Qantas to ground international flights, stand down two-thirds of staff

Qantas will ground its entire international fleet, including overseas Jetstar flights, from late March following the government's most recent advice for Australians to avoid travel.

Two-thirds of the carrier's staff will be temporarily stood down in a hope to save jobs in the long term as the airline sector reels from the impact of the coronavirus.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-grounds-international-flights-stands-down-two-thirds-of-staff-20200319-p54bmh.html

>>8467355

Nice

Dow tumbles 1,800 points as fears about economic damage from coronavirus grow

Stocks tumbled on Wednesday, reaching a new coronavirus crisis low as investors worried about the economic damage from the pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,800 points, or 8%. The S&P 500 was down 7.56% and traded more than 30% below a record set last month. The broad index also broke below its 2,351, its closing low during the Christmas 2018 sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite slid 6.3%. Virtually no market was safe from the selling wave, with crude prices having their second-worst decline on record, down more than 24%.

Echoing concerns of the about the economic impact of the virus, billionaire investor Bill Ackman said the best remedy for the market downturn and the outbreak in the U.S. is for President Donald Trump to shut down the country.

“We need to shut it down now… This is the only answer,” Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, told CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Wednesday. “America will end as we know it. I’m sorry to say so, unless we take this option.”

“Hell is coming,” said Ackman. “Capitalism does not work in an 18-month shutdown, capitalism can work in a 30-day shutdown.”

Trading was briefly suspended after a “circuit breaker” was tripped up. A circuit breaker halts trading across the U.S. stock exchanges for 15 minutes and is meant to ensure orderly market behavior. Wednesday market the fourth time in a week that a circuit breaker was triggered.

https://governmentslaves.news/2020/03/18/dow-tumbles-1800-points-as-fears-about-economic-damage-from-coronavirus-grow/

How the DOJ and State Dept. Are Coordinating with Hillary Clinton About Her Email Misconduct!

www.judicialwatch.org/press-releases/judicial-watch-lawyers-for-hillary-clinton-ask-appeals-court-to-overturn-order-for-her/

‘Big 3’ Detroit Automakers Shutter All Domestic Manufacturing Over Virus Concerns

At the urging of UAW leaders, all three of Detroit’s “Big 3” automakers announced around midday on Wednesday that they would shutter all domestic production. The decision follows Daimler, BMW and a handful of other carmakers in Europe and Asia shuttering factories to combat the coronavirus outbreak – and to prevent a glut of supply.

Here’s the rest of the update, courtesy of the AP:

Detroit’s three automakers have agreed to close all of their factories due to worker fears about the coronavirus, two people briefed on the matter said Wednesday.

Automakers are expected to release details of the closure later in the day. The United Auto Workers union has been pushing for factories to close because workers are fearful of coming into contact with the virus.

The people didn’t want to be identified because the closures have not been formally announced.

The decision reverses a deal worked out late Tuesday in which the automakers would cancel some shifts so they could thoroughly cleanse equipment and buildings, but keep factories open. But workers, especially at some Fiat Chrysler factories, were still fearful and were pressuring the union to seek full closures.

Fiat Chrysler temporarily closed a factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, north of Detroit after workers were concerned about the virus. The company said a plant worker tested positive for the coronavirus but had not been to work in over a week. One shift was sent home Tuesday night and the plant was cleaned. But that apparently didn’t satisfy workers, and two more shifts were canceled on Wednesday.

Under an agreement reached with the union, companies will monitor the situation weekly to decide if the plants can reopen, one of the people said.

Honda is also planning on closing its North American factories, the company said.

Honda Motor Co. announced Wednesday that it will temporarily close its North American factories for about one week starting on Monday.

The move by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler and Ford will idle about 150,000 auto workers. They likely will receive supplemental pay in addition to state unemployment benefits. The two checks combined will about equal what the workers normally make.

Automakers have resisted closing factories largely because they book revenue when vehicles are shipped from factories to dealerships. So without production, revenue dries up. Each company has other reasons to stay open as well. Ford, for instance, is building up F-150 pickup inventory because its plants will have to go out of service later this year to be retooled for an all-new model.

As the story explains, factories are typically reluctant to close factories since these companies book revenue when they ship vehicles, not when they’re sold – so it’s all gravy to them.

https://governmentslaves.news/2020/03/18/big-3-detroit-automakers-shutter-all-domestic-manufacturing-over-virus-concerns/

VENEZUELA: The Government Is Using Warlords to Control the People

Let´s make something clear about Venezuela. Although some violence spikes here and there, it is not like the place is an entire mess (not all of the time at least). It´s almost a million square kilometers. That´s a lot of space.

The country is not like the Middle East. First, our culture is much more American (meaning with this South American, but American nonetheless) and there is some degree of order, usually even these days. There are some “official” gangs and they roam from time to time (especially in the larger cities).

These “official” gangs funded by the ruling class.

These gangs are being provided with all kinds of resources and don´t lack anything the regular citizen has to make miracles to get. Their members are chosen with poor criteria regarding morals, integrity, and values. There is little other name for them than warlords.

The character trait the ruling class looks for, is loyalty and obedience, no matter what. Those who can provide this and provide a degree of consolidation to the entire gang is considered a valued member. The ruling class has been under the counseling of Cubans for years. They have installed an intelligence apparatus just like the KGB, only that in a Caribbean environment and culture.

Common criminals are in the streets but these groups chase them and terminate them. It´s a badly hidden secret their business is to keep middle and poor people “safe” by eliminating low-end criminals, but they have been linked to plenty of other illegal activities too.

This is not surprising. It happens a lot in failed states.

I have written before about criminals being released from prison and armed. They control the society, avoiding uprisings, and at the same time, they terrify it, exhibiting an image of power and control that they necessarily don´t have. But the ruling gangs need to show themselves as having an overwhelming power. New combat units have been created out of thin air, under obvious duplicity of functions. But this has been just to arm sort of a praetorian guard working just to preserve the integrity of the 183 people responsible for the mess and looting.

It´s great such armed organizations are going to be declared as terrorist groups, because that´s what they are. Covering faces in public is prohibited in Venezuela. Why should a LEO do it then in the first place? These guys brag and walk around as if they were the saviors of the world while driving unlicensed pickup trucks. The stories are there, all over the place. They shot an RPG projectile to kill some rebels (who were protected by our constitution in the Art. 350) even murdering a pregnant woman. So much bravery.

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/venezuela-the-government-is-using-warlords-to-control-the-people/