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Happy Colorectal Awareness Month, everybody ­— in case you’re wondering why it feels like fate shoved a four-by-four up your nether region where the sun don’t shine. Millions around the country must be stunned at how bad this suddenly is. And every new morning seems worse than the last: Friday the Thirteenth meets Groundhog Day. Jobs and incomes instantly gone. Businesses staring into the abyss. Retirements vaporizing. Everyone stuck home alone with nothing to think about but going broke and hungry. And the final indignity: the possibility of death if you stray outside to get something you need, or just seek the comfort of other people.

This is our hard time. If you ever needed God, or some human representation of the good father, this would be the occasion; someone to guide and reassure you and inspire you to do your best under difficult circumstances. For the time being, America has Donald Trump. To the agnostical thinking class, with its obsessive loathing of men, white men especially, and white men in the father role most of all, Mr. Trump represents the ultimate grotesquerie. To that class of scribes, professors, assorted “creatives,” virtue signalers, and social justice seekers, even Tennessee Williams could not conjure up a more fearsome and detestable Big Daddy than Mr. Trump. Hence, their nonstop underhanded attempts to get rid of him the past three years — which had all the earmarks of a neurotic adolescent rebellion. (“The Resistance” was actually a good name for it.) And yet, there he stands at the podium in our hard time. You can call that a lot of things, but one of them has got to be: strength.

Yes, he is peculiar-looking: the strange blond helmet, the orange face. Note, back in one of America’s earlier hard times, a lot people thought Mr. Lincoln looked like a great ape, and had much sport with that image of him in the newspapers. It’s also a fact that the decisions he made led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of mostly young men in the bloodiest slaughters then imaginable. Yet those young men going to their deaths called him Father Abraham in their songs around the campfire. I’m not saying that Donald Trump is another Lincoln — certainly not in sheer rhetoric — but I am saying we don’t know yet what his mettle will show in this crisis,  and where it might take us. One thing for sure: he’s been subjected to more political abuse than any character on-the-scene in my lifetime, and it’s amazing that he didn’t fold or quit or lose his shit as it went on and on and on.

And so, you now have the strange and ironic spectacle of his organized opposition, the Democrats, hoisting up onto their pinnacle of leadership absolutely the weakest candidate possible to oppose Mr. Trump in the election: Joe Biden. There was something certainly supernatural about his ascent in the recent cluster of primaries, as if some gang of someones worked strenuously behind the scenes to make it happen. If Mr. Biden ever had any charisma even in his prime as a young senator, there was no sign of that now, either in his own bumbling behavior or in the sparse crowds that were flushed out of the DNC’s voter registration thickets to show up at his rallies. In fact, he emanated the exact opposite of charisma, a faltering flop-sweat odor of weakness, and of every kind of weakness: physical, mental, and ethical.

His role was not the good father, it was the half-crazy old uncle in the attic — the kind who puts on his threadbare best suit every day to go down to a corner bar and sip beers until it’s time to stagger back home, where a dutiful niece-in-law might give him supper, if he could manage to ask for it politely. The kind who, until his forced retirement due to incompetence and blundering, had worked as an errand boy for the local mob, picking up receipts from the numbers racket, and was then cast off like a banana peel in a drainage ditch when his usefulness ended.

Of course, Joe Biden’s eminence in government, as vice-president, afforded him grander opportunities for grift than that. He went into the anarchic mess of Ukraine — engineered by US agencies, by the way — as Mr. Obama’s “point man” and came away from it with at least several million dollars in a guaranteed revenue stream for his hapless fuck-up of a son, Hunter, and there’s hard evidence that many millions more found its way into Joe’s pockets, too, via Ukrainian oligarch money laundered through the banks of Estonia and Cyprus — who would look there? (Rudy Giuliani, actually.)

That is the sort of president America would get if they happen to elect Joe Biden. The Democratic Party could not elect a strong and stupendously corrupt woman in 2016, and they have reeled in disbelief at their own failure ever since. Now they are marching forward into a national election — if that election can even be held, and we don’t know that yet — with a nominee who looks and acts like a wax figure of a president in one of those eerie hushed chambers of Disneyland. But please understand, this is exactly what the Democrats have wished for lo these several years that have taken us into America’s hard time: weakness and their own death, by suicide. Let’s not go there with them.


