Category: Current Events

Coronavirus And Practical Preparedness

I had originally planned to write about the bigotry of Stephen King and some other authors along with a miserable trope in USA channel movies, but that will have to be later this week. Instead, I need to cover a more important subject.

There is a lot being written about the coronavirus that is raging across China, and headed world-wide. A coronavirus is any of a family of single-stranded RNA viruses that has a lipid envelope with club-shaped projections. Some of the family don’t really have a negative affect on humans; but, some strains do. While a suspect for some cases of gastroenteritis, the ones that do effect humans do so through the respiratory system. The common cold is a coronavirus.

Unfortunately, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are both of the coronavirus family. The strain currently spreading from Wuhan (2019-nCoV) is a new strain and is similar to SARS.

It can infect human lungs as easily as the common cold, it can be passed person-to-person (patient to caregiver is confirmed), and while England has issued some strong precautions, at least one of the cases in the US is being treated by telemedicine as much as possible.

Also understand that the Chinese government has lied about this disease from the start, and there is no reason for them to stop. They are severely censoring information as fast and as hard as they can. They are taking the virus seriously, but the question is will their efforts be effective. As a bit of background (hope to add more later), when the Chinese government was admitting to 50 cases, outside experts pegged it at 1,700. That was on the 18th, and there are reports suggesting that while there are roughly 3,000 confirmed cases, that the actual infection rate is in excess of 90,000 people.

Is there cause to panic? No. Is there cause to be concerned? Yes. A good resource for keeping up with the current outbreak is here.

What can and should you do? Well, I think having 3-7 days of food and water is a good start for anything. I try to keep that and a bit more (so I have a month’s supply of coffee, don’t judge my addictions) on hand at all times. For other reasons, I’ve been upping some of my preparations. If you don’t have a 3-7 day supply of food, water, medicines, supplements, and basic supplies, it is good to get and maintain them for general preparedness purposes.

If this does turn into a true global pandemic similar to the 1918 Spanish Flu (or worse), then you are talking a different level of preparedness. For that you will need 4-6 weeks worth of water, food, and supplies.

I will discuss practical preparedness, as well as preparedness for a pandemic more in the days ahead.

The Violent Racist Gathering That Wasn’t

Despite the best efforts of His Majesty’s Governor Northam, the Duke of Blackface (more commonly known by the Commoners of the the Commonwealth as “Racist Ralph”) and members of the media, the rally in Richmond was peaceful and did not feature bigotry (save by the media and progressive politicians).

Indeed, it was in most ways an idealized representation of what it means to be American. You had diversity of races, sexes, genders, and more.

This white supremacist (according to the media he is one) nuked several media memes and political talking points. Kudos to him.

This guy just cracked me up. He was the epitome of the humor and camaraderie I’ve seen in almost every video from the event.

Love the fact that some (am hearing that more did as well) LE came and joined in.

At least one agitator showed up. He was shown his ass and had it strongly suggested he get his ass, get on it, and get out of there. Again, Kudos to those who shut him down.

All this classic and ideal Americana has thrown Racist Ralph and members of the media into funk. Racist Ralph is still trying to smear those who came out. A typical example of media coverage is here. Here’s a good summary of the media malfeasance, though it is not complete IMO. There is another take on it here that is well worth the read. A good summation is found here. A very accurate piece about the media coverage can be found at America’s new newspaper of record (as opposed to the newspaper with a record).

BTW, loved this takedown of a bigot bloviating about the rally.

This group that was there were far more accurate than the media. And, finally, a huge difference between your typical progressive event and one like this one. Think the media would ever report that? No, I don’t think so either.

Hang On, Likely To Be An Interesting Week

So many topics, so little time. Since the progressives hate jokes being made about them (just ask the Babylon Bee, which has CNN and other progressives working hard to put them out of business), I’m going to have a little fun in making some points.

First, do something to make the week better for all. Go commit a random act of beauty or kindness. Heck, if you have the opportunity, do it every day this week.

This is a huge story, and is only the tip of the iceberg as it were. PowerLine has been on this, since the media refuses to cover it.

Yep, and Climate Change is not science but is a religion. A cult being used towards this very end.

Just ask Venezuela… And most of Eastern Europe.

Yes, they do want to take away your guns. The mask is off, as His Majesty’s Governor Northam demonstrates yet again. Why? A disarmed citizenry are no longer Citizens, but subjects.

I also agree with a comment I saw online about gun control having to be the most White Privilege thing ever, coming from an ivory tower and equivalent of “let the maid take care of it.”

The party of Diversity for thee, but not for me.

The media every day of the week. Lots to talk about there, and am amazed at how many intelligent and sane people I know can’t seem to get that the media routinely lies despite the many examples of that out there.

