Watching some of televisions prominent news and entertainment personalities practicing social distancing, it is interesting to see how they look outside the studio.

As they broadcast from remote locations, their self-chosen home settings can tell a lot about them perhaps more than they would like. Clearly, in this pandemic, its a challenge to maintain glamour in the absence of make-up people and hair stylists. A lot of the normally attractive teleprompter readers now just look like anyone else you could be waking up next to in the morning. That sense of the ordinary can be seen in CNNs Chris Cuomo, isolated in his basement and wearing a sweatshirt, or Lady GaGa as she sings a fundraising song from her kitchen. I noticed she has the same toaster oven that I have.

NPR commentator Amy Walter has a book collection behind her, befitting her status as a news analyst. I could see No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and David Herberts biography of Abraham Lincoln. Her Monday night counterpart, Tamara Keith, chooses not to have any books displayed. Instead, she has certificates of achievement and posters behind her. Lisa Desjardins broadcasts from a stark living room no pictures on the wall, no books, and she is seated before a fireplace that looks as if it has never been lit. Theres a weird lamp behind her. White House beat reporter Yamiche Alcindor has Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me, prominently displayed face-out on a shelf above her. NPR news anchor Judy Woodruff talks to us in front of an impressive rack of books, including Jon Meachams Destiny and Power and Bushs Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Look Presidential by James Moore.

Watching a clip featuring John Harwood, CNNs Whitehouse correspondent, as he was seated in front of his bookshelf, I could read titles like Michael Kranishs Trump Revealed and Its a Long Story: My Life, by Willie Nelson. CNNs political commentator John Avlon had a biography of Herbert Hoover behind him.

The at-home settings of political candidates can tell a lot about what they value by what is or isnt on the shelves. In a video conference from home, Bernie Sanders had no books on display but two nice pictures of Vermont on the walls behind him. In his taped campaign messages, Joe Biden has a lot of books in his basement study. Most of them like, The Making of the President 1960 by Ted White, were written before 1980.

Ill admit that it is rare that I switch over to Fox News. I did see where Lara Logan has Michael Waltzs Warrior Diplomat on her shelf. I would expect the other Fox personalities to have titles like The Conscience of a Conservative, by Barry Goldwater, Pat Buchanans Right From the Beginning, Stealing America, by Dinesh DSouza, and books by other conservative authors like Mark Steyn, Michelle Malkin, and Ann Coulter. There would be a lot of American flags in the background, and perhaps a framed picture of Donald Trump on the wall. Im guessing Sean Hannity would have Ted White and Blue, by Ted Nugent, in his collection.

Now, you might wonder how I would showcase myself, should I ever do a television interview from my home. First of all, it wouldnt be shot in my office. That would give truth to what my wife has always said about me. Id set up a book case behind my easy chair in the living room with a picture of a clipper ship on the wall. On the shelves you would see pictures of my dogs; a copy of Mayflower, by Nathanial Philbrick; My Turn at Bat, by Ted Williams; and Drive: The Story of My life, by Larry Bird. Id include a complete set of Robert B. Parker novels, and a bunch of my own books that Ive written all face out. And Id shave.

Jim Coogan is a Register columnist. Reach him at coogan206@comcast.net.

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COOGANS BLUFF: Its all in the bookshelves - Wicked Local

Canadian singer Bryan Adams is getting dragged for a tweet where he seems to blame China and bat eating for the coronavirus outbreak.

The Summer of 69 singer said had it not been for the coronavirus, he would have begun a tenancy of gigs at the Royal Albert Hall, an iconic venue in London.

Thanks to some f*cking bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy b*stards, the whole world is now on hold, Adams tweeted late on Monday.

The singer didnt stop there. He then added that besides wanting to say thanks a f*cking lot, he wanted to tell people in China to go vegan.

The tweet has since been deleted from the singers account, but the rant is still on his Instagram account, although he has deactivated the comments.

People on Twitter are absolutely slamming him for his comments that play off the fear and the xenophobia around the mythical bat soup, which was incorrectly rumored to have caused the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.

Oh my god thank GOD we can cancel Bryan Adams now, writer Amil Niazi wrote. Every time Summer of 69 comes on the radio Im tempted to crash my car.

While there were some who argued Adams comments werent problematic, such as far-right commentator Ann Coulter, most people argued that the bat eating comment was racist.

I was today old when I found out Bryan Adams is a racist, Twitter user @MelaKatie wrote.

There was also a section of Twitter users who didnt know there was a difference between the singers Bryan Adams and Ryan Adams. Most said they couldnt be bothered to learn now.

Bryan Adams desperately tries to regain the f*cking worst trophy from Ryan Adams after years of fierce competition, one Twitter user wrote.

