Pope Francis Sick the Day After Encouraging Coronavirus Victims

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By Breitbart. Just 24 hours after he expressed public support for the people suffering from coronavirus around the world, Pope Francis has fallen ill.

“I wish, again, to express my closeness to those who are ill with coronavirus and to healthcare workers who are caring for them,” Pope Francis said on Wednesday. He was visibly ill during the Ash Wednesday Mass, coughing and blowing his nose. And while he shook hands — and even kissed an infant — most parishioners appeared reluctant to physically interact.

On Thursday, the 82-year-old pontiff was forced to cancel a penitential Mass at St. John Lateran basilica that would have marked the beginning of Lent. While he still plans to continue his work, Francis “preferred to stay near [his residence in] Santa Marta,” while he is under the weather. (Read more from “Pope Francis Sick the Day After Encouraging Coronavirus Victims” HERE)

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Coronavirus Updates: Italy Reports 650 Cases and 17 Deaths

By NPR. Italy’s number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases spiked by more than 50% in just 24 hours and now stands at 650, the Italian Ministry of Health says, adding that 17 people have died from the respiratory virus. More than 400 of the cases are in the hard-hit Lombardy region, where some towns are under a lockdown.

Nearly 250 of the people who were infected are currently in the hospital, including 56 patients who are in intensive care, the Italian ministry says, citing a Thursday afternoon update from Angelo Borrelli, commissioner for the coronavirus emergency. Another 284 people who have been infected are in home isolation to try to stop the coronavirus from spreading further.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Italy led the U.S. State Department to add concerns about the virus to its travel advisory for Italy this week. The advisory stands at Level 2: “exercise increased caution” – one level short of “reconsider travel.”

Alarmed by the virus’s potential impact on its economy, Italy’s government is urging foreign media to reassure people around the world that it’s safe to visit Italy. (Read more from “Coronavirus Updates: Italy Reports 650 Cases and 17 Deaths” HERE)

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Bloomberg Reportedly Approached Andrew Yang About Possible VP Pick

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Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg has approached former Democratic candidate Andrew Yang about a potential political endorsement, going so far as to raise the possibility of Andrew Yang joining the ticket as vice president, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

(Via The Wall Street Journal)

Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign has made overtures to Democrat Andrew Yang, courting the former candidate’s endorsement and floating the possibility of Mr. Yang becoming his running mate, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Aides to the former New York City mayor reached out to discuss ways the two entrepreneurs-turned-politicians could work together as Mr. Bloomberg seeks the Democratic nomination, these people said.

Mr. Yang, who dropped out of the race earlier this month, didn’t commit to join forces, as he considers his own political future, a third person familiar with the discussions said.

Mr. Yang didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A senior Bloomberg aide said Mr. Yang wasn’t being seriously considered to be the former mayor’s running mate if he secured the nomination.

(Read more from “Bloomberg Reportedly Approached Andrew Yang About Possible VP Pick” HERE)

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Superdelegates Oppose Handing Bernie the Nomination If Candidate Falls Short in Delegate Count; Poll: Sanders Knocks Biden out of First, Majority Thinks Trump Wins

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By Townhall. For many in the Democratic Party, socialism is a bridge too far. The New York Times has interviewed several Democratic leaders, including 93 superdelegates, a majority of who said they oppose handing Bernie Sanders the party’s nomination should the democratic socialist fail to reach a majority of delegates before the national convention in July. . .

(Via The New York Times)

From California to the Carolinas, and North Dakota to Ohio, the party leaders say they worry that Mr. Sanders, a democratic socialist with passionate but limited support so far, will lose to President Trump, and drag down moderate House and Senate candidates in swing states with his left-wing agenda of “Medicare for all” and free four-year public college. …

Jay Jacobs, the New York State Democratic Party chairman and a superdelegate, echoing many others interviewed, said that superdelegates should choose a nominee they believed had the best chance of defeating Mr. Trump if no candidate wins a majority of delegates during the primaries. …

In a reflection of the establishment’s wariness about Mr. Sanders, only nine of the 93 superdelegates interviewed said that Mr. Sanders should become the nominee purely on the basis of arriving at the convention with a plurality, if he was short of a majority.

(Read more from “Superdelegates Oppose Handing Bernie the Nomination If Candidate Falls Short in Delegate Count” HERE)

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Fox News Poll: Sanders Knocks Biden out of First, Majority Thinks Trump Wins

By Fox News. Bernie Sanders pushes Joe Biden out of the frontrunner spot for the Democratic nomination, capturing a record 31 percent support among primary voters in a new Fox News Poll. This is the first 2020 Fox national poll that finds Biden not leading the Democratic race.

