Thursday, April 30, 2020

You Have To Be Of A Certain Age . . .

Testa: Let's Open Shuttered NJ Fishing Industry!

Senator Michael Testa commended the Recreational Fishing Alliance and United Boatmen of New Jersey for their plan to open their shuttered industry while taking proactive measures to ensure the safety and security of all on-board.
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Sen. Michael Testa commended the Recreational Fishing Alliance and United Boatmen of NJ for their plan to open while taking proactive measures to ensure the safety and security of all on-board. (SenateNJ.com)
“I applaud James Donofrio of the Recreational Fishing Alliance and Captain Bob Rush of the United Boatmen of New Jersey for proposing calculated, cautious, and sensible steps towards opening this essential industry in the Jersey Shore region,” said Testa (R-1). “Owners and operators of for-hire vessels, and their crew, are willing and eager to get back to work. “While we cannot make up for the thousands of jobs and the millions in revenue lost, an opening – with concrete criteria and contingencies – of our recreational fishing industry will strengthen our South Jersey economy and help us better prepare for the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend.”
Gov. Murphy appeared on Fox and Friends on the morning of April 30. Regarding this proposal, Gov. Murphy said he would “take it under consideration” and “take it seriously.”
The governor has yet to develop a concrete plan with dates to reopen the vast majority of industries that have been shut down due to COVID-19.
“I encourage more industries to promote and submit a reopening plan to the governor and legislature,” added Testa. “With one out of ten New Jerseyans seeking unemployment, the ‘cure’ has proven to be worse than the disease. We must restore normalcy, while taking precautionary measures, to get our once roaring economy back on track.”

How Closing Borders Saves Lives . . .

“It’s the mantra of the World Health Organization and globalists everywhere: The corona­virus does not respect borders,” Miranda Devine writes in the New York Post.

“But this makes no sense. It is ideology, not science. Closing a country’s borders is the ultimate in social distancing.” The island nations of Australia and New Zealand took their cue from President Trump, who ignored the WHO’s open-borders advice. So far, both countries have experienced fewer than 4 deaths per 1 million people.

Click here to read more.
“The administration’s dedication to small businesses during this pandemic is not just a fight for brick-and-mortar businesses—it’s a fight for the blood, sweat, and tears of 47% of the domestic workforce. Blue-collar businesses and small businesses alike are the bread and butter of our communities,” Corina Morga writes in the Washington Examiner.
“The Left’s rhetoric regarding President Donald J. Trump’s COVID-19 response grows sharper, even as this virus’ hospitalization and death curves grow flatter . . . These partisan bitter- enders can’t handle the truth: Trump’s leadership mobilized sufficient resources to avoid the far-graver destruction the Left foresaw,” Deroy Murdock writes for Fox News.
President Trump will visit a Honeywell facility in Arizona next week to highlight critical medical equipment production along with the addition of 500 manufacturing jobs. “Honeywell expects to produce more than six million N95 masks for Arizona over the next year to combat the coronavirus outbreak,” KTAR News reports.

