Italy Risks Losing Grip in South With Fear of Looting, Riots

By John Follain – 3/30/2020

As Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte fights to hold Italian society together through a crippling nationwide lockdown, the depressed south is turning into a powder keg.

Police have been deployed on the streets of Sicily’s capital, Palermo, amid reports gangs are using social media to plot attacks on stores. A bankrupt ferry company halted service to the island, including vital supplies of food and medicines. As the state creaks under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, officials worry the mafia may be preparing to step in.

Preventing unrest in the so-called Mezzogiorno, the underdeveloped southern region that’s long lagged behind the wealthy north, has become the government’s top priority, according to Italian officials who asked not to be named discussing the administration’s strategy.

With the European Union’s most dangerously indebted state already fighting the Germans over the terms of the financial aid it needs, the fallout may reach far beyond Rome if Conte fails.

“We need to act fast, more than fast,” Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando told daily La Stampa. “Distress could turn into violence.”

As the lockdown enters its fourth week, Conte is set to extend containment measures that have shuttered all but essential businesses until April 18 at the earliest, the officials said. He’s also working on a new stimulus package for mid-April worth at least 30 billion euros ($33 billion), following initial measures worth 25 billion euros, they said.

Italy has the highest death toll from the virus, with more than 11,000 fatalities, and almost 102,000 confirmed cases, second only to the U.S. It reported the smallest number of new coronavirus infections in almost two weeks on Monday.

Read More: Italy Reports Fewest New Coronavirus Cases in Almost 2 Weeks

Calls for Help

Within the aid he’s already announced, Conte is trying to channel funds toward the South. Over the weekend he advanced 4.3 billion euros from a solidarity fund for municipalities and added 400 million euros to mayors that can be converted into coupons for groceries. “No one will be left behind,” the premier said in a televised address.

Still, southern leaders are clamoring for more. They say that cash from the solidarity fund was already due to them and the economic damage from the lockdown has brought their region to the verge of a breakdown.

That opens another front for Conte, who is already struggling to stop the Italian health system from collapsing and fighting the European Union for joint debt issuance to help relieve the financial pressure on his government. Italy’s economic output is set to shrink by 6.5% in 2020, according to research group Prometeia.

The lockdown has hit the 3.7 million Italians working in the underground economy particularly hard since they don’t receive a regular salary and have difficulty accessing unemployment benefits. Many of them are concentrated in the South.

In the South, “many people live day-to-day, doing odd jobs, like unloading trucks at markets, and they are in trouble,” Stefano Paoloni, a police union leader, said by phone. “We need to be on the alert to see whether there’s organized crime behind social unrest.”

Criminal Gangs

Police have been stationed outside supermarkets in Palermo after at least one group of angry residents refused to pay for their purchases. The private Facebook group National Revolution, which has about 2,600 members, is urging others to stage such raids, according to newspaper la Repubblica. Other social media outlets, including WhatsApp chats, are being monitored, the newspaper said.

Adding to the sense of things breaking down, ferry company Tirrenia CIN on Monday decided to halt all its connections with Sicily, Sardinia and other minor islands because of financial difficulties. The government said in a statement it will ensure that vital goods are delivered.

Giuseppe Provenzano, who is in charge of the south in Conte’s cabinet, said an emergency handout should also be given to those in the illegal economy. The risk is that organized crime gangs will step in to provide assistance to those in need, filling the gap left by the state.

The government needs to move “without hesitation,” said Graziano Delrio, leader of lower-house lawmakers from the Democratic Party, the second-biggest group in Conte’s coalition. Rome needs “to do whatever’s necessary for the essential needs of families,” he said in an interview.

(Updates with new cases in seventh paragraph.)

March 30, 2020 0

People who brand China a ‘dictatorship’ are jealous that Beijing beat the pandemic, embassy claims

Commentators refusing to give China credit for containing the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan and citing ‘Asian democracies’ as better examples simply envy Beijing’s efficiency, the Chinese embassy in France has said.

