Coronavirus (non-sports related)

[Nutriaitch]

37 minutes ago, Herb said:

Well, if you do the math the Republican governors don't add up to 8 (if we assume they are referring to 50 states) so they conveniently left some governors out. Who are the other 3?

 

hell i didn't even notice that part. Just that the article went out of it's way to point out a political party.

 

[houtiger]

20 hours ago, Fishhead said:

That dude couldn't even keep viruses down on windows. 

Excellent!!!

[houtiger]

I don't get out much these days.  I ride my bike around the neighborhood once a day, about 3 mile loop.  Do a little yard work.  But the stock market has been fascinating and that has kept me very busy and entertained.  Since I retired from the software business, I consider this my new job.  I got 90% out of stocks in Dec. because I thought the market was overvalued.  I started buying back in after the Mar. 23 low so I'm about 60% in stocks now.  I think it is a bear market and going will be rough through Q2 earnings reports which will come in July.  If you're interested, my weekly blog update is on RichInvesting.wordpress.com .  Updated once a week for the last 4 years!

Edited April 10, 2020 by houtiger

[Fishhead]

Yeah, Hou... it's buy time.  

[Nutriaitch]

soooo, tomorrow will be the first good friday of my entire life that is not held at my Grandmother's house. 
i don't think she is coming to my sister's house either.

[LSUDad]

30 minutes ago, Nutriaitch said:

soooo, tomorrow will be the first good friday of my entire life that is not held at my Grandmother's house. 
i don't think she is coming to my sister's house either.

This has been a major change for everyone, I call my mom in Ga. She’s good, three sisters there, only one actually has a job. So two sister can help her when needed, they drop stuff off at her house. 
We are good here, just want things to get back to somewhat normal, whatever normal is. 

[houtiger]

Grandchild #5 had her first birthday today.  Her mom and dad hosted a party, lit the candle, we all attended on Zoom.  Technology is amazing!  She had her uncle attend from Guam (navy), grandparents aunts and uncles from Galveston, great aunt in Lafayette, aunt in Victoria.  Sang happy birthday in English and then in Spanish.  Her mother only speaks spanish to her, her dad only english.  They want her to be bilingual.  Her mom is an elementary school teacher in a bilingual class for kids whose first language is spanish.  She said things have changed, 3 out of 4 kids in her class are from families that have fled Venezuela due to the collapse of the govt., but that is unique to that neighborhood.

Edited April 10, 2020 by houtiger

[LSUDad]

An engineer friend of mine was from France, his wife was Latino, he spoke to their three kids in French, the wife spoke Spanish, while they were at home. Once outside the house, they all spoke English. Trilingual. 

[Herb]

I'm bilingual. I speak English and Yat.

[houtiger]

3 hours ago, Herb said:

I'm bilingual. I speak English and Yat.

Where y'at?

[LSUDad]

I’m trilingual, I can cuss in three languages. English, French and Spanish.  

[dachsie]

So I am seeing that a couple of countries who loosened their restrictions are getting more cases and are locking down again.  Singapore and South Korea.  Geez I hope that doesn't happen here

[COTiger]

1 hour ago, dachsie said:

So I am seeing that a couple of countries who loosened their restrictions are getting more cases and are locking down again.  Singapore and South Korea.  Geez I hope that doesn't happen here

Yes in answer to your question.  I think that until the death rates stabilize then begin to drop the restrictions will remain in place.  We now lead the world in the number of deaths.

[Herb]

How a stockpile of 39 million masks was exposed as fake

A nurse protests the lack of personal protective gear available at UCI Medical Center in Orange. 

(Mario Tama / Getty Images)

By MELODY GUTIERREZ, 

ADAM ELMAHREK

APRIL 11, 2020

4 AM

SACRAMENTO — 

 

A powerful California union that claimed to have discovered 39 million masks for healthcare workers fighting the novel coronavirus was duped in an elaborate scam uncovered by FBI investigators, the U.S. attorney’s office said Friday.

