Tech Companies Weren't Hoarding Masks, They Were Protecting Employees From Wildfire Smoke

Plus: Kudlow says total stimulus package will cost $6 trillion, jails free nonviolent offenders, more...

U.S. tech companies have been donating a massive number of N95 particulate-filtering face masks to hospitals and health care workers. Holding up the old adage about no good deed going unpunished, some Americans have been lashing out at these companies.

Some of this has come in the form of hostility toward tech giants that's better suited for government officials here. And, sure, front-line workers in this pandemic shouldn't have to "rely on Silicon Valley for face masks." But the fact that Silicon Valley companies are stepping up to provide supplies we lack because of government mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak response, excessive regulations surrounding who can manufacture medical supplies, and generally poor pandemic prep from federal authorities is hardly a knock against these technology companies.

Some of the hostility has come from folks accusing tech companies of having hoarded N95 masks previously, or implying that there's something untoward about them having all these masks "just laying around."

Again, this ire is misplaced. Mask donations are coming from the likes of Facebook, Apple, Salesforce, Tesla, Flexport, Intel, and IBM, all headquartered or with operations in the Bay Area. That's an area wracked with wildfires, especially these days.

Last year, California amended health regulations to require employers in certain wildfire risk areas to provide voluntary N95 respirator masks for at-risk employees. The regulation, from California's Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, took effect in August 2019 and is set to sunset after one year.

The types of masks mandated in California are not surgical N95 masks but those that block particles of dust, smoke, and construction byproducts. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration relaxed its rules to say that the non-surgical N95 masks were allowed to be used by health care workers and medical facilities.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook's reserve of masks had been "bought in case the wildfires continued." (He also said the company is trying to source "a lot more to donate.")

Our teams at Apple have been working to help source supplies for healthcare providers fighting COVID-19. We're donating millions of masks for health professionals in the US and Europe. To every one of the heroes on the front lines, we thank you.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 21, 2020

Thank you to our Ohana for delivering our first 9000 masks to UCSF. We are working hard across all of our resources & relationships to deliver an additional 5 million masks this week plus additional critical PPE. All of us need to focus on getting PPE to our local hospitals. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/y7mgL0KhrT

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) March 23, 2020

Do these donations come even remotely near to solving all our mask problems? No. But they still may save a lot of lives and prevent even more infections.

We're going to need private businesses big and small, state and federal authorities, charitable groups, and countless individuals to work together to get through this. Now isn't the time for the kind of reactionary, anti-markets, anti-Big Tech bias that's still too frequently coming from both the political left and right in the wake of COVID-19.

---

FREE MARKETS

A federal stimulus package was hashed out in Congress yesterday, calling for $2 trillion in direct aid spending. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) said the package contained "unemployment compensation on steroids."

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the total price of the economic stimulus plan will be about $6 trillion, once you factor in $4 trillion in Federal Reserve loans--making it the largest economic stimulus plan approved in U.S. history.

"Ladies and gentleman, we are done," White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland said right before 1am after leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office following negotiations that have spanned around the clock since last Friday. "We have a deal."

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) March 25, 2020

Stay tuned for more Reason commentary on the package later today. For now, here are some thoughts from Michigan* Independent Rep. Justin Amash:

This bipartisan deal is a raw deal for the people. It does far too little for those who need the most help, while providing hundreds of billions in corporate welfare, massively growing government, inhibiting economic adaptation, and widening the gap between the rich and the poor.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) March 25, 2020

And check out Billy Binion's Tuesday interview with Amash about the idea of cutting direct checks to all Americans.

---

FREE MINDS

Prisons and jails are releasing people incarcerated for nonviolent crimes as facilities face COVID-19 outbreaks. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to release 300 people from Rikers Island and at least 1,700 jail inmates have already been released in Los Angeles County.

"Thousands of elderly federal inmates are incarcerated in prisons that could become hothouses for COVID-19, and advocates and members of Congress say the Trump administration needs to take rapid action to get them out of harm's way," Reason's C.J. Ciaramella noted yesterday. "On Tuesday criminal justice groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle—not to mention inmates themselves—urged the Trump administration to use existing compassionate release policies, as well as mass clemency or executive orders, to free at-risk federal inmates."

Dozens of people, both workers& the incarcerated, have tested positive for COVID-19 on Rikers.

Many are forcibly cramped into close quarters. They do not have reliable access to soap or sanitizer. This is a humanitarian crisis.

Decarceral action must become an urgent priority. https://t.co/IDbNN3etew

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 25, 2020

Related: "Why coronavirus in jails should concern us all."

---

QUICK HITS

• Colorado is repealing the death penalty; Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal bill into law yesterday.
• A lot more young people than expected are winding up hospitalized from the COVID-19 virus.
• Want to see the economy saved? We need mass testing for COVID-19.
• "If the government won't do the right thing, organised crime will":

Gangs in the Rio de Janeiro favelas have enforced a lockdown from 8pm tonight. The statement reads: "If the government won't do the right thing, organised crime will" pic.twitter.com/dK0wtAR3KA

— Andrew Cesare (@AndrewCesare) March 23, 2020

• Prince Charles, the 71-year-old heir to England's throne, has contracted the coronavirus.
• Here come the COVID-19 truthers:

Poll: 23% of American adults say the novel coronavirus was deliberately developed in a lab. 6% say it was a lab accident. 1% say the whole thing is made up. https://t.co/NvUgu0z7Ud

— Jesse Walker (@notjessewalker) March 25, 2020

• India is on total lockdown.
• A federal rule about school lunches is putting children at risk.
• But didn't the president say China was paying for the tariffs?

