MEDIA Comments turned off

White House Pushes Back on Reports of National Curfew By Mairead McArdle

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/white-house-pushes-back-on-reports-of-national-curfew/

The White House on Monday pushed back on reports that the administration is considering imposing a national curfew.

“This is not true!” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere wrote in response to a CNN report claiming that the administration was engaged in active discussions about encouraging a curfew across the country, meaning non-essential businesses would have to close by a designated time every evening.

“This is not correct,” Katie Miller, press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence tweeted about the same report.

“That’s not even in the realm of things we’re asking governors for,” Miller said. “There are a lot of rumors. I promise you, I’m sitting in every single meeting … so I can give you guys a yes or no.”

“Rumors of a national lockdown or national quarantine recently shared via text message are FAKE,” read a tweet from the official White House Twitter account.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Another Terrible 24 Hours in Italy By Rich Lowry ….Italy recorded another 349 deaths:

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/another-terrible-24-hours-in-italy/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=first

Italy experienced the most deaths in a 24-hour period of any country during the pandemic, including China:

The coronavirus continued its assault on Italy, the hardest hit country outside of China, with officials on Sunday reporting the number of deaths rose to 1,809 — a 25 percent increase over the day before and the largest one-day uptick yet of any country.

The 368 deaths Italy reported exceeds the highest single-day number China reported at the height of its outbreak. China’s highest daily toll was on Feb. 13, when the country reported 254 new deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

According to this Reuters report, the health-care system in Italy is stressed, but not yet completely overwhelmed:

The head of the civil protection authority, Angelo Borelli, said that Lombardy had been able to transfer some patients to other regions. He also said he was so far unaware of any cases of patients dying because of a lack of intensive care facilities.

ELECTIONS Comments turned off

Wuhan Virus Disrupts 2020 Primary Calendar As States Postpone Elections By Tristan Justice

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/16/wuhan-virus-disrupts-2020-primary-calendar-as-states-postpone-elections/

Four states will hold their primary contests on Tuesday night, despite Georgia and Louisiana each postponing their elections previously scheduled for a few weeks later over concerns of the spreading Wuhan virus.

Louisiana was the first state to make the decision, announcing on Friday it would hold its primaries on June 20 instead of April 4 as originally planned. Georgia, which had its primaries scheduled for March 24 has now moved its elections to May 19.

Arizona, Florida, Ohio, and Illinois however, will proceed with their primaries on Tuesday as planned even as large public gatherings, restaurants, bars and schools shut down in each state.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have each cancelled rallies and public appearances in the final week leading up to the next round of state contests, conducting virtual campaign events instead, and participating in a no-audience debate Sunday night.

Sanders raised concerns over the four states moving onward with their elections this week despite massive cancellations and closures nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued new guidance this weekend recommending no gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. These social distancing recommendations aim to keep the spread of the outbreak from overwhelming hospitals ill-equipped to manage the coming caseload.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION, POLITICS Comments turned off

10 Ways the Left Has Politicized the Coronavirus Pandemic By Matt Margolis

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://pjmedia.com/trending/10-ways-the-left-has-politicized-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

It was disgusting to see the way Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders politicized the coronavirus pandemic during their debate Sunday night. I expected as much, to be honest.

A public health crisis is no time for partisanship. Sadly, for the left, they saw the coronavirus pandemic was just another opportunity for them to take down Trump. From the Russian collusion hoax to the bogus impeachment, they’ve tried relentlessly to find something to not just damage him, but to end his presidency.

The left’s politicization of the coronavirus pandemic has taken many forms, and I’ve compiled the most significant examples below.

10. Wishing infection on Trump supporters

In a now-deleted tweet, liberal activist Susan Daniel declared, “For the record, if I do get the coronavirus I’m attending every MAGA rally I can.”

As bad as that was, Denver City Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca apparently thought it was appropriate to retweet the disgusting comment on her official Twitter account:

Pakistani-Canadian author Ali A. Rizvi made a similar comment on Twitter when he announced, “If I contracted coronavirus, I would go out and try to attend every Trump rally possible.”

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

No, the Trump administration didn’t weaken US biodefenses by Tom Rogan

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/no-the-trump-administration-didnt-weaken-us-biodefenses

Befitting their absurd deference to China’s lies about the coronavirus (yes, they are lies), too many in the media are lapping up the Democratic Party talking point that the Trump administration gutted the National Security Council counter-pandemics effort.

It did not.

