And yet it be de White Man's fault

that the coronavirus is striking the African American community harder than the whites (or the Hipanics, the asians, the Hindus or the Muslims....)

Of course, things like THIS house party couldn't have anything to do with their higher infection rate, could it?

My sources in the CPD tell me that, while this gathering of almost 1500 people on the city's South Side was larger than most, they break up 10-15 such parties every night, more on weekends....Over and over and over. No one ever has any masks, they are packed shoulder to shoulder and there is no such thing as "Social Distancing".... They (the cops) are told to do everything they can to not arrest people, as the city doesn't want them in the jails...and the crowds know that, so they are even more uncooperative than usual.

Parties like this don't seem to be happening on the west and north sides. Oddly, the rates of infection seem to be lower there too.

But it be the White Man's fault. Always.

"We Are All in this Together"

Social Engineering.

Have ya noticed the new meme?

"We Are All In This Together".

Every ad, lots of signs...all saying The.Same.Thing.
Odd.

Much like the Social Distancing signage that popped up IMMEDIATELY in large retailers when the whole "Stay At Home" bit happened.....Almost as if they had been forewarned, ya know?

The longer this goes on, the more and more I think that someone is orchestrating things.

I'm not saying that the Virus isn't real, nor that folks are not dying, nor that this is not serious....it is.

I am saying that, while I seriously doubt the effectiveness of the whole Stay At Home and closure of our economy, things are kinda funny...almost as if there is someone or someones generating some direction as to the government message....almost like a campaign to keep the rest of us following their lead and compliant. And the oddities in what business is closed or limited and what is not....Some stores are ok, others are not (besides grocery stores). While many businesses are closed and a "public safety measure", one can buy lottery tickets face to face nearly anywhere. Some places where people mingle are OK, others are not....One can still buy items at a Home Depot or other home improvement store, but not at a nursery...unless the nursery sells booze, food or lottery, then it is an "essential" business.....Liquor stores are ok, but shoe stores are not.....Why are some stores ok when others, with the same conditions for "Social Distancing". are not?

The whole economic bailout: Almost as if the destruction of the economy and the subsequent bailout were designed to make people expect the Government to help......and make us more dependent economically, and more importantly, to make us more psychologically dependent....and increase our deficit...

Mask drives, (even though we were told they didn't work, yet now anyone NOT wearing a mask is regarded as a paraiah)......and the whole drive for folks to make, and then donate masks to "the unfortunate" or the "underserved members of our community"....And, oddly, despite the crying and moaning that they were going to run out in the "Next Few Days" no health care facility is without N-95 masks.....Odd, that.
 Which leads to...
Funny, innit, how Nurses and Doctors are hailed as heroes, even though less than 10% will ever see a Coronavirus patient? (By the way, I do applaud the bravery of anyone who works with Infectious disease patients)...suddenly and yet simultaneously by all the Media...I have family that are in the health care field, and they are dedicated, but really, not heroes. If the Health Care Workers are Heroes, then so are cops, and  firemen and, of course, soldiers....but not to the media (at least not currently)...

There are a lot of similarities in the New Social messages we see to those of the second World War, only the medium has changed (video, and Facebook, etc instead of posters and print).


And, of course, "It's the New Normal"...which means that things will be like this for a while...at least someone thinks so and wants us to plan for that....and is telling us so we will become accustomed to thinking that way....

And now the Media is starting to push 'Vote By Mail"...a plan which, as currently structured, will be an open invitation to massive fraud.

Almost as if someone is doing some kind of Social Engineering on a large scale. As if we are being herded....



Yeah, I like my tinfoil doubled over, shiny side out.  So what? Doesn't make me wrong, does it?

Wow.

He's gone entirely over the edge.
Colbert has gone totally to full on Trump-Hatred.

Not satire, which could, at times, be funny. No humor to mask it....not any more....

The mask is off,....this is full time Hatred, not even a bit of laughter or humor to mask it. Just full on, un-adulterated, complete Trump hating "Orange Man Bad" hat speech. Sad, really. And shrill, too. Like a woman, only with a deeper voice. 

I guess the Quarantine is getting to him.

I can't wait to see what happens when Donnie gets re-elected.
3-7 his head explodes.

Who is losing their jobs?

Which folks at the Centers for Disease Control are going to get fired for "incompetence" (if that is what it is)?

The original excuse for the drastic actions, the reasoning that led to the shutdown of our economy, was that 6.6 million people would be dead within 6 weeks if we did not.
Then revised to 3.4M,
then 2.1M,
then 1.2M,
then 600K,
then 200K. (I may have missed a reduction in the revisions somewhere).
The tens of thousands of hospital beds needed....were never needed. The ventilators.....not needed. The shortages of beds and ventilators never materialized...because we did not have even 1% of the cases that were originally forecast. The extra beds in the convention centers were never needed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent setting up extra medical centers that remained idle.

Even worse than the cost of the unneeded preparations is the cost to our economy. I believe that the percentage of unemployed US citizens is nearly 30% of our workforce.

This wasn't a slightly high guess of cases.....this wasn't a minor overshoot....this was a very nearly 99% overestimate. Not high by 20% or even 50%...by 99%. Even New York, the poster child for failure of isolation and "Social Distancing" protocol....missed the mark by well over 98%.

So who in the CDC will be fired? These folks are supposed to be the "experts". If this is the best they can do (and in a situation like this, it SHOULD be the best they can do), then we need to find some real experts....not the crop of failures we have.
If we really need the CDC as it currently exists.


It is not even worth discussing the layers of incompetence within the WHO here at this time.

