Fox News: Coronavirus expert says Americans will be wearing masks for ‘several years’!
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel weighs in on if he agrees and reacts to cities discussing the possibility of opening schools in the fall.
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/fox-news-coronavirus-expert-says-americans-will-be-wearing-masks-for-several-years/
New Jersey driver crashes car after passing out from wearing N95 mask
A New Jersey driver crashed head-on into a pole — after passing out from wearing an N95 mask for hours, police said Friday.
Lincoln Park police believe that the driver, who was not named, lost consciousness while behind the wheel Thursday from lack of oxygen and breathing in excessive carbon dioxide thanks to the mask, the department wrote on Facebook.
“The LPPD responded to a lone occupant single car motor vehicle crash yesterday. The crash is believed to have resulted from the driver wearing an N95 mask for several hours and subsequently passing out behind the wheel due to insufficient oxygen intake/excessive carbon dioxide intake,” the cops wrote.
“We also know that nothing was uncovered at the accident scene that would suggest that the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“While we don’t know [the cause] with 100% certainty, we do know that the driver had been wearing an N95 mask inside the vehicle for several hours and ultimately passed out while operating the vehicle,” the department said.
Police told residents that while they should continue to follow Gov. Phil Murphy’s guidelines for wearing face coverings in public, wearing an N95 mask while driving with “no other occupants is unnecessary.”
Still, “We are not trying to cause public alarm or suggest wearing an N95 mask is unsafe,” the department added.
The driver was taken to a local hospital, where the person was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
https://nypost.com/2020/04/24/driver-crashes-car-after-passing-out-from-wearing-n95-mask/
'She's a good one, right?' Woman claims Jeffrey Epstein paraded her in front of Donald Trump when she was pedophile's underage victim - in lawsuit almost identical to prosecutors' case against Ghislaine Maxwell
An unnamed woman is suing Jeffrey Epstein's estate and claims that he took her to Mar-a-Lago when she was 14 and was showed to Donald Trump
She claims Epstein 'playfully' elbowed Trump and said: 'This is a good one, right?' during the introduction
There is no suggestion Trump knew she was underage or was involved in any abuse
The unnamed woman claims she was the late pedophile's 'guinea pig' and named Trump as a possible witness to Epstein's years of abuse
Her claims were made in a civil lawsuit but aspects of her account closely resemble parts of the charges unveiled last week against Ghislaine Maxwell
Maxwell, Epstein's longtime confidante and alleged madam, was arrested at a luxury New Hampshire home last week
Donald Trump is named as a possible witness to Jeffrey Epstein's career of abuse by a woman who claims she was the pedophile's 'guinea pig' in a case which closely resembles the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The unnamed woman is suing Epstein's estate claiming that when she was just 14, the billionaire took her to Mar-a-Lago where he showed her to Donald Trump.
Epstein, she claims, elbowed Trump 'playfully' and said: 'This is a good one, right?' There is no suggestion Trump knew she was underage or was involved in any abuse.
Her claims were made in a civil lawsuit – but aspects of her account closely resemble parts of the charges unveiled last week against Maxwell after her arrest at the luxury New Hampshire home she was hiding in.
More
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8498135/Donald-Trump-named-possible-witness-Jeffrey-Epsteins-career-abuse.html
Texas County To Arrest COVID-19 Positive Residents Who Refuse To Self-Isolate
TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A South Texas county isn’t taking any chances when it comes to the coronavirus, issuing a warning that anyone who tests positive and refuses to self-isolate could end up in jail.
The warning, which was confirmed as legitimate by an Official with the Brooks Count Office of Emergency Management, cites Texas Penal Code 22.05 (a) which states “A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.”
It was shared via social media over the weekend.
TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A South Texas county isn’t taking any chances when it comes to the coronavirus, issuing a warning that anyone who tests positive and refuses to self-isolate could end up in jail.
The warning, which was confirmed as legitimate by an Official with the Brooks Count Office of Emergency Management, cites Texas Penal Code 22.05 (a) which states “A person commits an offense if he recklessly engages in conduct that places another in imminent danger of serious bodily injury.”
