Judge’s Ruling Clears Path For Carnival December 1 Sailing (Source cruiseradio.net) There’s good news for Carnival Corporation as they attempt to restart cruises on December 1, 2020. A judge who seemed poised to throw a major roadblock in the company’s path has instead taken a route that would still allow them to sail before the end of the year. This is, of course, assuming all of the other necessary pieces fall into place with the CDC and local government. There’s good news for Carnival Corporation as they attempt to restart cruises on December 1, 2020. A judge who seemed poised to throw a major roadblock in the company’s path has instead taken a route that would still allow them to sail before the end of the year. This is, of course, assuming all of the other necessary pieces fall into place with the CDC and local government.

Pope’s civil union quote not broadcast

(Source apnews.com) A Mexican television broadcaster confirmed Thursday that Pope Francis’ bombshell comments endorsing same-sex civil unions were made during a May 2019 interview that was never broadcast in its entirety.

Broadcaster Televisa said Thursday that the emphasis of its interview was on clergy sexual abuse and suggested it didn’t consider the comments on civil unions as newsworthy because Francis had previously indicated support for them.

The Vatican, which had the full interview in its archives, apparently allowed the comments to be aired now in the documentary “Francesco,” which premiered Wednesday. In the movie, which was shown at the Rome Film Festival, Francis said gays shouldn’t be kicked out of families or made miserable. “What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered,” Francis said.

Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record (Source theguardian.com)

For the first time since records began, the main nursery of Arctic sea ice in Siberia has yet to start freezing in late October. The delayed annual freeze in the Laptev Sea has been caused by freakishly protracted warmth in northern Russia and the intrusion of Atlantic waters, say climate scientists who warn of possible knock-on effects across the polar region. Ocean temperatures in the area recently climbed to more than 5C above average, following a record breaking heatwave and the unusually early decline of last winter’s sea ice. The trapped heat takes a long time to dissipate into the atmosphere, even at this time of the year when the sun creeps above the horizon for little more than an hour or two each day. Graphs of sea-ice extent in the Laptev Sea, which usually show a healthy seasonal pulse, appear to have flat-lined. As a result, there is a record amount of open sea in the Arctic.

Russia Poses Greater Election Threat Than Iran, Many U.S. Officials Say (Source nytimes.com)

While senior Trump administration officials said this week that Iran has been actively interfering in the presidential election, many intelligence officials said they remained far more concerned about Russia, which in recent days has hacked into state and local computer networks in breaches that could allow Moscow broader access to American voting infrastructure. The discovery of the hacks came as American intelligence agencies, infiltrating Russian networks themselves, have pieced together details of what they believe are Russia’s plans to interfere in the presidential race in its final days or immediately after the election on Nov. 3. Officials did not make clear what Russia planned to do, but they said its operations would be intended to help President Trump, potentially by exacerbating disputes around the results, especially if the race is too close to call.

F.B.I. and Homeland Security officials also announced on Thursday that Russia’s state hackers had targeted dozens of state and local governments and aviation networks starting in September. They stole data from at least two unidentified victims’ computer servers and continued to crawl through some of the affected networks, the agencies said.

Covid-19 hospitalizations continue to rise in several states, and Wisconsin is now using an overflow facility (Source cnn.com) With the number of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospitals rising, several states are looking at their supply of beds. On Wednesday, an overflow medical facility set up at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis received its first patient. “We are thankful to have this facility available to Wisconsinites and our hospitals, but also saddened that this is where Wisconsin is at today,” Gov. Tony Evers said. “Folks, please stay home. Help us protect our communities from this highly contagious virus and avoid further strain on our hospitals.” The facility will take patients who meet specific criteria, and doctors and nurses there can give remdesivir and oxygen treatment, according to the governor’s statement. The seven-day average for the number of people in the hospital has risen from 749 two weeks ago to 1,098 as of Tuesday, according to data from the state health department. Wisconsin is not alone in rising numbers. Over the past two weeks, 42 states have seen hospitalizations increase by more than 5%, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

The World Prepares for Unrest in America

(Source thetrumpet.com)

Governments say their hospital beds are full, but that does not mean they are full of coronavirus cases. During the winter months more people will fill up the hospitals. For the first time, one chain of survival camps will open—in case the nation collapses after the election. A widespread loss of law and order is real. Americans are stockpiling and preparing for the consequences of the election. The Supreme Court allowed Pennsylvania to count ballots that arrive after the election. Will other states do the same? There is a real prospect of a dragged-out election. How will other countries respond to this situation?