U.S. Atty. Scott Brady of the Western District of Pennsylvania said FBI agents and prosecutors stumbled onto the arrangement while looking into whether they could intercept the masks for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Defense Production Act.

The federal government has been quietly seizing supplies across the country, taking the orders placed by hospitals and clinics and not publicly reporting where the products are being routed.

But in this case, there was no warehouse, and there were no masks to seize.

1/74

A couple and their dog enjoy an afternoon on the coast in spite of parking restrictions on Saturday, April 11, 2020 in Point Mugu.  (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

 

Brady said investigators tracked the tip back to a Pittsburgh businessman, who said he had been working with the union to secure millions of masks, some of which were purported to be sitting in a Georgia warehouse. Brady said the businessman had been using WhatsApp to connect with a broker in Australia and a supplier in Kuwait, who are both now the target of a federal investigation.

Brady said the union and the Pittsburgh businessman, whom he declined to identify, appear to be among a string of middlemen who were fooled. The union and the Pittsburgh businessman are not under investigation, Brady said.

“There are opportunists who are looking for any victim,” Brady said.

The promise of 39 million masks was first made public March 26, when the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West announced it had found the stockpile after 48 hours of frantic phone calls pursuing leads on potential suppliers. The announcement by the union, known as SEIU, was widely covered by major media outlets and listed several hospital systems and government agencies as buyers.

In a Facebook Live town hall, union President Dave Regan claimed that the group had successfully purchased the masks and that workers would soon be receiving them.

Kaiser Permanente placed an order for 6 million masks. Sutter Health officials said they planned to buy 2 million. Hospitals that weren’t joining the deal were shamed online. SEIU 121RN, Southern California’s union of registered nurses, started a petition alleging that hospitals that didn’t take part were “putting bottom-line profits” over safety.

But behind the scenes, the deal quickly unraveled, marking the latest in a smoke-and-mirrors marketplace for equipment in short supply as healthcare facilities in California and beyond have been preparing for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients.

In the days after the SEIU deal was announced, Kaiser employees began expressing frustration that they hadn’t received any masks. On April 3, a spokesman for Kaiser Permanente told The Times that the seller had “repeatedly failed to provide reliable information about where we could verify and inspect the shipment,” prompting Kaiser to withdraw. The spokesman said Kaiser has been cooperating in the federal investigation.

Brady, the federal prosecutor, said the Pittsburgh businessman told investigators he was buying the masks at $3.50 each and turning a “slight profit” in the SEIU-led deal. The union said the masks were being purchased for $5 and that SEIU was not making any money. It’s unclear whether the Pittsburgh middleman intended to pocket the entire $9 million profit.

Brady said the foreign connections asked for a 40% payment upfront and that they planned to give Kaiser details on how to forward that payment at the last moment.

At one point, the Australian broker told the middleman in Pittsburgh that 2 million masks were located in a warehouse in Georgia and that the product had been inspected by a particular certification company.

That, Brady said, “was also part of the ruse.”

No money was exchanged in the attempts to finalize a deal, Brady said.

Experts in the global supply chain say dubious brokers and suppliers have flooded the market with suspect offers, creating an atmosphere of confusion and distrust just as hospitals are trying to stock up on the gear doctors and nurses need to protect themselves from the novel coronavirus.

Steve Trossman, spokesman for SEIU-UHW, said union officials had been trying to find equipment for members, and the group had no financial interest in any transactions. Trossman said the union only connected the supplier to the hospitals and had no involvement after that.

“As far as we knew, he had legitimate masks,” Trossman said of the supplier, “and the people who were going to purchase those masks were going to fully vet it and check it out and do their due diligence.”

Trossman said the union “was trying to save the lives of healthcare workers and patients,” and its officials “were proud of having made that attempt.”

