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The COVID-19 “Lockdowns” Are What Twenty-First-Century Mob Rule Looks Like
The COVID-19 “Lockdowns” Are What Twenty-First-Century Mob Rule Looks Like
As of April 6, forty-one states have statewide “stay-at-home” decrees in place. These orders vary widely from place to place. In some states, there are long lists of exempted industries including marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, hardware stores, and of course, grocery stores. In some states with these edicts, public lands, state parks, and beaches remain open. In some states, city parks are more crowded than ever as local residents, with little else to do, attempt to recreate. In other places—such as California—one can be arrested for paddleboarding all alone in the ocean.
Yet in all of these places, the current regime of rule by decree will have—and already has had—a devastating effect on many small and medium-sized businesses and their employees. As governments have created new arbitrary definitions of what constitutes an “essential” business, some businesses find themselves forced to close. Employees have lost these jobs. The owners of these enterprises will likely lose far more as debts mount and business investments are destroyed. As unemployment and poverty increase, the usual pathologies will arise as well: suicides, child abuse, and stress-induced death.
Yet the politicians—mostly state governors, mayors, and unelected bureaucrats—remain popular. In New York State, where the lockdown orders are among the most draconian in the nation, it is now claimed that 87 percent of those polled approve of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the situation. As Donald Trump’s administration has recommended ever harsher government limits on the freedom of Americans, his poll numbers have only improved.
Meanwhile, among critics there appears to be a misconception of these lockdowns (which are very often only partially imposed or enforced) as being imposed over the howls of the local population, which is being silenced and cowed by jackbooted local police.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Answers
Answers
The year is 2020. A new virus is spreading across the planet like a wildfire. More lethal than the flu, highly contagious with no cure. Stocks markets collapse, global economies are shutting down with billions of people quarantined to their homes and millions losing their jobs overnight. What do you do? What DO you do?
While it sounds like the script of a bad disaster movie, it is nevertheless the world we suddenly find ourselves in. If you’d outlined this script to anyone just a couple of months ago nobody would’ve believed you.
But here we are and everyone has to adapt and get on with it.
Everyone searches for answers. Is it a short term thing and a big recovery is just around the corner with the help of unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus, or will the monetary and structural consequences be so severe that a larger recession, depression even, is inevitable?
The Big Battle is unfolding right in front of us.
Markets, following the biggest crash off of all time highs since 1929, also just managed the sharpest rally since 1933. A bear market rally similar to many seen during the 2008 crisis?
Or a V shaped bottom similar to December 2018?
A retest of the lows for a “W” bottom, or the beginnings of a much more sinister stair step descent to new lows? Lots of questions, but few answers amid evolving data points that do not offer clarity where the current shock will settle.
Fact is the long term monetary and fiscal consequences of the current interventions will reverberate for years to come. Fact is also the global recession that was already at risk of playing out in 2019, but was delayed by aggressive global central bank action, but has now come to fruition anyways. Sparked by a trigger that has rendered all these policy actions of the past year ineffective and meaningless.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Trump Weighs “Enforceable” Quarantine Order For Greater New York, Including Conn. & NJ: Live Updates
Trump Weighs “Enforceable” Quarantine Order For Greater New York, Including Conn. & NJ: Live Updates
Summary:
- Global case total tops 600k
- Japan fast-tracks approval of treatment drug for COVID-19
- Third UK minister self-quarantines after showing symptoms of virus
- Trump weighing enforceable quarantine order for all of greater NY area
- Trump tells NBC reporter that quarantines of New York, NJ & Conn. were “possible”
- Italy case total surpasses China
- Spain reports deadliest day yet
- UK case total climbs north of 17k
- Navy hospital ships leave for New York, LA
- Abe says he’s “just barely avoiding” declaring a national emergency
- Yale University slammed for denying aid to city of New Haven
- Shinzo Abe promises unprecedented stimulus package
- Trump gives Pentagon power to call up retired soldiers and reservists
- NYPD detective dies from COVID-19
- Italian centennarian survives battle with COVID-19
* * *
Update (1420ET): As the death toll skyrockets, Spanish officials said they would need to tighten quarantine rules, and are now ordering all people to stay indoors at all times, unless they’re going to work at an “essential” job. We expect the bare minimum of exceptions (trips outside permitted to get food) will continue.
