[SPUTNIKNEWS] The bombshell decision by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to lay down their royal duties and move to Los Angeles Like Lavern and Shirley did...
unsurprisingly inflicted some additional security costs, and according to the US president’s recent Twitter rant, he was not about to pay for the couple’s protection in their newly found home. He's not paying for mine. Why should he pay for theirs? They're just private citizens now.
Prince Charles could reportedly cover half of his son Prince Harry’s and his wife Meghan Markle’s security costs in the US, a royal insider told the Daily Mail. That's mighty nice of him.
The Prince of Wales, who has just recovered from coronavirus, would pay a “private contribution” of up to £2 million ($2,5 million) every year towards the Sussexes’ living in the United States, and the source believes that this money would be used for the family’s protection, which is estimated to cost around $5 million annually. That's an awful lot of protection. Maybe they should shop around.
The royal insider still noted that this type of financial aid could be a significant blow to the 71-year-old monarch’s budget.
Dear Prince Charles is no monarch — that’s his mother. Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, is merely the heir apparent, the longest in that role in the history of the English monarchy. Quite possibly that will be as far as he gets.
#3
Montaigne, "On Education," to Madame Diane de Foix, Comtesse de Gurson:
"I have never known a father refuse to acknowledge his son, however scabby or hunchbacked the boy may be. Yet this is not to say that he does not perceive these defects - unless he is completely besotted by paternal affection for his son - but the fact remains that it is his own son..."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/05/2020 11:55 Comments ||
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#12
#5 "Defender of Faith" Which faith would that be?
You're hip to the irony.
It was the addled Prince Chuck who decided, by his lonesome, to change his title from "Defender of the Faith" to the idiotic "Defender of Faith." To avoid offending the Bradford Grooming Club and other members of the faith.
#14
The monarchy takes care of their own. Even with an abdicating king and an American divorcé. In other words. Buy off the problem. Reinforce bad behavior.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/05/2020 12:52 Comments ||
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#15
Good to see the deadbeat royals actually pick up a check.
Posted by: Regular joe ||
04/05/2020 13:11 Comments ||
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#16
More like defender of the Druids.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/05/2020 13:22 Comments ||
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#17
Meghan and Harry responded to Trump that they didn't expect US to pay, they could pay themselves. Apparently Charles didn't get the memo or they are just living off the parents while pretending to be independent like so many other kids their age.
Extending Your Benefits: 2020 Medallion Status will be extended for an additional year through January 31, 2022
Flexibility in Times of Change: Delta is now extending the ability to plan and re-book travel affected by coronavirus for up to two years, making eligible tickets redeemable for a longer period.
Revised Onboard Services: Delta has added new modifications to its onboard services to give customers the safest experience possible.
Travel Restrictions: Stay informed on any restrictions in travel at both your origin and destination. We recommend that you always check your destination state's website for any specific quarantine policies.
BLUF:
[Epoch Times] While South Korea had one of the worst early outbreaks outside China, the combination of public awareness, popular pressure, and civic cooperation seems to have brought the virus under control.
Yet the same vigilance appears sorely lacking in the Empire State, even as the CCP promotes its supposed success in controlling the disease in China, and painting the U.S. response as the epitome of administrative incompetence. The narrative is reinforced by many foreign media outlets, in large part because they tend to report the PRC’s official numbers of confirmed cases and deaths at face value.
On March 11, the New York Times published an article titled "Its Coronavirus Cases Dwindling, China Turns Focus Outward."
The article’s subhead echoes the CCP’s propaganda: "Beijing is mounting a humanitarian aid blitz in countries struggling with their own outbreaks. In doing so, it’s stepping into a role the West once dominated."
A March 16 editorial by the Washington Examiner criticized the Times report as perhaps "the most shameful piece of Chinese disinformation published by any newsroom in the United States since the COVID-19 outbreak first became a story."