Impeachment is now just another political tool, to be used at whim. The theatre is designed to discredit Trump and his legacy, with an aim of undoing as much of what he does accomplish as possible. It is designed to taint every judge or other position appointed. That it will also do some other things along the way, along similar lines, is just icing on the cake. Nancy, you have sown the wind, now reap what you have sown.

Public education needs a lot of help, possibly more than can be given. One thing that does need to be done is to restore real history and real civics classes. Then again, if you don’t know history or civics, you are a lot easier to manipulate and control.

If you have ever talked with those who escaped from behind the Iron Curtain, you will find that our groceries were and are amazing to them. Think about the logistics, international trade, and even support of local sources come from the modern grocery that we take for granted.

Sorry, given all the hysteria over “WWIII” I just find this funny as all get out.

Getting ready last Friday for the Prohibition Party at O’Banion’s to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Prohibition. May share a few more photos in the days ahead.

Be careful, be safe, be informed.

Food For Thought Tuesday

There is more to write about the Trump Doctrine, but it could literally become several doctoral theses in the years to come. Meantime, there is a lot of good food for thought out there, and I’m going to share some of it here.

Older, but still worth the read is why there won’t be a draft or WWIII.

How Dare You Not Include Us??? The real reason behind some of the strong reaction.

The media misses not one, but many huge stories. This is but one of them.

Is Donald Trump writing a farewell letter to the Middle East? An interesting possibility.

If anyone thinks that Journolist is dead, take a look around. One good example…

I agree that the leadership of the Democratic party hates Trump with a passion that leaves them no way, no room, to love anything else. To that end, they have embraced the enemies of the United States as a mean to defeat Trump. Just one part of the mask slipping. For them, it doesn’t matter if Americans are killed or the interests of the United States and its Citizens are compromised — all that matters is winning and defeating Trump.

A companion piece to the excellent story linked yesterday in the discussion of the Trump Doctrine. Read it, and try not to weep.

A Never-Trumper has an epiphany. Now if we could only get Rod Dreher, who’s writing on faith and issues in various churches I read somewhat religiously, to quit clutching his pearls, pissing his panties, declaring FlounceCon1, and flouncing to his fainting couch every time Trump inhales…

The media is in the tank for the DNC, and would be willing to die (literally, I suspect) to protect the illusion and reputation (such as it is) of Obama. But one example is this cringe-worthy effort out of the rapidly tanking CNN.

More questions than answers. Have to agree, the news reporting today does bring that out.

The world is indeed watching, and not just the Iranian leadership. U.S. leadership, and the leadership of the so-called free world, is being watched as well. The masks are slipping, will they come completely off in the days to come?

You’ve Got To Be Fracking Kidding Me…

The news coverage to which I awoke this morning already has me banging my head against walls, desks, and other hard surfaces. The hysteria burns…

First, Iran did NOT launch ICBMs. They don’t have any. An ICBM is an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, and again, for the cognitively impaired, they don’t (yet) have any. Yes, they would love to have some, especially if they worked.

It’s not clear (to me, yet) if they launched IRBMs. For those playing at home, that is an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile. Yep, they’ve got some. That work sometimes. That might actually go to the target area instead of deciding to go walk-about.

They most likely launched SRBMs, aka Short-Range Ballistic Missiles. Keep in mind that the model rockets I launched as a child were technically SRBMs, at least when the “warhead” failed to pop off and the parachute deploy. Which happened more often than I cared for.

SRBMs include several flavors of SCUD missiles. Yes, some SCUDs can be IRBMs, at least technically. I say that given the targets of the air strikes that brought Suleimani to Iraq (hint, in parts of Iraq and especially Syria, even SRBMs can threaten Israel).

Is the launch an escalation? Yep, and a significant one in that they openly launched from Iran. Is it a major earth-shattering pearl-clutching panty-peeing Flouncecon 1 event? Nope.

Couple of things to note about Operation Symbolic Revenge. First, look at the number actually launched, which is 15 (best sources), not 10s or dozens. Then, look at the number of birds that failed between launch and landing. Then, look at the accuracy of the attack. To a great extent, yawn.

Also look at the immediate response of the Iranian government after launch. In short: We’ve taken revenge; if you don’t retaliate we won’t do anything further; if you do retaliate you will be great big mean poopyheads and you will pay a bitter price via Operation Symbolic Revenge II.

For those saying it’s a act of war: DUH! What do you think the sacking of the embassy in Tehran was? What do you think the attack on our diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was? What do you think the attack on our embassy in Baghdad was? What do you think the proxy (and possibly some direct) attacks on our troops over the last almost 20 years were? What do you think the attacks against our interests elsewhere, as well as against other countries, via proxy forces were and are?