Trump's government is debating whether to defer import tariffs for 3 months, sources say https://t.co/lfu4tmzRKn

— Bloomberg (@business) March 24, 2020

---

CORRECTION: Amash represents Michigan, not Vermont. 

Comments

[loveconstitution1789]

Journalism Needs a Stimulus. Here’s What it Should Look Like

MSM hacks should not get shit. They contributed to a panic.

[Ra's al Gore]

Let the Chinese govt continue to subsidize them.

[Mother's lament]

Here's a list of people who matter, especially now: Soldiers, nurses, truckers, engineers, cops, grocery shelf stockers, farmers, roofers, plumbers, electricians.​

Here are people who are useless, especially now: Performance artists, diversity consultants, sociology TAs, baristas with degrees in gender studies, copyright lawyers, cosmetic tit surgeons, members of the mainstream media.​

It's getting clearer who is important and who is frivolous garbage.

[loveconstitution1789]

The Lefties who laughed at Blue collar workers know that they are worthless. The hysteria Lefties fanned just shows all Americans how worthless all these Elitists are.

[ByteRot]

I'm confused. Surely journalists are among the premier job categories most able to telework. And surely all this panic, all these press releases, constantly shifting governmental orders, etc. has sent their readership skyrocketing.

[loveconstitution1789]

Americans are not buying into MSM lies anymore.

Look at Gen Z partying their asses off. Good 'ol "Fuck the Gubmint" is back.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Colorado is repealing the death penalty; Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed the repeal bill into law yesterday.

COVID-19 didn't want them horning in on its act.

[Earth Skeptic]

According to AOC any jail time is a death sentence, so...

[loveconstitution1789]

Americans Take on Debt, Tap Savings, for Coronavirus Prep, Poll Shows

THIS is what emergency savings are for. To use if you have an unforeseen emergency in your household. Duh!

[OldGuy]

This goes for all levels of society, including the federal government which has forgotten that deficit spending is for true major emergencies. But somehow we're going to magically conjure $2 Trillion for this latest debacle.

I'm not hopeful people will learn from this event.

[Earth Skeptic]

Given how much people learned from the past 1000 crises, I fear you are right.

[loveconstitution1789]

US national Debt Clock

On top of all the other debt we already owe.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A lot more young people than expected are winding up hospitalized from the COVID-19 virus.

Boomer doomer indeed.

[Overt]

I have noticed this narrative being pushed over the last few days. When you look at the stats in depth, you find that they do a lot of mixing of "Confirmed Cases" (like in S Korea, where they are testing almost everyone) with "Visited the hospital" (because that is where people were told to go if they suspected they were infected) and with "were hospitalized" (i.e. their symptoms were bad enough to warrant admission to the hospital).

It is difficult to parse what the data is referring to because people are sloppy with sources, and they pull stuff from news conferences where exact definitions are not given.

[loveconstitution1789]

Confirmed case numbers are reported regularly but it would appear that the officials are keeping the other important stats out of the limelight.

That seems suspicious to me.

The hysteria will die down if Americans realize that being infected with Coronavirus is not a death sentence nor does it spread as fast as the media lies.

Only 700 passengers out of 3,700 passengers tested positive for Coronavirus. Cruise ships recirc air and almost all ship staff were infected. The fact that all passengers didnt get infected in that situation is important to mitigating this media led hysteria.

[Overt]

I can give some leeway to the fact that different countries are collecting different data, and even counting things differently. This is an unprecedented issue, and sometimes you realize you need to slice the data in a way that no one anticipated when gathering it. But in this case, there is clearly an agenda in these types of articles.

They are now pushing the "You too can go to the hospital if you get coronavirus" narrative. They WANT kids freaking out, so that they will get on board with this shut down. But the fact remains that if you are young and healthy, you are very very unlikely to end up in the hospital, and even less likely to end up the ICU and even LESS likely to end up dead.

First it was the "No this isn't like the Flu" articles. Now it is "Kids are in danger too". These hysterical journalists are trying their best to RIDICULE and rule out of bounds *any* counter point to the Chicken Little, "We're all gonna die if we don't control 100% of the economy" narrative.

[loveconstitution1789]

The media hysterics just don't realize that if the American way of life implodes, the media types wont fare well.

[Earth Skeptic]

They all think they will be part of the Official Media.

[loveconstitution1789]

HAHA. I know, huh? They actually believe that.

[Robert]

What vexes me, and is slightly suspicious, is that at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html#epi-curve (the illness onset graph, not the cumulative one) yesterday they changed to including estimated date of onset cases, while previously it'd been only known onset dates, and extended a bit backwards the data-to-be-added region. The effect was to wipe out the peak previously seen March 11, which of course was before the drastic measures. In half an hour we should get another day's data and see if March 13 holds up as the new peak of onset by their new criteria.

[ElvisIsReal]

I noticed that as well and found it very strange!

[ElvisIsReal]

The site was not updated as normal at 4pm EDT.

