recorded the incident on...