One of the more recent examples of something happening which is hard to decipher is the Coronavirus scare. Is it real? Is it yet another existential threat to mankind? Is it overblown? Is it, instead, worse than the rising oceans, Spanish flu, the plague, Y2K, SARS, delayed aid to Ukraine, Alex Jones, the Babylon Bee, mercury in seafood, a Rebel Wilson movie, etc? Who knows? Nobody does, that’s who. Nobody.
Is this a real threat? We are dealing with an authoritarian and highly corrupt government in China which is incapable of telling the truth. We really have no idea what is going on in China. How many are infected? We don’t know. How many have died? We don’t know. Is it underreported in China? If so, does that lead to exaggeration in the outside world? We don’t know. If it’s that serious why isn’t travel to and from China cut-off? Immigration from China? Business in China? I have been to China, and, frankly, it’s an authoritarian Third World country with large foreign currency reserves, abysmal living and public health conditions, and a very corrupt governing elite determined to become Masters of the Universe. Don’t look for the truth to come from China . . . or from our Chimerica business clan.
Coronavirus isn’t Ebola or the Black Plague, it’s this year’s flavor of the flu. Before this strain appeared, the CDC says from October 1, 2019 to mid-January of this year there have been 8,200 to 20,000 flu deaths in the US. The average per year is about 36,000. Coronavirus won’t be all that special until we see numbers substantially above these.
As in every flu season, the usual precautions are your best bet. You know the drill. Stay away from crowds, wash yer hands, eat yer peas, get yer sleep. Apparently it’s exceptionally contagious, even during its long incubation period. If your situation warrants it consider N95 or N100 masks and nitrile gloves. Don’t get paranoid, but have a worst-case plan for long term isolation and the supplies to support it. The worst of the “worst-case” would have it mutating to a more lethal form.
Some sources say it has an R0 of about 5, which is top-of-the-chart contagious. True? I don’t know. One source says the Wuhan coronavirus fatality rate has leaped to 15%, and the infection rate among those exposed is 83%. True? I don’t know. But I do know there’s something about an epidemic that brings out the apocalyptic in people. It could be because truth is the other Patient Zero.
Understand, the true mortality rate is the number of deaths per total number of patients when they contracted the flu, not per total number of patients when they died. The latter skews the mortality rate downward during the run up. Further, we can’t know if many or even most cases are too mild to warrant a diagnosis to begin with, which would drastically skew the mortality rate upward. Nor do national and international agencies generally release their best data to the public on a timely basis. The point is, the numbers themselves are as unreliable as those who have the authority to act on them.
Don’t assume disease control agencies can materially limit a flu pandemic, or even intend to. When confronted with a potentially dangerous new strain they invariably forfeit valuable time with inaction and comforting denials until the best opportunity for containment has passed. Then we see theatric but mostly useless gestures to reassure us they’re “doing something”.
On the other hand, some web sites sensationalize and speculate from the get-go. High end numbers are cited and thrown into the echo chamber, stats from the 1918 flu disaster are trotted out, wood cuts from medieval times get reworked into dark memes, dire but seemingly plausible rumors are passed around, the tired “bring out your dead” video clip is revived, and so forth. Unfortunately, this is different from being wrong.
Which will it be? As we say around here, a man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. You’re on your own, as are we all.
“What has been driven home on the last several years is how once venerable institutions have fallen to the progressive onslaught and become purveyors of hysterical, politically motivated rubbish. The schools, universities, the media, Hollywood, the legal profession, the law enforcement and intel agencies, the political parties, even the military all have degenerated to varying degrees in the face of that onslaught. We are awash by and adrift on a sea of fake news all designed to cow us into giving ever more power to the permanent bureaucratic elites.”
I reached the same conclusion over the years and finally decided in 2015 to just ignore the noise. All of it. A complete waste of time and energy, better spent on literally anything else: sweeping the garage, walking around the block 12 times backwards, you name it.
Actually it’s much worse than just a waste of time and energy because that leaves out the fact that these corrupt liars and thieves are conducting enemy action, coordinated, out in the open, to destroy us and our way of life.
It was happening already, for decades, but they were very cagey about it. The rise of Trump has accelerated the pace of both the descent into madness and our waking up to the full extent of it.
Even people who don’t like Trump should recognize the value of this—and if they don’t, it means they’re on the other side.
And the Chinese horoscope tells us we’re in the Year of the Rat.
Imagine that.
JWM
TerryJanuary 28, 2020, 7:51 AM
Get rid of your television. You will not believe how much better the world is. My wife and I have been TV free since 1995 and have been much happier ever since. To me Corona is a lousy Mexican beer.
JackJanuary 28, 2020, 9:49 AM
With two exceptions in my entire life, I make it a solid point to refrain from eating in any restaurant that is run by Asians. One was a Thai joint which served a fresh buffet each day and the other was a Chinese take out place. In each case these were long time American citizens, with well educated children and flawless reputations. They have nothing to do with the homelands and their customers are legion.
Other than that, I have always stayed the hell away from asian and east indian dives because I know very well from early experience that they always have family and relatives who visit from their native lands and who, out of boredom and/or cultural tradition, will often drop into the restaurant and help cook or clean, etc. God only knows what they might contribute to the disease pool. And I’m only slightly more lenient on mesican food because seriously, I can make all that crap at home and do a much better job.
