kscarbel2

I speak from first-hand personal family experience. No hype added. I have never spoken "false information" on BMT, and am offended by the accusation. I hope that all members of the BMT family stay well. I won't be posting further on this thread.

"there are at least ten times as many cases out there as the testing reveals and the number of cases doubles every 3 to 6 days" Bingo. Now, imagine having a 104-105 degree F fever (40-41 C), being unable to keep any food down for 5-7 days because you have both vomiting and diarrhea, only being able to breath if you remain lying on a bed.......it's impossible for you to stand much less walk around, and you feel like your heart is going to rip out of your chest.

Reuters / April 2, 2020 President Trump said on Thursday he had brokered a deal with top crude producers Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output and arrest an oil price rout. Trump said Russia and Saudi Arabia could cut output by 10 to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) - an unprecedented amount representing 10% to 15% of global supply, and one that would require the participation of nations outside of OPEC and its allies [meaning US, Canadian and Brazilian producers must agree to production limits for the first time]. Trump will not "formally" ask U.S. oil companies to contribute to the production cuts, because such an act is forbidden by U.S. antitrust legislation. Russia and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since early March, when the two nations failed to agree on a deal curbing output. The coronavirus pandemic has worsened since, freezing economic activity and sending oil prices into a tailspin as producers confronted the prospect of a dramatic fall in demand with a flood of unwanted oil supply. Saudi Arabia, the de facto head of OPEC, called on Thursday for an emergency meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, known as OPEC+, saying it aimed to reach a fair agreement to stabilize oil markets. Trump is separately set to meet with U.S. oil industry executives on Friday. Trump said he spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday. “I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!” Trump wrote. “Trump’s call to Putin has changed everything,” one OPEC+ source said, adding that initial talk among the group was about how other large producers such as Canada and Brazil would need to join in any coordinated output cuts. Global oil demand is expected to fall by about 30 million bpd in April, or about one-third of daily consumption. The immense decline in demand sent oil prices to their lowest levels since 2002, close to $20 per barrel, hitting budgets of oil producing nations and dealing a huge blow to the U.S. shale oil industry, which cannot compete at low prices. The downward pressure has been exacerbated by the battle for market share between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Russia rejected the Saudi proposal to take supply off the market in part because it has cut its own output for years while U.S. production grew to a record 13 million bpd, gobbling up more market share. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday that Moscow was no longer planning to raise output and was ready to cooperate with OPEC and other [US, Canadian and Brazilian] producers to stabilize the market. A meeting could represent a thaw in Saudi-Russia tensions. Russia’s opposition to Saudi Arabia's proposal to deepen output cuts was the cause of market turmoil. At the time of the deal’s collapse, OPEC and its allies were collectively cutting output by about 1.7 million bpd - making a 10-to-15 million-bpd cut a big hurdle unless it brought in other major worldwide producers. The swift and aggressive Saudi response to the collapse of the OPEC+ deal shocked the oil industry. The kingdom slashed export prices, opened the taps to pump at maximum production and tried to sell cheaper oil to refiners that buy Russian crude. Major global oil producers including Chevron, Brazil’s Petrobras and BP Plc have already scaled back production estimates as fuel demand has dropped precipitously and storage is rapidly filling. Storage is expected to be full by May, which would force oil producers to cut output anyway. The free-fall in prices has spurred regulators in Texas to consider regulating output for the first time in nearly 50 years. Ryan Sitton, one of three elected oil-and-gas regulators in Texas, has spoken with Russia’s Novak about a cut of 10 million bpd in global supply. “While we normally compete, we agreed that #COVID19 requires unprecedented level of int’l cooperation,” Sitton said. Brent oil prices today rose 21% to $29.94 per barrel, with a daytime high of $36.29. U.S. benchmark WTI crude settled up 25% to $25.32 a barrel. Even with Thursday’s surge, Brent is still less than half its $66 closing level at the end of 2019.

The Washington Post / March 26, 2020 Almost 1.5 million N95 respirator masks were found in a U.S. government warehouse in Indiana. The government plans to issue them to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rather than hospitals or the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). There were initial concerns that the masks, which are a part of the Customs and Border Protection’s emergency supplies, were expired and therefore unusable. However, it was determined that the N95 masks were still suitable for use and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials decided to give them to the TSA.

