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Monthly Archives: April 2020
Spain cancels Pamplona bull running festival as daily coronavirus cases drop again to 3,968 but the number of new deaths climbs to 430
- The San Fermin celebration held between July 6 and 14 each year is cancelled
- The 3,968 new cases, down from 4,266, take the total from 200,210 to 204,178
- Spain has usually seen a rise in new cases on Tuesdays after weekend backlogs
- Deaths increased by 430, up from 399, bringing the toll from 20,852 to 21,282
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8240267/Spain-sees-drop-daily-coronavirus-cases-3-968.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR3_eNclpRFUt-CQ5Nccxl6BYFr3wM2SotpMFKy8Dfhef4JHM2lvoFpUqPs
Spain’s best-known bull running festival in the northern town of Pamplona has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, Pamplona city hall said today.
The San Fermin celebration is centuries old and typically attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
During the celebration half-tonne fighting bulls chase hundreds of daredevils, many of whom wear traditional white shirts and scarves, through the narrow streets of the city each morning.
The municipal council agreed to suspend the event which is held each year between July 6 and 14.
The San Fermin celebration in northern town of Pamplona is typically attended by hundreds of thousands of people
Acting mayor of Pamplona Ana Elizalde told a news conference: ‘As expected as it was, it still leaves us deeply sad.
‘In this context there is no place for fireworks, bullfights or bull runs. We are supposed to wear masks, keep a social distance – measures that are incompatible with what San Fermin is.’
People travel from all over the world to Pamplona to test their bravery and enjoy the festival’s mix of round-the-clock parties, religious processions and concerts.
A 50-year-old lawyer from Colorado who has run with the bulls 99 times at San Fermin cancelled his flight in February.
Peter N. Milligan, who wrote a book about his experiences at the fiesta, had been planning to return to Pamplona this year.
Spanish bullfighter Gines Marin performs with a bull at last year’s festival on July 7 in Pamplona
Bulls charge through streets of Pamplona for annual festival
He said: ‘I was expecting this. Considering the stay at home rules, I would imagine the city would have been overrun if they decided to proceed. Seems like a very smart decision.’
He added: ‘I know this cancellation will be devastating to our friends economically in Pamplona. Fiesta is a tough time to stay healthy under the best of circumstances.’
Spain today recorded a fall in the number of new coronavirus cases but an increase in daily deaths, as 3,968 more people were infected and another 430 died.
The 3,968 new cases – down from 4,266 yesterday – bring the total from 200,210 to 204,178, an increase of 2.0 per cent.
The fall is notable because Spain typically sees an increase in new cases on Tuesdays when delayed weekend figures are fully accounted for.
Deaths increased by 430 today, a higher jump than yesterday’s 399 which takes the overall death toll from 20,852 to 21,282.
This graph shows the daily number of new coronavirus cases in Spain. Today’s figure was 3,968, slightly down from yesterday’s 4,266
This chart shows the daily number of deaths. Today’s figure of 430 is a slight increase from yesterday’s 399
Coronavirus patient Maria Josefa Arias, 76, is taken to hospital by emergency technicians Marisa Arguello de Paula and Itxaso Garcia Giaconi in Galdakao in Spain
Spain has been in lockdown since March 14, and the measures are expected to be extended with slight relaxations until May 9.
Health emergency chief Fernando Simon says the rate of new infections in Spain is continuing to fall despite an increase in testing.
The regular increase in cases of around 2-3 per cent a day is far lower than the 15-25 per cent which was typical at the height of the crisis in mid-March.
On average, Spain’s new infection count for Tuesday has been higher than on Monday, probably because of delays in reporting weekend figures.
However, today’s jump of 3,968 was smaller than yesterday’s 4,266, which had marked a slight increase from Sunday’s figure of 4,218.
Against that, Spain had said yesterday that its 4,266 new cases included more than 1,000 older ones which had only just been confirmed.
There are fears that the true death toll may be far higher than 21,282, which have been amplified since Catalonia started disclosing thousands more deaths last week after taking a tally from funeral homes.
Angela Merkel becomes latest world leader to hint China has…
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Those Catalan deaths have not been recorded in Spain’s nationwide figures, despite the region’s calls for the government to do so.
