Besides Republicans, Conservatives Are Also Seeing This President for What He Is

Check this stunning piece from none other than The American Conservative.

Failing the Pandemic Test / 

The American Conservative

"South Korea appears to have managed the crisis successfully and they have suffered far fewer casualties than the U.S. has so far, and one of the main reasons for their success is that they did what we failed to do: widespread early testing to get a handle on where the virus was spreading. The federal government’s failures in particular have put the country in a terrible position, and even now the federal response remains uneven, erratic, and slow. Forget about what may or may not happen to U.S. “leadership” in the world. The federal government is struggling to lead within our borders. It is a humiliating development, and it should be particularly humbling for supporters of U.S. global hegemony, but then these people are not known for their humility."

As for Republicans, there's this group fighting his re-election:

Trump conservative critics launch PAC to fight reelection

You can find them and their Facebook page here:

Dedicated Americans Protecting Democracy | The Lincoln Project

The Lincoln Project - Home | Facebook

It's almost enough to give a person hope out here.

Notes on a Pandemic

Things we should maybe know on this novel coronavirus.

• The virus is not a living organism, but a protein molecule (DNA) covered by a protective layer of lipid (fat), which, when absorbed by the cells of the ocular, nasal or buccal mucosa, changes their genetic code. (mutation) and convert them into aggressor and multiplier cells.
• Since the virus is not a living organism but a protein molecule, it is not killed, but decays on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material where it lies.
• The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat. That is why any soap or detergent is the best remedy, because the foam CUTS the FAT (that is why you have to rub so much: for 20 seconds or more, to make a lot of foam).
• By dissolving the fat layer, the protein molecule disperses and breaks down on its own.
• HEAT melts fat; this is why it is so good to use water above 25 degrees Celsius for washing hands, clothes and everything. In addition, hot water makes more foam and that makes it even more useful.
• Alcohol or any mixture with alcohol over 65% DISSOLVES ANY FAT, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.
• Any mix with 1 part bleach and 5 parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaks it down from the inside.
• Oxygenated water helps long after soap, alcohol and chlorine, because peroxide dissolves the virus protein, but you have to use it pure and it hurts your skin.
• NO BACTERICIDE OR ANTIBIOTIC SERVES. The virus is not a living organism like bacteria; antibodies cannot kill what is not alive.
• NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or cloth. While it is glued to a porous surface, it is very inert and disintegrates only between 3 hours for anything fabric and/or porous, 4 hours  for copper and wood, 24 hours, cardboard, 42 hours, metal and 72 hours plastic.
• But if you shake it or use a feather duster, the virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours, and can lodge in your nose.
• The virus molecules remain very stable in external cold, or artificial as air conditioners in houses and cars.
• They also need moisture to stay stable, and especially darkness. Therefore, dehumidified, dry, warm and bright environments will degrade it faster.
• UV LIGHT on any object that may contain it breaks down the virus protein. For example, to disinfect and reuse a mask is perfect. Be careful, it also breaks down collagen--which is protein--in the skin.
• The virus CANNOT go through healthy skin. (That's certainly encouraging).
• Vinegar is NOT useful because it does not break down the protective layer of fat.
• NO SPIRITS, NOR VODKA, serve. The strongest vodka is 40% alcohol, and you need 65%. There is one exception here and that is Everclear as it is 95% alcohol.
• LISTERINE IF IT SERVES! It is 65% alcohol.
• The more confined the space, the more concentration of the virus there can be. The more open or naturally ventilated, the less.
• You have to wash your hands before and after touching mucosa, food, locks, knobs, switches, remote control, cell phone, watches, computers, desks, TV, etc.  and, of course, when using the bathroom.
• You have to HUMIDIFY HANDS DRY from so much washing them, because the molecules can hide in the micro cracks. The thicker the moisturizer, the better.
• Also, keep your NAILS SHORT so that the virus does not hide there.

Be well, be safe and stay home much as possible.

With gratitude and thanks for the list to Dr. Rob Schaaf

This Completely, Totally, Utterly, Thoroughly Bizarre President and His Administration

Yet more bizarreness today from this Republican Party Presidential Administration.

First this:

Trump says keeping US Covid-19 deaths to 100,000 would be a ‘very good job’

He actually said if only 100,000 Americans die from and because of this coronavirus pandemic, he will have done "a very good job."