While the Trump administration has rightly reorganized the NSC away from the bureaucratic behemoth it became under the Obama administration, NSC bio-defense efforts have continued. And as pointed out by the former NSC lead on the issue, Tim Morrison, these efforts were wide-ranging.

The key here is that the NSC’s bureaucratic reorganization is being presented as a gutting of the nation’s bio-defenses. And that’s plainly unfair.

The NSC is supposed to exist as a filtering house for government national security efforts in service of the president’s needs and policy priorities. Unfortunately, under the Obama administration, the NSC became a place where Ben Rhodes used bureaucracy to centralize power away from the Pentagon, State Department, and Intelligence Community, and slow down the policy process. Why the interest in lethargy?

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

International Counter-Terrorism Group Addresses Ever-Changing al-Qaeda Threat By Ella Kietlinska

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.theepochtimes.com/international-counter-terrorism-group-addresses-ever-changing-al-qaeda-threat_3270200.html

The Warsaw Process Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance working group convened in Marrakech, Morocco, on March 4-5, with the goal of working out a solution to counter the potential threat posed by al-Qaeda and its affiliates, in preparations for the ministerial-level meeting to be held in Washington this year.

Al-Qaeda, overshadowed by ISIS over the past several years, took advantage of this situation to strengthen and expand its abilities to operate, adapt to using new technologies, and exploit conflicts and vulnerabilities in different parts of the world, e.g. the wars in Yemen and Syria, says a statement from the working group.

Threats Posed by al-Qaeda

Despite losing its main leader in 2011, al-Qaeda adapted to the changes in the world’s political situation and exerted its ideological influence. Its affiliates still pose a threat to the entire African continent and there is a possibility for al-Qaeda to engage in a relationship with ISIS, according to the statement. Al-Qaeda also operates in Asia and the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda’s tactics and methods may also evolve. It could exert more attacks outside of conflict zones, utilize more low-cost technology, and develop “more effective use of the internet” as well as “a sophisticated network of communication tools,” threatening global security and stability, the statement says.

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Israel Helps Palestinians Prevent Coronavirus: Arabs Betray Them

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15739/israel-palestinians-coronavirus

It is worth noting that Egypt, which has a shared border with the Gaza Strip, did not send any test kits or disinfectant materials to the Palestinians living there.

“After more than seventy years, Lebanon remains the country where Palestinian refugees suffer the most, where they are deprived of many of their economic and human rights, including working in certain professions, procedural complications in obtaining work permits, and denial of the right to own property.” — Dr. Mohsen Saleh, Director-General of the Zaitouna Center for Studies in Beirut, arabi21.com, July 20, 2019.

Assad Abu Khalil, a Lebanese-American professor at California State University, who claims to be “pro-Palestinian,” does not seem concerned about the severe restrictions imposed on Palestinians by his own country — Lebanon. Nor does he seem bothered that a Lebanese (and not Israeli) official is the one who is actually calling for placing Palestinians in “mass prisons.”

Egypt, for its part, long ago abandoned the Palestinians by essentially sealing its border with the Gaza Strip. The Lebanese, Egyptians and most Arabs perceive the Palestinians as Israel’s problem. When the current virus crisis has passed, it is to be hoped that the Palestinians will remember that one country alone came to their rescue: Israel. They might also remember that their Arab brothers betrayed them — not for the first time, and no doubt not for the last.

While Israel is working overtime with Palestinians to curb and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Arab states appear to be doing what they do best when it comes to helping their Palestinian brothers: nothing at all.

In the past few days, Israeli authorities delivered 200 coronavirus testing kits to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. In addition, Israeli and Palestinian professional teams have been working together to prevent the spread of the virus.

The Israeli authorities have also delivered another 200 coronavirus testing kits to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, despite the thousands of rockets and incendiary and bomb-carrying balloons that the ruling government, Hamas, has launched from there towards Israel.

In addition, Israeli authorities have coordinated the transfer of 20 tons of disinfectant material from Israeli factories to the Palestinian health sector. The material included chlorine and hydrogen peroxide, used for disinfection, preservation of hygiene and sanitation. These disinfectant materials are used for cleaning surfaces in open areas and help in cleaning closed areas, including mosques and churches.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Iran’s Coronavirus Cover-up by Majid Rafizadeh

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15744/iran-coronavirus-coverup

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of Intelligence and Security have taken charge of dealing with the coronavirus by cracking down on any individual or institution that attempts to reveal accurate information about the origins of the virus or how Iran has become an epicenter of the virus which spreads to other nations.