Simon, the emergency response chief, has acknowledged that the ‘real number of deaths is hard to know’.
Even families burying their dead are not always certain what their loved ones died of.
In a nursing home near Barcelona, an 85-year-old woman died on April 8 of ‘possible’ Covid-19, said her daughter Amparo, citing a doctor’s death certificate.
Amparo said her mother was not tested, accusing political leaders of not protecting citizens and dismissing the official tally as useless.
‘Additional people have died because (politicians) have not made sufficient testing possible so that we can know the reality,’ she said. ‘We have left them to die alone.’
Police hand out face masks in Spain as the lockdown eases
Health workers wearing white protective suits transfer a patient from her home to the Hospital Infanta Leonor in Madrid on Sunday
Healthcare workers prepare to move a coronavirus patient at the intensive care unit of the Povisa Hospital in Vigo, Spain
The government has defended its count – which only includes those tested – and said that tracking confirmed deaths allows it to better study the outbreak’s evolution.
Suspected deaths should be analysed at a later stage, the government says.
In other countries, such as Italy and the Netherlands, a large number of coronavirus deaths might not have been reported because of under-testing in nursing homes.
From March 1 to April 10, Spain reported 16,353 coronavirus deaths. But according to the National Epidemiology Centre’s database MoMo, there were 22,487 more deaths than normal for the time of year over the exact same period.
A large part of the 6,134 difference is likely related to COVID-19, said Pedro Gullon, a Spanish Epidemiology Society board member.
But it had to be carefully interpreted because it could also include non-coronavirus deaths of people who did not attend hospitals, he said.
A justice ministry spokesman said it was ‘ridiculous’ to say that the real number of coronavirus deaths could be concealed.
The issue is adding to friction between the government in Madrid and regions with a high degree of autonomy, including Catalonia, whose regional leadership has been waging a long campaign for independence.
The leader of the main opposition People’s Party, Pablo Casado, has demanded that ‘all the truth be told’ about the number of dead.
A lawmaker from the far-right Vox tweeted: ‘No smokescreen will cover the deaths you try to hide’.
The San Fermin festival, which dates back to medieval times and was immortalised in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises was last called off in 1997 after Basque separatist group ETA assassinated a local politician.
Sixteen people have been killed in the bull runs since officials began keeping track in 1910, most recently in 2009 when a 27-year-old Spaniard was gored in the neck, heart and lungs.
The pandemic has also forced the suspension or postponement of major events such as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the Coachella music festival in southern California, and the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Bulls and runners make their way into the arena in Pamplona
Coronavirus at meat packing plants worse than first thought, USA TODAY investigation finds
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/04/22/meat-packing-plants-covid-may-force-choice-worker-health-food/2995232001/
TYSON FOODS
A rash of coronavirus outbreaks at dozens of meat packing plants across the nation is far more extensive than previously thought, according to an exclusive review of cases by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
And it could get worse. More than 150 of America’s largest meat processing plants operate in counties where the rate of coronavirus infection is already among the nation’s highest, based on the media outlets’ analysis of slaughterhouse locations and county-level COVID-19 infection rates.
These facilities represent more than 1 in…
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The Ground Is Filled with Fire Ice. What Happens If We Pull It All Out?
This world superpower just extracted a record amount of the gas trapped in frozen water.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a32209385/fire-ice-methane-gas-hydates/
LOUISE MURRAY / ROBERTHARDING
- China has pulled a record amount of clathrate hydrate natural gas from the South China Sea.
- Methane hydrate is the result of specific environmental conditions that make it very hard to mine.
- This is just one kind of clathrate, but the family can include many elements and shapes.
China’s natural gas industry has announced a record amount of “fire ice” extracted from the South China Sea. If that sounds like something out of a twisty George R. R. Martin novel, the truth is arguably more intricate.
This coy term refers to methane hydrates, the natural-gas-and-water version of an overall category called clathrates. In a clathrate, one kind of molecule forms a scaffold or lattice that traps another kind of molecule.