[loveconstitution1789]

Knowing Lefty bureaucrats, they want to avoid the actual peak number in new cases. That peak gives us a picture of the end. The end before May 2020 gives the economy plenty of time to fully recover before Election 2020.

It could for other reasons of course, but I look at motivations. Lefties pushed this hysteria based on a motive to destroy the economy to get rid of Trump. Why else would they push a Narrative for a disease that is less dangerous than the seasonal Flu/Cold.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Want to see the economy saved? We need mass testing for COVID-19.

Someone's in the pocket of Big Testing.

[loveconstitution1789]

Coronavirus: People who intentionally spread Covid-19 could be charged as terrorists

Wet dream scenario from the hacks at Politico. No documentation of the memo of course.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

A man in NJ was just charged for this; so no could be about it.

[loveconstitution1789]

Flu, Cold, and Chickenpox purposeful infection is of course exempted.

The Boomers who work in government and the media sure are scared to get this virus. They want to shred the Constitution at every turn.

[Longtobefree]

Just like we did for AIDS?

[mad.casual]

"If we don't test everyone for COVID, the terrorists win." - Reason Magazine

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

"India is on total lockdown."

I look forward to Shikha Dalmia's piece describing how India is using the pandemic as an excuse to oppress Muslims, and how that's ultimately Orange Hitler's fault.

#BrownBodiesHaveNoAgency

[Don't look at me!]

All those sick people should be free to come here and start food trucks.

[Earth Skeptic]

And convenience stores.

And at least one of them might want the gig voicing Apu.

[loveconstitution1789]

Mayor Garcetti announces water and power will be shut off for nonessential L.A. businesses that don’t close

I would have never thought that Commies would expose themselves like this. Thanks to the internet, these anti-Americans assholes will never have their Commie threats forgotten.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If the government won't do the right thing, organised crime will

THIS IS WHAT LIBERTARIANS WANT.

[Adans smith]

Forget about it.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

What is government, if not organized crime? Taxation is theft, after all.

[Necron 99]

Public sector vs. private sector

[SIV]

"Lab accident" is the likeliest origin for the Yellow virus. The lab is right at the epicenter.

[loveconstitution1789]

+100

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Do you have a link to support your claim?

[Gray_Jay]

Would you believe him if he did?

[Leo Kovalensky II]

It depends on the source

[loveconstitution1789]

Don’t buy China’s story: The coronavirus may have leaked from a lab

And then there is this little-known fact: Some Chinese researchers are in the habit of selling their laboratory animals to street vendors after they have finished experimenting on them.

You heard me right.

Instead of properly disposing of infected animals by cremation, as the law requires, they sell them on the side to make a little extra cash. Or, in some cases, a lot of extra cash. One Beijing researcher, now in jail, made a million dollars selling his monkeys and rats on the live animal market, where they eventually wound up in someone’s stomach.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

Whether from a lab or the eating habits of a typical Chinese person, it originated in China. The main issue is the ChiCom-micropeen dick-sucking American press parroting China's claims that it actually started here.

#NewChineseExclusionActToday

[loveconstitution1789]

I hope every American remembers which group made this worse and it's the MEDIA.

[loveconstitution1789]

Man falsely claimed he had COVID-19 on Facebook Live in Walmart, NC police say

Nobody has heard of the Streisand Effect? Who cares what this guy says on FB.

[loveconstitution1789]

Cops: Alpharetta man pointed gun at 2 women wearing masks, feared catching coronavirus

Either Coronavirus is a threat or its not.

The USPS do have signs that do not allow firearms, so if he was inside, that would be a violation of that law.

The media creates a state of hysteria and then advocates criminal charges when people act hysterical but don't hurt anyone.

[Gray_Jay]

I'm sorry. Are you saying the guy pointing a gun at two people should not have been criminally charged, or that the two people 'weren't hurt?'

[loveconstitution1789]

Brandishing a firearm is a crime, except for self-defense.

The government cannot have it both ways. If COVID19 is such a threat that people falsely saying they are infected get arrested, then people trying to keep possible infected people away from them is by definition feeling a reasonable threat to their person.

It's basic self-defense.

That and the guy was bailed on $1500. The police obviously didnt consider a real serious crime.

NOT that I would brandish my pistol in that situtation. I am simply saying this media created hysteria is designed to drag scared Americans into the lie that this KungFlu is super dangerous and Americans should escalate how we treat each other.

[loveconstitution1789]

On a side note: If we were experiencing a real deadly biological or chemical weapon (VX gas), Americans should use deadly force to keep the infected or exposed at a distance. People dont know that someone exposed to Nerve Agents can expel those traces of chemical weapons onto uninfected persons via vomiting, blood spatter, sweat, etc. Escalate self-defense accordingly.

This was an old man listening to the lying media and believed the hysteria.

[Ra's al Gore]

With the Democratic primary largely on hold at the moment and no big public rallies being staged (because of you-know-what), it’s probably easy to lose track of the fact that Joe Biden is still trying to secure his place as the official nominee for the presidency. He’s finding other ways to try to generate some headlines, however. As John pointed out yesterday, Uncle Joe plans to appear presidential by giving his own series of pandemic updates to the nation in a sort of “shadow administration” function. He launched one of the first ones yesterday and it was… not good.