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James Howard Kunstler is the author of many books including (non-fiction) The Geography of Nowhere, The City in Mind: Notes on the Urban Condition, Home from Nowhere, The Long Emergency and the four-book series of World Made By Hand novels, set in a post economic crash American future. His most recent book is Living in the Long Emergency; Global Crisis, the Failure of the Futurists, and the Early Adapters Who Are Showing Us the Way Forward. Jim lives on a homestead in Washington County, New. York, where he tends his garden and communes with his chickens.

977 Responses to “Strength and Weakness”

  1. PeteAtomic March 20, 2020 at 9:55 am #

    “This is our hard time. If you ever needed God, or some human representation of the good father, this would be the occasion; someone to guide and reassure you and inspire you to do your best under difficult circumstances.”

    great advice, Jim…and eat well, rest well, and love well. This too shall pass.

    • FallenHero March 20, 2020 at 10:33 am #

      The corona virus may or may not be extremely dangerous, but what it IS offering is a excuse to funnel trillions of fed ‘dollars’ in to the economy, get us ready for police states and government intervention.

      I was watching the corona since early jan and prepared for it, but the numbers of dead/infected do NOT justify the radical actions the governments are taking. There is something else afoot, the more I study it, the more I think it is going to be more government overreach/police state like 9-11.

      • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 10:48 am #

        D’ya think?

        Italy lost 410,000 people in 1918 to Spanish Flu. I’d be surprised if they get even half that now.

        • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:20 am #

          We sure can hope so, DrTom. Because the ones who do have it right now are suffering badly, while medical personnel are working themselves to the bone to try to help them:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J60fQr0GWo

          If we get far fewer deaths than there were to the 1918 flu, that’s a good thing, and reflective of effective measures being taken — not an indication that the COVID-19 threat is overblown.

          This is applicable more widely. The Y2K bug, for example, was subject to much alarmism, including from JHK. The warnings were heeded, we did something about them, and Y2K passed without significant incident.

          Using a crisis as an excuse for overreach, by private actors as well as governments, is a well-understood issue, DrTom. If mass deaths end up not occurring, that’s reason for celebration, not reason to assume they were never a real danger.

          • CancelMyCard March 20, 2020 at 11:22 am #

            The Oligarchs never let a good crisis go to waste.

            If you thought self-enrichment was running amuck before this came up, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 11:26 am #

            People keep arguing about whether the corona virus is this or that. It can be both 1) a serious medical pandemic in its own right, and 2) the pin that popped the world financial bubble and justified increased tyranny by government.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 11:40 am #

            Brilliant comments!

            I’m slightly nauseated by JHK’s specious depiction of fat bastard reviled ONLY because of a whiteness issue. A lot more people than the demographics he tries to frame it down to regards Trump the total narcissistic buffoon, including former and probably current members of his so called administration and certainly most of the rest of the world.

            “Strength?” Are you fucking serious? Replace the character JHK fawns over with Caligula and most of the words still stick.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 11:56 am #

            Nah, there was too much made over a problem with an easy fix, during the Y2K hysteria.
            We were talking about 2 digits in a computer field. If you can create a date field, you can go in and modify it.
            I never worried about it.

          • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 12:00 pm #

            Whew!

            The fury from lefties like Elrond, K-Dog, and Evelyn is impressive; a hatred rarely seen or experienced. Well, they had their chance, but Bernie Sandals went down in flames; not enough Dems bought into the utopian progressive bullsh#t. Is that at the root of their discontent?

            Brh

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 12:09 pm #

            BRH, Captain Ahab had his Moby Dick, and the people you mentioned have their Golden Golem to obsess over. I would suggest to them in a most kindly way ‘get over it!’.

            Our civilization is spiraling down into a black hole. Neither Trump nor anyone from their hall of hero’s can do a damn thing about it. The tide of history is too powerful.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 12:34 pm #

            Thank you for the compliment, EvelynV.

            BRH: Whether Bernie Sanders overcomes the now-daunting odds or not, he has done America a service by pulling the Democratic electoral field to the left.

            Who knows what will happen between now and November, but I would not be a bit surprised to see Trump take advantage of what Bernie has done and start making noises about supporting Medicare For All. There’s no way the Republican Party or Trump’s donors would stand for it, but for Trump the candidate there’s just no downside to outflanking Biden to the left. In fact, he’s very much the kind of con man who would cruise to re-election on the issue, then promptly forget about it the next day. At most, Trump might make some token gesture, like the Carrier thing – a total squib. He couldn’t care less what happens to the marks, as long as they give him four more years.

