The French study on the use of Hydroxycloroquine and Azithromycin for COVID19 is online and open to comments. Let me tell you, there are comments. Below is an excerpt from one of the clearest and most concise which notes that of the 26 original participants, 6 were not included in the result because 1 died, 1 had severe side effects, 3 were transferred to ICU, and 1 went home. None of the 15 controls died. The study measured viral load by nasal swab, but it’s not clear that this is a predictor of outcome and it appears that the control group were not monitored as carefully as the patients receiving the drugs. There was no placebo group.

1) There were 26 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine. Of these 6 are excluded because they did not continue the full 10 day course of treatment; 3 were transferred to ICU, one died, one discontinued due to adverse reaction (nausea) and one left hospital early.

Thus among the 26 patients started on with hydroxychloroquine, 15% (4/26) went to ICU or died vs. 0/15 of the controls, a difference that may be due to chance. However the baseline characteristics of the 6 patients who deteriorated rapidly are not presented in Supplementary Table 1. The analysis of outcomes of the treated group are based on the remaining 20 treated patients.

Here’s a link to the paper

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.16.20037135v1

Source: Hartford Courant

Gov. Ned Lamont will order all workers at “non-essential” businesses to stay home during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, he announced Friday.
Grocery stores, pharmacies, banks, gas stations and other necessary businesses will be allowed to remain open. Restaurants will still be able to provide takeout services.

Read more: https://www.courant.com/coronavirus/hc-news-coronavirus-update-0320-20200320-m5oro7ss3vb3nlqsormcmt6nty-story.html

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Gov. Wolf has announced that all but “life-sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania must close by 8 p.m. Thursday as the novel coronavirus continues to spread.
The governor had previously asked nonessential businesses such as salons, gyms, theaters, and entertainment venues to close. Under the new order, life-sustaining businesses that may continue physical operations include gas stations, farms, health care facilities, and transit systems, according to the Wolf administration.
The order applies to the city of Philadelphia, which previously had been allowed to impose and enforce its own restrictions.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/spl/pennsylvania-shutdown-lifesustaining-businesses-tom-wolf-shut-down-20200319.html

There's no indications that any of the flights SW operated were unsafe, but the potential for this to go wrong and end badly should be obvious

https://www.flightglobal.com/airlines/faa-proposes-to-fine-southwest-airlines-39m-for-incorrect-weight-and-balance-data/136101.article

The FAA has proposed to levy a $3.9 million fine on Southwest Airlines for operating more than 20,000 commercial flights with incorrect weight and balance calculations, potentially putting the safety of the flights at risk.

The violations took place between 1 May and 9 August 2018, on 21,505 flights with 44 aircraft, the FAA alleges. The incorrect data included empty weight, centre of gravity or moment data. This information is used to determine the number of passengers and amount of fuel that can be carried, and how cargo is loaded, the FAA says in a statement on 10 January.

“Southwest’s operation of these aircraft was contrary to the airline’s approved weight-and-balance programme and FAA-issued operations specifications,” the FAA says.

Weight and balance calculations on any aircraft are critical to flight safety. Faulty or incomplete calculations can compromise the aircraft’s structural integrity, and lead to tail strikes upon take-off or control difficulty in the air.

Southwest has 30 days after receiving the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the allegations.

Yikes!

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/15/ge-shares-drop-after-madoff-whistleblower-harry-markopolos-raises-red-flags-on-its-accounting.html

General Electric shares fell after Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos targets the conglomerate in a new report, calling it "a bigger fraud than Enron."
The 175-page report claims GE was hiding the depths of its financial problems and would need to significantly raise its insurance reserves. It also points out alleged accounting issues with its oil and gas unit.
"My team has spent the past 7 months analyzing GE's accounting and we believe the $38 Billion in fraud we've come across is merely the tip of the iceberg," Markopolos says in the report.
Markopolos said he has given the report to securities regulators and that certain information he has uncovered was given to law enforcement only, and is not in the public report.

with this tweet from ABC News quoting Martha Raddadtz

Check out @ABCPolitics’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics/status/1078015375244181504?s=09

Maybe Martha's memory is faulty, because a quick Google search shows that the following First Ladies have gone to combat zones, some more dangerous than the one Melanoma went to today:
Eleanor Roosevelt (who made multiple visits)
Pat Nixon
Barbara Bush
Hillary fucking Clinton
Laura Bush
Michelle Obama went to visit troops in Qatar

We need to bombard ABC with tweets and emails until they correct the record.

One more I wasn't sure about until I checked: Mary Todd Lincoln

The major snowfall last week may have been just the opening salvo in another frigid winter in the US Northeast. Here in CT, the high on Thanksgiving is forecast to be in the low 20's, over 35 degrees F colder than the historic average for this date. On the other hand, the West, and in particular the Northwest corner of the country will be warmer than average to much warmer.


Winter Temperature Outlook: Why This November Cold Snap Increases Odds of a Cold Winter in the East


Prolonged November cold and early snowfall are helping to raise the odds of a persistently cold winter in the East, according to the latest outlook from The Weather Company, an IBM Business.

The United States has had its most expansive November snow cover in almost three years due to a plunge of the jet stream centered over the central U.S.

This persistent upper-level trough has led to above-average snowfall not only where snow is expected along the northern tier of the country, but also throughout much of the Plains.

The colder air and increased snow cover may set the stage for frigid weather to take over a good section of the country this winter.

The overall trend calls for a colder-than-average winter in the eastern half of the country while the West remains warm, according to The Weather Company's latest winter outlook.


https://weather.com/forecast/national/news/2018-11-14-late-november-winter-temperature-outlook-the-weather-company?cm_ven=wu_videos?cm_ven=hp-slot-4

I'm surprised she didn't ask to see Obama's birthplace!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/05/melania-trump-in-pith-helmet-on-kenya-safari-likened-to-colonialist

Melania Trump has prompted consternation, some anger and much derision by choosing a pith helmet – a symbol of colonial rule across Africa – as headwear for a brief safari in Kenya.

On the penultimate day of her tour of the continent – her first solo trip overseas – the first lady visited an orphanage in Nairobi before heading to a national park near the city.

Dressed in riding pants, boots and a spotless white pith helmet, the former model climbed into an open-air vehicle for the safari, taking photos on her iPhone of zebras, giraffes, impalas, rhinos and hippos.

She also stopped at a site where 105 tons of ivory was burned as part of an effort to discourage the trade.

But it was the headgear that attracted most attention. Pith helmets – so-called because they are made of the material sholapith – were worn by European explorers and imperial administrators in Africa, parts of Asia and the Middle East in the 19th century before being adopted by military officers, rapidly becoming a symbol of status – and oppression.

Tales from Trump's Presidential Transition:

The first time Trump paid attention to any of this was when he read about it in the newspaper. The story revealed that Trump’s very own transition team had raised several million dollars to pay the staff. The moment he saw it, Trump called Steve Bannon, the chief executive of his campaign, from his office on the 26th floor of Trump Tower, and told him to come immediately to his residence, many floors above. Bannon stepped off the elevator to find Christie seated on a sofa, being hollered at. Trump was apoplectic, yelling: You’re stealing my money! You’re stealing my fucking money! What the fuck is this?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/27/this-guy-doesnt-know-anything-the-inside-story-of-trumps-shambolic-transition-team

I find that fascinating! We have a President and Mrs Fart and they run a chain of Fart Hotels. He sells Fart Water and Fart Steaks and you used to be able to get a bogus degree from Fart University.

Don't get me started on the Fart Shuttle!