Month: May 2020

Authored by Tom Luongo via Gold, Goats, n’ Guns blog,

I woke up this morning to multiple U.S. cities on fire, the police are under siege and V for Vendetta trending on Twitter. Hackivist group Anonymous has declared war on the government and a whole lotta people are very confused about what’s going on.

I have no doubt the riots, looting and burning happening around the U.S. today is a directed, coordinated attack on the institutions of this country.

But saying that doesn’t mitigate the real anger and desperation of so many Americans and the victims of this government. It doesn’t mean that part of this isn’t truly organic and real.

When people lose everything, the saying goes, they lose it.

In my last post I talked about the solipsism of what version of America people have in their heads. One screen, two movies and all that.

The two movies that are playing out now is the incredulous one exemplified by this tweet:

What’s more incredible is that you think it is possible to stop this at this point.

— Tom Luongo (@TFL1728) May 31, 2020

How many times in the past few days have you heard a politician say, “This isn’t who we are.”

Sadly, it is exactly who we are. And we’re all to blame for it.

America, the shining house on the hill overlooking the Utopia of Boomerville is slowly eating itself. The facade still looks good from down in the valley but the interior looks like the house from The Money Pit.

The other movie is out on the streets protesting the fundamental inequality of the American system. It’s being stoked to violence by brick-throwing, mask-wearing Marxists too dumb to realize that they will be the first ones shot if the Marxists they serve win the day.

Scrolling through my Twitter feed last night I saw the true state of hatred for the U.S. empire from some of my most ardent followers who live outside the U.S.

It was unnerving.

Because it became clear that they’d lost their humanity as well in the orgy of violence that they were witnessing. The comeuppance to the U.S. for all the pain and sorrow it had inflicted on the world couldn’t be held back.

But aren’t we supposed to hate the sin, not the sinner?

Isn’t that supposed to be the great ‘hack’ of Christianity?

The capability for forgiveness and temperance, to remember that we all have the capacity for redemption? Or is that just a cute Hollywood lie that doesn’t change the world when the moment of crisis arrives?

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, when you uncover someone’s existential fear you reveal their inner tyrant.

I wouldn’t wish looting and rioting on Canadians or Aussies, Germans or Brits (all complicit in the U.S. government’s crimes around the world, by the way) when some of them reached their limit and lashed out in inchoate rage.

I’d weep for it having come to that, for people to believe this is the only way they feel they will be heard.

I’ve succumbed to that rage at times. I’ve been that guy. And it’s shameful.

A lot of people in America today are waking up to what they are capable of and it’s time to integrate that into our image of ourselves, our psyches and, hopefully, our politics.

To reject the false image of a shining beacon of truth and accept the corruption, stagnation and violence for what it is.

And that it is our job to neuter those behind this brewing civil war and prevent causing this chaos ever again, anywhere.

Those folks cheering the collapse of the U.S. on display today have no idea of the chaos that comes to their shores the moment the U.S., for all its flaws, unravels in this disorderly a fashion.

Chaos is never pretty, that’s why it’s chaos. The U.S. has unleashed it around the world, like the Brits and the French before them and so on and so on. Our government deserves every insult hurled at it.

But at the same time, there is always that opportunity for real change when that moment of enlightenment occurs and we stop denying our baser selves and become whole.

And we can do that as long as we keep our heads high, our hearts open and focus true.

There are truly evil people acting out their plans today. The Flying Monkeys are in charge in our Post-Dorothy Oz.

In our Post-Dorothy Oz, where the witch is dead and the Wizard unmasked, the Flying Monkeys are left leaderless and they’ve been successful in their raiding the countryside for their own benefit that absent the meta-stable leadership of the Tyrant overlord, they believe they can run their own operations.

It’s clear that… the Flying Monkeys believe they can manipulate a hapless President to achieve their personal political agendas and not have them blow up in their faces.

… Given the structure of D.C. for so long, Presidents, at best have been allowed to lead the squadrons of Flying Monkeys but they don’t actually set policy.

That’s the Witch’s job. But, the problem is that The Witch is Dead and she won’t be resurrected. Because the Witch wasn’t any one person, the Witch was our willingness to accept the lies of our political system as constructive to our future.