Stop the Rent!

Those damned greedy landlords.

There is  push in Chicago (and in many other cities, I am told) to "stop the rent"....Force the landlords to give their tenants a month or more of free rent.
(strangely, these folks sound just like the socialists that demand free heath care, free college, free medical care, free everything....)

These folks are demanding free rent...they claim they can't pay it. They are getting, after less than 2 months off of work approximately 1.5 times the "normal" amount of unemployment pay, there are free food pantries all over the place. They had the gasoline for their vehicle to do the parade in protest.....And they had the electronics and data services to get them together to do the protest.

But they don't have the money to pay their rent. Odd, that.

One wonders who is organizing this movement of the terribly poor and downtrodden folks

They also fail to realize that their landlord needs to pay his or her payment to their lender...or they simply don't care.

These folks look like, and talk like, every other socialist..... "I deserve Free Shit" is the official cry of the "downtrodden"...

Why is this not "Price Gouging?

So bandanas on Amazon were $2.99-$3.49 2 weeks ago.

Today they are $7.99 each.

Yes, I understand, demand has gone up. Is this not still "Price Gouging" Pricing has doubled. Yet Amazon still allows them to be sold.

When it was Hand Sanitizer, and people were willing to pay even more for it, then it was "Price Gouging".

Where, I ask you, is the point where marking up when demand increases vs price gouging when demand increases?.

ETA in response to comments:  I have 8 large bandannas already. But I thought I might get more. If you read me often, you will see posts in the recent past where I applauded those who chose to make a profit when they had supply and others a sudden demand....Those who are unprepared should pay for their failure in foresight. 
I agree that they (the vendors) can charge any price they want. But Amazon and other places pulled the Hand Sanitizer when it jumped in price for "Price Gouging"  when demand went up. I just fail to see the difference between that then and today with the bandannas. 

BTW, I ordered a 12 pack....

BTW, I don't wear a mask, but I am finding places where it makes you stand out, so I thought I'd keep a bandanna in the pocket of each jacket and the car and the truck so I can blend in more, and have some so I can change them out and keep 'em clean. 

disproportionate impact

Everyone is getting in the game:
African Americans, of course

Black communities impacted disproportionately by Coronavirus.

Plus, of course, Latinos:

Latinos struggle during Coronavirus outbreak

And, of course, the LGBT community:

Gay bars struggle during coronavirus shutdown as LGBT people hve nowhere to socialize

Oddly, I could not find anything on Chinese people's struggle, Indian people's struggle, Native American's nor white people as a whole.

But selected "Minorities" ....that's different.

Everyone is struggling...some more than others. If you an undocumented worker, guess what? No unemployment. If you are overweight, diabetic or fail to distance yourself in you community then yeah, the virus is more likely to get ya.

I can't really make a cogent comment on the poor gay folks who are now :socially isolated"...like straight whites and blacks and latinos as a group aren't also having trouble meeting people now that the bars and churches and other social venues are shut down? WTF?

eh. Everyone is a victim....if they want to be. 

No longer needed:

(Hint: I never was...the ship was sent as a political move to calm the terrified mayor who bought the lies of the doomsayers)

Seems that the Comfort is leaving New York, as it has not treated many people....like 180 in 3 weeks.

Apparently, the NYC hospitals never got the surge of people. (And, really, had the worst case predictions happened in NYC, the Comfort would not have been that much help.

How much Federal money does moving the Comfort cost? How much to keep it staffed rather than in a lesser readiness state?

Cylinder news

The good news? I don't have to try to get the  broken insert out of the inlet on the cylinder.

The bad news: I gotta cut off the elbow and replace it 'cause the it isn't an insert. The whole shebang was one piece and it is done broke off. (Which explains why the easy-out didn't work...)

The good news: I can get the part, cheap. Local too, or online for a few cents less and a 5 day wait.
The bad news:  I gotta cut the thing off the cylinder and grind the pocket, then weld it in place.

The bad news: the pivot bearing where the pin was broken is also cracked.
The good news, it too is relatively cheap, and it comes out with only a snap ring. Delivery is also easy, see above.

My local source of parts is, of course, the hydraulic shop. Parts are as cheap as online, probably better quality than online, and available now....

And he offered to fix the cylinder for parts cost and not much else and promised to give me a good deal and have it done in 3 or 4 days. And he will make a pin for cheap too. I can have the whole thing fixed for about 125% of my cost for parts....

Fuckit, Imma let him do it. I'm getting lazy.

Y'know

If the Media wants to...you know, actually help people in this Coronavirus "crisis" (while they tell us how wonderful the hospital workers are, how bad this is for African Americans, how we should all stay home, how we are "all in this together", while they misquote officials in manners that gin up fear and panic, while they warn us of food shortages while misquoting the industry experts, all the while chanting "orange man bad".....)

They haven't helped the country or its citizens one iota with all of this.

If they want to do something to help, they should push 2 things besides "Stay At Home".

1. Wash Your Hands.

2. Wear the Mask Properly. Stop showing people (especially African Americans) wearing masks on their upper lip, not on or covering their nose. Wearing a mask improperly like that is as useless as a screen door on a submarine. I see lots of white folks and hispanics and asians wearing masks improperly....maybe 10% of the people I see. But African Americans almost exclusively wear their masks not covering their nose....And the media is trumpeting the fact that this disease is hitting them harder than the rest of us....But telling people to wear a mask properly (and showing them and explaining what "Properly" is) might go a long way towards actually helping.....
And showing people in their stories wearing masks incorrectly is certainly not helping.