          • elysianfield March 20, 2020 at 4:06 pm #

            Strength?” Are you fucking serious?”

            Evelyn,

            Yes, strength comes in many forms. Consider Trump’s theme song…can you recall it?

            You cannot always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.

            I think you, I and everyone else needs it…good and hard.

            Of course, we may not like it.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 7:20 pm #

            hmulller, can’t disagree with a word of your blackhole metaphor.

            What you forgot to mention, and I don’t think you forgot because you are ignorant, I think you probably just forgot because you are old and sometimes get forgetful, is that Trump has sped up the tide to a frightful degree and perhaps worse than we know.

            China has the US by the balls, shriveled up as they have become, especially in the white community. China provides the medicine to keep many folks alive. China probably produces the test kits which we are desperately, thanks to other aspects of trump’s failures, in need of.

            So what does fat bastard do any chance he gets? He tries to shovel off his failure as a leader, a human, even as a living lump of soft jelly like flesh, onto the very people who are in a position to make us the last ones allowed into the life boat, if at all.

            When the time comes it is probably going to be the Chinese who manufacture whatever remedies are devised. The discovery most of the cancer arresting or curing drugs already.

            Trump daily puts more lives in danger. Has he told any lies about testing kits and activity. I haven’t been paying that much attention to his words, whenever he speaks on television I have an urgent impulse to rush to the water closet.

          • Exscotticus March 21, 2020 at 1:25 pm #

            If that video was meant to depict medical personnel “working themselves to the bone” then FAIL.

            They even had time and energy for an impromptu interview…

            Your position that the LACK of evidence for a response proves that the response is justified turns logic on its head as usual.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 7:35 pm #

            Exscotticus… I dunno. I threw in that video link as an illustration.

            If you’re expecting me to shoulder the entire metaphysical burden of supporting a simple idea, like medical personnel are working hard at helping COVID-19 patients, you’re just broadcasting to the whole world how unserious you are.

            There’s more than one kind of derangement syndrome going around, I think.

          • Exscotticus March 22, 2020 at 12:41 pm #

            No, Elrond, “working hard” is not the same as “working themselves to the bone “. The latter implies an unsustainable situation bording on collapse, which of course was your intention.

            Your sense of self importance in communicating these ideas is misguided, since all you’re doing is parroting the MSM’s virus sensationalism.

        • Tate March 20, 2020 at 2:26 pm #

          “Italy lost 410,000 people in 1918 to Spanish Flu. I’d be surprised if they get even half that now.” — Dr Tom Schmidt

          You can’t call it Spanish Flu anymore, Dr. Tom. The (((Gatekeepers))) at Wikipedia are working overtime (see discussion box at top of article) to get the name changed to “1918 influenza pandemic”. In fact, by the time you click the link, you may be directed to the desired title. See, that un-PC (as of four days ago) title doesn’t fit the agenda anymore. Hence down the Memory hole. (It’s all about power or as they say, “Who/Whom?”)

          • abbybwood March 20, 2020 at 3:36 pm #

            I didn’t realize the 1968 “Noro-virus” originated in Norwalk, Ohio! A mere 17 miles from my hometown!

            Norwalk virus! Norwalk virus! Norwalk virus!!!!

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:49 pm #

            Tate, the proper name of the ‘Spanish Flu’ is the ‘1918 influenza epidemic’. That’s what it’s generally called in medical articles (like the following):

            https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3180813/

            Most such articles will refer to it as ‘Spanish flu’ in brackets, since that is its colloquial name. Erroneous, as we know, since it didn’t originate in Spain. A number of the people in the ‘discussion’ you cite don’t seem to be aware that it didn’t originate in Spain (it appears to have originated in Kansas).

            What I can’t imagine is what you think the people whose name you can’t just write in plain English would get out of giving it its proper title in Wikipedia. Why would ‘Spanish flu’ be a problem for them in particular and what is politically correct or incorrect about either name?

            I’m genuinely confused. And would you prefer if we eschew political correctness, is such it is, and call it by its more accurate name, Kansas flu? Or just American flu?

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm #

            Sorry, meant ‘pandemic’, not epidemic.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm #

            And I didn’t mean in brackets, I meant ‘in inverted commas’!