It was shared via social media over the weekend.
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/07/07/texas-county-to-arrest-covid-positive-residents-who-refuse-to-self-isolate/
Billion-Dollar Planned Parenthood Takes $150 Million in Government Relief Loans
Multinational abortion provider Planned Parenthood was revealed this week to have made off with millions of dollars in government assistance by way of the Paycheck Protection Program.
Established to provide bridge loans to American small businesses crippled by public health lockdowns, the program has been plagued with controversy since its April roll-out as a result of numerous questionable loan approvals for corporate organizations widely believed to have applied without any real need of financial relief.
According to official data released Monday by the PPP’s administrators at the United States’ Small Business Association, Planned Parenthood Federation of America was one such offender, with its locations and affiliates nationwide receiving as much as $150 million in aid from the program.
The organization’s need, of course, remains in question, as consolidated financial statements reveal Planned Parenthood possessed roughly $1.9 billion in net assets and saw its total annual revenue exceed $1 billion in both 2017 and 2018.
Conservatives and pro-life activists, already firm in their support for efforts to defund prominent abortion providers at the federal level, were quick to respond to the news.
“Planned Parenthood shouldn’t have received a dime from the government’s PPP program. It’s sick!” Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia wrote on Twitter.
http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/07/billion-dollar-planned-parenthood-takes.html
Google’s True Origin Closely Linked to the CIA
Full 37 pages in file
Biden Says Police Have “Become the Enemy” and Calls For Cutting Police Funding
Joe Biden on Wednesday fully embraced the defund the police movement.
77-year-old Biden stumbled his way through an interview with health care activist Ady Barkan.
Ady Barkan was diagnosed with terminal amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2016 and speaks through a computer voice.
Biden went all in and caved to radical leftists like Ilhan Omar and AOC and said he “absolutely” supports taking away funding from police departments across the country.
Biden also said that the police have “become the enemy.”
“Surplus military equipment for law enforcement. They don’t need that! The last thing you need is an up-armored Humvee coming into a neighborhood just like the military invading!” Biden said. “They don’t know anybody! They have become the enemy — they’re supposed to be protecting these people.”
Ady Barkan asked Biden if he would redirect some of the police funding to which he replied, “Yes! Absolutely!”
Watch a longer clip of the interview where Biden suggests Rayshard Brooks would be alive today if a mental health counselor and a tow truck were sent out that night to confront the drunk belligerent man passed out in front of a Wendy’s in Atlanta:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/biden-says-police-become-enemy-calls-cutting-police-funding-video/
Growing number of Texas sheriffs refuse to enforce governor’s mask requirement
Growing number of Texas sheriffs refuse to enforce governor’s mask requirement
A growing number of sheriffs in Texas say they are refusing to follow a recent executive order requiring masks in public. Governor Greg Abbott’s mandate aims to slow the spread of coronavirus, as cases in the state soared past 200,000 on Tuesday.
While the gov of Texas made it Mandatory! A few days ago
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/growing-number-of-texas-sheriffs-refuse-to-enforce-governors-mask-requirement/
Over 100,000 Legal Crossings Per Day Fueling Spike in COVID Cases at US-Mexican Border
The United States and Mexico announced last month they were extending an agreement to halt nonessential border crossings into each country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nonetheless, some of the hottest coronavirus hot spots in the U.S. right now are in border counties, and there appears to be a clear reason: Over 100,000 people per day are crossing legally into California alone.
Imperial County is at the top of that state’s list with approximately 3,900 cases per 100,000 residents, which is over three times more than any other county in California.
Imperial, with a population of just 181,000, is located on the border just to the east of San Diego County.
Abutting it to the south is Mexicali, Mexico, population 1.1 million, which has been experiencing a severe COVID-19 outbreak.
“Now we have a surge [of coronavirus] in the Imperial Valley because the situation is so severe in Mexicali,” Carmela Coyle, president of the California Hospital Association, told The New York Times.
In an email obtained by The Western Journal, Coyle shared with hospital CEOs around the state that the medical facilities in Mexicali, as of late May, were full and “using crisis standards of care.”