That perception is a puddle of goo stinking up the room.

They are making demands like demented lunatics and sadly too many think they are right because things have been so unfair for so long.

We don’t negotiate with terrorists @AOC https://t.co/mzi4devtLR

— Cassandra Fairbanks (@CassandraRules) May 31, 2020

They want us yelling at each other, not talking to each other.

Everywhere that chaos reigned the net result was never what was written in the operations manual.

Iraq was never pacified, Afghanistan is still unruly, the Donbass is still free, Iran refuses to be toppled, Russia is resilient and potentially resurgent, Venezuela will survive, Syria is rebuilding and China will be taking over Hong Kong.

The death toll is horrific, the human price paid incalculable. The U.S.’s adversaries have pleaded with it for years to back away gracefully, but Empires don’t bargain, they dictate.

There is a silver lining to Americans waking up this morning to an orgy of violence, coming face to face with who exactly we are. It’s the realization that the house is rotten, the politicians powerless and our enemies are more ruthless and organized then many of us thought.

And with that realization comes asking the question of who we are going to be?

But that’s for us to figure out, not for you to gloat over.

Because no one will be spared the chaos of a disorderly breakdown of the U.S. That’s not a threat, that’s reality. So, again I won’t be cheering when Antifa in all its guises comes to Toronto or Berlin, Sydney or London.

And I won’t be saying I told you so.

Because, just like in those places the U.S. has destroyed, those trying to destroy the U.S. will find it a lot harder to pacify than they think it will be.

Sure you can shut off the money spigots, burn businesses, pay agent provocateurs, even overthrow presidents and foment real civil war sbut all you’re doing is making the next generation stronger.

Just ask Russians, Iranians, Iraqis, Lebanese and Syrians. They’ll tell you.

All you’re doing is making sure the next empire fails.

So folks, I’m with you. I know the end of the U.S. empire is on the horizon and I’m here to do my part and help define what comes next. But I also know those making it happen and cheering it on better be careful what they wish for.

Because they just might get it, in the words of H.L. Mencken, good and hard.

*  *  *

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Several years ago, when conventional wisdom dictated that to push inflation higher and jumpstart lethargic economies, central banks have to push rates so low as to make saving punitive and force consumers to go out and spend their hard earned savings, several central banks including the ECB, SNB and BOJ crossed into the monetary twilight zone by lowering overnight rates negative.

Then, year after year, we would hear from the likes of Kuroda and Draghi how the BOJ and ECB will continue and even extend their insane monetary policy, which now includes the purchase of 80% of all Japanese ETFs…

… until the central banks hit their inflation targets of 2%.

And yet, year after year, the BOJ would not only not hit its inflation target but appeared to drift ever lower, as did the ECB, SNB and any other bank that had gone NIRP, confounding all economists and central bankers: why was this happened if rates were negative? Why were consumers not taking their money out of the bank and spending it, pushing inflation higher?

Nobody had an answer, until in late 2015, we offered a glimpse into what was structurally flawed with this “model”: using a report by Bank of America, we showed that not only had household savings rates not declined in countries with negative rates, they had in fact risen. There was a simple reason for this, as the BIS had highlighted: ultra low rates may perversely be driving a greater propensity for consumers to save as  retirement income becomes more uncertain.

What logically followed from this is that inflation would also track rates lower, resulting in a crushing blow to economic orthodoxy where the only weapon central banks had left to spark an economic – read inflationary – recovery was to ease monetary conditions even more in hopes that eventually they would drop low enough to spark the long-awaited recovery.

It never happened, even though amusingly it was all the way back in 2015 that we predicted – correctly in retrospect – just what the monetary endgame is:

fear not: when even “moar” QE and NIRP do not work, and the economists of the ECB admit the “monetary twilight zone” was a disaster, there is one last “tool” they can and will use – helicopters. Because when it comes to printing money, whether in digital reserve format, or physical paper format, there is literally no limit how much can and will be created to achieve what is the endgame of the current monetary dead end: the total destruction of fiat as a store of wealth in order to preserve the global equity tranche while wiping away a few hundred trillion in debt.