This after first dismissing it entirely, of course, as a "Democratic (party) hoax" then saying it was under control, etc., etc.

Insane.

Next up, also breaking earlier today, is this from a spokesperson in his administration:

Dr. Birx predicts up to 200,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths 'if we do things almost perfectly'

From the article:

The White House coronavirus response coordinator said Monday that she is "very worried about every city in the United States" and projects 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths as a best case scenario.

In an interview on "TODAY," Dr. Deborah Birx painted a grim message about the expected fatalities, echoing that they could hit more than 2 million without any measures, as coronavirus cases continue to climb throughout the country.

"I think everyone understands now that you can go from five to 50 to 500 to 5,000 cases very quickly," Birx said.

"I think in some of the metro areas we were late in getting people to follow the 15-day guidelines," she added.

Birx said the projections by Dr. Anthony Fauci that U.S. deaths could range from 1.6 million to 2.2 million is a worst case scenario if the country did "nothing" to contain the outbreak, but said even "if we do things almost perfectly," she still predicts up to 200,000 U.S. deaths.

Mixed signals, anyone?

Then he did this, over the weekend.

'Insulting' Frontline Health Workers, Trump—Without Evidence—Accuses Hospital Staff in New York of Stealing Protective Gear

Everyone else is praising the health care workers hard work, diligence, sacrifice, sacrifices and efforts. This President?  Heck! Accuse them of stealing medical equipment!

And then he squeezes in time for this, this morning, of all things, big man and big thinker he is.

Trump's Fifty-Four Minute Call To Fox And Friends: Attacks Pelosi As 'Sick Puppy'

Not done there, this news also broke this morning:

Mark Meadows resigning from Congress to become Trump’s chief of staff

There's a great deal of crazy about this, of course, but I'll just point out here that this is Mr. Trump's fourth---fourth--Chief of Staff since taking office.

As if we haven't got enough on our hands and enough bad news already, there is also this breaking today.

Coronavirus job losses could total 47 million, unemployment rate may hit 32 percent, Fed estimates

And to put this in historic perspective?

"The projected unemployment rate would top the Great Depression peak of 24.9 percent."

If the deaths across the planet from this pandemic didn't already concern you, this might.

How much more bizarre and erratic and completely unpredictable and unreliable can this President and all his people, his administration, get? Meanwhile, we need a leader in the White House, not insanity and irresponsibility and someone needy for attention and who wants to blame others and literally call others names like a 3 year old.

Thanks, Republicans! That's quite a guy you've foisted on us all, on the nation there.

It very much reminds me of a scene from the movie "Animal House" with Kevin Bacon.

Gods help us.

Heavens help us.

Some Good News!

Hey! Some good news, Kansas City!

In the midst of an international pandemic and city, region, state, nationwide (mostely) shutdown, some good news!

This, a new Some Good News Network, just that from comedian/actor John Krasinski. Enjoy!


Again, be good. Be well. Have a good to great day and week. Be good to one another. Be good to yourself. Stay safe.

And stay at home!

Timely Release From Michael Stipe

Famed singer, songwriter, performer and lead singer for the band R.E.M. released his latest song just now--very timely.



More wonderfulness.

Stay inside, y'all.   Love one another.  Be well.

Missourians! We've Got to Work on This!

I just ran across a bit of a possibly frightening article today over at the Post-Dispatch's site.

This week, Missouri saw a 600% jump in coronavirus cases — the largest increase in the country

ST. LOUIS — There is no sign of a dip in coronavirus cases in St. Louis or Missouri. The region’s caseload is rocketing upward, with the state seeing a more than 600% increase in total cases over the past week — the largest percentage increase in the country as of Thursday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

And a lack of widespread testing largely means that experts aren’t sure when the region will reach the peak of its curve — clouding their ability to know when normal life might resume. They hope they will be able to better predict in coming days how much protective measures, like social distancing and widespread restrictions on public activities, are working.

The spread of the virus in Missouri this past week stands out, even compared to neighbors. In Illinois, where the state is under lockdown, the number of confirmed cases grew by 237% in the same period.

“The more we test right now, the more we’ll find,” said Chris Prener, a sociologist at St. Louis University.

And then there's this from the doctor/classmate of mine from yesterday.