But more than anything, people are shocked that the singer has yet to apologize for his remarks and that theyre still on Instagram. Some are ready to call his career quits.

Pours out a little on the ground for Bryan Adams career, a Twitter user wrote.

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*First Published: May 12, 2020, 9:21 am

Sierra Juarez is a freelance journalist and fact-checker based in Mexico. She most enjoys writing about human rights and politics and working in audience engagement. Her work has appeared in the Texas Tribune, the Austin AmericanStatesman, and the San Antonio Current.

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80s rocker Bryan Adams blamed coronavirus on bat eating - The Daily Dot

Its always interesting to hear backstories on our favorite television programs or films and the Today Show is no different.

Recently, former Today co-anchor Katie Couric revealed how she got wind that ultra right-wing conservative Ann Coulter was scheduled to be interviewed by Ann Curry, and the steps Couric immediately took.

Its well known at this point that Ann Curry was basically booted from Today, with the most popular rumor being that her co-anchor, Matt Lauer, had allegedly requested that Curry be shifted from the show.

To make matters worse, Good Morning Americas ratings were skyrocketing, sending Todays producers and higher-ups into a panic.

The New York Times reported in 2013 about an anonymous assessment by Todays senior staffers and talent after Currys dismissal. One person wrote, our sense of family is broken, and another said, Matt is being blamed, and some in our audience see Savannah as the younger replacement wife.

Gayle King asked Ann Curry on CBS This Morning in 2018 if she would agree that Matt Lauer had derailed her career. Curry replied, You should ask someone else, Im not the one to ask about that I dont know what was all behind it. I do know that it hurt like hell.

In an interview with the Everything Iconic with Danny Pellegrino podcast this week, Couric addressed how often she stays in touch with her former colleague.

I havent seen her, Couric said. Once in a while, Ill run into her at things, but I think shes working on a PBS show or something. You know, I always liked Ann, but we werent really very close friends. So I havent kept up with her, but I hope shes doing well, I really do.

Pellegrino asked Couric if she ever switches on the Today Show on weekday mornings.

No, I dont, shhhh, Couric said laughing. Not really, not too much. . . I really get most of my news on my telephone. I think Ive just changed the way I consume news and information.

In her interview with Pellegrino, the topic of Courics 2002 infamous interview with Ann Coulter came up.

Courics response to Coulters name? Oh God, she was awful.

Couric continued, I find her to be a fascinating character, a lot of it is bravado and theater. I think shes probably extremely conservative, but I also feel like her whole schtick is . . . shes a provocateur.

The mother of two thanked Pellegrino for bringing her testy conversation with Coulter up, as she wants to include it in her memoir, which she is hoping to publish by 2021.

Im writing my memoir and that reminds me, I definitely have to write about that interview, which was just so intense. . . Some people think she ate me alive and some people think that I ate her alive.

The New York City resident then dropped the bombshell that it was actually Ann Curry who was slated to interview the contentious political personality that day.

Couric doesnt explain why she insisted on handling the conversation. But its most likely because Coulter, in the book she was promoting, Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right, labeled Couric as the affable Eva Braun of morning TV and Couric wanted the author to explain what she meant by the stinging remark.

The former Today host perhaps also wanted to spare Ann Curry from what would have probably been a bloodbath of an interview with only Currys bones figuratively left afterward.

Ann Curry was scheduled to do that interview, Couric told Pellegrino, and I told the woman who books authors [on Today], because Ann Coulter had a book coming out, I said, No no no no no, I need to do that interview.'

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Katie Couric on How She Spared Ann Curry From an Interview with 'Provocateur' Ann Coulter - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

As you can well imagine, my mailbox has been overflowing with questions about the coronavirus from precisely ZERO readers. So I decided to write my own questions. I know this is what youwouldbe asking if you were not standing in line, outside, 6 feet apart, to purchase a quart of milk.

What do you think of the medias coverage of the Wuhan virus?

Its like a nonstop War of the Worlds broadcast, which in 1938 panicked more than a million Americans into believing Martians had landed in New Jersey, sending people fleeing to the mountains, loading their shotguns and barricading their homes. And that was a single radio broadcast!

Today we have nearly all of media which I notice are doing fantastically well during the crisis terrifying the public about an apparently indestructible, omnipresent virus.

You dont think the China virus is as dangerous as they say?

Well, it is a virus capable of eliminating all human life, which would be bad, but notallbad because then youd never have to see another TV commercial with some company saying they consider you family.

So you think its safe to start lifting the stay-at-home orders?

