Crossroads

Sometime today will mark a crossroads ... when there should be as many or more total deaths from the coronavirus as there were from the swine flu in 2009 ... around 14,000. But somehow I don’t recall quite the same level of economic dislocation and medical panic back then.

How come? Was it because Obama was president then and not Trump? Beats me! I do find it fascinating how the reaction today is so dramatically different as it was back then. Yes, case loads and deaths will continue to go up under COVID-19 ... to 100,000 or above. But, others are saying that fatalities could be significantly lower. (Just saw one at 60,000.)

And are we going to restart the economy anytime soon? I have predicted that sometime next week we will have a view of the economic road ahead emanating out of the Trump administration ... not that no one will die during this ramp-up. But , like you dear readers, we just hope that it will not include any of us. Stay well!

Pandemics

For those who want more specifics on our past pandemics, here are some write-ups. I suspect that, the Wikipedia entries might be politically shaded, but nevertheless, since you may have lots of time on your hands, here is a way to spend it.

Spanish flu (1919) — Wikipedia Entry

Asian flu (1957) — Britannica Entry

Hong Kong flu (1968) — Britannica Entry

SARS (2003) — Wikipedia Entry

Swine flu (2009) — Wikipedia Entry

MERS (2012) — Wikipedia Entry

Wuhan flu (2020) — Wikipedia Entry

Flu Hysteria

Hysteria is as common a part of the human condition as is inebriation. — Anon,

Sometime today the U.S. coronavirus deaths will surpass 1,000 ... the datapoint at which President Obama declared a national emergency in the Swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010. President Trump declared a national emergency in our current pandemic 13 days ago. The Swine flu went on to claim the lives of as many as 18,000 Americans ... disproportunately children. We can only hope that coronavirus, which mainly suffers our infirmed elders, will not be as deadly.

So far, if we can believe their numbers, it has killed 3,287 people in China (I actually believe that the real number might be 10 times higher), a country with over three times the population of the U.S. (see: Latest Numbers) ... and it appears to be fading out there as they have restarted their economy.

Are we hysterically overreacting now relative to the Swine flu? See: Dr. Birx Assessment. I believe that this pandemic mania has resulted from three major factors:

- even though this virus may not be more lethal than past ones, its spread is quite fast ... overburdening our healthcare facilities. This, in turn, has required draconian measures to “flatten the curve” which accents this threat in the public’s mind.

- maybe because this pandemic seems to prefer killing us older farts, the decision makers ... our reaction is understandably inflated due to our instinct for self-preservation.

- because of the above two reasons ... and due to the national media’s visceral hatred of President Trump, news stories have clearly accented the negative and often untrue aspects of this pandemic. This overreaction ... is called the hoax ... too few medical supplies, undefundings, inattentive and late responses, huge job losses, etc. This is a clear and unprofessional continuation of the media’s attempts to take down the Orangeman.

Hostile Media

President Trump gripes that the fake-news’ constant nipping at his heels is impeding what he can get done. This may or may not be the case. And by this I mean just the “nipping” not the “fake news.”

Let’s be real ... the deep state and most of the hostile media hate Trump with a white-hot passion. Although this makes his job much more difficult ... in a way, it is a good thing ... for it requires him to perform well in every situation .... like in the current COVID-19  outbreak.

In the heat of the moment, it is difficult to gauge how well he is handling this health crisis, but, to me, I think he is managing this crisis almost as well as possible. Sure, he has made a few missteps. But, like any good manager, he is driven not by ideology, but to produce results and can pivot on a dime to do so.

When the national media is in love with a president, like with our former “chosen one,” gigantic mistakes are not focused on nor corrected ... in fact they are résumé enhancers ... such as Obamacare, the rise of “ISIL,” the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris Climate Accord, the swine flu response, TARP and the Afghanistan “surge” among many other Obama boners.

So, dear reader, although our national media is grossly biased and dishonest, they may be performing a useful purpose ... keeping Trump walking the line ... and will likely give themselves lots of kudos for such.

Flu Fleecers

Walgreens and CVS are selling seasonal flu shots for around $30 a pop ... and this program has proved so popular that both store chains are running out of flu vaccine (and their stock prices are moving up). See: Flu Vaccine Shortage. The purpose of my comments here is to chastise Walgreens and CVS for their sleight-of-hand in offering this program during the public panic about the H1N1 flu outbreak. These drugstores do not make it abundantly clear that these flu shots do not protect recipients against the "swine flu". I conjecture that the vast majority of the public sheep who are getting these seasonal flu shots do not realize that they are not protected against the H1N1 virus and that the vaccine against this strain of the flu virus will not be available to the general public for at least one month.

Also many of these ovines could get this very same seasonal flu shot at their workplaces, HMOs, local community clinics. or fraternal organizations for free. I welcome readers to watch these drug store's ads on TV or read their road signs and find an explicit caveat emptor that these flu shots do not protect against the swine flu. These stores may reveal this fact to those Babbitts in line to be vaccinated ... but, by then, it may to be too late. The Walgreen and CVS Judas goats have already lead these sheep into spending their $30 for something that they think they are getting ... but are not.

Boondoggle Glitch

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been quarantined in China after being exposed to the swine flu. See: Asian Boondoggle. Why do mayors and their entourages (too often including wives) indulge themselves in these obviously fake economic missions? (Boston’s mayor ,“Mumbles” Menino, has also had his share of expense-paid vacations, see Menino Italy Trip and Menino S.A. Trip ). Mayor Nagin will be out of office within the year. See: Last Days. Therefore, I suspect, any possible benefit that he can squeeze from his current boondoggle will be quickly dissipated once he is gone.

Perhaps, if the main-stream media were doing their jobs, they would grill these pols upon their return from such expensive “economic missions” to ascertain exactly what had been accomplished ... and then do follow-up stories.

ANGST!

Perhaps it is because of a need to fill the 24/7 news cycles of cable television but it seems to me that there is a growing number of stressful situations that are gripping the news reporting in this country. What once might have been a column on page B22 of the NY Times is now the hysterical lead on many internet blogs and cable TV talking-heads shows.

For instance, to mention but a few:
- Swine flu (or H1N1) -- In a normal year about 35,000 people die in this country from the flu. So far one person has died here from the Mexican swine influenza “pandemic” and yet our citizens are in a media-induced panic. Go figure.
- War in Afghanistan/Pakistan – Barack Obama has made this war a centerpiece of his '“Overseas Contingency Operation” (no longer “War on Terror”). So far we are not getting the daily casualty reports and dovish hysteria like we once did in Iraq under Bush. But I predict that, within 6-12 months, this conflict will be just as media assaulted.
- Somali pirates – This nuisance, it seems, could be wiped out with a few Predator drone strikes, but frustratingly lingers in the cable news cycle like a bad case of teenage acne.
- Banking crisis -- Since last October, this has been a headline grabber with the latest worry being the “stress test” which all banks recently passed (maybe not?).
- Unemployment – the media’s focus on the unemployment rate started under the Bush administration, but now the Labor Department's breathless monthly update has become a reason for the stock market to swoon.
- Nuclear proliferation in Iran/North Korea – The media is more than happy to go partners with Amadinajab and Kim Jong Il to keep their audiences in a perpetual state of angst over when and where these tin-hat dictators are going to drop the big one on the civilized world.
- Torture – the only thing more tortured than a water-boarded terrorist is the hypocritical rhetoric fanned by the American fourth estate.
- Disappearing U.S. auto industry – daily hand-wringing is the recipe for this naturally occurring bit of financial capitalism.
- Global warming – ‘nuf said.