A Challenge For You During The Quarantine

Pennacchio: Lift NJ Ban On Elective Surgeries

Senator Joe Pennacchio, while applauding the Governor for opening up parks, is calling on the Murphy Administration to begin reinstating “elective” surgeries in the state.
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Medical care for non-COVID patients is suffering, and Sen. Pennacchio is calling for restoring elective surgeries and procedures in hospitals and health centers. (©iStock)
“We are finally allowing people to get out and walk in our parks and reap the physical and emotional health benefits of exercise. Now it’s time to prioritize the general health of the population and the fiscal stability of our essential hospitals,” said Senator Pennacchio (R-26). “With the emphasis on the virus, at-risk patients have not had access to important and necessary procedures. It’s time to allow people who are not infected to get the care they need from hospitals, health centers, doctors, dentists and eye doctors.”
Pennacchio cited specific concerns for cancer and heart patients and those awaiting biopsies and diagnostic procedures.
As the early cases of coronavirus began appearing in the state, there was a heavy emphasis on preparing hospitals to handle unprecedented demand from infected patients.
As the pandemic worsened, residents were ordered to stay home in self-isolation.
“The people of our state were asked to make significant sacrifices, and as they always do in times of crisis, they responded,” Senator Pennacchio said. “The public’s cooperation and inconvenience helped flatten the curve, and it is beginning to dip downward. This has come at great cost, however, with record job loss and incalculable damage to our access to non-COVID medical care.”
In March, Murphy signed Executive Order No. 109, suspending all elective surgeries and invasive procedures as hospitals poured resources into preparing for the onslaught of coronavirus patients.
The long-term financial and health care implications for hospitals and all health centers should be a grave concern, the Senator emphasized.
“Early in this crisis, both the state and federal governments were mobilizing to save lives. It was the right thing to do at the time, but it created severe financial pressures on facilities and may have put some non-COVID patients at risk,” said Senator Pennacchio. “Hospitals and medical offices are hurting. It is time to shift emphasis to saving our healthcare system. Phase One of Washington’s plan to open up America allows elective surgeries to resume on an outpatient basis. New Jersey should take these steps immediately.”
Politico’s recent report analyzing the impact of the halt of elective procedures quoted the president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists who said, “Let’s be clear, elective surgeries are the lifeblood of many hospitals, if not all hospitals.”
The impact is hitting hard in New Jersey. A spokesperson for the state’s Hospital Association told NJ 101.5 the temporary freeze on elective surgeries means some areas of hospitals are quiet right now and people who work in those settings may be candidates for furloughs and layoffs.
Shore Medical Center in Somers Point sent a letter to employees “stating they had invested ‘significant resources’ on equipment to protect their staff who are treating COVID-19 patients,” NBC 10 reported earlier this month. “They also said they were experiencing a ‘dramatic decrease in revenues’ after they canceled elective surgeries and other scheduled services while protecting staff and patients.”
Other facilities across the state are – or are contemplating – furloughing employees.
“The coronavirus did not overwhelm our medical capacity as feared, but one of the many lessons from this pandemic is that the demand for beds could surpass our supply in a worse-case outbreak,” said Senator Pennacchio. “If we’re going to rely on doctors and hospitals in emergencies, we must unshackle doctors and allow them to do what they were trained to do and treat patients.”

Sometimes It Really Seems THIS Bad!


Trump Acting Now To Protect US Food Supply

President Trump is using the Defense Production Act to ensure that Americans have a reliable supply of beef, pork, and poultry during the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Food supply is critical infrastructure, essential to the health and safety of every American citizen. Recent actions in some states have led to the complete closure of large processing facilities, which can quickly affect meat availability in all parts of the country.

🎬 Secretary Perdue: Americans can be confident there will be food on the table

The closure of a single plant can eliminate more than 80 percent of the supply of a particular meat—say, ground beef—for an entire grocery store chain. All told, the failure to keep facilities open could force millions of pounds of meat to disappear from the market, potentially causing long-term disruptions to America’s supply chain.

With President Trump’s executive order this week, the Department of Agriculture can ensure U.S. meat and poultry processors continue to operate uninterrupted to the maximum extent possible. To protect worker safety, processors will continue to follow the latest guidance from the CDC and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

“The United States of America is undergoing the fastest industrial mobilization since World War II,” White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Peter Navarro says. The President's use of “the Defense Production Act is a key part of that mobilization.”

🎬 Peter Navarro: Fastest industrial mobilization since WWII!

🎬 Secretary Perdue: Farmers know President Trump is looking out for them

WATCH: Help in ‘our darkest hour of need’

President Trump met with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in the Oval Office today, discussing the state’s Coronavirus response and its plans for a great economic comeback.

“I thank you for the enormous help in our darkest hour of need,” Gov. Murphy told the President.

“Ventilators, as you can see, PPE [personal protective equipment], testing sites—now I think we’re going to be in a very good place, thanks to you and your team.”