Get a grip: Iran has been at war with us since around 1979. We’ve mostly ignored it, and at best have dealt rather poorly with it. Danegeld never works. Ignoring has only emboldened.

So far, Trump and his administration have taken rather measured, and extremely effective, responses. My hope is that those continue. Again, it would take about 35 minutes to destroy Iran as a power without using nukes or even necessarily putting American lives at risk to do so. For all that I would have no problem with that, I think there should be at least a couple of more steps before we do so, though to do so would be completely justified on any/every level.

As for those at Flouncecon 1 wailing that we are bumbling our way into a major ground war: You are complete and total fecking morons. Patton was wrong: people like you know even less about fornication than about war, which may help prevent the stupid genes from being spread. We can at least hope so. If you can’t take a look at what has been done, and how, then there is a good bit out there about why this isn’t going to happen. If you can take a good look at what has been done and how, what makes you think they will drop proven and effective for something different that is not likely to work on any level?

Personally, I’m hoping that the next steps do enough damage that the people of Iran can make a change. More than thousand died protesting the regime last year, be nice if they could get out and do something without being killed en-masse. There are a number of ways that this can happen, without a massive effort on par with Afghanistan and Iraq.

Me, I’m not too worried and am looking forward to the President’s remarks later this morning. As for the feckless politicians mourning a fracking terrorist: Sod Off. The masks are off, take a look at who truly cares for America and Americans; and, take a long look at who clearly does not. Remember it come election day.

Some Thoughts For The Day

I could hope that some sanity would break out this morning, but don’t expect it. Indeed, I fully expect to see the usual suspects double down on a variety of fronts.

The hysterics shouting about WWIII, the return of the draft, gloom, doom, despair, and excessive misery (points if you get the reference) are idiots. Or, in a few cases, cynical provocateurs who know better but also know that the gullible will (once again) buy into those themes.

No, this is not WWIII nor is it likely to morph into that anywhere in the next couple of years. No, the draft is not returning you snowflakes as none of the troops or their competent leadership want to have to carry your useless ass. The all volunteer force, despite the best efforts of Obama, remains an amazing and effective force. Not what it once was, but on track to get back IMO. If they brought you in, a troop of girl scouts armed with popsicle sticks could probably do you and those like you in, and do so in less than a minute. Not going to happen.

But, you keep rising to the bait. How many times has the draft been coming back? How many times has an evil conservative President been going to be responsible for WWIII? How far did Obama expand Presidential war powers? How many times did Obama conduct military strikes, including the targeted assassination (just like was done with by Trump on the General) of a U.S. Citizen who technically was a high school sophomore without Congressional consultation or approval? Hint, there were more than 2,500 such strikes.

Iran lacks the military to do any serious punching; and, in fact, their military is hurting. The leadership in Iran is quite literally shocked and scared right now, for all the bluster, as they finally have realized that they personally can (and would) be targeted. A message was sent, and from all reports it has been received.

Will they do something and call it a major victory? Likely. In addition to realizing that they are now personal targets and not exempt, they also know that they are in a bad place. It would not take 52 targets, but would take about 35 minutes, to destroy Iran via taking out the only things left propping up the regime. Nice thing is, no American forces actually need to go into the danger zone to do this. There are a couple of other options available that stop short of the complete destruction of the current critical infrastructure, options that would leave something for the population to rebuild with after the regime has fallen.

Meantime, the so-called leadership of the Democratic party is once again hard at work to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Orange man can’t be allowed to succeed, because, reasons. Most reasons revolve around power, graft, and an impressive amount of outrage that the “experts” were not consulted. That is the insult that has driven them into a frenzy, and they have taken it extremely personally.

Nancy et al were fine with Obama assassinating an American citizen without warrant or let; but, Orange man must be stopped before he has any other success. Nancy et al were and are fine with the deaths of Americans (military and civilian), so long as prevention of same doesn’t make Trump or the evil Republicans look good and/or harm the Democrats.

In all the hand-wringing panty-peeing pearl-clutching hysteria of American “bumbling” towards war with Iran (here’s a hint as you flounce to your fainting couch, they’ve already been at war with us since app. 1979), a few things are being missed.

One, look at what else got hit with the initial strikes against the PMF forces in Iraq, the ones who injured and killed Americans. Tend to agree the people were collateral damage, but in this case quite good with the collateral damage.

Two, look at what happened when our embassy was attacked. We held. We reinforced. We pushed back. Things didn’t go to the terrorist (or democrat) script.

Three, this brought not only Soleimani (Suleimani is what I’m seeing in a number of Iranian sources) to Baghdad, but look at who all else was traveling with him. Hint, it wasn’t a troop of girl scouts armed with popsicle sticks. More than one general and/or leader got popped, and that’s a good thing because you rarely have that many top people in one spot in a country they are not supposed to be in, if they were only planning an ice-cream social.

