“Oil futures plunged below zero on Monday, the latest never-before-seen number to come out of the economic coma caused by the coronavirus pandemic.”
“…the cost to have a barrel of U.S. crude delivered in May plummeted to negative $37.63. It was at roughly $60 at the start of the year.”
“…traders are running out of places to keep it, with storage tanks close to full amid a collapse in demand as factories, automobiles and airplanes sit idled around the world.”
Here’s a detailed reddit thread showing that a lot of websites and Facebook groups are created by the same person or entity in Florida.
“Seriously, even without that information – who or whomever is responsible for this astroturfing couldn’t make this more obvious if they tried. It honestly took me longer to type all of this up to present here than it did for me to find this all. Yet people have taken the bait hook-line-and-sinker.”
(https://www.reddit.com/r/maryland/comments/g3niq3/comment/fnstpyl)
“…among more than a dozen companies with revenues in the hundreds of millions that are reported to have received money from the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, which set aside $349 billion in the stimulus law called the CARES Act to help small businesses keep their workers on the payroll. Less than two weeks after it started, the program has already run out of money.”
“Kentucky’s increase in infected individuals comes after protesters took to the streets throughout the week to call for the state to be reopened.”
“A local official in Kentucky has ordered the removal of a Confederate flag outside a county courthouse that has drawn criticism for weeks since its recent placement there.”
“County Commissioner Justin Lamb has said members of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans paid for the flag and raised it in front of the building in Benton. The flag aimed to recognize April as Confederate History Month, Lamb said.”
“Just finding space to park can be a problem, and idle planes require a surprising amount of work, from maintaining hydraulics to stopping birds from nesting.”
“More than 16,000 passenger jets are grounded worldwide…”
“…62% of the world’s planes…”
“…number of passenger jets in service is the lowest in 26 years…”
“…revenue from flying passengers could drop by nearly a third of a trillion dollars this year and that 25 million jobs are at risk.”
“…all planes … need to have their wheels rotated — by being towed on the tarmac or jacked into the air to be spun — every one to two weeks, while hydraulic fluid is put on landing gear to protect against rust. Giant silica moisture absorption sachets are also put inside engines to keep them dry, while all external holes on the fuselage are covered to block insects and nesting birds.”
“…awarded a $55 million contract for N95s this month to Panthera Worldwide LLC, which is in the business of tactical training. One of its owners said last year that Panthera’s parent company had not had any employees since May 2018, according to sworn testimony.”
“It also has no history of manufacturing or procuring medical equipment…”
“Panthera Worldwide’s parent company filed for bankruptcy last fall…”
“The FEMA contract with Panthera, which was awarded without competitive bidding, has a start date of April 1…”
“…contract is for 10 million masks…”
“The price that FEMA is paying Panthera per mask, about $5.50, is significantly higher than what the government pays companies such as 3M, which charges as little as 63 cents per N95 mask, with an average cost of about $1.50 for more advanced models, according to a price index.
“Prestige Ameritech, the largest domestic mask manufacturer, is charging FEMA about 80 cents per mask for the government’s order of 12 million N95 respirators, part of a $9.5 million contract that started April 7.”
“Beyond the premium the federal government is paying to Panthera, the decision to award a contract to an insolvent organization with no apparent expertise in the given field struck experts as unusual.”
“Something is amiss there,” said Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary and Republican senator from Nebraska. “This is not how the government procures training or any type of supplies. You just wouldn’t do business with somebody like that.”
“…more than $5 per unit, nearly eight times what it would have spent in January and February when U.S. intelligence agencies warned of a looming global pandemic…”
“Asian countries have invested heavily in digital contact tracing, which uses technology to warn people when they have been exposed to the coronavirus. Massachusetts is using an old-fashioned means: people.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/us/coronavirus-massachusetts-contact-tracing.html)
danelabonte 