Free Republic

Iranian regime officials stole more than $1 billion in humanitarian funds meant to be used to help the country’s people fight the spread of coronavirus, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. European countries intended for more than $1 billion cash for medical supplies to go to the Iranian people, who have been ravaged by the virus. But American officials say regime leaders instead pocketed the money and are now using it to protect themselves from the virus as it spreads throughout the population. This includes hoarding medical supplies that were meant to aid Iranian citizens...

The union that represents healthcare workers in California announced it had arranged the purchase of 39 million N95 masks for hospitals and government agencies that badly need the protective equipment. Among the intended recipients was Kaiser Permanente, which placed orders for 6 million masks. A week later, none of those masks have materialized, and Kaiser is cooperating with a federal fraud investigation into the deal, a spokesman for the health plan confirmed.

Just about a week after the Trump hating Democrat Governor of Nevada limited the ability for physicians to prescribe Hydroxychloroquine to treat Corona virus, news broke that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s own Department of Corrections has been hoarding the drug for prisoners. Sisolak claimed that he was doing so to prevent the hoarding of the medicine, despite the fact that you could only obtain it through a prescription. UPDATE: Wicked Democrat Governor Sisolak WILL ALSO NOT ALLOW Nevadans to Prescribe Chloroquine as a Preventative Against the Coronavirus Now, 360 News Las Vegas has discovered that Sisolak’s Department of Corrections has...

Just about a week after the Trump hating Democrat Governor of Nevada limited the ability for physicians to prescribe Hydroxychloroquine to treat Corona virus, news broke that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s own Department of Corrections has been hoarding the drug for prisoners.

I'm not sure whether COVID-19, first identified in Wuhan, China, in the U.S. qualifies as a true disaster. Putting the disease in perspective, we might look at current influenza illnesses. According to Centers for Disease Control estimates, between Oct. 1, 2019, and March 14, 2020, there have been 390,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations as a result of the flu, 38,000,000 to 54,000,000 flu illnesses and 23,000 to 59,000 flu deaths. That's compared with, as of March 27, a total of 85,356 cases of COVID-19 resulting in the deaths of 1,246 people. But let's agree that COVID-19 is a disaster and ask...

It started with an unsubstantiated rumor. “You can laugh now,” Johnny Carson said on The Tonight Show on December 19, 1973, “but there is an acute shortage of toilet paper.” There wasn’t—but it didn’t matter. The broadcast sent America into a mass panic. Millions of shoppers swarmed into grocery stores and began hoarding toilet paper. Ex nihilo, a shortage was born. The Scott Paper Company urged people to stop panic-buying the product. Nevertheless, for four months, toilet paper—absent from shelves—was bartered for, traded, and even sold on the black market....Some experts regard the toilet-paper shortage of ’73 as a...

Baruch Feldheim, 43, is facing charges of assault and making false statements to the feds on Sunday outside his Borough Park home where he allegedly peddled and stored massive amounts of N95 respirator masks, federal officials said. Feldheim is also accused of price-gouging. On March 18, he’s suspected of selling a New Jersey doctor about 1,000 of the masks for $12,000, a markup of roughly 700 percent, authorities said. [cut] The arrest comes after President Trump claimed that some medical supplies were being swiped from New York City hospitals, which Mayor Bill de Blasio dismissed as insulting.

I have been using this time of social distancing to get many things done, not just for myself, but for my fellow man. I realized that when the coronavirus is finally behind us, there will be a huge problem for many people. That problem is, of course, massive quantities of hoarded items, which will take up space in people's homes while spoiling and decaying. Such items will not only be a tremendous economic waste, but an entirely new health hazard as well. Therefore, I worked hard and proactively in anticipation of this coming crisis, getting out ahead of the curve...

President Trump lead another Coronavirus task force briefing from the White House on Monday evening. The President was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, US Attorney General Bill Barr and others. Trump signed a second executive order to providing authority to address hoarding and price gouging that threatens the supply of medical supplies. Attorney General Bill Barr put hoarders on notice and said they will get a knock on the door if they are sitting on a large amount of supplies. “We have started to see some evidence of potential hoarding and price gouging,” said Barr. “So, earlier today the...