Of course. I ask again: What was the purpose of telling everyone to stay home? Arent we all Wuhan-free now? More than 90 percent of the country has been self-quarantining for more than a month. Either we had it and didnt know it, or never had it at all. But in any eventwe dont have it now.

Or was that whole stay-at-home mandate just for fun?

What about threats of a resurgence?

Luckily the hospitals are half-empty, waiting for the gusher of coronavirus patients.

So we do nothing?

No, not at all, but now that 90 percent of us are Wuhan-free, these are the only things we need to do:

1) A real immigration moratorium, like this country had from 1924 to 1965. (Id also recommend that the other 49 states shut down flights from New York, but Ill leave that up to them);

2) Concentrate all protections on the elderly/immunocompromised;

3) No more handshaking, and liberal use of surgical masks in confined spaces.

Other than that, WERE DONE NOW.

But we know virtually nothing about this virus: why it kills, what stops it, how its transmitted.

Actually, we know one very important thing: By total serendipity, the Wuhan virus mostly kills people over the age of 70. Nearly 80 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are of people over 70 years old.

What about Italy?

About 80 percent of the dead were over 70.

That sounds a little callous.

Not at all. Its a stroke of good luck! Wed be lucky if the virus targetedanyspecific group the nearsighted, left-handers, golfers because that would allow us to concentrate protections on that one group.

But its doubly good news because the Wuhan targets people who are mostly out of the workforce anyway. And we already have their names and addresses! How about the feds send a box of masks along with Social Security checks every month?

How will you get Democratic governors to go along with that?

Liberals can triple down on all their fascist stuff as long as its limited to the vulnerable.

Over 65? You need a note from the governor to leave your home!

Fine! But let the rest of us get back to work.

Why havent they done this already?

Because that wouldnt have the effect of wrecking the economy before the election.

Apart from the election, why would the media want to impoverish the nation?

1) Reporting on disasters is fun!

2) Their ratings are terrific and, of course,theyrestill being paid.

3) Liberals enjoy controlling people, especially with enragingly nonsensical rules.

I thought Trump was the authoritarian!

No, hes the lazy, narcissistic blowhard.Liberalsare the authoritarians.

The shutdown is airport security for the whole country. Nineteen Muslim immigrants flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and suddenly little old ladies from Oklahoma had to be goosed at airports.We have to be safe!

A horrible Chinese virus sweeps the planet, which is devastating to older people but virtually harmless to the young and the entire country has to be shut down.We have to be safe!

What about polls showing a majority of Americans want to keep the restrictions in place?

The media have frightened gullible suburban woman into a state of hysteria. (Talk about whipping up your ignorant base!) Kids could basically mainline coronavirus and theyd be fine. But soccer moms dont want their kids going back to school.

Whether its rational or not, people arent going to go out like they used to.

My entire life, liberals have said, Dont like abortion? Dont have one. Dont like pornography? Dont look at it. And so on.

I say: Dont want to leave your home? Dont leave your home!

So you recommend going out again?

Sure, whats the worst that could happen? Sure, you could die, but you probably wont.

.

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Ann Coulter: Q & A on the Wuhan Virus - Breitbart

What is Ann Coulter marital status ? ( married,single, in relation or divorce): Single How many children does Ann Coulter have ? (name): 0 Children Is Ann Coulter having any relationship affair ?: Yes7 affair Is Ann Coulter Lesbian ? Don't Know

Ann Hart Coulter is an American conservative social as well as a political commentator, lawyer, syndicated columnist and also a writer. Frequently she appears on radio, television and also as a speaker at public and private events. Her father John Vincent Coulter was an FBI agent and her mother Nell Husbands Coulter was a native of Paducah. In 1984 she had completed her graduation from Cornell with B.A in history.

She has never been married nor has any children. But she has been engaged several times. She had dated many guys. She had dated a founder as well as a publisher and a conservative writer. After that she began dating a former president of the New York City Council. Besides her affairs she likes to study books. She also likes music.

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Ann Coulter wiki, affair, married, Lesbian with age, height ...

The media are outraged that President Trump is talking about re-opening the country, following their previous position that he sure was taking his sweet time at opening up the country.

Fortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions death forecasts from the Wuhan coronavirus have shrunk from 1.7 million Americans in mid-March; to 100,000 to 200,000 two weeks ago, provided there were massive suppression efforts; to most recently 60,000.

Every week, it seems, were another two weeks away from the apex.

According to a model recently published in The New York Times, if Trump had issued social distancing guidelines just two weeks earlier on March 2, rather than March 16 instead of 60,000 Americans dying from the Chinese coronavirus (projected!), only 6,000 would have died.

If thats what a two-week quarantine would have done, then how about a four-week quarantine?

