Friday, April 17, 2020

"Now That We Have Passed The Peak In New Cases..." ~ DJT


Our "genius" President apparently has no clue as to how to read data; and, it looks as though his advisors don't either.  Or perhaps they informed him otherwise and, as usual, he's not listening.

Mr. President:  as a country, we aren't even close to the peak in new cases.  Why?  Because we have no idea how many people have been exposed to, and are carriers of, covid-19.  Why?  Because the paltry amount of testing you keep bragging about is nowhere near the amount needed.  We don't have to test every person in our Land, but the less than one percent of the population tested thus far is inadequate for making the statement you made regarding the peak of new cases.  "Peak" means the highest possible number, Mr. Pres.  In case you're ignoring it, the number of cases goes up every single day.  Hello.

On top of that, and again, in case you're ignoring it, the number of deaths in a 24-hour period (not total deaths) went from 2,400--- 100 per hour--- to over 4,500.  Nothing has peaked yet.  It's a fairly safe bet that at least hundreds of thousands of people that we don't know about are infected with this virus.  My best guess:  that number is in the millions.  Very shortly, the total number of known cases in the USA will be over one million.  That number will continue to increase.  We have no natural immunity to this new virus, and so far, no vaccine either.

Just because the increase in cases has become arithmetical (rather than exponential/ geometric) in 2 or 3 cities does not mean that's what will happen countrywide tomorrow, next week, or next month.  Plus, when we consider the gross lack of following precautionary measures (social distancing, masks, disinfection, etc.) that's going on outside those few cities mentioned above, the whole situation gets very bleak.  Before too long, the chance of another exponential surge in new cases is extremely high.  Such a surge will be due primarily to our Leaders' poor response to (and attitude toward) the pandemic.  Too many people (including our "Leaders" in DC) still are taking this whole thing way too lightly.  That pretty much guarantees another exponential increase in both cases and deaths... soon... very soon.  If everyone doesn't start taking this pandemic seriously, that exponential/geometric increase will continue.

Wake up... or, stop lying.

Not only my opinion.  Everyone Be Well

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

The Absurd Gaslighter Trump Falls Flat AGAIN


Kudos to Paula Reid (CBS reporter) and to The Intercept, an alternative News organization---  https://theintercept.com/2020/04/14/trump-pr-stunt-falls-flat-white-house-video-exposes-failure-prepare-pandemic/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter
At least watch the embedded video clips in the piece at the link above.

The above article clearly shows the absurdity of Donald John Trump.  His egomaniacal antics at the Press Briefing demonstrate not only his ongoing psychological gaslighting, but also his utter incompetence.  Apparently, Trump thinks not only his remaining base supporters are stupid and uneducated, but the entire country as well.

When pressed by Reid about the glaring gaps in his self-promotional video, Trump's primary response was:  "You're so disgraceful... you know you're a fake".  Launching personal attacks is one way that gaslighters handle legitimate criticism.  Another way is to completely ignore verifiable instances of failure... key instances.  Too bad for Trump, though--- this time all his efforts fell flat.

It's incredible and baffling how this man believes he can sell the idea that his handling of the covid-19 crisis was spot-on from the very beginning.  Even a drugged chimpanzee [😊] could see through that outright lie.  Unfortunately, if a lie is repeated by a cult leader enough times, then some people (especially cult followers) come to believe it.  Despite that, I don't see how that's possible in this particular case.  Trump finally made a claim that is so absurd not even his die-hard supporters will believe it.  At least, if there's any reasonableness at all left in this Land--- any critical thinking skills still remaining--- that's how it should play out.  If it doesn't, that will be one more reason why many Plutocrats and Oligarchs have (for the last 50 or so years) suppressed & poo-pooed the idea of a Liberal Arts education.  They didn't want any critical thinkers graduating from colleges and universities, and in general, the broader one's education, the more one possesses critical thinking skills.