Meanwhile, in France, large numbers of the public continue to ignore the quarantine.
Though France’s health minister said Saturday that the country could soon face shortages of critical drugs, he assured the public that an order for 1 billion masks had recently been put in to ‘China’.
In Italy, the tone was far more somber.
* * *
Update (1412ET): The coronavirus outbreak has pitted many interests against one another in the scramble for resources. But some of the most flagrant examples of communal selfishness so far have occurred in ritzy Connecticut, where a town full of wealthy bankers and doctors shut down a drive thru testing center (well, they stopped it from opening in the first place), and now, Yale University is at the center of a controversy after refusing to allow the town access to any of its (now empty) facilities to help the community fight off the virus.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Rabobank: Over 100 Million Could Be In Lockdown In India
Rabobank: Over 100 Million Could Be In Lockdown In India
Police State
The headlines continue to shock.
Firstly, the number of coronavirus cases surged past 300,000 on Sunday with more than 13,000 deaths now reported worldwide.
Secondly, predictions about the fall out on the global economic outlook have rapidly gone from bad to worse over the past few days.
- In the US over 80 million people are now in a lockdown,
- over 100 million could be in similar circumstances in India.
- In Italy, controls on movement have been stepped up with all internal travel now banned and in numerous other countries social gatherings have been forbidden and businesses have been closed in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus.
In just over a fortnight or so, the debate among economists has shifted from whether the US will suffer recession to how big the downturn is likely to be. Our baseline base case now is a global pandemic as outlined by our colleagues here.
Central banks and governments around the world have moved quickly to staunch the wounds, but more policy support will likely be forthcoming.
On Friday, the UK Chancellor jacked-up the size of the fiscal relief offered to the UK economy aggressively – just over a week since he delivered his budget. The new measures include a pledge by the state to pay 80% of the wages of workers, up to GBP2,500 per month. Germany has announced it will raise EUR150 bln in new debt to bolster the economy, which is an abrupt departure from its culture of fiscal discipline. By contrast the US’s Republican’s Coronavirus Rescue Package failed to pass through the Senate yesterday. Shortly after the vote DJIA futures were again limit down. Democrats argued that the package overly favoured corporations and didn’t go far enough to support individuals facing joblessness and a loss of income.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Italy Goes Full “Wuhan”, Orders Most Restrictive Lockdown Yet, As Global Case Total Passes 300k: Live Updates
Italy Goes Full “Wuhan”, Orders Most Restrictive Lockdown Yet, As Global Case Total Passes 300k: Live Updates
Summary:
- Massive surge in number of deaths and cases in UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France
- New York, New Jersey deaths, cases accelerate
- Italy goes under full lockdown
- NY Gov Cuomo: “months, not weeks” to control virus
- Ukraine declares total quarantine
- Belgium sees 25% jump in cases
- Saudi Arabia reports 10% spike
- German gov’t ends years of fiscal restraint with 365 billion euro aid package
- NYC airspace closed after positive Air Traffic Controller test
- NJ declares full state lockdown; “will take action” for people not following precautions
- FDA authorizes first 45-minute COVID-19 test
- US Fiscal Aid package around $2 trillion (10% of GDP), Kudlow
- Officials increasingly calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics
* * *
Update (1835ET): Even after threatening Italians in some areas with serious criminal penalties for violating their stringent quarantine orders, it seems Italy’s coronavirus containment efforts have failed.
After reporting another shocking jump in deaths, the Italian government has gone full “Wuhan”, ordering a complete shutdown of industrial production for 15 days.
In a speech delivered just before midnight on Saturday in Rome, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he is ordering ALL non-essential businesses to be closed, and for Italians to stay home.