Bob Daumer in Northampton, Pennsylvania has a nice C-607 4x2 tractor (not a V-8). https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/34267-macks-v8-powered-c-series-comin-on-strong/

Ford Expects Talks With U.S. on Cash for Clunkers-Like Stimulus Bloomberg / April 2, 2020 Ford would like the U.S. government to sponsor an automotive stimulus program to help the industry get back on its feet after the coronavirus crisis abates. “We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the auto industry and our dealers, which are a huge part of our overall economy, but will help the customers as well,” says Mark LaNeve, Ford’s vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service. “We’re in discussions about what would be the most appropriate.” Those discussions are internal at Ford for now, but are eventually expected to involve the government, LaNeve said. One model being considered is the government’s “cash for clunkers” program of more than a decade ago, which helped stimulate auto sales following the global financial crisis by encouraging drivers to turn in older cars in exchange for money toward buying new ones. “Cash for clunkers was very effective at that time,” LaNeve said. “It would be nice to think we could have something equally as effective for 2020 when we get out of this because it was a great program.” Ford reported a 12% drop in first quarter U.S. sales on Thursday. Automakers sold cars and light trucks in March at the slowest pace since 2010, and analysts expect calamitous results for April.

European truckmakers use reusable pallets and shipping containers for stock orders, as they have a system for getting this "packaging" returned. The concept of the disposable pallet has long been abandoned, being environmentally unsustainable. In this case, it was likely deemed most practical to floor load the aircraft. The US still floor loads cases of cauliflower in refrigerated trailers.

Brace for the ‘deepest recession on record,’ says BofA analysts, as jobless claims surge to 6.6 million BofA economists forecast that the unemployment rate will soon hit 15.6% There are no parallels for the pandemic fueled slowdown that the U.S. economy is currently contending with, and that is forcing economists like those of Bank of America Global Research to forecast a decidedly grimmer outlook for the American economy than they offered just two weeks ago. The BofA researchers on Thursday said the coming recession “appears to be deeper and more prolonged than we were led to believe just 14 days ago when we last updated our forecasts, not just in the US but globally as well.” The April 2 research report, which includes star economist Michelle Meyer, comes as the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week soared by a record 6.6 million, bringing the increase in new jobless claims in the last two weeks of March to 10 million. BofA sees between 16 and 20 million job losses, which could send the unemployment rate surging within a few months to 15.6%, which would by far outstrip the unemployment rate during the 2007-09 recession. The BofA team forecast three consecutive quarters of contraction in gross domestic product, “with the US economy shrinking 7% (annualized) in 1Q, 30% in 2Q and 1% in 3Q.” On the bright side, the economists estimate that the fourth quarter of 2020 will see a sizable pop in business activity as the measures put in place to slow the deadly contagion are slowly unwound. That said, the cumulative decline in economic expansion will be severe: “We forecast the cumulative decline in GDP to be 10.4% and this will be the deepest recession on record, nearly five times more severe than the post-war average,” the analysts wrote.

https://www.gm.com/masthead-story/manufacturing-ventilator-ventec-covid.html

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has 1.2 million N95 face masks coming from Shenzhen, China, being transported on the New England Patriots’ Boeing 767. .

Russian humanitarian aid arrives in New York City Thank you Vlad ! . .

Reuters / April 1, 2020 WASHINGTON - U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the U.S. Treasury on Wednesday not to hold up $25 billion in cash grants [free taxpayer money] approved by Congress last week to airlines for payroll costs. “We do want them to honor what our conversation was, which is this just a stopping off point for the check. It goes to the airline and directly to the employee,” Pelosi told reporters. A major aviation union and some airline officials are concerned the U.S. Treasury will demand too much in warrants or equity as a condition of the grants [free taxpayer money] for airline payroll costs [Why? Is responsibility and accountability a problem?].

Common symptoms of the Coronavius (COVID-19) include: Fever Cough Shortness of breath Upset stomach, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea Managing Fever Do not use NSAIDS (Advil, Motrin, Ibuprofen or Aleve) to manage fever or pain. Instead, use acetaminophen (Tylenol). Current research indicates that using NSAIDS, such as Ibuprofen, can extend or worsen COVID-19 symptoms. Managing Cough and Shortness of Breath Over-the-counter medications used for upper respiratory infections may help alleviate symptoms. Those medications include guaifenesin (Mucinex), pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) and dextromethorphan (Robitussin, Delsym).

