ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Now That You Got Your Boxes Delivered From Amazon – Should You Touch Them?

CHINA’S NEW ATTACK HELICOPTERS ARE UNDERPOWERED — LET THEM STAY THAT WAY: According to this post, China thought it could get away with using French or U.S. engine designs in its new Z10 helicopter gunships. In the case of the French WZ16 engine design “the joint [French-Chinese] development agreement specified that the WZ16 would not be used in military helicopters. China thought they could get around that but failed.” Paris to Beijing: Mais non.

China also failed to pinch a U.S.-designed helicopter engine that’s built in Canada.

Excerpt:

Pratt & Whitney Canada was taken to court by the U.S. government because the Chinese seemed intent on building the Z10 with the “civilian use only” PT6C-67C engine. The Canadians did not sell any more engines to China, which meant that the Z-10 had to enter mass production with a one third less powerful Chinese WZ9 engine.

Not only no, but Hell no.

Economic kicker: “China has had no success in finding export customers for the Z10.”

This post is packed with detailed technical info — and the good news that France and the U.S. are enforcing contracts that affect national security.

RELATED: Here’s a rather dramatic photo of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, which the post linked above calls “currently the most popular such [attack] helicopter in the world with over 2,000 built so far and over a dozen export customers so far.”

STAR TREK: PICARD STAR PATRICK STEWART ANNOUNCES FREE MONTH OF CBS ALL ACCESS.

The first season’s finale streams tomorrow night. With the exception of the episode that preceded it, which tried to cram waaaay too much expository information into an hour to set up the last episode, I’ve enjoyed the season much more than I thought I would. Click here for my review of the debut episode, written in late January, which seems like a century ago.

LAKOTA ON COVID-19 DUTY: The New Jersey Army National Guard UH-72 Lakota helicopter in the photo has just returned to the National Guard Training Center at Sea Girt, N.J. According to the caption it flew an observation mission “over COVID-19 Community-Based Testing Sites in Paramus and Holmdel.” The caption lists the organizations using the sites. Photo taken March 24, 2020.

THEY CALLOUSLY OVERPLAYED A WEAK HAND AT A DANGEROUS TIME: Congressional Democrats are tanking Biden’s 2020 odds.

MILESTONES: Beaumont nears capacity: 635 hospitalized for COVID-19 with limited ventilators.

Related: Atlanta mayor says ICU units at capacity.

CONSEQUENCES: College students’ attitudes toward coronavirus shift as Florida spring breakers test positive.

After five University of Tampa students tested positive for coronavirus after ignoring federal health guidelines and traveling for spring break, a new poll finds that a vast majority of college students are now “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about the coronavirus pandemic.

A College Pulse poll found that 31 percent of U.S. college students are now “very concerned” by the pandemic, while another 54 percent are “somewhat concerned.” Twelve percent said they are “not too concerned,” while three percent said they are “not at all concerned.” The number of college students who are either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” is up 12 percentage points from just last week when 73 percent said they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” by the virus.

The same poll found that an increasing number of college students are changing their daily routines in accordance with CDC guidelines. About 73 percent reported doing more to combat the virus such as washing their hands more frequently or touching their face less. That’s up 17 percentage points from the week before when 56 percent said the same. However, 14 percent reported making no changes to their lives.

The poll comes as the University of Tampa in Florida announced that five students traveling for spring break tested positive for COVID-19.

But on average, each infected student dumbass will infect two to four other people who didn’t get any choice about this whole thing.

THE WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX HAS GONE RED: Coronavirus: Waffle House closes 365 locations in US.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Putin dons hazmat suit, as Russia admits virus numbers likely far higher.

OUR RULING CLASS: Brown professor apologizes for saying pregnant women have ‘husbands’ in coronavirus newsletter.

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KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: The Latest Coronavirus Mutation — My New Ways to Hate the Media. “As the world has descended into coronavirus panic, the scum masquerading as journalists in this country have been working overtime to plumb new depths of irresponsibility.”

BOSTON: 68 Boston hospital workers test positive for coronavirus as nurses call for more help.

ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Kid Gloves For We, But Not For Thee. “It’s much harder to find cases of senior officials who are found by the OIG to have committed wrongdoing and are subsequently prosecuted.”

THEIR PRIORITIES WERE MADE CLEAR: Editorial: We will remember Dems’ stimulus holdup. “And they’re only kidding themselves if they think the American people aren’t wondering how these pols went from an economic stimulus bill to voter registration. People are paying attention, especially those who are out of a job because of coronavirus restrictions on businesses. They are desperate for those $1,000 or more checks — already earmarking them for food and vital supplies. And they will remember such brazen stunts, as much as they will remember how President Trump is handling the pandemic.”

THAT MANY? HEADS WILL ROLL: CBS Allows a Scant 10 Seconds on Own Poll Showing Majority Support for Trump on Corona.

FOXHOLE BUDDIES: Breaking bread: New York, California governors win in newfound ‘mutual respect’ with Trump. “I think that the president is not that partisan. The press has made him out to be that way, but as long as he is not being attacked or feels he is being targeted by these guys. If you see what Pritzger’s doing and de Blasio, they are using this as a platform to target and attack the president. And when you have governors that are pretty serious about their situation and want to get results, they are working with Donald Trump because he is a results guy.”

Well, a “results guy” is what we need.

NEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES: With a heavy heart, two more Metro Manila hospitals stop admission of COVID-19 patients as they reach ‘full capacity.’

I’VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR A WHILE NOW: Let’s Just Say It, Shall We? Joe Biden Is Probably Not Okay. “You can watch the wheels come off of his presentation in this video that Breitbart posted to their Twitter feed. Things seemed to be going fairly normally for a little while as Biden obviously recites some remarks while reading them off the teleprompter. But then the prompter obviously must have failed. At that point, Joe went to full ramble mode. The video is only a bit more than thirty seconds in length, but it feels a lot longer. Frankly, it’s pretty uncomfortable to sit through, but make sure you have the sound on for this.”

Biden can’t pull off a fake presser, but wants to manage the entire executive branch.

FINALLY: ‘We Have A Deal’: McConnell Speaks After $2 Trillion Emergency Relief Package For Coronavirus Has Been Reached.

CONSEQUENCES: Bipartisan Effort Underway To Hold Chinese Government Financially Accountable For Coronavirus Outbreak.

WHY DO YOU THINK THE PRESS WAS “ADVISING” HIM TO STOP THE BRIEFINGS?

BREAKING: Prince Charles Tests Positive For Wuhan Virus.