You can watch the wheels come off of his presentation in this video that Breitbart posted to their Twitter feed. Things seemed to be going fairly normally for a little while as Biden obviously recites some remarks while reading them off the teleprompter. But then the prompter obviously must have failed. At that point, Joe went to full ramble mode. The video is only a bit more than thirty seconds in length, but it feels a lot longer. Frankly, it’s pretty uncomfortable to sit through, but make sure you have the sound on for this.

[Don't look at me!]

It is really bad.

[loveconstitution1789]

The media clearly thought hysteria would help get rid of Trump and some Democrat could get into the White House.

Nearly all the Democrat drop-outs endorsed Joe Biden and Uncle Joe giving his Fireside Chats is not doing him any favors.

[Throw MAGA into the Woodchipper]

Biden looked badass yesterday on CNN. He's going to kick Trump's ass at the debates and in Nov. I'm so pumped he's the nominee. President Biden. Say it mfers.

[Mother's lament]

I’m so pumped he’s the nominee

Lol

[loveconstitution1789]

Sock trolls are getting funnier and funnier.

[Ra's al Gore]

Harvard University, which has the largest endowment of any school in the country, is cutting its subcontracted dining hall workers without pay as it shuts down in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The move is drawing criticism from employment rights advocates on and off campus who point to the university's $40.9 billion endowment as evidence that the school is hardly in financial straits. They also claim the decision violates Harvard's wage equality policy, which requires the university to compensate dining hall contract workers in a fashion comparable to the school's directly hired employees.

[Overt]

I fully respect any institution's right to hire and fire as necessary, and don't believe that anyone has a right to be paid not to work. That said, this is pretty rich coming from Harvard, where every man, woman, student and indian princess argues that capitalism is wrong, and that Top Men like them know best how to deploy money to protect the down trodden.

Meanwhile, my for-profit company is paying ALL of its office staff and contractors (janitors, real estate services, food services), even though offices are shut down around the world. My company is also currently deploying wireless internet to thousands of kids in LA Unified School District so they can continue schooling. (Or whatever it is you call LA's attempts at education.)

The contrast is revealing.

[loveconstitution1789]

To be fair, paying employees a few weeks wages even if they dont work is likely cheaper than having to hire all new employees.

Or even if its not 100% cheaper, there is some goodwill toward employees in there.

[Overt]

Absolutely, and my company is a technology company, filled with liberals. Our CEO is giving daily briefings each morning (followed by a briefing from the leader of our business unit) to its 100k+ employees explaining the latest news, and to answer questions. By and large, the majority of those questions are liberal-entitled questions like, "Why aren't we giving more money to [insert liberal cause here] to assist in this time of need??!!"

When we are deploying wireless internet to kids for free, it is an intersection of these bleeding heart liberal ideals, plus capitalist intent to defray expenses with charity and gain goodwill through marketing. But that's fine by me. It is proof that capitalism/markets do have benevolent incentives, and shows that it is the foundation on which liberal ideals can be supported.

[Earth Skeptic]

“Why aren’t we giving more money to [insert liberal cause here] to assist in this time of need??!!”

The correct response is, "Well, tell us how much of your pseudo salary to withhold and we will send it to [liberal cause]."

[Overt]

There are a few people asking stupid questions like "When do we get the $1000 pay out that Facebook gave its employees" but most of the people I talk to think those are insane questions. They understand that this company's leaders are fighting desperately to avoid 10% layoffs at this point.

[Fist of Etiquette]

23% of American adults say the novel coronavirus was deliberately developed in a lab.

We cannot allow a biological warfare gap.

[loveconstitution1789]

Scientists say the coronavirus is not mutating quickly and might respond to a single vaccine

One thing biological weapons are known for is minimal mutation. This allows the weapon activator to implement vaccination and control measures.

Otherwise, the biological weapon is to unpredictable.

[Gray_Jay]

"Developed in a lab" /= "Biological Weapon"

Even if it has been doing a good impersonation of one these last few months.

[Ron]

considering labs often create viruses to test potential vaccines. it could happen with out the evil intent.

[loveconstitution1789]

While true, we are talking about Communist China.

China is not building amphibious ships so they can throw birthday parties for Taiwan, The Philippines and surrounding Asian nations.

[JesseAz]

Amash has the exact same talking points as AOC.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

Which further proves my theory that libertarians and democratic socialists are natural allies.

#LibertariansForAOC

[JesseAz]

“The question is not just the size but what we are doing with those funds because if we are having a huge package … there is no reason for corporate bailouts to be included in an emergency relief package,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Instead, the congresswoman advocated for dramatically expanding current welfare programs and halting creditors from collecting on debts.

“We should be focusing [on]: Is unemployment expanding? Are we getting checks in people’s hands? Are we suspending mortgage, rent, and debt payments?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “If we’re able to do that, if we’re able to get money into households and stop the bleeding with pauses on money going out of households, then we can get working families through this thing.”

[Adans smith]

Huge package was my nick name in collage.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

I assume the collage was more of a caricature.

[Earth Skeptic]

Yep, AOC likes a huge package.

[Knutsack]

"...the gap between the rich and the poor."

This is when you know that Amash is no different than any other politician.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

That line in his tweet was ridiculous.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

At least one political party has its priorities straight.