MarketWatch / April 1, 2020 Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday that the White House Coronavirus Task Force is giving “serious consideration” to broadening the existing guidance on face masks, but he said first priority must be given to health-care workers who are currently experiencing a shortage of masks. Currently, the Centers for Disease for Control and Prevention (CDC) does not recommend that the public wear masks [only because there's oddly not enough for the general population]. “The idea of getting a much more broad, community-wide use of masks outside of the health-care setting is under very active discussion at the task force,” said Fauci. “The thing that has inhibited that is to make sure that we don’t take away the supply of masks from the health-care workers,” he said. “But when we have enough masks, I believe there will be some very serious consideration about broadening this recommendation of using masks.” “If, in fact, a person who may or may not be infected wants to prevent infecting someone else, one of the best ways to do that is with a mask,” Fauci said. N95 medical-grade masks help filter viruses that are larger than 0.1 micrometers. The Coronavirus is 0.125 micrometers. Asian countries, where wearing face masks is relatively common, have had more success effectively “flattening the curve” than western countries.

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/Featured_Innovations/Dodrill_GMR_Mechanical_Heart.html .

A military cargo plane (Antonov An-124) carrying medical supplies to help the US combat the coronavirus outbreak has taken off from an airbase in Russia, after President Trump accepted an offer of assistance from Vladimir Putin. .

