News Burst 11 April 2020

Former Republican Congressman and Libertarian superstar Ron Paul is calling for President Donald Trump to fire “fraud” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease specialist leading medical response to the coronavirus.President Trump’s medical response to the coronavirus. Paul asserted that if Trump doesn’t get rid of Dr. Fauci, “the people have to fire him”.

Over the past few weeks, there has been a substantial reduction in air pollution over metropolitan parts of the Northeast United States, as communities across the country are under strict lockdown measures amid the pandemic. According to a Thursday news release by NASA, the average concentrations of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide in March 2020 in the Northeast US are the lowest of any March measured since 2005. The nitrogen dioxide concentrations are measured by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on Aura, the US space agency’s multinational research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the planet’s air quality and climate.

Sen. Rand Paul announced Tuesday that he has tested negative for COVID-19 just over two weeks after finding out he had been diagnosed with the virus, adding that he is now volunteering at a local hospital.

Krakatau volcano (Indonesia): Violent eruption, ash to 47,000 ft altitude. This seems to be the strongest eruptive phase since the violent phreatomagmatic activity following the partial collapse of the volcano on 22 Dec 2018, which had triggered a deadly tsunami that killed hundreds of people on Java’s west coast.

Harvey Weinstein charged with new sexual assault count in Los Angeles. The new charge against Harvey Weinstein comes as the Oscar-winning producer and Democratic party megadonor sits in a New York jail after being sentenced last month to 23 years following his conviction of raping a hairstylist and forcibly performing oral sex on a former Project Runway production assistant. Convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein has been charged with a new sexual assault count in Los Angeles stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred in 2010, according to the county’s district attorney’s office. If convicted as charged in the amended complaint, Weinstein faces up to 29 years in state prison, according to the D.A.’s office.

Elon Musk’s mocked fears amid the COVID-19 pandemic, tweeting that “the coronavirus panic is dumb”. The outbreak has sent global economy into turmoil, forcing many to work from home and many more into the unemployment lines while damaging markets worldwide. SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted a meme showing an asteroid smashing into Earth while an astronaut on the moon exclaims: “Oh God, The Economy!”, adding a mysterious “But actually” caption. The meme is apparently dedicated to pointing out the absurdity of making money more important than human compassion amid the coronavirus outbreak. Musk’s tweet left some netizens guessing why the billionaire shared the meme using those precise words.

Woman who accused Biden of sexual assault files criminal complaint with police. Tara Reade, a former staffer to then-Senator Joe Biden, has reportedly filed a formal criminal complaint against the now-presidential candidate over an alleged sexual assault from the early 90s. The left-wing mainstream media has largely ignored the allegations against Biden, who once said on the issue of women coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, “For a woman to come forward in the glaring lights of focus, nationally, you’ve got to start off with the presumption that at least the essence of what she’s talking about is real, whether or not she forgets facts, whether or not it’s been made worse or better over time.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told major airlines on Friday he wants them to repay some of the $25 billion in cash grants the U.S. Congress approved last month to cover payroll costs as airlines weather an unprecedented crisis due to the coronavirus, three industry officials briefed on the matter told Reuters. The Treasury said in a statement Mnuchin will not require passenger air carriers that will receive $100 million in payroll assistance or less to provide compensation and “funds will be available promptly upon approval of their applications.”
Reports earlier on Friday said that Treasury would not seek warrants from smaller regional carriers, which had urged the government not to demand compensation. Mnuchin spoke with the chief executives of major airlines in separate calls on Friday and told them the department was offering 70% of the aid in grants that would not need to be repaid, and 30% in low-interest loans for which the airlines would be required to offer warrants, the sources said.

Washington Post reporter Darran Simon was found dead Thursday in his apartment, according to a memo sent to staffers. The cause of death has not been announced. Simon covered government and politics at WaPo, according to a Jan. 30 announcement from WaPo. Simon previously worked as a senior news writer at CNN, the announcement noted.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano of Rome called on his fellow clergy to perform a mass exorcism on Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday, Jesus’ crucifixion, and Easter Sunday, celebrating his resurrection. “In these modern times of terrible tribulation, when the pandemic has deprived Catholics of Holy Mass and the Sacraments, the Evil One has gone into a frenzy and multiplied his attacks to tempt souls into sin,” Viganò wrote in a letter shared by LifeSiteNews. “These blessed days of Holy Week, which used to be the ideal time to go to Confession to prepare ourselves for our Easter Communion, now see us locked inside our houses, but they cannot stop us praying to Our Lord.”

Chloroquine for the 2019 novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Chlorquine is the ionophore that gets the zinc into the cells. In vitro the zinc will destroy most viruses up to and including Hepatitis C. It’s actually the zinc that does the job. In the current episode of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emergence, we find a spectacular example of possible repositioning of drugs, particularly chloroquine. This drug has multiple activities. At the time of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus epidemic in 2003, several molecules were tested to assess their effectiveness against this virus. Among these, teicoplanin , an antistaphylococcal agent, had proven efficacy in vitro, and this was also the case for chloroquine, at a 50% effective concentration. These findings ended up being forgotten because of the disappearance of SARS for reasons that are neither clear nor explained. The novel coronavirus currently isolated in China has been, with staggering speed, evaluated regarding its sensitivity to already used drugs. Thus, the new antiviral drug remdesivir as well as chloroquine, were found to be effective in preventing replication of this virus. Chloroquine is perhaps one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. As a matter of fact, all Europeans visiting malaria-endemic geographic areas for decades received chloroquine prophylaxis and continued it for 2 months after their return. In addition, local residents took chloroquine continuously, and treatment of malaria has long been based on this drug. In addition, hydroxychloroquine has been used for decades at much higher doses (up to 600 mg/day) to treat autoimmune diseases. It is difficult to find a product that currently has a better established safety profile than chloroquine. Furthermore, its cost is negligible. Hence, its possible use both in prophylaxis in people exposed to the novel coronavirus and as a curative treatment will probably be promptly evaluated by our Chinese colleagues. If clinical data confirm the biological results, the novel coronavirus-associated disease will have become one of the simplest and cheapest to treat and prevent among infectious respiratory diseases.

Sun Activity

Sunspot number: 0
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 6 days
2020 total: 74 days (75%)
2019 total: 281 days (77%)

Strongest EQ in Europe M3.3 South Italy
Strongest EQ in North America M3.7 Nevada
Strongest EQ on the Planet 5.9 Luzon Strait
Deepest EQ M4.6 387 km South of the Fiji Islands News Burst 11 April 2020