With cases in MO increasing over 25% to 836, and doubling at the rate of every 3 days, hospital system overload is now estimated to occur before April 16th. At some point the curve will break and the number of new cases will slow, but the real question is when? If we knew how many people were currently infected, we could make a better educated guess. But we only know the number of cases REPORTED; the true number is higher, but we don't know how much higher.

AN EDUCATED GUESS: If we assume a couple of things, first, that the total number that get infected will be about 70% of the population (for MO that would be about 4.27 Million), and second, that the number of people infected really IS the number reported (which is not true, but for this purpose we will use it anyway), then you can look at the calendar below and see that the 4.27 million mark will be reached about May 17th.

Since a bell-shaped curve has as much area on one side as it does on the other, one back-of-the-envelope way to do this calculation would be to simply count back one single doubling time (4 days) from May 17th to get the peak, in other words May 13th. This is because in one doubling time as many cases occur as those in all the time previously.

Since the number of actual cases is something more than the number of reported cases, the peak will definitely occur before May 13th (if 70% get infected). Another reason is that the number of cases reported is doubling faster than every 4 days right now. But if more than 70% get infected, the error can only be about 1 day longer. And if the ultimate number infected is less than 70%, the peak will also occur sooner.

So a reasonable guess is that the number of new cases in Missouri will peak out within 6 weeks or so, sooner depending on how many people are infected now. But the question is, how many people will have been infected at the peak? How badly will the hospital system be swamped?

If we assume even more optimistically that the peak will occur in only 5 weeks, then Missouri will need over 50,000 hospital beds to accommodate all those patients, assuming also that 14% will need to be hospitalized. And we are told that only 3000 beds are available.

CONCLUSION: We need to do everything possible NOW to slow down the virus. It is a grave error not to ask everyone to wear a mask--any mask--and not to shut down as much interaction as possible NOW. Unless we are completely wrong and severely underestimating the true infection rate, every single day lost means that more people will die needlessly. It is too big a risk to take with the lives of our loved ones.

It would be far better to have tried too hard to save lives than to not have tried hard enough.

So let's all hunker down there, folks. Be well. Stay well. Stay at home.

See you on the other side.

Stayin' Inside

Just found on the interwebs


Be safe y'all. Be well.

Stay inside.

This Surreal, Nearly Unbelievable President and Presidency

Donald Trump was bizarre, sure, and lots of even Republicans and conservatives warned of him even during the 2016 election campaign for the Presidency, sure. We all know that and we've watched him in this now Presidency and seen how he is, over time.

But with this coronavirus pandemic, he's naturally in the public eye even more, as anyone in that office would and should be but he's outdoing himself for bizarre statements and action.

Proof?  Look no further.  First, here's this--what he said to Michigan's governor.

Apparently, Michigan's governor wasn't reverential enough to Mr. Trump.

Michigan governor says vendors ‘being told not to send stuff’ to her state — after Trump bashed her

Not done there, we even have this man's own words, showing how partisan he is and how he wants American citizens to grovel to him first, before he assigns any assistance to us out here.

Trump Says He Told Pence Not To Call Governors Who Aren't "Appreciative" of White House Coronavirus Efforts

Then there's this bizarreness.

PRESIDENT TRUMP ASKED ALEX RODRIGUEZ, JENNIFER LOPEZ ON CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE

I cannot even begin to imagine how this Donald Trump President thinks.

He has a physician and immunologist in Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 to ask questions of but he calls a Major League Baseball player.

John Santucci

✔@Santucci

During marathon day of meetings earlier this week, President Trump continued outreach across the country regarding coronavirus & phoned former Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Multiple sources tell ABC, the president spoke to ARod from the Oval Office via me & @KFaulders

John Santucci

✔@Santucci

A source close to Rodriguez told @ABC the call with Trump was “pleasant” adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort.

Trump used to refer to ARod as a "druggie" so apparently he thought the baseball player would have some insight on this pandemic.

Then, amidst all the turmoil, uncertainty and decisions that must be made, Mr. Trump busies himself with this.

Trump Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters To Stop New Ad Using His Own Words Against Him

I'm just glad he has such great priorities, aren't you?

Meanwhile, finally, for all the rest of this, his madness, here are some things that are absolutely true of this President and his tenure in the White House to date.

All those firsts but hey, thanks, Republicans!