If they'd push these teo things every program, every news broadcast, they'd certainly do something that the News Media has not done to date....help their viewers and actually make a difference. 

Well, shit

The bad news:

This winter, a tree fell on my backhoe. It's not a high end backhoe, but a really cheap Chinese made 3 point backhoe I bought new for only 3000 dollars...but it digs well and does what I need it to. It was detached and sitting all alone at the edge of the woods, waiting for springtime jobs....not bothering anyone,just sitting there inoffensively when a half a tree fell on it. Not the largest half, which was good, but the half that fell was over a foot and a half in diameter and it smacked right down on the big hydraulic cylinder that is the dipper cylinder that bends the thing for digging.

When the errant tree fell, it smacked right on the end of the cylinder, then bounced and broke the hose off at the retract port.

The good news: it hit right on the mounting ears for the solid end of the cylinder and did not appear to have damaged the cylinder itself.

The bad news: It appears that the ears that mount the cylinder are bent and the pin itself is bent. The ears are made of 1/2 inch-ish steel and the pin is whatever the Chinese metric equivalent to an inch and a half diameter, more or less.

Not a big deal, I moved the tree with the loader bucket and I got my brother to come help...we put a sling under the knee and bent the arm so we could fish the hose out. The hose was actually easy to remove and the other end was easy to get to rather than buried in the rats nest of hoses where they connect onto the valve setup.

The good news: I took it to a hydraulics place and got a new end on the hose for a price of $8.77. Modern manufacturing is a wonderful thing....I can get a fairly precision part installed for dirt cheap.

The bad news: The fitting where the hose screws to the cylinder was also damaged and cracked and broke off while trying to fit the new hose end onto it. Shit.

The good news: I have an "Easy Out" that fits into the remains of the fitting.

The bad news: Not a chance in hell is that fitting gonna move without some love from the Blue Wrench. And probably two people...and a vise. Maybe some other shit....I dunno And for that to happen, the cylinder is gonna have to come off of the backhoe. The moving end is undamaged, that will be easy. the other end, the fixed end with the bent ears and the bent pin...not so easy.

Well, dammit. I had hoped to not to have to take the cylinder off, as, while the pin was bent, the cylinder did move in the ears and there isn't too much movement (like only a few degrees) at that end when the backhoe is operating....I was leery of pulling the pin because of the sprung ears that hold the pin and the cylinder....I might have issues getting them to line up again after being bent once I removed the pin to get the cylinder off.....Plus I wasn't sure the bent pin would even come out of the bent ears.

The good news: Once I removed the retaining bolt, I was  able to get the pin out easily. It wasn't even bent!

The bad news: The pin wasn't bent, it was broken. I put a drift pin on the end and whacked it with a hammer and the other end of the pin came right out and fell into the mud. Huh.....Shit.
I'm not sure where I am gonna get a replacement pin for a one-off Chinese manufactured backhoe. I no longer have access to a larger metal lathe, so making a new pin is not really an option. Ain't likely  I can get a pin from the Chinese factory that made it, either.


I do have the cylinder off now, so I SHOULD be able to get the remains of the broken fitting out and should be able to find another one to replace it with. I am looking for a pin to replace the broken pin with....And I have a plan to straighten out the ears so that I can get the pin back in when I put the cylinder back. Maybe. If all else fails a torch should soften the steel enough that I can bend the ears enough...maybe. Worst case, I take it to the hydraulic shop and have them put a new fitting in, but that gets somewhat pricey...they are a really good shop. but they aren't cheap. But maybe they can source a pin for me....


We shall see. But hey, this activity is getting me out of the house and yet letting me stay away from everyone....so far, anyway.

Does anyone else

See a parallel between the ads and the community sacrifice happening today and the same sort of ads (only print instead of video) and the community sacrifice that happened during World War 2?

I mean, the ads are now running showing people "donating PPE" to hospitals....Donating MONEY to hospitals....sacrificing for the good of the nation. (yes, I actually heard those words on CBS). All of this accompanied by video of people hugging folks donating such items.

The parallels are clear. Along with the oft repeated slogan "We are all in this together".

While the Covid-19 virus IS a dangerous disease, causing a pandemic that rivals (or possibly slightly exceeds) the severity of any of our past flu outbreaks (except, perhaps, the "Spanish Flu") there is a great deal of Social Engineering taking place here. People have been led into panic, have been conditioned from the beginning to accept barely Constitutional "Stay at home" orders, first told NOT to wear masks, then, when told TO wear masks, they jumped into that wholeheartedly...to the point that it is now a fashion......Now the "We are All In This TOGETHER" message.....Odd.

I'm not sure who is engineering the Social Message...but it isn't random. Someone is managing this. Probably the same folks who ginned up the unreasonable fear from this disease in the first place.

I find it scary that whoever is engineering this message (and lets face it, LOTS of companies are putting their name on the message, and I find it odd that the message is the same, from many different companies....) is working so closely to the same propaganda map that was used for WWII....and that it is working so well. The enemy is, of course, not the Germans nor the Dirty Japs, but a disease.....But the parallels are, frankly, frightening when it comes to the Social Conditioning aspects. 

Not so sure

Look: I think that the CoronaPanic is somewhat overblown.

If you take New York (the Metro area, not the state...but including the edge of New Jersey where people commute from) out of the equation, then this isn't much worse than a standard Flu season, although a bit more time compressed.

There is a HUGE push to "reopen" the economy, releasing folks to go back to normal, for whatever level of normal they can recover to.

I'm not so sure if that is a good idea....

