Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Democrats see their plastic bag–free world crumble before coronavirus

Democrats see their plastic bag–free world crumble before coronavirus
Excerpt: The real problem, though, was that the reusable bags that replaced plastic and paper were disease vectors — something that all the politicians banning them knew or should have known. San Francisco (of course) was the American city that led the way on plastic bag bans in 2007. Not long afterward, a study revealed that the bans increased by 50% the number of deaths from food-borne illnesses: Researchers in America found that a ban on plastic bags in San Francisco in 2007 may have increased deaths from food poisoning by over 50 per cent in a year. Economists at the University of Pennsylvania investigated deaths and emergency admissions to hospital from "intestinal infectious diseases" in the wake of a ban on bags. It concluded that, as a result of the ban, San Francisco saw between 5.4 and 15.8 additional fatalities in a year from illnesses caused by food bugs. "We find that both deaths and emergency room visits spiked as soon as the ban went into effect, Professors Jonathan Klick and Joshua Wright concluded. "Relative to other counties, deaths in San Francisco increased by 50 to 100 per cent, and ER visits increased by a comparable amount."

Coronavirus droplets could travel 27 feet, warns MIT researcher

Coronavirus droplets could travel 27 feet, warns MIT researcher
Beautiful, just fucking beautiful. ~Bob

Just what we didn't need, another eager beaver research jock coming up with the ultimate worst case scenario as if it's real. Yes, if someone does a really violent sneeze directly in your direction, stuff can get
carried a long way. First, people sick with this don't sneeze, they cough. That has a small fraction of the power of big sneeze. So the 27 feet goes down to maybe 6. Secondly, of the person coughing turns away from you or muffles the cough at all, the danger goes down some more. If they cough onto a nearby surface that you touch in the near future, now that's a problem. Del

A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Manufacture.

A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Manufacture. By RICH LOWRY
Excerpt: Trump closed off travel from China while the trial was still ongoing, the day after senators asked their final questions of the impeachment managers and the White House defense team. Only two and a half weeks after the trial, the White House requested $1.25 billion in emergency coronavirus funding from Congress. If the trial hadn’t ended expeditiously, the Senate easily could have been still seeking the testimony of, say, former White House counsel Don McGahn about the details of the non-firing of special counsel Robert Mueller — at the same time that everyone expected the administration to be shifting into wartime footing against the virus. In that circumstance, the impeachment trial obviously would have been immediately shelved, because a discretionary national crisis can’t compete with a real, unavoidable one. Political melodrama must give way to a potential public-health catastrophe. Purportedly historic events that were going to be forgotten within weeks can’t compare with days that genuinely might define our era. For more than three years, American national politics has been constantly on a crisis footing over presidential tweets, two-day controversies, and dubious storylines whipped up by the media and Trump’s genuine outrages. Little of it has been enduring, or nearly as important as the intense, wall-to-wall attention at any given moment suggested.

banned?

From Jim Geraghty
You don’t have to be a fervent believer to be wary about state officials who deem religious services as a unnecessary luxury during this crisis, but who also insist every Planned Parenthood facility must remain open. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, who has managed to botch a great many decisions during this crisis, had to go even further and threaten to permanently shut down any religious institution that violates state orders to not hold services. (He doesn’t have that authority.) Yesterday, large numbers of New Yorkers gathered in crowds that violated CDC rules in order to watch the U.S. Navy hospital ship arrive at the pier. The NYPD only offered verbal warnings. While the social distancing rules apply to everyone, religious groups who have a preexisting tense relationship with a nonreligious mayor may fairly wonder if they’re being singled out for particular enforcement.

COVID 19 vs HIN1 Response

Following is a comparison of the response of President Obama to the H1N1 Swine Flu compared to President Trump’s response to the COVID-19 China Flu. You will never see this on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, the New York Times, Washington Post, L.A.Times, etc.









TRUMP

OBAMA




(China Flu)

(Swine Flu)




(COVID-19)

(H1N1)










1st Case in USA
20-Jan-20

15-Apr-09










Declared National
31-Jan-20

24-Oct-09



Emergency













1st Travel Ban
31-Jan-20

None



(China)













Required Quarentine
29-Jan-20

None










2nd Travel Ban
29-Feb-20

None



(Italy, Iran, S. Korea)













3rd Travel Ban
11-Mar-20

None



(Europe)













Total Cases / Total Dead
41708 / 573

60,800,000 / 12,469




As of Mar 23, 2020

Apr 2009 - Apr 2010










Note: All H1N1 Data is from The CDC.












