Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Knowledge and Practices Regarding Safe Household Cleaning and Disinfection for COVID-19 Prevention

A CDC survey showed some U.S. residents are intentionally inhaling disinfectants, applying disinfectants to skin and washing food with disinfectants in an effort to combat COVID-19. About 39% of those surveyed intentionally engaged in a high-risk practice not recommended by the agency, with 25% reporting at least one health effect resulting from the usage of disinfectants and cleaners. The survey was conducted in May 2020 and surveyed about 502 U.S. adults. The CDC concluded that evidence-based, safe cleaning practices need to be reinforced with the public, while also including messaging against high-risk cleaning practices. In March, poison control centers saw an influx of calls about children consuming hand sanitizer. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

18-year-old was gifted a Ford Mustang and a college scholarship after helping clean up wreckage from protests that occurred in Buffalo, New York.

Antonio Gwynn Jr. noticed his city’s streets were covered with trash and glass from protests and began cleaning up during the wee hours of the morning, working for about 10 hours non-stop. After being profiled on a local news station, a local resident gifted him a 2004 Mustang convertible, while he also received a full-ride to Medaille College. The local resident who gifted Gwynn the vehicle did so after seeing Gwynn’s Facebook posts, asking for advice on car buying. A local insurance agency also covered Gwynn’s insurance on the vehicle. (WKBW)

New Zealand succeeds in eradicating coronavirus, reports no active cases

New Zealand has eradicated the coronavirus from its shores after health officials reported that the final person known to have been infected has recovered. It has been 17 days since the last new case was reported in New Zealand, and this also marked the first time since late February that there have been no active cases. Health officials caution that new cases could be imported into the country, which has closed its borders to everybody but citizens and residents, with some exceptions. Experts say a number of factors have helped the nation of 5 million wipe out the disease. Its isolated location in the South Pacific gave it vital time to see how outbreaks spread in other countries, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acted decisively by imposing a strict lockdown early in New Zealand’s outbreak. Just over 1,500 people contracted the virus in New Zealand, including 22 who died. (Associated Press)

Distance learning isn’t working

Education experts believe that distance learning in most school districts is not working and that students are falling behind at alarming rates. Black, Hispanic and low-income students are falling behind the fastest, research suggests. More high-income school districts are also providing strong remote instruction, rather than basic worksheet-like activities. (The New York Times)

The key to economic recovery

Does May’s unexpectedly strong jobs report mean the economy is bouncing back? Federal Reserve officials, business leaders and economists alike agree: Any lasting U.S. economic recovery this year will depend on controlling the spread of the coronavirus. Some 87% of economists in the June National Associate of Business Economics Outlook Survey believe a second wave of infections poses the greatest economic risk. While the overall number of new U.S. coronavirus cases has gone down in recent weeks, California, Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, Florida and Texas are among the states reporting a pickup. (Reuters)

Norwegian scientist says COVID-19 was manufactured, claim backed by ex-British intel head

A new study about the possible origin of the coronavirus has found that Covid-19 is not natural in origin. The study, led by a Norwegian virologist, has found that the coronavirus’s spike protein contains sequences that appear to be artificially inserted. “The inserted sequences should never have been published. Had it been today, it would never have happened. It was a big mistake the Chinese made. The inserted sequences have a functionality that we describe. We explain why they are essential. But the Chinese pointed to them first”, he said. The researchers found that the virus had been doctored to bind to humans. They pointed out that it has hardly mutated since it began to infect humans, suggesting that it was already fully adapted to humans. A Former MI6 head has backed the claim. He suggested that scientists may have been carrying out gene-splicing experiment, but rejected theories that this may have been for malevolent purposes. A French Nobel Prize-winning virologist earlier also said he believes that the Covid-19 was developed in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. United States secretary of state Mike Pompeo later confirmed there is substantial evidence that the coronavirus originated in the Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology. (New Europe)

Satellite data suggests coronavirus may have hit China earlier

Dramatic spikes in auto traffic around major hospitals in Wuhan last fall suggest the novel coronavirus may have been present and spreading through central China long before the outbreak was first reported to the world, according to a new Harvard Medical School study. Using techniques similar to those employed by intelligence agencies, the research team behind the study analyzed commercial satellite imagery and “observed a dramatic increase in hospital traffic outside five major Wuhan hospitals beginning late summer and early fall 2019,” according to the Harvard Medical professor who led the research. The study makes for an important new data point in the mystery of COVID-19’s origins. (ABC News)

Elon Musk tells SpaceX to double down on Starship development

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has told his team to focus its efforts on the development of Starship, its next-generation reusable rocket system that the commercial space company wants to use for crewed missions to the moon and Mars. In the email, which SpaceX employees received on Saturday, June 6, Musk wrote: “Please consider the top SpaceX priority (apart from anything that could reduce Dragon return risk) to be Starship,” at the same time imploring his team to “dramatically and immediately” accelerate work on the space transportation system. While Falcon 9 currently operates as SpaceX’s workhorse rocket for its cargo, satellite, and now astronaut missions, Musk evidently feels it’s time to double down on efforts to develop the 120-meter-tall Starship launch system, which comprises the Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket that will carry it into orbit. It had been hoped that Starship could make an uncrewed landing on the moon in 2021 ahead of an astronaut mission. (Digital Trends)

