COVID-19 Links to China

US intelligence agencies are still unable to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic started, according to a declassified intel report released on Friday (23 June).


In the report, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence states that all government agencies "continue to assess that both a natural and laboratory-associated origin remain plausible hypotheses to explain the first human infection."

The report acknowledged that researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists conducted coronavirus research in the city where Covid first emerged, fell ill in the fall of 2019, shortly before the pandemic began.


The report acknowledged that several researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology fell mildly ill in Fall 2019.  READ MORE...

Relocating to the South

HOUSTON – From Arizona to Texas to North Carolina, the Sun Belt is becoming a hot spot for business relocation. Companies across America are cutting costs by moving south. And, that’s fueling a housing boom in Texas.

Jeff Holzmann is the CEO of IRM Services, an asset management company. He says the move from The New York-New Jersey area to Dallas has saved the company millions in under two years.

"I would say that on a per-foot basis, per employee we pay about 60% down here in Dallas where I am today compared to what we would pay in New Jersey, and it’s even less if we were comparing to our New York City/Manhattan offices," Holzmann said.

Businesses are relocating to The Sun Belt. One CEO says relocating from the New York/New Jersey area to Dallas has saved his company millions. (RREAF Holdings / Fox News)

He added that the Sun Belt region is different than it was 30-40 years ago. "It’s a fantastic place to be. The prices are affordable, the talent is around and is seeking an opportunity."

The Texas population increased by over 300,000 people last year, and part of that increase is due to all the businesses relocating to the Lone Star state.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic also played a factor in this business relocation. "The comeback to work was so much quicker down in Dallas and down South," Holzmann said.

Employees like Barbara Kogler, who also relocated from the north, said the move was a win.

"It’s a little bit cheaper here, and I’m making better money," Kogler said.  READ MORE...

Covid Tests No Longer Free

The first real-world consequences of dwindling federal COVID-19 funds have started to be felt in recent days.

Coronavirus tests for uninsured patients are no longer free in some places. That's because the program that reimbursed clinics and hospitals for the testing, as well as for treating uninsured patients with COVID-19, stopped accepting claims last week "due to lack of sufficient funds." Some clinics have already started to turn away people without insurance who come to get tested and can't afford to pay for it.

Free vaccines for uninsured people are next — that funding will run out next week. After that, the vaccines themselves will still be covered by the government — for now — but the costs of administering them will no longer be billed to the federal program.

In another blow to the COVID-19 response, federal shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments to states — drugs designed to keep people infected with the coronavirus out of the hospital — were also slashed last week by 35%, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Biden administration officials such as Becerra warn that this is just the beginning. They've cited a long list of consequences — short and long term — as they plead with lawmakers to allocate $22.5 billion more for pandemic relief.

At the moment, that request for funding appears stalled in Congress. That has hospitals and public health experts worried that the U.S. will be poorly equipped to identify — let alone manage — whatever happens next with the pandemic.  READ MORE...

The Minority of the ELITE

noun. \ ā-ˈlēt , i-, ē- \ 

Essential Meaning of elite. 

1 : the people who have the most wealth and status in a society : the most successful or powerful group of people. 

2 US : a person who is a member of an elite : a successful and powerful person.

The most important characteristic of this so-called ELITE, is the fact that they are always in a MINORITY...  and, if they are in a minority, then the majority should be able to exercise their collective powers and force them out-of-the-picture...

For example:

There are more Canadian Truckers than there are police or tow trucks so they have the advantage over the government who is in a minority.

There are less highway patrol people on the highways than there are drivers, so if the drivers got together and organized they could drive at any speed they wanted to.

There are more whites in America than there are blacks so why are the whites allowing the blacks to push them around

There are more workers in the USA than there are owners or bosses ...so if the workers collectively don't want to work then the workers have the power.

There are less wealthy people than there are others who are not wealthy and yet the wealthy can control our society...  they can do this because we do not collectively stand up against them.

COVID-19 has showed us that the majority once collectively joined can stand up to the elite minority...

• Parents against the VA school Board
• Canadian Truckers against the government
• Unemployed workers against companies
• Americans against facemasks
• Americans against vaccines
• Americans against government control
• Americans against lockdowns
• American against critical race theory
• Americans against being WOKE
• Americans against the cancel culture
• Americans against crime and violence

THINK ABOUT THAT

The Black Boom

Economic inequality continues to be one of the most hotly debated topics in America, but there has been relatively little discussion of the fact that black-white gaps in joblessness, income, poverty, and other measures were shrinking prior to the pandemic.