By the end of the month, 90% of the country will have been shut down, quarantined and socially distancing for FOUR WEEKS. A majority of Americans have already been under these self-isolation rules for three weeks. (And most of the rest live in rural communities 16 miles from one another.)

Two weeks is the magic number. Test positive for the Wuhan: self-quarantine for two weeks. Come into contact with someone who has it: self-quarantine for two weeks. Traveling from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut: self-quarantine for two weeks.

With cold and flu viruses, people develop symptoms after just five days. But to be extra safe, were assuming the Wuhan virus can be transmitted for a full two weeks after contact.

After two weeks, youre either sick or the infection has passed through you with no symptoms.

Again: Its been three. Does social distancing work or doesnt it?

After four weeks of self-isolation, wont 90% of the country be Wuhan-free? Or are we in a sci-fi movie with a virus that can live forever without a host?

For the tiny percentage of the country not in self-isolation for the past three weeks, either because they are essential workers or because they are screw-offs, lets add them to the vulnerable list. Everyone take special precautions around doctors, nurses, grocery store employees and people who dont follow orders just as we do around the elderly and immunocompromised.

By May 1, even most of the slackers will have worked through the Wuhan. There havent been any large gatherings for them to attend, and almost everyone else has been staying 6 feet away from them. Theyve had a month to infect one another and either live or die.

In any event, unless all the claims about social distancing are nonsense, then a ONE-MONTH nationwide quarantine should have killed off the Wuhan in 90% of us, allowing a return to mostly normal life. (It goes without saying that Trumps travel bans will have to remain in place.)

I notice that the same people telling Americans they must remain at home indefinitely were indignant about closing bathhouses in response to the AIDS epidemic. Back then, the media and all gays except Randy Shilts said: How dare you ask us to shut down the bathhouses! Theyre part of gay culture. It would be like asking Catholics to stop visiting the Sistine Chapel!

But putting the entire country under stay-at-home orders? No problem.

Another liberal about-face since the AIDS era gives me an idea for how to re-open the country.

Liberals are furious with Trump for expressing optimism about the experimental drug hydroxychloroquine. When it came to AIDS, the gay communitys successful campaign to compel the FDA to allow compassionate use of unapproved drugs was a civil rights milestone on the order of Selma.

In a 1990 editorial, for example, The New York Times praised the educated and articulate gay spokesmen for bringing about changes in the traditional methods of testing drugs, adding that the new procedures were a compassionate response to AIDS sufferers.

By contrast, today the media are absolutely ghoulish in their hope for hydroxychloroquine to fail. The drug is approved for malaria patients, so its safe; its simply not approved specifically to treat the Chinese virus.

The reason for the medias hostility to hydroxychloroquine is obvious: Trump expressed enthusiasm for the treatment, so liberals are required to take the opposite position.

Its just like the Democrats recent infatuation with open borders. Until Trump, nearly every Democrat was for or claimed to be for border security, deporting criminal aliens and ending the anchor baby scam.

But as the Times Frank Bruni said, Democrats are defining themselves as antonyms to Trump. Why else, he wondered, would Democrats push policies like open borders, which wont go down well with many of the voters the party needs?

Perhaps we could use this liberal neurosis to our advantage. To re-open the country, we need Trump to come out against it.

Ann Coulter is the writer of 12 best-selling books, including In Trump We Trust.

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ANN COULTER: Liberalism, like the Wuhan virus, will never die - MDJOnline.com

Whether or not former Attorney General Jeff Sessions wins back his old Senate seat, President Donald Trump and Congress must seriously consider his proposal to halt immigration until unemployment returns to pre-Coronavirus levels.

While most politicians are arguing over how to reopen the economy, only Sessions is addressing the impact legal immigration has on jobs. On Thursday, he announced a plan to establish a moratorium on employment-based immigration.

The moratorium would last until the unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, where it was before the coronavirus crisis hit the US.

The run-off Republican primary race for US Senate in Alabama was supposed to be over last month. Former Alabama University football coach Tommy Tuberville, boasting an endorsement from Trump himself, led Sessions by double digits in a poll weeks before the initially scheduled election date of March 31.

Now that the election is reset for July 14, due to Covid-19 precautions, new life is breathed into the race. In addition to the Chinese virus, two more pandemics will be top issues: job loss and legal immigration.

Over 22 million Americans lost their jobs in the last month, nearly wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession, CNBC reported Thursday.

Support for an immigration moratorium is rising among conservative leaders and the American people as a whole. Conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, and Ann Coulter have long favored one. Charlie Kirk, the leader of Turning Point USA and Students for Trump, recently reversed his position of stapling green cards to diplomas of foreign nationals. He now calls for a total and complete moratorium on all visas.

