https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/heres-how-coronavirus-could-kill-75000-more-americans-without-even-infecting-them/

The coronavirus pandemic has already killed over 75,000 people. But on CNN Friday, Benjamin Miller, chief strategy officer at Well Being Trust, told anchor Wolf Blitzer that it could kill another 75,000 people — without them ever actually having it.

That’s because the economic conditions and isolation caused by the pandemic will spur a wave of deaths from increased mental health problems and substance abuse.

Apologies, I cannot copy more, but there is more text at link.

Please, if you are bummed, please get help.

Yale is offering their very popular "Science of Well-Being" course FREE here:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being?utm_source=gg&utm_medium=sem&utm_content=09-ScienceofWellBeing-US&campaignid=9728548210&adgroupid=99699672436&device=m&keyword=science%20of%20well%20being%20yale&matchtype=b&network=g&devicemodel=&adpostion=&creativeid=428916120688&hide_mobile_promo&gclid=Cj0KCQjwncT1BRDhARIsAOQF9Lk3KkLfYy1zrbPlw1Ib5yFWsoFVyiHNEcRuV6GdCcPB8ZMACWfi9aoaAtEjEALw_wcB

https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/irs-issues-deadline-to-receive-stimulus-checks-via-direct-deposit/507-dd03a782-338d-48cc-bd8d-83cf4c15bbfd

Stimulus checks: IRS sets Wednesday deadline for direct deposit info

Time is running out to get your stimulus check through direct deposit. Otherwise, you may have to wait weeks for a check in the mail.

WASHINGTON — People who want to get their coronavirus stimulus checks sooner rather than later, better act now.

That's the urgent guidance coming from the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. The federal agencies on Friday encouraged anyone who still haven't received their stimulus payment to sign-up for direct deposit using the Get My Payment tool by noon on Wednesday, May 13.

More at link.

https://wreg.com/news/police-investigating-burglary-at-coronavirus-testing-site-near-liberty-bowl/

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A coronavirus testing site became the center of an investigation overnight after a reported burglary.

Early Friday morning, WREG saw officers searching the Liberty Bowl. A short time later, they confirmed a burglary investigation was underway.

It’s unclear if anything was stolen or if any test-related material was being stored there.

If you know anything, call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.

No additional info at link. Wondering whether supplies were tampered with. Memphis has been very proactive in testing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/least-85-kids-across-u-s-have-developed-rare-mysterious-n1202186

Children with a rare but potentially dangerous complication thought to be linked to the coronavirus have now been identified in at least seven states and the Washington, D.C., area.

Doctors say the increase does not necessarily suggest that the number of such cases has grown. Instead, they say, it is likely the result of increased awareness of the problem, which just this week got an official name: pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

NBC News has found at least 85 such cases in children across the U.S. The majority — 64 — are in New York state, which has also recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases overall.

More at link.

https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/llama-antibodies-fight-virus/507-2bc34300-25c2-4a65-b3f5-932bc4b41eff

AUSTIN, Texas — A 4-year-old llama named Winter may hold the key to fighting the new coronavirus. According to a paper published in the Journal "Cell," researchers at the University of Texas-Austin, the National Institutes of Health and Belgium's Ghent University say antibodies found in llamas have the potential to fight the virus.

“This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 (new coronavirus),” Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

UT-Austin says researchers started searching for antibodies four years ago to fight the SARS virus from 2003 and the MERS virus from 2012. Both of those were also coronaviruses. Winter, a Belgian llama who was 9-months-old at the time, was the test subject.

They discovered that one of the antibodies from Winter was able to neutralize SARS and another was able to neutralize MERS.

Much more at link. Interestingly, the article asserts that this treatment could be used in an inhaler form to get directly into the lungs.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kushner-details-his-wild-idea-to-use-russias-secret-comms?ref=home

The president’s son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner, suggested having Trump’s future national security adviser use secure communications at the Russian embassy to communicate with Russian generals, according to newly released transcripts from the House Intelligence Committee.

The suggestion, made during a December 2016 meeting with Michael Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, was ultimately nixed by the Russian ambassador, according to Kushner.


More at link.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anti-lockdown-protesters-are-now-facing-down-cops-over-covid-safety-measures-outside-of-bars?ref=home

“If the police are calling in reinforcements, then I’m calling in reinforcements,” C.J. Grisham, the president of Open Carry Texas and a strident Texas gun right activist, said in a video urging his followers to “outnumber the police” at the bar. Grisham himself didn’t attend the protest.


David Amad, the vice-president of Open Carry Texas, went further in another video, comparing the county sheriff to a villain from “Robin Hood.”

“We need all the firepower we can get, because apparently we have a sheriff down there who thinks he’s the sheriff of Nottingham,” Amad said.

Much more at link. 😳🤬

https://www.thedailybeast.com/man-who-claims-he-worked-for-jared-kushner-and-ivanka-trump-charged-in-covid-testing-scam?ref=home

A New York man who claims he’s a former White House official is accused of selling stolen COVID-19 testing kits and leaving consumers without results.

Henry Sylvain Gindt II, 34, is charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for offering home-testing kits, which he allegedly obtained illegally from a lab employee, for $135 to $200 each.

In a press release for his company, YouHealth, Inc., Gindt described himself as “a former Trump Administration official who helped launch the Office of American Innovation at The White House with Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump,” and others.

It’s unclear whether Gindt was working under the Trumps, but records indicate someone named Henry S. Gindt was a federal employee in 2017 and 2018 under the category “Miscellaneous Administration and Program.

More at link.

https://wreg.com/news/washington-dc-bureau/democrats-warn-against-potential-big-oil-bailouts/

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Democrats want to stop pumping taxpayer money into the flagging oil industry.

The bottom fell out of the oil market and oil prices dropped to unprecedented levels when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the U.S. economy.

President Trump moved quickly to shore up the oil industry by ordering the purchase of undeveloped oil (oil still in the ground) for the national stockpile because the government has no place to put it. Republicans like South Dakota Senator John Thune think the oil industry will need more help.

More at link.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/gop-spending-20-million-on-lawyers-to-try-and-make-it-more-difficult-for-americans-to-vote-during-pandemic-report/

On Thursday, Politico reported that Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into thwarting lawsuits trying to expand voting rights and ensure safe access to the ballot amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Apologies, I cannot copy more of the text.