China, from which the coronavirus spread throughout the world, has largely succeeded in containing the disease, according to official updates. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, has recorded no new cases in a week and has been lifting the restrictions that helped quash the pandemic.

Beijing sees the outcome as a success story and finds it irritating when commentators in countries currently overwhelmed by the virus insist they have nothing to learn from the Chinese experience. At least that’s what’s suggested in an article published this week by the Chinese embassy in France, where the Covid-19 death toll may soon exceed China’s.

Negative commenters “envy the efficiency of our political system and hate the inability of their own nations to perform as well. So they try to stick the ‘dictatorship’ label on China,” the embassy said.

Instead, detractors praise ‘Asian democracies’ like South Korea, Japan and Singapore, which have been more successful than Western nations in containing the pandemic. However, China, which resorted to more drastic quarantine measures than those countries, has a much bigger population. So its task in fighting the disease was far more difficult, the article argued. Ultimately, the virus doesn’t care whether it is ravaging a ‘democracy’ or an ‘autocracy.’

With the threat of coronavirus diminishing at home, Beijing has been busy building goodwill and sharing expertise with other nations affected by the pandemic, sending doctors and aid supplies to those in need.

Serbian PM: ‘Fake news’ that we don’t appreciate EU help, but Covid-19 aid came from China

This ‘mask diplomacy,’ as some commentators call it, has drawn quite a lot of negative feedback on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Critics say the help comes with political strings attached, undermines European solidarity, and damages targeted nations’ relations with the United States.

There is also a popular narrative claiming that China has massively misreported the human cost of containing the pandemic. The latest item to fuel it is the reported delivery of about 2,500 urns to a funeral home in Wuhan.

Links to the urns story inevitably popped up in comments to the Chinese embassy’s Twitter feed, after it published excerpts from the article.

March 30, 2020 0

Abbott Laboratories Launches 5-Minute Wuhan Virus Test for Use in Nearly All Locations

By Jose Nino – Mar 30, 2020

According to Reuters, Abbott Laboratories recently unveiled a Wuhan virus test that can detect if someone is infected in as few as five minutes.

Additionally, it is small and portable enough to be used in practically all health-care settings.

The medical device manufacturer plans to bring 50,000 test kits to the market starting on April 1, 2020 according to a statement from John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave Abbott emergency use authorization “for use by authorized laboratories and patient care settings,” according to a company announcement on March 27, 2020.

The U.S. has had problems to supply sufficient amounts of tests to detect the virus, even as the outbreak is straining hospital resources in California, New York, Washington, and other regions.

“This is really going to provide a tremendous opportunity for front-line caregivers, those having to diagnose a lot of infections, to close the gap with our testing,” Frels stated. “A clinic will be able to turn that result around quickly, while the patient is waiting.”

The technology expands upon Illinois-based Abbott’s ID Now platform, the most common point-of-care test currently available in America. The platform has more than 18,000 units spread across the country. It is generally used to detect influenza, strep throat, and respiratory syncytial virus, a common ailment that generally causes cold-like symptoms.

The equipment can generally be used anywhere, but the company is working with its customers and the Trump administration to guarantee that the first cartridges used to carry out the tests are sent to locations where they are most needed. The prime spots include hospital emergency rooms, urgent-care clinics, and doctors’ offices.

March 30, 2020 0

Hey MSM, you got coronavirus as another opportunity to roast Trump… but do the polls agree?

President Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been slammed by the mainstream media, with certain networks opting not to air his daily press briefings due to “misinformation.” But polls say the public disagrees.

The Washington Post has been fiercely critical of Trump since long before his election. Yet as the paper described his administration as barrelling “toward calamity” this week, a Washington Post-ABC News poll recorded Trump’s highest ever approval rating, with 48 percent of respondents giving the president the thumbs-up, compared to 46 percent disapproving.

That’s the first time Trump has scored positively on the Post’s poll, but when it comes to his handling of the ongoing pandemic which has killed more than 1,300 Americans thus far, the president’s results are even better. Fifty-one percent approve of his stewardship, while 45 percent don’t.

