Deployment of Military Inside Mexico to Continue
May 12th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Mexico’s president has ordered the armed forces to tackle security on the streets for another four years, extending a policy he had previously criticized as the government struggles to curb runaway violence.
In a notice published in the Official Gazette, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered that the Armed Forces (FA) participate “in an extraordinary, regulated and complementary manner with the National Guard” in public security tasks.
The armed forces will be under the command of the National Guard, the notice said, a military police created after Lopez Obrador came to the presidency on Dec. 2018. The order will last until March 2024.
The decree means the armed forces will be on Mexican streets until almost the end of the presidency of Lopez Obrador, a political veteran who often criticized former President Felipe Calderon for deploying sailors and soldiers for public security.
90,000 Cruise Workers Stranded on Ships for Two Months
May 12th, 2020Via: Bloomberg:
Carrick and Harrison are among the more than 90,000 cruise workers in U.S. waters stranded on ships two months after the coronavirus pandemic began forcing cruise lines to halt operations and repatriate crew. While companies work through a thicket of shifting rules on returning workers to their home countries, recent deaths of crew have shook the industry and underscored concern about mental health.
What It’s Like to Believe Everything the Media Tells You
May 12th, 2020Via: AwakenWithJP:
“Several Vaccines Will Likely Be Needed To Combat The Coronavirus”
May 12th, 2020haha Tell me another one.
Via: Bloomberg:
Several vaccines will likely be needed to combat the coronavirus and immunize groups of people in America and abroad, U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said in an interview.
Musk Reopening California Tesla Factory, Going Against Government Lockdown Orders
May 11th, 2020—
Via: Reuters:
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Monday said production was resuming at the automaker’s sole U.S. vehicle factory, in California, defying an order to stay closed and saying if anyone had to be arrested it should be him.
Musk over the weekend threatened to leave California for Texas or Nevada over his factory’s closure. His move has highlighted the competition for jobs and ignited a rush to woo the billionaire executive by states that have reopened their economies more quickly in response to encouragement from U.S. President Donald Trump.
…
Musk in a tweet said production was resuming on Monday, adding that he would join workers on the assembly line. “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me,” he wrote.
World Health Organization – Global Preparedness Monitoring Board: Annual Report on Global Preparedness for Health Emergencies, A World at Risk
May 10th, 2020This was published in September 2019, a month before Event 201 was held.
Via: World Health Organization (PDF):
Progress indicator(s) by September 2020
…
The United Nations (including WHO) conducts at least two system-wide training and simulation exercises, including one for covering the deliberate release of a lethal respiratory pathogen.
X-37B Space Plane’s Microwave Power Beam Experiment
May 10th, 2020Via: The Drive:
The X-37B’s upcoming mission is known as both Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OTV-6) and U.S. Space Force-7 (USSF-7). It will carry out missions that will assess the effects of cosmic radiation and other “space effects” on plant seeds and various material samples. According to a Space Force press release, which went out on May 6, another payload aboard the X-37B will be an experimental system designed by the Naval Research Laboratory that is capable of capturing solar power and beaming that energy back to Earth in the form of microwaves.
Tesla Sues California County in Virus Factory Closure fight, Threatens to Leave
May 10th, 2020Via: Reuters:
Tesla Inc sued local authorities in California on Saturday as the electric carmaker pushed to re-open its factory there and Chief Executive Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla’s headquarters and future programs from the state to Texas or Nevada.
Pentagon Official: FCC Decision on 5G Threatens GPS, National Security
May 8th, 2020Via: The Hill:
Pentagon officials on Wednesday criticized the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent decision to allow Virginia-based satellite communications company Ligado to deploy a nationwide mobile network, saying that it could have adverse effects on GPS signals that are integral to the military’s operations.
“GPS has also long been a critical technology that has supported the Nation’s public safety, law enforcement medical and medical responders. It literally saves lives,” U.S. Space Force Gen. John Raymond told the Senate Armed Service Committee in a hearing that featured him and other Pentagon officials. “While Americans at home are typically not under threat of purposeful electronic attack, the GPS services they depend on every day for life and livelihood are also threatened if the GPS signal and its environment are not protected from disruption.”
The Defense Department’s chief information officer Dana Deasy told the committee that Ligado’s proposed spectrum will have “unacceptable operational impacts and adversely affect the military potential of GPS.”
…
Since 2015, the satellite company has been working on a proposal for a network that would utilize the L-band spectrum. The L-band spectrum is used to transmit GPS signals as it can cut through obstacles such as clouds, fog, rain, storms and vegetation, which is why the Department of Defense has been wary of the company’s plan. Ligado has said that a network based on the spectrum would allow telecom companies to deploy 5G networks.
Despite the Pentagon’s concerns, the five-member FCC approved Ligado’s proposal last month.
Vitamin D Appears to Play Role in COVID-19 Mortality Rates
May 8th, 2020Via: MedicalXpress:
After studying global data from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have discovered a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates.
Led by Northwestern University, the research team conducted a statistical analysis of data from hospitals and clinics across China, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States.
The researchers noted that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates, such as Italy, Spain and the UK, had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected.
…
Backman and his team were inspired to examine vitamin D levels after noticing unexplained differences in COVID-19 mortality rates from country to country. Some people hypothesized that differences in healthcare quality, age distributions in population, testing rates or different strains of the coronavirus might be responsible. But Backman remained skeptical.
“None of these factors appears to play a significant role,” Backman said. “The healthcare system in northern Italy is one of the best in the world. Differences in mortality exist even if one looks across the same age group. And, while the restrictions on testing do indeed vary, the disparities in mortality still exist even when we looked at countries or populations for which similar testing rates apply.
“Instead, we saw a significant correlation with vitamin D deficiency,” he said.
By analyzing publicly available patient data from around the globe, Backman and his team discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and cytokine storm—a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system—as well as a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and mortality.
“Cytokine storm can severely damage lungs and lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in patients,” Daneshkhah said. “This is what seems to kill a majority of COVID-19 patients, not the destruction of the lungs by the virus itself. It is the complications from the misdirected fire from the immune system.”
This is exactly where Backman believes vitamin D plays a major role. Not only does vitamin D enhance our innate immune systems, it also prevents our immune systems from becoming dangerously overactive. This means that having healthy levels of vitamin D could protect patients against severe complications, including death, from COVID-19.
“Our analysis shows that it might be as high as cutting the mortality rate in half,” Backman said. “It will not prevent a patient from contracting the virus, but it may reduce complications and prevent death in those who are infected.”
