By TomL

China and the COVID-19 threaten shortage of Smithfield meat processing plants.

Large number of employees at the slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are diagnosed with COVID-19 putting America’s supply of meat in jeopardy. If you can’t process or no one is there to process the meat the farmers take a hit. We should never have allowed our food chain supply be dominated by another country.

Smithfield products are also sold under other names like Nathan’s Famous, Farmland, Eckrich, Armour and Healthy Ones, etc.

This started in 2013, lets see who was in office??? A Chinese holding company bought the long time Smithfield brand based in Virginia. Many plants remain in America but are under holding company control.

Some of the plants involved in the closures are in Cudahy, Wisconsin; Martin City, Missouri; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota and others. Smithfield with plants across our country employ ten of thousands of Americans. Continue reading →

Dear Friends,

As I write this column, the COVID-19 crises is still underway but we are seeing some signs that the precautions we have all been taking are beginning to work. Models and projections that we have seen are continually being readjusted in a positive direction. The number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are much lower than previously thought. Progress is being made, thanks to strong leadership by our Governor and his emergency management team. His actions have been balanced and reasonable because he recognizes that statewide shutdowns, quarantines and curfews are not effective as a one-size-fits-all approach. Allowing local communities to address their specific circumstances and identifying virus “hot spots” are much more efficient at controlling further outbreak.

Moving forward, test and treat is going to be the best long-term solution we have at fighting this problem. No one can say for sure how long this virus will be around, and whether or not it will come back in another season. This is brand new to all of us and is, in part, what makes it scary for most people. Now is a time for faith, not fear. The media is constantly showing us the numbers of deceased victims, and images from New York hospitals that are struggling, but what they aren’t showing is the number of people that have fully recovered. Our healthcare systems are some of the best in the world and the professionals caring for our sick people there are highly trained and competent. For that, we are extremely blessed. Continue reading →

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced that 32,614 laptop computers are being distributed to 34 mostly small, rural school districts throughout Florida and the Florida A&M University Developmental Research School. This was made possible through a partnership with the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium (PAEC), Northeast Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC) and Heartland Educational Consortium (HEC), and three additional school districts that are not members of a consortium.

“Today’s announcement speaks volumes about how the Department of Education, our school districts and our teachers are coming together to ensure Florida students have the resources they need to continue their education through the COVID-19 crisis,” said Governor DeSantis. “Florida is truly raising the bar for distance learning.”

“I am grateful our staff at the Department were able to quickly identify funds and work with Florida’s educational consortiums, whose membership is made up of smaller rural districts that often need help consolidating resources, and determine the gaps in device accessibility for students, many of whom are low income and in need of this critical support,” said State Board Chair Andy Tuck.

When the COVID-19 crisis indicated the need for distance learning, the Department proactively began calling laptop suppliers throughout Florida and reaching out to Florida’s rural county school district consortia to identify both available supply and demand.

“I am grateful for the work that all 67 county school districts did to implement their distance learning plans by March 30, and I’m equally grateful to support these students in districts that lacked the resources to fully equip their students and teachers for success,” said Commissioner Corcoran. “Nearly all of these students are low-income students, and Florida making the extra effort to fight for these students is another example of how Florida never relents in the fight to close achievement gaps.”

For more information on the Florida Department of Education’s response to COVID-19, please visit http://www.fldoe.org/em-response/index.stml.

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the following bills:

• CS/CS/CS/SB 140 – Fireworks
• SB 348 – Florida Kidcare Program
• CS/CS/SB 1060 – Public Records and Meetings
• SB 828 – Florida ABLE Program
• CS/CS/CS/SB 1794 – Constitutional Amendments
• SB 362 – Florida Tourism Marketing
• CS/HB 7097 – Taxation

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, during a COVID-19 response roundtable at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Governor Ron DeSantis announced actions the state is taking to improve Florida’s reemployment assistance program. The Governor was joined at the roundtable by Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Executive Director Ken Lawson, Department of Management Services (DMS) Secretary Jonathan Satter and Department of Revenue (DOR) Executive Director Dr. Jim Zingale.