Thanks to covid-19, we have now moved beyond merely the “twilight” and are now in the “helicopter” zone.

But what about the relationship between rates and savings, and by extension inflation? After all that is the topic of this post. Well, we can now confirm that our intuition from 2015 that negative rates are not only not inflationary but outright deflationary, and encourage consumers to save even more, was correct all along.

Below we post a chart from the latest Research Investment Committee report by BofA titled “Stagnation, stagflation or elevation”, which with just one image blows up everything that is flawed with monetary policy. It shows that while lower rates indeed stimulate spending and lead to lower savings, this effect peaks at around 4% and then goes negative. In fact, the lower yields – and rates – drop below 4% – not to mention to 0% or below – the lower the propensity to spend and the higher the savings rate!

There is another reason why this chart of such epic importance: it confirms what so many have known but were afraid to voice as it ran against decades of flawed economic theory: it demonstrates without a shadow of doubt, that hyper-easy monetary policy is not inflationary but is deflationary. Which is catastrophic for central banks, who publicly state that the only reason they are pursuing ultra easy monetary policy which includes QE and negative rates, is not to goose the market higher (even though by now we all know that’s the real reason) but to stimulate inflation.

This is how Bank of America summarizes this stunning observation:

As low growth & inflation make low-risk-asset income scarce (e.g. from government bonds), households are forced to reduce consumption and increase savings in order to meet retirement goals.

Forced saving further depresses demand in a vicious cycle.

This means that the lower (and more negative) central banks push rates, the lower (not higher) the spending, the higher (not lower) the savings rate, the lower the inflation, the higher the disinflation (or outright deflation), which in turn forces central banks to cut rates even more, to add QE, yield curve control, buy junk bonds, buy ETFs, or pursue any of a host of other monetary policies that are even more devastating to consumer psychology, forcing even more savings, resulting in even more disinflation, causing even more intervention by central banks in what is without doubt the most diabolical feedback loop of modern monetary policy and economics.

Said otherwise, monetary easing is deflationary. Let that sink in.

In effect, what the chart above shows, is that once trapped by NIRP, there is no way out, and the more central banks pursue inflation to offset deflation via monetary policy, the more pronounced the deflationary outcome resulting in even more central bank deflationary “stimulus”!

Meanwhile, as central banks spark even more deflation with their policies, the one place where all those trillions in liquidity they conjure out of thin air ends up in, is what was once known as the “market” and is now, in the words of BofA the “fake market” or as DB calls it “administered markets“, leading to ever higher fake asset prices, and ever greater wealth and income inequality, which ultimately tears the fabric of society itself.

In fact, just look at what’s happening to America right now: rioting, looting, pillaging, Americans fighting other Americans and while the media is spinning self-serving narratives that frame the bad guy as Trump, or China, or Russia, or this political party, or that, or some social movement, the truth is that the culprit behind the upcoming collapse of the US is just one, the same one that Thomas Jefferson warned the brand new nation about more than two centuries ago:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. The issuing power of currency shall be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.”

And sure enough, looking at what’s happening in any major city today, we see a lot of homeless and desperate people. And as a further reminder, the Fed – as the Bank of England was so kind to remind us – was and remains a private institution, no matter its claims otherwise.

Now if only someone could explain to all those millions of angry Americans that the source of virtually all of society’s ills is to be found in the building below (which just happens to house an unknown amount of freshly printed dollar bills), it would be a much-needed start to the reset the US so desperately needs to avoid complete destruction.

 

It seems eerily appropriate at this point, but perhaps says more about how the demonstrators and rioters see themselves, as whole city blocks have turned lawless each night over the past days of George Floyd protests. 

Video emerged days ago out of Minneapolis of crowds torching vehicles while blasting the familiar “siren” audio and “government message” from the dystopian horror series The Purge over a loud speaker.

“Any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours,” says The Purge recording in the video.

Rioters in Minnesota blast audio from The Purge on a loud speaker: “Any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours.”#BlackLivesMatter #antifa #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/3h8zSLNMTS

— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) May 29, 2020

“Police, fire and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning at 7am when The Purge concludes,” the message continues.