A.J. Baime, Car & Driver / March 31, 2020 Trivia question: Who said this? "Never before since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock has our American civilization been in such danger as now." It was Franklin Roosevelt in his "Arsenal of Democracy" speech, delivered on December 29, 1940, to the largest radio audience ever up to that time. But it sounds like a sentence any of us could utter today. Back in 1940, Hitler's armies were rampaging across Europe, the Nazis seemingly unstoppable. A fact that often slips through the cracks of our national consciousness is the degree to which we were losing World War II desperately for roughly the first year and a half of the fighting. We had the soldiers, but we lacked the tools. Ultimately it was the automobile industry far more than any other that created the arsenal that allowed the Allies to win. Now once again we face an existential crisis, and once again our government is asking our auto industry for help. Automakers are plunging forward to build ventilators and masks in this new scenario that feels almost like science fiction. "Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST!" President Trump said on Twitter on March 22. "Go for it auto execs, let's see how good you are?" Days later Trump was attacking General Motors, using the Defense Production Act, as a tool to press GM forward in the ventilator effort with greater speed. It was like FDR's "Arsenal of Democracy" speech recrafted by the pugilistic president. GM was "wasting time," the president said. Can the automakers pull this off? Can they do it fast enough so that their work will be useful soon? We don’t know yet. However, a look in the rearview might give us some clues. 50,000 Airplanes, 130,000 Engines . . . When FDR first asked private industry for help during World War II, he knew the auto industry was key. The industry had a bigger economy than every nation on earth except Britain, Germany, France, and possibly the Soviet Union. The war was shaping up to be a contest of mass production; in this newly mechanized kind of warfare, the side that could produce the most war machinery the fastest would win. FDR brought William Knudsen, GM's president and the highest-paid executive in the country outside Hollywood, to Washington to serve as production czar, with a salary of $1. At the 1941 New York auto show, Knudsen pleaded with his colleagues, the powerhouses of Motor City, in a dramatic speech in which he asked the auto industry to build 50,000 airplanes, 130,000 engines, 17,000 heavy guns, 25,000 light guns . . . "Bombers, big bombers," Knudsen said, "are needed sooner than we dare hope to get them under present circumstances. We must build them at once! You've got to help! The first half of 1941 is crucial. Gentlemen, we must outbuild Hitler." The conversion to wartime desperately rattled the U.S. economy—another parallel to what we are seeing today—as businesses that were not able to serve the war effort largely disappeared. Business Week called this phenomenon in 1943 "the most severe contraction in the business population that we have ever experienced." Sound familiar? It took the auto industry a solid 18 months to get up and running, producing bombers and Jeeps and amphibious vehicles. Ultimately, GM became the largest military contractor on earth. GM made 119,562,000 shells, 206,000 aircraft engines, 97,000 bombers, 301,000 aircraft propellers, 198,000 diesel engines, 1,900,000 machine guns, 854,000 military trucks. Cadillac tanks, Oldsmobile bullets, Buick airplane engines. Chrysler had never made tanks; in a factory built from scratch, the Detroit Tank Arsenal, Chrysler made roughly as many tanks during the war than all the Nazi factories combined. Ford—which became the nation’s third largest military contractor—built a production facility called Willow Run, the largest factory under one roof in the history of the world, churning out 18,482 B-24 Liberators. So many laborers worked at Willow Run, the government had to build a city from scratch—"Bomber City"—to give these people homes and infrastructure near the factory (rubber tires were rationed, so commuting was all but impossible). At the start of the war, the B-24 Liberator was the biggest, fastest, most destructive bomber in the American arsenal. Still today, because of Ford, the B-24 remains the U.S.'s most mass-produced military aircraft of all time. It is no exaggeration to say that the auto industry saved the world. Said Donald Nelson, head of FDR's War Production Board: "The American war production job was probably the greatest collective achievement of all time." The Big Three Were Medical Innovators Back Then, Too The story of Detroit’s efforts during World War II is well known today. What is not is the fact that the auto industry also has a history of innovating medical products. On November 30, 1955, GM announced that it had developed "an ingenious mechanical sterilizer" called a Centri-Filmer. The company partnered with medical researchers at the Michael Reese Research Foundation in Chicago to create this device, which spun liquid vaccines in a centrifuge into a layer 1/20th the thickness of a human hair. Ultraviolet light then blasted through the film, "killing" viruses in vaccines (making the virus unable to replicate, so vaccines could do their jobs without making people sick). In 1979, GM researchers developed a new "ostomy appliance system" consisting of a plastic pouch assembly, an elastic belt, and a soft seal ring. The system aimed to make colostomy bags easier to wear and maintain. The medical feat for which GM is most-known is nothing less than the first mechanical heart. The story begins in the 1940s, when a cardiologist at Detroit's Harper Hospital named Forest D. Dodrill had an idea. At the time, heart surgery was largely palliative because the heart had to function during the operation. Dr. Dodrill had the idea of creating a machine that could pump blood like an engine pumps fuel, so blood could circulate while surgeons worked on the heart. He turned to GM to design the thing (GM's president, Charles E. Wilson, was at the time chairman of the board of the Michigan Heart Association). A team of GM engineers went to work under the leadership of one Edward V. Rippingille Sr. "We have pumped oil, gasoline, water and other fluids one way or another in our business," Rippingille figured. "It seems only logical we should try to pump blood." A Heart Pump Built Like a V-12 On July 3, 1952, Dr. Dodrill and a team of surgeons operated on the heart of 41-year old Henry Opitek at Harper Hospital while a machine that resembled a V-12 engine (it had six pumps on each of its two banks) pumped Opitek's blood through his body. As the New York Times put it in a 2018 article, "Detroit muscle powered a heart and gave Henry Opitek another 29 years of life." Both Ford and GM have history innovating health-care systems. Henry Ford saw in the early years of his company that the massive movement of people to the Detroit area to work in his factory was going to require healthcare infrastructure, and so in 1915—the heyday of the Model T—Henry Ford Hospital opened to the public. Today the Henry Ford Health System employs over 1200 physicians. In the 1940s, Alfred Sloan (the longtime chief of GM, often called the father of the modern corporation) and Charles Kettering (head of research at GM for decades) joined forces to create the Sloan-Kettering Institute, a biomedical research unit which today is known as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In 1941, the Ford Motor Company's engineers innovated a movable, affordable infant incubator that aimed to reduce infant deaths in hospitals. Seven years later, engineers at Ford's Rouge factory developed a new iron lung to aid polio victims during a terrifying epidemic. And History Repeats Itself Now today, the auto industry is going to work to build ventilators, respiratory masks, and who knows yet what else. On March 24, Ford CEO Jim Hackett told CBS News that his company is designing two to three versions of breathing apparatuses for front-line medical workers, but also, "hundreds of thousands of the simplest [masks] will be started to be produced in the next week or so." One challenge that engineers did not face during their heroic work of World War II is how to put workers on assembly lines without putting a lot of people in one place and thus creating potentially hazardous virus-spreading conditions. "A factory is all about working together on a line," Hackett said. "So the way these teams are designing the production of this [ventilator] is building subassemblies in smaller groups and having them come together to be assembled." As it was in wartime, the future today is a question mark. How long will this new plague stick around? Will it come back next flu season? One thing is for sure, however: the U.S. auto industry can help. Said Hackett: "We are ready to go." And, as in World War II, time is of the essence and lives hang in the balance. Photographs: GM and medical researchers with Centri-Filmer, a vaccine-purifying machine. GM - Developing the heart pump, 1952

Based on personal experience, I urge everyone to wear a mask when out in public. Industrial masks, even a scarf, whatever you can get. The government has steadily said that face masks won't help. But you'll never fine evidence to support the ridiculous claim because it doesn't exist. The truth is, there aren't sufficient quantities to provide for the masses. They barely have enough for medical facilities. There is abundant proof that masks do help prevent viral infections like the Coronavirus. For example, wearing a mask in public resulted in a 70% reduction in the risk of catching SARS, which like Covid-19, is a respiratory illnesses caused by the same family of viruses called coronavirus. Masks work !