In response, people were coming over the border into the U.S.
Both hospitals in Imperial County — El Centro Regional Medical Center and Pioneers Memorial Hospital — “have been overwhelmed with COVID patients,” Coyle said.
El Centro Regional is a small community hospital with 20 emergency room beds, 20 intensive care unit beds and 161 beds overall.
Pioneers Memorial, about 15 miles to the north of El Centro, has 107 beds total.
Coyle made an appeal to California hospitals to accept patients from the border region.
In a tweet late last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged the dire situation and announced he was working to reinstate a shutdown order for Imperial County.
What he did not mention in the tweet is the reason COVID-19 cases are spiking in Imperial County is patients coming over the border.
Mediaite columnist John Ziegler responded to Newsom’s tweet with a map of California.
http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/07/over-100000-legal-crossings-per-day.html
Facebook stock hits record high of $247.65 per share despite hundreds of businesses pulling advertisement as part of a boycott over 'hate speech' on the site
Facebook's stock hit a record high of $247.65 per share early Tuesday morning despite hundreds of businesses pulling advertisement as part of a boycott over hate speech on the site.
By 5pm the social media giant's shares had dropped down to around the $240 mark.
The surge occurred on the same day Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said in a lengthy Facebook post that the company has to 'get better' at removing hate speech from its platform.
Sandberg said the social media company has made progress in removing hateful content but has a 'big responsibility' to get better.
It marks her first public comments since company's like Coca-Cola and Starbucks, started pulling advertising last month.
Sandberg's statement came just hours before she and CEO Mark Zuckerberg met virtually with organizers of the Stop Hate For Profit boycott that is being run by leaders from the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League.
http://www.domigood.com/2020/07/facebook-stock-hits-record-high-of.html
Thousands of protesters fight with police and storm parliament building in Belgrade after Serbian president announced reintroduction of lockdown measures amid rise in Covid-19 death toll
Thousands of protesters fought running battles tried to storm the parliament building in Belgrade on Tuesday after the Serbian president announced that a coronavirus lockdown will be reintroduced amid a rise in death toll.
Police fired several rounds of tear gas at the protesters, some chanting 'Resignation! Resignation!' as they gathered in front of the downtown parliament building in the Serbian capital.
Some of the protesters briefly managed to enter the parliament by force, but were pushed back by riot police.
The protesters responded by hurling flares, stones, bottles and eggs at the police. Several clashes erupted between some of the most extremist rioters apparently belonging to far-right groups and the baton-wielding police.
Protesters also clashed with police in front of the state TV building. The broadcaster is accused by the opposition of having a pro-government bias. A number of police vehicles were set on fire.
The country's Health Ministry said Tuesday that 13 people had died in 24 hours in Serbia and 299 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed.
That brought the total to 16,719 confirmed cases and 330 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic in Serbia, which went from having one of Europe´s strictest lockdowns to a near-complete reopening at the beginning of May. The government will reimpose a curfew as of Friday evening and it is expected to last until Monday morning.
More
http://www.yourdestinationnow.com/2020/07/thousands-of-protesters-fight-with.html
Hong Kong draws the curtains on its freedom: China opens its new office for intelligence agents who can now operate freely in the city under new security law
Beijing has inaugurated its national security office in Hong Kong today, where China's intelligence agents will monitor the semi-autonomous territory's internal affairs for 'terrorist activities or foreign intervention'.
The opening came just over a week after China's central government imposed a tough new law on the city that critics view as a further deterioration of freedoms promised to the former British colony.
Today Hong Kong's education bureau announced that schools must not allow students to play, sing or broadcast the protest anthem 'Glory to Hong Kong' because it contains political messages.
Last week, the city criminalized the pro-democracy slogan 'Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time' under the new national security law, which took effect on June 30.
http://www.stationgossip.com/2020/07/hong-kong-draws-curtains-on-its-freedom.html
Joining the dots on Ghislaine Maxwell, Covid19 and Sir Mark Sedwill
Let’s start with the late danger to shipping Cap’n Bob, and the arrest of his 58 year-old daughter, Ghislaine Maxwell. She was hiding out in New Hampshire, but the FBI raided the place, and she now faces child sex-trafficking charges. She was Jeffrey Epstein’s closest confidante. It is also assumed by many, however, that she has the evidence necessary to brand British royal Prince Andrew as a consummate liar.