          • Tate March 20, 2020 at 8:54 pm #

            Thanks, Gatekeeper. We understand you were once a ‘Content Development Specialist,’ as you yourself styled yourself, so again, thanks, Gatekeeper.

            As to why the Gatekeepers at Wikipedia who are also (((Gatekeepers))) at Wikipedia (a significant plurality if not a majority of the former) are trying to expunge the “Spanish flu” article, or have it renamed the “1918 flu pandemic,” if it isn’t obvious to you, I will explain.

            They want to suddenly create the impression in the public’s mind that it’s not PC to call any viral pandemic after a region or country. The fact that the most famous modern pandemic didn’t actually begin in Spain is irrelevant. They want to make it seem that it’s RACIST! to dare identify any pandemic by a country of origin.

            The fact is that until last week, there was no outcry against this practice. In fact, they themselves indulged in it & there are many examples of this. (Here, by ‘they’, I mean leftists in general) It’s only because Trump is insisting on calling it the Chinese virus that they are making an issue of it. Because in the last analysis, it’s all about power, not consistency or reason.

            And, yes, I understand that (((they))) — having the highest average verbal intelligence in the world — tend to stick out in some situations when we seek to identify patterns. Sorry (not) if it offended you.

          • Tate March 20, 2020 at 8:57 pm #

            And I hope I don’t have to spell out that the overwhelming majority of (((them))) are anti-Trump, although God knows why, he’s given them so much.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 5:35 am #

            I don’t give a flying fuck about your attempts to offend, Tate. You are the kind of man you are. Which is to say the kind I’d have nothing to do with in real life.

            I still don’t know why you can’t say the name out loud instead of doing the dumb thing like a fourteen-year-old.

            Except that your continued drivel about the ancient imposed (by Americans) job title (I remained a development editor throughout) makes you more like eight.

            Calling this the Chinese coronavirus or any other flu the Chinese flu would lead to confusion down the line – proper names (with dates) are what medical people use when writing or searching the literature. I realise that you prefer not to read the literature, but that’s not my fault.

            With your gatekeeper nonsense, you not only reach the intellectual level of the 14- then 8-year old. You are a very, very small man.

            Little Man Tate, as I said before. No Tolstoy you, beard or no beard.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 5:38 am #

            I can always tell you’re in a tizzy and have lost your argument as soon as you bring up ‘content development specialist’ (even though you haven’t the slightest notion what it means in the context of a medical book.

            So keep on doing it and I’ll keep on knowing you know you’ve lost your argument or never had one in the first place.

            People like you showing yourself for what you are is slightly entertaining.

          • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 5:45 am #

            “Who controls the Present, controls the Past. Who controls the Past, controls the Future”
            If any.
            I found a copy of George R Stewart’s “Earth Abides” in an op-shop (good will?) a fortnight ago which I read 40yrs ago as a callow youth, shit scared by M.A.D. and thought overblown.
            Today it seems like yesterday’s news.
            Enjoy 2020, it will certainly be Interesting Times.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 5:56 am #

            BTW, your reasoning was obvious to me – you didn’t need to explain. I gave you the reasoning by which such epidemics/pandemics are given a proper name in the scientific literature. And the reasoning why the current colloquialism is inaccurate.

            ‘Spanish flu’ will continue to be colloquially called ‘Spanish’ until enough people know it was actually ‘American’ flu. Firstly it will be referred to as ‘so-called Spanish flu’ (and the reasoning will be included in Trivial Pursuits questions) and then its colloquial name will morph to fit the facts.

            I still don’t know why you prefer to have it called American flu than ‘the 1918 flu pandemic’, which has the advantage of utter clarity, but reason is not the forte of the obsessed. We know that everything American is bigger, but even so…

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 5:59 am #

            And I meant your ‘Gatekeeper nonsense’ in relation to me, since I have no say in anything whatever. I am perfectly aware of media manipulation, but you’ve really picked the wrong fight here because the whole thing’s based on ignorance of the facts, something shared by the dimwits in the ‘discussion box’.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:27 am #

            The thing is I don’t give a flying fuck if it’s referred to colloquially as the Chinese coronavirus anyway. It will still have a scientific name which will distinguish it from other coronaviruses (I’m sure they have the common cold still running in China just now too).

            I do think, however, that this is not the specific time to piss off the Chinese, who can stop your medicines, car parts or whatever they fancy whenever they want.