That's quite a guy you put on us there.

Fortunately, there are glimmers, glimmers of hope out there in the country regarding this--what?--madman?  simpleton?

Check out what none other than Rupert Murdoch's own very Right Wing rag, the Wall Street Journal had to say about this Boob in Chief:

Wall Street Journal compares Trump to a "drunk" clinging to "an empty gin bottle" in scathing editorial

Herewith:

A President’s Credibility

Trump’s falsehoods are eroding public trust, at home and abroad

Now it's just up to us to get rid of him this November.

Meanwhile, God help us all.

Prescient Quote of the Moment

Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote this in 2007. Amazingly prophetic.

Pity The Nation

Pity the nation whose people are sheep,

and whose shepherds mislead them.

Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,

and whose bigots haunt the airwaves.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice,

except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero

and aims to rule the world with force and by torture.

Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own

and no other culture but its own.

Pity the nation whose breath is money

and sleeps the sleep of the too well fed.

Pity the nation — oh, pity the people who allow their rights to erode

and their freedoms to be washed away.

My country, tears of thee, sweet land of liberty.”

Y'all be well out there Stay safe. Stay home. Stay quarantined.

Fantastic, Even Important Article on Covid-19 and All of Us

I just ran across this today, a bit ago, on a friend's Facebonkers page, from CNN. Not only is it, I think, an excellent, brief piece but I'm also proud it was written by someone from our own, my own generation. Here it is in it's entirety.

Covid-19 will change us 

as a species

Opinion by Marcelo Gleiser

I turned 61 last week, and am now, along with millions of others across the globe, within the higher risk group for Covid-19. Before this turn of events, ours had been the generation that had, along with billions of others younger and slightly older than me, avoided a major global crisis.

Unlike our parents and grandparents, we didn't face the tragedy of living through two World Wars; we avoided nuclear warfare during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Cold War. Now, our luck has run out.

With the Covid-19 pandemic striking full force across the globe, it's easy to stare in disbelief at the growing number of deaths. But the pandemic is here, and it will get worse before it gets better. How much worse depends on all of us. That's where the good news comes in.
The year 2020 will be remembered as a turnaround point in human history. Not just because many will die, but because the Covid-19 pandemic is offering us a chance to reinvent ourselves.
Wars force citizens of a nation to respond as one. When a country's citizens are under attack, they mobilize to face the common enemy. After the US joined World War II, towns ripped apart iron fences and collected scrap metal for tanks and armored cars; intent on beating the enemy, communities competed with each other in fierce collection drives. Fear galvanized action.

We now face a global enemy, one that doesn't identify its targets by religious, racial, gender or political choice; a virus doesn't care about maps and boundaries. What matters is that we are all potential hosts, irrespective of who we are or where we live. Under the cold lens of natural selection, the drama of life unfolds without moral judgment: it all boils down to living and reproducing.
The perversity of a virulent pandemic is that the affected hosts propagate the disease, accelerating the demise of members of their own species. Once infected, we can kill all who unwittingly cross our paths including family and friends.

Covid-19 will change us as a species. We must respond not just as nations fighting an enemy, but as a species fighting for survival. The virus will not wipe us out. But it is causing untold pain and loss, destabilizing global markets, and turning our daily lives into a surreal dreamscape. Our vulnerability and co-dependence are openly exposed.

Nature doesn't care about our arrogance. A tiny organism is forcing us to revisit our values, our divisions, our choices as we barricade within our homes with our closest family members and consider what will come next. We can taste the anxiety in our mouths, imagining what will happen if we lose internet connectivity, or run out of food and resources or worse, contract the virus.

We would be foolish not to embrace the central message of our predicament: that we must come together to survive, that we are fragile despite our capacity to create and destroy, that the tribal divisions that have defined our moral choices over the past millennia must be tossed aside for our own good.

We are entering the age of tribal override, the time when our species will begin to operate as one, as a human hive, working across the planet as a member of a living community of species and not as a destructive parasite. One tribe that embraces diversity and the common good.
We can already see the signs of an awakening. In Italy, a country devastated by loss, people sing together from their balconies, celebrating life and community. The internet helps, even as we distance from each other socially. Our children will miss school, their friends and teachers. We will miss our workplace, night life, distant family members, hanging out with friends.