The survey also finds a marked increase in the number of voters who think President Trump will win the election.

Sanders has gained 8 percentage points since January in the nomination race, while Biden drops into second with 18 percent, down 8 points. Close behind is Mike Bloomberg at 16 percent, up 6 points since last month and triple his 5 percent in December. Pete Buttigieg comes in at 12 percent (up 5), Elizabeth Warren at 10 percent (down 4), and Amy Klobuchar at 5 percent (up 2).

This is the first Fox News poll with five candidates in double digits. It was conducted Sunday through Wednesday. Sanders, notably, was the most attacked candidate during Tuesday’s contentious presidential debate in South Carolina. (Read more from “Fox News Poll: Sanders Knocks Biden out of First, Majority Thinks Trump Wins” HERE)

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Chinese Destroyer Shoots Weapons-Grade Laser at U.S. Navy P-8A Plane Operating Near Guam

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A U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was lased by People’s Republic of China (PRC) navy destroyer 161 on Feb. 17 while flying in airspace above international waters approximately 380 miles west of Guam.

The P-8A was operating in international airspace in accordance with international rules and regulations. The PRC navy destroyer’s actions were unsafe and unprofessional.

Additionally, these acts violate the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES), a multilateral agreement reached at the 2014 Western Pacific Naval Symposium to reduce the chance of an incident at sea. CUES specifically addresses the use of lasers that could cause harm to personnel or damage to equipment.

The destroyer’s actions were also inconsistent with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between U.S. Department of Defense and the Ministry of National Defense of the PRC regarding rules of behavior for safety of air and maritime encounters.

The laser, which was not visible to the naked eye, was captured by a sensor onboard the P-8A.
Weapons-grade lasers could potentially cause serious harm to aircrew and mariners, as well as ship and aircraft systems.

The P-8A is assigned to VP-45, based out of Jacksonville, Florida, and is forward-deployed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. The squadron conducts routine operations, maritime patrol and reconnaissance in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.

U.S Navy aircraft routinely fly in the Philippine Sea and have done so for many years. U.S. Navy aircraft and ships will continue to fly, sail and operate anywhere international law allows.

U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest numbered fleet in the world, and with the help 35 other maritime-nation allies and partners, the U.S. Navy has operated in the Indo-Pacific region for more than century, providing credible, ready forces to help preserve peace and prevent conflict. (For more from the author of “Chinese Destroyer Lases U.S. Navy P-8A Plane Operating Near Guam” please click HERE)

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House Democrats Block Resolution Condemning Bernie Sanders’s Praise of Fidel Castro

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By Daily Caller. Democratic lawmakers Thursday successfully blocked a GOP resolution condemning Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s laudatory comments about the Castro regime.

By a vote of 224-189 that fell along party lines, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to block a resolution that not only condemned numerous human rights abuses that took place under the Castro regime, but also condemned recent instances where Sanders refused to fully denounce the late Fidel Castro’s dictatorial rule over Cuba.

The resolution was introduced by GOP Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who represents a district in the state that has 335,000 residents of Cuban descent — roughly half his entire constituency.

During a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, the Vermont senator said it was “unfair” to say everything about the Castro regime was negative, noting how Castro launched a “massive literacy program” upon assuming power. The following day, during a town hall event in South Carolina, Sanders stood by his remarks. During Tuesday night’s presidential debate, he once again touted Cuba’s progress on education. (Read more from “House Democrats Block Resolution Condemning Bernie Sanders’s Praise of Fidel Castro” HERE)

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Bernie Sanders Supporters React to Report Saying Democratic Party Trying to Sabotage Him: ‘It’s Trash’

By Fox News. Fox News contributor and “Hannity” 2020 correspondent Lawrence Jones spoke to Bernie Sanders supporters in North Carolina Thursday about a New York Times report with the headline “Democratic Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Bernie Sanders.”

“There’s a New York Times report today that is talking about the party leadership actively working against Bernie Sanders and willing to break up the party as a result of that, how do you feel about that?” Jones asked Sanders supporters.

“I mean, unfortunately, it’s really kind of what we could see coming to a head since 2016,” One supporter said. Adding that he hoped members of the Democratic Party would rally behind Sanders.

One supporter told Jones she thinks “the Democratic Party is isolating their base.”

Another supporter called the idea that Democrats would do that “trash.” (Read more from “Bernie Sanders Supporters React to Report Saying Democratic Party Trying to Sabotage Him: ‘It’s Trash'” HERE)

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Dem Candidate Klobuchar Dodges Question on When Life Begins

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Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar evaded a question about when life begins during her Wednesday evening town hall on Fox News.