One of the remaining snags in the stimulus package, I’m told: Democrats want abortion providers like Planned Parenthood to be eligible for aid under the small business portion of the bill.

IMO the most terrifying thing about this pandemic is that it might get more difficult to access abortion care. And it was already extremely difficult, considering Drumpf has literally turned this country into The Handmaid's Tale.

#StandWithPP
#AbortionAboveAll

[JesseAz]

Why no outrage about suspensions on tranny surgeries?

[Longtobefree]

The death rate for abortion is 100% to the ones without a choice - - - -

[Mother's lament]

As I pointed out in the other thread, Granny Winebox stuffed 1,119 pages of proggy goodies into her proposal:
– a provision for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections
– a bailing out of the postal service
– mandatory early voting ability
– same day voter registration (a long-time Dem wishlist item)
– a Protection for Collective Bargaining for Federal Employees Act
– a program requiring the airlines to fully offset their carbon emissions
– a provision that allows community journalists to modify their retirement plans
– a provision ensuring corporate budgets are dedicated to diversity & inclusion initiatives!

[Ra's al Gore]

Nothing demonstrates the darkness of the liberal agenda in the shutting down of America’s economy than the push for more foreign labor. If they are saying we need to spend trillions of dollars to help hurting Americans who are out of jobs, you’d think it would be a no-brainer to cancel foreign worker visas, not talk about increasing them.

This week, President Trump has an opportunity to draw a bold contrast on rebuilding the country with American labor. The H-1B visa program and its lawless sister program, Optional Practical Training (OPT) work permits, have gerrymandered Americans out of entry-level white-collar jobs – from programming and engineering to pharmacy and nursing. They are also responsible for creating a brain gain for countries like China at our expense, leading to the offshoring that is exacerbating our crisis in the medical supply chain. Now is the time for Trump to finally end these visas, and next week he has the perfect mechanism to do so.

Every year, the government holds an H-1B lottery on April 1, in which USCIS randomly selects 85,000 foreign visa applicants to take basic white-collar jobs from Americans. Along with those visa winners are their spouses, who are given H-4 visas. Through a lawless administrative loophole, every year roughly 50,000 of the spouses wind up also receiving employment authorization documents enabling them to compete with American workers.

With everything being canceled for Americans, isn’t it prudent to cancel the lottery to bring in more foreign workers?

[JesseAz]

Liberal professors freaking out that their lectures may end up public.

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14563

[mad.casual]

Quick! Someone get them a legal shield so that the internet can continue to be the same safe space it's always been sing 1996!

[Mother's lament]

They know that sunshine is a disinfectant.

[loveconstitution1789]

+100000

[Ra's al Gore]

Worse still, as the crisis grew, the People’s Republic of China bought up the world’s supply of masks, at one point importing 20 million masks in 24 hours. American companies even eagerly donated masks.

But why was the United States so unprepared for a run on masks before the pandemic arrived?

After Katrina, the Bush administration had set a goal of billions of masks in case of a major disaster. But that goal was never met. When the H1N1 swine flu outbreak arrived, we were badly unprepared.

The last run on masks took place during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak under Obama. Hospitals and health care providers began running low on masks and the Strategic National Stockpile released 85 million N95 masks. The stockpile was never replenished and today there are only 12 million N95s.

There were warnings back then that "maskmaking operations have moved outside the U.S., and 90% of masks sold in the U.S. now come from Mexico or China" and that "Mexico and China would be unlikely to export their supplies before making sure their own populations were fully protected."

[loveconstitution1789]

Boeing donating 250K masks to help fight coronavirus spread

Article from January 29, 2020.

[Ra's al Gore]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, American ingenuity has stepped up to alleviate shortages and desperate needs, particularly in the medical field. Over at Ford, F-150 truck parts are being used to create much-needed respirators to help hospital workers combat the virus.

The parts will be used to help 3M redesign the powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) so that first responders and health care workers will be protected from the virus when treating patients.

“The new device incorporates a fan normally used for ventilated F-150 seats, 3M HEPA filters and power tool batteries for portability,” reports Fox News. “Ford is looking into the feasibility of manufacturing them at an initial rate of 1,000 units per month at the Advanced Manufacturing Center, where it currently 3D-prints brake parts for the Mustang Shelby GT500, with plans to quickly expand production beyond that number.”

[JesseAz]

And yet democrats are still calling for businesses to be nationalized.

[Ra's al Gore]

Democrats are looking to use the $2 trillion stimulus bill to impose socialism on the United States, including wanting to nationalize businesses and force them to manufacture supplies to fight the virus.

Meanwhile, 6.5 million Venezuelans are fleeing socialism -- and leaving their children behind.

It is one of the great ironies of the age that the Democratic Party would embrace socialists like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez while socialism's failure has never been more obvious. That failure is not only costing lives and livelihoods but is unmooring children from childhood and setting them adrift as parents leave them behind in the care of others to seek a new life elsewhere.

[loveconstitution1789]

Italian nurse with coronavirus kills herself over fear of infecting others

The media hacks will never admit to doing anything wrong by inciting hysteria or be held responsible for it. Except decreased media sales and that might be the best consequence.

[Rich]

“Our staff is not able willing to serve a meal without a child present"

FTFY

[Fist of Etiquette]

Prisons and jails are releasing people incarcerated for nonviolent crimes as facilities face COVID-19 outbreaks.