Researchers discover Yellowstone supervolcano’s ‘largest and most cataclysmic event’

Fears of the Yellowstone supervolcano erupting have cropped up from time to time, but a newly released study suggests that the hotspot may actually be waning. The research points out two new eruptions that emanated from the Yellowstone supervolcano over the past 9 million years, including one experts believe is the “volcanic province’s largest and most cataclysmic event.” The new discoveries suggest the intensity of the hotspot is waning drastically. The researchers were able to uncover the supereruptions by looking at volcanic deposits in Idaho and Nevada and using seven different characteristics, including color of rock, the rock’s age and its chemical composition. The first “supereruption,” which occurred 9 million years ago, is known as the McMullen Creek supereruption and impacted a nearly 4,600-square-mile stretch of modern-day Idaho. The second supereruption, known as the Grey’s Landing super-eruption, however, was significantly larger. It impacted nearly 8,900 square-miles and occurred 8.72 million years ago. It’s estimated to date that the Yellowstone supervolcano has erupted at least 10 times over the past 16 million years. (Geology)

Terrifying screams heard over Texas

Petrifying screams were heard over Bryan, Texas during a lightning storm. According to witnesses, the high pitched shrieking lasted for an hour. This phenomenon had residents so upset and panicking because the collection of noises literally sounded like the gates of hell had opened up releasing howling demons. There are some individuals that felt it was another sign of the apocalypse. Conspiracy theories started to abound on social media. Some even likened it to “spiritual warfare.” Others thought a portal had opened up allowing beings from another dimension to materialize on earth. While all of this speculation sounds like the plot of a great horror or science fiction movie, more than likely, there is a terrestrial reason for the deafening event. Other locations across the world have had similar experiences. Windsor, Canada has been plagued by a low humming sound since 2011 that reverberates throughout the city and has caused health problems for many citizens. It appears to be emanating from deep under the ground but yet, no one can determine its origin. What is crazy, is that Windsor isn’t the only city experiencing this type of occurrence. The same issue has been reported in Taos, New Mexico and Kokomo, Indiana. (Fansided)

Seven-Eleven to sell life insurance in Japan

Convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan is partnering with insurance company MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings to sell life insurance, allowing the insurance company to avoid face-to-face sales amid fear of coronavirus. Customers will be able to register the necessary information through multi-function machines in Seven-Eleven’s 20,000 stores. The application process is complete once they pay the insurance fee at the cashier. Customers will also be able to do part of the process through their smartphones or PCs. Life insurance is normally sold by MS&AD’s staff face-to-face with customers, and Seven-Eleven will be the first convenience store chain in Japan to sell life insurance. The partnership comes as insurance companies search for new sales approaches since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Seven-Eleven and MS&AD are planning to set up call centers where licensed insurance sales staff can talk to customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to ensure the same quality of services offered by insurance shops. As the first step of the partnership, Seven-Eleven and MS&AD’s affiliate Mitsui Sumitomo Aioi Life Insurance will start selling cancer insurance starting June 16. The monthly insurance fee will be set at several thousand yen. (Asian Review)

Woman shot in both legs by accident at gun range

A man accidentally fired his gun while trying to dismantle it and struck a woman who was three bays over at the Gun Range in Murray, Utah. The 30-year-old man picked up his weapon ready to take it apart and the gun discharged. The bullet went through both of the woman’s legs. The Sargent with the Murray, Utah Police Department said the woman was in her 50s and is expected to make a full recovery. She was sent into surgery the same day to treat her dual wounds. The man was not arrested or believed of any intentional wrongdoing. (KUTV)

Federal Appeals Court Rules Pandemic No Reason to Force All Texans to Vote by Mail

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously slapped down a federal judge’s ruling forcing Texas to allow all its residents to vote by mail on the theory that doing so would prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton indicated he was satisfied with the decision. “Allowing universal mail-in ballots, which are particularly vulnerable to fraud, would only lead to greater election fraud and disenfranchise lawful voters,” the Attorney General said in a statement to the media. “The unanimous Fifth Circuit ruling puts a stop to this blatant violation of Texas law.” All 50 states provide for mail-in voting. In Texas, a voter is allowed to vote by mail if 65 or older, disabled or ill, in jail, or outside the county when voting is scheduled to take place. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii carry out their elections wholly by mail. (The Epoch Times)

Wednesday Blows Away The Negativity With:

• Alcoholics Anonymous (Founders) Day
• Ball Point Pen Day
• Black Cow Day
• Herbs and Spices Day
• Iced Tea Day
• National Egg Roll Day
• Race Unity Day