A nationwide shortage of two drugs touted as possible treatments for the coronavirus is being driven in part by doctors inappropriately prescribing the medicines for family, friends and themselves, according to pharmacists and state regulators. “It’s disgraceful, is what it is,” said Garth Reynolds, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, which started getting calls and emails Saturday from members saying they were receiving questionable prescriptions. “And completely selfish.” Reynolds said the Illinois Pharmacists Association has started reaching out to pharmacists and medical groups throughout the state to urge doctors, nurses and physician assistants not to write prescriptions for themselves...

"Every American has a role to play in defending our Nation from this invisible, horrible enemy." President Donald J. Trump PREVENTING AND PUNISHING HOARDING AND FRAUD: President Trump is taking action to prevent the hoarding and price gouging of critical supplies needed to combat the coronavirus. President Trump is signing an Executive Order providing the authority to address, if necessary, hoarding that threatens the supply of necessary health and medical resources. This includes the action of hoarding unnecessary quantities of items for the purpose of selling them above the fair market value. This action is authorized under the Defense...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) (the “Act”), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1.  Policy.  In Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), I declared a national emergency recognizing the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation’s healthcare systems.  In recognizing the public health risk, I noted that on March...

A new website has been designed to help with the toilet paper crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The site, called “HowMuchToiletPaper.com,” reports its average user has 500% more toilet paper than they need during quarantine. The website is simple to use. First, go to the website, then users can enter how many rolls of toilet paper they have and how many times they visit the bathroom.

Someone had to say it. People are over-shopping in preparation for the spread of the coronavirus. In order to reassure the American people that there is no disruption in the food and supply chain across the country, President Trump offered some words of advice. “You don’t have to buy so much.”On Sunday, President Trump held a call with two dozen executives from consumer and grocery companies including Target, Campbell, and Costco. The topic of discussion was hoarding and the safety of their supply chain as we face the coronavirus crisis. During a press conference he urged the American public...

Let me say this just as plainly as I can – if you are buying up large quantities of toilet paper and hand sanitizer to sell at ten times what you paid for it to people suffering from the coronavirus, you are a miserable human being. And if you are filling your carts with far more than what the actual needs of you and your family are, you are only slightly less disgusting. This is shameful behavior for any American to display, but for someone who calls themselves a Christian to hoard and stockpile beyond your needs? Repent, hoarder, repent....

Fancy grocery stores like Trader Joe's in affluent neighborhoods have lines out the door, regular stores, not so much. Different types of people handle situations differently, especially when it comes to stuff like a pandemic of a deadly Wuhan virus. But in New York City and elsewhere, an interesting pattern is emerging in regard to fancy chain grocery stores like Trader JoeÂ’s and Whole Foods which have been picked over like a carcass and still have long lines. Meanwhile, regular neighborhood chain stores have a few shortages, but are operating pretty normally.The evidence is anecdotal, but itÂ’s reflected on social...

As the saying goes, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes." I would add, "and anti-price gouging legislation in times of crisis." Yet price increases in the face of sudden shortages are an important impetus to restore supply and demand market conditions that are closer to normal. As many of us have experienced in the past few weeks, buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer and face masks has become more difficult and more expensive. The reason, of course, is that unusually large numbers of people are rushing to buy these and other products that might prevent the spread of the coronavirus....

North Korea has ordered major provincial organizations, military-run factories and other facilities to prepare a months’ worth of food, signalling that the state is unable to provide rations anymore, Daily NK has learned. “The order was handed down by provincial party committees to local people’s committees, Ministry of State Security offices, police stations, military-run factories run by the Second Economic Committee [of the Workers’ Party of Korea], and even orphanages,” a North Hamgyong Province-based source told Daily NK on Feb. 26.

Nicole Anzia, professional organizer and founder of Neatnik, joined staff writer Jura Koncius for The Washington Post’s Home Front online chat. Here is an edited excerpt. Q: What are the main reasons that resolutions to get organized are derailed?A: Trying to do it all in January and then stopping. People work really hard at decluttering and purging at the beginning of the year and then think they’re done. But organizing isn’t really something you’re ever done with. As long as things are coming into and leaving your home, it’s a continual process. Do a little bit here and there, but...

DOLTON, Illinois, October 10, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Even more remains of aborted children have been found in property belonging to the late abortionist Ulrich Klopfer, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday. Klopfer died on September 3 at age 75. For decades he was an abortionist at The Women’s Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana until his medical license was suspended in 2016 for a history of violations including failure to report the rape of a 13-year-old girl. The Sheriff’s Office of Will County, Illinois (where Klopfer had a home) announced last month that a Klopfer family attorney had notified the county coroner’s...