“America, a nation reborn, may God be with you all,” the message says before the siren blares.

Ironically, law enforcement especially in Minnesota has come under intense criticism for seeming to withdraw as chaos engulfs the streets, even as frustrated and tearful business owners look on as their bars, restaurants, and retails stores burn to the ground.

Store owner pulls up near his store, sees would-be looters, and fires shotgun at them.pic.twitter.com/blVVrMiCFU

— Orwell & Goode (@OrwellNGoode) May 31, 2020

For example, scenes like the above are playing out as locals begin to take matters into their own hands, sometimes confronting rioters with weapons, including firearms. 

But it often doesn’t go well for those trying to defend their businesses.

The below disturbing footage is from Dallas Saturday night. Police say the man survived and was transported to a hospital with severe injuries. 

Full unedited video for editorial requests. Please attribute to Elijah Schaffer of Blaze TV. I cannot confirm he was the store owner, but I pulled out my camera when I saw him appearing to defend a store, then he was rushed, then made the move that might have cost him his life pic.twitter.com/8oGa2obBbp

— ELIJAH (@ElijahSchaffer) May 31, 2020

And then there’s this very disturbing scene:

“Protestors” beat the hell out of female shop owner as husband pleads helplessly. In broad daylight. pic.twitter.com/oJVvR1Sfl1

— Andy Swan (@AndySwan) May 31, 2020

The growing chaos and lawlessness – even in broad daylight – is indeed beginning to become a ‘purge’ in real life.

Authored by Savannah Dudzik via Campus Reform,

Two female track athletes in Idaho are urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit intended to once again allow biological males to compete in women’s sports. 

Two Idaho University female track athletes are teaming up with the state of Idaho to dismiss a lawsuit that that would allow transgender women to compete in their sport. Earlier this year, Republican Gov. Brad Little signed into law a statute to ban transgender athletes from participating in the other sex’s sports, but the American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Voice filed a lawsuit in April, arguing that the new state law violates the U.S. Constitution.

The two track athletes, Madison Kenyon and Mary Marshall, are urging a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit are represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. Madison Kenyon and Mary Marshall argue that to repeal the law would put them in unfair competition with biological males on their college track team.

“I believe that allowing males to enter women’s sports defeats an entire aspect of sports: It eliminates the connection between an athlete’s effort and her success,” one of the student athletes, Madison Kenyon, told Campus Reform. 

But, Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project says that the law “illegally targets women and girls who are transgender and intersex and subjects all female athletes to the possibility of invasive genital and genetic screenings.”

“In Idaho and around the country, transgender people of all ages have been participating in sports consistent with their gender identity for years. Inclusive teams support all athletes and encourage participation — this should be the standard for all school sports,” Arkles added.

ADF legal counsel Christina Holcomb told Campus Reform that “girls deserve to compete on a level playing field.”

“Allowing males to compete in girls’ sports diminishes women’s athletic opportunities and destroys fair competition,” Holcomb added. 

“While it’s true that athletics is about more than winning, giving girls and women extra lessons in losing isn’t right. We’re grateful Gov. Little signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law because it seeks to protect girls and women across Idaho. Our clients have already experienced the deflating experience of losing to a male runner, and this should not be allowed to continue.”

As America braces for a third night of “protests”, governors and mayors across the country are calling in the national guard, imposing curfews and taking other more aggressive measures to stop a third night of chaos and destruction that’s virtually guaranteed to rattle investors in the US – and possibly around the world – when markets open in a few hours.

Already, crowds have returned to downtown Philadelphia where the situation was already starting to spin out of control on Sunday afternoon. The city experienced the same type of mass violence – looting, rioting, skirmishes between black-clad anarchists and the police, and, of course, molotov cocktails – last night as the violence spread from Minneapolis to more cities across the country.

Ahead of what’s shaping up to be a second night of violence in the city of brotherly love (soon to be renamed the city of brotherly muggings), police have released an update on the number of arrests made last night, as well as details of injuries sustained by police officers.