Ford to build respirators in Michigan near home of Mustang Michael Martinez, Automotive News / March 31, 2020 Ford Motor Co. plans to build respirators using paid UAW volunteers assigned to an idled assembly plant in Flat Rock, Mich., beginning the week of Monday, April 6, according to the union local representing those workers. The automaker will build respirators on three shifts at a building near the factory, according to a Tuesday post from UAW Local 3000. Ford said last week it is partnering with 3M to build respirators but didn't disclose details. Flat Rock workers typically build the Mustang and Lincoln Continental, but all of Ford's North American plants have been temporarily shuttered to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. It's unclear how many paid UAW volunteers Ford will use to build respirators. "This is a call to action for a cause that transcends everyday comforts," according to a transcript of a robocall to workers. "It is an opportunity to make a bad situation better and help our medical professionals, first responders and all affected by COVID-19." Ford, in a statement late Tuesday, did not confirm the details released by union officials. "Ford is humbled to work with 3M, GE Healthcare and the UAW to manufacture medical equipment to help those on the front lines fighting COVID-19," a spokeswoman said. "We'll have more to share about this in the future." Ford is working with 3M to boost output of respirators 3M is producing while simultaneously building its own respirators using a makeshift design that includes fans from F-150 pickup seats, hoods from assembly plant paint shops, 3D-printed parts and portable-tool battery packs that could allow the devices to run for up to eight hours. Some components and subassemblies are being made at Ford's advanced manufacturing center near Detroit in Redford, Michigan. Ford last week said it initially would be able to make up to 1,000 respirators per month, helping 3M boost production of them tenfold. Ford also is working with GE Healthcare to build 50,000 ventilators between late April and early July at its Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, Mich. In addition, the automaker is building face shields at a rate of roughly 100,000 per week at Ford subsidiary Troy Design and Manufacturing's center in Plymouth, Michigan.

Not exactly. People who had it have caught it a second time.

Today, the White House was more upfront than anytime before on what they know of the Coronavirus, stating that 100,000 to 240,000 people might perish. Unlike previous briefings. the tone was serious, somber and grim. The president warned America to brace for a “very, very painful two weeks” "I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to go through a very tough two weeks," Trump said. “It’s absolutely critical for the American people to follow the guidelines for the next 30 days. It’s a matter of life and death.” White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx displayed charts demonstrating data and modeling that showed an enormous jump in deaths to a range of 100,000 to 240,000 people from the virus in the coming months even with mitigation measures in place. Asked if Americans should be prepared for the likelihood that 100,000 will die from this virus, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: “The answer is yes. As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it." .

Landi Renzo Receives CNG Certification for Ford 7.3L Engine Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / March 27, 2020 Landi Renzo USA received U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification on compressed natural gas (CNG) for the Ford 7.3L engine covering Class 4-7 vehicles. These Ford vehicles are included in the EPA certification: F-450/550 F-650/750 F-53/59 E-450 The Landi Renzo USA eco-fuel CNG system for the 7.3L engine is used in airport and hotel shuttle buses, delivery trucks, service trucks, large package trucks, as well as other vocational offerings. Many of these vehicles will be able to take advantage of various grant funding opportunities, according to Landi Renzo. "Our EPA certification is result of the tremendous work of many individuals. We also want to recognize Ford's support in helping us produce a world class CNG product," said Paul Shaffer, EVP for Landi Renzo USA. During this 18-month effort, Landi Renzo USA conducted extensive engine and vehicle testing to meet the stringent Ford Q-185 gaseous prep guidelines and demonstrate full useful life durability. CARB certification on the 7.3L is expected in late Q2 2020. Landi Renzo USA is approved as a Ford QVM System Developer and Installer for gaseous fuels, offering the largest selection of eco-fuel systems for commercial fleets. By fleets utilizing the Landi Renzo USA system, the Ford warranty remains fully in place.

Ford Trucks International Press Release / March 27, 2020 Ford Trucks' Active Emergency Brake System (AEBS) measures the distance from the vehicle in front and brakes in an emergency to ensure that the vehicle slows down safely. We developed this technology for your safety on the road. Now it’s your turn to keep your 1.5 meter social distance with the people around you to protect yourself from Covid-19 and stay healthy & safe. .