David Barton tells Glenn he thinks the Third Great Awakening has now begun

August 31, 2015

WRITER

On his flight back to Dallas from Birmingham Sunday, Glenn was talking to David Barton about the Restoring Unity events they had just concluded. At one point, David said just matter-of-factly, "we're in the awakening." Glenn had to do a double take. "What did you just say?" Glenn asked.

Watch Glenn recount the conversation and get his reaction below.

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors.

GLENN: The people that were there -- when we went into the coliseum, the arena, and that was electric. I heard from so many people -- I don't know if you guys heard this or felt this, but the people that I talked to that had gone to all of our events said by far this was the most impactful event we had ever done.

PAT: I heard that many times.

GLENN: I think this is -- I think we're at the beginning. I flew back with David Barton yesterday. And David said, just matter-of-factly, he said, we're in the awakening. And I said, I leaned up and I said, hold on. What did you just say. And he said, we're in the awakening. And I said, the third great awakening? And he said, oh, yeah. I truly believe it's happening now. That's great that's great. He's the one that told me about the great awakening. He's like, we need the great awakening to happen. And we had people of all different faiths walking together.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: I mean I marched with -- you know, that famous picture of the Woolworth's. Lunch counter. The guy is sitting at the counter. Clarence Henderson was one of the guys sitting at that counter. I found out -- I was giving speech -- I don't remember, one of the 18 speeches I gave this weekend. And I think it was at the Guiding Light Church. And somebody came up to me right before and said, that guy, do you know who he is? I'm like, no. He was the 18-year-old kid at the lunch counter in the 1960s. And showed me the picture.

And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I've seen that picture in our history books all the time. And he's the guy that marched next to me. He's the nicest guy. And I said, why are you doing this? He said, because a friend of mine told me -- he comes from Greensboro, North Carolina. And he drove down by himself to go. And I said, what made you do this? He said, it's time. It's just time. We have to come together or we're going to tear each other apart. Isn't that fantastic?

STU: It's great. I mean, it was nothing compared to the Black Lives Matter.

GLENN: Yeah. Of course.

PAT: 350 people. 350.

STU: I kind of screwed that up. Because we were talking before we went on the air, and I told you it was 350 people as reported by the media. Kind of was wrong on that. We should give them a little more credit. 325. So legitimately they reported at 325.

GLENN: Well, that's the media saying 325. It was probably 350.

STU: Maybe. PJ Media pointed this out brilliantly, which was, in Minnesota, 325 people marched. Reuters has a story about it. Reuters. And then the coverage of All Lives Matter, you've got 20,000 people. And it's good coverage, but by local Alabama -- local Alabama media, which is great. I'm glad they did it.

But it's like, why would a 20,000-person rally where you have a conservative host, who we're told all the time that conservatives and African-Americans can't get along, speaking at multiple African-American churches, where crowds are filled with black, white, every color, marching in unity.

PAT: That's exactly why didn't cover it.

GLENN: They need us to be apart.

PAT: Yep.

GLENN: They'll say, we didn't know about it. That's the first thing. The only national coverage that I saw besides PJ Media, which I didn't know. The only national coverage that I saw was Mediaite, which is a New York-based media website that people who are in the media read.

So Mediaite covered it on Saturday. So they all knew. All these journalists, they all knew. They dealt -- what -- the next logical excuse besides I didn't know was -- or would be, well, good news doesn't sell. That's what they'll say. We need conflict. The editors, well, there's no conflict there. Yeah, well, here's the conflict, good versus evil.

JEFFY: A perfect example of that, the main picture of the Alabama website for Restoring Unity was the march and everyone holding God is the answer, courage, justice, and the cover of the Black Lives Matter picture is, Black Lives Matter protesters chant, pigs in a bacon, fry them like bacon. Good versus evil. Unbelievable.

PAT: Yeah, we have that audio.

VOICE: Pigs in a blanket! Fry them like bacon! Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon! Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon!

