*banned 4 MarkDown love* @design_RG@social.cleverlibre.org

Due to American sanctions brought in by the Trump government against any oil tanker companies shipping crude oil (usually from Venezuela, to Cuba), Cuba has been operating with only about 30% of their usual crude oil supply.

There's no fuel for tractors, and people in the country side are back to plowing with oxen. Some don't even have that, and food production has been curtailed in the whole island.

This is the inhumanity of this cruel man at the helm, affecting a whole nation. A good article at the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/cuba-food-production-us-oil-sanctions

The Tourism sector which is the island's lifeline, is also hurting.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/21/havana-cubans-count-cost-as-tourists-stay-away-trump-sanctions

A very poignant article at Reuters I just read this morning.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-ethics-speci/special-report-all-is-well-in-italy-triage-and-lies-for-virus-patients-idUSKBN2133KG

@cats Gorgeous. thanks for all the nice pictures!

This has some background explanations that help understand the Fed's panicky emergency meeting and slashing of interest rates.

They are worried about a crisis of liquidity in the financial markets, similar to the one that started in 2008 and forced huge measures by central banks to avoid a seize up.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-markets-crisis-ana/the-plumbing-behind-worlds-financial-markets-is-creaking-loudly-idUSKBN2120NJ

The economic impact of the epidemic is hitting main street now, after all the panic and pain in Wall St and the world's financial markets.

Good read at the NY Times!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/business/economy/coronavirus-economy-impact.html

Slowly app launched another neat new series of stamp this morning. Welcome to "Cheat Day" series.

Yummy sugar fixes and comfort foods.

Had the pleasure to pet two beautiful young Black Cats on Friday, which was also the 13th!

They are so lovely, these mini-panthers. 🙂🐈

#cats #mastocats #CatsofMastodon #meow #xp
---
RT @CatDisapproval
Today is my human brother's birthday! There will be cake!
https://twitter.com/CatDisapproval/status/1239198312886083586

A nice read, article tells how an Italian family is coping with the changes in their lives under the CV spread. I found it intesting and inspired.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/life-lockdown-parma-italy-coronavirus

Canadian Cool Cats keep warm with their own parkas.

@freemo This post is the one I am referring to; seems to be 11 days offset between Italian and US stats, which seem to be mirroring Italy's.

https://qoto.org/@peterdrake/103817276709670433

@freemo One good aspect is that the medical system is not that stressed in the US yet, at this moment at least.

Peter posted some stats comparing Italy and USA, and it seems to mirror pretty exactly the day by day increase in numbers. Scary, as we know it's hitting the health system hard in Italy atm, and it will reach a similar case count in the US in a a few weeks too.

@freemo ooooh.. Sorry to hear that, hope she does well. Is she in the USA ?

Best to be in our own countries when things are going weird like now. Glad I didn't travel.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadians-abroad-urged-to-come-home-while-they-still-can-amid/

@Lyudmila Encontre ahora la fuente del artigo arriba, y me parece mas detallado. Esta ahi: https://espanol.almayadeen.net/news/politics/1383512/interfer%C3%B3n-de-cuba-cura-coronavirus

I have found the source of the article mentioned in the previous post above, about the Interferon Alfa-2B new drug. The link in Spanish is listed above, we can also see it in a Bing English translation here:

https://www.translatetheweb.com/?ref=TVert&from=&to=en&a=https%3A%2F%2Fespanol.almayadeen.net%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F1383512%2Finterfer%25C3%25B3n-de-cuba-cura-coronavirus

Earlier this morning, @Lyudmila posted a link to a Spanish language blog, which talks about a new prescription drug developed and manufactured in Cuba, called Interferoan Alfa 2B, which seems to be effective in helping the more serious cases of Covid19.

The article mentions 1500 patients having been saved, and the drug being unique at the moment.

* Here's a Bing machine translation to English for easier access : https://www.translatetheweb.com/?from=es&to=en&dl=en&ref=trb&a=https%3A%2F%2Fcriticaalaeconomia.com%2F2020%2F03%2F02%2Fcuba-lo-hizo-1500-infectados-con-coronavirus-se-curan-gracias-a-medicamento-cubano

* Original in Spanish is at : https://criticaalaeconomia.com/2020/03/02/cuba-lo-hizo-1500-infectados-con-coronavirus-se-curan-gracias-a-medicamento-cubano

@ssokolow No, you won't be able to change the clock back, and post with earlier time lines. I would suggest you could have a mention and a link to the Twitter profile in your Mastodon profile here, so people can find it easily and follow thru if they like.