Massoud Pezeshkian, an Iranian reformist politician, pointed out: “We should have quarantined Qom from day one… This disease is not a joke, which is the way we are dealing with it… The economy and everything will be ruined; it is no joke. What would have happened if they shut down the country for 15 days? If we had done so on the first day, it would not have spread….”

The regime has also threatened to imprison people who provide news about the actual scope of the crisis. Hassan Nowrouzi, the Speaker of the Judiciary Committee of the Parliament, said on February 26 that those who “disseminate fake news regarding coronavirus” will be sentenced from one to three years of imprisonment and lashes.

The Iranian regime continues to decline taking appropriate measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that is not only threatening the Iranian population but also people across the region.

During a meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at the White House, President Donald J. Trump offered to help the Iranian authorities fight the coronavirus, but Iranian authorities rejected the offer as “hypocritical” and “repulsive”. “We do not need American doctors,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

The Real Threat(s) from Coronavirus :Chris Buskirk

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/15/the-real-threats-from-coronavirus/

Social distancing is nothing compared to a crisis that leads to mass casualties, economic collapse, and a legacy of bad policies that leaves the country weaker than ever before.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that Americans must prepare to “hunker down” to avoid a worst-case scenario with the rapid spread of the Chinese coronavirus. Nevertheless, plenty of skeptics are asking if coronavirus is “something” or if it is “nothing.” That’s the wrong question to ask. And asking the wrong question leads you to the wrong answers.

Of course it is something, but what is it? That’s the question we need to answer.

I know that people reading this will fall broadly into two groups. The first group, which is strongly represented among political conservatives, maintains that coronavirus is nothing or, if not precisely nothing, then it is asymptotically approaching nothing. For them, it is as real as the Fusion GPS dossier on President Trump.

Then there is the other group. These are people who are concerned that an outbreak in one or more American cities that goes undetected and thus uncontained for too long could cause a repeat of the Wuhan or Northern Italy scenario. Those scenarios followed roughly the same pattern: the virus went largely undetected due to a lack of testing capacity and soon became widespread before public health officials could act.

This led to a surge in hospitalizations that overloaded existing resources and spiked the number of fatalities as well as the fatality rate. That’s why the delay in increasing testing capacity in the United States until the past few days has been a cause for concern. The Wuhan virus should not have a high mortality rate, but when left unnoticed and thus unchecked it can spread and lead to deaths of people who would be able to recover if they’d had proper treatment.

The scenes from Italy have been horrible. By Sunday, Italy had nearly 25,000 confirmed cases, more than 1,800 deaths—and 368 of those deaths came in the prior 24 hours. That single-day death toll exceeds the worst day China ever reported.

ANTI-SEMITISM Comments turned off

America In a New Upside-Down World : Victor Davis Hanson

Posted By on March 16th, 2020

https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/15/america-in-a-new-upside-down-world/

Who can game the election-year politics of these chaotic times, especially the more macabre calculations of the electoral beneficiaries of the media-driven hysteria over the COVID-19?

The world is changing at a pace not seen in years, and it is no time to become captives of fear despite the real and immediate dangers we face.

The coronavirus and the ensuing panic, at least for a few more weeks, have stagnated the economy and scared global financial markets, accompanied by both collateral, and independent and simultaneous, bad news. Rumor- and panic-mongers predominate; the rational and reasonable are written-off as naïve and out of it. Thousands may die, but millions who will not are terrified into anxieties and sleeplessness that they will.

COVID-19 itself has raised fundamental questions about the merits of globalization in general, and in particular the wisdom of any sovereign nation outsourcing key industries like high-tech, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and food processing to an autocratic, non-transparent—and dangerous—nation like China.

The current oil glut and price crash—a result of a Saudi-Russian price war, in part directed at record U.S. production, in part due to the crumbling of OPEC, and less demand as a global public, frightened by the specter of the Wuhan virus, stays closer to home—are radically changing the relationship between oil sellers and buyers. In particular, vulnerable cash-hungry exporting countries like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela are losing clout. Interest rates are also dropping. The world at large may for a time experience historic de facto negative interest.

Trump Was Right About China

Ostensibly, all of this news should be terrible. And, of course, terrible is the reality that as I write over 6,000 people have died worldwide (out a global population nearing 8 billion) from the disease caused by the coronavirus. But that said, there will emerge winners and losers in every crisis, whether medical, economic, psychological, or political.