The results are played out across the board. Polls from Fox News, the Economist, Reuters, Gallup, Emerson and Axios all show positive results for Trump. Gallup’s poll found that 60 percent of Americans support Trump’s response to the crisis, while only 38 percent disapprove. Trump’s handling of the crisis has translated into a record high job approval rating in an average of national polls.

Yet the media tells a different story. President Trump’s daily press briefings are – to quote one NPR station in Seattle – so full of “false or misleading information” that the station will no longer air them.

Staff at CNN and MSNBC have reportedly pleaded with network bosses to drop coverage of the briefings, and the New York Times ran a column on Thursday wondering aloud “should networks cover them?” Individual news personalities have excoriated the president for allegedly spreading baloney. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said on her show this week that if Trump “keeps lying…it’s going to cost lives.”

But the public isn’t listening. The same Gallup poll whose respondents rated Trump at 60 percent found that out of all the institutions responding to the pandemic, Americans rated the news media the worst, with only 44 percent of Americans expressing any trust in it. Even Congress, a perennially unpopular institution in these kinds of surveys, scored higher than the media.

Trump’s bump in popularity can possibly be explained by the “wartime president” effect. In times of great crisis, the electorate tends to put partisan politics aside and rally around their leader. At least that’s how the theory goes. No US president has ever lost a re-election bid during wartime, and Trump has certainly attempted to portray the Covid-19 pandemic as a warlike situation. Describing the virus as an “invisible enemy,” Trump told reporters last week that “I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime president.” Whether Trump manages to keep the public on side as the death toll climbs, however, depends on his actions in the coming weeks.

The public’s falling trust in the media is a slightly more difficult trend to explain. The public’s confidence in journalism has been falling for the better part of a decade, yet the current crisis seems to have exacerbated the downward trend. For one thing, the general public could be tired of the media crying wolf too many times. Rachel Maddow, for instance, raised concern about Trump’s “misinformation,” yet cable news viewers will remember Maddow’s own spreading of bogus ‘Russiagate’ conspiracies during the first three years of Trump’s presidency.

Likewise, the public expects reporters to hold their leaders to account. Given the gravity of the coronavirus situation, the media could be grilling Trump on any number of issues, from his plan to reopen the American economy in a matter of weeks, to the breakdown of the $2 trillion stimulus bill he may sign shortly, to his reluctance to actually enforce the Defense Production Act to manufacture vital medical equipment.

Yet when reporters choose to scold Trump for “racism” instead, the general public learns nothing new.

Trump’s gripes with the media are long-standing. However, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic seems to be winning more and more Americans over to his side.

March 27, 2020 0

Leftist Journo Takes Pleasure In US Becoming Worst Hit Coronavirus Nation: ‘Who’s The S***hole Country Now?’

“If you needed anymore evidence these people hate America.”

By Steve Watson

A leftist columnist seemingly took pleasure in the fact that the US has become the country with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus by mocking President Trump and proclaiming “Who’s the shithole country now?”

Julia Ioffe, who writes for GQ, tweeted out the inane comment along with a link to a New York Times story on the development.

Of course, Ioffe provided no salient facts or useful information, such as President Trump’s assertion that the spike in confirmed cases is down to more robust testing being rolled out.

Nor did Ioffe indicate that in comparison with other hard hit countries, the mortality rate in the US stands at 1.5%, which equates to much fewer deaths per confirmed cases than Italy (10%), Spain (8%), Iran (7.6%) and France (6%).

No, Ioffe simply wanted to vent her pent up Trump derangement syndrome.

Americans are not amused:

March 27, 2020 0

Italian Mayor Threatens to Send “Police With Flamethrowers” to Break Up Graduation Parties

Some continue to ignore social distancing rules.

By Paul Joseph Watson – 26 March, 2020

An Italian mayor has threatened to send police armed with flamethrowers to break up graduation parties as some people continue to ignore social distancing rules despite a nationwide lockdown.