"The article parrots China’s claim that its daily coronavirus cases have dwindled ’into the single digits,’" the Examiner notes. "No attempt is made to verify these numbers. ... With the media acting like this, who even needs the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China?"
[Washington Examiner] The number of foreigners arrested for illegally entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, and along the coasts have dropped to almost nothing in the past week as the U.S. became the world leader in confirmed cases, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.
Only 79 people were encountered Sunday by Border Patrol agents nationwide after they had attempted to enter the country between ports of entry. If that rate continued over the course of a month, it would make for fewer than 2,500 apprehensions, a drop in the bucket compared to the 30,000 arrests that agents made just on the southern border in February and 132,000 at the peak of the border crisis last May.
#6
Those 'yearning to be free' and escaping Central American (but not Chicago/Baltimore) violence have second thoughts it appears. Gee, wonder why? /rhet question
[WAPO] SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ‐ The suspected mismanagement of essential supplies during Hurricane Maria turned out to be a boon for Puerto Rico as it fights a rise in coronavirus cases.
Health Secretary Lorenzo González said Saturday that officials discovered a cache of urgently needed personal protective equipment at a hospital in the nearby island of Vieques that remains closed since the Category 4 storm hit the U.S. territory in September 2017.
He said the equipment includes face masks, gloves, gowns and face shields that were in good condition and would be distributed to health institutions.
"They’re very useful at this moment," said González, who became the island’s newest health secretary this week, the third in the span of two weeks.
He also said officials recently located a warehouse with medicine and medical equipment worth $4 million donated during Hurricane Maria, and that nearly all of it had expired. He did not provide details about what specific items were found.
Puerto Rico has reported 18 deaths related to COVID-19, including that of a nurse, and more than 450 confirmed cases, including several police officers who join health workers in demanding more personal protective equipment.
"Police are going the extra mile right now, and the government is not protecting us like it should," said Gregorio Matías, vice president of a police union.
The discovery in Vieques outraged many on an island still struggling to recover from Maria and from a series of strong earthquakes that hit Puerto Rico’s southern region in recent months.
González said he has ordered an investigation into why those supplies were abandoned in Vieques. The announcement comes two months after a group of Puerto Ricans discovered and broke into a warehouse filled with emergency supplies in southern Puerto Rico at a time local officials sought urgent help for those affected by a string of earthquakes. Other similar discoveries have been made since Maria hit.
González said the government still needs other equipment including testing kits and ventilators, noting that there are only 500 available for an island of 3.2 million people with high rates of asthma.
"If that’s going to be the difference between life and death, people are going to die," he said. "Don’t take this lightly."
A doctor who leads a COVID-19 government task force has said the U.S. territory needs at least 3,000 ventilators with the anticipated peak in cases expected in early May. Puerto Rico is in the middle of a month long curfew that is one of the strictest in any U.S. jurisdiction and has shuttered non-essential businesses and banned people from going outside unless they have to buy food, medicine or go to the bank.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
[CNBC] The Comfort is supposed to treat patients with conditions other than COVID-19 to free up space in overwhelmed New York hospitals.
The 1,000-bed hospital ship, which arrived in New York Monday, has treated 27 patients as of Saturday morning, according to a Navy spokesperson.
Hospital leaders in New York City have criticized the Comfort’s deployment for not accepting COVID-19 patients and failing to provide tangible relief to strained hospitals. Who the h-e-double-hockey-sticks signed off on the transfer order? Not their name, their ears.
Multiple coronavirus patients have been accidentally transferred to a New York military hospital ship that was meant to be virus-free
Less than five patients with the virus were transferred from the city's Javits Center to hospital ship Comfort on Friday, which has received 21 patients
At the time, screenings did not indicate they were positive for the deadly virus
However, the patients were swabbed and put in isolation upon arrival to the boat, per the ship's protocol
By Saturday morning, all the coronavirus positive patients were taken back to the Javits Center
#2
Our government is aware that the Chinese Communist Party claim that COVID-19 is a wet market natural mutation is total bullshi*. The aggressive steps taken to insulate and protect our fighting men and women, particularly ships at sea are obvious. Our military is in the crosshairs, possibly the navies of Russia and Europe as well.