New Jersey has faced the second-largest number of Coronavirus cases in the country behind New York. President Trump praised Gov. Murphy for doing a “terrific job” handling the crisis in partnership with FEMA and others across the federal government.

“A big part of our ability to reopen as fast as we all want to is to rapidly expand testing and you all literally, in the here and now this week, are helping us in a big way,” Gov. Murphy said.

The Great Depression? WTF Are You Thinking?


Some people have started comparing what we're going through now to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Can you  imagine?
Yes, things are going to get tough as we work to move past this crisis. But, the Great Depression? These people don't know what the hell they're talking about!
The Great Depression lasted for ten long years! And its repercussions lasted even longer.
The stock market lost 90 percent of it value. Ninety percent! And though the Great Depression began in 1929, the stock market did not regain its value until 1954.
Half the banks in the country failed -- and there was no immediate backup, no recourse for those who placed their trust in the banks. Unemployment increased more than ten fold. The economy shrank by 50 percent. Average family income was halved. And here's the worst part -- there was no safety net for people.
Do you understand this? There was no minimum wage, no unemployment insurance, no food stamps, no social security, no medicare, no medicaid. When people lost their jobs or they had no money, they literally went begging. They had to rely on friends, neighbors or the kindness of strangers, often via institutional charities if they could find such help. Millions of them had nowhere to turn.
They're aren't many people around today who actually remember the Great Depression, But I do recall my parents talking about it. They lived through it and they never forgot what it was like.
My mother had a friend who was so destitute during the depression that she had to line her shoes with newspaper because the soles were almost completely worn out and she didn't want anyone to know. So, the carefully placed newspaper lining kept her feet warm and gave her at least some degree of pride. My mother's family owned a grocery  store during the depression and almost everyone who shopped at the store was "on the book." In other words, they shopped via the earliest form of credit -- a vow to pay at some future date. Some were never able to pay my grandparents back.
And though my father was one of the lucky ones to have a job, he worked  for a city that was bankrupt. So, he was paid in what they called "script." Script consisted of notes from the city that effectively promised to pay the demarcated amount when the city was financially solvent again. My parents were married during the depression and my father bought my mother's engagement ring with script. The jeweler who sold them the ring was not amused!
Compared to the Great Depression, what we're facing now will likely be a bump in the road. Oh, it's painful. Very painful. And one would hardly dismiss the heartache and human suffering it's causing.
But please don't compare it to the Great Depression.
When you do that you not only turn your back on one of the most important chapters in American history but you also dishonor the fortitude of those who lived through the depression and the vision of those who charted a path out of that dark time.

Rutgers Prof Doubles Down; Tells Trumpsters 'FU!'


 
Following are two important stories from our friends at Save Jersey  (reprinted with permission)
By Matt Rooney
_
Rutgers Associate Professor Brittney Cooper made some news this week after tweeting on Tuesday that white people want to end the COVID-19 shutdown because the virus is disproportionately killed black Americans. She also added ‘fuck Trump supporters’ for good measure in her 7 tweet-long tirade. Nice lady!
She also apparently loves the limelight. On Thursday? Cooper – who is a six figure employee at the publicly-subsidized New Jersey college – began tweeting again, responding to critics of her unhinged tweets by falling back on every Leftist academic’s favorite defense: “I have tenure.”
“Just know a couple of things: 1.) I report threats to law enforcement and have had committed law enforcement support for many years now. 2.) I have tenure,” said Cooper. “Rutgers won’t be firing me for tweets. That is all.”
Cooper also doubled down on her original commentary:
_
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A Rutgers professor went on an uhinged Twitter tirade on Tuesday, surmising that a growing movement to end restrictive COVID-19 lockdown measures across the country is fueled by white people who either don’t care if black people succumb to the virus or even because they disproportionately do.
“I feel like most Black people are clear that this utterly absurd to push to re-open the country is all about a gross necropolitical calculation that it is Black people who are dying disproportionately from COVID,” declared Brittney Cooper, an associate profess of ‘Africana Studies’ and ‘Women’s and Gender Studies.
Cooper’s salary was $112,254 as of December 2019.
“Not only do white conservatives not care about Black life,” Cooper continued, “but my most cynical negative read of the white supremacists among them is that they welcome this massive winnowing of Black folks in order to slow demographic shifts and shore up political power.”
“Fuck each and every Trump supporter. You all absolutely did this. You are to blame,” Cooper added near the end of her 7-tweet rant…