Why was it happening, and why did this phenomenon go unacknowledged by so much of the media?

In The Black Boom, Jason L. Riley—acclaimed Wall Street Journal columnist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute—digs into the data and concludes that the economic lives of black people improved significantly under policies put into place during the Trump administration. To acknowledge as much is not to endorse the 45th president but rather to champion policies that achieve a clear moral objective shared by most Americans.

As Riley argues in The Black Boom: “Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, the economic fortunes of blacks improved under Trump to an extent that was not only unseen under Obama but unseen going back several generations. Black unemployment and poverty reached historic lows, and black wages increased at a faster clip than white wages.”

Less inequality is something that everyone wants, but disapproval of Trump’s personality and methods too often skewed the media’s appraisal of effective policies advocated by his c. If we want to make real progress in improving the lives of low-income minorities, says Riley, we must look beyond our partisan differences at what works and keep doing it. Unfortunately, many press outlets were unable or unwilling to do that.

As The Black Boom notes: “Political reporters were not unaware of this data. Rather, they chose to ignore or downplay it because it was inconvenient. In their view, Trump, because he was a Republican and because he was Trump, had it in for blacks, and thus his policy preferences would be harmful to minorities.

To highlight the fact that significant racial disparities were narrowing on his watch—that the administration’s tax and regulatory reforms were mainly boosting the working and middle classes rather than ‘the rich’—would have undermined a narrative that the media preferred to advance, regardless of its veracity.”

As with previous books in our New Threats to Freedom series, The Black Boom includes two essays from prominent experts who take issue with the author’s perspective. Juan Williams, a veteran journalist, and Wilfred Reilly, a political scientist, contribute thoughtful responses to Riley and show that it is possible to share a deep concern for disadvantaged groups in our society even while disagreeing on how best to help them.

The Black Boom exemplifies the calm, rational dialogue that Americans want and need at this moment in our history to understand which public policies best promote upward mobility for everyone.  SOURCE:  GOOGLE BOOKS

Why is Joe Biden so Unpopular?

It's in a two-minute TV ad narrated in authoritative and reassuring tones by none other than Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks. It was in a graphics and light display outside the White House on Wednesday night, when the Democratic National Committee showcased record job numbers and vaccination progress. It's in the avalanche of fact sheets from the administration detailing President Joe Biden's 2021 accomplishments, and it was in the sometimes-exasperated voice of Biden himself Wednesday as he pleaded his case for a good freshman year grade.

If there were an avatar to accompany the PR campaign, it would be an image of the baffled president, lifting America up by its collective lapels and screaming, "What is wrong with you people? Why don't you LIKE ME!?"

The frustration is understandable. On paper, the Biden administration has racked up some impressive achievements: more than 6 million new jobs were created, a single-year record. Unemployment dropped from 6.2% to 3.9%, another single-year first. Childhood poverty and hunger are down while average wages went up. Biden has the first majority non-white Cabinet in history and presides over the most diverse administration in history. He passed a massive COVID-19 relief bill and an expansive infrastructure package many previous presidents tried and failed to achieve.

But as polling consistently shows, American voters don't like Biden – or at least, they don't think he's doing a good job. An average of current polling shows the president with an anemic 41.7% approval rating, with 53.4% disapproving of him. And while high inflation has alarmed many Americans, Biden's slide in the polls began last August, before prices started to jump.  READ MORE...

INSULT TO TRUTH... Trudeau says...

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has slammed protests in the capital city against Covid-19 vaccine mandates as "an insult to memory and truth".

Protestors are demonstrating for a third consecutive day over a cross-border vaccine mandate for truckers imposed by the Liberal government.

Ottawa police asked the public to avoid the downtown area on Monday, citing "traffic, noise and safety issues".

Some downtown stores, including a shopping mall, will also be closed.

Demonstrators at the so-called Freedom Convoy have been mostly peaceful but the behaviour of some members of the crowd has been strongly criticised.

Police have opened investigations into several reported incidents, including footage of a woman dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Memorial.

Nazi symbolism was seen on protest signs, some likening Covid-19 health measures to Jews under Nazi persecution. Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies criticised the use of those symbols as "a heinous form of Holocaust distortion".

