Tag: politics

COVID-19 3Mar20

Yes, it is still spreading. Yes, the President is considering further travel restrictions. No, there is still no reason to panic. Lots of reasons to pay attention and make rational and reasonable preparations, but no need to panic.

First, read this article in the NEJM about our response to the outbreak. A good bit of solid info, from one of the prime leaders in the fight, though one might wish for just a bit more meat on the response part. Then read this post and this post from some people who’s opinion is shaped by their expertise, and keep that in mind when listening to/reading politicians in government and the media (yes, I agree with Instapundit that the vast majority of “journalists”/media are Democratic operatives with bylines/chyrons). Alas, Dr. Carson hits it on the head. Politics and political gain (and personal) are far more important than the health and safety of the Citizens of the Republic, or the Republic itself.

The CDC continues to cover itself in glory. One reason things got so bad so fast in China (and Iran, and similar countries) is that bureaucracies in highly socialist countries are not adaptive. For that matter, bureaucracies anywhere have a track record on adaptability that make the wooly mammoth and the dodo seem like jet racers.

In America, the problem is not going to be the number of deaths. Here’s where the real crunch lies for all. And, here’s a post that makes good points (already pointed out in several previous posts) on why things are likely to be different here in terms of severity, mortality, etc. Never mind cleaner air, differences in smoking rates, etc.

Also, two interesting things to be thinking about. First, has Sen. Chris Murphy carried COVID-19 into the Senate (and all those closed sessions with members of his party)? A bit alarmist, but an interesting question. Sadly, this next has been building for a few weeks now — China has been testing the idea of blaming the U.S. for the virus. PJ Media and Claudia Rosett are on top of it. I will note that if Xi and others think this will fly internally or externally (except with idiots and those paid to promote it), they really have underestimated how much their control has slipped.

More to come, I’m sure.

As always:

Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.

Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.

Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc.  Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc.  Not many actually do it, but…  

If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.

Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:

COVID-19 What Am I Doing?

COVID-19 2Mar20

COVID-19 1Mar20

COVID-19 29Feb20

Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy

Panic Is Off And Running

COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear

COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)

COVID-19 27Feb20

COVID-19 Breaking A Chain?

COVID-19 26Feb20

COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder

COVID19 25Feb20

COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON

COVID19 23Feb20

COVID19 22Feb20

COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear

COVID19 Update 20Feb20

COVID19 Update

Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness

Expansion On A Theme

Well Maybe I Was Wrong

Some Quick Thoughts On Coronavirus 2019-nCoV

Why Should You Be Prepared?

Keeping Alert

Coronavirus And Practical Preparedness

COVID-19 1Mar20

We’ve had our first death from COVID-19. We will have more. Will we have anything like the deaths in China, Iran, and elsewhere? Not unless the bureaucracy fucks up by the numbers. There is also the possibility of an outbreak at a facility that cares for the elderly and/or vulnerable patients. Note: possibility, not confirmed.

While I don’t trust any data from China at all, here is some interesting data on deaths by age and deaths by those with pre-existing conditions. Hat tip to Instapundit for some of these links. Also, Business Insider has a good listing of all articles about coronavirus/COVID-19.

Right now, we just don’t have enough good, solid, transparent data. By six weeks from now, we will. Until then, don’t panic, stay alert, and be prepared.

Meantime, some interesting speculations from the Blueberry Town about what is going to happen. I agree with 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15. You may note that some of those echo what I’ve said before. 1 and 16 are indeed possibilities.

In another hat tip to Insty, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has a strong editorial up about those playing politics with the virus. Remember, they do want you dead, especially if it helps them keep/regain power.

Keep in mind that the media is not to be trusted to give you real news about what is going on. Don’t even bother to trust, just verify.

For now, I maintain that your first priority should be to be as financially prepared as you can be. Second is to have food, medicines, OTCs, supplements, etc. to ride out 14-30 days of quarantine. Getting masks shouldn’t be where you spend money for now. Or paper suits, exposure suits, moon suits, MOPP gear, etc.

As always:

Use the interactive graphic to keep track of things. Is COVID19 an epidemic? Yes. Is it a Pandemic? Not according to WHO, but most everyone else is saying yes, it is. Is there need for panic? No. Should you be paying attention? Yes. Hell yes. Should you be preparing? Yes, better late than never.

Want to avoid catching COVID19 here in the U.S.? Wash your flippin hands frequently, wash them thoroughly every time you use the bathroom, then follow with hand sanitizer after every washing, use hand sanitizer liberally when you can’t wash on a regular basis. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze, and stay away from those who don’t. Also, keep your bugger hooks out of/away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Do NOT shake hands with anyone, and avoid touching or being touched by strangers. Or your strange friends.