Four, this has shaken the top leadership of Iran; is causing some potentially major fracturing of both the public and the leadership in Syria; has had additional impacts in at least four other countries; and, has exposed some extremely ugly anti-Americanism at home and abroad.

On a different front, I’ve been extremely amused at the media vs. public response to the Golden Globes opening (and later jokes); and, at the panty-peeing by a reporter at CNN about the Babylon Bee.

On many fronts, the masks have been ripped away so that the only ones not seeing the hideousness beneath are those who deliberately and willfully do not want to see.

The good news this morning, is that not only have the masks been ripped away, but some interesting stands have been taken. Both Rowling and Gervais have taken important stands against cancel culture and woke culture. We may well have just witnessed the watershed moment for both, and the start of some long-needed pushback. The winds of change are blowing, despite frantic efforts to block them.

Soleimani And The Ghosts Of Teddy And Jimmy

Qasem Soleimani (Suleimani) was a “revered military leader” only to a very select few. To the rest of the world, including many in his own country, he was a feared man who engaged in killings and terror around the world — particularly in the Middle East. He was directly and personally responsible for deaths and injuries to our troops and support personnel.

I shed no tears for his death. In fact, I smiled. If where he was killed is where I think it is, there may even be a touch of the poetic in the justice that has been meted out. For all that I did say a prayer for his soul (I suspect it needs far more prayers than I can give), I will smoke a cigar today at some point for the fact that he is gone.

The usual suspects have their panties in a twist, screaming about how “oh god oh god we’re all going to die” because President Trump gave the Iranians the business end of a Hellfire (oh, I hope it was, adds to the poetic aspect) instead of pallets of cash which Soleimani has used to spread misery and death around the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere. To Congressman Schitt and all the other desperate pearl clutchers in the lace panty brigade, I offer the immortal words of Commander Bialar Crais: “Tough Noogies!”

That said, alert levels at various locations in the U.S. and overseas have been raised. This is right and prudent, especially as the Mahdi Army has been reactivated, and there are some reports that it, along with Quds and others, have sleeper cells in the U.S. Iran will try to do something to strike back, and it is possible that sleeper cells in the U.S. may act on their own even if told not to do so. There are reports right now that PMF forces are massing in and around Baghdad. There are also reports of additional strikes of some sort in and around Baghdad. Maybe the two are connected… There are also some interesting movements of military aircraft underway. Lots of open-source intel out there, but as with official intel reports, the fun lies in trying to separate out the 99 percent that is bullshit from the 1 percent that is gold.

My take is: ignore the pearl clutchers and the bug-out because Armageddon is here types, be alert, and celebrate two victories.

First, a mastermind of terror is dead. The media won’t cover it, but you can find out a lot about him and what he has done via the blogs and other experts. Think I may even raise a drink along with smoking a cigar, now that I think about it.

Second, celebrate that American Leadership, political and military, looked to the ghosts of the Rough Rider and Reagan rather than to the failed shades of Jimmy Carter, Obama, and Hillary. The Baghdad embassy was defended and reinforced, as President Trump did not do like his predecessor and go to bed and then to a fundraiser. Nor did he blame what happened on a movie that no one had ever heard of, and had jack shit to do with what happened. Iran was warned there was a price to be paid, and they learned that there was a high and personal price to be paid. One wonders if they have thought about what the next level will be, and how personal it could be made. Also, give thanks that the leadership apparently does already have next steps planned and ready to go.

What we have now is not Desert One; it is not Benghazi; and, it is not the start of Armageddon — at least not for us. Iran can (and often does) do something incredibly stupid. That said, I’ve noticed that President Trump has almost always gone for pointed, personal, and somewhat surgical responses. He makes points, very strongly and at a high cost for a regime that is in dire economic straights and is facing an unprecedented level of unrest from major sections of its population. The Iranian regime is more than brittle, it can (and hopefully will) shatter at the right blow or series of blows.

For all that they want Armageddon (to bring about the return of the Hidden Imam), the leadership of Iran is not in a position to make it happen themselves other than on a limited scale. So long as no major power joins them, this will remain true. Fact is, they want to survive so as to welcome the Hidden Imam. What scares them right now is that at home and abroad, they see the signs of their own mortality. That may cause them to do something stupid, truly and epically stupid; but, it will not be the Armageddon they seek.

Stay tuned. I’m hoping that the little list that seems to exist has some of the same names as mine. I have to admit, it would be nice to see justice done, even if long delayed. Soleimani is the latest and greatest on that list, and the world is much improved by his departure. Now if some others will join him…