#3
Innocent mistake or it is hard to test. Move the intensive care to another ward and carry on after cleaning. It will happen. Be easy on people now please.
[SPUTNIKNEWS] Italy’s COVID-19 death toll has surged past 15,000 as 681 more people have died after contracting the disease, Angelo Borrelli, the head of the National Civil Protection Department, announced on Saturday, adding that the daily rise in fatalities was slowing.
Saturday’s figures suggest that the rise in the death toll is beginning to slow, as 766 deaths were reported on Friday.
According to Borrelli, the number of people still displaying symptoms of the disease in Italy is 88,274. However, the number of people currently in intensive care has decreased, the Civil Protection Department chief said.
Italy has recorded a total of 124,632 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak. The northern region of Lombardy has been the most affected area of the country.
More than 1.1 million people have been reported infected by the novel coronavirus across the world and 60,049 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on April 4. https://t.co/O13GAIVmwp
Cuomo said 630 people died in New York yesterday due to coronavirus. The sirens are constant. It's impossible to explain to people who don't live here how it doesn't feel actively scary to be here despite what it looks like on TV, but it's also draining, dystopian, and traumatic.
NEW: Number of visitors to #Hawaii dipped below 100 yesterday due to mandatory travel quarantine per @HawaiiHTA, just 94 visitors flew into the state Friday - normally that number would be around 30,000. There were a few arrests of people arriving without lodging plans #COVID19
#breaking Tokyo just announced 118 new coronavirus infections today — the first day to exceed 100 — and nearly TRIPLE the daily infections count this time last week. Currently 817 people are in hospital — and city is running out of beds set aside for patients with the virus. pic.twitter.com/2DaFTQXPcI
Spain starting to see slowdown in new COVID-19 cases
[IsraelTimes] Current numbers show Spain has 124,000 cases of coronavirus and over 11,000 deaths. Strict limitations that keep people at home except for shopping for food and medicine, as well as non-essential businesses, helped Spain reduce its rate of contagion that was over 20% last week to 6% on Saturday.
Sánchez gave a televised address to the nation Saturday and said Spain is close to reducing the spread of the virus. Sánchez used the address to announce that the government plans to extend the lockdown the country has been under for three weeks until April 26.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2020 00:00 ||
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[IsraelTimes] Parking lots, convention centers, sports arenas converted to medical complexes, but authorities face dire shortage of staff as they brace for coming storm.
Convention centers, sports arenas, and parking lots from Los Angeles to Miami are being urgently converted into makeshift hospitals as US authorities brace for a surge in coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... patients.
Continued on Page 49
#1
"I asked the president and the military over a week ago for 1,000 nurses, 150 doctors, 300 respiratory therapists," Mayor Bill de Blasio. "I don’t have anything yet."
A city of 6.8 million people, about the same population as Switzerland, cannot surge and locate the medical professionals it needs ?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2020 8:27 Comments ||
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#5
#1, exactly. Just a LITTLE context for these politicians' statements would go a long way.
I had no idea the mayor of New York had so little power or resources.
Posted by: Tom ||
04/05/2020 9:55 Comments ||
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#6
Doctors, at least, have been retiring in numbers for years, a combination of the baby boomers retiring and doctors tired of dealing with health insurance nonsense that started a decade before Obamacare.
As for Hizzoner of New York City, they have a registry of 10,000 retired and private medical professionals willing to help out in exactly such an emergency, according to the NY Post. Has he called on them yet?
The media is bombarding Americans around the clock with updates on the death count, highlighting death maps and scaring people into staying home.
Governors are forcing small businesses to shut down and threatening to jail anyone who violates their authoritarian social distancing orders.
The media hysteria is based on a Bill Gates-funded IHME Coronavirus model that has been proven to be way off.
It gets worse...
