Tag: Coronavirus

Some Parents Turn to Micro-Schooling as Back-to-School Debate Rages

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As states and school districts continue to change their back-to-school policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national debate rages over in-person or virtual learning for instruction, some parents have taken their children’s education into their own hands.

A new form of quasi-homeschooling, called micro-schooling, is emerging. In this not-so-new format, neighboring families have decided to educate their children in a modern version of the 19th century era one-room schoolhouse.

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Schools Having Difficulty Retrieving Thousands of Digital Devices Sent to Students for Distance Learning

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Some school districts are having a difficult time accounting for thousands of devices that were sent home with students this spring to participate in distance learning programs during COVID-19 shutdowns.

Federal CARES Act funding allocated money to states to purchase millions of students laptops, tablets and Chromebooks. Now some districts are having difficulty finding them.

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Commentary: Could COVID-19 End the Government Monopoly on Education?

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by Daniel J. Mitchell   The coronavirus has been horrible news, most obviously because of death and suffering. But the disease has also wreaked havoc with the economy and given politicians an excuse to push counterproductive policies. But if you want to find a silver lining to that dark cloud, the virus may be putting pressure on America’s government school monopoly. For instance, John Stossel explains that it may lead to more homeschooling. Given the large amount of evidence showing superior outcomes for home-schooled students, this is definitely a much-needed bit of good news. Matthew Hennessey, in a column for the Wall Street Journal, also opined about how the coronavirus may produce a permanent expansion of homeschooling: Most students will return to traditional classrooms when the crisis passes. But some families—perhaps many—will…decide that homeschooling is not only a plausible option, but a superior one. …An economy of high-quality online educational materials has sprouted in the past decade. All you need is a laptop, headphones and a quiet corner of the house, and your kid can study everything from calculus to ancient Greek. …Education has managed to stave off innovation for a variety of reasons. Inertia is one—most people have a hard time reimagining something as basic as school. …Teachers unions…

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Dr. Simone Gold of America’s Frontline Doctors Responds to Twitter’s Censorship of Her Account

Sam Medley

Dr. Simone Gold, a board-certified emergency physician and the founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, has responded to Twitter’s removal of her tweet about treatments for COVID-19 and locking her out of her account.

In her response, Dr. Gold – who also graduated from Stanford Law School after completing her medical degree – called out her temporary Twitter ban, calling the action “another classic case of tech censorship against anyone who speaks out against the media narrative.”

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Cuomo Clears New York Schools Statewide to Open, Carefully

The Associated Press

New York schools can bring children back to classrooms for the start of the school year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday, citing success in battling the coronavirus in the state that once was the U.S. heart of the pandemic.

The Democratic governor’s decision clears the way for schools to offer at least some days of in-person classes, alongside remote learning. Students will be required to wear masks throughout school day.

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Republican Gov. Mike DeWine Tests Negative for Coronavirus After Initially Testing Positive

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Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine tested negative for the coronavirus Thursday after testing positive earlier that day, according to The Wall Street Journal.

DeWine first tested positive for the virus Thursday before his scheduled meeting with President Donald Trump in Cleveland, the WSJ reported. DeWine’s office said the 73-year-old governor doesn’t have any symptoms, according to the WSJ.

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Commentary: As Trump Predicated, America’s Economy is Recovering Quickly

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The U.S. economy produced between 1.35 million and 1.8 million jobs the month of July, bringing the total number of jobs created since April when labor markets bottomed with the federal and state governments in lockdown to combat the Chinese coronavirus to between 9.3 million and 10 million.

Further speeding the recovery along are the number of COVID-19 cases are beginning to decline nationally after brief spikes in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona as states were reopening. Now the cases have stabilized in those states, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is projecting they will remain stable until mid-to-late September when the cold and flu season gets going again.

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Warren County Judge Rules Against Contact Sports Injuction

Ben Kolodny

A Warren County Court judge ruled on Thursday against the director of the Ohio Department of Health Lance D. Himes injunction on contact sports.