In a methane hydrate, ice crystals trap…
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‘It’s unfathomable’: Reopening of China’s wet markets bewilders Scott Morrison as PM doubles down on his criticism of the World Health Organisation
- Australia’s Prime Minister repeated criticism of the World Health Organisation
- Scott Morrison said on Tuesday he found the WHO’s stance ‘unfathomable’
- WHO said China ‘wet markets’, the suspected source of COVID-19, could reopen
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stepped up his criticism of the World Health Organisation following its support for the reopening of China‘s ‘wet markets’ after one in Wuhan was widely identified as the source of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘It’s unfathomable, frankly,’ Mr Morrison told the Today show on Tuesday when asked about the WHO’s decision.
‘We need to protect the world against potential sources of these types of outbreaks. IT’s happened too many times,’ he said.
‘We don’t have them in Australia. I’m just puzzled by that decision.’
Australia’s leaders have repeated criticism of…
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Take a GIANT STEP: Go Vegan!
United Poultry Concerns <http://www.UPC-online.org>
21 April 2020
Take a GIANT STEP: Go Vegan!
By Karen Davis, PhD, President, United Poultry Concerns
This article, excerpted from Life Can Be Beautiful – Go Vegan!
<https://www.upc-online.org/govegan.pdf>, is featured in
the April 2020 issue of *The Echo World: The Alternative Voice in the South*
<http://www.theechoworld.com>. The
Echo World appears in print and online.
*There’s never been a better time to switch to a diet free of animal
products.*
Animal-free eating gets easier every day as more and more people seek
healthy,
delicious vegan foods and restaurant dishes. More and more supermarkets
sell a
range of easy-to-prepare products marked Vegan. With today’s culinary
creativity
and technology, we can enjoy delicious textures and flavors without worrying
about the cholesterol, type-two diabetes and other health issues linked to
unhealthy, animal-based diets. Let’s look at the arguments.
*Why Choose Vegan?*
As the human population grows, food-safety and environment problems grow,
and
animals raised for food get treated worse. They suffer more cruelly, grow
sicker
and pass their sickness on to us. By choosing vegan, we refuse to support
the
suffering of billions of animals while enjoying the health benefits
associated
with plant-based foods.
Fortunately, the demand for animal-free foods is growing. People want meals
that
are healthy, better for the environment, and compassionate to animals.
Sales of
vegan meat and dairy-free products are rising rapidly in the United States
and
elsewhere in the world, according to food trend analysts.1 Plant-based
eating is
a path toward a healthier, more sustainable and caring way of life.
*The Environment*
Much of the destruction of our forests and wildlife is due to animal
agriculture. Our forests, especially our rainforests, absorb carbon dioxide
from
the atmosphere and exchange it for oxygen. When we slash and burn forests to
graze cattle and grow soybeans to feed billions of poultry and pigs, we
diminish
our ability and our children’s ability to breathe fresh air. Currently,
seventy
to eighty percent of the world’s soy goes not into tofu but into food fed to
farmed animals.2
A plant-based diet helps to protect our forests and our environment. In
“Saving
the Planet, One Meal at a Time,” American journalist and Presbyterian
minister,
Chris Hedges, writes: “With animal agriculture as the leading cause of
species
extinction, water pollution, ocean dead zones and habitat destruction,
becoming
vegan is the most important and direct change we can immediately make to
save
the planet and its species.”3
*Animals Raised for Food*
The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production reported that of
all the
terrible things they witnessed in their investigation of farmed animal
facilities, “The most appalling was a facility that produces chickens for
eating. It was totally dark and the dust and ammonia smells were
overwhelming.”4
Animals raised for food are treated badly and they are very unhealthy.
Chickens,
turkeys and ducks are crammed in filthy, dark buildings loaded with
bacteria,
flu viruses, toxic funguses and poisonous gases that burn their eyes, their
skin, and their lungs. With no fresh air, sunshine, or normal activities,
the
birds develop painful skeletal deformities, soft watery muscles, stress
hormones
and heart disease.
Chickens and turkeys go to slaughter with rotting livers (necrotic
enteritis),
“wing rot,” pus-filled lungs, and ammonia-burned skin. Rotting intestines
and
ulcerated flesh are removed at the slaughterhouse. Corpses are drenched in
chlorinated water to conceal flesh sold falsely to consumers as “healthy.”5
Former Tyson chicken slaughterhouse worker Virgil Butler and his partner,
Laura
Alexander, described their switch to an animal-free diet: “We just couldn’t
look
at a piece of meat anymore without seeing the sad, tortured face that was
attached to it sometime in the past.”6
*”Free-Range,” “Cage-Free,” “Humane Farming”*
These terms sound reassuring, but the reality behind the scenes is
different. As
soon as they are born, most hens used for “cage-free” eggs are painfully
debeaked, and all male chicks are destroyed at the hatchery since they
don’t lay
eggs. “Free-range” turkeys are violently “milked” and inseminated by hand,
newborn calves and piglets are torn from their mothers, and baby chicks,
turkeys
and ducks are denied the comfort of their mother’s wings.