But they needed to be in there before.

[Longtobefree]

Did I miss the part where they are all tested, found virus free, and quarantined for 14 days before release?

[Ra's al Gore]

We need to make room in prison for the otherwise law abiding citizens who violate Wuhan Virus curfew.

[Fats of Fury]

We need to make room in prison for the otherwise law abiding citizens who violate say "Wuhan Virus".

[loveconstitution1789]

Waffle House Index CODE RED: Coronavirus Forces Hundreds of Locations Across Country to Close

It doesnt really say WHY the Awful Houses closed those locations. Assuming not enough patrons eating there while other locations are getting enough patrons.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

There's no kitchen slang for "waffles with butter and syrup, 86 the sputum, to go, please."

[mad.casual]

It doesnt really say WHY the Awful Houses closed those locations. Assuming not enough patrons eating there while other locations are getting enough patrons.

Self-fulfilling prophecy. Media and statists broadcast far and wide: "Stay home under penalty of law." then panic when leading panic indicator based on people going to work and showing up to eat indicates something's wrong.

I'd lay down large sums of money that a time series chart of waffle house closures shows no trend from Jan. to the second week of Mar. and then a massive spike in closures.

[mad.casual]

I’d lay down large sums of money that a time series chart of waffle house closures shows no trend from Jan. to the second week of Mar. and then a massive spike in closures.

My bad, right there in the story:

On Tuesday, the company announced on their Facebook page that they were closing an unprecedented 365 locations nationwide

They didn't close because of the virus, they closed because them and all of their customers were ordered to.

Government orders restaurants to shut down. Waffle House closes unprecedented number of locations. Children, elderly, and virus victims hardest hit. Welcome to the 2020 COVID panic.

[loveconstitution1789]

Thanks.

[OpenBordersLiberal-tarian]

OMG! Another major Drumpf scandal!

Hmm. He calls Dr. Birx, Debbie, and Dr. Fauci, Dr. Fauci. Really now...

And some people actually think feminism is no longer necessary? That it's now reduced to complaining about trivial stuff? Hardly!

#LibertarianFeminism

[JesseAz]

That's okay, liberal press called debbie not a doctor.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Debbie does New York is NOT a valid coronavirus strategy.

[Rich]

"OK, 'Debbie', 'Tony' -- since we're working so closely together, you guys can call me 'Donny'."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) said the package contained "unemployment compensation on steroids."

Hopefully not the kind of steroids that causes gynecomastia.

[loveconstitution1789]

Trump jabs 'RINO' Mitt Romney for testing negative for COVID-19

HAHA. Lefties still think Trump does all of his own Tweets.

Poor Romney the RINO. He really believes himself to be a media darling. James Comey... who?

[ProBangali]

Hey , I have readout your stuning post. It is very informetic and effective post. You may like to make collection of WhatsApp DP Images.

[JesseAz]

Palin will click the link if you change the D to a C.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ladies and gentleman, we are done...

...for.

[loveconstitution1789]

Biden mocked after apparent teleprompter issue during coronavirus remarks: ‘Let me go to the second thing’

“Joe Biden when the teleprompter stops working is a train wreck,” social media strategist Caleb Hull wrote.

Trump is going to make Joe Biden look so bad, that Joe will get stomped by Trump's Secret Service detail while trying to attack Trump on stage.

[Longtobefree]

I have a picture in my mind of this clown negotiating with other world leaders - - - - - - - - -

[Rich]

Does it involve a lot of finger-snapping?

[JesseAz]

If a guy came up to me with young children rubbing his leg hair and a chain wrapped around his hand, I'd give him everything he wanted and run.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

They’re giving him way too much credit: he’s a train wreck pretty much all the time.

He’s going to run an “invisible man” campaign exactly like Hildog did. It won’t work for him either.

[Weigel's Cock Ring]

Sooner or later, even the stupidest among us are going to realize this virus has spread everywhere, and this hysterical world shutdown is completely pointless because efforts to contain it failed.

In reality, viruses of this nature are impossible to contain. By the time the outbreak is discovered, it’s usually already too late.

[JesseAz]

The fear stems from a belief in human fragility.

[Longtobefree]

It just shows that the left does not really believe in Darwin.

[JesseAz]

They never have. They only use it vaguely to bash the religious. The firmly believe in Intelligent Design as a way of life. That is why they want centralized control and planning in all other areas of life.

[Earth Skeptic]

Yeah, another chapter in the analysis of progressive psychology: the cognitive dissonance required to despise creationist science but love creationist economics.

[Rich]

hysterical world shutdown

Please don't use the h-word. It is extremely disrespectful of women and men with uteri.

However, nice band name.

[Ken Shultz]

This hysterical world shutdown is completely pointless because efforts to contain it failed."

To the extent people have willingly cloistered themselves, they should be free to do so. Most of the cloistering we've seen, however, isn't government mandated. Even in Wuhan, the streets became deserted before the Chinese government would even admit there was a virus. They started mandating close-downs to make it look like they were doing something, but average people don't need the government to tell them to isolate themselves during an epidemic any more than they need the government to tell them to exit a burning building.