“A lot of people are hurting right now through no fault of their own,” said Governor DeSantis. “A flawed and bureaucratic reemployment system should be the last thing that prevents them from getting assistance. Last week, I directed DEO to take whatever means necessary to fix the system and since then they have made significant progress. I appreciate the many state employees that have been working around the clock to help their fellow Floridians.”

Last week, Governor DeSantis signed Executive Order 20-93, directing DEO and other executive agencies to take necessary actions to improve DEO’s Reemployment Assistance Program. Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today issued a Consumer Alert warning Floridians about an increase in COVID-19 related robocalls. Even before the crisis, robocalls were a continuing problem for many Floridians. Now that more Floridians than ever are working remotely and responding to an increasing volume of phone calls, some may find it difficult to ignore unknown numbers.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Times of crisis can bring out the best in people, as we are seeing with our brave medical professionals and first responders who are answering the call of duty in the face of this deadly pandemic. Sadly, they can also bring out the worst in people, like scammers exploiting the fear surrounding these challenging times, to try and steal personal or financial information. Floridians need to be on high alert to guard against scams—especially robocalls claiming to offer COVID-19 related products or benefits.”

There are recent reports of robocalls that offer everything from COVID-19 treatments and cures to work-from-home schemes. To listen to a few examples of recent calls, go to MyFloridaLegal.com. Continue reading →

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody today issued a Consumer Alert urging Floridians who have not already received a stimulus payment from the federal government to take steps to avoid benefits-related scams. According to the Internal Revenue Service, millions of Americans have already received stimulus payments and millions more are still waiting on the emergency benefits. The IRS created a payment tracking tool for those still waiting.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “This new tool can help Floridians avoid stimulus-related fraud. By working directly with the IRS to track your payment—the likelihood of being duped by scammers sending fake messages designed to steal payments or personal information is greatly reduced. I want to encourage all Floridians to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 news and government actions associated with the pandemic, so they are better prepared to spot and report scams.” Continue reading →

Attorney General Barr Says: Some Governors Are Infringing on ‘A Constitutional Right’!

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De Blasio Acts Surprised Crimes Are Being Committed After He Emptied Jail Cells for COVID!

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Companies have been pulling back because of increased tariffs on Chinese-made goods, preferring instead to make those same products in countries with a better current trade relationship with the Trump administration, particularly countries in North America, many of whom just signed a new trade agreement with the White House.

Vietnam absorbed 46% of the manufacturing moved from China.

An email from the famous Anthony Fauci, top medical advisor for the White House was a close friend to Hillary Clinton. Wicki Leaks Claims email proof of close friendship…

To Cheryl Mills

From Anthony Fauci

Hi Cheryl D Mills

Anyone who had doubts about the Secretary’s stamina and capability following her illness had those doubts washed away by today’s performance before the Senate and the House. She faced extremely difficult circumstances at the hearing and still she hit it right out of the park. Please tell her that we all love her and are very proud to know her.

Warm regards

Tony

Anthony S. Fauci, MD Director

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The illustration visualizes how the virus infects people

Robert Roy Britt

Image credit: CDC/Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins

What the Coronavirus Image You’ve Seen a Million Times Really Shows

The illustration visualizes how the virus infects people

A colorful 3D rendering of a spiky fuzzball has spread around the world at least as fast as the coronavirus. The image, used by news media around the world, was created by Alissa Eckert, a medical illustrator at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with her colleague Dan Higgins.

It is not a photograph, but rather an illustrated visualization of the microscopic coronavirus.

“The image was originally designed with the public in mind,” Eckert tells Elemental. “However, it also serves to help researchers differentiate and visualize their information. Creating visual representations of diseases provides a way to take something complex and abstract and make it tangible through visualization.” Continue reading →