All animals raised for food – “free-range” included – are slaughtered,
trashed,
or trucked to live animal markets and rendering companies when their
moneymaking
life is over. Farmers do not keep “useless” animals. The idea that billions
of
humans can have billions of “humanely-raised” animals is untrue.
*What About Fish?*
Fish are intelligent beings with feelings. When pulled from the water, they
suffocate in panic and pain, the same as humans and other land animals do
when
drowning. Being hooked in the mouth or caught in a net is torture for fish
that
are increasingly raised in huge aquatic factory farms as a result of human
overpopulation, overconsumption and ocean water pollution. They’re
subjected to
genetic engineering, drugs and diseases the same as their terrestrial
counterparts. *The Guardian* reports that “the oceans are massively
overfished,
with more than half now being industrially fished.”7
*Foodborne Diseases*
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the major foodborne
pathogens –
viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi – occur mainly in “meat, poultry,
seafood, dairy products and eggs.” 8 Foodborne bacteria such as E. coli,
Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Listeria can migrate from people’s
intestines to
other body parts – blood, bones, nerves, organs, and joints – to cause
chronic
illnesses later in life, such as arthritis. Salmonella and E. coli
contamination
of plants such as spinach, tomatoes and melons comes from animal farming
operations. Fruits and vegetables do not generate this contamination.
*Antibiotics*
Farmed animals are fed massive amounts of antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant
bacteria remain in slaughtered animals even on the dinner plate.
Urinary-tract
infections (UTIs) caused by E. coli affect millions of women. These
infections
correlate particularly with eating chicken. To reduce the risk, women are
encouraged to eat the plant-based chicken products available in stores and
fast-food franchises. These products taste just as good and do not present a
risk of UTIs.9
*The Good News*
When all is said and done, a plant-powered diet produces a legitimate
feeling of
wellbeing in people. In “The Evidence for a Vegan Diet,” James McWilliams,
associate professor of history at Texas State University, writes: “For me,
the
most persuasive evidence supporting a healthy vegan diet is the everyday
reality
that a dozen or so people with whom I eat have done extraordinary things as
a
direct result of intelligent veganism. They’ve conquered obesity, chronic
disease, depression, and a host of food-related disorders by exclusively
eating
an exciting diversity of plants. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it is
this:
the diet empowers.”10
*Notes*
1. Monica Watrous, “Plant-based foods go mainstream in 2019
<https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/22399-plant-based-foods-go-mainstream>
,”
*Meat + Poultry*, December 27, 2019.
2. Farhad Manjoo, “Stop Mocking Vegans
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/opinion/vegan-food.html>,” *The New
York Times*, August 28, 2019.
3. Chris Hedges, “Saving the Planet, One Meal at a Time
<https://www.truthdig.com/articles/saving-the-planet-one-meal-at-a-time/>,”
*Truthdig*, November 10, 2014.
4. Robert Martin, executive director of the Pew Commission on Industrial
Farm
Animal Production interviewed in *E Magazine*, July-August 2008.
5. Karen Davis, “Chickens: Their Life and Death in Farming Operations
<http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2018/10/chickens-their-life-and-death-in-farming-operations/>
,”
*Encyclopedia Britannica*, October 1, 2018.
6. Virgil Butler & Laura Alexander interviewed in “Slaughterhouse Worker
Turned <http://www.upc-online.org/fall04/virgil.htm>
Activist <http://www.upc-online.org/fall04/virgil.htm>,” *Poultry Press*,
Fall 2004.
7. Damian Carrington, “Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to
reduce
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth>
your impact on Earth
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth>,”
*The Guardian*, October 30, 2018.
8. Buzby & Roberts, *FoodReview*, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Economic
Research
Service, May-August 1995.