Five years ago, The Slog posted this piece. There seems little doubt that Randy Andy had a penchant for teenage virgins. But that doesn’t make him a paedophile. The UK press used the P word quite a lot at the time….especially the Murdoch press. Rupert Murdoch himself is an avowed republican who hates the Royal Family….a hatred of which the Queen has long been aware.
Ghislaine (pronounced by the way, Guee-lenn) regards Rupert Murdoch as one of her closest friends. Murdoch, who has a long history of paying millions to cover-up sexual abuse and harassment of women at Fox News, was red-faced in 2015 when it was revealed that Jeffrey Epstein had his private contact details in the ‘black book’ subsequently revealed in court proceedings.
So too was Peter Mandelson, ennobled to being Lord Fondlebum of Boy some years ago.
The big question here is WHY? As in, why is Ghislaine suddenly being perped, why was Epstein bumped off before he could squawk, and why do person (Murdoch) or persons unknown have it in for Britain’s oldest Constitutional element?
I’m quite content to admit that I don’t know. But I am profoundly discontented to know that mainstream journalism lacks the spine to even search for the answer – let alone find it.
Next, the continuing story of Covid19 corruption – and deliberately falsified results about the best drug to help those patients who are vulnerable to – and already infected with – the virus.
Since I took a brief break, the Oxford Recovery team of Pharma-monied bollocks led by the unpleasant Peter Horby has convinced the world that Hydroxychloroquaine (HCQ) is a useless drug for managing Covid sufferers, and that Remdesivir is the one every government should buy.
Regrettably, this has caused the knee-jerk US Establishment – in a unilateral action – to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the supplies of Remdesivir it “needs” for the US.
Such is what we’d expect from a hegemenous bully. But the dark irony in all this is that it is only Horby’s disgracefully rigged HCQ trials that have made Remdesivir the new hero. Ignoring French professor Didier Raoult’s clear advice on low doses of HCQ accompanied by anti-toxic substances such as zinc, Peter Horby administered high doses of the drug without the recommended cocktail.
Lawyers might impute that Horby killed 68 patients in order to rubbish the effectiveness of HCQ. They could also point out that three studies in the US – and a massive usage trial in China – showed that over 85% of vulnerable patients given the correct administration of the HCQ mélange survived…compared to 34% for Remdesivir trialists.
The big question here is HOW? How has Horby achieved this legerdemain given the damaging circumstantial evidence against him?
I am the last person to advocate trial by media. But when the media flatly refuse to delve into the doubt on a verdict, they are little more than defence counsels who turn up at an Old Bailey murder trial convinced of their client’s guilt.
It is my informed opinion that this is a classic case of what the great US President Harry Truman referred to as a lie going round the World before the Truth can get its pants on.
https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/blockbuster-joining-the-dots-on-ghislaine-maxwell-covid19-and-sir-mark-sedwill/
1/2
85+% of all victims are over 75 yrs old, and a further 9.5% have other pathogens that would’ve caused their death from flu anyway.
Everyone under forty years old has a 3 in 10,000 chance of dying from Covid 19.
The NHS (for example) spends £150billion per annum. Rapid-build pop-up Covid hospitals would’ve cost £80 billion tops.
The cost to the UK of the 8 week lockdown is estimated at £2 trillion – over 14 times more than bolstering the NHS.
The outcome of Lockdown has been a max Herd immunity in Britain of 7.5%. To snuff out any virus, you need 65 – 75%.
Elected politicians have been disgracefully badly advised by those with dubious political and monetary motives. But the political class cannot be absolved of blame: the sheer blind trust in the drivel they were sold brooks no excuse at all.
The Daily Telegraph, for example, continues to report about the cost of Lockdown as if this could not have been foreseen. The tentacles of Big Pharma lobbying and their control over 90+% of all medical research is such an obvious and obscene conflict of interest, any politician with an IQ in double figures should’ve spotted it. I strongly suspect that many did….and thus, the driver here was not incompetence but, as ever, the munnneeeee.