Time to Step Up: The Coronavirus Opportunity for Our Country

Time to Step Up: The Coronavirus Opportunity for Our Country
Excerpt: President Donald Trump said he hopes to reopen our economy by Easter. Those who oppose anything the president says are therefore adamantly opposed to reopening our economy. What about the 80% of Americans who are tired of the battles dominating our politics between those who defend Trump at all costs and those who attack Trump at all costs. The reality is this debate is not about Trump at all, nor is it only about health and medicine. Over 3 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week. That’s the highest monthly number ever recorded. That sort of loss—especially if it continues—can cause massive harm to America for months, or even years. The government responded with a $2 trillion relief package, but there is no magic. That relief bill will hurt us in many ways, and it won’t help if we stay closed for too long. What we need is a debate about how much risk we, as a society, are willing to take and how many lives we are willing to risk to get our economy going again.

Mexican drug cartels struggle during coronavirus, hike prices as lab supplies from China dry up

Mexican drug cartels struggle during coronavirus, hike prices as lab supplies from China dry up
Excerpt: “In China, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), around 5,000 illegal drug laboratories have been processing synthetic drugs and chemicals to process them. Most of these drugs have Europe and North America as the main markets,” he continued. “Cartels bring synthetic drugs through food exports, fruits, automotive equipment, toys and other products that are allocated in an extensive distribution network across the United States. COVID-19 has generated a huge loss in regarding any illegal drugs, and specifically synthetic drugs, not only to Mexican cartels but to most drug cartels operating worldwide.” In his assessment, the losses over the last two months stand at around 80 percent of their standard revenue. And the pandemic has seemingly hindered the cartels not only when it comes to getting their fix from China. “The supply shock precisely comes from the supply chain disruption.[Gee, what a shame. Sadly, in reality, all this means is the street price will go up. Ron P.]

Chinese researchers isolated deadly bat coronaviruses near Wuhan animal market

Chinese researchers isolated deadly bat coronaviruses near Wuhan animal market
Excerpts: Chinese government researchers isolated more than 2,000 animal viruses, including deadly bat coronaviruses, and carried out scientific work on them just three miles from a wild animal market identified as the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several Chinese state media outlets in recent months touted the virus research and lionized in particular a key researcher in Wuhan, Tian Junhua, as a leader in bat virus work. The coronavirus strain now infecting hundreds of thousands of people globally mutated from bats believed to have infected animals and people at a wild animal market in Wuhan.

Planning for ‘Peace’ in Afghanistan.

Planning for ‘Peace’ in Afghanistan.
In agreement with the analysis and conclusions of this piece, all I can add is that it will be tragic that so many Afghans who embraced modernism and liberalism will now suffer. The United States should expect a new influx of refugees from Afghan cities who will likely be in the middle of civil war and persecuted by medieval Muslim militants. We did not do so well for many South Vietnamese 45 years ago. Yours truly, Larry Greenberg

Monday, March 30, 2020

Masks

Masks, Masks, Where Are the Masks?
Excerpt: Surgical masks, like anything in the medical field, are tightly regulated. You can’t just make a mask. Some masks have to be certified by the FDA and others by the CDC. Some are certified by both the FDA and the CDC. Until recently, the public had no problem buying N95 respirators for use in construction. These masks are certified by the CDC. Why is the CDC in the business of certifying industrial masks, you may wonder? Because, as discussed previously, the CDC does every possible thing except what people think it does. The component of the CDC that does this is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH is not to be confused with OSHA, even though they were created at the same time, through the same law, and serve a very similar function: making this another skein in the infinitely tangled web of the federal bureaucracy. The Open PPE Project launched an effort to quickly create N95 masks only to be told by NIOSH that approving a new mask production facility would take between 45 and 90 days.

Worth reading: The Real Miami by Udonis Haslem

Worth reading: The Real Miami by Udonis Haslem
Excerpt: You see that video going around of these silly ass college kids down in South Florida on spring break? Talking about, “If I get corona, I get corona, bro,” and all that nonsense? Man, I’ll tell you one thing for sure. Those kids have never been hungry a day in their life.