GLENN: See, here's the thing, Martin Luther King knew that when it came down to it -- and I've told you this for years. When it comes down to it, we have to be able to A, B compare. You have to give the American people a choice. So we had people from all different faiths. One of the leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention was there. Leaders from all different churches were there. Pastors, priests. All marching together. All different colors. At one point, Alveda was leading the march and singing Jesus Loves the Little Children. Now, are you going to go with that, pigs in a blanket fry them -- whatever they were saying.

STU: Fry them like bacon. When you're in the middle of this controversial time when we're told we're at such odds with each other, here's an opportunity to celebrate two different groups coming together and everyone having a great time, no arrests.

GLENN: No arrests.

STU: There was no throwing things at cops. There was no anger. It was just people coming together in a wonderful way for an entire weekend of service. And, you know, do you get that from Reuters. Do you get that from national media at all? No, you get 325 people walking around threatening pigs lives. That's what you get. That gets coverage.

Joe Biden gets FACT-CHECKED after claiming President Trump failed to prepare for coronavirus: 'You and Obama depleted America's stockpile of N95 masks'

MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images

On Monday's radio program, Glenn discussed claims that the Obama administration depleted and never replenished the federal supply of emergency gear, including N95 respirator masks, during the H1N1 flu, or swine flu epidemic, in 2009.

Last month, Bloomberg News, and the Los Angeles Times, among others, reported that the Obama administration used, and failed to restock supplies of N95 respirator masks, and ignored recommendations that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should replenish the "Strategic National Stockpile." Read more on this here.

USA Today followed up with a fact-check article titled, "Fact check: Did the Obama administration deplete the federal stockpile of N95 masks?"

On Sunday, 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump of "failing to prepare our nation to respond."

President Trump fired back, "You and Obama depleted America's stockpile of N95 masks after the H1N1 swine flu pandemic. You were advised to replenish the national stockpile but FAILED. STOP LYING AND EXPLAIN!"

Watch the video below for more details:

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CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: April 7th

Glenn gives the latest coronavirus numbers, updating YOU on everything needed to know as Americans and officials monitor China's new COVID-19 virus:

Daily Stats as of 5:30 AM CT (from John's Hopkins)

Total Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 1,359,010 (up from 1,284,805 yesterday)
Total Confirmed Deaths Worldwide: 75,906 (up from 70,906 yesterday)
Total Confirmed Recovered Worldwide: 293,454 (up from 271,782 yesterday)
Still Just 5% of Active Cases are considered serious (requiring hospitalization) Steady from 5% yesterday, and down from the 19% high back in February
Note that about 11% of US Confirmed Cases require Hospitalization, roughly on par with Italy at 12% requiring hospitalization but lower than Spain, where 17% of patients require hospitalization.
US has 367,650 Confirmed Cases and 10,943 Deaths, up from 336,851 cases and 9,620 cases yesterday
The US currently has 336,897 Active Cases of COVID-19, with about 1.2% of the US Population tested

Motor City Nightmare: More Than 700 Employees in One Detroit Hospital System Test Positive https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/491484-more-than-700-employees-at-one-detroit-hospital-system-test-positive-for

Hundreds of staff at a Detroit-area hospital system have tested positive for coronavirus.
Dr. Adnan Munkarah of the Henry Ford Hospital Campus confirmed 731 cases of the coronavirus among employees at the hospital, accounting for 2 percent of the hospital system's 31,600 employees.
As many as 1,500 at another hospital in the state have reported symptoms similar to coronavirus, though those numbers are not confirmed cases.
"If we are to test the whole population, you are going to see large numbers of people who are testing positive...Testing positive is just a measure of how contagious this virus is." said the hospital director.
"Our team members are our greatest asset and their health and safety is a top priority as we continue to respond to this pandemic," Munkarah said in a separate statement Monday evening confirmed the total number of positive test results.
"We know we are not immune to potential exposure and we remain grateful for the courage and dedication of our entire team," he added.
Detroit, Michigan's largest city, has seen a surge of coronavirus cases in recent days while the state itself has seen just over 17,000 cases of the virus – the third-largest total of any state in the U.S. More than 5,000 of those cases were reported in Detroit, where hundreds have died.