20.3% of New Jersey COVID-19 deaths (as of Tuesday) were black. Approximately 13-14% of the state’s total population is black.
52% of victim have been white.
According to Wikipedia, “necropolitics” is the use of social and political power to dictate how some people may live and how some must die.”

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Just The Facts And The Dates And The Words

As We Move To Declare America 'Open For Business' . . .

Amy Wright’s coffee business has five locations and about 120 workers, all of whom have intellectual or developmental disabilities. When the Coronavirus pandemic struck, she had to close her stores and temporarily lay off these hardworking employees.

For most of them, Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is their first job. It offers a source of stability and meaningful wages to help them save for the future. Like many Americans these past few months, they felt fear and uncertainty about when the next paycheck would come.

This month, Wright’s small business was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan. As a result, “all of our employees are back on the payroll today,” she says.

“At Bitty & Beau's, we like to use the phrase called ‘not broken,’” employee Michael Heup said today. “I know the great country of the United States isn't broken, either.”

🎬 Employee: We’re not “broken”—and neither is this great country.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) officially relaunched yesterday. After distributing $350 billion in loans to 1.6 million small businesses earlier this month, the program ran out of funds in just 14 days. Thanks to pressure from President Trump, Congressional Democrats eventually agreed to replenish the popular program.

The President signed that $310 billion funding refill into law on Friday. This afternoon, he welcomed small business owners to the White House to share their stories from the first successful round of loans in early April:
  • Wright has said that her business-saving loan “is a game-changer for us.”
     
  • Ed and Jim’s Body Shop in Pennsylvania has been in business for over 50 years. As Coronavirus forced Americans to stay home, owner Brandon Hutson had to lay off most of his workers. Now, the shop can reemploy its furloughed staff and provide each of them with a paycheck—a “live-saver for us,” Hutson says.
     
  • Tony Stafford had to furlough over 100 employees when he was forced to close the dining rooms of his 3 restaurants in Virginia. “I promised every one of [my workers] we would get through this,” he said. “When we applied and received the PPP loan, I knew that I would be able to keep that promise.”
     
  • JD Clark is a construction and maintenance firm specializing in low-income and affordable housing. All of its contracts were put on hold because of Coronavirus. Owner Tisa Clark describes talking to one of her employees, a single mother, after securing a PPP loan. “I could just see the relief coming to her!” Ms. Clark said.
With last week’s signing, President Trump has now allocated more than $670 billion for the loan program in total. During PPP’s first run, the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department processed 14 years’ worth of loans in less than 14 days.

These loans have helped save 30 million American jobs so far. That number is expected to climb to over 60 million with this latest round of support.

🎬 President Trump: Americans are ready for our great economy to REOPEN! 

LEARN MORE: Unprecedented action to protect American workers

🎬 WATCH: Military flyover for our medical heroes!

Military pilots from the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds performed flyovers of New York City and Philadelphia today, honoring some of America’s incredible medical workers during this Coronavirus pandemic.

“What we're doing is we're paying tribute to our front line health care workers confronting COVID,” President Trump said when he announced the flyovers last week. “And it's really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak.”

Read more: Trump says Thunderbirds, Blue Angels will do flyovers across country

Photo of the Day

President Trump delivers remarks on supporting America's small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program | April 28, 2020

NJ State Senator Eyes 'Soft' Opening, Other Moves



Don't miss our exclusive interview with New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa as he expresses concerns over Governor Murphy's delay in reopening the state and addresses the unique experience of South Jersey and its residents. THIS is a real eye-opener!