These measures are slightly more restrictive than the current measures, which allow Italians more freedom to move about their towns and communities. They will also likely result in a much larger economic hit, as Italy’s industrial stalwarts are forced to pause operation.
And just like that, an entire country – 60 million Italians – is now under ‘shelter in place.’
Elsewhere, as Middle Eastern countries escalate their crackdowns, Kuwait announced that it would start imposing a curfew between 5pm and 4am due to what the government called “non-compliance with Ministry of Health’s instructions to stay indoors.” Meanwhile, the UAE has closed beaches and parks for two weeks.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
From Quarantine To Tyranny To Rebellion: Where Is The Line In The Sand?
From Quarantine To Tyranny To Rebellion: Where Is The Line In The Sand?
America is in a haze right now. It seems like half the country is in denial of the danger while the other half is awaking from apathy and frantically trying to prepare. This is creating a fog of confusion as one side screams “it’s nothing but the flu, stop buying up the grocery store…!”, and the other side just keeps stocking goods, though in an inexperienced way that prioritizes comfort over practicality.
The other day I went by the grocery store to grab a few peripheral items while they still exist on sale, and this was the first time since the Covid-19 situation began that people in my area actually seemed…different. The usual carefree obliviousness was gone from their faces and they all had a deer-in-the-headlights look, their eyes wide as saucers as they nervously scrambled around the store. None of them were absorbed into their cell phones. All of them were alert as many people huddled over their cart, quickly snatching items from the shelves as if protecting themselves from potential thieves. It seems that reality is finally hitting the masses square in the face like a sucker punch.
Suddenly, the prepper movement doesn’t look so “crazy” after all, and average people are now turning to prepper forums and websites to ask us for information on how to plan more effectively. Instead of stacking piles of toilet paper for psychological comfort, they are now buying food supplies. The people who used to accuse us of being “chicken littles” and “doom mongers” are eerily silent. I almost miss them. At the very least, everyone is now concerned about the situation, if not for different reasons.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
‘Vague’ Legislation Gives British Police Powers To Detain “Suspected COVID-19 Carriers”
‘Vague’ Legislation Gives British Police Powers To Detain “Suspected COVID-19 Carriers”
The Covid-19 outbreak is on the verge of hurling the UK into a nationwide lockdown, or maybe at least London for starters.
We warned on Monday that “the UK has missed the critical containment window to implement social distancing policies that would flatten the curve and slowdown infections, suggesting the country could see an exponential rise in Covid-19 cases over the next month.”
And wow, the epidemic curve is exponential (as of March 20, 0900ET, there are 3,269 confirmed cases and 144 deaths across the country):Cumulative Confirmed UK Cases
Dominic Raab gives sense of scale facing Foreign Office from Covid-19
With that being said, we noted on Friday morning that upwards of 10,000 troops stand ready to be deployed if social order deteriorates, mostly because supermarkets are running out of food and the healthcare system is “on the brink of collapse.”
As a direct response to the chaos unfolding, the British government is now giving police, public health and immigration officers the right to arrest any suspected COVID-19 carriers under a new emergency bill, reported RT News.
The 329-page emergency bill was published on Thursday and is part of the government’s efforts to enforce more draconian measures to flatten the curve to slowdown infections.UK Coronavirus Bill
The bill reads, “public health officer, constables and (in some circumstances) immigration officers with the means to enforce sensible public health restrictions, including returning people to places that they have been required to stay. Where necessary and proportionate, constables and immigration officers will be able to direct individuals to attend, remove them to, or keep them at suitable locations for screening and assessment.”
The government also can limit social gatherings for the “purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling” the virus outbreak.
These draconian measures come as a secret government document was leaked earlier this week that said 80% of Britons could be infected, and the virus would not clear out of the country until Spring 2021.