I mean, we have done the Kinda-sorta mandated but without any force of law but still sorta semi enforced "lockdown" bit....and have damaged our economy to the point where the ripple effect of the damage will be felt for months, if not years

And yet, really, what will another two weeks hurt at this point? Schools are closed for the rest of the year, pretty much all large gatherings (ball games, races, concerts, etc) are cancelled until at least mid summer....
People are laid off but are now getting some unemployment, so another week or three won't appreciably change their economic position.....Businesses are getting some relief, (some of them, anyway) and things have, for the most part, stabilized on the economic front.

I'd hate to see a minor downtrend change back to an upward tick in cases or even deaths in a week or so after the "reopening" of the country. Another two weeks will tell us for sure., at a small economic price. And another 21 days gives even more time for the curve to decay another two cycles...no matter what the curve actually looks like.

I'd hate for all the sacrifice and economic damage we've already done to be wasted. At this point, we might as well make sure. I would think another three weeks , say May 10th-ish would not be a bad idea.

We are fucked economically either way, so why not? 

A good point:

HERE

Who knew he was so powerful? 

April 19th

Today was, IMO, the REAL beginning of the United states.

Colonists had enough of their rulers, and stood up to, and said "NO" to the actions of those soldiers under orders of General Gage and Colonel Smith.

If you live in the US, say Thank You to whatever deity you talk to for those colonists back in 1775

Sad.

So people are lining up for HOURS in their cars to get food from food banks.

The videos I see show most folks in the lines are driving fairly new cars.

This, needing food handouts, after a month with no work.

This, to me, says something about their lifestyle that they are in dire straights after only month with no pay income. Cant feed themselves after only a month or so. So apparently nos savings at all
Living on the edge, as it were.

Plus, one would think that if they are out of work, they'd be getting unemployment.

Or it possibly could be that they are just bored, I dunno. 

Question:

Is the SEC and the Ethics Committee going to investigate those 4 Senators (that we know of) that knew about the coronavirus issue and the Federal Government's response..... and sold stock BEFORE everyone else found out? 

I would still consider that inside trading.....

Wouldn't you?

We should DEMAND an investigation. 

Grumpy start

But when I walked out on my deck, there was a golden eagle juvenile sitting in the tree near me, practicing his cry.

He is getting there, but needs practice.

It was a pretty good moment, me watching him, him watching me, and hearing his practice.

Sometimes you gotta enjoy life's little moments

AAANNND....the models are....

Wrong Again.

What a surprise, huh?

Well, just read the whole thing. Read the linked article too.

Remember, we were looking (at one point) at MILLIONS of people dying.
(That was the model).

Now it MIGHT be 65,000. If that.
(Not an insignificant number, mind you, but a far cry from MILLIONS).

And we have, effectively, destroyed our economy...first by shutting it down and then by injecting Billions of dollars that didn't exist.

All because someone panicked and didn't, you know, actually check to see if the model was valid.

Kinda like the whole Global Warming thing, only in fast forward, with deficit spending.

Note to all the new gun owners:

Buying a race car doesn't make you a NASCAR driver.

Buying a saw doesn't make you a carpenter.

Please, get some training on how to safely use your new heater.

'Cause buying a gun doesn't buy the knowledge nor skill to use it effectively nor safely.

(likely there is a gun club nearby that can help, or you can go to the NRA website  to find some training classes)

But please, learn to use that new tool you bought. They are, like a table saw, unforgiving to folks who don't know how to use them safely...and the person you hurt might not be you.

Summat to think about

Seriously, think about THIS while you are sitting at home on a Saturday.


We are all in this together, but yes, we are doing it separate-like.

Clear messages in this Coronavirus "Crisis"

Via my brother who got it from an unknown source (I think).

If u read this, u will see how insane this thing has become.

For those of you who are still confused, these are the rules:

1. Basically, you can't leave the house for any reason, but if you have to, then you can.

2. Masks are useless, but maybe you have to wear one, it can save you, it is useless, but maybe it is mandatory as well.

3. Stores are closed, except those that are open.

4. You should not go to hospitals unless you have to go there. Same applies to doctors, you should only go there in case of emergency, provided you are not too sick.

5. This virus is deadly but still not too scary, except that sometimes it actually leads to a global disaster.

6. Gloves won't help, but they can still help.

7. Everyone needs to stay HOME, but it's important to GO OUT.

8. There is no shortage of groceries in the supermarket, but there are many things missing when you go there in the evening, but not in the morning. Sometimes.

9. The virus has no effect on children except those it affects.

10. Animals are not affected, but there is still a cat that tested positive in Belgium in February when no one had been tested, plus a few tigers here and there…

11. You will have many symptoms when you are sick, but you can also get sick without symptoms, have symptoms without being sick, or be contagious without having symptoms. Oh, my God.

12. In order not to get sick, you have to eat well and exercise, but eat whatever you have on hand because it's better not to go out, well, but no…

13. It's better to get some fresh air, but you get looked at very wrong when you get some fresh air, and most importantly, you don't go to parks or walk. But don’t sit down, except that you can do that now if you are old, but not for too long or if you are pregnant (but not too old).

14. You can't go to retirement homes, but you have to take care of the elderly and bring them food and medication.

15. If you are sick, you can't go out, but you can go to the pharmacy.

16. You can get restaurant food delivered to the house, which may have been prepared by people who didn't wear masks or gloves. But you have to have your groceries decontaminated outside for 3 hours. Pizza too?

17. Every disturbing article or disturbing interview starts with " I don't want to trigger panic, but…"

18. You can't see your older mother or grandmother, but you can take a taxi and meet an older taxi driver.

19. You can walk around with a friend but not with your family if they don't live under the same roof.

20. You are safe if you maintain the appropriate social distance, but you can’t go out with friends or strangers at the safe social distance.