Arrest Update: From 1200PM, Sat, May 30th until 1200PM, Sunday, May 31st :
(138) curfews (11) CVNs
(4) Assault on police
(3) Firearm Violations
(4) Theft
(48) Looting/Burglary

— Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) May 31, 2020

Fifteen police officers were injured last night, with one officer admitted to the hospital with a broken arm broken ribs after he was struck by an SUV.

Only a few hours have passed since several “peaceful” protests commenced down town, and already looters are tearing up Kensington Avenue.

Looters robbing Looters. Kensington. #riots2020 #philly @CBSNews @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/BoyYfiMOFI

— manuelsmith (@manuelsmith) May 31, 2020

And it’s only getting worse.

And still more looting. Kensington Avenue. #riots2020 #philly @CBSNews @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/6TC7WeeW9G

— manuelsmith (@manuelsmith) May 31, 2020

Police have begun to respond to “select break in incidents” according to a reporter covering the unrest.

Day two. A large @PhillyPolice response along Kensington and Aramingo Avenues as they respond to select break-in and looting incidents. #protests2020 #Philly @CBSPhilly @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/UQ9EFEz9oD

— manuelsmith (@manuelsmith) May 31, 2020

In parts of the city, the looting hasn’t stopped, as looters returned in the morning and afternoon as battles with police escalated.

LOOTING CONTINUES: Looting continued this morning in Center City Philadelphia and has now moved into the city’s Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods.

MORE: https://t.co/5yfQFokxpW https://t.co/jAEDiA3RX6

— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) May 31, 2020

With eagle eyes of @PhillyPolice helicopter, officers arrive as Modell’s Aramingo Avenue being looted. Large crowd runs out back of store after police arrive in both front and at back of store. @ppddavebonk @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/YPYAzJ0Ra3

— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) May 31, 2020

As a peaceful demonstration moved toward city hall, a tense exchanged erupted as locals confronted two “professional” protesters who were urging the crowd to “take it further” – ie escalate violence against the police – in retribution for George Floyd.

During the peaceful protest 2 protestors on the side are calling for people to “take it further”

In a tense exchange the crowd shut them down “this is not your protest” “you’re not from philly”

Worth noting a qpoc stepped in to keep things from escalating @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/Hgbu7FSOj7

— Miguel Martinez-Valle (@MiguelMValle) May 31, 2020

To be sure, not all of the demonstrations in the Greater Philly area were violent: Some marches on Sunday afternoon remained largely peaceful, like in Atlantic City…

More from the Boardwalk in Atlantic City pic.twitter.com/xzhC2glR1K

— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg) May 31, 2020

…where police shut down traffic, preventing outsiders, who reportedly cause most of the trouble, from entering.

Police have shut down traffic into Atlantic City. pic.twitter.com/lDkN8botV6

— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg) May 31, 2020

Protestors will gathered at 1 pm on Sunday in front of City Hall for a peace rally advocating for justice and a change to policies that provoke police brutality. A march from the Ben Franklin Bridge to the Liberty Bell at 5th and Markets Street also started around noon, according to local media reports.

But by mid-afternoon the situation had already turned violent. In response to the riots and violence, Mayor Kenney and Commissioner Outlaw addressed citizens Sunday afternoon, announcing a mandatory, city-wide curfew set to resume at 8pm Sunday, and last until 6am.

“The peaceful protests earlier were touching showings of our collective grief. The anger being displayed now cannot continue. Please have respect and dignity for each other and return home,” Kenney stated.

However, as the looting and violence intensified in the afternoon (in Philadelphia at least, it never really stopped) the city moved the curfew up to 6pm.

BREAKING: Philadelphia has moved up the citywide curfew to 6 p.m. Sunday. It will last through 6 a.m. Monday. https://t.co/ftKCH2dz0x pic.twitter.com/bsEg0R7rz2

— NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) May 31, 2020

In addition, all retail stores have been ordered to close immediately. Many that haven’t even reopened from COVID yet started to board up windows “as a precaution”.

We saw Cuba Libre and other 2nd St businesses in Old City are boarding up windows and doors as a precaution tonight. Keep in mind some of these places plan to reopen next week after the #Covid hiatus. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/2eqWqscJev

— Brandon Hudson (@BHudTV) May 31, 2020

As the violence begins not just in Philly but in Pittsburg and in other cities around PA and the rest of the country, the state police said they were calling troopers from the surrounding area to converge on the cities.