A recent Ipsos poll found 79 percent of Americans support a temporary pause on all immigration. Currently, over 1 million legal immigrants are added to the country every year.

Sessions opponent, however, recently lamented that 400,000 workers in India were unable to be Americans. In a muddled explanation, Tuberville blamed illegal immigrants for taking the places of these Indians, while also supporting a program to bring illegals out of the shadows.

Where Trump stands on immigration should be clear. Unfortunately, Sessions lost the presidents support after failing as his attorney general, abdicating his role in the Russiagate investigation. Trump is endorsing Tuberville for personal reasons, not policy.

Despite being hawkish on immigration for 20 years in the Senate, and despite being the first sitting US senator to endorse Trump in February 2016, Sessions is now struggling to convince Alabamians that hes the Trumpist candidate.

We dont need to be bringing in immigrants now, in any kind of numbers, that are going to take jobs from Americans, Sessions told the Alabama Federation of Republican Women on Wednesday night, Yellow Hammer News reported.

Whether its Tuberville or Sessions running against incumbent Democrat Senator Doug Jones in November remains to be seen, but the American people should not have to wait that long for substantive immigration policy in this crucial moment.

Congress reopens in May. One of the first legislative acts should be to pass a moratorium like the one Sessions is proposing. The corporate donor class wouldnt be pleased, but the country would love it.

In its latest weekly immigration poll, Rasmussen Reports found the American people consistently support a national e-Verify system and reject claims by businesses that say they cant find Americans to fill jobs. Raise the pay, even if it means higher prices, because its keeping Americans working, 60 percent said.

Needless to say, Trump won the White House because of sentiments like those. Right now could not be a better time for him to pressure Congress to reform immigration policy.

A moratorium is a great place to start. A comprehensive bill that permanently ends chain migration and birthright citizenship in exchange for a points-based merit system, while restricting asylum protection to the internationally recognized definition, and which tracks non-immigrant visitors via biometric entry/exit systems should be debated on the House and Senate floors.

Natural supporters in the Senate for these policies include Republican Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, David Perdue of Georgia, and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who support the RAISE Act, which cuts legal immigration.

Whereas most Republican senators support big business interests in maintaining a large labor pool that lowers wages, there may be a few who would move further right under current circumstances.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky once proposed a trade-off where no new legal immigrants would be accepted while were assimilating the ones who are here.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas told Numbers USA that legal immigration should be scaled down to traditional levels of 250,000 per year when he was a candidate in 2012.

With three months of campaigning left to go, Sessions reported a campaign account balance of over $749,000, and Tuberville reportedly has campaign cash totaling nearly $459,000. Of course, much more money will be spent on the race by outside political action committees, especially under an economic lockdown confining many voters to TV and computer screens.

Much of that money could be wisely spent communicating a message that reflects the decades-long plea of Americans to put America first.

Tuberville may have the most recent photos smiling alongside Trump, but so far, Sessions is bringing the substance. Come 2021, whoever the next Alabama senator is, they should be voting on an immigration moratorium bill if one has not already passed.

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Jeff Sessions' Immigration Moratorium Should Have Trump's Backing - The Schpiel

Berensons upbringing seems tailor-made for the media elite, growing up in Englewood, New Jersey, and attending Horace Mann and then Yale, where he graduated in 1994. He joined the Times five years later, after cutting his teeth at the Denver Post and Jim Cramers financial start-up, TheStreet.com. Around the Times, which he joined in 1999, Berenson was known as a dogged reporter, according to friends, former colleagues, and former friends.

He knew his way around complicated data sets and corporate accounting logs. He covered hedge funds and later the pharmaceutical industry, but liked to go out drinking with cops and law enforcement figures, hanging around with people for whom the stakes were higher than the bottom line. He is remembered as an almost obsessive fan of Trumps The Apprentice when it first aired. He was headstrong and seen as difficult to work with, but with a contrarian streak that led him to look in places others werent. He realized back in 2002 that companies were cooking their books and wrote a series of articles about it, which eventually led to Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski storming into the Times offices with a handful of associates to accuse Berenson of printing lies; Berenson wrote a book on these fraudulent accounting practices while Kozlowski spent more than six years in prison for stealing nearly $100 million from the company.