Ergo sum, fear and greed continue to run the World.
Having created this fear – and used electronically created fiat money to corrupt those in a position to both spread and exaggerate the level of every threat – the élites are aware that enough thinking people somewhere will see through the caper. Thus, they badly need somewhere to hide.
2/2
The Merging of US and Israeli National Security States is Accelerating Amid COVID-19
A new pro-Israel policy framework proposed by the US Chamber of Commerce is bolstering the ongoing merger between the US and Israeli national security states.
A two-pronged initiative by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security is set to substantially increase Israel’s already significant role in America’s digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), critical health infrastructure, as well as law enforcement, public and border protection and other key sectors.
Citing “health challenges” posed by COVID-19, the U.S.-Israel Business Initiative (USIBI), a venture of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is advancing a new eight-point policy framework to facilitate a “more robust bilateral collaboration” between Israeli and American companies to realize the “potential” of technologies emerging out of Israel relating to telehealth, robotic diagnostics and AI-powered applications in healthcare.
In a recent article, investigative reporter Whitney Webb uncovered the deep Israeli military roots of virtually every “health” tech startup to emerge in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and their extensive relationships with the U.S. government at both the federal and state level. Regarding the policy framework, Webb stated that it was likely “part of a broader effort aimed at using the coronavirus crisis to facilitate the integration of Israeli tech companies, particularly in the “digital health” sector, into the U.S. technology ecosystem. Many, if not the vast majority, of these companies”, she continued, “were either founded by ex-members of Israeli intelligence or military intelligence, but also serve as contractors to Israel’s government or its military.”
The policy paper issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was developed by a “working group” of unnamed “leading global companies, investors, scientists, academics, and medical experts”. While the USIBI no longer lists their members on their website, archived pages from 2017 show large multinationals like Procter & Gamble, GE, and Caterpillar on the membership rolls, along with the Las Vega Sands Corporation, owned by Sheldon Adelson – the single biggest donor in all of U.S. politics, and TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd.; an American-Israeli generic drug manufacturer that was sued last year by 44 U.S. states for orchestrating a price-fixing scheme with 19 other companies. TEVA recently pulled out of settlement talks with the Department of Justice, betting that the Trump administration will not pursue further charges against them in the midst of the pandemic given that TEVA is among the companies making the President’s most hyped COVID-19 remedy, hydroxychloroquine.
Cui Bono?
The mystery behind their currently unpublished member list might be explained by what Webb described as “a policy that has been acknowledged by Israel’s government where intelligence operations are spun off into private entities and merged into large multinational corporations, specifically in the U.S., with the ultimate goal of ensuring cyber supremacy for Israel’s high-tech startups and mitigating the successes and popularity of the non-violent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement in the United States.”
First on the list of USIBI’s policy recommendations is the creation of a fund to support research and development for “technologies with commercial application in the health sector” modeled on the U.S.-Israel Energy Center of Excellence, which foments similar public-private partnerships in the energy sector.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/merging-us-israel-national-security-state-accelerating-amid-covid-19/269224/
Jerusalem church leaders: Israel threatening Christian presence in the city
As many as 13 church leaders in the occupied city of Jerusalem yesterday warned that the Israeli court’s decision concerning the Greek Orthodox Church’s property at Jaffa Gate threatens the Christian presence in the holy city, Anadolu reported.
In a joint statement, they said: “We, the Heads of the Churches and Christian Communities in Jerusalem, stand united in our commitment to safeguard the historical Status Quo of the Holy Sites and rights of the Churches which are universally recognized. The case of Jaffa Gate threatens this Status Quo. We are concerned by the recent judgment of the District Court of Jerusalem, which dismissed evidence demonstrating the Greek Orthodox Church’s case. We strongly support the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church in their plea for justice.”
This comes after the Jerusalem District Court last week rejected a petition filed by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate contesting the ownership of a Jaffa Gate property claimed by Jewish settler organisations.