For instance, neighboring Troops around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg are sending a sufficient amount of troopers to assist in those specific municipalities.

— PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) May 31, 2020

PA Gov. Tom Wolf signed a disaster emergency declaration Saturday authorizing the adjutant general of the state National Guard and the Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner to activate personnel to help cities.

Philly police have already released their first arrest update.

Arrest Updates beginning today, 5/31 12:01PM: (2) CVN, (6) Looting/Burglary

— Philadelphia Police (@PhillyPolice) May 31, 2020

During Sunday’s briefing, Kenney and other city officials praised the volunteers who came out Sunday morning to help clean up the damage. “I hope that the story of May 30-31 isn’t about what happened last night but about what happened this morning,” Managing Director Brian Abernathy said.

To try and prevent a repeat of Saturday’s violence, Outlaw said much of Center City “from South (street) to Vine (street), from river to river’ — from the Schuylkill River to the Delaware River, and including the Ben Franklin Bridge — would be blocked off, affecting roads, bridges and expressway entrances and exits as well as the city’s transit agency, according to the AP.

While local officials in the US have blamed foreign influence for instigating the violence, it looks like the protests are spreading around the world, to the US embassies in London and Berlin, and beyond.

This is huge.

London marching for George Floyd outside of the US embassy right now.

Incredible scenes. #protests2020 pic.twitter.com/8XstqCRSKj

— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) May 31, 2020

In Chicago, national Guard troops have been deployed to help the police try and restore order to the chaotic scene, as the city’s progressive mayor Lori Lightfoot pleaded with “protesters” for calm.

Though many of the rioters, looters and protesters have worn masks, as the country braces for another night of chaos, it should be interesting to see how the infection/hospitalization numbers out of some states change in the coming days and weeks, especially considering that LA County reported some record numbers on Sunday.

 

Why did a virus that turns out to be barely worse than the flu after all (especially for those under 65 who are not obese, have diabetes, or heart issues) spark the kind of panicked fearmongering among lobbyist-funded politicians and advertising-based mainstream media?

Jamie McGurk (@jpm25) may have found one important piece of the puzzle. As he tweeted earlier:

“My wife is a healthcare worker and has gotten 3 COVID-19 tests over the last 2 months.

We got the bill for the first one today: $18,415 w/o insurance. “

And here it is in black-and-white…

So what exactly do we see here?

The hospital’s charge of $18,415 for a COVID-19 test is insane!

But CIGNA (the insurance provider) splits its ‘winnings’ from government reimbursements with the hospital.

This smells like the entire engineered chaos of the COVID crisis (and the politicians “Test, Test, Test” mantra) is becoming nothing less than a giant giveaway to insurance companies.

And finally, a $5 test is still costing the patient $100.

Just wait until the government-subsidized mandatory vaccination costs start to filter into insurance company earnings.

…is it any wonder people are rioting in the streets?

Hydroxychloroqine – a cheap, widely-prescribed anti-malaria drug which was deemed safe for decades until it showed efficacy treating coronavirus – needs to be made “widely available and promoted immediately for physicians to prescribe,” according to Yale epidemiologist Dr. Harvey Risch.

In a Wedensday manuscript detailing how high-risk COVID-19 patients should be treated, Risch notes that the combination of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and the antibiotic azithromycin (AZ) “has been widely misrepresented in both clinical reportsand public media,” and that “Five studies, including two controlled clinical trials, have demonstrated significant major outpatient treatment efficacy.“

Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been used as standard-of-care in more than 300,000 older adults with multi comorbidities, with estimated proportion diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmias attributable to the medications 47/100,000 users, of which estimated mortality is <20%,9/100,000users, compared to the 10,000 Americans now dying each week. These medications need to be widely available and promoted immediately for physicians to prescribe. – Dr. Harvey Risch

Risch recommends the combination of HCQ+AZ “preferably with zinc” as a “standard outpatient treatment, at least until we find or add something better, whether that could be remdesivir or something else.”

