Coronavirus Panic: Massive Lines in the Netherlands for Marijuana as Government Gives One Hour Notice to Close Coffeeshops

People in the Netherlands gathered in long lines Sunday at coffeeshops to stock up on marijuana after the government gave one hour’s notice of an order to close the stores to prevent spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. The order was announced at 5 p.m. to go into effect at 6 p.m. until April 6 and also closes bars, restaurants, gyms and sex clubs. Schools and daycare centers were also ordered closed until April 6 as the country goes on lockdown.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/coronavirus-panic-massive-lines-in-the-netherlands-for-marijuana-as-government-gives-one-hour-notice-to-close-coffeeshops-photos/

High-Level US Delegation to Attend V-Day Parade in Moscow – Ambassador Sullivan

A delegation of senior US officials will come to Moscow for the parade marking the end of World War Two unless Russia changes it plans, Ambassador John Sullivan said in an interview on Sunday.

The top US diplomat in Russia told the Kommersant daily that US President Donald Trump was committed to sending a very high-level delegation to Moscow for the Victory Day Parade on 9 May.

He said the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII was an extremely important date, but the global outbreak of the coronavirus had made planning very difficult. Many events have been canceled worldwide.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that US President Donald Trump would not attend the military parade in Moscow. The Kremlin does not know who will be sent in his place, he added.

UN Core Nations’ Summit

Trump got behind Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold a summit of the five permanent UN Security Council members.

John Sullivan told the Kommersant daily that Trump had suggested holding the leaders’ meeting in New York during the week-long general debate in September, but neither a date nor the agenda had been agreed on.

The diplomat said the fact that all five were nuclear-weapon states called for arms control talks. This is what Putin proposed to discuss at the summit in their private talk on 5 February, Sullivan added.

Peskov said in January that China and France were on board with the idea of holding the summit. The UK Embassy reportedly confirmed this week that London also supported it.

Nuclear Arms Talks With China

Sullivan pointed out that the US is pushing China to commit to nuclear arms limits and sees more urgency in this than in bringing the United Kingdom or France to join the treaty.

The top diplomat claimed that Russia welcomed China’s participation in the pact but believed it was up to Washington to convince Beijing to join.

He added that bringing London and Paris, key US allies, into the fold was "less expedient" since they were not considered a security challenge by the Pentagon.

The Chinese authorities are not pursuing nuclear parity with the United States or Russia and are trying to achieve a "nuclear triad" of land, sea and air forces, Sullivan pointed out.

The New Start treaty limiting deployed nuclear warheads of the two powers expires next February. The diplomat said there was still time to strike a three-party agreement that would reflect the "strategic reality."

The New START is the last remaining arms control treaty in force between Russia and the US after the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The New START stipulates the reduction of the number of strategic nuclear missiles launchers by one-half and limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550.

Washington has not yet announced whether it plans to extend the pact, although Russia has repeatedly invited it to prolong the deal for another five years without preconditions. US President Donald Trump has instead proposed working on a new trilateral nuclear deal between the US, Russia and China. However, Beijing has rejected the idea. Moscow, in turn, has said it is not against China's participation in a new deal, but will never exercise pressure.

https://sputniknews.com/russia/202003151078574389-high-level-us-delegation-to-attend-v-day-parade-in-moscow–ambassador-sullivan/

Fed Panics: Powell Cuts Rates To Zero, Announces $700BN QE5, Unveils Enhanced Global Swap Lines

With Wall Street desperate for the Fed to announce emergency measures on Sunday (after disappointing last week), and ideally before the futures open, Jerome Powell did not disappoint and moments ago the Fed announced a barrage of emergency measures which included:

Welcome back ZIRP: Fed cuts rates by 100bps to 0-25bps from 1.00 -1.25bps. This is in addition to the 50bps rate cut on March 3, which means that in just under two weeks the Fed has cut rates by 150bps to zero.

Fed officially launches QE5 (no more "Non-QE" bullshit), consisting of "at least" $500BN in Treasury purchases and $200 billion in MBS.

Boosting intraday liquidity: The Fed announces Measures related to the discount window, intraday credit, bank capital and liquidity buffers, reserve requirements, and—in coordination with other central banks—the U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements

Reserve requirements cut to zero: The Fed cuts reserve requirement ratios to zero percent effective on March 26.

Coordinated swap lines: The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank announced a coordinated action to enhance the provision of liquidity via the standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap line arrangements. The pricing on the dollar liquidity swap arrangements is cut by 25 basis points, so the new rate will be the US dollar overnight index swap (OIS) rate plus 25 basis points.

Amusingly, the Fed announces that the emergency action wasn't unilateral, with Loretta J. Mester voting against the action, as she was "fully supportive of all of the actions taken to promote the smooth functioning of markets and the flow of credit to households and businesses but preferred to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate to 1/2 to 3/4 percent at this meeting."

The full statement is below (link):

The coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States. Global financial conditions have also been significantly affected. Available economic data show that the U.S. economy came into this challenging period on a strong footing. Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the labor market remained strong through February and economic activity rose at a moderate rate. Job gains have been solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Although household spending rose at a moderate pace, business fixed investment and exports remained weak. More recently, the energy sector has come under stress. On a 12‑month basis, overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy are running below 2 percent. Market-based measures of inflation compensation have declined; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations are little changed.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/fed-panics-powell-cuts-rates-zero-announces-700bn-qe5-unveils-enhanced-global-swap-lines

Pompous Democrat Lawyer Who Tried and Failed to Impeach Trump Tests Positive for Coronavirus – Then Blames Trump

Democrat lawyer Daniel Goldman announced on Sunday he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Goldman tried and failed miserably to impeach President Trump while the coronavirus was spreading in China.

Maybe Democrats shouldn’t have been wasting their time with a sham impeachment when they should have focused on the real issues?

Goldman blamed President Trump for the virus!

Figures.

My difficulty in getting a test despite the exact symptoms and a neg flu test underscores how shockingly unprepared this administration is to deal with this pandemic. In fact, I was told that NYC hospitals STILL would not test my wife — with similar symptoms — unless admitted. 2/

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) March 15, 2020

Given his stated desire to “keep numbers down” for his political benefit, it is impossible to reach any conclusion other than that the President is sacrificing the health of the American public for his own personal interests. 4/

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) March 15, 2020

The Daily Caller reported:

Democratic impeachment lawyer Daniel Goldman announced Sunday that he’s tested positive for coronavirus — and immediately blamed President Donald Trump for “gaslighting” America.

Goldman explained his situation through a series of tweets, explaining the difficulty that he had experienced even getting access to a test and suggesting that the Trump administration was at fault for too slow a response in providing tests and spreading false information.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/pompous-democrat-lawyer-who-tried-and-failed-to-impeach-trump-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-then-blames-trump/