“I’m getting news that some [people] would like to throw graduation parties,” said Vincenzo De Luca, mayor of the Italian town of Campania. “We will send police. With flamethrowers.”

Meanwhile, Massimiliano Presciutti, the mayor of Reggio Calabria, accused some Italians of behaving as if they were in the dystopian sci-fi movie I Am Legend by walking their dogs too much.

"I stopped him and said, 'Look, this isn't a movie. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend. Go home."
This is the updated compilation of Italian Mayors losing it at people violating #Covid19 quarantine. Yes, subtitles are accurate. pic.twitter.com/60V4Csuonb

— 🌈 (@protectheflames) March 22, 2020

“Where the f*** are you all going? You and your dogs… which must have an inflamed prostate?” asked Presciutti.

The mayor said he had personally confronted one such individual.

“I stopped him and said, ‘Look, this isn’t a movie. You are not Will Smith in I Am Legend. Go home.”

Antonio Tutolo, the mayor of Lucera, also slammed people for arranging for mobile hairdressers to visit their homes.

“Getting in mobile hairdressers? What the f*** is that for? Who the f*** is supposed to even see you with your hair all done in a casket? Do you understand the casket will be closed?” he said.

At least 40,000 people were fined for being outside without good reason during the first week of the lockdown in Italy, with some facing 21 years in prison.

“Even gatherings like funerals have also been banned,” reports Zero Hedge. “At least 50 people in Sicily are facing serious criminal charges after breaking the quarantine order after having a funeral for a loved one.”

Meanwhile, across Europe, one particular demographic appears to be paying no attention to lockdown laws whatsoever – migrants.

March 27, 2020 0

Army Asks Retired Soldiers in Health Care Fields to Come Back for COVID-19 Fight

By Hodge Seck

The Army has a message for its retirees: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight the novel coronavirus.

A message sent by Defense Finance and Accounting Services, which processes and dispenses retiree pay, asked troops who had previously served in specific health care specialties to consider “re-joining the team” to address the current pandemic crisis. It’s signed by Lt. Gen. Thomas Seamands, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Army Personnel, G-1.

“We need to hear from you STAT!” reads the message, obtained by Military.com.

The Army, it states, is gauging the interest of retired officers, noncommissioned officers and more junior enlisted soldiers in assisting service efforts to treat the sometimes-deadly disease. The message does not specify whether retired troops would be returned to active status or serve in some other capacity.

“These extraordinary challenges require equally extraordinary solutions and that’s why we’re turning to you — trusted professionals capable of operating under constantly changing conditions,” the message states. “When the Nation called — you answered, and now, that call may come again.”

The call was addressed to retirees from the following health care-specific military occupational specialties:

60F: Critical Care Officer
60N: Anesthesiologist
66F: Nurse Anesthetist
66S: Critical Care Nurse
66P: Nurse Practitioner
66T: ER Nurse
68V: Respiratory Specialist
68W: Medic

The message came with a caveat: retired personnel now working in a civilian capacity in a hospital or other medical facility should make that known. Army officials said they did not want to pull personnel from service they were “providing to the Nation” in that role. They added that former soldiers from a different specialty who were interested in supporting Army efforts should also reach out to communicate that interest.

The call-out directed interested retirees to contact Human Resources Command, Reserve Personnel Management Directorate at Fort Knox, Kentucky, providing contact info and MOS.

As of Wednesday, the Pentagon reported 227 cases of Coronavirus among U.S. troops and 435 total among Defense Department-connected personnel. U.S. cases on Wednesday passed 64,000.

This week, the Pentagon announced that military medical and dental treatment facilities would postpone the majority of elective surgeries, dental procedures and invasive procedures for 60 days as it shifts most resources to fighting the pandemic. A massive relief package moving quickly through Congress Wednesday would triple the number of hospital beds available at these facilities and give the DoD $1.5 billion to open expeditionary military hospitals.