“We don’t see this case as a mere property dispute. We see the undertaking of radical groups to take control of properties at Jaffa Gate as a systematic attempt to undermine the integrity of the Holy City, to obstruct the Christian pilgrim route and to weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem,” they added.
In their statement, the church leaders called on the Israeli government “to act in order to safeguard the integrity of the Christian heritage and patrimony in the Old City, as well as the Holy Sites and the rights of the residents of the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem.”
“These are places which over two billion Christians around the world look at as the very heart of their faith; which millions of Christian pilgrims visit each year; and in which the local Christians live out their faith,” they added.
The statement was signed by a number of renowned church leaders in Jerusalem including Patriarch Theophilos Ill, Greek Orthodox, Patriarch Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarchate, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator and Latin Patriarchate, Fr. Francesco Patton.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200708-jerusalem-church-leaders-israel-threating-christian-presence-in-the-city/
The Pyramid of Power
Coming Soon from The Conscious Resistance Network
President Trump Announces He Disagrees with CDC’s Unrealistic, Expensive and Overly Intrusive Guidelines for Opening Schools
The CDC released guidelines in May on their recommendations for the manner in which schools should be run in the future. Despite children being 7 times more likely to die from the flu than the China coronavirus, the CDC thinks they are in the position to invade the classroom with their intrusive proposals.
In May the far-left Washington Post reported on the CDC’s guidelines for opening schools:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week laid out its detailed, delayed road map for reopening schools, child-care facilities, restaurants and mass transit, weeks after covid-weary states began opening on their own terms.
The CDC cautioned that some institutions should stay closed for now and said reopening should be guided by coronavirus transmission rates.
For schools, the CDC recommended a raft of social distancing policies: desks at least six feet apart and facing the same direction, lunch in classrooms, staggered arrival times, cloth masks for staff and daily temperature screenings for everyone.
It advised that buses leave every other row empty, bars add sneeze guards and child-care centers limit sharing of art supplies.
President Trump rightly disagrees with these intrusive and expensive guidelines:
The socialists in the Deep State government have got to go. President Trump is right to address the crazy rules coming from the CDC.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/07/president-trump-announces-disagrees-cdcs-unrealistic-expensive-overly-intrusive-guidelines-opening-schools/
53% of restaurants closed amid coronavirus have shuttered permanently, Yelp data shows
New research from Yelp shows that as of June 15, there were nearly 140,000 total business closures on the website since March 1. When compared to similar research released in April, which showed more than 175,000 business closures, these latest numbers indicate that more than 20% of businesses closed in April have reopened.
In March, restaurants had the highest numbers of business closures listed on the app compared to other industries, and the rate of closure has remained high. Of the businesses that closed, 17% are restaurants, and 53% of those restaurant closures are indicated as permanent on Yelp. Retail, however, is the hardest hit overall.
During the peak of the pandemic, the number of diners seated across Yelp Reservations and Waitlist dropped essentially to zero. In early June, numbers of diners seated are down 57% of pre-pandemic levels.
Dive Insight:
Predictions about the restaurant industry’s fate in a post-pandemic world have been abundant throughout the crisis. The National Restaurant Association estimated that 15% of restaurants could close, while Barclay’s estimate is more optimistic, predicting approximately 10% of restaurants will shutter permanently.
Though it’s hard to find a silver lining in Yelp’s data, some predictions have been more dire still. In May, OpenTable said one in four restaurants were at risk for closure, for example, though those numbers focus on restaurants that use the reservations platform. Casual or fine dining sit-down restaurants and mom-and-pop concepts that are not well capitalized are expected to experience the brunt of this crisis. The Independent Restaurant Coalition, for example, forecast that as many as 85% of independent restaurants could permanently close by the end of the year.
Yelp’s data does illustrate how some restaurants have been able to weather the storm, however, reporting a 10-fold increase in searches for takeout since March 10, for example. Takeout and delivery searches are up 148%, with Yelp predicting this off-premise trend could be here to stay.