Klobuchar, who broke from her Democratic primary opponents when she said that there should be room in the party for pro-life Democrats, made it clear that she herself was pro-choice and made no move to answer a direct question from host Martha MacCallum about when life actually begins. . .

“So at what point do you think that life begins?” MacCallum asked directly. “If 20 weeks, post-20 weeks is acceptable, at what point do you think life begins?”

Klobuchar made no move to answer the question, instead saying, “Again, I follow Roe v. Wade, and what Roe v. Wade allows for is the protection of a woman’s decision — to make a decision about her own life and of course by the third trimester there’s some limits on it.”

“A lot of moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats think that’s a really moderate thing to vote for, post 20 weeks. Only North Korea and China and a few other countries allow what we allow here,” MacCallum pushed back. (Read more from “Dem Candidate Klobuchar Dodges Question on When Life Begins” HERE)

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Military Experts at CPAC Warn China Is Trying to ‘Strangle Us’; U.S. Professor Charged With Hiding China Ties From NASA

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By Breitbart. Experts on China at a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) panel on Thursday sounded the alarm about the Communist nation’s efforts to defeat the United States and without ever having to fire a shot.

The experts on the panel, hosted by the Committee on the Present Danger: China, warned that China is laying the groundwork to replace the U.S. as the world’s superpower, which will have profound implications for Americans.

China expert and author Gordon Chang said China is becoming more belligerent to the U.S. — not less — and is trying to lay the groundwork in China to blame the coronavirus on the United States. . .

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven L. Kwast, who recently retired and speaks about the threat of China as a private citizen, said China is pursuing a strategy of seeking dominance while “trying not to awaken the great giant” — the U.S. . .

China is trying to “strangle us [so that] we go out with a whimper,” he said. Yet, he added, “We are going about our lives.” (Read more from “Military Experts at CPAC Warn China Is Trying to ‘Strangle Us’” HERE)

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U.S. Professor Charged With Hiding China Ties From NASA

By Quartz. An engineering professor at the University of Tennessee was arrested today after allegedly concealing his relationship with a Chinese university while working on projects for US government agencies, including NASA.

Anming Hu has been on the faculty of UT Knoxville’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering since 2013. But, prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed today, he was also a faculty member at the Beijing University of Technology’s (BJUT) Institute of Laser Engineering, pursuing research sponsored by the Chinese government, and actively hid the affiliation from UT officials.

While NASA is often promoted as a diplomatic tool, capable of bridging geopolitical controversies with its focus on research and exploration, the US space agency is restricted from funding any activity that that cooperates or collaborates with the Chinese government or Chinese companies, including Chinese universities.

According to court documents, prosecutors say NASA would not have given any funding to UT Knoxville and Hu had the space agency been aware of Hu’s affiliations in China. Hu’s research was supported by $110,000 in federal contracts. (Read more from “U.S. Professor Charged With Hiding China Ties From NASA” HERE)

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Lawsuit: 1.6k Dead People Registered to Vote in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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By Breitbart. A lawsuit filed against Allegheny County, Pennsylvania alleges that nearly 1,600 dead people are registered to vote in the 2020 election in the county.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation filed suit against Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located, for their alleged ineffectiveness in cleaning up their voter rolls. The lawsuit claims there are about 1,583 dead people still on the county voter rolls:

The Foundation reviewed birthdates from a portion of the County’s voter registration list against records in the Social Security Death Index. After matching other biographical information, the Foundation found 1,583 deceased registrants whose registrations should have been canceled, yet they remain actively registered to vote in the County. [Emphasis added]

Similarly, the lawsuit claims there are close t0 7,500 voter registrations that have been flagged as duplicates but that remain on the voter rolls. In one case, the lawsuit claims, an individual registered to vote up to seven times in one day while out of state. (Read more from “Lawsuit: 1.6k Dead People Registered to Vote in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania” HERE)

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New Bill Takes Aim at Voter Fraud; Raises Concerns About Voter Suppression

By The Orange County Register. A new bill from two Republican lawmakers in Orange County would require county courthouses to share juror information, including age and citizenship status, with election officials.

The lawmakers say the new rules would stem voter fraud in California, despite numerous studies showing that voter fraud is not a widespread problem.

Senate Bill 994 authors, State Senators Pat Bates and John Moorlach of Orange County, say the change could help elections administrators purge voter rolls of people who aren’t eligible to cast ballots because they’re dead, under 18, no longer live in the state or they’re undocumented immigrants.