The amount of Americans who are reported to have died from the Coronavirus is based on a CDC coding system that will "result in COVID-19 being the underlying cause more often than not."
A new ICD code was established to keep track of Coronavirus deaths.
The U07.1 code will be used for death by Coronavirus infection.
However, there’s another secondary code, U07.2, "for clinical or epidemiological diagnosis of COVID-19 where a laboratory confirmation is inconclusive or not available," the CDC guidelines read.
"Because laboratory test results are not typically reported on death certificates in the U.S., NCHS is not planning to implement U07.2 for mortality statistics."
Posted by: Chris ||
04/05/2020 20:48 Comments ||
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#5
More deaths, more federal money. It wouldn't surprise me if it were found that fatal bicycle crashes, old age related deaths, gunshot deaths and car crash deaths were listed as CV-19 deaths.
[Federalist] ’If Cambridge University can accept a much larger donation sum in support of black students, why can’t I do the same for underprivileged white British?’
It’s almost unheard of that schools would ever say no to a large financial donation, especially when it aims to help economically disadvantaged children get a better education. However, Dulwich College and Winchester College, two schools in the United Kingdom, recently denied such a donation. Both turned down more than £1 million for poor white boys, out of the concern the donation might fall afoul of Britain’s Equality Act of 2010.
The generous donor was 96-year-old Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites, who attended both schools on scholarships, and taught at Winchester for decades. He learned from his experiences that a good education is the best means to uplift children from disadvantaged backgrounds and provide upward economic mobility. He wanted to help poor white boys especially, because they are disproportionately at the bottom of Britain’s education system.
POOR WHITE BOYS ARE IN DIRE STRAITS
Even the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) acknowledged in 2014 that being born a white male in Britain doesn’t necessary confer any privilege, because "white pupils from poorer backgrounds, especially boys, suffered the worst start in life as they continued to fall further behind every other ethnic group at school ‐ with their chances of a successful and prosperous career decreasing as a result."
A recent report by National Education Opportunity Network illustrates that the devastating educational gap white boys in low-income households experience hasn’t gotten any better by 2019. Among all racial groups with similar economic backgrounds, poor white British boys remain the worst performers in schools, and have consistently scored the lowest on the government’s "attainment 8" test, which measures the student’s average grade across eight subjects.
WSJ free coverage -- scroll down a bit. If nothing else, we are coming to a fine understanding of who's essential and who's not. Gender studies majors, anyone?
Since March 23, operators of New York state's power grid have been camped out in parking lots adjacent to the plants and control rooms that must be staffed 24/7 to keep New York’s lights on.
Operators work in teams of roughly half a dozen people in specialized, confined spaces. If one of them got sick, they could quickly infect others, resulting in a personnel shortage that could disrupt operations, according to Rich Dewey, chief executive of the New York Independent System Operator, a clearinghouse that oversees the grid.
Thirty-seven people are sequestered at the NYISO’s two sites in the Albany suburbs. Operators work for 12 hours, and then retire to camping trailers in the parking lots. These workers, which include cooking and cleaning staff, aren’t allowed to have physical contact with anyone outside the 37 people in their bubble.
Jon Sawyer, the NYISO manager of control-room operations, said that the employees volunteered and that "morale has been very high. People have adjusted quickly. We all understand the importance of our jobs."
Posted by: Matt ||
04/05/2020 11:55 ||
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#1
Now, when these guys start breaking down, then the real trouble will begin.
#2
@ The San Diego Poseidon desal plant they're doing the same things. RVs in the parking lot and delivered food, services
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2020 16:45 Comments ||
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#3
#1 If these guys break down, we send in the editorial board of the New York Times. They know everything. Or the Harvard Law School faculty, if you prefer.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/05/2020 16:49 Comments ||
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#4
I have a girlfriend, a chemical engineer by training, who was the QA point person at her Hershey’s chocolate factory back when a potential SARS pandemic was the concern. They drew up plans —and laid in supplies — in case there would be a need to shelter the workers in place at the factory for several weeks. They also had to figure out how to keep the workers in while family members were required to stay elsewhere. This is no more a surprise than the need for surge supplies of masks, gowns, and ventilators.