The research also shows that restaurants catering to group dining are making a comeback, with fondue searches up 123%, tapas bars up 98%, hot pot up 49% and buffets up 17%. Conversely, searches for cuisines that were popular during the past three months have begun to wane, including pizza (down 28%), Chinese (down 26%) and fast food (down 18%).
While the pendulum has swung toward group dining, perhaps due to pent up demand after three-plus-months of safer at home orders and dining room closures in some markets, this interest could be short lived. This data was released before a number of states — New Jersey, New York and California among them — have delayed or re-closed some or all of their restaurants due to spiking coronavirus cases. Extended closures will further challenge operators who are burning through cash to maintain rent, labor and other costs. Restaurants with the strongest balance sheets and best access to capital have the best chance to endure sustained closures. The industry will favor the haves and weed out the have-nots, a trend that has become clearer as major chains like Taco Bell, Domino’s and McDonald’s have announced massive hiring sprees.
https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/53-of-restaurants-closed-amid-coronavirus-have-shuttered-permanently-yelp/581024/
Helicopter carrying IDF chief experienced a technical malfunction in mid-air
While military says Aviv Kohavi and other passengers aboard chopper last week weren’t in danger, TV report claims the incident nearly ended in ‘disaster’
A transport helicopter in which the IDF chief of staff was flying in experienced a technical malfunction in mid-air last week, forcing it to make an emergency landing, the military says.
The IDF says the glitch was not life-threatening, but Channel 12, which first reported on the matter, says the incident nearly led to a “disaster” due to incorrect handling of the situation by the flight crew.
According to the military, one of the Black Hawk helicopter’s motors experienced a “technical malfunction.”
“The immediate actions by the flight crew allowed them to handle the malfunction safely, and at no time was there a threat to the lives of the passengers,” the IDF says.
However, according to Channel 12, the flight crew behaved incorrectly during the incident, shutting down the aircraft’s working motor, causing the helicopter to quickly lose altitude — down to roughly 30 meters (100 feet) — before they realized their error and restarted it, allowing the aircraft to stabilize.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-july-8-2020/
Bolsonaro says took hydroxychloroquine, feeling well and will live long
The Brazilian leader did not communicate any extra details about his health
TASS, July 8. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who tested positive for coronavirus has said Wednesday that he is feeling "very well" after taking hydroxychloroquine.
"To those who oppose hydroxychloroquine, I regret to say that I feel very well taking it and will live very long still by the grace of God, Bolsonaro, 65, wrote on his Twitter page.
The Brazilian leader did not communicate any extra details about his health. At the same time, he reiterated that there is no use in panicking amid the coronavirus pandemic. "I have always said that fighting the virus can lead to side effects which will turn out worse than the virus itself," he stressed.
On July 7, Bolsonaro announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus, noting that he was feeling well. The president decided to start his treatment by taking hydroxychloroquine. According to him, his temperature jumped to 38 degrees but after he started taking the drug it dropped to 36.7.
Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to end hydroxychloroquine trials as a potential drug to treat coronavirus. The organization underlined that research shows a lack of positive effects on coronavirus patients.
Brazil reported its first coronavirus case on February 26 and is now ranked second in the world in coronavirus infections and cases only after the United States. According to the latest data, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 1,668,589 in the country, while 66,741 people died from the virus-related causes. President Bolsonaro repeatedly slammed lockdown measures enacted by regional authorities to fight the pandemic, claiming that they will have catastrophic ramifications for the national economy.
https://tass.com/world/1176245
Former Minneapolis Officer’s Attorney Files Motion to Dismiss Charges in Floyd Case
The attorney of one of the four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd is asking a court to dismiss charges against his client.
Former officer Thomas Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss the charges him. The motion asserts there is a lack of evidence to establish probable cause for the charges, according to Fox9.
He is one of four officers charged in Floyd’s death in late May, which sparked sometimes violent demonstrations, peaceful protests, arson attacks, and vandalism.
Derek Chauvin, the officer seen in a video kneeling on Floyd’s neck, was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Lane, meanwhile, was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the case.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/former-minneapolis-officers-attorney-files-motion-to-dismiss-charges-in-floyd-case_3416840.html
Setting up the trigger point