21. The virus remains active on different surfaces for two hours, no, four, no, six, no, we didn't say hours, maybe days? But it takes a damp environment. Oh no, not necessarily.

22. The virus stays in the air - well no, or yes, maybe, especially in a closed room, in one hour a sick person can infect ten, so if it falls, all our children were already infected at school before it was closed. But remember, if you stay at the recommended social distance, however in certain circumstances you should maintain a greater distance, which, studies show, the virus can travel further, maybe.

23. We count the number of deaths but we don't know how many people are infected as we have only tested so far those who were "almost dead" to find out if that's what they will die of…

24. We have no treatment, except that there may be one that apparently is not dangerous unless you take too much (which is the case with all medications). Orange man bad.

25. We should stay locked up until the virus disappears, but it will only disappear if we achieve collective immunity, so when it circulates… but wait...we must no longer be locked up for that?
🤪

Propaganda

"we are all in this together"

Bullshit.

Is the constant propaganda load we are experiencing like it was in WWII, only with video instead of print?

Protests

People are beginning to realize that the Coronavirus crisis is, essentially, overblown.

Yes, it is a serious disease for some.
Yes, it kills people
They realize that.

They also realize that it isn't the deadly pandemic that will kill one in 20 people as promised.
It isn't spreading like wildfire.
The Hospitals are not overwhelmed.

also:

Despite the claims of running out of equipment, masks, and gowns, the hospitals are still equipped.
Despite they media hype, this isn't worth destroying our economy.

And they are getting restless because, while they were willing to wait and see, they are realizing that it isn't as forecast.
And they won't stay home forever.

They also realize that everywhere isn't like NYC. And that outside of dense urban enclaves, the rate of infection and death just isn't there as forecast....even the rtes in large cities are not anywhere near the forecast. 
And that cities really, despite they hype, are not deathtrap hellholes.

And we are beginning to see the social manipulation taking place in the Media. And while we can be manipulated, it can only last for so long. After a wile, they begin to smell the bullshit for what it is.

Bet on it, the protest in Lansing and other places are just the beginning. May first--May 15th. People will say "enough". Demand that things change. Take the chance to go back to work and to be productive and live their lives.

May 15th at the outside.
Bet on it.

Can't see the downside

For the US, at least, of Trump defunding the US contribution to the World Health Organization.

Sadly, like the United Nations, they have become so political, so trend-following, that they have become effectively useless, at least on a macro scale. LInstitutions run by liberals and politicians generally go down that path, and the current WHO is a perfect example. The organization has fallen so far from where is was 50 years ago.

I am sure there is a downside for the US, I just can't see it. 

Running out

So the story is that health care facilities are "running out" of masks...(And other PPE and they have been for weeks)

Yet the media always seems to have some.

While urging the rest of us to donate any we have to the health care systems.
But the media (TV, especially) seems to have  a large supply of masks.
Odd, innit?

They are keeping theirs while urging us to donate to the health care system that has been "in imminent danger of running out" for over 30 days.

I am beginning to wonder if this is like some of the "shared sacrifice" manipulation that the Federal Government did during WWII to keep up support for the war among the civilian population....

Either way, again, something doesn't make sense, both the mask issue and the rest of the panic. 

Strange:

Oddly, for the past two weeks the New York hospitals are within 24 hours of running out of PPE and Ventilators.....just as they have been "on the verge" of running out for the past 2 weeks or more.

Strange how that works, innit. Just about to run out....for two weeks.

I dunno if they were lying then, or are lying now. 



Say a prayer for the folks in Louisiana and Mississippi and Kentucky and Tennessee who lost their homes in the tornadoes last night . How would you like to lose everything and then have to take shelter with folks what with the coronavirus as an additional danger....

Like a cat in a child's sandbox

Covering up it's turd after the deed is done.

Seems that China is doing what it can to obfuscate the origins of the Covid 19 virus.

Suppressing research and editing out any studies which are not "approved".


It's almost as if they are aware and are trying to hide the origin of the disease that has disrupted the economy of the WORLD and will likely ultimately kill about 800,000 people.

Bats sold in a market my ass

Still the wrong curve

Everyone is using the wrong growth rate curve.

Bet on it.

The disease has been here since before Christmas.
And yet, everyone is using the start date as sometime in February.

Bad data results in bad predictions.
Which is why the prediction numbers keep changing.

Oddly other countries, Ferinstance, Sweden..., are not on "Lockdown"....they haven't damaged their economy, and their infection rate is similar to that of the US. Yes, they are "Social Distancing" somewhat, but they are not on "lockdown" the bars and restaurants are open, etc. "Herd Immunity" appears to work as well and the measures taken in the rest of the world.
Similar results in Brazil

As for the rates here in the US, the curves are probably as wrong as they can be, so the predictions are too. Different rate of infection, different growth rate of the disease in the population, and a much higher rate of "Little to No Symptoms".....Oddly, 30-50% of people tested in Chicago ALREADY HAVE HAD THE VIRUS.

Something the media seems to be ignoring.

And as I asked in a previous post....why?

Just some new data on the "Russian Collusion"

Seems the FBI had lots of reasons to doubt the veracity of most of the reports.

But they went ahead anyway.

Almost like they had an agenda or something. 

Happy Easter

Remember why it is a holiday...no matter which religion that you celebrate today for. 