Avoid travel if at all possible. Right now, there is no way I’m going to a trade show, major convention, etc. If you can telecommute, get that set up now. If you have to travel, use lots of hand sanitizer and go to full flu protocols. If you have to use a public restroom, take full precautions including using paper towels and such to handle faucets, doors,etc.  Believe it or not, this was highly recommended before now, and major grocery chains have long told employees to use those practices to avoid getting or spreading colds, flu, etc.  Not many actually do it, but…  

If you own a business, make sure your employees know the above protocols. Have someone who refuses to wash their hands or otherwise follow the protocols? Talk to them, write them up, and if necessary fire them as they now pose a risk of infection to you and your customers. Extreme? Yes, but while the CDC and others are working to slow it down, odds are it is already here and could hit hard and fast. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I want to reiterate that there is no need for panic, but there is a strong need to be alert, be informed, and be prepared.

Other COVID19/COVID-19/2019-nCoV articles:

COVID-19 29Feb20

Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy

Panic Is Off And Running

COVID-19 28Feb20 Reasons To Hope, Reasons To Fear

COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)

COVID-19 27Feb20

COVID-19 Breaking A Chain?

COVID-19 26Feb20

COVID19 The Situation In China Gets Even Weirder

COVID19 25Feb20

COVID19 24Feb20 Raising DEFCON

COVID19 23Feb20

COVID19 22Feb20

COVID19 21Feb20: Just Look At The Blooms Dear

COVID19 Update 20Feb20

COVID19 Update

Update & Quick Thoughts On Preparedness

Expansion On A Theme

Well Maybe I Was Wrong

Some Quick Thoughts On Coronavirus 2019-nCoV

Why Should You Be Prepared?

Keeping Alert

Coronavirus And Practical Preparedness

Quick Additional Thoughts On The Bureaucracy

Given the idiots out there, as well as those who will deliberately try to mis-represent my thoughts (Outrage! Cancel! No Grace For You!), let me add the following thoughts and suggestions for consideration.

First, there are some very good and talented people that work for the CDC, HHS, etc. If they are allowed to truly do their jobs, they are going to break the back of this thing.

But, they also work for a political, not a medical, organization. Which means they have a political administration for most of whom the first thought on response will be politics. They also have a lot of deadwood supporting that administration. These are the type who hang up when someone protests an idiotic decision, and who make that decision because that’s the way it was last month.

Since pour encourager les autres is not going to be an option (hyperbole people, hyperbole), such deadwood (management and staff) needs to be publicly named and shamed and find themselves on a permanent unpaid leave as soon as discovered (since firing takes a lot of time and effort). Find someone playing politics on the job? Out the door. Doesn’t matter the level, boot them. Immediately and publicly.

Anyone who impedes the response to this, or any other epidemic, through incompetence or deliberate malice (and that is what it is), needs to go immediately and with fanfare. It’s also well past time to prune the CDC back to it’s job, so that is lean, mean, and responsive.

Just my thoughts.

COVID-19 A Plea To The Politicians (And Media)

COVID-19 is a threat to the Citizens and economy of the United States. It is not a threat to any single race, creed, color, or other manipulative subject of division. It is a threat to us all, and to our lives and fortunes.

For some, it is a threat to whatever sacred honor they may have. These creatures are so bereft of honor, decency, and basic humanity that they have gleefully tried to use it for political ends. They have used it to promote party, creeds, idiologies, or things other than the Republic and the Citizens of same.

For those who may still have some small spark of integrity, I beg you now, please stop. Pull back, reclaim some measure of manhood, and do what is right for all, not just yourself and your party.

For the others, I will steal a page from the far-left: How Dare You! How dare you put your venal interests ahead of my life, the lives of my family and friends, the lives of ALL Citizens and our economic well-being.

I would remind one and all that the Citizens are watching, and they will remember. They will remember who was willing to put their lives, and the lives of those they love, at risk for purely personal gain. When this is over, those who have lost those they love, and who have suffered adverse economic impact, will rightly look at you as being in part or in large measure responsible. And, they will be most right to do so.

Frankly, given the current climate, you will be lucky if they simply hold out for elections to hold you accountable. You may well be lucky if they only go so far as to try to recall you. You will be very lucky if they do not vent their rage in ways large and small at both you and whatever political party of which you are a part.

So, if honor and integrity are not enough, you have some strong motivation towards self-interest to stop this venal idiocy now. Show some maturity, some vestige of honor, some self-interest, and drop the politics.

If you don’t feel enough is being spent, propose more and put it towards really dealing with this and not underwater basketweaving/climate change. Don’t like a process or idea? Propose something else that is effective, efficient, and again FOCUSED ON THE DAMN PROBLEM AND NOT YOUR ELECTION/RE-ELECTION/PARTY!

This isn’t about you! It’s about all of us, and our lives and fortunes. Dig deep, dig hard, and find what it takes to do what is right for all, not just for you.

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.