Economy
Unprecedented World Health Assembly Convenes Online As Pandemic Rages (TS)
“We have a global pandemic. We have half a billion people at risk of falling into poverty. And we need the World Health Assembly to come up with the core solutions. And that is getting a vaccine out, manufactured, distributed and freely available to everyone as soon as possible,” he says.
Oxfam America is part of a global effort for what the organization calls the “People’s Vaccine.” The goal is to get countries to work together to rapidly produce a vaccine and agree to make it universally available.
California locked down early and took the coronavirus seriously. Why are its cases still rising? (Sparky1)
For weeks, public health officials watched to see if the stay-at-home order had worked. Case numbers in California grew more slowly than elsewhere in the country — but they did keep growing. The order, originally set to expire April 7, was extended through April, and then extended through May. (The state has inched — more slowly than most other states — toward opening low-risk businesses, with social distancing measures in place.)
‘We’re surviving’: Lines are long, demand is up at food bank distributions (Sparky1)
Tyler Mobley, 30, worked for DoorDash, McDonald’s and at FireRock Steakhouse before losing the latter two jobs, he said. The father of one said his remaining income through DoorDash, a prepared food delivery service, had helped him and his family stay afloat during this time.
“We’re so-so,” he said after getting his food. “We’re surviving.”
If Landlords Get Wiped Out, Wall Street Wins, Not Renters (Sparky1)
But Shields can’t pay, either. Her profit last year came to only $24,000, and now she’s behind on $1.2 million in mortgages. Like millions of other U.S. landlords, who owe lenders more than $1 trillion combined, her fate is tied to renters now urgently focused on their own self-preservation.
“My tenants think I’m rich,” Shields says. “They have better cars than me, better nails, and better tax refunds.”
Inside Trump’s coronavirus meltdown (Roger B.)
Again and again, the story that emerged is of a president who ignored increasingly urgent intelligence warnings from January, dismisses anyone who claims to know more than him and trusts no one outside a tiny coterie, led by his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner – the property developer who Trump has empowered to sideline the best-funded disaster response bureaucracy in the world.
Mapping Corruption: Donald Trump’s Executive Branch (edelinski)
Consider the issue of immigration. At its mention, some Americans conjure up images of dark-skinned interlopers threatening to steal our jobs or live idly off our public services, while others are more likely to think of children cruelly separated from parents and desperate asylum seekers stuck in Orwellian turnaround. Either way, we tend to overlook a big central fact of today’s immigration policy: the huge sums of money drawn from the U.S. Treasury in the name of guarding our borders, and deposited into the coffers of a booming private-prison industry.
Total Catastrophe Of The Currency System (thc0655)
If the world, as I believe, has now entered a secular downturn of major proportions, many of these 20 million will never get their jobs back. That either means no income, no food, and nowhere to live or the government assisting these people permanently. Both of these outcomes will lead to perdition. No income means misery, disease and eventually a lot of people dying. Money printing is sadly no solution either. Once money is printed on a larger scale, the currency will be totally debased, become worthless with hyperinflation to follow. Just look at Venezuela with a major part of the population struggling to survive.
A New Pandemic? Two Trailblazing COVID-19 Researchers Dead in a Month (DennisC)
Taylor’s breakout moment in the scientific community, however, came with the creation of Galaxy, a cloud-based system that has been described as “the first comprehensive data analysis resource in Life Sciences.” According to its website, Galaxy provides an open platform that aims to make computational biology accessible to scientists, mostly those who are involved in genomics research, a major field of study when it comes to the development of drugs and vaccines.
America’s Chilling Experiment in Human Sacrifice (KathyP)
Patrick’s words reveal an unspoken truth about capitalism. For the system to work smoothly, there have always been requirements of human sacrifice — a certain portion of the population was expected to act not as self-serving homo economicus, but self-sacrificing homo communis, focused upon what benefits the collective at their own expense. If these people can’t social distance at the workplace, they are expected to show up anyway. If there isn’t enough safety equipment, they are declared essential workers who must put their lives and that of their families at risk for the greater good.
Germany Criminalizes Burning of E.U. and Other Foreign Flags (newsbuoy)
Seated at a safe social distance, lawmakers voted for an amendment to protect foreign state flags, as well as the European Union’s (burning the German flag is punishable by up to five years). German law had already protected foreign flags when displayed by embassies, or in some other ceremonial capacities such as at sporting events.