Our global co-dependence is essential for our survival and for the stability of society, emotionally and practically. Where would we be without our health-care providers, and those who supply our homes with energy and heat, who keep the supermarket shelves full and the streets safe?

We must think collectively as a human hive, each of us playing an essential role. The first steps are simple: to be humble in the face of what we don't know, to be respectful of nature and its powers, and to work together to preserve not just our lives and those of our loved ones, but the lives of all of us in the hive, young and old, celebrating the gift of being alive.

So there you are, folks.  There we all are. Let's all be bigger and stronger than this pandemic. Let's work together. Let's come out on the "other side" of this bigger, better, stronger and smarter than we were, all across the state, all across the nation, all across the world.  Let's do this.

Here's hoping we're smart enough, wise enough to learn and grow from this situation, these events and this pandemic.

Be safe, be careful out there. Do well. And stay at home. For now.

Poem For Our Time

I found this today as I do so many things this week, online, since we're all at home, isolated. I thought it fantastic and so appropriate.

When this is over

May we never again

Take for granted

A handshake with a stranger

Full shelves at the store

Conversations with the neighbors

A crowded theatre

Friday night out

The taste of communion

A routine checkup

The school rush each morning

Coffee with a friend

The stadium roaring

Each deep breath

A boring Tuesday

Life itself

When this ends

May we find

That we have become

More like the people

We wanted to be

We were called to be

We hoped to be

And may we stay

That way – better

For each other

Because of the worst

– Laura Kelly Fanucci

Be well out there, y'all. Stay safe. Stay home.

Jesus Christ: Not as Good as Trump

You have to see this guy's imitation of our peerless leader.



Be well and stay safe out there, everyone.

What's In Congress' Stimulus Package For This Pandemi

As said, here's what's in Congress' just-approved stimulus package to help the nation deal with this coronavirus pandemic.

Help for families

• The bill would provide direct payments of up to $1,200 for most individuals and $2,400 for most married couples filing jointly with an extra $500 for each child.
• Assistance would start to phase out for individuals earning more than $75,000 and for couples with more than $150,000 in income.
• Unemployment insurance benefits would be expanded, increasing the maximum benefit by $600 a week for up to four months. Benefits would be available to workers who are part-time, self-employed or part of the gig economy. People who are still unemployed after state benefits end could get an additional 13 weeks of help.
• Food assistance programs would get a boost as would programs to help low-income households avoid eviction and a program to improve internet access in rural areas.
• Homeowners with federally-backed mortgages would be protected from foreclosures for as long as 180 days.
• Students with federal loans could suspend payments until October.
• Students receiving Pell grants who have to drop out because of coronavirus would not be penalized. 

Help for small businesses

• The bill would give small businesses access to a nearly $350 billion loan program to cover monthly expenses like payroll, rent and utilities. The loans would not have to be repaid if businesses maintained their workforce.
• The eight weeks of assistance would be retroactive to Feb. 15, 2020 to help bring back workers who have already been laid off.

Help for corporations

• The package includes a financial lifeline to the hardest-hit industries, including passenger and cargo airlines. Another pot of money would be available to help other businesses for a combined $500 billion.
• Companies receiving assistance would be barred from raising the pay of certain executives.
• Any company receiving a government loan would be prohibited from buying back stocks while getting assistance as well for an additional year.
• Businesses controlled by the president, vice president, members of Congress and heads of federal agencies are not eligible for loans.
• Companies that kept on workers despite a significant loss of revenue could get a tax credit.
• The bill provides other tax relief to businesses by deferring tax payments, increasing deductibility for interest expenses and allowing immediate expensing of qualified property improvements, especially for the hospitality industry.

Help for health care providers

• Hospitals and medical centers would get billions to handle surging caseloads.
• Hospitals treating coronavirus patients would also get higher reimbursements form Medicare.
• Hospitals could request accelerated payments from Medicare.
• Across-the-board Medicare cuts that were part of a previous deficit reduction agreement would be temporarily halted.
• Extra funding for the Defense Department includes money to deploy the National Guard and use the Defense Production Act to help fast-track production of needed medical supplies to combat the coronavirus.
• Rules on using and paying for telehealth services would be eased.
• Funding would increase for federal agencies to speed work on therapies and a possible coronavirus vaccine, among other activities.
• When there is a vaccine, Medicare beneficiaries would not have to pay to receive it.