9. Martha Rosenberg, “Are Your Frequent UTIs From the Food You’re Eating?
<https://www.theepochtimes.com/are-your-frequent-utis-from-the-food-youre-eating_3019245.html>
”
*The Epoch Times*, July 27, 2019.
10. James McWilliams, “The Evidence for a Vegan Diet
<https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-evidence-for-a-vegan-diet/251498/>
,”
*The Atlantic*, January 18, 2012.
Order printed copies of:
*Life Can Be Beautiful – Go Vegan*
*UPC Merchandise* <https://www.upc-online.org/merchandise>
KAREN DAVIS, PhD <http://www.upc-online.org/karenbio.htm> is the President
and Founder of United Poultry Concerns, a
nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful
treatment
of domestic fowl including a sanctuary for chickens in Virginia. Inducted
into
the National Animal Rights Hall of Fame for Outstanding Contributions to
Animal
Liberation, Karen is the author of numerous books, essays, articles and
campaigns. Her latest book is *For the Birds: From Exploitation to
Liberation:*
*Essays on Chickens, Turkeys, and Other Domesticated Fowl* (Lantern Books,
2019).
—
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.
Don’t just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan.
http://www.UPC-online.org/ http://www.twitter.com/upcnews
http://www.facebook.com/UnitedPoultryConcerns
View this article online
<https://upc-online.org/bookreviews/200421_take_a_giant_step-go_vegan.htm
US Deaths Could Surpass the 60,000 Projected If States Open Now, Experts Warn
Sources close to the coronavirus task force are speaking out against proposals to end stay-in-place orders by several governors across the United States, arguing that such moves are likely to result in higher death counts when all is said and done.
Current projections on the virus predict around 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 by August. Those numbers were revised down from an earlier projection of 100,000 to 240,000 potential deaths in the country, with the newer numbers being praised by the president.
“We’re going toward 50, I’m hearing, or 60,000 people,” President Donald Trump said during a press briefing on Monday. “One is…
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Kentucky Sees Highest Single-Day Increase in COVID-19 Cases Days After Protests
Protests against stay-in-place measures have occurred in a number of states across the nation, in spite of the fact that some health experts are saying such demonstrations could themselves lead to an increase in the spread of COVID-19.
While it’s not possible to directly link the protests with a spike in infections, at least one state where such events have regularly happened is seeing the number of cases of COVID-19 go up.
Last week, hundreds of Kentuckians engaged in protests at the state capitol building in Frankfort, Kentucky. In one of those protests, participants gathered on the capitol lawn where they were successful in disrupting Gov. Andy Beshear’s press conference on COVID-19 by…
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HUNTER KILLED IN WEDNESDAY ACCIDENT AT YOUNG COUNTY LINE
https://www.grahamleader.com/news/hunter-killed-wednesday-accident-young-county-line
Tue, 04/21/2020 – 12:18pm
BY:
BRIAN SMITH
One man was killed as a result of a hunting accident in western Jack County Wednesday evening.
Jack County Sheriff Thomas Spurlock said a call came in around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, of a man being injured in a hunting accident that was originally thought to be in Young County.
According to the Young County blotter, Graham/Young County EMS, Young County Sheriff’s Office and Graham Fire received a call at 7:09 p.m. to the area of Black Hawk Road for an accidental gunshot wound. Young County EMS and Sheriff’s Office responded and found the accident had happened in Jack County, according to Spurlock.
Seth Keener, of Newark, along with Dylan Garrison, of Decatur, and Lucas Smither, of Bridgeport, went to a deer lease on the Jack/Young County line to go turkey hunting when one of the men was said to…
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A 14-year-old boy shot in Jones County hunting accident
A 14-year-old boy was shot during a hunting accident in Jones County.
According to Jones County Wildlife Officer Stewart Abrams, on Monday, April 20, a 14-year-old boy was accidentally shot in the face by his friend while turkey hunting.
“The boy’s name can not be released because he is a minor, and the investigation is still ongoing,” said Abrams.
The boy was transported to Duke University Medical Center in Durham for treatment. As of now, there is no update on his condition, or the severity of his injuries, according to Abrams.
Both the 14-year-old and his friend live in Jones County, according to Abrams.
Exposing the Big Game 