The Invisible...Invisible Enemy: Can COVID-19 Hide In Cells? https://www.the-sun.com/news/645016/fears-coronavirus-hide-cells-reactivate-recovered-patients-test-positive/

COVID-19 may be able to remain in the body and "reactivate" later after 51 recovered patients tested positive again.
The patients, from the city of Daegu, South Korea, had all spent time in quarantine while recovering from the disease but were diagnosed again within days of being released.
The center said it did not believe the patients had been reinfected, but that the virus had remained at undetectable levels in their cells and later "reactivated".
The claim runs contrary to the bulk of current evidence about how the virus works.
Investigators said the most likely explanation was that the clearance samples for the patients were false negatives, a common issue with nasal swab tests.
"Still, we remain vigilant and open to the possibility that the virus can remain dormant for some time," Dr Leong Kwok, Director of Viral Epidemiology at the National Health Institute in Seoul said.

Maybe Don't Go To the Grocery Store After All https://www.foxnews.com/health/los-angeles-braces-itself-more-coronavirus-deaths-warns-residents-not-go-shopping-warns-residents-not-to-go-out-shopping

With coronavirus related deaths spiking in Los Angeles County and "a critical week" ahead, health officials advised residents on Monday to stay at home and avoid shopping to limit the spread of the virus.
"If you have enough supplies in your home, this would be the week to skip shopping altogether," said public health department Director Barbara Ferrer, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Officials confirmed 420 new coronavirus cases in the county and 15 deaths on Monday.
Over 6,360 cases and 147 deaths have been reported since the outbreak started, per data from Johns Hopkins.

Mexico's Slow Response May Cause Problems for Texas https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/mexico-slow-response-coronavirus-texas-us-15181201.php

As recently as March 15, some 40,000 concert goers crowded into the Foro Sor venue for the popular Vive Latino music festival.
Tourists from Europe and the United States were able to enter the country without any restrictions until late last week.
Restaurants, airports, subways and grocery stores remain open in Mexico City, though churches and large markets have closed.
The rapid spread of the COVID-19, however, has begun to increase the urgency of the government's response. Mexican health authorities reported on March 16 that the country had 82 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Two weeks later, the number swelled to nearly 2439, including 125 deaths.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell, who two weeks ago dismissed US social distancing restrictions as "an extreme tactic" and "irresponsible" is now urging citizens to "stay at home, stay at home, stay at home."
"If you have food at home, stay home. There is no reason good enough to go out, period," he said.
Mexico is just one of many nations that reacted slowly to the coronavirus pandemic, in large part because government leaders failed to understand how contagious the virus is.
President Lopez Obrador spent the first half of March dismissing the gravity of the virus, encouraging Mexicans to frequent restaurants and posting videos of himself in crowds, kissing babies.
He said Mexico's spirituality would protect the country against the virus and made a public display of pulling out two religious amulets that he said would be his shield.
Mexico shares over 1,200 miles of border with the United States.

Hong Kong Closed to All Foreign Travelers, Indefinitely https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3078633/coronavirus-five-hong-kong-residents-flown-back

The city extends its ban on arrivals after most cases over past two weeks have come from overseas.
Only six of 24 newly infected yesterday are local transmissions, but all are linked to entertainment venues already closed.
All entertainment venues are closed until further notice.
Hong Kong recently issued a new state of emergency order revoking travel into the country from any outside nation, including China.
The order will prevent Hong Kong from 'opening up' it's economy through at least early May

Drug You Can't Pronounce May Be Saving Lives https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2020/04/06/democrat-karen-whitsett-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-trump/2955430001/, https://abc7.com/coronavirus-drug-covid-19-malaria-hydroxychloroquine/6079864/