Berenson later moved into the fiction world, where hes written 12 spy novels that center around a character named John Wells, a super spy with excellent language skills, extreme physical capabilities, and an unquestionable loyalty to the United States, who, while working for the CIA, infiltrates al-Qaida, over time becoming indoctrinated in the terrorist organization, adopting the Muslim faith, and questioning U.S. policy in the Middle East, according to the website Book Series in Order. As the novels progress, Wells returns to the U.S., then back to the Middle East, falls in love with a fellow CIA operative, courts danger, and staves off global disaster, left questioning his belief in human kind, but remaining the ultimate warrior as he combines unrelenting loyalty to his country and the physical traits necessary to get the job done at any cost, someone consumed with a violent streak of revenge as he tracks down those responsibility [sic] for innocent violence and brings justice to the world. As each novel begins, a new threat is unleashed and only John Wells has the knowledge and expertise to save the United States. Wells is a 210-pound, Montanaraised, one-man Team America, in the words of one reviewer, but he is also a reluctant spy, at one point going on a cruise with his girlfriend to prove his commitment to her, only to find himself pulled back into espionage, sometimes against his better judgment.

The books have become best sellers, and garnered Berenson an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America, even as some reviewers chafed at the books apparent endorsement of torture and their graphic depictions of violence. Its rare to go more than a few pages without encountering a sickening passage like this, read a Times review of The Secret Soldier, the fifth book in the series. Shrapnel tore open his face and neck, and one jagged piece chopped through his skull and cut into the arteries around his brain, causing massive internal bleeding. He died, but not soon enough.

They also borrow from real-life events, and occasionally tragic ones that some writers may feel conflicted about repurposing for their fictions (Maybe I should, but I dont, Berenson once told an interviewer about the matter). He traveled to global hot spots such as Kandahar and Cairo to pick up the mood and feel of the place. But they also rely on Berensons experience as a reporter with the Times, where he mostly worked at the business desk, but also traveled to Iraq at the start of the war, where he was briefly taken captive by insurgents, blindfolded, tied up, and threatened with death before being released.

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Does the King of the COVID-19 Contrarians Have a Case? - Vanity Fair

Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 4:00 a.m. ET April 16, 2020

The coronavirus is scary. Simple precautions have been recommended to protect us all, thankfully the suggestion to wear a mask. That is a great idea. Why not? Whatever will help, right?

And yet, I was just in Publixin Sebastian and maybe 30 percent of people, including workers, were wearing them. I can't help but wonder: Why?

Louise Colli, Sebastian

Two days in a row on the paper's opinion page, I read complaints about churches being exempt from stay-at-home orders. The fact is that many churches, including mine, are making a judgment call and not opening, but streaming services at this special time.

One complainer said "the obvious question is why are we staying at home at all?" The obvious answer is because it's the logical, caring thing to do for the protection of ourselves, our friends and family. Sometimes we have to use self discipline and take personal responsibility for ourselves.

Sounds to me like these whiners are disappointed that someone might exercise their God-given right to freedom of choice. Are they envious of the police, doctors, etc. who get to go to work every day?

I suggest that if they want the government to control everyone's movement, they could move to China where they will tell you what job to do, how many children you can have and even lock you in or lock you up for disobedience. Then no one will be able to go to church or work or attend school without the government's approval. Seems like the perfect life for someone who doesn't want to have choices.

Maureen Cotter, Vero Beach

After watching our Martin County commissioners do their show and tell as they tried to make sense out of their stance on private golf clubs, I wondered who, why and how they decided to close the one golf course they have total control of: Martin County municipal golf course, which is open to only Martin County residents and is played mostly by veterans and seniors.

John Canavan, Stuart

Despite an executive order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 persons, the Martin County Commission has advertised a public hearing April 21 on a proposed ordinance to address a long-standing dispute about platted rights-of-way in Palm City Farms.

Debate over Palm City Farms rights-of-way has been raging for years. A proposed ordinance to prohibit obstruction of rights-of-way was presented last year. Staff was directed to revise it and bring it back after trying to resolve problems for long-time residents who have constructed barns, gates, even homes within platted rights-of-way. The Palm City Farms Trail Association has insisted that all rights-of-way be open for public use, even when cutting through existing farms and residential communities.

The April 21 meeting notice states that "all interested persons are invited to attend and be heard," despite the fact that it is unsafe and unwise for all interested persons to attend the meeting. The commission continues to jeopardize public health and safety by trying to conduct business as usual during most unusual circumstances.

It is wrong for staff and the commission to enact a new ordinance without meaningful public comment or participation, since it is not advisable or permissible for many residents to attend the meeting.

The city of Stuart is postponing public hearings on high-interest matters for the time-being, with the city attorney citing due process concerns if action is taken on issues when the public is effectively restricted or prohibited from participating. This is a responsible approach to local government.

The Martin County Commission should postpone all development and legislative actions likely to generate intense public interest until after all emergency orders and "stay-at-home" directives are lifted.

