Free Republic

COVID-19 response aims to ease demand on first respondersSan Juan County (Colorado) Sheriff Bruce Conrad has issued a “locals only” policy prohibiting backcountry recreation, including skiing and snowmobiling, on all lands within the county to minimize the chance that first-responders will be called to a backcountry rescue while simultaneously dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re a small community. On a good day, San Juan County has limited search-and-rescue infrastructure and the same people who would be part of a search and rescue are the same EMS personnel who provide services to our community. We don’t want them to be overtaxed,”...

Outdoor winter play has long been blamed for colds and the flu. Our parents told us to " bundle up or you'll catch a cold," and their parents probably told them the same thing. But winter play gets a bad rap. Although going outside unprepared for the elements is unwise, viruses that are spread by other human beings and cause colds and the flu are [mainly] indoors. The indoor circulation of germs and bacteria is much more harmful to your child than playing outside... Breathe fresh air. It's no secret that most parents blame winter air as the cause for...

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp on Monday said it would develop a heavy-duty fuel-cell truck with its subsidiary, Hino Motor Co, as it sees hydrogen technology as a zero-emissions alternative to battery power for large commercial vehicles. In a statement, Toyota said the truck, based on Hino’s Profia model, would be equipped with two fuel cell stacks developed for the next model of its Mirai fuel cell sedan. It would have a traveling range of 600 kilometers (373 miles). Toyota has long touted fuel cell vehicles as the ultimate “green car”, and sees the technology as more efficient...

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The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

WASHINGTON - Do you wonder what Joe Biden is doing all day? Now that the former vice president’s campaign for the Democratic nomination is all but over, he’s been nearly totally eclipsed by news of the coronavirus outbreak and President Donald Trump’s handling, and mishandling, of the crisis. Biden hopes to change that by meeting more frequently with the media, and got started Friday in a conference call with reporters. He gave quite a rundown of what he’s doing with his long days at home in Wilmington, Del., where he is cooped up like most Americans because of the COVID-19...

Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion, body aches, chills—obviously, you know you’re under the weather when symptoms like these appear, but how can you tell which storm it is? Certain signs could point to the common cold or flu, while others may be more serious and present as early signs of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Even more confusing as we head into spring? Some might simply be an indication of seasonal allergies. Here, a doctor explains how to figure out what your body may be dealing with. Allergies: runny nose + itchy eyes Welcome to spring,...

Two Oahu residents were cited by DLNR conservation officers after they were allegedly caught picking hundreds of opihi from rocks in a marine life conservation area. The DLNR said 53-year-old Raymond Agsalda of Waialua and 53-year-old Ronsin Rosa of Haleiwa were caught Tuesday. In their possession were 784 opihi which were allegedly taken from the Pupukea Marine Life Conservation District on Oahu’s North Shore. Hawaii law prohibits taking any kind of sea life from the area, with the exception of in-season fishing at Waimea Bay. Even then, the DLNR says species restrictions and bag limits are in place. The two...

Across the world there are now 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 - but a herd of elephants in China found a very fun way to make the most of people putting themselves in self-isolationSNIP And at one farm in the Yunan province, elephants too full advantage of the situation. The herd of 14 majestic beasts broke into a village in a bid to find food. However, they got a cheeky extra for their efforts when they came across a huge 30kg of corn wine. After drinking the lot the elephants were somewhat the worse for wear. Two males passed out,...

California is trying to prepare for a future when it will need thousands of beds to house people as they come down with the coronavirus and in the eyes of the state Asilomar has proven itself a successful quarantine site already.California is trying to prepare for a future when state emergency teams predict it will need thousands of beds to house people as they come down with the coronavirus. The Governor's Office of Emergency Services is looking for alternative care sites across the state and in its eyes, Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds has already proven itself a successful quarantine...

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -- Madison’s Metro Transit won’t stop running during the coronavirus outbreak, but the bus service is drastically cutting back on the number of passengers who will be allowed on any given line and will eventually draw back the number of routes it runs in a day. Starting Wednesday, Metro Transit will cap the number of passengers allowed on the bus to 15 riders. It is asking people to take the bus for essential trips, for example: if they are going to work, a medical appointment, or the grocery store. In all other cases, passengers should try to...

The Mariana Trench is the deepest spot in the world's oceans and only a handful of people have been there. But for the first time, travellers are being offered the opportunity to explore it - if they have a spare $100,000 to $200,000 (£83,000 to £166,000). Isle of Man-based Eyos Expeditions is offering three members of the public the chance to tag along on a dive it's organising to a spot in the Western Pacific trench known as Challenger Deep - 35,853ft (10,928 metres/6.79 miles) beneath the surface. It is, the company says, the most exclusive destination on the planet.

Because I am tired of Covid19 stuff 24/7. So, how about some cryptozoology? You either like Bob Gymlin's presentations or you don't.

The goal behind long-term shutdowns and quarantines is to preserve health and ultimately to save lives, but how extensive will the cost be to the economy? Will that effect itself cost lives, as well as foster permanent loss of personal freedom? Months from now how do you think all the actions o Covid-19 be judged? What will or should we learn from this? How will this change society? Will this be an annual recourse to the next incarnation of a highly communicable infection? Being part of crowded gatherings puts people involved in danger when a highly communicable disease is a...

As August 1918 wound to a close in Boston and summer’s dog days gave way to fall, the city was awash in optimism...So when, in late August, a handful of sailors stationed at Commonwealth Pier in what is now the South Boston Seaport fell terribly ill, no one in the city paid much mind..The new flu arrived quickly at Camp Devens in Ayer...a bustling barracks of some 45,000 soldiers...with as many as 1,543 soldiers reporting ill with influenza in a single day... It wasn’t until Sept. 15, roughly three weeks after the first soldiers reported ill, that the influenza epidemic...

This is an NRA commercial featuring Jerry Wayne

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

Three boatloads of people will be allowed to explore tunnels and crumbling fortificationsEvery nook and cranny teems with history. The tales of war, adventure, death and crime are myriad but for 30 years the people of Plymouth have only been able to gaze across at Drake’s Island – but not set foot there. But on Sunday three boatloads of visitors will make the short hop from the Devon city to explore the crumbling fortifications, the bramble-covered barrack buildings and its mysterious tunnels. The island in Plymouth Sound has been off-limits since 1989 – when an adventure centre on the island...

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and epidemic experts from universities around the world conferred last month... Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die. And, the calculations based on the C.D.C.’s scenarios suggested, 2.4 million to 21 million people in the U.S. could require hospitalization, potentially crushing...

Invitation to do the math for your state: COVID-19 cases as a percent of the population. Below is a list of states per currently reported COVID-19 infections (by CNN, of 3-12-20) in comparison with population size (note that variations in reported cases are partly be due to how comprehensive testing can and has been done). Using an online calculator as here, (see second row under “Percentage Calculator in Common Phrases”, and remove commas in population figure), then 95 “is what percent of” 6949503 = 0.001367. Is this correct? And what correlations do you see that may be of interest? In...