Hong Kong Reports Largest Surge In Infections Yet As Experts Warn ” We’re On The Edge Of All-Out War” With COVID-19: Live Updates
Hong Kong Reports Largest Surge In Infections Yet As Experts Warn ” We’re On The Edge Of All-Out War” With COVID-19: Live Updates
When historians look back at this time, we suspect that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s landmark decision to order more than 40 million Californians to remain at home on Thursday night will be remembered as an important demarcation point – the beginning of a more heavy handed response as it becomes increasingly clear that too many Americans are simply ignoring the government.
So far, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President Trump have insisted that they have no plans to issue lockdown orders. But with the number of confirmed cases expected to soar in the coming days and over the weekend, the situation is certainly evolving rapidly, and rumors about other states considering preemptive lockdowns (remember, the whole point is to stay “ahead of the curve”) continue to circulate.
Over the past week, central bankers around the world have slashed rates, stepped up bond buying programs, promised to expand their back-stopping of credit markets and – most importantly – urged the politicians in charge to do their part and pass massive fiscal stimulus. Late last night, the Senate unveiled a $1 trillion package that will feature direct transfers to many Americans.
In the US, futures are pointing higher amid mounting hopes for a second straight close in the green. The improved sentiment is ostensibly due to the latest wave of central bank interventions. But that didn’t stop a team of economists at Bank of America from releasing a new note calling for a global recession, with GDP growth dropping to 0% for the year in 2020. Explaining the shift in their thinking, the team wrote: “Our first piece on the virus shock was titled ‘Bad or worse’; now we amend that to ‘Really bad or much worse.'”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Martial Law France: Citizens Have to Fill Out Form Every Time They Leave the Home
Martial Law France: Citizens Have to Fill Out Form Every Time They Leave the Home
Stopped by police to explain their reasons for breaking quarantine.
The coronavirus lockdown in France literally forces citizens to ‘show their papers’; They have to fill out a form explaining why they are outside and present it to police.
A translation of the form posted online shows how citizens have to provide their name, date of birth, address and declare their reason for leaving quarantine.
Travel to a workplace is allowed, but only if the individual can prove they don’t have the capacity to work from home.
Other reasons include purchasing “essential necessities in authorized establishments” (how this can be proven is unknown), visiting family for “compelling reasons,” assisting vulnerable people and traveling for medical reasons.
There also appears to be an exemption for exercise so long as it takes place locally and not with groups of people.
Videos posted online show people being stopped by police and asked to explain their reason for being outside. Those without paperwork have to fill it in on the spot and face fines of up to $148 if caught lying about their activities.
100,000 extra police have been deployed to patrol streets and enforce the lockdown.
Meanwhile, in Spain, authorities are using drones to yell at people who disobey quarantine.
A video clip from the BBC shows police telling people walking in a Madrid park to go home. This message is then amplified via a loudspeaker attached to the drone.
Police in Spain have been using drones to check the streets for anyone ignoring Spanish orders to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak
On Saturday, the country’s 47 million citizens were ordered to stay indoors except for necessary tripshttp://bbc.in/2QjUZDr
Be wary of overreaching government responses to coronavirus: Ron Paul
Be wary of overreaching government responses to coronavirus: Ron Paul
Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them.
After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.
It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Trump Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans.
Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President Trump now claims the power to quarantine individuals suspected of being infected by the virus and, as Politico writes, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease.” He can even call out the military to cordon off a US city or state.
State and local authoritarians love panic as well. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.
The chief fearmonger of the Trump Administration is without a doubt Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Fauci is all over the media, serving up outright falsehoods to stir up even more panic. He testified to Congress that the death rate for the coronavirus is ten times that of the seasonal flu, a claim without any scientific basis.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
New Jersey Declares State Of Emergency As Coronavirus Cases Triple In Greater New York: Live Updates
New Jersey Declares State Of Emergency As Coronavirus Cases Triple In Greater New York: Live Updates
Update (0850ET): As the US market open draws near, investors are parsing a flood of coronavirus related news overnight, including the good (President Xi’s to Wuhan and a sharp drop in new cases in South Korea), the bad (US confirmed cases nearing 1,000), and the ugly (Italy’s crackdown is starting to resemble China’s, as the video below would suggest).