The call to retirees also comes on the heels of a recommendation from the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service for the creation of a “critical skills Individual Ready Reserve” that would serve essentially as a roster of qualified individuals in high-demand fields, likely including health care, on standby to support the Defense Department in times of national emergency. It’s one of 164 recommendations that will be considered by Congress in coming months.

The U.S. Selective Service System also owns a yet-to-be activated standby plan known as the Health Care Personnel Delivery System, colloquially known as the “doctor draft,” that would “provide a fair and equitable draft of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and those with certain other health care skills if, in some future emergency, the military’s existing medical capability proved insufficient and there is a shortage of volunteers.”

That proposed mechanism, however, is designed for use only in wartime and in connection with a broader national mobilization effort, with the approval of Congress and the president.

In a briefing at the Pentagon Wednesday, Air Force Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, Joint Staff surgeon, said he felt generally comfortable that the U.S. military had the resources it needed to continue to fight the virus.

“I’m very comfortable that we’ve analyzed the communities where we have military bases. We’ve looked at what we think their medical requirements would be when an outbreak occurs or if an outbreak occurs in that community,” he said. “Do we have enough health care resources there? Is it the right mix of health care resources? That’s then allowed us to identify what medical capabilities from the military we can offer to help support the whole of government, or to support combatant commands in other parts of the world.”

Interested retirees can contact Human Resources Command, Reserve Personnel Management Directorate, at usarmy.knox.hrc.mbx.g3-retiree-recall@mail.mil or call 502-613-4911.

March 26, 2020 0

CORONAVIRUS – Thursday 26th March

By Dr. John Campbell – 3/26/2020

March 26, 2020 0

‘Data is anonymized’: UK govt accused of ‘fiddling’ Covid-19 death figures amid ‘family consent’ claims

The UK government is facing allegations they are manipulating coronavirus death numbers, after revealing they are changing the way the figures are released, claiming family consent is now required.

On Wednesday night, the Department for Health and Social Care published the latest Covid-19 figures showing an increase of 43 deaths – less than half the fatalities from the previous day (87).

A positive sign that the number had decreased? At first glance, yes, until it’s revealed those figures“do not cover a full 24 hour period” as usual.

The UK government is facing allegations they are manipulating coronavirus death numbers, after revealing they are changing the way the figures are released, claiming family consent is now required.

On Wednesday night, the Department for Health and Social Care published the latest Covid-19 figures showing an increase of 43 deaths – less than half the fatalities from the previous day (87).

A positive sign that the number had decreased? At first glance, yes, until it’s revealed those figures “do not cover a full 24 hour period” as usual.

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 10.45.03 AM

So why? BBC Newsnight’s Nick Watt explained that the government was changing the way it releases Covid-19 death figures, which “may not actually be the deaths that have taken place over the last 24 hrs,” as family consent is now required.

The government’s sudden shift in the criteria of reporting coronavirus numbers has provoked accusations that they are manipulating data without a valid reason. Luke Cooper, an associate researcher at LSE Conflict and Civil society research claimed that it “sounds an awful lot like government is fiddling the figures,” insisting that it is “not true” that consent is required “if data is anonymized.”

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 10.47.21 AM

Echoing that sentiment, Dr. Nisreen Alwan – an associate professor in public health at Southampton University – says that as is the case for information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), “consent is not needed” for anonymized mortality data.

Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 10.48.42 AM

Sam Fowles, a barrister that advised Another Europe – a pro-EU campaign group – on its GDPR compliance concurred, adding that “even if it were personal data, the government could arguably publish on the basis of overwhelming public interest. But in any case, it isn’t.”

PM Johnson ordered a temporary national lockdown on Monday and advised British people to “stay at home” outside of emergencies, buying essential supplies or getting exercise, otherwise they face the possibility of fines and even arrest.

The number of confirmed UK cases of Covid-19 currently stands at 9,529 – a rise of 1,452 in 24 hours.

March 26, 2020 0

Man Charged with Terroristic Threat for Allegedly Coughing on Grocery Store Worker

The police state is growing because of the coronavirus pandemic.