We Have a Difficult Five Weeks ahead of Us

We Have a Difficult Five Weeks ahead of Us
Excerpt: I wish the news were better, but it is not. The country needs to prepare itself for the coronavirus outbreak and its consequences to get really bad for the next five weeks or so. Also, we know China is lying, but we can only make educated guesses as to how bad the truth really is. The president continues to focus on what interests him. And a long, difficult look at what New York City mayor Bill de Blasio told city residents about the coronavirus that turned out to be wrong.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Book Recommendation: Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific by Alistair Urquhart


Book Recommendation: Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific by Alistair Urquhart

This brutal book was written by Urquhart when he was 90, because he didn’t want the story of massive Japanese atrocities swept under the rug in the interests of better trade relations. It reminded me of the struggle Vietnam vets have had to get the truth out. The Germans admitted their guilt, but to this day, the Japanese government denies this happened. The author never fired a shot in anger. As a young Scot, he was drafted into the Gordon Highlanders in 1939. His battalion was sent to Singapore where they were taken prisoner when the British surrendered to the Japanese army. I have long wonder why a larger British force would surrender the “Gibraltar of the East” to a Japanese force half their size. This book explained that. They were poorly trained, poorly led, poorly organized, and poorly equipped. The author was sent as slave labor to work on the “Railway of Death” for 750 days. The “Bridge on the River Kwai” was a sanitized version of the story. Many thousands of British prisoners and tens of thousands of local inhabitant slaves died and were buried along the way. They were beaten daily, forced to work every day on a cup of rice and a cup of water twice a day, denied medicine and anything else. Urquhart then was put of a hell ship with hundreds stuffed in unventilated holds, with even less food. The Japanese had marked their ammo ships with Red Crosses but not the POW ships. Torpedoed by an American sub, he was miraculously blown clear and floated for days without food or water in the sun. Picked up by Japanese fishermen, he was forced to work in the mines outside Nagasaki until the bomb ended the war. He was treated shabbily by the British government when he returned home, and suffered from what we now know as PTSD all his life. And no wonder. I recommend this book for the strong of stomach and heart.

Random Thought for April


Random Thoughts for April 2020
By Robert A. Hall
Feel free to post or forward.  

I’m posting this early, as I’m now working from home, and have four interviews to do and write over the next three days.

The powers that all levels of government are assuming over all our lives will not be relinquished when the crisis is over. Government rarely relinquishes power, except to a revolution. Which often leads to a greater tyranny.

Americans have been forcefully reminded that entertainment celebrities, professional athletes, and Hollywood stars are not at all important, while truckers, grocery store workers, farmers, and healthcare providers are vital.

From Col. Andy Weddington, USMC (ret.): Calm wins! Every. Single. Time.

Democrats will do all they can to keep the markets down, the economy shuttered, and people out of work, because they know if the economy booms, Trump wins.

The Democrats are stealing the nomination from Bernie Sanders again. Tell your progressives friends.

If they suddenly find a cure for COVID-19, gas will jump to $2.50 a gallon, and toilet paper will drop to ten cents a roll.

Millennials: Trump doesn’t want you to know that drinking your own urine will prevent Corona Virus. He and his top people drink a glass every day, but he wants you to die so you won’t vote for Bernie.

On our recent vacation we saw “Corona Beer Sandals” in a convenience story. I wonder how they are selling?

I didn’t think it would get this bad. The stock market is back to Obama levels.

For a brief moment, it looked like the Democrats were going to nominate the Unrepentant Commie. But they have united behind Creepy Joe. I hope his growing senility hits before the election and not after.

Masturbation: The original social distancing.

If the toilet paper runs out, I’ll subscribe to the New Your Times.

There are already on-line and phone scams to raise funds for "Coronavirus Research."

The three leading causes of death in the US are heart disease, cancer and medical error. But I bet stupidity is in the top ten.

Kids: The next shortage will be condoms, as they use the latex in surgical gloves. Stock up now.

If the Democrats nominated a JFK, they would carry 40 states. But they seem determined to nominate a Lenin.