The people of South Korea, the people of northern Italy, the people of New York City, and the people of California all reacted the same way--and that is one of the reasons why the government lock downs are bullshit. People don't need the government to tell them to isolate themselves because they share a home with an especially vulnerable family member, and they don't need the government to tell them whether getting a paycheck or doing some shopping is more important to them than avoiding an infection because they aren't in an especially vulnerable group either.

That being said, the flatten the curve approach is perfectly valid--even if the same number of people are infected under both curves. The difference in curves is that the flatter curve minimizes the number of people who died because there weren't enough ventilators and ICU beds to go around at the curve's peak. However, just because flattening the curve is a good idea for that reason--regardless of whether we're all infected eventually--that doesn't mean we need the government to impose lock downs, not when people vulnerable people are isolating themselves anyway.

[Ken Shultz]

People should be free to make the tough choice to go to work to make their house payment and keep the economy functioning so the unemployment rate doesn't spike up 25% in spite of the risk of infection--without interference from the likes of Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo. When the economy takes a worse hit because of their orders than it would have otherwise, I hope the voters remember what those foolish governors did in the face of an impending recession--and kick them out of office on their asses.

I have never seen such incompetence as governors who make it against the law to open a business in the face of an impending recession. It is like shooting yourself in the face to treat a bullet wound. It is like lighting yourself on fire to treat a severe sunburn. Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom are stupid people who did stupid things that will severely hurt their constituents, and they did them for stupid reasons.

. . . and, no, if vulnerable people can still isolate themselves despite others going back to work, then saving lives is not a smart reason. The smart reason for people to isolate themselves is to slow the spread of the virus so that there will be enough ventilators and ICU beds when particularly vulnerable people become infected. But the same number of people are under both curves. I repeat: The same number of people are under both curves.

The vaccines undergoing safety trials won't be available until August, and it will take months to ramp up production to vaccinate half the country. If Cuomo and Newsom plant to keep their economies shut down until then, then Congress should refuse to make them eligible for bailout funds after a certain time--because the economic damage to their economy after a certain point won't be because of the coronavirus. It will be because of the willful stupidity of their governors.

[ElvisIsReal]

But the same number of people are under both curves. I repeat: The same number of people are under both curves.
-----------
This is what really gets me. The politicians are all pretending like if we just stay inside for two months, we'll stop the virus and people won't die. But at this point we're only saving the ones who would die because of OVERCROWDING. There's no realistic way to save everybody, but politicians are spending us into oblivion trying to pretend we can.

[loveconstitution1789]

Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

438,749 confirmed Worldwide. 19,675 deaths and 111,895 recovered.

55,243 confirmed USA. 802 deaths and 354 recovered. The US is getting about 10,000 more confirmed infected per day out of x number of tests each day. New York area has more than 30,000 of those cases.

[loveconstitution1789]

At this point, I think most Americans in large population states have COVID19, have lingering Flu/Cold symptoms, or were exposed and got over it.

[JesseAz]

The global deaths are almost up to the US Flu deaths.

[loveconstitution1789]

And most of those deaths were in Commie China.

[Ron]

Italy is doing its best to be number one with deaths. I get a Kick out of Italy claiming the U.S. should do what they are doing but they are failing incredibly.

[Ken Shultz]

"President Trump’s job approval rating has jumped by 5 points in the latest Gallup survey, matching the high point of his presidency, as a majority of voters say they have a positive view of how the president has handled the coronavirus pandemic.

The new poll finds Trump’s job approval rating at 49 percent, up from 44 percent in the same survey earlier this month. The 49 percent job approval rating is the high mark for Trump since he came into office. He first hit that mark in late January, shortly before he was acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial.

The president’s job approval rating has remained steady among Republicans (92 percent), but he’s gained 8 points among independents (43 percent) and 6 points among Democrats (13 percent).

It appears that Trump’s handling of the coronavirus response is behind the approval rating bump. Sixty percent of voters overall said they approve of the job Trump is doing to address the epidemic, including 94 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats.

----The Hill, March 24, 2020

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/489285-gallup-trump-job-approval-rating-matches-all-time-high

We should expect to see President Trump's approval ratings drop as the after effects of the virus on the economy becomes apparent and the pink slips filter throughout the economy. Whether they should or shouldn't, some people (especially swing-voting Democrats) will blame whomever is in the White House for everything bad that happens--especially if it results in themselves or their friends and family losing a job.

That being said, the last couple of weeks have been fraught with danger for Trump's reelection chances. He could have made any one a thousand mistakes that would have hurt his reelection chances, and he seems to have navigated that mine field without stepping on any of those mines. This situation called for President Trump to be presidential, and while I don't approve of everything he's done, he could hardly have done better with the general public.

[Ken Shultz]

Incidentally, for those of you who think the Republican alternative to what AOC and her socialist cohort in the House required them to add to the coronavirus package, seeing the House flip Republican in the upcoming is one solution to that. As I've said so many times, as the Democrats become increasingly authoritarian and socialist, it is appropriate for libertarian capitalists to become increasingly Republican. The House election in 2020 will almost certainly be a referendum on President Trump's four years in office, and marginalizing the ability of people like AOC to have influence on policy, thus, may depend on seeing President Trump reelected and the Democrats losing control of the House because of it.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden's appeal, to those who might find him appealing, is that he behaves more in a manner that some people consider "presidential". Biden's appeal to Democrats in the primaries was that he was the one who could beat Trump in November by being more electable and coming across as more "presidential"--and not only more presidential than socialist/progressive firebrands like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren but also more presidential than Trump himself.

