Virus news - 'Odds & Ends'

Since we can't find masks here in Maine a friend in Massachusetts made some and mailed them to us.  I'm not sure how they are supposed to fit.  I finally got it on but can't see anything!  What do I do now?

• Nurses Strike: Ten nurses working at Providence Saint John’s health center in Santa Monica, California were suspended for refusing to work without N95 masks. They say the hospital didn’t provide essential protective gear.  They are among hundreds of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers across the country who say they’ve been asked to work without adequate protection. Some have taken part in protests or lodged formal complaints. Others are buying or even making their own supplies.

Angela Gatdula, a Saint John’s nurse who fell ill with coronavirus, said she asked hospital managers why doctors were wearing N95 masks but nurses weren’t. She says they told her the CDC said surgical masks were enough to keep her safe.  Then she was hit with a dry cough, severe body aches and joint pain. “When I got the phone call that I was positive, I got really scared,” she said. She is recovering and plans to return to work next week. “The next nurse that gets this might not be lucky. They might require hospitalization. They might die,” she said.

Wrestling Essential: In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has decreed that professional wrestling is an 'essential service'.  He will allow matches to resume but without fans in the seats.  The matches will be televised giving the public 'the diversion' they need from the virus pandemic the governor maintained.  The decision marked some positive news for WWE CEO Vince McMahon, whose startup professional football league, the XFL, filed for bankruptcy on Monday after firing all of its employees and ceasing operations Friday. McMahon is a long-time friend of Donald Trump.  They famously had a live wrestling match some years ago.  I've always believed that Trump's political base came from this 'wrestling' exposure.

• French Navy hit with virus: Nearly 1,000 sailors assigned to the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle have tested positive for the coronavirus. The French armed forces ministry said nearly all 2,000 sailors from the carrier had been tested so far. Results have yet to come in for all of those tested. The carrier had most recently been taking part in exercises with northern European NATO navies in the Baltic Sea. (Ask your self - aimed at whom?) Charles de Gaulle's warplane and helicopter pilots are also in quarantine. The armed forces ministry said the navy chief has ordered an investigation into the outbreak.

• U.S. wants to run from its Chinese debt:  The repeated accusations of White House against Beijing concerning a coronavirus epidemic have ended in demands not to pay US  debts owed to China. Since China remains the largest holder of US government bonds, it is essentially a selective default. “In order to punish Beijing for hiding information about the outbreak in Wuhan, which started a planetary-scale health crisis, we need to write off some of the American debt in the reserves of the Chinese Central Bank,” said Tennessee Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn. 

The Americans are demanding $1.2 trillion in compensation. By “random” coincidence, this exactly corresponds to the amount of US bonds on the balance sheet of the People’s Bank of China. If Washington goes forward with this plan it could completely destroy the US public debt market – investors will stop buying new bond issues because of the excess supply. Consequently, the Treasury will have nothing to finance a record budget deficit, as well as multi-trillion-dollar anti-crisis support programs for the national economy. If the Federal Reserve dares to cover these costs only at the expense of the printing press, the position of the dollar as the world reserve currency will be permanently undermined.

• Washington DC clamp down: Newsweek reports that District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a one-month extension of the state of emergency, as cases in the region grow at a rapid pace. Federal officials in the nation's capital expect a New York-like epidemic in the District, Maryland and Virginia, one that could potentially cripple the government. "No one wants to talk evacuation, especially when there's nowhere to go," says a senior military officer working on continuity of government planning; he requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the record.

But a little-known military task force charged with evacuating Washington has already been activated, a task force charged with the most sensitive government mission of "securing" Washington in the face of attackers, foreign and domestic—and if necessary, moving White House and other key government offices to alternate locations.

• Light on Gates: The virus epidemic has shifted much light onto the Robert Gates foundation's work and particularly on his global vaccine campaign.  His efforts in India and Africa have been controversial for many years.  The Gates foundation essentially tests vaccines on children.  He hires doctors and nurses at pay far above usual hiring scales.  Thus the normal medical systems in those countries are negatively impacted as they lose medical staffs and quality of health care declines.  In India, where 5 vaccines were the normal standard, Gates imposed the need for 50 vaccines per child. Many children got ill from the vaccines.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an American environmental attorney, author, and critic of the Gates vaccination program. Kennedy is a son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy. He is the president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, a non-profit environmental group.

Kennedy writes: 

#Vaccines, for #BillGates, are a strategic philanthropy that feed his many vaccine-related businesses (including #Microsoft’s ambition to control a global vac ID enterprise) and give him dictatorial control over global health policy—the spear tip of corporate neo-imperialism.

Gates’ obsession with vaccines seems fueled by a messianic conviction that he is ordained to save the world with technology and a god-like willingness to experiment with the lives of lesser humans.

• Aggressive navy?: With too much time on their hands, those working inside the massive Pentagon in Washington are doing their bit to help stoke the growing China demonization campaign.  During the past week we heard unrestrained outrage from Washington as China dared to sail some of its warships into the East China Sea.  (Please note the irony in the name of the waterway.)  The US quickly dispatched its own warships to challenge the Chinese, declaring that they were protecting the right of passage in international waters.  

In this graphic below you can see just how 'aggressive' the Chinese navy is.  Ask yourself which navy (China or the US) is far from home?  The continued attacks on China (and Russia) indicate the US corporate oligarchy are in a state of panic as they attempt to reimpose their global economic and military empire.  It is a dangerous game that Washington is playing.

Bruce