What a fucking distraction. Fuck.

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Trump announces enhanced counternarcotics operation at coronavirus briefing

Trump administration officials announced Wednesday that the U.S. military would send naval ships and aircraft to the Caribbean as part of an enhanced counternarcotics operation.

President Trump and other top officials discussed the operation at the top of a White House coronavirus briefing Wednesday evening. Trump said it was important not to let drug cartels “exploit the pandemic to threaten American lives.”

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the Pentagon would deploy additional ships, aircraft and security forces to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility as part of the operation.

“At a time when the nation and the Department of Defense are focused on protecting the American people from the spread from the coronavirus, we also remain vigilant to the many other threats the country faces,” Esper told reporters.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/490704-trump-announces-enhanced-counternarcotics-operation-at-coronavirus

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In an earlier story, the same General Milley who spoke today warned that the virus matter will last for months, into the summer::

Milley warns of ‘social breakdowns’ in other countries facing coronavirus; US crisis could last months

Government forecasts predict the coronavirus will continue to spread throughout the United States for roughly three months based on its impacts on other nations, said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He and Defense Secretary Mark Esper urged the U.S. military community to prepare to take health protection measures, which could include social distancing, possibly into the summer months.

“You’re looking at probably late May, June, maybe something as late as July,” Milley said during a virtual town hall broadcast with Esper from the Pentagon. “But we will get through it. It’s not a question of when. We will get through it, and we’ll pull together as a country and a military and we … will do whatever is required to defend the people of the United States.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/milley-warns-of-social-breakdowns-in-other-countries-facing-coronavirus-us-crisis-could-last-months-1.623559

Peak numbers come at different times for different states. Here in California we can expect peak demand for beds to come at the end of April but for NY and NJ it's just two weeks out.

Other states, in that sense, are our future. Stay safe, everyone!

My go to links are these:

https://covidactnow.org/ Projections for each state, individual graphs

https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections Also, graphs for each state

https://ncov2019.live/data/usa

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/03/tracking-coronavirus-u-s-real-time-visualizations/

This last one is interesting, yet frightening, it maps variants of the constantly mutating virus:

https://nextstrain.org/ncov

Seeing historic low rates, I started shopping with three very different brokers.

A local bank, Bay Federal Savings, had the worst offerings.
A realtor friend recommended a broker who did better.
Finally, asking a family friend for a recommendation took me to what has been the best advisor and deal, I think.

2.5% rate for a fixed 15-year mortage at just one point discount fee will be much better than the 4.25 30-year that I'm six years into.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, without hesitation:

"Yes, I am. I'm saying that."

Source: The Hill

Florida's Department of Health announced Tuesday that a baby boy and a two-year-old girl have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The baby boy, who was listed by the health department as less than a year old, marks the youngest reported case of COVID-19 in the state, according to the Miami Herald.

Health officials did not say whether the boy or girl had been in contact with someone who tested positive.

While young children are susceptible to contracting the virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said children with confirmed cases generally exhibit milder symptoms than most adults, unless they have underlying medical conditions.



Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/489433-baby-boy-and-2-year-old-girl-test-positive-for

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We are all at risk, all ages, all people.

Stay in, follow the guidelines.

Sorry folks, Covered California is Obamacare and it will not be adequate to our needs.

Let's hope that we win in November and that our new president recognizes that we need a whole different program.



Scroll down this list to find the update: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Coronavirus-live-updates-Surgeon-General-warns-15151165.php

First, from the good news network:

10 Positive Updates on the COVID-19 Outbreaks From Around the World
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/10-positive-updates-on-the-covid-19-outbreaks-from-around-the-world/

Second, from Atlantic:

What Americans Are Doing Now Is Beautiful
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/inspiring-galvanizing-beautiful-spirit-2020/608308/

Governor Newsom gave a really encouraging public statement this week:



Stay safe and stay in, my friends. We can do this.

I noticed that the debate moderators seemed to want to run their own show and pit one candidate against the other.
And it seemed that they didn't want to let Senator Warren in as they might have.
Of course, they disrespected other candidates in this way as well, but that's not the main point of this post.

I mention that, however, because when TPTB and the media ignore a strong candidate, it might indicate that they don't want her to be heard. Call this a conspiracy if you like but it's a pattern with the media.

I prefer Senator Warren because she seems to match sharpness with experience and consistency.
She's not susceptible to accusations of being too young or too old, or being too socialist or to being too Centrist.
This observation is about the media and the voting public and how I feel they would react to the various choices.
I love them all for different reasons but still pull a bit more for Ms. Warren.

If all of these candidates were in a conference room vying for position of CEO or Director of any organization, I would trust her to deliver on her rhetoric and face less resistance than the others. Not by a large margin but by enough of one that I'd be overjoyed.

I think she and Bernie might have the best chances of beating Trump but I might give her the edge if I was a betting man about this.

Amy Klobuchar is pretty sharp, too, and I think Mayor Pete if he became president would be a breath of fresh air.

Google Netherlands, the deputy mayor of Amsterdam, and director of the Dutch Cyclists Union conspired to create this visionary video. It's visionary, I tell ya!