Meanwhile, President Trump has done such a great job of projecting an aura of being presidential over the last couple of weeks, that independents and swing voting Democrats even find it appealing--pulling the rug out from under Joe Biden's whole raison d'etre. Joe Biden wouldn't have done better in that regard over the last two weeks, and independents and swing voting Democrats know it, too.

Those of you who want to see President Trump reelected might do serious damage to the chances of Biden winning by going out of your way to use President Trump's title in normal conversation. Progressives in the news media almost never refer to him as "President Trump" because they want to rob him of his presidential stature. They just call him "Trump", like he's just another candidate. It makes progressives angry to hear what you say or read what you write when you use, "President Trump" instead of just "Trump". They don't want people to think of him that way. They're afraid that if people think of him in presidential terms, he'll be reelected--and looking at the Gallup polls, they have good reason to be afraid.

[Don't look at me!]

I find the code words “our president” is used a lot.

[Leo Kovalensky II]

Meanwhile, President Trump has done such a great job of projecting an aura of being presidential over the last couple of weeks

I almost did an actual spit-take when I read this.

Whether you like his policies or not, almost nobody ever describes his demeanor as "presidential"

[Ken Shultz]

That's right.

. . . right up until over the last couple of weeks.

[Ken Shultz]

"It appears that Trump’s handling of the coronavirus response is behind the approval rating bump. Sixty percent of voters overall said they approve of the job Trump is doing to address the epidemic, including 94 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents and 27 percent of Democrats."

If that's the way the vote breaks down in November, President Trump will win in a landslide, and the Democrats will lose control of the House on his coattails.

What do you know about the way average Americans are reacting to President Trump's demeanor over the last couple of weeks that Gallup doesn't know?

[Leo Kovalensky II]

I don't claim to know what's behind those numbers. I suspect people are more in agreement with his actions than his demeanor. I appreciate that he hasn't really freaked out over this, like most of the governors seem to be doing. I appreciate that he has resisted nationalizing private industries. I guess in that way, I'll admit that he has been a leader. If that's what you meant by "presidential" then I'll concede the point to you.

I was initially thinking about his tweets and press conferences. They've been pretty typical Trump. That was the basis of my initial response.

[Ken Shultz]

"I was initially thinking about his tweets and press conferences. They’ve been pretty typical Trump. That was the basis of my initial response."

I suspect you're letting your memory of the past cloud your view of the present. He's dialed it way back over the last couple of weeks.

[mad.casual]

Just as with the election, this only tells half the story. Not only has Trump managed to tap dance his way through a minefield, he' done a decent giving his opposition all the space they need to beclown themselves.

[ByteRot]

Welp, I guess it was too good to last. The lousy resource- and bandwidth-sucking auto-play AnyClip videos are back.

[Don't look at me!]

But the X has returned.

[Ken Shultz]

The "x" blinks on and off, and it's especially difficult to manage on a phone because the video follows you down the page as you scroll and blocks whatever you're trying to read. I've restarted the video several times just trying to close it.

Now that Reason has become Brave verified, I'd encourage them to set up a bounty to get rid of the video that blocks your eye from seeing what's on the page. I made $60 this year through the Brave rewards this program, and if we all chipped some of that money in, maybe they'd let us see their content without poking us in the eye with that video.

[End Child Unemployment]

I'm using Brave and very happy with it. I made in BAT $60 too, but in about 7 months. I will probably increase my auto-contribution to content creators soon.

[Ken Shultz]

I think it's a great thing--and, of course, a model where news and media is financed by subscriptions (more than advertising and large donors) means news media that caters to the tastes of paying subscribers rather than the tastes of advertisers or large donors.

And that's just icing on the cake. I like the fact that it protects my privacy better than any other mainstream browser--and that's even without using its built in Tor functionality.

"The rankings were revealed in a research paper published by Trinity College Dublin computer scientist Doug Leith. He analyzed and rated the privacy provided by Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Brave, Edge, and Yandex. Specifically, the study examined the browsers’ sending of data—including unique identifiers and details related to typed URLs—that could be used to track users over time. The findings put the browsers into three categories with Brave getting the highest ranking, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari receiving a medium ranking, and Edge and Yandex lagging behind the rest."

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/03/study-ranks-edges-default-privacy-settings-the-lowest-of-all-major-browsers/

[ByteRot]

And I could completely get behind a model that pushes subs by giving convenience and revenue-substituting perks as part of the subscription. In fact, last donation drive season, I wrote in to Reason citing these AnyClip nuisances as the reason I was loathe to renew my membership. I was told in response that they were working towards removing them for logged-in subscribers, which is the reason I went ahead and renewed.

When they disappeared from the site last week, I assumed that was the change that went into place. I guess I was wrong, and perhaps hoodwinked by some CS rep at Reason. Shame on them, if so.

[ElvisIsReal]

Shit, I'd pay if they would simply upgrade the forum so I could see only new posts since my last visit......

[Freddy the Jerk]

"Ladies and gentleman, we are done"

You said it, Skippy.

(Apologies Fist. I like my subtler insinuation.)