A Democratic state representative from Detroit is crediting hydroxychloroquine — and Republican President Donald Trump who touted the drug — for saving her in her battle with the coronavirus.
State Rep. Karen Whitsett, who learned Monday she has tested positive for COVID-19, said she started taking hydroxychloroquine on March 31, prescribed by her doctor, after both she and her husband sought treatment for a range of symptoms on March 18.
"It was less than two hours" before she started to feel relief, said Whitsett, who had experienced shortness of breath, swollen lymph nodes, and what felt like a sinus infection. She is still experiencing headaches, she said.
Elsewhere, a Los Angeles doctor said he is seeing significant success in prescribing hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc to treat patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19.
The drug has been touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19 by President Trump among others, but it remains controversial as some experts believe it is unproven and may not be effective.
The drug has long been used for treatment of malaria and conditions such as lupus and arthritis but is not technically approved by the FDA for COVID-19. The agency, however, is encouraging trials and has provided limited emergency authorization for its use to treat COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Anthony Cardillo said he has seen very promising results when prescribing hydroxychloroquine in combination with zinc for the most severely-ill COVID-19 patients.
"Every patient I've prescribed it to has been very, very ill and within 8 to 12 hours, they were basically symptom-free," Cardillo told Eyewitness News. "So clinically I am seeing a resolution very consistently."

Belt and Road, COVID-19 Style https://spectator.us/italy-china-ppe-sold-coronavirus/

After COVID-19 made its way to Italy, decimating the country's significant elderly population, China told the world it would donate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help Italy stop its spread.
Reports later indicated that China had actually sold, not donated, the PPE to Italy. A senior Trump administration official tells The Spectator that it is much worse than that: China forced Italy to buy back the PPE supply that it gave to China during the initial coronavirus outbreak.
"Before the virus hit Europe, Italy sent tons of PPE to China to help China protect its own population,' the administration official explained. 'China then has sent Italian PPE back to Italy — some of it, not even all of it … and charged them for it."
China also recently donated PPE to Sweden and Spain, with many doctors reporting that masks and respirators included in the shipment were defective or already used.
"Someone got very sloppy," said a senior health official in Spain. "It must have been a mistake."

The invisible enemy

"This was a sneak attack, like a thief in the night."

"A wartime President."

"A great battle, against an invisible enemy."

"We will win and declare a great victory for our country."

All of these are direct quotes from President Donald Trump, all uttered since March 1st of this year.

And of course, all of them ring decidedly true and make perfect sense. Even Trump's most ardent opponents have referred to the current situation in which America finds itself as a once in a generation emergency, and that we should be on a wartime footing. They've called for more and more power to be handed to, no, more explicitly they've called for more power to be taken by the President to do battle against "The Invisible Enemy," everything from commandeering manufacturing plants to logistics and shipping companies to pharmaceutical manufacturing and research, to nationalizing the banking sector and all mortgages.

On the other hand, the President has preferred to form a partnership with private industries to wage the war. Turning to America's great companies to produce masks, respirators, ventilators, medicine and vaccines that will ensure our country can and will prevail.

The United States – and the entire world – is engaged in a great battle, against an unseen enemy. An enemy that threatens to kill our people and destroy our nation and our way of life. It's an enemy that we have seen and fought before, as a people. We have faced this enemy throughout human history, over and over we've had to battle it. All of us are descendants of survivors of the countless previous wars that humanity has had to fight against this hidden enemy of man.

The enemy is a disease. The enemy is a virus.

The enemy is not SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus.

No, the virus we're battling against is Slavery.

Call it what you want. Socialism. Collectivism. Communism. Statism. Despotism. A one-world government. Those are all forms of the same thing: some people's individual liberty captured for the betterment and benefit of others. All of those are forms of enslaving some men to the will and needs of others.

A virus is a biological construct. It's a biological disease caused by a virus, an unliving, unthinking sliver of organic material and takes over cells to turn them into factories that produce more viral particles to take over more cells until, ultimately, the host is killed. Doing battle against a virus requires treating both the symptoms caused by infection as well as finding a vaccine that can destroy the virus itself.