Mr Trudeau said: "Freedom of expression, assembly and association are cornerstones of democracy, but Nazi symbolism, racist imagery and desecration of war memorials are not."  READ MORE...

Canada - Freedom Convoy

After a week-long drive across Canada, a convoy of big rigs has arrived in the national capital to protest vaccine mandates and Covid-19 measures. Organisers insist it will be peaceful, but police say they're prepared for trouble.

It's been dubbed the Freedom Convoy, and it's got the country talking.

The movement was sparked by a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government earlier this month.

Upset with the new measure that would require unvaccinated Canadian truckers crossing the two nations' boundary to quarantine once they've returned home, a loose coalition of truckers and conservative groups began to organise the cross-country drive that began in western Canada.

It picked up steam and gathered support as it drove east. Many supporters, already opposed to Mr Trudeau and his politics, have grown frustrated with pandemic measures they see as political overreach.

Social media and news footage showed trucks and companion vehicles snaking along highways, cheered on by people gathered on roadsides and overpasses, often waving Canadian flags and signs disparaging Mr Trudeau.  READ MORE...

Artificial Intelligence Trends 2020 to 2030

Dublin, June 04, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) 

The "Artificial Intelligence Global Market Report 2020-30: COVID-19 Growth and Change" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides the strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global artificial intelligence market.

This report focuses on the artificial intelligence market which is experiencing strong growth. the report gives a guide to the artificial intelligence market which will be shaping and changing our lives over the next ten years and beyond, including the markets response to the challenge of the global pandemic.

The global artificial intelligence market is expected to grow from $28.42 billion in 2019 to $40.74 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.39%. The growth is mainly due to the COVID-19 health emergency across the globe that has led to a new wave of transformative technologies including the revolutionary artificial intelligence technology (for example - smart machines and robots) emerging as a possible solution to contain the epidemic. The market is then expected to recover and reach $99.94 billion in 2023 at CAGR of 34.86%.

Reasons to Purchase

• Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 12+ geographies.
• Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.
• Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
• Identify growth segments for investment.
• Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
• Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.
• Benchmark performance against key competitors.
• Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.
• Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. it traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. it places the market within the context of the wider artificial intelligence market, and compares it with other markets.

• the market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.
• the market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the influence of the COVID-19 virus and forecasting its growth.
• Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.
• the regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth. it covers the growth trajectory of COVID-19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets.
• Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified.
• the trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers.
• the artificial intelligence market section of the report gives context. it compares the artificial intelligence market with other segments of the artificial intelligence market by size and growth, historic and forecast. it analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, artificial intelligence indicators comparison.

The artificial intelligence market consists of sales of the artificial intelligence software and related services. Artificial Intelligence (AI) sometimes referred to as machine intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a wide-ranging branch of computer science related with building smart machines that can perform tasks that require human intelligence.  READ MORE...

China Not Impressed

US climate envoy John Kerry has told China that climate change is more important than politics as tensions between the two countries continue.  He made the remarks following two days of talks with Chinese leaders in the city of Tianjin.

But China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Wednesday that the worsening relationship could hamper future co-operation on climate issues. Both countries have outlined steps to tackle climate change.  But Mr Kerry has called on China to increase its efforts to tackle carbon emissions.

Tensions between the two countries have worsened in recent months with disputes over China's human rights record, the South China Sea and the Covid-19 pandemic.  Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr Kerry said he had told the Chinese that "climate is not ideological, not partisan and not a geostrategic weapon".

"It is essential... no matter what differences we have, that we have to address the climate crisis," he said   Earlier, Mr Wang called on the US to "stop seeing China as a threat and an opponent", accusing Washington of a "major strategic miscalculation towards China".

"It is impossible for China-US climate co-operation to be elevated above the overall environment of China-US relations," he said. China became the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide in 2006 and is now responsible for more than a quarter of the world's overall greenhouse gas emissions.

President Xi Jinping has said he will aim for China's emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for the country to be carbon neutral by 2060. But it is not yet clear how he plans to achieve this.  Mr Kerry said he aimed to meet Chinese leaders again ahead of the upcoming COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow this year and push for stronger emission reduction targets.  READ MORE  

Reconsidering

 

BREAKING: After Immense Criticism, Former (and likely current) President Barack Obama Scales Back Huge Birthday Bash For Himself...