I live in the deep South and I eat a lot of fish and game that I kill each year. I don’t garden but my wife and I go to the grocery store but in that context we shun any seafood or other products that come from China. They feed their farm raised shrimp and tilapia and only God knows what else they raise and export, chicken shit and refuse from slaughter houses.
And just like clock work, every year we can count on the Chinese to gin up some new and devastating super virus and apart from their typical offerings of flu, they’re now exporting this coronavirus. That place is FUBAR.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
http://www.drsimone.com/
Coronavirus isn’t Ebola or the Black Plague, it’s this year’s flavor of the flu. Before this strain appeared, the CDC says from October 1, 2019 to mid-January of this year there have been 8,200 to 20,000 flu deaths in the US. The average per year is about 36,000. Coronavirus won’t be all that special until we see numbers substantially above these.
As in every flu season, the usual precautions are your best bet. You know the drill. Stay away from crowds, wash yer hands, eat yer peas, get yer sleep. Apparently it’s exceptionally contagious, even during its long incubation period. If your situation warrants it consider N95 or N100 masks and nitrile gloves. Don’t get paranoid, but have a worst-case plan for long term isolation and the supplies to support it. The worst of the “worst-case” would have it mutating to a more lethal form.
Some sources say it has an R0 of about 5, which is top-of-the-chart contagious. True? I don’t know. One source says the Wuhan coronavirus fatality rate has leaped to 15%, and the infection rate among those exposed is 83%. True? I don’t know. But I do know there’s something about an epidemic that brings out the apocalyptic in people. It could be because truth is the other Patient Zero.
Understand, the true mortality rate is the number of deaths per total number of patients when they contracted the flu, not per total number of patients when they died. The latter skews the mortality rate downward during the run up. Further, we can’t know if many or even most cases are too mild to warrant a diagnosis to begin with, which would drastically skew the mortality rate upward. Nor do national and international agencies generally release their best data to the public on a timely basis. The point is, the numbers themselves are as unreliable as those who have the authority to act on them.
Don’t assume disease control agencies can materially limit a flu pandemic, or even intend to. When confronted with a potentially dangerous new strain they invariably forfeit valuable time with inaction and comforting denials until the best opportunity for containment has passed. Then we see theatric but mostly useless gestures to reassure us they’re “doing something”.
On the other hand, some web sites sensationalize and speculate from the get-go. High end numbers are cited and thrown into the echo chamber, stats from the 1918 flu disaster are trotted out, wood cuts from medieval times get reworked into dark memes, dire but seemingly plausible rumors are passed around, the tired “bring out your dead” video clip is revived, and so forth. Unfortunately, this is different from being wrong.
Which will it be? As we say around here, a man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure. You’re on your own, as are we all.
http://www.woodpilereport.com/
“What has been driven home on the last several years is how once venerable institutions have fallen to the progressive onslaught and become purveyors of hysterical, politically motivated rubbish. The schools, universities, the media, Hollywood, the legal profession, the law enforcement and intel agencies, the political parties, even the military all have degenerated to varying degrees in the face of that onslaught. We are awash by and adrift on a sea of fake news all designed to cow us into giving ever more power to the permanent bureaucratic elites.”
I reached the same conclusion over the years and finally decided in 2015 to just ignore the noise. All of it. A complete waste of time and energy, better spent on literally anything else: sweeping the garage, walking around the block 12 times backwards, you name it.
Actually it’s much worse than just a waste of time and energy because that leaves out the fact that these corrupt liars and thieves are conducting enemy action, coordinated, out in the open, to destroy us and our way of life.
It was happening already, for decades, but they were very cagey about it. The rise of Trump has accelerated the pace of both the descent into madness and our waking up to the full extent of it.
Even people who don’t like Trump should recognize the value of this—and if they don’t, it means they’re on the other side.
And the Chinese horoscope tells us we’re in the Year of the Rat.
Imagine that.
JWM
Get rid of your television. You will not believe how much better the world is. My wife and I have been TV free since 1995 and have been much happier ever since. To me Corona is a lousy Mexican beer.
With two exceptions in my entire life, I make it a solid point to refrain from eating in any restaurant that is run by Asians. One was a Thai joint which served a fresh buffet each day and the other was a Chinese take out place. In each case these were long time American citizens, with well educated children and flawless reputations. They have nothing to do with the homelands and their customers are legion.
Other than that, I have always stayed the hell away from asian and east indian dives because I know very well from early experience that they always have family and relatives who visit from their native lands and who, out of boredom and/or cultural tradition, will often drop into the restaurant and help cook or clean, etc. God only knows what they might contribute to the disease pool. And I’m only slightly more lenient on mesican food because seriously, I can make all that crap at home and do a much better job.
I live in the deep South and I eat a lot of fish and game that I kill each year. I don’t garden but my wife and I go to the grocery store but in that context we shun any seafood or other products that come from China. They feed their farm raised shrimp and tilapia and only God knows what else they raise and export, chicken shit and refuse from slaughter houses.
And just like clock work, every year we can count on the Chinese to gin up some new and devastating super virus and apart from their typical offerings of flu, they’re now exporting this coronavirus. That place is FUBAR.