The order allowed non-contact sports to re-open for their normal seasons, as long as certain precautions are followed. Contact sports, however, including football, basketball, wrestling, boxing, martial arts, and soccer would have been required to test players for COVID-19 several times per sporting event. Students would be required to test negative within 72 hours of a game, again during any tournament lasting more than three days, and every two days after that should the tournament last longer.

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Businesses Drastically Reduced New Hires in July According to Private Payroll Processor

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Private sector job creation for displaced workers slowed in July, with private payroll increases not meeting the growth expected by economists, CNBC reported.

Economists who were surveyed by Dow Jones expected private-sector employment to increase by 1 million, yet reported an increase of 167,000, CNBC reported. The report was issued by Dow Jones economists and Moody’s Analytics.

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Virginia First to Roll Out Pandemic App from Apple, Google

The Associated Press

Virginia has rolled out a smartphone app to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. state to use new pandemic technology created by Apple and Google.

But hopes for a nationwide app that can work seamlessly across state borders remain unrealized, and there are no known federal plans to create one. State officials say their new app won’t work as well outside Virginia, at least until a group of coordinating public health agencies gets a national server up and running and other states join in.

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De Blasio Announces COVID-19 Checkpoints on Tunnels and Bridges to Enforce Quarantine Order

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Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday COVID-19 checkpoints will be established on tunnels and bridges leading into the city in order to enforce Governor Cuomo’s quarantine order.

The mayor tweeted, “New Yorkers worked too hard to beat back COVID-19 — we cannot lose that progress. 35 states have dangerously high infection rates. We won’t let the virus spread here.”

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Whitmer Calls for Staff and Children at Day Camps and Child-Care Centers to Wear Masks

Jordyn Pair

Both children and staff are required to wear face coverings while at child-care centers and day camps, according to a new executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday.

The order requires all staff and children ages 2 and up to wear a face covering on a school bus or other transportation. It also requires staff and children ages 4 and up to wear a face covering in all indoor common spaces. Staff and children ages 12 and up are required to wear a face covering in classrooms, homes, cabins, or other indoor small-group settings.

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Judge Rules Last Call Order Can Stay in Place During Lawsuit

Ben Kolodny

A judge ruled Wednesday that the 10 p.m. last call order will stay in place during a lawsuit to determine it’s legality, according to WTRF.

NBC reported that a lawsuit filed by a number of Ohio restaurants and bars sought an emergency restraining order against the state’s order. The Ohio Liquor Control Board approved the emergency order at Governor Mike DeWine’s request, which mandated bars and restaurants to cut off liquor sales at 10 p.m. This emergency order went into effect last weekend.

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Ohio Gov. DeWine Tests Positive for the Coronavirus on His Way to Meet President Donald Trump

Zachery Schmidt

  Governor Mike DeWine was headed to Cleveland to meet President Trump who is visiting the state today. During his ride to the Burke Lakefront Airport, he took a rapid response test which returned a positive result for the coronavirus. DeWine is headed back to Columbus after his positive test. Currently, the 73-year-old has not experienced any symptoms, according to the Governor’s statement. The positive test raises several questions, the most apparent is whether the positive test result is accurate. The gold standard in COVID-19 testing is the molecular test.  The rapid test is an antigen test with rapid return technology, which does not detect the COVID-19 virus, instead the test measures viral proteins – a less accurate measure of infection. Earlier in the week Governor DeWine discussed the state’s need to ramp rapid testing to alleviate a burden on state labs working to process nearly 20,000 tests a day. The tradeoff favoring speed opens the door for increased false positives associated with antigen tests. When DeWine and First Lady Fran get back to Ohio’s capital, they will both take another coronavirus test. The governor will follow COVID-19’s protocol and quarantine for two weeks, DeWine’s statement says. Governor DeWine has…

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Whitmer Creates Black Leadership Advisory Council, Calls Racism a ‘Public Health Issue’

Jordyn Pair

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created the Black Leadership Advisory Council on Wednesday, declaring racism a “public health issue.”