But slavery is a political and moral construct. It's a social disease caused by an immoral idea, spread by unthinking, unfeeling human beings who transmit the disease to others turning them into factories that produce more unthinking, unfeeling human beings. They take over the lives of more and more people within a society or a country until that country is destroyed. Doing battle against slavery requires treating both the symptoms caused by the infection within a society as well as finding a cure that can destroy the idea itself.

President Donald Trump is absolutely correct. This is a war.

President Donald Trump is absolutely correct. This is a war. He's also correct, we have fought this type of war before.

But this is not a war against a coronavirus. That's child's play. Terrible though it may be and despite the thousands of lives we may lose to COVID-19, it's relatively straightforward how to defeat it. Prevent the spread, find a cure. And we will. America and the world will survive this pandemic as it has survived a million others in our past. Each of us is the descendent of survivors of a thousand biological plagues.

The President rightly stated, we cannot let the cure for COVID-19 be worse than the disease itself. And he has the right idea in terms of the outcome here: we can't let our response to coronavirus destroy the American economy.

But saving the American economy isn't really the objective. A healthy, productive American economy that enables people to generate wealth and accumulate things is a consequence, an outcome, it's not a cause in itself. What has enabled the American economy to be the most robust and powerful engine for human ingenuity, productivity and wealth generation in world history is individual liberty? Men free to think and build, to seek new achievements and to be rewarded for doing so, to collaborate with each other, to challenge and compete with each other, driving each other to be smarter, to work harder, to find the better way to solve problems.

That is America. That is the battle we're in, what we're fighting to save. Beating COVID-19 is easy, it's only a matter of time. This particular virus may be new to us, but we know the formula for its defeat, much like the long-march to destroy the NAZI war machine in World War II, the writing was on the wall long before Berlin fell. Germany's defeat was inevitable once America entered the war. So too, the defeat of SARS-CoV-2 is already a foregone conclusion, the application of human ingenuity and thousands of years of human inventiveness and knowledge ensures our ultimate victory over this latest scourge.

But that is not the great threat. If the cure for COVID-19 is the slavery of some men for the benefit and betterment of others, then perhaps it would be better for COVID-19 to take us all. If the cost of defeating the biological virus is that we succumb to the political and moral disease of collectivism, then Trump's fear will have been proved right and the cure will have been worse than the disease.

Look at what's being proposed here. In the US, the government should take over every major industry, from healthcare and pharmaceutical companies to grocery and food delivery to airlines to shipping and transportation. Construction, take it over! Banking system, take it over! Stock market, take it over!

And on the global stage, the United Nations is now calling for a permanent 10% global tax on the GDP of every country.

And on the global stage, the United Nations is now calling for a permanent 10% global tax on the GDP of every country.
Ostensibly designed to fight COVID-19, but made permanent to enable the UN to fight future pandemics, as well as the ongoing pandemic of Climate Change…oh, and Poverty and Income Inequality, and sexism and nationalism and a thousand other isms they believe are unfair.

The United States is less than 5% of the World's population, but we represent over 25% of the world's GDP. So, the UN is effectively proposing that about 4% of the population transfer 10% of our wealth each year to support the remaining 96% of the human race, including supporting countries who are our enemies and who seek our very destruction.

What is proposed here is nothing short of the permanent enslavement of the United States for the betterment and benefit of every other national on earth.

There is no doubt the human race will survive COVID-19. Human beings have survived a thousand similar pandemics with barely more than a blip in our progress as a species.

But the plague of collectivism, the idea that some men should be slaves to others, that some people have some sort of right to lay claim to the intellect and productive energy of others, that is the real battle. That is the true invisible enemy that we must yet again defeat.

Ask yourself, would you have some right to charge into Mike Lindell's My Pillow bedding factory and point a gun at him and his workers to force them to produce cotton face masks to avoid being shot? No, of course the idea sounds preposterous and all rational thinking human beings would clearly see that as an immoral, criminal act. And yet many people are proposing that we do exactly that, just the gunman wears a blue UN Helmet or carries a US Marshall's badge.

