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Health

Russian military infection specialists heading for coronavirus-plagued Northern Italy

Russian convoy of medics in Italy
© Twitter / Russia's Defense Ministry
Russian military specialists who arrived in Italy to help with the fight against coronavirus are heading towards the north of the country, which has been affected by the deadly epidemic the worst.

The convoy, composed of 22 trucks and other vehicles, set off for the northern Italian city of Bergamo early on Wednesday. The convoy, escorted by the Italian Carabinieri, has reached Florence, making a brief stop there, the Russian military says.

Comment: See also:


Bizarro Earth

The division of labor's destruction and the change of Western civilization as we know it

end of civilization
Governments all over the world are using the alleged threat of a COVID-19 pandemic to shut down the world's economy. Daniel Lacalle, an authority on energy economics, writes: "The decision to shut down air travel and close all nonessential businesses is now a reality in major global economies. The United States has banned all European flights as Italy enters a complete lockdown, Spain declares a state of emergency, and France closes all nonessential public places and businesses."

Further, he points out, governments can't solve the problems they have created through massive spending programs and bigger deficits. These policies make things worse: "Governments will implement large demand-side policies that are the wrong answer to a shutdown of the economy. Most businesses will suffer from the collapse in sales and subsequent working capital build, and none of that will be solved with deficit spending. You cannot mitigate a supply shock with demand policies, which increase debt and overcapacity in the already indebted and bloated sectors and do not help the sectors that are suffering an abrupt collapse in activity." And government printing of money, i.e., outright inflationism, is even more dangerous.

Bizarro Earth

Gunmen kill 25 at Sikh temple in Kabul, IS claims responsibility

Afghan

An Afghan Sikh woman mourns for her relatives near the site of an attack in Kabul on March 25.
Militants launched an attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul that left at least 25 people dead before security forces killed the attackers and freed dozens of hostages.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian did not say how many attackers were involved in the March 25 assault on the temple, though he said all were killed.

The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack via the online Amaq news agency, which it uses to distribute statements.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said that in addition to the 25 dead, eight people were wounded and 80 being held in the compound were rescued.

Comment: 'ISIS' strikes again. They're apparently determined to sabotage US-Taliban peace talks. Who might that benefit?...

See also:


X

New York closing streets, opening to pedestrian traffic to fight 'problem' parks where social distancing rules not being followed

7th Avenue in Manhattan
© REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Person takes pictures in the middle of 7th Avenue in Manhattan
As New York continues to deal with a daily rise in coronavirus cases, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to fight social density issues by closing streets and banning contact sports.

Cuomo announced New York City will soon be "piloting" a program that will see the closure of some streets to cars. The streets would then be open to pedestrian traffic.

The governor said the program is in direct response to city parks, which he admitted have become a "problem," as many individuals are not following social distancing rules, and the density of people puts them and others at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus.

"People want to walk. They want to go out and get some air. You want a less dense area, so pilot closing streets to cars, opening streets to pedestrians," Cuomo said, adding that the plan is only possible at the moment because there is far less traffic than normal.

Fire

PG&E pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter for sparking California's deadliest fire

Fire in CA
California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter for sparking the state's deadliest wildfire, the company announced Monday.

The announcement comes a little less than a year after an investigation confirmed that power lines owned by the utility sparked the Camp Fire, which burned 153,336 acres, killed 85 people and scorched the town of Paradise.

"We cannot replace all that the fire destroyed, but our hope is that this plea agreement, along with our rebuilding efforts, will help the community move forward from this tragic incident," PG&E Chief Executive Bill Johnson said in a statement reported by Reuters.

The plea is part of a March 17 agreement with the Butte County District Attorney's office. According to the agreement, the county would drop all criminal proceedings against the utility and, in exchange, it would plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of accidentally starting a fire. It would also pay a fine of $3.5 million maximum and $500,000 in legal costs, as well as put $15 million towards water for residents who relied on the Miocene Canal destroyed in the fire.

Bizarro Earth

California police to use patrol drones with night-vision cameras during coronavirus lockdown

drone coronavirus quarantine
© China Daily via Reuters
People in rural China are being publicly shamed by talking drones for not wearing face masks or for venturing outside unnecessarily.
A California police department is planning on using drones equipped with cameras and loudspeakers to monitor a coronavirus shutdown.

The Chula Vista Police Department recently doubled its fleet of drones, purchasing two of the machines from Chinese company DJI. The police department told the Financial Times that they would be outfitted with night-vision cameras.

"We have not traditionally mounted speakers to our drones, but ... if we need to cover a large area to get an announcement out, or if there were a crowd somewhere that we needed to disperse, we could do it without getting police officers involved," said Capt. Vern Sallee.

"The outbreak has changed my view of expanding the program as rapidly as I can," Sallee added.

Bizarro Earth

LA County Sheriff orders closure of gun stores, releases 1,700 inmates

inmate
© ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has released 1,700 inmates from county facilities and is ordering gun stores in the county closed.

Fox 11 reports the gun store closures are part of the coronavirus stay-at-home order while the release of the inmates is an attempt to slow the spread of the virus in county facilities.

Villanueva is the Director of Emergency Operations, which means "all FEMA requests go through him, and all National Guard requests go through him."

Arrow Down

Italian nurse with coronavirus kills herself over fear of infecting others

Daniela Trezzi
© Newsflash/Daniela Trezzi
A 34-year-old Italian nurse working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic took her own life after testing positive for the illness and was terrified that she had infected others, according to a report.

Daniela Trezzi had been suffering "heavy stress" amid fears she was spreading the deadly bug while treating patients at the San Gerardo Hospital in Monza in the hard-hit region of Lombardy, the Daily Mail reported.

She was working in the intensive care unit while under quarantine after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the UK news site.

X

States across the US, attacking 2nd Amendment by forcing gun stores to close, but many are fighting back

gun store closings
In case you are just waking up from a coma, America is currently in utter turmoil. Panic buying has emptied shelves across the country, millions of unemployed people are spending their last dollar on food, hundreds of cities have been placed on lockdown, and cops are using Chinese-made patrol drones to monitor citizens 24-hours a day. In a matter of just 2 weeks, America has shifted from the land of the free to the land of the economic collapse and newly ushered in police state. As if things couldn't get bad enough, governments across the country are now stripping people of their constitutional right to bear arms by forcing gun stores to close.

With so much uncertainty on the horizon, there has never been a better time for a citizen to be prepared to defend themselves and their family. The market is reacting appropriately to this demand and business has boomed for the gun industry in the past week, with long lines stretching outside gun stores across the country. The Wall Street Journal reports that on March 16, background checks were up 300% compared with the same day last year, according to federal data shared with the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

However, this is becoming increasingly harder to do thanks to executive orders and court rulings that have shuttered gun stores from coast to coast.

Heart - Black

Cruelties pile up: Julian Assange denied bail by London court in spite of poor health and danger from coronavirus

assange protest
© Agence France-Presse / Daniel Leal-Olivas
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been denied bail by a London court after his lawyers argued that the Covid-19 pandemic posed a serious threat to his health in light of his pre-existing conditions.

Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled that the global pandemic "does not provide grounds" for Assange's release.

The judge also cited Assange's "past conduct" which she said "shows the lengths he is prepared to go to avoid extradition proceedings," according to the AAP's reporter in court.

Comment: It's clear the US and UK are hoping that Assange's death will solve their problem for them. How sick is that?