The council — the first of its kind in Michigan — will give advice to the governor and help recommend policies to combat systemic racism. This includes identifying state laws that create or perpetuate inequities, promoting legislation that seeks to correct racial inequality within Michigan, helping community groups serve Black communities and promoting the cultural arts within Black communities, according to the governor’s office.

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DeWine to Expand Mask Mandate to K-12 Students

Ben Kolodny

Governor Mike Dewine announced Thursday that the Ohio Department of Health will soon release a new order mandating K12 students to wear masks as they return to school.

This announcement came after the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association (OCHA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics Ohio Chapter (AAPOC) issued a letter showing support for “face coverings/masks in our hospitals, schools, and communities.”

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Amy Acton Steps Down as Ohio Governor’s Health Advisor, Will Return to Work for the Columbus Foundation

Sam Medley

Dr. Amy Acton stepped down from her role as Governor Mike DeWine’s Chief Health Advisor, the Ohio Department of Health announced Wednesday. 

DeWine called Acton a “friend and advisor” on Twitter, saying that “she has assured [him] that she is just a phone call away and will be available to continuing advising [his administration] as [they] move through this pandemic.”

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University of Michigan Students Required to Observe ‘Enhanced Social Distancing’ Prior to Arrival on Campus

Jordyn Pair

University of Michigan is requiring its students to participate in “enhanced social distancing” for two weeks before arriving on campus, according to a letter published for students earlier this week.

The school is offering both in-person and online classes and said that it estimates roughly 70 percent of undergraduate credits can be taken online during the upcoming semester.

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Virginia State Rep. Introduces Bill to Limit Governor’s Executive Order Powers in Times of Emergency

Zachery Schmidt

State Sen. David Suetterlein (R-Cave Spring) introduced a bill last week to check the Virginia governor’s executive order powers under the Emergency Services and Disaster Law (ESDL).

The ESDL allows the Virginia governor “to direct and compel evacuation of all or part of the populace from any stricken or threatened area if this action is deemed necessary for the preservation of life, implement emergency mitigation, preparedness, response or recovery actions; prescribe routes, modes of transportation and destination in connection with evacuation.”

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Whitmer Closes Bars Statewide, Restricts Indoor Gatherings to 10 People

Jordyn Pair

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday suspended indoor bar services statewide and limited indoor gatherings to 10 people, citing “super-spreading” events in Lansing, Saline and the Torch Lake area.

“After seeing a resurgence in cases connected to social gatherings across the state, we must further limit gatherings for the health of our community and economy,” Whitmer said in a statement. “By taking these strong actions, we will be better positioned to get our children back into classrooms and avoid a potentially devastating second wave.”

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Study: 68 Percent of Workers Earned More on Unemployment with $600 Weekly Enhancement

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Some unemployed workers received nearly twice as much money through unemployment insurance (UI) payments authorized through the CARES Act than they earned when they were employed, a new study from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) found.

In response to states shutting down economies over coronavirus fears, Congress passed several relief bills, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These two bills expanded the UI benefit period, suspended work search requirements, included newly eligible individuals, and added a $600-per-week unemployment benefit enhancement through July 31.

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The Status of the Coronavirus Vaccine Continues to Advance Rapidly

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Researchers, governments and pharmaceutical companies worldwide have been working rapidly to develop an effective vaccine against coronavirus, which has infected over 4.5 million and killed over 150,000 people in the United States alone.

Testing has advanced quickly and there’s optimism that a vaccine will be developed before 2021. But there are also concerns that a vaccine won’t be sufficiently stockpiled or efficiently distributed. There’s additional worry that the growing distrust in vaccines will result in large numbers refusing the injection, making it less beneficial.

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Police Budgets Nationwide In Crisis After Covid, Activism Cut Funding in Half: Study

Ben Kolodny
Nashville Police

Police Departments across the country are in crisis as calls to defund the police, rioting, and the Covid Crisis threaten to sap existing resources. 