Food For Philly Kids In Need During COVID Crisis

Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is currently sponsoring feeding sites throughout the region to ensure that children and youth ages 18 years or younger continue to have access to wholesome nourishing meals.

Children and youth who are in need of healthy and nutritious meals are receiving ongoing assistance in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (NDS) and Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, one of 17 Archdiocesan High Schools throughout the five-county region. 

Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, located in the Tacony section of Philadelphia, is an NDS sponsored feeding site for children in need of nutritious sustenance. Families can collect up to three days’ worth of meals plus milk (three breakfasts and three lunches) per child, per visit. Children do not have to be present to receive a meal. Saint Hubert’s will have 300 lunches and 300 breakfasts on hand which will enable them to feed 100 children and youth 18 years or younger.  

Wednesday, April 29, 2020
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 
Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls 
7320 Torresdale Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19136

Throughout the region, NDS has partnered with more than 50 sites to ensure children have access to nutritious meals at no cost. All breakfast and lunch options provide children with their daily requirement for calories and key growth nutrients. Each site features a “grab and go” delivery system respecting and following all directives and guidelines provided by government and health department officials. Funding for these meals is from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Information on NDS’ feeding sites for children including days, locations, and hours of operation can be found by visiting a dedicated link on the NDS website at nutritionaldevelopmentservices.org/covid19/#feedingsites. The page will be updated regularly with information and additional feeding sites as they become available.

For more information about Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, please visit www.huberts.org .


Note: Lizanne Magarity Pando, President of Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls will be onsite and can be reached at 215-778-8451 (cell phone).  

For more information about Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, please visit aopcatholicschools.org/.  For more information about Faith in the Future Foundation, please visit www.faithinthefuture.com/.  

For forty-six years, NDS’ mission has been to serve children and those in need with healthy food. NDS accomplishes its mission in two distinct ways: by administering the federally-funded child nutrition programs and through the privately supported Community Food Program. For more information, please visit http://nutritionaldevelopmentservices.org/.  NDS is an equal opportunity service provider.

It Truly Seems As Though It's Gotten This Bad


One NJ Town Reopens Its Parks; Will Others Follow?

New Jersey State Senator Joe Pennacchio applauds Rockaway Township’s decision to open up their local parks and trails.

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Rockaway Township is opening parks and trails to residents seeking a place to walk in the sunshine, and Senator Pennacchio said the state should follow suit. (NJ Division of Parks & Forestry)

“Residents will now be able to enjoy a walk in the sunlight and breathe fresh air while still maintaining social distancing,” said Pennacchio (R-26).

The decision was announced in a message from Mayor Michael Puzio on the township web site.

“The Murphy Administration in response to the COVID-19 outbreak has closed state parks and beaches essentially deeming them a health hazard. The State treats concerts in the park the same as they do an individual taking a leisurely stroll,” Pennacchio said. “There is ‘zero’ scientific evidence to back such draconian measures.”

The Senator questioned why state policy would allow people to travel and purchase alcohol, but forbid a husband and wife from holding hands while walking in the park.

“The Administration’s public health policy is a patch work of measures, many of which do not make sense and lack scientific credibility,” noted Pennacchio. “You can shop in Home Depot but not drop your clothes off at the cleaners.

“The people of New Jersey have sacrificed an awful lot for the safety of all. They are willing to continue to sacrifice, but what they want is clear scientifically based reasoning for those sacrifices. I applaud Rockaway for taking these initial steps applying common sense and reasoning,” concluded Pennacchio.

Monday, April 27, 2020

Yo, Murphy: What About When, How And Where?



My take on NJ Governor Phil Murphy's plan to "reopen" the state and "restart" the economy announced this afternoon. THIS touched a nerve!

This Is How Chris Christie Sees The Crisis Now

Sunday, April 26, 2020

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