Brady said federal investigators had reason to suspect the arrangement. The 39 million masks were advertised as N95 masks from 3M, the largest U.S.-based manufacturer. But 3M told federal investigators it manufactured only 20 million such masks last year, making that large of a stockpile unlikely unless the product was counterfeit.

“We believe we disrupted fraud,” Brady said. “We are seeing [personal protective equipment] fraud in every variation, but mostly in respect to N95 masks. We have an anxious public, and resources are strained.”

 

[LSUDad]

I agree Herb, California is one crooked state. They wouldn’t waste money on masks. Unless they could make a profit off it. Then steal the money. 

[Herb]

39 minutes ago, LSUDad said:

I agree Herb, California is one crooked state. They wouldn’t waste money on masks. Unless they could make a profit off it. Then steal the money. 

The stockpile was supposedly in GA and the "middleman" was a Kentucky businessman.

This really isn't about California?

[LSUDad]

https://bluntforcetruth.com/news/covid-19-had-us-all-fooled-but-now-we-might-have-finally-found-its-secret/

[LSUDad]

7 minutes ago, Herb said:

The stockpile was supposedly in GA and the "middleman" was a Kentucky businessman.

This really isn't about California?

Sorry anytime I see California, it reminds me of the failure in that state, the theft mostly. 

[Herb]

Well, we can all agree that no mercy shall be shown to Gumps:

[LSUDad]

3 minutes ago, Herb said:

Well, we can all agree that no mercy shall be shown to Gumps:

Better. 
 

 

 

[Herb]

[houtiger]

I thought Crozier was going to end up a hero before its over.  He sacrificed his career for the service members lives on that ship.  Leaking to the press is not right, unless it is the only avenue you have left to save lives.

Quote

 

US Navy Vice Adm. Bill Merz, the commander of the United States' largest forward­-deployed fleet, visited the aircraft carrier reeling from a coronavirus outbreak and admitted the morale for some of its crew was negatively impacted by recent events.

"There was lots of anxiety about the virus," Merz told CNN. "As you can imagine the morale covers the spectrum, considering what they have been through."

The nuclear-powered USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is currently stationed in Guam, has been beset with a range of recent problems — including the firing of its commander, Capt. Brett Crozier.

On April 2, Crozier was relieved of command by the then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly after he emailed a four-page letter to over 20 people, warning about the coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship. The letter was eventually leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, which published its contents.

It was not immediately clear how the letter was leaked, but Navy leaders said they recently completed an investigation into the matter.

Modly scrutinized Crozier's decision to email the letter to the group and accused him of circumventing the service's chain of command. In a leaked 15-minute speech directly to the crew aboard the ship, Modly went on to suggest that Crozier was either insubordinate or "too naïve or too stupid."

Modly apologized for his remarks and resigned on Tuesday.

Crozier, who was hailed as a benevolent commander by many aboard the ship and Democratic lawmakers, has since been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. As Crozier left his ship, dozens of crew members, in close proximity with each other, saw him off by cheering him on.

Vice Adm. Merz, who saw the videos of the send-off, said his immediate reaction was "our job just got harder for us" because of the lack of social distancing. 

Merz told CNN the ship's crew was "struggling in the wake of losing their [commanding officer] and their perception of the lack of activity regarding fighting the virus."

Merz cited an apparent disconnect between information about the coronavirus and the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

"I think we could have told them earlier what we knew," Merz said. "The degree of accuracy against the virus at any level is a little sketchy, but I think we could have at least bought [sic] them in earlier and started having this dialogue up front."

"I certainly don't think it was malice by the ship or the leadership" Merz added. "I think it was just a matter of getting their arm around what they could and could not tell them."

Merz, like Modly and other Pentagon leaders, said he believed Crozier's "motives were pure" when he emailed his letter and that "he was looking out for his crew."