Good for the workers, and for their families back home.
[DAWN] Prime Minister Imran Khan ...aka The Great Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... on Saturday said that reports circulating on social media that the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... will not affect Paks were false, cautioning that the disease will not spare anyone.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Prime Minister's Corona Relief Fund in Lahore, he said: "I read often on social media that Allah has created Paks in a way that corona won't affect them. Please don't delude yourselves into thinking like this. Corona won't spare anyone."
The premier asked people to not be "foolish" and advised them to take the necessary precautions against Covid-19.
"If you think you are immune, just look at New York. Many rich people live there [but] look at their condition now."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2020 00:00 ||
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#1
I was gonna goof on the idea of Imran Khan telling people not to be foolish, but truth be told, "Don't Be A Dumbass!" is pretty good advice.
[AlMasdar] On Friday, April 3rd, the foreign ministers of the NATO nations held a teleconference to discuss the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and their contingencies; however, the meeting would apparently turn sour when Greece and Turkey traded accusations over Ankara’s decision to open their European border to migrants, the Russian newspaper Gazeta.RU reported.
According to the publication, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu left the virtual meeting earlier than all the other participants after disputes with Greece over migrants.
The diplomat recalled that an agreement was concluded between Ankara and the European Union in 2016, which obliged Turkey to accept about four million refugees from Syria and other countries of the Middle East, and not allow them to go to Europe.
In exchange for this, the EU promised to provide Turkey with assistance in the amount of €6 billion and provide other incentives, such as a visa-free regime for Turkish citizens. Cavusoglu stressed that the EU has not fulfilled its part of the deal.
"We advise them to think about the long term, because it is not just a matter of migration," he said, demanding from Europe liberalization of the visa regime, updating the agreement on the customs union and strengthening the fight against terrorism.
Not long after this, Cavusoglu accused Greece of killing migrants trying to cross the common border of countries.
In response, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that Ankara’s claims are specially organized propaganda for political purposes and have fake news.
"Greece faced an organized and unprecedented attack on its border and a disinformation campaign from Turkey. The methods used by Turkey violated the values of NATO. All allies have the right to call for NATO solidarity, but only if they fulfill their obligations, "the Greek diplomat emphasized, as quoted by Gazeta.RU.
Cavusoglu demanded to give him the opportunity to answer, but NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stopped this attempt, so as not to contribute to inciting scandal online.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, in response, disconnected from the conference.
Turkish and Greek relations are at a decade-long low, as disagreements over the movement of migrants and Ankara's oil exploration off the coast of Cyprus has put the two countries at odds.
Posted by: Clem ||
04/05/2020 12:33 ||
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[Guardian] - Sweden’s government is drawing up new legislation to allow it to take "extraordinary steps" to combat Covid-19, local media have reported, amid concern that its relatively soft approach may be leading to a higher death rate than in other Nordic countries.
Denmark and Norway are among the many countries to have imposed tough lockdowns, closing borders and shutting schools and non-essential stores, and Finland has isolated its main urban area around Helsinki. But Swedes are still able to shop, go to restaurants, get haircuts and send children under 16 to class. Israel: Coronavirus Cases: 8,430, Deaths: 49, Recovered: 477.
Sweden: Coronavirus Cases: 6,830, Deaths: 401, Recovered: 205
[FoxNews] Continuing to shape the post-coronavirus world. BLUF: age 37, strongly defended Mr. Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court hearing, originalist, member of the Federalist Society. Lots of red meat at the link.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[SPUTNIKNEWS] The bombshell decision by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to lay down their royal duties and move to Los Angeles 
[WAPO] SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico ‐ The suspected mismanagement of essential supplies during Hurricane Maria turned out to be a boon for Puerto Rico as it fights a rise in coronavirus cases.
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