A new study by the Police Executive Research Forum showed that almost half of the 258 departments surveyed are facing budget cuts. Portland City council approved a $15,000,000 dollar budget cut last month as the city struggled with riots. The Portland Police Department was forced to pay over $5,000,000 in overtime to deal with the unrest. 

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Minnesota Company Gets Most Aid in Iowa Hog Disposal Program

The Associated Press

One influential pork company has received most of the money from an Iowa program designed to support farmers who euthanized their hogs after the coronavirus devastated their industry, newly released data shows.

Christensen Farms, one of the nation’s largest family-owned pork producers, has received $1.86 million from the Iowa Disposal Assistance Program, or 72% of the $2.6 million the program has paid to date.

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Buckeye Institute Joins COVID-19 Amicus Brief: Private School Closures Could Cost Taxpayers $252M

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The Buckeye Institute Wednesday joined an amicus brief supporting private school students in a July 7 lawsuit between several states and the federal government.

At issue is a federal rule initiated by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, directing the U.S. Department of Education to share federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) funds between private and public schools. 

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Ohio Introduces New Coronavirus Guidelines as the State Sees the Number of COVID-19 Cases Go Over 90,000

Ben Kolodny

Governor Mike DeWine has issued several new recommendations in the wake of an uptick in coronavirus cases.

The number of coronavirus cases in Ohio has recently gone over 90,000 and almost 3,500 people have died, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Thirteen Ohio counties are under the Level Three Public Health Emergency. Level Three means that a county has “very high expose and spread” of the coronavirus.

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Michigan SNAP Rolls Surged $126M from February to May During COVID-19 Pandemic

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Many of the costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic aren’t easily visible, such as Michigan’s 2,000 COVID-19 nursing home residents’ deaths, the increasing number of opioid overdoses, and the bankrupted businesses due to government-mandated restrictions and less consumer demand.

More than 2 million people lost their jobs within months after Michigan’s first case of the virus, pushing hundreds of thousands of people onto federally bankrolled food assistance programs, spiking costs by nearly $60 million over two months.

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Commentary: Will the Virus Ever Allow the U.S. Economy to Fully Reopen Again?

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The U.S. economy contracted a record-setting, inflation-adjusted, annualized 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis as tens of millions of Americans waited out the Chinese coronavirus in their homes, not venturing out much except for work and needed supplies.

The second quarter comprises of April, May and June, when in Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey 25 million jobs were lost by April and then 8.8 million came back in May and June as states slowly began reopening.

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US Invests Another $2.1 Billion into a Potential Vaccine

The Associated Press

Pharma giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur have announced they will supply 100 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to the United States as governments buy up supplies in hopes of securing a candidate that works.

The United States will pay up to $2.1 billion “for development including clinical trials, manufacturing, scale-up and delivery” of the vaccine, the two companies based in Europe said in a statement. Sanofi will get the bulk of the funds.

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Steve Bannon Presents ‘War Room: Pandemic’

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An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.

Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.

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Hong Kong Postpones Elections by a Year, Citing Coronavirus

The Associated Press

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections by one year, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.

The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support of the Chinese government in making the decision to hold the elections on Sept. 5, 2021.

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Jim Jordan Battles with Dr. Anthony Fauci on If Protests Cause the Coronavirus to Spread

Zachery Schmidt

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) continually questioned Dr. Anthony Fauci about whether protests cause the spread of the coronavirus during the House’s coronavirus hearing on Friday.

Despite Jordan’s repeated attempts to get Fauci to answer this question, Fauci side-stepped the question and said that he didn’t have “any scientific evidence that protests spread the coronavirus,” but rather it was crowds that increased the “acquisition and transmission” of the coronavirus.

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Governor Walz’s Plan Defers to Schools for Campus Openings

Corinne Murdock

Governor Tim Walz announced Thursday that Minnesota schools will have the majority of authority on if or how they open campuses, based on discretionary assessment of their district’s localized data.