“Please stay at home & go outside only when you need to buy medicines or see doctors. Please follow our rules & wear face masks,” Italian authorities use loudspeakers to promote awareness among local residents about #COVID19 prevention and control.
While we’ve focused on some of the new developments in the US earlier, there’s plenty going on in Europe to rattle investor confidence. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain has doubled in the past few days, prompting the government to shut all schools in Madrid and the surrounding area for 2 weeks.
The Spanish parliament’s lower house suspended all activities on Tuesday for at least a week after a lawmaker with the country’s right-wing Vox Party was confirmed to have the virus.
MP Javier Ortega Smith was diagnosed with the virus, El Pais newspaper reported, citing sources from with Vox.
Ortega Smith is Vox’s No. 2 leader, and in this capacity participated in a large scale political rally last weekend, where we interacted with constituents and other lawmakers, Reuters said.
* * *
NYC-based bankers better have a bugout base in Antarctica, because all the suburban bedroom communities preferred by wealthy financiers have already been infected with the coronavirus: Westchester, New Jersey, Fairfield County and Long Island (though thankfully not the Hamptons) have all reported cases of the virus (even scarier: a handful of infections have no clear connection to another case, potentially offering a glimpse into what might be a much wider ‘community outbreak’).
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Leaked Quarantine Plans Create Chaos As Panicked Italians Sprint For The Exits, Threatening To Spread Virus
Leaked Quarantine Plans Create Chaos As Panicked Italians Sprint For The Exits, Threatening To Spread Virus
As the quarantine begins across the Italian north on Sunday, virology experts at the WHO, CDC and at universities around the world are waiting to see if Rome’s crackdown – coming a little too late, as many have pointed out, given the last two days’ worth of massive increases in the national case total – will work.
With the rules in place until April 3, Bloomberg points out, whether the public and local police and officials go along with the orders will ultimately determine whether they are successful or not.
Italians have become inured to alarming news over the past month as the outbreak has spiraled out of control in Lombardy. But following a flurry of uncontrolled leaks warning about an imminent lockdown as part of the government’s planned emergency decree, restaurants and bars started emptying out and many fled to the train station, where they hopped trains to get out of the region, especially those who had plans to travel elsewhere that were being interrupted by the lockdown.
Johns Hopkins’ Nuzzo: New Virus Test Kits Likely to Reveal Undiagnosed Cases
According to an SCMP reporter in Padua, packed bars and restaurants quickly emptied out as news of a coming lockdown hit, as many people rushed to the railway station. Travellers with suitcases, wearing face masks, gloves and carrying bottles of sanitising gel shoved their way on to the local train.
This appears to have been a phenomenon across the North. The video shows passengers with large bags packed heading toward a cross-country train to take them out of the quarantine zone and into the Italian south, where the virus has penetrated, but infection numbers and deaths remain much lower than in the north.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Italy Places Milan Region Under Quarantine As First Covid-19-Linked Death Reported In Latin America: Live Updates
Italy Places Milan Region Under Quarantine As First Covid-19-Linked Death Reported In Latin America: Live Updates
Summary:
- 21 cases confirmed aboard ‘Grand Princess’
- First death reported in Latin America
- 2 dozen American tourists quarantined on cruise ship
- Illinois confirms sixth case, shuts Chicago school
- South Korea reports 367 new cases raising total to 7,134
- US Marine in Virginia catches coronavirus
- San Francisco confirms six new cases
- Italy quarantines half the country
- British Columbia confirms six cases
- Spain quarantines town
- First case in Washington DC
- US death toll hits 19 as two more cases in WA.
- New York cases hit 76
- Australia reports third death
* * *
Update (2000ET): Though the coronavirus has spread more slowly across the warmer climate of Latin America, the first fatality linked to Covid-19 on the continent has just been reported by the Argentinian health ministry.
