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Labor Department: Record 3.3 Million File For Unemployment

After much of the country shut down to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Labor Department reports a record 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. That’s four times the previous record. From the Washington Post:

A record 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, as restaurants, hotels, barber shops, gyms and more shut down in a nationwide effort to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Last week saw the biggest jump in new jobless claims in history, surpassing the record of 695,000 set in 1982. Many economists say this is the beginning of a massive spike in unemployment that could result in over 40 million Americans losing their jobs by April.

Laid off workers say they waited hours on the phone to apply for help. Websites in several states, including New York and Oregon, crashed because so many people were trying to apply at once. The nation’s unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in February, a half-century low, but that has likely risen already to 5.5 percent, according to calculations by Gimbel. The nation hasn’t seen that level of unemployment since 2015.

This graphic from NPR shows the dramatic spike in new claims.

(image via NPR)

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NPR Station Stops Broadcasting Trump Briefings Due To ‘False Information And Exaggerations’

NPR station KUOW in Seattle has announced it will no longer broadcast the White House daily briefings on the coronavirus due to “a pattern of false information and exaggeration.” Via the Washington Post:

“After airing the White House briefings live for two weeks, a pattern of false information and exaggeration increasingly had many at KUOW questioning whether these briefings were in the best service of our mission — to create and serve a more informed public,” notes the statement, posted Wednesday afternoon.

“Of even greater concern was the potential impact of false information on the health and safety of our community.” KUOW provided three examples of bogus information stemming from the briefings. All of them — surprise — came from President Trump.

• “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion,” President Trump said at a live White House briefing on March 19 despite warnings from the U.S. Intelligence community earlier this year.

• “You’re seeing very few empty shelves,” our listeners heard live from President Trump on March 20. Local reporting shows many stores are out of basic supplies, including hand soap.

• We’re going to be able to make the drug chloroquine “available almost immediately” said President Trump on March 19. The president claimed, incorrectly, that the FDA had fast-tracked approval of its use to treat COVID-19. There isn’t current medical evidence of the efficacy of that drug in treating COVID-19.

In related news, The Hill reports major news outlets have now started to cut away from the briefings after less than half an hour as well. Except Fox News, of course,  

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Teen Receives Life In Prison For Gruesome Grindr Stabbing Death

gay dating app Grindr

The Guardian reports 18-year-old Brian Healless has received a life sentence in prison with a minimum of 24 years for the stabbing death of a teenager he met via Grindr.

A teenager who lured a “gentle, kind-hearted” sales assistant to a remote beauty spot on a date and stabbed him to death has been locked up for a minimum of 24 years. Alex Davies, 18, was murdered in Parbold, Lancashire, by Brian Healless, also 18, after they agreed a rendezvous through the dating app Grindr.

Healless, from Chorley, tried to set up similar outdoor meetings with four other men on Grindr in the days after the killing, Preston crown court heard. He had told Davies, from Skelmersdale, he was “not out yet” and suggested a “discreet spot” halfway between their homes for their first meeting.

The defendant stabbed him 128 times at the top of Parbold Hill and dragged the Home Bargains worker face down by his collar in the mud, while still alive, and covered his body with branches and leaves.

His lawyers attempted to defend his actions claiming Healless was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but the jury didn’t buy that. Healless was so calculated he took a kitchen knife with him to the rendezvous, stole Davies’ cell phones, and erased their histories. According to reports, he reached out to at least four other men on Grindr after Davies and could have killed them as well, but detectives discussed his identity and stopped him before another attack could happen.