Help for state and local governments

• The package includes $150 billion to help state and local governments, which have had major unanticipated expenses while losing revenue. States would get a minimum amount and other funds would be allocated through a population-based formula.
• Disaster relief funding that state and local governments can access as well as a popular funding program for local governments would also be boosted.
• Child care programs would get a funding boost to help meet emergency staffing needs so health care workers and other critical workers will have child care.
• States, which have been postponing primaries, would get additional funds to make voting safer such as expanding early voting and the ability to vote by mail.
• Public transit agencies, which have lost ridership, would get $25 billion in assistance. Airports and Amtrak would also get billions of dollars of assistance.
• Schools and colleges could access nearly $31 billion to continue to teach students as schools are closed.
• State and local police and fire departments could get help paying for overtime and for medical items like personal protective equipment.
• The deadline for states to meet Real ID requirements for enhanced driver's licenses would be extended a year, to no earlier than October of 2021.

Help for the arts

• Museums, libraries and arts organizations across the country, which have been closing because of the pandemic, could get a boost from grants to state arts and humanities organizations.
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which has been closed until May, would get $25 million so it can reopen its doors once the crisis is over.
• The Smithsonian Institution would get $7.5 million to help with teleworking, deep cleaning and overtime for security, medical staff, and zoo keepers.

Contributing: Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes, USA TODAY.

Be careful, be safe out there, y'all and STAY HOME.

From Local Medical Staff on the Pandemic

The following post is copied and shared from an OBGyn on staff at the North Kansas City Hospital.

“I usually don't do long posts but during this time, I can't stay silent....

This is not just like the flu. When did you last see doctors posting to beg people to stay home or hospitals asking the public for handouts of medical equipment or the CDC having to tell healthcare works if as a last resort use a bandana! The Flu is still something to be taken seriously and kills people each year. (And more should get vaccinated). However, the Flu does not get transmitted as easily or have nearly the fatality rate of COVID19, which could kill millions. Imagine the Flu in hulk mode. It's scary and it can get scarier. You may think "I'm healthy and I'll survive this", but your loved ones may not and what if they would have survived if you just stayed home? Please stay at home and if you go outside, only go outside with those you are already living with, not your neighbors or friends because that's taking 3 steps backwards. And please consider donating blood; that's a trip worthy of leaving the house that can save others.

Doctors in other countries are having to choose between who to save and who to let die. People are dying not just because of the infection but because of lack of resources. It is a physician's nightmare to have to say "I'm sorry but I can't help because you are too old or already have too many illnesses. So we're going to just have to do comfort care so the healthier can live." You don't want that happening to your loved ones.

This isn't going to be over in 2 weeks and will take even longer with even more deaths if social isolation is not taken seriously.”

Be well, be safe out there, campers.

Daily Local Projections On This Pandemic

A classmate of mine from my hometown and so, also from my high school, became a medical doctor. He's been posting his daily observations and predictions on this coronavirus pandemic for at least the last week.

His latest one, today, offers both what seems like sound advice but also dire predictions if we don't take proper precautions and actions.  Herewith:

Rob Schaaf
8 mins ·

(click on picture for easy viewing)

Hospital system overload in MO is now just 24 days away. Today's 354 Missouri cases outpaced the projection and moved that day closer to April 18th. One month from today, we can expect 76,000 cases in Missouri, and over 13 million in the US.

Our leaders are fighting over whether to lock down the country, the only way to prevent hospital system overload, or to send people back to work early, to prevent the economy from failing, another horrible outcome. Here is the solution based upon what was found in Vo Italy. (In Vo they tested EVERYBODY, and found several asymptomatic people who were COVID positive, and after quarantining everyone positive, new cases stopped occurring.)

• First, the entire country needs to be locked down tight. Only necessary workers should be allowed to move about.
• Second, every possible effort should be made to manufacture test kits, masks and protective equipment. The entire focus of the federal government should be ON THIS EFFORT.
• Third, every necessary worker should be tested, and all positives quarantined.
• Fourth, everyone else should be released from lockdown only after they are tested and cleared of the virus in a systematic and thoughtful manner.
• Fifth, as rapidly as possible, the economy should be brought back online as everyone not locked down is cleared of the virus. Re-testing should be done routinely.
• Sixth, everyone in public should wear a mask. Masks are what has separated successful countries from non-successful ones.