Europe is getting its response ready in case President Donald Trump refuses to leave the White House. Other countries are preparing to back Joe Biden if the results say he wins. There seems to be more support in Europe for Biden than Donald Trump. A distracted U.S. is dangerous for Taiwan. Other countries around the world are getting ready for a disputed election.

Brits warned ‘do not take US meat at any cost’ as chlorinated chicken horror exposed

(Source mirror.co.uk)

Two former US Government food inspectors today tell of the conditions inside America’s poultry processing plants, revealing the horrific effect the chemicals used had on their health and warning Britain: “Do not take our meat at any cost.” Mother and daughter Sherry Medina, 57, and Karla Hadley, 37, tell of the “debilitating” effect chlorinated water used to wash the chickens had on them, but claim the use of peracetic acid as a cleanser was far more dangerous. Sherry became so ill through her exposure to it, she almost died twice. At one point her family were so certain they would lose her, they planned her funeral, choosing her burial plot and having her headstone made. Karla has been left with chronic respiratory problems and suffered facial sores. She blames the drugs that were used to treat her for the death of her unborn daughter, eight months into the pregnancy, eight years ago.

Sherry, who needs a cocktail of oxygen and drugs to stay alive, says of the chicken plants: “The chemicals they use are debilitating.

China has the world’s largest navy — what now for the US? (Source dw.com) A US defense report estimates China has the world’s largest naval fleet and is churning out new ships faster than ever. When the US destroyer John S. McCain sailed near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea two weeks ago, it was quickly met and tracked by ships and planes from China’s People’s Liberation Army. The spokesperson for the PLA’s Southern Theater Command said the McCain’s presence was “a military provocation” that “seriously violated China’s sovereignty and security interests, and gravely jeopardized peace and stability in the South China Sea.” These kinds of blustery encounters have become common over the past several years in these disputed waters, where US warships routinely carry out so-called freedom of navigation maneuvers to counter Beijing’s claims of maritime sovereignty, which were rejected by an international tribunal in 2016. Last week, the US Navy said the Ronald Reagan carrier strike group had returned to the South China Sea for its third “maritime security operation” this year.

A wake-up call from the IMF

(Source thehill.com) Anyone who thinks that the United States and world economies are well on the road to recovery from the worst economic recession in the past 90 years has not read the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook update. It is not simply that the IMF is offering us the most sober of baseline world economic forecasts. It is also that the IMF is pointing to potential downside risks that it believes could take a severe toll on global economic activity. More ominously yet, it is warning that in the event that those downside risks were to materialize, the resulting downturn could be amplified by world financial market turmoil and by an intensification of trade restrictions. As depressing as the IMF’s baseline economic forecast is, what makes it even more sobering is that the IMF identifies several risks that, if realized, would make for a very much darker economic picture than it is now currently painting. These include a second wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging market debt difficulties, trouble in the global financial markets and an intensification in world trade restrictions.

School says students may be intentionally getting COVID-19(Source CBS News) Brigham Young University’s campus in Idaho said this week it is investigating claims that some students are “intentionally” trying to get sick with COVID-19 in order to sell their plasma for cash. The university said it plans to suspend any students caught attempting to contract the virus on purpose. 

The school, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, strongly condemned the alleged behavior during the pandemic in a statement Monday. “BYU-Idaho is deeply troubled by accounts of individuals who have intentionally exposed themselves or others to COVID-19, with the hope of getting the disease and being paid for plasma that contains COVID-19 antibodies,” the school said.  The university said it is currently investigating incidents on campus. It warned that students caught intentionally exposing themselves or others will be immediately suspended and subject to expulsion.