Unclear on the concept:

Just saw a dude with full mask and gloves, after wandering around in a convenience store for 10 minutes (touching a bunch of stuff) then try to dial his smartphone.....and was unable to get the phone to recognize his finger touch....So he pulled up his mask and USED HIS TEETH to pull the glove off of his hand so he could dial his smartphone.

Methinks he is missing the idea of how the gloves are spozed to protect him.

Jesus Christ on rollerskates. 

Lockdown day 489

Parents all over the United States are realizing that the issues are NOT with the school and the Teachers:

Their child is difficult to teach and is, really, a poorly behaved little monster.

The longer this goes on....

The more I am beginning to feel as if myself and my countrymen are just the subjects of a giant Social Conditioning experiment.

Look: this is a deadly disease. I got that. Truly, it is.

But the "normal" flu kills 30-50 THOUSAND every year. Yet we don't shut down our country for that.

Swine Flu (H1N1) killed over a quarter million (yes, 250,000) people in 2009. over a HUNDRED THOUSAND in the first 6 months. Yet we, as a country, essentially did nothing differently then. Nothing. If no one reminded you about that time, you would not even remember. 

The Media is hyping the deaths (Almost 14 THOUSAND!!!!) as of this evening....Yet it is reported that anyone who dies is coded as Corona, tested or not, whether that virus is the actual cause of death or not....

And while I DO think the "Social Distancing"  is a Good Thing, and having folks be more aware of handwashing and hygeine is a great idea, I also am beginning to wonder....

Why the hype this time, and not other times? Why, if we should distance ourselves, and if places like New York are supposedly in Dire straights, have we not cut off the mass transit system that is making it so easy for folks to press together in a small place? Or at least greatly reduced the number of people allowed to ride in one subway car at one time?

Why is the Media pushing so hard that this virus had to somehow spring to life in a "Wet Market" in Wuhan, when the nearest bat with similar virii is over 200 miles away from Wuhan?  Why do they discount so readily the very close proximity of laboratories to the outbreak source that were STUDYING and CULTURING similar virii...less than a mile away?

And why the hype over the death rate when, while it is greater than a "normal" flu, is not significantly greater than other outbreaks?

Don't believe me, use Google or another search engine to check my statements....and then ask yourself...

WHY?

Social Distancing

Went to the range today.

No one there.  I had all 8,2 acres to myself.  Was kinda glad that no one was there to see....

Spent two hundred .22 at the 50 yard range. Good, but not great. I need to shoot more. My holds weren't as stable as before the winter, and ...well, to be honest, I suck right now.

Ten shot, quarter-sized groups at 50 yards from a bench? Really? WTF? I can shoot WAY better that that! Not much better prone, nor sitting (and kneeling looked like I was patterning a .410 with buckshot). We won't talk about offhand, ok?

This with a rifle/scope combination that I can normally cover 10 shots with a DIME at 100 yards.

The wind was calm, or nearly so, and the temp was low 60's. So no excuse there.

I could hit with the 1911 at 50 feet, however. At least those groups were better. But I can practice my draw and firing inside all winter long. Not so with the range outdoors. It tends to get "squishy"...if you can get the gate open at all.

More practice.
I mean, I got time, right?

I guess he figured that people didn't like their taste of "life under socialism"

What with the shortages at the Grocery stores, being stuck in their houses with nowhere to go (and nothing to do if they did go anywhere) and the total tanking of the Stock Market and all...

Bernie Sanders has quit the game. Urges voters to vote for Biden.

Pretty much a given that he was gonna lose anyway, what with the DNC shenanigans when it comes time to be chosen....

Double Standards:

So Donald Trump fucked up by the numbers in his response to the Coronavirus mess.
(perhaps, perhaps not)

BUT...

The World Health Organization could "Only go with the information it had at the time to make decisions".

Funny, innit?

CBS and their current expert Dr. Deborah Birx.

Masks

Now that masks started working for those of us not in health care (hint: they always did, if worn right) I am seeing lots more people wearing masks in public.

Sadly, while they are wearing masks, few of them are fitting those masks correctly. Some so incorrectly so as to provide pretty much ZERO protection.

I see folks with the masks gaping at the sides...which will help keep them from infecting ME with their coronavirus when they cough (somewhat, anyway) but not keep them from getting it when all that air leaks in unfiltered from the sides.

I also see folks wearing the mask over their mouths BUT NOT THE NOSE. Kinda foolish and meaningless there.

Also with only one of the straps.  Both the top and bottom straps are necessary.   Again, missing the point.

Not fitted at the bridge of the nose. Leaking all that air makes the mask effectively useless as a protection for the wearer.

Having a mask on but hanging over one ear doesn't do much for protection either. Hint: It has to COVER your mouth and nose.

Handmade masks: While I am not too certain that a layer or two of cotton cloth is that great of protection for the wearer, it is much better than nothing.....and it likely protects the rest of us from them rather than the other way around.

But, hey, at least they are trying, if very imperfectly. Or it could be simply a case of "monkey see, monkey do" ...or just plain fashion.

ETA: I am not a medical professional but was trained to fit particulate masks for dust and asbestos. So yeah, I can spot a bad fit pretty easily. 

Izzit any wonder they have so many cases in NYC?

Check out this report on the subway crowding there.

"Social Distancing" my ass.

Busses and the El trains in Chicago are nearly as bad.

Until they shut down or greatly modify the way people use the public transportation, this won't go away in cities. Might be somewhat mitigated if everyone started wearing masks.

Unable to correlate cause and effect

So it seems that in the greater Chicago metro area, the South Side...largely black (or African American, if you are being PC) has a large number of Coronavirus-19 cases.