Virginia Sherlock, Stuart

A man collects unemployment forms at a drive-through collection point outside John F. Kennedy Library in Hialeah on April 8.(Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA, AFP via Getty Images)

As a health care professional I applaud efforts to support healthcare workers during this COVID-19 crisis.

However I find it offensive that the Cleveland Clinic is asking for donations to provide their staff with personal protection equipment when, as reported, they reaped large profits last year. What programs have they instituted? How much of their profit have they distributed among their front-line staff?

Perhaps they should subscribe to charity begins at home and provide for their staff instead of asking the already overwhelmed citizens to open up their pockets (many of which are already running on empty) to preserve their bottom line.

Jan Belwood, Palm City

Ari Fleischer describes President Trump's televised briefings on COVID-19 as realistically representing hope to the American people, and he admonishes reporters who reject Trumps presentations as being in a fight they can't win. Reporters fighting for the truth, which Trump in no way represents, should never give up that fight for any reason and certainly not in response to poll numbers. Fleischer condemns liberal media for advocating that Trump's briefings should be left off the air despite the fact, that his briefings are so dishonest and distorted that Trump inevitably contradicts himself before he can finish a single briefing.

The center-right-leaning Wall Street Journal has condemned Trump for his handling of COVID-19, which includes his dishonestly hopeful briefings. The Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News. Therefore, all those Trump supporters, who want to claim that condemning Trump for how he handles COVID-19 in his press briefings is based upon liberal bias, should pay attention to the Wall Street Journal's condemnation of Trump's handling of COVID-19, including his handling of those press briefings.

A slight rise in Trump's traditionally low poll numbers doesn't change the fact that his press briefings are unworthy of airtime and serve not as informative but as his substitute for those campaign rallies he can't have due to the COVID-19 quarantine.

John Butler, Sebastian

The 300-word limit does not allow me to express the disgust I felt after reading Ann Coulter's April 9 column. She implies that old people are expendable, and that Chinese people are villains because of the diet they eat, and the United States would be much better if they didn't exist. She also implies that the United States has overreacted (she uses the word panic) to the pandemic that is sweeping our nation.

In a single column, she has offended the elderly, vilified the Chinese, and insulted not only those who are staying home, but more importantly those on the front lines who are bravely fighting this battle. Her attitude toward the Chinese, actually the entire Asian race, is reminiscent of Hitler's views toward the Jews in Nazi Germany.

She calls herself a conservative social and political commentator, which insults anyone who identifies as a conservative. Coulter's views are definitely not conservative. They can best be described as ultra-radical, as well as disgusting and dangerous. Her facts and statistics are basically correct, but the inferences and implications she tries to lead her readers towards are nothing short of diabolical.

Barbara E. King, Port St. Lucie

Welcome to my sequestered tired world. All of us are cocooned in our own private reality enjoying a phenomenal world we've created. This can't be confinement. Prison doesn't have these sweet rewards: movies, books galore, the internet (which opens up the world infinitesimally). We can create our own schedule, structure, community and, in fact, reality.

Perhaps we can pare ourselves to our essentials at the end of the day. Fewer things, loftier values and caring family and friends. Virtual isolation and mindlessness could lead to mindfulness.

Judith C. Kayloe, Port St. Lucie

One reason for rapid spread of COVID-19 is China's neocolonialism throughout the world. Chinese nationals are traveling to and from various African nations, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Venezuela, and the Caribbean. Residents there also travel to China and back.

In 2009, my wife and I were on the island of Carriacou, governed by Grenada and 20 miles north. The Chinese government built and paid for a new soccer stadium for the locals and we attended the celebration and dedication. In Grenada we noticed that China had donated new computers to the local bank. Don't imagine China does this out of the goodness of their heart. It's their overseas development program. As a communist nation, its spending records are a state secret.

We were in Venezuela when dictator Hugo Chavez nationalized a Hilton Inn in Caracas and later another Hilton Inn on Margarita Island. Chavez supposedly detected some slight while attending a function in Margarita, and taking the hotel was his revenge. Chavez also changed daylight savings time by 30 minutes instead of an hour just because he could! This really messed up travelers from other areas. It's typical of how communist dictators run their countries.

Venezuela has changed immensely and we would not go there today. Venezuela's current dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has continued the downward spiral Chavez started. Socialists in the U.S. would do well to follow the inflation rate of Venezuela. In 2018, Venezuela's inflation rate was somewhere above 500,000 percent. In 2020 the inflation rate is zero because the Peso has no value. Zoo animals, turtles, pink flamingoes, dolphins, and other wildlife are disappearing as starving Venezuelans eat whatever they can steal or catch.

This is the eventual result of socialism/communism if not propped up by another nation. Do not let it happen here.