Alternatively, does Mike Lindell have the right to choose to convert his factory over to making cotton face masks, at his own expense and to pay his workers to make those masks instead of making pillows? Yes, that is moral, that is a human being engaged in activity that he believes to be virtuous and right and, yes, for the love of all that is holy — profitable.

Just as with COVID-19, the defeat of all forms of slavery should be an inevitability. And yet from every corner of our country, the call is for the forced enslavement of some people for the benefit of others.

President Trump has this right. We cannot let the cure for COVID-19 come at the cost of our economy. And if that is the objective, then it is our original principles: individual liberty, freedom of movement and speech, that is what must be defended. That is how we protect and restore our economy and our country. That is how we ensure that our children's children will also be descendants of survivors of plagues and pandemics, whether they are the biological - or the moral kind.

UPDATE: Here's how the discussion went on radio. Watch the video below.

YouTube youtu.be

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: April 6th

Glenn gives the latest coronavirus numbers, updating YOU on everything needed to know as Americans and officials monitor China's new COVID-19 virus:

Daily Stats as of 5:30 AM CT (from John's Hopkins)

Total Confirmed Cases Worldwide: 1,284,805 (up over 250,000 from 1,030,324 Friday)
Total Confirmed Deaths Worldwide: 70,328 (up 16,100 from 54,226 Friday)
Total Confirmed Recovered Worldwide: 271,782 (up from 219,896 Friday)
5% of Active Cases are considered serious (requiring hospitalization) Steady from 5% Friday, but down from 19% high back in February
Note that about 11% of US Confirmed Cases require Hospitalization, roughly on par with Italy at 12% requiring hospitalization but lower than Spain, where 17% of patients require hospitalization.
US has 336,851 Confirmed Cases and 9,620 Deaths, up from 245,380 cases and 6,095 cases Friday
The US currently has 309,254 Active Cases of COVID-19, with about 1% of the US Population tested

NY Times: Official US Death Toll Off a Bit...By About 100% https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICO0KwPFWcI, https://www.wsj.com/video/in-ecuador-epicenter-families-forced-to-leave-dead-outside/B35D7405-55AC-4876-821F-8B995AAEF1BD.html

In one Italian village, a Mayor reported he had more than 300 bodies, presumed COVID-19 deaths, which officials had not picked up or counted in Italy's official numbers. "The army told us Friday, then Sunday. We're still waiting," he said.

Virus Can Contaminate Facemasks up to 7 Days https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3078511/coronavirus-can-remain-face-masks-week-study-finds

The pathogen that causes COVID-19 is gone within three hours from surfaces like printing and tissue paper, but can last for days on banknotes, stainless steel and plastic, researchers from University of Hong Kong find.
The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can adhere to the outer layer of a cotton surgical face mask for a week, according to a study by researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU).
"This is exactly why it is very important if you are wearing a surgical mask you don't touch the outside of the mask," Dr. Peiris, research lead, said.
"Because you can contaminate your hands and if you touch your eyes you could be transferring the virus to your eyes."
In the instance where the public or health care workers must be forced to reuse masks due to short supply, the study recommends using surgical gloves and frequently washing hands immediately after using facemasks.

USA Today Factcheck: Did Obama Deplete US National Stockpile of N-95 Masks? True! https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/03/fact-check-did-obama-administration-deplete-n-95-mask-stockpile/5114319002/

USA Today researchers Fact Check Daily Wire article from last week that the Obama Administration failed to replenish the National Stockpile of N-95 masks after using for Swine Flu (2009) and Hurricane & Flooding clean up operations (2012).
The article notes available funds were used not to replenish masks: "With limited resources, officials in charge of the stockpile tend to focus on buying lifesaving drugs from small biotechnology firms that would, in the absence of a government buyer, have no other market for their products, experts said.
Masks and other protective equipment are in normal times widely available and thus may not have been prioritized for purchase, they said."
Overall, USA today flags the Daily Wire story as True, lending credence to the Trump claim that the stockpile program was 'in a shambles' when his Administration took over.