The numbers keep changing, but something like 52 of the 98 cases in the greater Chicago Metro area are black, even though they are less than 30% of the population.

And, in typical fashion, it is somehow a conspiracy of White People against Black people (keepin' the black man down) or some variation of that meme.

It couldn't be because the Black community, or at least a large part of it, REFUSES to stop gathering in groups, refuses to follow the social distancing  guidelines, that police keep having to break up groups on streets, that women keep chatting in groups in the grocery stores. That men keep congregating in barbershops and in alleyways.

Nope, like all good liberals, it MUST be the fault of someone else. Gotta find someone to blame, but (again) it can't be black people to blame for the ills of their community. Nossir.

Idiots. 

Yet another question:

So, apparently, the hospitals in NYC (and other places) are "converting" normal patient rooms to "Negative Pressure Rooms" to isolate, handle, and care for the large numbers of Coronavirus patients.

Now, negative pressure rooms are just that, they have slightly lower pressure than the adjacent room so that air leakage is one way...into the NP room, preventing whatever cooties the patient inside the room has from getting out into the hallway or through the door.

This, of course, requires a bit of fine balancing of air out vs air on, and some pretty powerful fans and/or other air handlers. Generally, the NP rooms also get the air changed more frequently, like 10-12 times an hour.

Modifying the airflow in a set of rooms from "normal" to Negative Pressure is not a trivial task.
One has to find some way to handle the additional airflow, to heat (or cool) the increased incoming air to environmental standards (likely 65-70 degrees F) to balance that airflow  correctly and some way to handle the infectious materials that may be in that air you are exhausting from those rooms.

Since the hospitals are doing this "quickly" I don't think I would want to spend much time breathing the air around the outside of the hospital. You are talking at least 5 times the air quantity of a "normal" room and that air has to be somehow filtered for the diseases that the patients have. The filtering/germicidal devices that are in place to filter for the rooms that already exist won't work well if they are expected to handle 2 or three times as much air volume. And you can't just easily add to such devices on a moment's notice....they need to be ordered and custom built and tested and adjusted before they can be used.

Lots of air, handled quickly, and now at a greater load for that filter or germicidal device to make the air safe for the rest of us. All done in a "hurry"...I'm glad I don't live downwind of a hospital that has covid cases.

Yeah, I feel safe about it.  You should too....

Supply Situation Report

Went to help a friend yesterday, (yes, we "social distanced" outside) and stopped in to the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things.

Lots of fresh veggies
Lots of milk
Lots of eggs.
Lots of cheese
Lots of lunchmeat.

Fresh fish counter had lots of stuff and all of it was on sale.

Meat at ~70%
Bread shelves at ~ 30%
Chips at~50%
Cookies at ~50%
Canned goods at~70%
Pasta at ~30%
Rice nonexistant
Wheat flour shelves completely empty
TP, some, not much

Sugar maybe 10%
Pop/soda at ~70%

Half the folks wore masks, everyone was pleasant but staying apart.

North West Indiana 4/5/20.

How are things in your area?

Unclear on the concept:

Had to make a trip today.

25 or so miles each way.

I saw a fair number of people wearing masks.....INSIDE THEIR CAR....alone.

I think they are missing the concept.

Bad Statistics

I find this interesting:

“The underlying cause depends upon what and where conditions are reported on the death certificate. However, the rules for coding and selection of the underlying cause of death are expected to result in COVID- 19 being the underlying cause more often than not,” the guidelines read.

“COVID-19 should be reported on the death certificate for all decedents where the disease caused or is assumed to have caused or contributed to death,” CDC guidelines issued March 24 read. “Certifiers should include as much detail as possible based on their knowledge of the case, medical records, laboratory testing, etc.,” the guidance continued."

S if John comes to the hospital, with a heart condition at 75 years old, already on oxygen, with diabetes, showing signs of Covid 19  and subsequently dies, then he is assumed to have died from coronavirus, tested or not.

So we won't have any decent statistics to work with, later.

“If the decedent had other chronic conditions such as COPD or asthma that may have also contributed, these conditions can be reported in Part II.”


I am gonna go work outside today.

Be safe

Finally:

Seems that (locally, at least) WalMart is finally limiting the numbers of people in the store, and actually acting like there is a health crisis instead of Business as Usual.

No more than 5 people per thousand square feet.

'Cause everyone needs to shop for cheap chinese goods. Clothing, footballs, and cheap electronics.
The food at the SuperWalmart grocery section I can understand....But the rest?

Odd how no one ever questioned the people at Walmart considering the "lockdown" orders, innit? 

Finally found an answer for mask sterilization

How to reuse an 9-95 mask...do's and don'ts.

I was wrong that sterilizing the surface with alcohol would do the trick. Treatment with alcohol degrades the efficiency of the mask.

But hot air at 158F will do the trick.

Steam 125C will do the trick.

Soap and water will degrade the efficiency of the mask.

Hot water (boiling) may well be effective.

AAANNdd here we go...

Both CBS and NBC (and possibly other DNC mouthpieces) are pushing for a "National Lockdown order".

While I do understand the reasons to want this, it is a very very very very slippery slope precedent that they are advocating.

And here these assholes were worried that Trump would do the whole Martial Law thing against them.

Yet they WANT to enable this or ANY OTHER future president to Lock-Down the whole country with the stroke of a pen.

Do they not realize what a Pandora's box they are opening?? 

Why don't they listen?

On CBS this morning....Government Health Officials are lamenting that people are not staying home....and that there isn't a national order to do so.

Firstly, dude, people no longer believe you anymore (or, like me, never really did) because your story changes often. Your advice often flouts common sense.