Voting for a socialist is like giving a loaded gun to an eight-year-old. It might turn out okay, but you wouldn’t chance it.

Predicting elections is like predicting horse races. The favorite doesn’t always win.

One man’s theology is another man’s blasphemy. Muslim calls to outlaw blasphemy are calls to outlaw blasphemy against Islam. And they consider everything about Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism blasphemy. And to Christians, the Qur’an is blasphemy. Should it be outlawed?

Every day is a chance to help someone else and add to your store of happiness. Don’t squander it.

Contrary to leftist ideology, Sweden not a socialist country. It’s a capitalist country with a large social welfare system paid for by huge taxes on capitalist business and working people, that are passed on to customers. That social welfare system is why it is so attractive to people from the Middle East who believe that have the right to live off the work of others. But mass immigration of people who won’t work or assimilate is not sustainable.

You can’t hoard bananas.

T-shirt at the VA: “It’s called thinking. You should try it sometime.

Democracy has been replaced by bureaucracy.

The worst sin for a progressive is to still believe the same things she believed five years ago.

The real “Curse of Oak Island” is the millions of hours people have wasted watching that show.

There’s a little monster in a great many people, held in check by laws and culture. And the progressives are trying to destroy both.

My mind used to focus like a razor. Now it’s more like a candle in a light breeze. You’re just hoping it doesn’t go out completely.

People get addicted to lying the way druggies get addicted to drugs. And like druggies, they need to tell ever-bigger lies to get the same jolt. Eventually, no one believes or trusts them. Like they don’t believe or trust druggies.

There are the driven and the drivers.

No amount of privation, oppression, starvation, torture, and death will change progressives’ belief in a socialist utopia.

Alcohol reduces sexual inhibitions. It’s one of the best things about it.

Mississippi Billboard: “Be kind to strangers. Visit your in-laws.”

It’s a small and dangerous step from progressivism to socialism to communism and the loss of prosperity and freedom.

Annoy atheists. Tell them you are praying for them.

In three months, there will be a big market for tee shirts and bumper stickers saying, “I Survived the Corona Virus.”

It’s disconcerting to realize that today Barry Goldwater would be too liberal for Republicans and John F. Kennedy too conservative for Democrats.

Some people believe so fervently in their cause, that they lose any moral compass they had. They will lie, steal, cheat, slander, defraud, destroy and even use violence for the “Greater Good.” In the long run, they usually do their cause much more harm than good.

Suppose you did a survey of voters, asking if they were fervently for Bernie, or Biden, or Trump. Then ask those who said yes, that if they were sure no one would know, would they fix the election for their guy, or to defeat the perceived “evil” guy? How many would throw Democracy under the bus?

From my friend Todd: Ignorance is bliss, only until we face the reality of decisions made in ignorance.

From the ‘Net: COVID stands for; “Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease.” Funny, but not true. CO-Corona, VI-Viral, D-Disease.

“Don't question your ability to teach your child. Question putting your child into the same system that left you feeling incapable of teaching your child.” - Anonymous

You think you have problems? How’d you like to be Executive Director of the Wuhan Tourist Board?

Both knives and minds need regular honing.

Hall’s first law of motion. A body at rest tends to remain at rest until it needs to go to the bathroom.

Vulgarity is now the coin of the realm.

To be a journalist today, you must be steeped in the three Ps: Pen, Prejudice, and Poison.

When I interview a veteran and they tell me their wife had a still birth, I notice they say we lost the baby, not the fetus. And they tell me the baby’s name, which I put in the story for them.

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2009 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall
The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=booksandie=UTF8andqid=1304815980andsr=1-5 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s twelve books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com. He currently works part-time as a writer-editor in the My Life, My Story program as the Madison VA hospital, interviewing vets and writing up their life histories. During the crisis he is working from home.

Book recommendation: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel


Book recommendation: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr 

Bonnie and I read this terrific novel for our book club. There is good reason that the website reports:Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, a New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book, National Book Award finalist, more than two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list.” This incredibly well-written and nuanced book will hold your attention. The story alternates between a young German boy, a whiz with radios, who is drafted into the Wehrmacht, and a blind French girl whose father works at a museum in Parris. Slowly their stories merge. But there are a lot of plot twists along the way. I highly recommend it.