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News Round-Up: March 25, 2020

Dan Tai (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Dan Tai (above) asks, “So, you ever just have those days when you’re super productive? It was one of them! How was your day?” How about you, readers? Amid all this self-isolation, do you feel like you’re getting some of those tasks you’ve put off accomplished? • Outsports: Denis Finnegan is a champion. A national champion. And he’s been a national champion 10 times over. That’s some real dominance. Few people in the world, in any sport, can claim that many titles over a decade. Finnegan also happens to be gay. • CBS News: As unemployment claims surge, Starbucks CEO and President Kevin Johnson announced this week his commitment to pay all workers in the U.S. and Canada for the next 30 days, regardless of whether they come into work or the stores they work at temporarily close. • Song of the Day: For some reason, this song by Barbra Streisand, released in 1981, has been “coming in and out” of my mind as we all self-quarantine. Gorgeous vocals and it reminds we’ll all be back in each other’s lives in real person soon. Please take a moment to hit play and chill.

• People: In his new book, The Bachelor star Colton Underwood revealed that he questioned his sexuality through his teen years, after relentless bullying from teammates. Underwood says he remembers searching online “Am I gay?” as far back as Elementary School. • BBC: The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus, Clarence House has confirmed. Prince Charles, 71, is displaying mild symptoms “but otherwise remains in good health.” • Hollywood Reporter: In 2018 and 2019, booking Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was a top priority for producers at Fox News. So much so that one Fox News producer sought to reassure Devos’ press secretary that host Maria Bartiromo would go easy on the Secretary if she sat for an interview, which she did six days later. “Ps remember any question she doesn’t feel comfortable answering — she can choose to not answer and pivot the topic. This will be an easy interview and enjoyable.” • Gaily Grind: President Trump used his daily White House coronavirus briefing on Wednesday to rail against the press and Democrats, arguing that the main reason they oppose his idea to potentially reopen businesses by Easter is that they want the economy to fail to hurt his reelection prospects. #srsly Check out the exchange with CBS News journalist Paula Reid below.

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Drug Touted By Trump For COVID-19 Found To Be No More Effective Than Conventional Care

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

Bloomberg News reports a prescription drug Donald Trump touted as a treatment for coronavirus, Hydroxychloroquine, was the focus of a small study that found it to be no more effective than conventional care.

The report published by the Journal of Zhejiang University in China showed that patients who got the medicine didn’t fight off the new coronavirus more often than those who did not get the medicine.

The study involved just 30 patients. Of the 15 patients given the malaria drug, 13 tested negative for the coronavirus after a week of treatment. Of the 15 patients who didn’t get hydroxychloroquine, 14 tested negative for the virus. The results of the study weren’t statistically significant.

Medical experts had said there was a chance the drug might have some efficacy against COVID-19 but insisted further testing was needed before being recommended. After the Trumpster praised the medication saying he had a “good feeling” about the drug’s effectiveness and that it was “already approved by the FDA” experts stepped up to clarify that Hydroxychloroquine has only been approved to treat malaria and not coronavirus. On Monday, the wife of an Arizona man who died after ingesting chloroquine phosphate (a version of the chemical) to protect himself from the novel coronavirus spoke out Monday to urge the public not to “believe anything” without first speaking to a healthcare professional.

“We saw Trump on TV — every channel — and all of his buddies and that this was safe,” the woman told NBC News. “Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure.”

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NYC Pet Shelters See Surge In Dog/Cat Adoption Rates

Bloomberg News reports animal shelters in New York City have suddenly seen a surge in adoption rates during the coronavirus threat.

That’s right, in the New York City area, the epicenter of the disease, there is suddenly a run on pets. At least of the adopted or fostered kind. Muddy Paws Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society are reporting shelters they work with are either all out of or almost out of cats and dogs after a surge in applications of as much as 10-fold in the past two weeks.

Ordered to shelter in place at home, and both a little bored and a lot anxious, New Yorkers apparently see the four-legged friends as way to calm frayed nerves.

“For the moment we definitely don’t have any dogs left to match” with foster volunteers, said Anna Lai, the marketing director at Muddy Paws. “Which is a great problem to have.”

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Elton John To Head Up ‘iHeart Living Room Concert For America’ On Fox TV

Elton John
Deadline reports international pop star Elton John will host a celebrity TV concert on Fox TV this Sunday.