Second, the whole Stay At Home order things is...not really enforceable unless there is Martial Law in place, or someone declares a State Of Emergency...and no governor wants to do that.

But why should we listen to people who we know don't tell us the truth...or at least the WHOLE truth? Whose aims may or may not be in our best interest?

I AM mostly staying home, limiting my contacts, "Social Distancing". etc. I live in a mostly rural area, so it isn't that difficult for me. It is, I think, harder in more urban areas. THOSE areas might well have benefitted from more mask wearing, but they didn't because they were told not to. NOW, they wonder why folks have begun to stop listening?

Well, shit.

Took the 182 in for the annual inspection yesterday.

One bad cylinder on one side, and two marginal ones on the other side.

Shit. This is gonna be a bit costly.

But hey, no one ever said aviation is cheap.

It's the downtime while the cylinders are reworked that sucks though.

Prolly 3 weeks.

Oh, and....

Now Masks DO help the rest of us, not just the Medical Personnel. Proper fitment is key to effectiveness, but even a poorly fitting mask has a great deal of effectiveness...according to new CDC "guidelines"
Which anyone with a brain already knew.

As, while not as effective, even a kerchief is better than nothing at all, for those folks who weren't aware that water is wet and gravity makes things fall.
So says the "experts" now, in contrast to their advice of weeks ago.

How can we trust the government health organizations words when they say such things? And when their message changes halfway though the crisis from what we all suspect are lies to the exact opposite ?

And now they are admitting as well that all those unexplained cases of "not seasonal flu" after Thanksgiving were likely coronavirus, despite telling us that there had been no cases prior to the end of January.

W.T. F. 

Have ya noticed?

New York has been "running out of hospital beds for Coronavirus patients" for over a week and a half now.

And they have been "nearly out of Facemasks (and other PPE)" for over a 2 weeks now.

Now, today, CBS reports that New York is "Nearly out of Respirators" for yet another day.

I'm trying to figure out how it is that they can be "nearly" out of all of these things for weeks. yet never run out.

One can ship masks in, and can import respirators, I guess, but at some point "Nearly" out of beds becomes out of beds.

For me, the Hype from the media and the politicians is beginning to become threadbare.

WOLF!

Only this time, there is a wolf.

It occurred to me that a LOT of people didn't buy the fearmongering that the Media and (to a lesser extent) the Federal and Local governments) promulgated about this current "crisis".

Thing is, as long as I can remember, there have been warnings about lots of diseases....some were dire warnings of DOOM if we didn't follow some rules or other. The last  major scare..."Swine Flu"... we were told the SAME THINGS as we were about this current "Coronavirus"....Tens of Hundreds of THOUSANDS! of people were gonna die, there wouldn't be any medical personnel to take care of the dying and we would't be able to burn the bodies in pits fast enough.....

Who remembers the millions dead from H1N1? From SARS?
None of us. So when the Real Thing (if this is it) came along, no one, at first believed it.

We had Heard  "Wolf!!!....WOLF!!!" too many times. Most of us simply ignored the warnings. We had heard all the warnings before, and they had turned out to be.....nothing. Less than nothing.

And, while this time it IS serious, we are again being told that THIS time, we are all gonna die if we don't stay inside and refuse to interact with people for then NEXT 30 days.

Sadly, I thing many people still don't believe the government nor the media. They've lied to and overstated too many times....about many things. Too many things. (Lets not even look at "Global Warming" "Climate Change"...Or AIDS. Both were gonna wipe humanity from the face of the earth).

Look: These precautions are probably a good plan. In fact, lets say that they are necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19. But lets face it, even now the big 3 news media are telling us that there will be MILLIONS of dead. More sober projections say somewhere between 200,000 and 600,000. Not MILLIONS. Not multiple millions. So, again, in order to have something to talk about, the media destroys their credibility...and in doing so, they take the already mostly-not-believed Centers for Disease Control down with them.

Yes, this is a serious disease. Yes, it affects lots of folks. Yes, we all should take some precautions. Yes, we should limit our gatherings. But at what cost the hype, the fearmongering, the drive for ratings? The breathlessly dramatic recitation of the number of people sick and/or dying? No one in the media has pointed out that of the number of people presenting symptoms (not just "tested", but actually showing some symptoms....the percentage of people dying is still very low. You'd think, watching the national news, that this is the end of the world.And that is, again, another lie.

And because of the overly-hyped news, as people grow inured to the hype and the dramatic scenes from (a very few) hospitals and the ever increasing predictions of death for all, they will soon begin returning to their "normal" ways....because they simply don't believe the media even if this time there might be a kernel of truth to what they are telling us. People in the US will put up with some inconvenience. In fact, I believe they will sacrifice a LOT of comfort if they believe there is a good reason for it. But they have been lied to so often, for so long, by the media and the "authorities" that  even if this time it is real, they won't believe it. And because they Don't Believe, when it becomes too inconvenient, they will cease to take precautions.

And therein lies a recipe for Bad Things to happen. 

An oddity:

Strangely, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus website shows ZERO people recovered in the United States. Zero.

Perhaps it is simply a reporting issue. Perhaps something more. I dunno.

And, again, that part of me that thinks that Reynolds Wrap is a good fashion choice for a chapeau is trying to tell me something.....
ETA: Others are thinking along the same lines..

ETA2: As of 4:55 pm central time, the US didn't even have a listing in the "Recovered" column. As of 6:30, there is a listing.

As I said, an oddity.

4-1

Happy April Fools day.

No, sadly, the shit you are seeing is real, not a joke.