This way we can both save lives by locking down the country, and then save the economy as rapidly as possible by putting people back to work without risking reinfection.

This all depends on eliminating all roadblocks to developing, manufacturing and distributing test kits. If we can put people on the moon and send spacecraft all over the solar system, we ought to be able to ramp up the production of these test kits within just a few days.

This no way sounds or reads like any advice our Republican Party President, or what some Republican Party governors and other leaders across the nation are giving in any way, unfortunately.

It's as I wrote on social media yesterday---may logic, common sense, intelligence, good judgment, empathy and science prevail.

Presently, it doesn't seem like enough of all that is.

Precisely How Poor, How Bad This Republican Party President's "Leadership" Is

This is what it's come down to.  This is how bad, how poor the excuses for leadership from this White House, from this President has gotten.

The TV networks break away from the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES because he goes counter to his own, our own health experts.

TV networks cut away from the White House coronavirus briefing as Trump contradicted his health experts

• CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News cut away from President Trump's lengthy coronavirus briefing on Monday night.
• During the briefing, Trump chafed at the idea of continuing the widespread order for people to stay home, saying it was harming the economy. His top infectious-diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, had said social-distancing measures would need to be in place for "several weeks."
• CBS told Insider that it "plans to continue covering briefings whenever possible" but may cut away for other programming. MSNBC told Insider that it "cut away because the information no longer appeared to be valuable to the important ongoing discussion around public health."
• Critics of the president have called for networks to stop airing the briefings. "All of us should stop broadcasting it, honestly," MSNBC's Rachel Maddow said on Friday. "It's going to cost lives."
• On Tuesday, Seattle's NPR station, KUOW, also announced it would not broadcast the briefings live "due to a pattern of false or misleading information."

Thanks, Republicans!

Meanwhile, I just ran across this.

President Trump is as popular as he's ever been right now

It's not saying a great deal because he's never enjoyed traditional support most Presidents get and we are in a national emergency so I get that his supporters are behind him but still.

Additionally, more reason for concern.

60% of Americans approve of Trump's coronavirus response: poll

I don't know what's more frightening--the coronavirus pandemic or Trump's handling of it. Neither are predictable and both could kill.

And then there was this cold, incredibly callous ignorance from, yes, another Republican only yesterday.

Texas' lieutenant governor suggests grandparents are willing to die for US economy

And keep in mind, this is from a man who is 69 years old.

So again, thanks, Republicans! Many thanks.

Additional links:

Trump claims if stopping coronavirus 'were up to the doctors' the world would be shut down 'for a couple of years'

Trump Shakes Everyone’s Hands at Coronavirus Press Conference—Ignoring CDC Guidelines

Trump slams NBC’s Peter Alexander in coronavirus press conference

Fantastic, Evaluative, Maybe Even Important Read On Where We Are Presently

I ran across this article today, this morning, online and found it very good and seemingly complete for where we are now, where we've been since maybe the Great Depression up to today and on our nation, overall. I think people might find it helpful.

Coronavirus: What this crisis reveals about US - 

and its president

It's a pretty all-encompassing, sweeping read so I'll only post a very little bit of it here--what I found to possibly be most important.

"Consequently, America's claim to global pre-eminence looks less convincing by the day. While in previous crises, the world's most powerful superpower might have mobilised a global response, nobody expects that of the United States anymore. The neo-isolationism of three years of America Firstism has created a geopolitical form of social distancing, and this crisis has reminded us of the oceanic divide that has opened up even with Washington's closest allies. Take the European travel ban, which Trump announced during his Oval Office address to the nation without warning the countries affected. The European Union complained, in an unusually robust public statement, the decision was 'taken unilaterally and without consultation.'"

Can't recommend it enough.

Be well out there, everyone.

Great Way to Approach This Pandemic Right Here In Kansas City

I'd love to see more of this, in our city, all across the metropolitan area. Heck, I'd like to join in.

This is from reporter, journalist Steve Kraske's Facebook page this week:

Here's how neighbors on Belinder Court in Westwood got together Wednesday afternoon to socialize a bit while maintaining safe distancing. Courtney Falk drew "Xs" on the street 6 feet from each other to mark safe spots for talking. Love my 'hood. We're doing a segment on "Up to Date" Friday on how Kansas City-area residents are staying engaged with their neighbors. Drop me a note below, or call in at 816-235-2888 beginning at about 9:15 a.m. tomorrow. Yes, I get great show topics from my neighbors! Oh, Kady took the pic.