By Shane Trejo

A man has been charged with a terroristic threat after allegedly coughing on a grocery store employee while saying that he had the coronavirus over the weekend.

This individual reportedly committed this assault at a Wegman’s in New Jersey. 50-year-old George Falcone of Freehold, N.J. is the suspect. He is also being charged with obstructing administration of law or other governmental function and harassment following the incident.

The incident took place on Sunday after a Wegman’s employee allegedly requested for Falcone to stand further away from her while she was preparing food. This reportedly offended Falcone, who leaned into her and purposefully coughed while facetiously saying that he had coronavirus while laughing. He faces up to seven years in prison and a fine up to $26,000 for his alleged actions.

“These are extremely difficult times in which all of us are called upon to be considerate of each other — not to engage in intimidation and spread fear, as alleged in this case,” said far-left New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.

“We must do everything we can to deter this type of conduct and any similar conduct that harms others during this emergency,” he added.

Grewal, who opened the flood gates for illegal immigrants in his state, has used coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to crack down on supposed hate speech related to the origin of the virus.

Big League Politics has reported on Grewal’s proposed diversity gestapo:

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued a “guidance” on Thursday telling employers that they may be guilty of illegal discrimination if they allow workers to call the COVID-19 coronavirus “the Chinese virus.”

“Among the guidance’s keynotes are that employers may be in violation of the LAD’s prohibition on disability discrimination if they fire an employee for exhibiting possible COVID-19 symptoms,” Grewal explained in his press release.

He added: “The guidance also states that employers must take reasonable action to stop harassment of one employee by another employee if the employer knows or should have known about it: for example, if one employee has east-Asian heritage and a coworker repeatedly harasses her by claiming that Asian people caused COVID-19 or calling this ‘the Chinese virus.’”

Grewal claims that noting the virus originated from China is a violation of the New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination (LAD). During a time in which resources are being stretched in an unprecedented crisis, this is what Grewal is concerned about.

“COVID-19 is no excuse for racism, xenophobia, or hate,”Grewal said. “Discrimination and harassment in violation of New Jersey law remains illegal even if it occurs against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Now, more than ever, we should recognize that we’re all in this together. Words and actions that divide us won’t make any of us safer or stronger.”

He is urging citizens to snitch on their fellow man during the coronavirus crisis in case someone’s feelings get hurt.

When the coronavirus pandemic ends, it is not likely that Americans will regain the many liberties they have lost throughout the crisis.

March 25, 2020 0

As Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte fights to hold Italian society together through a crippling nationwide lockdown, the depressed south is turning into a powder keg.

Calls for Help

Criminal Gangs

Commentators refusing to give China credit for containing the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan and citing ‘Asian democracies’ as better examples simply envy Beijing’s efficiency, the Chinese embassy in France has said.

According to Reuters, Abbott Laboratories recently unveiled a Wuhan virus test that can detect if someone is infected in as few as five minutes.

President Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been slammed by the mainstream media, with certain networks opting not to air his daily press briefings due to “misinformation.” But polls say the public disagrees.

“If you needed anymore evidence these people hate America.”

A leftist columnist seemingly took pleasure in the fact that the US has become the country with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus by mocking President Trump and proclaiming “Who’s the shithole country now?”

Some continue to ignore social distancing rules.

An Italian mayor has threatened to send police armed with flamethrowers to break up graduation parties as some people continue to ignore social distancing rules despite a nationwide lockdown.

The Army has a message for its retirees: Uncle Sam wants you to help fight the novel coronavirus.

60F: Critical Care Officer

60N: Anesthesiologist

66F: Nurse Anesthetist

66S: Critical Care Nurse

66P: Nurse Practitioner

66T: ER Nurse

68V: Respiratory Specialist

68W: Medic

The UK government is facing allegations they are manipulating coronavirus death numbers, after revealing they are changing the way the figures are released, claiming family consent is now required.

The police state is growing because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A man has been charged with a terroristic threat after allegedly coughing on a grocery store employee while saying that he had the coronavirus over the weekend.