Fox TV and iHeartMedia are bringing out some big guns in the coronavirus relief effort. Elton John is to host Fox Presents The iHeart Living Room Concert for America, an hourlong special set to air commercial-free from 9-10 p.m. Sunday, March 29 — in the slot that had been set for the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

The program comes at a time when concerts have been sidelined by the COVID-19 outbreak and many artists are giving free concerts online. It will feature performances by such stars as Billie Eilish, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw, Backstreet Boys, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, and others — all filmed from their homes using their own audio and video equipment. The special will be simulcast on iHeartMedia stations nationwide and its app.

The iHeart Living Room Concert for America also will pay tribute to the front-line health professionals, first responders and local heroes who are putting themselves in harm’s way to help their neighbors and fight the spread of the coronavirus. It also will encourage viewers to support Feeding America and First Responders Children’s Foundation — two of the many charitable organizations helping victims and first responders during the pandemic.

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Ryan Murphy Donates ‘POSE’ Medical Props To Help Fight COVID-19

Writer/producer Ryan Murphy has announced the medical props used on the hit FX show Pose (featured in scenes related to the AIDS epidemic) are being donated to Mount Sinai Hospital to help fight the COVID-19 health threat. Murphy shared on his Instagram: “On my FX series POSE, one of our regular sets and locations is a hospital where in season 3 (spoiler) Blanca works as an AIDS/hiv counselor. Today we donated all our prop supplies to Mount Sinai hospital to help nurses and doctors battling the Covid outbreak. Let’s all keep giving when and where and how we can. More to come…”

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NY Post: COVID-19 Found On Cruise Ship 17 Days After Abandoned

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

Very disconcerting news as it appears the COVID-19 virus may be able to live for not days but weeks on hard surfaces. From the New York Post:

Coronavirus stays on surfaces far longer than first thought — with traces found in cabins on the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship 17 days after they were abandoned, according to alarming new research.

The potentially deadly bug was previously understood to live two to three days on some surfaces — but the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it lasts more than five times as long.

The coronavirus “was identified on a variety of surfaces in cabins of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infected passengers up to 17 days after cabins were vacated on the Diamond Princess but before disinfection procedures had been conducted,” according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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8 Men Arrested For Cocaine-Fueled Orgy During COVID-19 Lockdown

(stock photo)
Eight men were arrested on Friday, March 20, while hosting a sex party in Barcelona, Spain, which has been in lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus threat. Since March 14, residents are being asked to leave home only for essential reasons including going to work, medical appointments or to buy food. EL PAÍS, one of the largest Spanish language news outlets in the world, reports police received a tip from someone who said they were invited to the gathering. According to reports, the hosts had extended the party invitation to 20-30 men. After receiving information regarding the time and place of the party, plain-clothes police officers arrived at the apartment located in a central area of Barcelona, which had been rented for one week. The Mossos d’Esquadra officers were allowed to enter the residence after identifying themselves where they found various party drugs including cocaine, crystal meth, speed, and “liquid ecstasy” (GHB). One of the attendees was coughing and underwent testing for the coronavirus. The test results were negative for COVID-19. All 8 of the men were arrested for possession of narcotic substances. While an overwhelming majority of LGBTQ people are heeding the advice of medical professionals to self-isolate and stay at home as much as possible, a new survey by Queer Voices Heard found 28 percent would still go on dates, and 16 percent of respondents would still engage in hook-ups. To state the obvious: a cocaine-fueled orgy is not a great idea during the current health threat. As the New York City Health Department recently recommended, “You are your safest sex partner.” The next safest person is someone you live with.

EL PAÍS reports that, to date, the death toll regarding COVID-19 infections in Spain has risen to 2,696, with 514 victims in the past 24 hours. The number of infections is nearing 40,000. In related news, organizers of the annual Gay Pride parade in Madrid announced on Tuesday that the event will be postponed until the “health and safety conditions are suitable.” Since 1978, the Gay Pride event has been held in the country’s capital on the first weekend of July drawing nearly one million attendees and generating more than €100 million for the Madrid region, according to regional authorities. (Source: EL PAÍS)