- ARGENTINA CONFIRMS FIRST DEATH IN LATIN AMERICA OF PATIENT DIAGNOSED WITH CORONAVIRUS – HEALTH MINISTRY STATEMENT
In other news, the Washington Post reports that two dozen American tourists are being quarantined on a cruise ship in the Egyptian city of Luxor, according to two passengers, as Egyptina health officials confirmed 33 new cases of the virus on Saturday.
South Korea, meanwhile, just reported another 367 Covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 7,134.
According to the Chicago Tribune, students and staff at a Chicago public school have been asked to stay home next week while the school undergoes a “deep clean”. They’ve also been advised to stay at home and not leave until mid-March, after a classroom assistant – a previous passenger on the Grand Princess before disembarking on Feb. 21.
The special education teacher at Vaughn Occupational High School in Portage Park has been hospitalized since becoming the sixth positive case in the state of Illinois – with all the cases having been identified in Cook County.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
US Breaks Cruise Ship Quarantine, Flies 13 Infected Americans To Omaha Facility
US Breaks Cruise Ship Quarantine, Flies 13 Infected Americans To Omaha Facility
While China does everything in its power do demonstrate that the number of new cases in both Hubei province where the coronavirus epicenter of Wuhan is located, and across China, is declining with every passing day in a sign that the epidemic is being ringfenced and is gradually coming under control – whether people on the ground actually believe the government which for at least the first three weeks of the breakout was lying and arresting anyone who spread facts about the deadly disease is a different matter entirely and will manifest itself in how quickly China can return to normal – attention has gradually moved to the spread of the virus offshore, where the number of new cases is starting to turn exponential.
As the chart below shows, after growing at a modest pace, the number of people infected outside of the mainland is now accelerating at an alarming pace.
But one rather stunning fact when analyzing the offshore progression of the disease, is that there are now more cumulative coronavirus cases on just one cruise ship – the infamous Diamond Princess which has been quarantined in Japan for the past two weeks – then there are in all other localities outside of China (which begs the question just how many people are infected around the globe and have so far avoided detection).
As a reminder, the Princess Cruises ship was carrying 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew when it set sail and was quarantined after 10 cases of coronavirus were reported Feb. 4. Since then the number of cases on board has exploded, and on Monday alone, Japan announced an additional 99 infections on the Diamond Princess, raising the ship’s total number of cases to 454. And since most of the people on the ship have yet to be tested, the real number of infections may not be known for days.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Armed Thieves Steal Truckload Of Toilet Paper In Hong Kong Amid Worsening Shortage Of Basic Goods
Armed Thieves Steal Truckload Of Toilet Paper In Hong Kong Amid Worsening Shortage Of Basic Goods
Looks like the sh*t is really about to hit the fan in Hong Kong…and we mean that literally.
In a shocking indication of just how bad shortages of basic goods have gotten as mainland China expands its lockdown to more than 700 million people and Hong Kong closes some of its borders, a gang of armed thieves in Hong Kong stole a truckload of toilet paper in a daring robbery last night.
Police say the truck driver was taken by surprise and held up by a man with a knife, while two others loaded the toilet paper into their getaway vehicle.
Wow, I thought I needed tp bad…#stolentp #hongkongtp #coronavirus #toiletpaper
“Masked men stole hundreds of rolls of toilet paper in HK amid coronavirus fears” https://twitter.com/i/events/1229313970781077505 …Masked men stole hundreds of rolls of toilet paper in HK amid coronavirus fears
Don’t worry: We suspect they may have left a “paper” trail. Police are said to be hunting the gang, according to the AFP, after the heist, which was carried out early Monday by three men. The target was a supermarket in Mong Kok, a neighborhood that, AFP claims, has a close association with Triad organized-crime gangs.
Here’s the most ridiculous element of this whole story: Police said the men held up a truck driver all to steal HK1,000 ($130) in toilet paper.
We look forward to the day when the virus subsides and Hong Kong’s Triad gangs can go back to their old rackets, like prostitution and smuggling heroin.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