Be safe out there, y'all.

Quote -- Poem -- of the Day; On Coronavirus, Kindness and All of Us

I can't imagine anything more timely, pertinent and poignant just now, in this situation, than this.

History will remember when the world stopped

And the flights stayed on the ground.

And the cars parked in the street.

And the trains didn’t run.

History will remember when the schools closed

And the children stayed indoors

And the medical staff walked towards the fire

And they didn’t run.

History will remember when the people sang

On their balconies, in isolation

But so very much together

In courage and song.

History will remember when the people fought

For their old and their weak

Protected the vulnerable

By doing nothing at all.

History will remember when the virus left

And the houses opened

And the people came out

And hugged and kissed

And started again

Kinder than before.

--Donna Ashworth

Kansans: The Topeka Statehouse, the Coronavirus and You

From our friend and hard worker Davis Hammet over at Loud Light.



Follow Loud Light here:

Loud Light

And maybe contribute, if you can.

Be safe out there, campers.

And be good to one another.

Quote of the Day -- On a President and His Legacy

From an anonymous commenter over at that Yellow Journalism but also sexist, chauvinist, misogynistic tabloid passing itself off as an important blog for local events and news, Tony's KC:

"History will remember Donald Trump for two things - being impeached and a complete failure during a national crisis."

Ever so slightly edited.

He or she is so right. He will go down for those two, nearly singularly. 

Well, that and his graft and corruption.

I wish I'd said it myself.

With many thanks and kudos to Anonymous.

You can find the comment, along with others, here:

Kansas City Blogger MO RAGE Blames Prez Trump For Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis

Do try to have a good to great day, y'all.

Keep your social distance.

Songs for a Pandemic

Herewith, some rather timely, I think, entertainment. Because we need it.




Be safe out there, campers.  Try to enjoy. Something.

Be good to one another.

Excellent Information on this Coronavirus

My cousin posted a video from this Dr. John Campbell from the UK as he expounds on this COVID19 or coronavirus. I found them to be helpful, calm, rational, information-filled and definitely worth the time. I think you may, too.


Yesterday. Dr. Campbell projects half of the nation's 7.7 billion population will contract this coronavirus.
If true, if that pans out, and the 3.4% figure for deaths holds, that will mean nearly 262 million people across the planet would pass.
Then there's this one, today.

Stay safe out there, everyone. Best to you all.

If This Coronavirus Hasn't Concerned You Yet, To Date, This Could. Maybe Should

Wonder why the Dow and markets keep sinking, crashing, day after day for the last few weeks?

This might be it.

Coronavirus could force the world into an unprecedented depression

A bit from the article:

In its latest repricing of the economy, the market sees the now-expected global recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak morphing into an economic depression unlike any the world has seen in generations.

The big picture: Bankers and traders are looking to sell everything that isn't nailed down to boost cash positions and hunker down for the worst.

What they're saying:

• JPMorgan wrote down its expectations for global GDP to -1.1% in 2020, expecting the world's economic growth will reverse for the full year, including a second quarter contraction of -14% in the U.S. and -22% in the eurozone.
• Deutsche Bank economists foresee a "severe global recession occurring in the first half of 2020 ... quarterly declines in GDP growth we anticipate substantially exceed anything previously recorded going back to at least World War II."
• Both banks noted their forecasts are based on governments putting in place massive, yet-to-be-passed fiscal stimulus programs and fairly swift containment of the outbreak.
• "It is easy to imagine a still worse outcome," DB analysts, led by head of economics research Peter Hooper and seven chief economists, wrote.

The most dire warning came from Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, who went on CNBC to beg President Trump to shut down the U.S. economy for 30 days and put the country in a nationwide lockdown.

"Until a vaccine is manufactured, distributed and injected we will go through a Depression-era period in the country," Ackman said. "America will end as we know it unless we take this option."

And here I was just anxious about the conornavirus.

Silly me.

Thank goodness we have good, strong leadership coming out of the White House and this Republican Party President and his administration.

Right?

Link:

The coronavirus economic pain in the U.S. has begun