“The burning of flags in public has nothing to do with peaceful protest,” Christine Lambrecht, the country’s justice minister, said in a statement.
Veteran describes the fear of living through pandemic (Sparky1)
The Department of Veterans Affairs released disturbing new numbers showing at least 985 coronavirus patients have died after receiving some type of care from VA medical facilities, which serve more than 6 million people across the country. CNN’s Jake Tapper reports there is still a growing fear that older veterans remain at risk.
Pandemic shatters world order, sows anger and mistrust (Roger B.)
Collapsing governments, famine, crushed economies and emboldened extremists are all among the darkest post-pandemic scenarios. Yet even less dramatic outlooks have a gloomy tinge, with political alliances crumbling, and economies unlikely to rebound fast enough to blunt the impact of hundreds of millions of lost jobs.
Seams that were opening before the virus emerged are tearing apart faster. U.S.-China bickering about the origins and response to the virus now threaten a trade deal that could help the world recover. A fight over distribution of an eventual vaccine is dividing allies. And the United Nations has been sidelined, while autocratic governments have stepped up attacks on civil liberties.
A poor clinical outcome (PClinO) was observed for 46 patients (4.3%) and 8 died (0.75%) (74–95 years old). All deaths resulted from respiratory failure and not from cardiac toxicity. Five patients are still hospitalized (98.7% of patients cured so far). PClinO was associated with older age (OR 1.11), severity of illness at admission (OR 10.05) and low HCQ serum concentration. PClinO was independently associated with the use of selective beta-blocking agents and angiotensin II receptor blockers (p < .05). A total of 2.3% of patients reported mild adverse events (gastrointestinal or skin symptoms, headache, insomnia and transient blurred vision).
Coronavirus: hamster research shows effectiveness of masks ‘huge’ in Covid-19 battle, Hong Kong scientists say (Corinna M.)
The study, which the team called the first of its kind, found the rate of non-contact transmission – in which the virus was transmitted via respiratory droplets or airborne particles – dropped by as much as 75 per cent when masks were present.
“The findings implied to the world and the public is that the effectiveness of mask-wearing against the coronavirus pandemic is huge,” Dr Yuen Kwok-yung of Hong Kong University said on Sunday, while cautioning a risk of infection remains even with masks.
The Tocalino Index as a Reference to US Stocks (Sebastiao BT)
Years ago, while exploring and associating some economic data in a spreadsheet, I developed a curious indicator. At the time, I wrote a brief presentation of the Tocalino Index. Based on statistical records, I take the most promising population group for aggregate consumption and divide it by the sum of the rates of unemployment and core inflation in the U.S.
Potential Cheap and effective Drug for COVID-19 (Leo)
One of these studies reported that “patients receiving hydrogen treatment had improved tendencies in the liver function and HBV (hepatitis B virus) DNA level when compared with patients undergoing routine treatment” and they concluded that “Further study with long‐term treatment with hydrogen‐rich water is required to confirm the protective effect of hydrogen on the liver function and its suppressive effect on viral replication” and ” hydrogen‐rich water may attenuate the oxidative stress and have the potential to improve the liver function and reduce the HBV DNA level in CHB patients.”
The Dawn of the BlackRock Era (edelniski)
The coronavirus crisis of 2020 has changed things. Big banks, of course, remain powerful, incredibly profitable, and closely linked to the federal government. But asset management firms have become increasingly vital over the past few years, rising as the few meaningful banking regulations that endure from the financial crisis blunt bank power to a minimal degree. And with the passage of the coronavirus bailout package, a new decade and a new economic catastrophe has brought a passing of the torch. The Goldman decade has begun to fade, giving way to our newest age: the BlackRock era.
Peter Hitchens: Furlough billions? Just a giant payday loan in YOUR name (thc0655)
I am threatened with being forced to wear a muzzle, or so-called ‘face mask’ as the price of partial liberation. The idea is absurd. The World Health Organisation says: ‘If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19.’
So, if anyone insists on this silly rule, here is the mask I have obtained. I hope they like it.
A month after negative oil prices, U.S. crude contract expiry looms (Sparky1)
A month later, governments around the world are slowly lifting travel restrictions and there are signs that demand is recovering from its nadir. Oil prices have staged something of a recovery, with U.S. crude rising on Monday to more than $30 a barrel and hitting its highest level since March 16.
As oil producers worldwide cut output rapidly, the pressure on storage is easing: U.S. government data this week showed crude inventories fell.
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