China & Wuhan Labs Released Virus

Sen. Tom Cotton was right. What was once a “conspiracy theory” may now be “conspiracy fact.” According to a new congressional report, Chinese scientists altered the COVID-19 virus under unsafe conditions at the Wuhan Institute of Virology prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

The report runs contrary to early efforts to stifle the so-called “lab leak theory” by the New York Times, which dismissed the theory by tying the hypothesis to racism and xenophobia. Its most vocal proponent, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, was widely denounced as a conspiracy theorist.

The report, authored by the minority staff on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says that the Wuhan lab was engaged in “dangerous genetic modification research on coronaviruses at unsafe biosafety levels.” The report also reveals unsafe working conditions at the lab and new information which shows the Chinese government sought to mislead the world about the experiments taking place, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

Congressional investigators say researchers at the lab “had the ability to genetically modify coronaviruses as early as 2016 without leaving any trace of that modification.”

According to the report, evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic “was accidentally released from a Wuhan Institute of Virology laboratory sometime prior to September 12, 2019.”

“It is incumbent upon the United States and like-minded countries around the world to ensure accountability and implement the reforms necessary to prevent the CCP's malfeasance from giving rise to a third pandemic during the 21st century.”  

The findings by congressional Republicans led by Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's ranking member, may increase the mounting pressure the U.S. government is receiving to sanction China and hold the Chinese government accountable for the pandemic.  READ MORE

Surviving A Global Collapse of Society

New Zealand, Iceland, the UK, Tasmania and Ireland are the places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a study.

The researchers said human civilisation was “in a perilous state” due to the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that had developed and the environmental damage this had caused.

A collapse could arise from shocks, such as a severe financial crisis, the impacts of the climate crisis, destruction of nature, an even worse pandemic than Covid-19 or a combination of these, the scientists said.

To assess which nations would be most resilient to such a collapse, countries were ranked according to their ability to grow food for their population, protect their borders from unwanted mass migration, and maintain an electrical grid and some manufacturing ability. Islands in temperate regions and mostly with low population densities came out on top.

The researchers said their study highlighted the factors that nations must improve to increase resilience. They said that a globalised society that prized economic efficiency damaged resilience, and that spare capacity needed to exist in food and other vital sectors.

Billionaires have been reported to be buying land for bunkers in New Zealand in preparation for an apocalypse. “We weren’t surprised New Zealand was on our list,” said Prof Aled Jones, at the Global Sustainability Institute, at Anglia Ruskin University, in the UK.

Jones added: “We chose that you had to be able to protect borders and places had to be temperate. So with hindsight it’s quite obvious that large islands with complex societies on them already [make up the list].  READ MORE

NO DOUBTS AT ALL

Coronavirus pandemic likely 'could have been prevented' if China, WHO acted differently, report says

Republican lawmakers calling on WHO's leader to resign

as written By Greg Norman | Fox News

To read entire article, click here...

The GOP members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a 96 page document indicating that China and the WHO could have prevented the Global Pandemic if they had acted with transparency from the beginning...

ODD that this report was released by the GOP members of this House Committee when the House and this Committee are controlled by the Democrats...

Why are the DEMOCRATS not wanting to blame CHINA and the WHO (World Health Organization) for covering up the release of the Corona Virus Pandemic.

Seems irresponsible to me...

A New Month

2020 has seen 5 months pass by and needless to say these last 5 months will not be forgotten any time soon in our minds, our actions, our behaviors, and by the historians who will document us and at some point-in-time will write about us...

What do you think JUNE will be?

• more of the same
• a little different
• another direction

These last 5 months I only left the house if I had a doctor's appointment or a chemo treatment until the last 2 weeks in May where I went to a restaurant and also to a wedding.  This month, I have just as many doctor's appointments cheno treatment in two weeks that I had in 4 months...  plus, we are going to Myrtle Beach, SC for two weeks.

Regardless of how we find our apartment, my wife and I will enter the room with gloves on and will clean the room again...  that is to say all surfaces that could be touched and make sure that we put the remote in a zip locked bag....  we will request that are room not be cleaned everyday but that towels be delivered everyday...

As far as the beach chairs are concerned, we will not worry about that because of the exposure to the UV rays of the sunlight...  and, will probably go to restaurants and dine-in rather than take-out because that part is being well managed.

