Coronavirus

Did you really mean to say

or did you mean to say

I suspect the latter, but am not sure.

 

It's the Tinfoil Hat hoarders that are the real problem...

 

The longer I live the more I realize that some people are nuts. You can see it in a time of crisis. All common sense goes down the drain. Here in FL when the hurricane season starts (which happens every year, year after year) everyone literally loses control. Food - gone. Bottled water - gone. Generators - gone. The gas at the gas stations - gone. They never really learn the lesson from the previous year: In the end, everything turns out OK. Should they feel some shame when they have to throw out all the food they horded and didn't use? I guess not.

 

Part of being stupid is not knowing that you are stupid and learning from past mistakes. Goes with the territory.

 

Methinks you miss my point. The more enemies I have the higher I consider my level of success to be.

I welcome my enemies...

I don't need a hat - for that!

 

I heard a rumor yesterday that here in Indiana they're pulling people over and passing out tickets (accompanied by $1000 fines) for violating the stay at home order.

That current order expires on Monday but yesterday the Governor said we can expect some further information on that today.

 

It's pretty much the same here in Indiana each winter when the first heavy snowstorm is predicted.

 

I forgot to add that I've not been able to confirm that rumor as yet.

 

I also have a hat that will turn your friends into enemies. Pretty pricey, though.

You cannot go out to the grocery store, pharmacy, etc.? How can they tell if you are not going out for essentials or going to work as an essential employee? Sounds like an urban legend, quite honestly. Another one going around is that a woman was fined $5,000 for going to a big box buying club, walking around the whole store and only buying two non-essential items. My daughter forwarded it to me in a panic, yesterday. Complete BS.

 

The WHO (World Health Organization) has recommended for awhile now that everyone keep 2 metres (6 feet) away from each other. When asked by a reporter if this was to help stop the spread of the Corona virus, a high ranking official from the WHO responded with, "Actually it is to prevent eye damage from the glare off of the tinfoil hats. When the sun bounces off them it could potentially harm the iris of the eye".

This news could cause stocks in the lucrative tinfoil hat market to plummet.

 

"but I am not sure".

 

There are always trade-offs. It turns out that the shininess is critical for many Tinfoil Hat functions. The Coronavirus does not like to see its reflected image on a surface and that deflects many of the airborne particles away. Fortunately, we do have a solution in the works: tinfoil visors to help dampen the reflection. I am glad that WHO is now focusing on eye glare and has gotten off that bleeding out of the ears thing.

 

You are a creative genius, Bill Gates....eat your heart out.

 

Nah, if I were a creative, I'd have a ponytail and a nose ring. No such luck. I am just a lowly, tinfoil hat peddler.

 

I'd have to think on that one. I'm not sure my friends are the right people to make enemies of.

I did say it's a rumor. Haven't found confirmation. It was pointed more toward people traveling the interstates though I think. Such as people taking pleasure trips long distance. I'm not sure how they would distinguish those from essential travelers though. If I hear about it from my Grandaughter I'll pass the word on. She just joined the ranks of traveling nurses and as a matter of fact left for Massachussettes yesterday. She'll be working somewhere near Boston for the next 6 months I think.

Yes, we are permitted (what an ugly word when linked to government huh?) to make essential trips such as to grocery and drug stores. The Governor did extend the stay-at-home order for another two weeks yesterday.

 

Well all of a sudden, today even cloth masks are advised - due to new data apparently.

And don't buy N95s because they should be reserved for health care personnel and emergency responders. I understand that of course but I am wearing an N95 when I go out. I didn't buy it for this virus situation but I have it here and ready for any necessity.

 

So, when do we start to consider that the "cure" may harm or kill many more people than the virus? Here in the U.S., we have just tanked the best economy since the 1980's, perhaps the best ever. Let's look at Spain (worldometers.info's numbers as of 4/4/20) for some worst case numbers, since they seem to have had some of the worst results reported, to date:

Total Cases Per Million People: 2,668 (note that they have tested 7,593 per million people to get this infection rate)
Total Deaths Per Million People: 251

So, if these numbers are what we all can expect, that means that .26% of the population has been tested as infected and .025% of the population has died from the virus. Surely, not all people have been tested (probably because of no or very light symptoms) and these percentages will continue to grow as the weeks tick by, but this is the scale where we are now. The U.S. numbers are much, much better than these, by the way, though they may or may not end up matching Spain in terms of percentages, at some point.

So, to basically protect much less than 1% of the population, we are throwing the remaining 99%+ people under the bus by eliminating their incomes and trashing the overall economy. There are a lot businesses that will never recover from this (I can name restaurants and a travel agency that have now closed their doors forever.) Let's also think about what happens to unemployed and/or impoverished people around the world: depression/suicide, increased addiction, starvation, etc.

The problem is that we are only listening to the epidemiologists who only know about tracking and preventing disease and whose life's work has been only to do this. It is a noble occupation, but very limited in its scope and vision. To them, it is worth pulling out all stops to save a 90-year-old man from an infection when he was on his way out the door, anyway. No cost is too great to these folks to do this. And they have no clue about what the effects of an economic disaster will have on the population. And, of course, they have never had such an audience or such power as they do now and you cannot discount that emotional impetus to keep the crisis mentality moving forward.

So, what better advice to give to all Americans than to start wearing masks out in public? It helps to keep everyone afraid of that virus "lurking around the corner" and reinforces to everyone everywhere how bad this is and is going to be. Remember, there are no trade-off's to consider for the public health officials. Saving even one person from dying of his infection is worth tanking the entire economy of a country in their math, no matter how many lives are lost or destroyed from the financial devastation.

This is simply not sustainable and my deep hope is that this starts to become more and more recognized and we can get back to living our normal lives as this flu continues its progression and ultimately, the human herd has been exposed enough (keep in mind that "flattening the curve" does not prevent infections, it just slows them down and actually prolongs the lifecycle of the virus) to make it a nonfactor in our lives. And, here in the U.S. (and those countries who foolishly rely on our fake news media) this hysteria is basically the result of the fake news media seeing a potential opportunity to hurt Trump's re-election efforts. Unlike the Swine Flu (which was a bad one) when their hero, the Kenyan, was in office, the fake news media played this up to the max in the hopes that they could do to Trump what they did to George W. Bush with the Katrina hurricane crisis. That is not working (Trump is too good at PR to allow that to happen) but the wheels of panic and hysteria have been set in motion and they continue to roll, unfortunately.

It really needs to stop asap and get us all back to work before the economic damages claim more and more businesses and people.

 

There is some interesting data being put forth as of late. It appears that people with Lupus who are treated with Chloroquine are not coming down with Covid-19. Neither are countries that regularly use this drug to fight Malaria, experiencing large outbreaks.
I think the verdict is out, let's make this drug easy to access until we get a vaccine.

 

For those of us who are mystified by the lack of news and usage of Chloroquine, despite its great promise, just look to the politics of the situation. Leftist politicians who only want more and more government power are in their glory right now: they can shut down the economy, they can limit citizens' right to congregate, travel, shop, seek entertainment, and more. There is also the possibility (here in the U.S.) that they can still somehow turn this crisis into a way to hurt Trump's re-election efforts. They are reveling in this new-found power while piously talking about saving lives, etc. The worst thing that could happen to these power-crazed Leftists would be for there to suddenly be a cure that would end this need for a totalitarian state and possibly make Trump look good. That is the only reason that I can come up with for New York, for example, to ban the use of this promising drug while undergoing a massive amount of infections and deaths.

The cliché is always "follow the money." In this case, it should be "follow the politics." It's disgusting.