The manuscript flies in the face of mainstream health authorities, which has staged a full court press against HCQ, while promoting Gilead’s (very expensive) remdesivir as the only viable option to treat the COVID-19. Medical experts – including Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force have cautioned against taking the drug despite its successful use by doctors around the world, who have claimed dramatic improvement in patients with coronavirus.

“Every patient I’ve prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free,” said Los Angeles doctor Dr. Anthony Cardillo, adding “So clinically I am seeing a resolution.”

In mid-May, President Trump admitted to taking HCQ + Zinc right around the time VP Mike Pence’s Press Secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus.

Read Risch’s manuscript below:

As Amazon prepares to end hazard pay for workers at its fulfillment centers across the US, the company is scaling back deliveries and recalling drivers in cities impacted by the rioting and violence breaking out across the US. Bloomberg reported that the company is “scaling back deliveries in a small number of cities” including Chicago, Portland and LA.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and in a handful of cities we adjusted routes or scaled back typical operations to ensure the safety of our teams,” a company spokeswoman said.

The company is also reportedly closing some of its hubs near these areas (though, to be sure, most of Amazon’s larger fulfillment centers are in more rural or suburban areas).

Amazon’s decision might be the first – but likely won’t be the last – example of how the violence will further destabilize strained supply chains, cutting off what has been an essential service for millions of Americans marooned inside their homes during the pandemic.

In Chicago and LA, Amazon delivery drivers received messages on Saturday night advising them that “If you are currently out delivering packages, stop immediately and return home. If you have not completed your route, please return undelivered packages to the pick-up location whenever you’re able to do so.”

The company said it was “in close contact with local officials and will continue to monitor the protests,” and would only re-open delivery stations when it’s safe – meaning the longer the unrest continues, the greater the disruption will be.

It’s important to remember that millions of Americans – including hundreds of thousands suffering from disabilities and medical conditions – rely on these delivery services. If they can’t get packages, they might not be able to receive deliveries of groceries and other essential items like medications.

Courtesy of SFGate

Interestingly enough, the decision to delay deliveries in some of America’s largest cities will almost certainly create serious backlogs that Amazon warehouse workers – who have suffered from COVID-19 outbreaks and other workplace-related issues – will be forced to contend with just as the company prepares to cut off “hazard pay” for these workers on June 1, as the NYT reminds us.

“They call us essential. They call us heroes. I’m just going to say it. We are expendable,” says Courtenay Brown, an Amazon warehouse worker in Newark, when asked by the NYT about the company’s decision.

Amazon is cutting off hazard pay despite the fact that COVID-19 outbreaks in some of its facilities remain on going. Now that drivers and some workers are facing new potential dangers, will the company reconsider this decision and decide to extend these badly needed benefits?

Or maybe  Jeff Bezos isn’t feeling wealthy enough yet?

Submitted by Stephen Kopits of Princeton Energy Advisors

Here’s our weekly update on pandemic numbers in Italy and the US.

Italy

In general, Italy continues to come in at expectations.  However, new cases have picked up, running almost double expectations of a week ago.  We had noted the difficulties of forecasting the ultimate taper of new cases.  Reducing these will take longer than expected, and our model suggests that new cases in Italy will not fall below 100 until June 22nd, 14 days later than our expectations of just one week ago.  And this could easily be pushed out again.

USA

The US continues to underperform badly in some areas. Total confirmed cases have reached 1.75 million.  

Deaths at 103,000 continue to run just about at expectations, as they have for weeks.  The death rate continues to come in just below expectations.

New confirmed cases continue to look terrible. We projected 11,300 cases for May 30; the actual was 25,300, 125% above forecast over just a week’s horizon.  US containment efforts are visibly failing.  As a result, the forecast date for new cases coming in below 1000 has been pushed back an alarming 40 days to July 29th. 

The forecast for new cases below 100 has been pushed out 56 days to August 28th.  The US may enter the new flu season beginning in late September with new cases still in the thousands.   Thus, there will be limited lifting of social distancing practices and very possibly a resumption of tighter lockdowns in the fall as a new outbreak flares. 

A “W”-shaped epidemic is now emerging as our expected case forecast, with the economic and social consequences implied.