(FREE) PAINE IN THE MORNING: 10 things you need to know this Tuesday – April 12, 2022

There is also a full, ad-free video podcast of this broadcast available to Paine.TV members HERE.

Learn more about joining our community HERE.

Philadelphia reimposes indoor mask mandate in response to rising omicron BA.2 cases –Philadelphia health officials announced Monday that they are reimposing the indoor mask mandate in response to an increase in cases driven by the omicron BA.2 subvariant.

“Recently we’ve been watching COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise in several European countries and some places in the US, and now were starting to see cases here in Philadelphia rise,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said at a press briefing on Monday afternoon. “We’re reintroducing the mask mandate in Philadelphia.” – READ MORE

White House COVID czar says TSA mask mandate could ‘absolutely’ be extended again –With the airplane mask mandate set to expire next week, President Joe Biden’s new coronavirus czar on Monday raised the possibility that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could once again extend the federal masking requirements for public transportation.

“This is a CDC decision and I think it is absolutely on the table,” White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha told NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie on “Today.” – READ MORE

‘We Don’t Want To Pooh-Pooh Getting Infected’: Fauci Says Americans Should Consider Precautions – Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that Americans should still be considering taking precautions — especially with regard to large events — as COVID-19 cases were once again on the rise.

Fauci joined host Jonathan Karl on ABC’s “This Week” to discuss the recent spikes in cases as well as the alarming number of people who have tested positive for the virus in President Joe Biden’s inner circle, raising questions about the protocols in place to protect him. – READ MORE

The “True” Inflation Rate Is 13.2% – Censorship-Resistant Price-Tracker Built On Blockchain – With the official inflation (CPI) rate at +7.9% year-over-year – a 40-year-high – one could be forgiven for believing that the government’s statistics are to be trusted this time (or why would they have ‘allowed’ it to reach such a high level?).

However, with ‘hedonic adjustments’ and such ‘unobservable’ prices as ‘owners equivalent rent’ who can really “know” what the real number is for the average family in America. Worse still, who can trust – given the government’s recent track record which has sent ‘trust’ to multi-decade lows – that a Fed desperate to show its policies are working and a Washington establishment desperate to show some progress ahead of the Midterms will not ‘adjust’ the CPI measure going forward (“see it was transitory after all”) and historically “revise” the worst inflation since Volcker to ensure the public doesn’t lose faith in The Fed’s ability to save the world. – READ MORE

Mortgage Rates Soaring At Fastest Pace In Nearly 30 Years, Making Homes Even Less Affordable – Mortgage rates are soaring at the fastest pace in three decades as interest rates begin to rise.

According to government-backed mortgage company Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages now average 4.72% — a sharp increase from 3.13% one year ago. – READ MORE

As Prices Rise Americans Turning To Their Credit Cards – Prices keep rising faster than wages. The stimulus checks are long gone. Savings are being depleted. How is the average American supposed to make ends meet?

The only option is to charge it. – READ MORE

USPS stops deliveries to California neighborhood after repeated attacks on mail carriers: Report – The United States Postal Service has suspended services in one neighborhood in Santa Monica, California, because of repeated attacks on mail carriers since January.

The first incident happened on Jan. 19 when a resident living near the intersection of 14th Street and Arizona Avenue allegedly swung a broomstick at one carrier delivering mail in the early evening hours, CBS News reported. The carrier reportedly was not injured in the attack. – READ MORE

Crime Jumps 36.5 Percent in New York City as Bail Laws Shape Gubernatorial Race –Overall index crime in New York City jumped a staggering 36.5 percent last month compared to March of 2021 as the state’s soft on crime bail laws begin to shape the 2022 gubernatorial race.

There were 1267 robberies city-wide in March, which is a 48.4 percent leap from the 854 robberies in March of 2021, while the city tallied 1044 grand larcenies auto, a 59.4 percent climb from last year, the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) crime statistics show – READ MORE

Crime Soars in Seattle After City Council Cuts Police Funding: ’30 Years’ Backwards –Crime is soaring in Seattle, Washington, in the wake of the city council’s decision to “defund the police” partially in the wake of the George Floyd riots, Black Lives Matter protests, and “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” (CHOP) of the summer of 2020.

Last quarter, the city recorded 13 homicides, the most in six years. Seattle is on a pace to surpass last year’s crime numbers — which were worse than the year before, the Seattle Times reported: “Last year, 88 people were fatally shot and 372 were wounded by gunfire in King County, surpassing 2020’s record high of 69 firearm-related homicides and 268 shooting injuries that were largely attributed to the stressors of the pandemic.” – READ MORE

TikTok acts on children’s brains like a ‘candy store’ shortening their attention span: report – The way children are consuming social media, especially on TikTok, is likely negatively affecting their attention spans, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.

“It is hard to look at increasing trends in media consumption of all types, media multitasking and rates of ADHD [attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder] in young people and not conclude that there is a decrease in their attention span,” said Dr. Carl Marci, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. – READ MORE