Roland OBrien, Fort Pierce

Wearing a mask not only protects you from being infected by other people but, just as important, it protects other people from being infected by you.

Love thy neighbor. Wear a damn mask.

Mike Montgomery, Port St. Lucie

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Letters to the Editor: April 16, 2020 - TCPalm

If, as the evidence suggests, the Chinese virus is enormously dangerous to people with certain medical conditions and those over 70 years old, but a much smaller danger to those under 70, then shutting down the entire country indefinitely is probably a bad idea.

But even when the time is right -- by Easter, June or the fall -- there will be no one to stop the quarantine because the media will continue to hype every coronavirus death, as if these are the only deaths that count and the only deaths that were preventable.

What mayor, governor or president will be willing to take the blame for causing a coronavirus death?

Well get no BREAKING NEWS alerts for the regular flu deaths (so far this season, more than 23,000, compared to 533 from the coronavirus).

Nor for the more than 3,000 people who die every day of heart disease or cancer. No alerts for the hundreds who die each day from car accidents, illegal aliens and suicide.

Only coronavirus deaths are considered newsworthy.

Were told by the Quarantine Everybody crowd: Listen to the scientists! Unfortunately, most of the scientists they present to us are lawyers. (How did Robert Reich, Donna Shalala and Ron Klain become medical professionals?)

Also, the scientists disagree.

Just as, I assume, they did in 1976, when epidemiologists warned of another 1918 Spanish flu pandemic after a few young Army recruits died of swine flu at Fort Dix in New Jersey. Eight months later, the federal government launched a mandatory swine flu vaccination program.

About a quarter of the country was vaccinated before the program was abruptly shut down. No pandemic had materialized. The virus infected a few people, then vanished. But directly as a result of receiving the vaccine, dozens of Americans died and several hundred acquired Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The scientists also disagreed in the 1980s, when the media and government went into overdrive to scare us all about AIDS. (1985 Life magazine cover: NOW, NO ONE IS SAFE FROM AIDS.)

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop -- as revered by the media then as Anthony Fauci is today -- lied about the disease, insisting that [h]eterosexual persons are increasingly at risk.

Speaking of which, heres liberal sex symbol Fauci on AIDS back in 1983, when he was with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, but not yet its director: As the months go by, we see more and more groups. AIDS is creeping out of well-defined epidemiological confines. (It didnt.)

In 1987, Fauci warned that French kissing might transmit the AIDS virus, saying, Health officials have to presume that it is possible to transmit the virus by exchange of saliva in deep kissing. That presumption is made to be extra safe.

By 1992, after a decade-long epidemic with more than a million infections, the Centers for Disease Control could find only 2,391 cases of AIDS transmission by white heterosexuals -- and that included hemophiliacs and blood transfusion patients. (White because AIDS cases among Haitian and African immigrants had a variety of causes.)

But teenagers and sorority girls had to spend years being frightened of kissing lest they catch the AIDS virus, just as today theyre afraid of leaving their homes to avoid a virus that, in Italy, has killed no one under 30 years old and precious few under 50.

We have to be extra safe.

Both the No French Kissing rule and Quarantine Everybody rule are perfectly rational positions for an epidemiologist to take. Thats why we need to listen to people other than epidemiologists.

How about the doctors who keep pointing out that the coronavirus is mainly a problem for people over 70 and those with specific health problems?

See here: slate.com/technology/2020/03/coronavirus-mortality-rate-lower-than-we-think.html

Here: haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-israeli-expert-trump-is-right-about-covid-19-who-is-wrong-1.8691031? v=CDBFACA5662E8174BA824BAD929EA12B

And here: wsj.com/amp/articles/is-the-coronavirus-as-deadly-as-they-say-11585088464

The president should listen to experts in other fields, too. A country is more than an economy, but its also more than a virus.

If we listened only to emergency room doctors, we might come away convinced that we have to completely ban cars, alcohol and gummy bears. (Dont ask.) While taking a torts class in law school, I was afraid to sit under a chandelier, order a flaming dessert or stand at a train stop.

Playwright Arthur Miller once told a story about a geologist who remarked that life was possible even in the vast American desert. All you needed was water, he said, and the largest reservoir on the globe was located right under the Rockies.

But how would he get it?

Simple -- drop a couple of atomic bombs.

But what about the fallout?

Oh, said the geologist, thats not my field.

Today, the epidemiologists are prepared to nuke the entire American economy to kill a virus. What about the jobs, the suicides, the heart attacks, the lost careers, the destruction of Americas wealth?

Oh, thats not my field.

Originally posted here:

Ann Coulter: How do we flatten the curve on panic? - Today's News-Herald