According to Walz’s Emergency Executive Order 20-82 and the accompanying “Safe Learning Plan,” schools must watch the spread of COVID-19 in their communities to determine the learning model that will suit their needs. These models are also subject to change throughout the school year, a protocol that Walz refers to as “dialing back [or] forward” in his executive order.

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US Sees Worst-Ever Contraction for Second-Quarter GDP

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The United States gross domestic product (GDP) fell 32.9% in the second quarter of 2020, the Department of Commerce reported, marking the largest decline the country has ever seen, according to CNBC.

In addition to the record drop in GDP, The Department of Labor reported Thursday that over 1.43 million Americans filed initial claims for unemployment last week, marking a swift economic contraction as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country.

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Blackburn Bill Aiming to Hold China Accountable for Coronavirus Passes Through the Senate Judiciary Committee

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said in a statement that a bill she is sponsoring that would allow Americans to sue China over its role in COVID-19 has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill, called the Civil Justice for Victims of COVID Act, would allow suits to be brought in federal court over China’s role in spreading the Chinese coronavirus.

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Governor Frey Orders Minneapolis Bar and Dancing Areas to Close

Corinne Murdock

Minneapolis business owners are reeling after Governor Mayor Jacob Frey’s latest order closing “bar areas” indefinitely starting Saturday.

According to the Minnesota Emergency Regulation 2020-17, counter service at bar areas will be prohibited. The regulation extends to dance floor areas, stages, game rooms, or “any space that is undefined or does not provide for seated food and/or beverage service.” The city estimates that this will impact more than 640 businesses.

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Gov. DeWine Calls on Regulators to Enact a ‘Last Call’ Emergency Law

Ben Kolodny

  Ohio Governor Mike DeWine asked the Ohio Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to enact an emergency law instituting a 10p.m. “last call” for bars and restaurants across the state. At a press conference today The Governor said that the emergency law would allow for patrons to place a final drink order at 10 p.m. and continue drinking until 11 p.m. The governor went on to say “We have to slow the spread of the virus, and we have to slow the spread across the state of Ohio.” The governor took to Twitter to address fears that Ohio would be shutting down it’s bars and restaurants. This rule would prevent the sale of alcohol at all liquor-permitted establishments beginning at 10 p.m. each night. Consumption of alcohol must end by 11:00 p.m. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 30, 2020 The state’s capital Columbus recently passed a similar city-wide ordinance. Shortly after the ordinance passed, Franklin County Judge Mark Serott granted a temporary restraining order barring enforcement of the policy. The order, which was granted on behalf of a number of local restaurants, is good for 14 days, at which point a new hearing will need to be scheduled. Columbus Health…

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Commentary: Silicon Valley Ramps up Censorship of Conservatives

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Silicon Valley’s pre-election censorship of conservatives is rapidly increasing, with anything that questions the imposition of a new level of COVID-19 lockdown misery and economic devastation a top target.

The latest example of this pre-election censorship occurred yesterday, when Facebook, Twitter and Google removed a press conference video by frontline doctors featuring U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and organized by Tea Party Patriots.

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Commentary: Former CIA Officer Says Terrorists Will Learn from COVID

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During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the media warned breathlessly of “chatter” that terrorists—domestic and international—were planning to exploit and spread the virus. So far no such plots have developed, but a former CIA officer warns that the lessons terrorists have learned from the inept and politicized response to the pandemic, if exploited, may be more dangerous to us than terrorist use of the virus itself.

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Kodak Company Flips to Pharma

Corinne Murdock

A Kodak moment for the books: the former film giant flipped to pharma in a move aimed to rejuvenate the company after nearly two decades of hardship. Several reports state that Kodak branched out to offset the large-scale loss of its film business – punctuated by a bankruptcy in 2012 after the concept of the digital camera that it invented rendered many of its product offerings obsolete.

Initial talks of Kodak’s new active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) division, branded “Kodak Pharmaceuticals,” began as early as a few months ago according to Kodak CEO Jim Continenza. He says the move shouldn’t be all that surprising.

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