"Most Comprehensive Pandemic Response Plan In History" Bush Plan Based on Spanish Flu Book in 2005 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013

In the summer of 2005, President George W. Bush was on vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he began flipping through an advance copy of a new book about the 1918 flu pandemic. He couldn't put it down.
When he returned to Washington, he called his top homeland security adviser into the Oval Office and gave her historian John M. Barry's "The Great Influenza," which told the chilling tale of the mysterious plague that "would kill more people than any other disease in human history."
"You've got to read this," Fran Townsend remembers the president telling her. "He said, 'Look, this happens every 100 years. We need a national strategy.'"
Thus was born the nation's most comprehensive pandemic plan -- a playbook that included diagrams for a global early warning system, funding to develop new, rapid vaccine technology, and a robust national stockpile of critical supplies, such as face masks and ventilators, Townsend said.
The effort was intense over the ensuing three years, including exercises where cabinet officials gamed out their responses, but it was not sustained.
Large swaths of the ambitious plan were either not fully realized due to lack of funding from Congress, or were entirely shelved as the 2008 financial crisis took hold.

The Latest Casualty: Corona Beer Officially Stops Production https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/business/corona-beer-production/index.html

Production of Corona beer is being temporarily suspended in Mexico because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Grupo Modelo, the company that makes the beer, posted the announcement on Twitter, stating that it's halting production and marketing of its beer because the Mexican government has shuttered non-essential businesses.
This week, the Mexican government announced the suspension of non-essential activities in the public and private sectors until April 30 in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The country has more than 1,500 cases and 50 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins, but researchers fear the actual number of infected and dead could be much higher than reported as almost no testing has occurred in Mexico.
Grupo Modelo stated it is ready to enact a plan to "guarantee the supply of beer" if the Mexican government decides to include breweries as essential, according to a statement.

Japan, Hong Kong May Declare States of Emergency After Virus Researgance https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3078542/coronavirus-japan-set-declare-state-emergency-amid-surge, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3078491/coronavirus-hong-kong-may-have-impose-wider-lockdown

Both Japan & Hong Kong saw new waves of COVID-19 cases as travel and work restrictions were lifted about 10 days ago.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, a government official said on Monday, as a recent surge in infections sweeps Tokyo and other major cities.
The news comes after Japan officially moved the 2020 Olympics to 2021.
In Japan, An Emergency eclaration, the first of its kind in that Nation, would restrict individual rights and allowing prefectural governors to call for specific limitations on people's activities.
It has been made necessary by a rapid nationwide spike in cases that poses significant risks to lives and the economy, an official said.
In Hong Kong, officials report they may have to impose strict lockdown with people told to stay home, government adviser says, amid warnings of third wave of infections swamped hospitals over the weekend.
The Government put Hong Kong residents on notice for hardline approach to coronavirus seen in countries including Italy and Britain.
Epidemiologist Dr. Kwok-yung of The Hong Kong Medical University warns of a third wave of infections as mainland Chinese had resumed work with some traveling to Hong Kong last week.
Dr. Kwok-yung recommends reinstating the travel restrictions from Mainland China.

Dark Days Ahead https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/05/politics/jerome-adams-coronavirus/index.html

The US Surgeon General said this week is going to be the "hardest and the saddest" for "most Americans' lives," describing the upcoming grim period of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.
"This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country and I want America to understand that," Vice Admiral Jerome Adams said on "Fox News Sunday."
Adams continued: "I want Americans to understand that as hard as this week is going to be, there is a light at the end of the tunnel."
Doctors are expecting peaks in Death Rates to occur in some of the hardest-hit areas, including New York, Louisianna, and Chicago.
Washington State, one of the earliest hit states, experienced a peak in cases and deaths nearly two weeks ago, and now new cases and deaths have declined for 2 weeks straight.

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