More than 2,300 of the carrier's roughly 4,800 crew members have been evacuated, and many of them are under quarantine in hotels in Guam. Over 445 crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Friday.

https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-admiral-admits-morale-hit-on-uss-theodore-roosevelt-2020-4

 

 

[LSUDad]

Captain Hazelwood was in much the same state. Loved by his crew. Drunk or sober, one of the best ever. Sad both will be remember for these two events. 
 

Now the guy that was on the bridge at the time, you wouldN’t want him driving your car. Just my opinion. 
Want to say his name was Cousins. In my younger years, I had boarded a number of vessels. For years, many ships had their own bars onboard. They would rather the crew stay on, not taking a chance of them getting in trouble ashore. 
Over the years, food and booze was a common greeting. 
 

Onboard one ship that went up and down the East coast, the chef was from New Orleans, it was a fight to get him. Great guy and chef. Made the best Boston Cream Pie. Every docking in BTR, the cream pies were abundant. 
 

The out of country ships, had inspectors board, customs, immigration, USDA, if anything did look like something uneatable, it was locked up, till they were headed back outside USA waters. 
 

A few ship made regular trips up the Mississippi River, two from the same company, the chefs on them made the best Focacci Bread. 

Years ago, one refinery would by Kerosene at a cheap price, add de-icer, sell it as Jet-A. Also buying heating oil, with a high cetane number, selling it as diesel. Easy way to make a large profit. 
 

Years ago a ship loaded with gasoline was bought from England, it was to offload up North, having been sold again. It was diverted to BTR, while the trip heading South, due to the heat, caused the product to expand. Sea and river water was drafted, then sprayed onto the deck of the ship to cool down the deck, slowing the expansion. 
 

Ships coming into the Mississippi, fresh water, would sink, only a few inches, due to salt water buoyancy. 

I know, I got a million of them. 
Enjoy your Easter folks. 

Edited April 13, 2020 by LSUDad

[houtiger]

I spent an hour on the phone with a former co-worker, but not just any coworker.  This guy completed med school and his internship and was set to enter his specialization residency when he decided he didn't want to be a doctor.  During med school he was given a project that he was not supposed to be able to complete, because Dr. have so little experience at failure.  He found an unused computer in the comp-sci dept. read the manuals and booted it up, got a book on Fortran programming, wrote a small statistical analysis system for his problem, input the data and solved the problem.  That is how far outside the box this guy thinks,and he's the hardest worker I ever saw, and the smartest, an incredible combination.  He's 73 and still working at our old company.  To talk to him, he sounds like a 53 year old scientist.

His take on corona.  It spreads very quickly, it is mutating quickly, and its deadly.  He is pessimistic about them finding a vaccine.  He says there is no vaccine for the common cold because it mutates so quickly.  When people have a cold for a long time, he says the cold has mutated in their body and they got infected by the mutation also.  He says flu mutates, but its slower.  The vaccine people have so much experience with it that they actually build the vaccine each year, not for last years flu, but for the mutation they EXPECT in the coming year.  Sometimes they get it right, and sometimes they don't.  Bottom line, the faster a virus mutates, the harder it is to come up with a vaccine.

He did not have an opinion on the therapeutics.   You try it, and good if it works.  Let the trials tell the tale.

He said it spreads like wildfire, and it is likely, his opinion, that in the next 2 years, we will all have gotten COVID19.  What we are doing now is sheltering in an attempt not to overload the medical system initially, and to allow time for the trials to find a therapeutic.  A therapeutic should be at least 80% effective for those that need hospitalization (hopefully higher).  Then we'll begin to move about, we'll all eventually get it, some will need to be hospitalized, but the death toll will be much lower than today.  They just know so little about this virus right now.  Why do some young healthy people die (even some without underlying health issues) when many young people are not even aware that they had COVID19?  As we go along, the medical community will figure these things out and get much better at therapeutics that can target these people who react so negatively, and the death rate will go lower, but that is at least 2 years out.

Just one guys opinion, but a guy I worked with for 13 years, and he has always been right on technical issues.

[Fishhead]