I fear this will be our new normal...

Staying At Home

My wife and I have basically stayed at home since he middle of February or for about 3 months (90 days) so far...  with the except of necessary doctor appointments or chemo treatments...  and, with the understanding that if we need something from the store, my wife who has a stronger immune system than me, is the one who does the shopping which she really care to do as it gets her out-of-the-house.  She is somewhat annoyed by the quarantine at home whereas it bothers me not at all.

So, what do I do on these days that I stay at home?

1. Drink coffee and write in the mornings
2. Maintain my blogs
3. Exercise for an hour
4. Work outside on the yard, pool, deck
5. Cook 'idea of the moment" meals
6. Watch shows on Netflix and Hulu
7. Listen to Audible Books
8. Soak in the hot tub

I have read articles recently that many people have gained weight because of the Stay At Home Orders because they are bored...  and, that many people have consumed more alcohol than they normally do as well...  and, have taken more drugs to offset the boredom.

In a way, I feel sorry for these people because they lack self-respect, self-confidence, self-determination and lack the ability to take responsibility for their actions...

My first question is:  

Do you really want these people as your employees?

My second question is:  

Do you really want to be married to these kinds of people?

Unfortunately, this crisis is not really going away until we find a vaccine...

A VERY PERSONAL OPINION

Just saw on the news where the owner of a SALON was put in jail because she violated the STAY AT HOME...   NO WORK ORDERS issued by the Texas Governor... 

The judge said that she was  IRRESPONSIBLE but she retorted that SHE WAS VERY RESPONSIBLE AS SHE WAS TRYING TO FEED HER CHILDREN...  

The judge did not accept her explanation since she had ignored numerous restraining orders and gave her a choice, either:

1. spend 7 days in jail
2. pay $7,000 in fines

Both those choices HURTS HER CHILDREN...

THIS IS WRONG IN SO MANY WAYS...

Where Are We Going From Here?

I know that one is not supposed to answer a question with a question but, "Can we get there from here?"  And if we do not know where we are going, we cannot get anywhere other than putting one foot in front of the other one and keep doing that until we get somewhere...  but, even that seems like a stupid thing to do, especially from a logical point-of-view.  It would appear that my ARTICLE Title Question needs a tad more clarification...

This is a good example of how fast the mind moves relative to how fast the hand type because what I was thinking when I thought up the ARTICLE Title Question was where are we, as a nation, going relative to going back-to-work while the Pandemic is still AT LARGE.


First of all, it really does make sense, and I mean logical sense, to open up our economy slowly with the understanding of 25% then 50% then 75% and finally 100%.  But, as was pointed out to me from a restaurant owner, if his restaurant is opened with 25% capacity, he still has to employ almost as many people as when his restaurant is opened 100% so he would be losing money and quite possibly file for bankruptcy...  in other words, 25% would hurt worse than 0%...  BUT, this is not the case for everyone.  So, where are we going as a nation?

• Do we open National Parks?
• Do we open Public and Private Beaches?
• Do we open up Baseball Stadiums?
• Do we open up Restaurants?
• Do we open up Movie Theaters?
• Do we open up Schools?
• Do we open up Airline Travel?
• Do we open up Cruise Ships?
• Do we open up Hotels and Motels?

AND...  would the 25% then the 50% then the 75% then the 100% work for everyone?

DID CHINA RELEASE COVID-19 INTENTIONALLY?

SPECULATION at best...  but I believe that over time the world will discover that China intentionally released the virus in the hopes that the rest of the world would have their economies damaged if not destroyed like their economy had suffered...

That would make the CHINESE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT liable for all our global deaths caused by this Pandemic...

Hard to believe that a something like this could happen in 2020...

WORLDWIDE
3,500,000  cases
239,000 DEATHS

UNITED STATES
1,190,000 cases
68,551 DEATHS

RESTLESSNESS

WE WANT TO LEAVE OUR HOUSES, HOMES, MANSIONS, AND APARTMENTS...

We want o leave our houses, homes, mansions, and apartments...

We want to leave our houses, homes, mansions, and apartments...

We've been closed in long enough...

This coronavirus is not going to hurt us...

We are smart enough to take care of ourselves...

We have the RIGHT to decide if we want to use a face mask...

Forcing us to stay at home is a violation of our Civil Rights guaranteed to us...