Having critical thinkers would not be favorable for the implementation of propaganda... which now reigns supreme.  It wasn't any kind of "conspiracy"; it was right out in the open for all to see.  Basically, the whole process was people with mutual interests working (primarily independent of each other) toward a common goal.  In large part, the goal was reached.  Mostly due to a lack of sufficient critical thinking skills on our part, we now have a President who is the King of Elected Gaslighters, makes outrageous claims and contradictory statements, spews out lies as though there's no tomorrow, can't handle the slightest bit of legitimate criticism, usurps unconstitutional power on an unprecedented scale, has totally alienated all our key Allies, launches personal attacks and smears as though he's a spoiled eighth-grader, is a crass bully, and is an Autocrat Wannabe.  On top of all that, he may have a 50-50 chance of being re-elected... when his chances in any rational society would be ZERO.  I find it all tragic, sad, revealing, and darkly hilarious.  It's Bizarro World... again... and eerily Orwellian.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  I'm not a Biden supporter, either.

Monday, April 13, 2020

COVID-19 Has a Message for the Politicians in the Current Administration


STAY OUT of the realm of Science.  Why?  Because you don't know a damned thing about it...and you don't pay any heed to experts in the health field who know quite a bit about Science.

March 7, 2020 in the USA---
Confirmed cases:  401... and 19 deaths.

April 2, 2020 in the USA---
Confirmed cases:  over 239,000... and over 5,800 deaths.

April 13, 2020 in the USA---
Confirmed cases:  over 500,000... and over 21,000 deaths.

Meanwhile and presently, Trump is ramping up his psychological gaslighting.  He blames the Democrats and the Media for not taking the virus seriously.  This is what gaslighters do:  they accuse others of the very thing for which they, themselves, are to blame.  Then they repeat it over and over.  He's now saying he took bold action by banning China travel.  He ignores:  his shipment in March of tons of PPE to Asia; prior to that, his utterly dismissive statements re covid-19; his failure to take Executive action early on re the manufacture of ventilators; his complete--- & ongoing--- failure to facilitate testing for the virus; his total disregard for the wearing of masks; his complete lack of understanding as to how this virus spreads; etc.  He also ignores the fact that evidence suggests the virus entered the U.S. from Europe, not China.

Pence is just as (or perhaps, almost as) bad as Trump re covid-19.  The last recent statement I saw on the News from him was:  "No one [on Main Street] needs to wear a mask.".  Mr. V.P., here's what the scientists say:  everyone needs to wear a mask.  That includes you.  Do us a favor and put a gag inside yours, and Trump's, too.  Keeping the two of you from talking would be far better than anything either of you have done so far in office.  😊

Given the exponential progression of the numbers above, it should be painfully obvious that Trump, Pence, Larry Kudlow, Mike Pompeo, etc. are light years behind on the covid-19 learning curve.  They don't have a clue, and none of them appear to have any respect for Science or scientists.  That's probably because they all (except for Trump) seem to be fundamentalist, religious nutcakes... but most importantly, they all (including Trump) appear to worship the idols of Business, Money, and Power.  From all appearances, nothing is more important to them... especially the health of those who (in their eyes) are below their station in life.

To make matters worse, Trump & Crew now are working on a plan that in all likelihood will spread covid-19 even more.  Luckily, re-opening the economy is not within their power; however, they can promote the idea with great vigor.  Of course we need to get people back to work; that's a given.  But if we do it too soon, it will be disastrous.  What's needed now is much more of a direct infusion of cash to the American public.  Better yet, a Guaranteed Basic Income.  We can't afford that, you say?  It will make people lazy, you say?  The work (for 20 years) of the economist, Guy Standing, says otherwise on both counts.  People work harder when they have some minimal, basic economic security.  It really is time to think out-of-the-box.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  Again, for any new visitors here (& a reminder to everyone else), I'm not a Democrat or a Republican.  Plus, I have a Science background... both in the field and academically.

With a striking cover, the eBook version has been launched

The eBook format of my second book (which is about Sustainability for humans and Earth) is now on Amazon.  Here's the link--- https://ww...