“It is paramount that county voter rolls be carefully and accurately maintained to ensure only eligible citizens can vote,” said Bates, R-Laguna Niguel. “County voter rolls that include duplicate names and deceased individuals are susceptible to fraud and abuse, and SB 994 presents a simple fix to that problem.” (Read more from “New Bill Takes Aim at Voter Fraud; Raises Concerns About Voter Suppression” HERE)

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California County Plans to Create Special Task Force to Confiscate Guns From Banned Gun Owners

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Santa Clara County in California has announced a plan to implement a brand-new task force to confiscate firearms from citizens who are not permitted to have them. . .

On Monday, Santa Clara County officials announced the possible formation of what they call a “County Gun Team.”

The sole purpose of the team is to take away firearms from those people who should not have them.

Officials said that approximately 4,600 people annually are court-ordered to turn in their guns, which necessitates the County Gun Team.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez requested the county’s board of supervisors to fund the new program, to the tune of $427,000 annually, in order to cover attorney and investigator expenses for the new team. (Read more from “California County Plans to Create Special Task Force to Confiscate Guns From Banned Gun Owners” HERE)

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Bottomless Money Pit: Agencies Dealing With Coronavirus Already Have Record Funding

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Rule number one in government: Never get into a bidding war with Democrats on how much money you want to spend. They have no limit to how much they will spend and will mortgage the future of our children to do so. Trump should heed this lesson as he fights with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the level of funding to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump’s mistake was even offering another $2.5 billion in emergency funding to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS. Everyone is forgetting that HHS already has a record high discretionary spending budget – over and beyond the high levels of the Obama years. If that is not enough to deal with the coronavirus, then there’s something else wrong here. Yet now that Trump promised more funding, Schumer is demanding $8.5 billion in spending. Why not make it $50 billion?

In fiscal year 2018, Trump promised massive cuts to the bloated HHS. Instead, he signed a bill dramatically increasing spending on the very programs he targeted for cuts. The spending level at HHS for that year wound up being 43 percent higher than Trump’s budget request. The budget for the National Institutes of Health was supposed to be cut by 22 percent and was instead increased by 8.8 percent. The CDC was to be cut by 16.9 percent and was instead increased by 14.4 percent.

In total, the amount of spending on discretionary health programs (not including Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and similar welfare and entitlements) has grown from $56 billion to $73 billion since 2016.

NIH funding for this year is $41.68 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion from FY 2019. That is a total of $11.6 billion in more funding since FY 2016, a 38.6 percent increase. CDC is also at record funding levels.

At what point is enough enough? And if all that increased funding over Obama’s profligate years is not enough to deal with infectious diseases without more emergency funding, then what exactly is the department doing with the base funding?

Aside from the over $700 billion in entitlement spending through the department, HHS gets $105 billion in discretionary funding. Is there really nothing from all their international health programs that could be cut as a way of paying for this?

Trump himself planned on cutting the HHS budget by roughly 10 percent this year. Obviously, there are a lot of places to cut. Why not demand dollar-for-dollar cuts from Democrats?

The problem is that Trump let the cat out of the bag when he said at his press conference that he’ll sign whatever they send him. “With respect to the money that’s being negotiated, they can do whatever they want,” said Trump during yesterday’s press briefing on the coronavirus task force. “We’re requesting $2.5 [billion]. Some Republicans would like us to get $4 [billion], and some Democrats would like us to get $8.5 [billion], and we’ll be satisfied whatever it is.”

This has been the problem from day one. On the one hand, Trump will propose spending cuts, but then he’ll sign spending bills that increase those very programs to record highs, plus sign endless supplemental bills, further increasing spending.

Trump needs to stop relying on congressional Republicans to negotiate for him, because both parties are on the same side when it comes to spending. As Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said, “It seems to me the administration’s request is lowballing it, possibly.” He’s never seen an agency whose budget he didn’t want to increase except for that of ICE.

The issue of public health concerns is not about throwing more money at the problem. Like everything else, it’s more of a policy problem. We need to be less politically correct in dealing with outbreaks by shutting off travel from day one. Also, as Senator Josh Hawley is advocating, we need to better retain our own supply chain for vaccinations and stop relying on China and India through outsourcing and foreign labor. China now produces most of the materials that go into vaccine production. So, what do we do when the supply is shut down because the actual virus stems from China? Those issues don’t seem to bother Chuck Schumer.

Throwing another few billion dollars at hundred-billion-dollar departments won’t make us safer. And Trump will never win a bidding war accepting the Democrat premise that the way to solve a public policy crisis is with more money while doubling down on failed policies. (For more from the author of “Bottomless Money Pit: Agencies Dealing With Coronavirus Already Have Record Funding” please click HERE)

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