            Afterwards, when it’s post-mortem time, extremely serious talks need to be had with Beijing (not conducted in public because that’s not the best way to actually get what you want in this instance) to get them to use their ‘admirable’ powers of surveillance to fling in jail for a very long time anyone caught eating the kind of exotic diet that seems to have caused this thing in the first place. Leave the Uighurs alone and concentrate on draconian measures to re-educate the wet-market users.

            Not that that will solve all such outbreaks. Avian flu and swine flu will continue to exist regardless. Like the one that started in a farm in Kansas.

            By the way, when you use phrases like ‘we understand you were once…etc. etc.’ your appeal to the crowd just shows, yet again, that you’re Little Man Tate. Stand on your own two feet when you’re delivering your pathetic insults.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 11:29 am #

            You wrote that you were “genuinely confused.” I took you at your word & tried explaining it to you but in return I got nothing but gratuitous insults. Talk about “biting the hand that feeds you.”

            And I don’t appreciate your calling me Little Man since I am in fact 5’2″ tall, yet can bench press 350 lbs. I’m going to consult my nephew the virologist to check whether you’re correct about that terminology.

          • Exscotticus March 21, 2020 at 1:35 pm #

            If we adhere to the convention of naming viruses from their suspected points of origin, then it should be Wuhan Virus.

            Why not China Virus? Because it’s too broad, and there will likely be other viruses from China in the future. It’s also needlessly provocative.

            Why not Chinese Virus? Because “Chinese” is not a place; it’s a worldwide class of people. Because it’s confusing. Which Chinese? The ones in America? Because it’s needlessly provocative. Why stigmatize a single race and 50+ ethnicities?

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 1:59 pm #

            Trump is like a bull in a China shop. He keeps calling it the “China virus” in order to break things. In the future everyone will know which virus you’re referring to if you call it the “China virus.”

          • Q. Shtik March 21, 2020 at 4:31 pm #

            Why not Chinese Virus? – exscott

            ============

            When Pearl Harbor was attacked our nation was enraged. A radio announcer said “Everybody today would like to take a crack at the Japs.” He didn’t say Japanese. Nicknames can change words from polite expression to pejorative.

            And so, by simply removing the letter s from the word Chinese you get Chinee and it’s got that perfect disrespectful negative/pejorative ring to it… the Chinee Virus.

            If you want to pin the blame on a country this would be my recommendation. 🙂

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:51 pm #

            Exscottcus

            You are exactly right, amalgamating what I said above about ‘Chinese’ lacking clarity with what I would have added had I not spent the day travelling, i.e. that Wuhan is a more appropriate colloquial name for the current virus, which was actually referred to as exactly that in the early stages before it was given its official name of SARS-Cov-2 (Covid19).

            This would make Kansas flu the sensible name for the 1918 pandemic, given the best knowledge on the matter, in line with ‘American’ being as vague as ‘Chinese’. That would inexplicably leave Tate a little butt hurt but tant pis.

            However, it has so long had the nickname of ‘Spanish flu’ that the name is likely to stick, even in the form of ‘so-called Spanish flu’.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:57 pm #

            Although my carp about clarity isn’t so much about geography as chronology. I suspect it will not be the last virus originating in China.

            And, leaving aside the issue of weird menu items, there remains the issue of proximity to domesticated birds. And anyone complaining about that needs to check where their duvet comes from and whinge or not accordingly.

            (My goose down one comes from Hungary!).

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 8:08 pm #

            Tate

            At 7.49 I addressed you a polite and informative post. You responded to this with moronic insults calling me a ‘gatekeeper’, with gratuitous nonsense about an old job title, into whose significance in the field of medical publishing you have not the slightest insight – all wrapped up in the obfuscation of demented and irrelevant antisemitic idiocy that would shame a thirteen-year-old.

            So quit with the disingenuous revisionist drivel about your benign intent.

            And I have no interest in your physical height. It is your pygmy-sized moral compass that concerns me.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 8:10 pm #

            And leave your virologist nephew in peace from your pathetic appeals to lesser authority.

            https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC340389/

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 8:14 pm #

            And Little Man Tate is just a handy film title, as I explained to you before.

          • Exscotticus March 22, 2020 at 12:53 pm #

            For those who might not know all the facts, the reason Trump calls it the Chinese virus is a reaction to China allegedly calling this the American virus. He didn’t call it the Chinese virus prior to these allegations.

            Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao tweeted, “it might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan” and demanded the US “Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”

            Trump has called it the Chinese virus ever since.

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 4:17 pm #

            Thank you Exscotticus. That merely confirms that neither appellation (American or Chinese virus) has anything to do with scientific accuracy, but rather with geopolitical tit-for-tat name calling.

            As such it has even less to do with the issue of giving what is erroneously and colloquially referred to as Spanish flu its proper name of ‘the 1918 flu pandemic’ on Wikipedia.

      • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 10:48 am #

        The dead and infected numbers are starting to look strangely suspicious as well. Your instincts about government overreach are well founded. Too early to tell exactly what this is yet, but the smart money’s saying it’s definitely not what it’s being portrayed to be at the current time.

        • capt spaulding March 20, 2020 at 11:05 am #

          All I will say, is that nobody had Coronavirus when people were eating Tide Pods. Figure it out for yourself.

          • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 1:03 pm #

            Good point, Captain. Tide pods could be the magic elixer.

            Wasn’t grinding up condoms and snorting them a teenage craze for awhile, too. I don’t believe that one lasted too long.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:17 pm #

          We knew TPTB might go so far as to crash the economy to rid themselves of Trump.
          I think this virus may just be a fortuitous excuse to not only do that, but also finish the job they started after 9/11, of installing an authoritarian government under the guise of “safety”.
          This has been creeping up on us for decades, now we see the final attempt.

        • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 7:25 pm #

          Even the stupid money should think that.

          Fat bastard’s early on attempts to suppress testing has been pretty successful at prolonging the darkness he worked at so fervently to cloak us in.

          He is so entirely stupid he didn’t have the imagination to foresee how badly his handling of the crisis he refused to recognize was going to maul him in the stock market.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:17 am #

        The corona virus is extremely dangerous.

        The police state is necessary to bring it under control. I advocate using existing software already used to track dissidents be repurposed to track newly discovered infections after sequester in place does what it can to allow people already infected to recover.

        After that the existing software can be used used to track both dissidents and infected people.

        Software already can network phones into a net so full group surveillance is a reality and has been for years.

        • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 11:22 am #

          I feel safer already. Who needs those dissidents who think outside the box? Humans are much happier as flouride dumbed down, corn syrup guzzling zombies.

        • elysianfield March 20, 2020 at 4:11 pm #

          “The corona virus is extremely dangerous”

          Dog,
          More so than we might understand at this early stage.

          BBC reports a large Italian family in New Jersey held an event with many later becoming ill with the CV. Four dead from the same family…none showing underlying conditions, middle age, save for the mother, who was 73.

          Let’s consider this a known unknown, M’kay?

        • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 5:53 am #

          Those Black copters & detention camps of yore are looking pretty spiffy now.

      • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 11:57 am #

        Newsom just ordered everyone to stay in their homes.

      • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 12:10 pm #

        Problem –> reaction—>solution.

        A tactic common among abusers of all sorts, as well as psychopaths at the highest levers of power. The global plantation is coming. Trump is trying to stop it, but what comes after him?

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:03 pm #

          Right, that’s why he wanted to legalize all the illegals, except for really “bad hombres”. The economy was going to be so good that we NEEDED them!

          Until you can see past the duality they’ve set up, you’ll always going to be fall for the good cop/bad cop routine.

          That’s why they can’t stand Third Parties – even one would put a real dent in the whole game.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 6:39 pm #

            Right, and I see little to no evidence whatsoever that Trump is part of the binary.

            I agree about third parties, and there is a reason Trump did not run as a third-party candidate.

      • Collin27 March 21, 2020 at 4:56 pm #

        What is at play here is the financial system has been exposed and there is a desperate act to try to stop it from falling further.

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:19 am #

      If you think you need GOD in this spell the word backwards. Dog is what you need.

      • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 10:08 pm #

        Yes, and at the center of life is a big “IF”. Make of it what you will.

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 11:58 am #

      My church shut down because Cuomo told them they had to.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:05 pm #

        If the Churches were for real, they would say no to that. Are they essential services or are they not? They obviously don’t believe in themselves, do they?

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:18 pm #

          They have an older congregation. Those who truly need to work about infection already know to stay home. Nobody seems to get this.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:44 pm #

            Worry, not work.

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 9:15 pm #

          “Are they essential services or are they not?”

          They may be an essential service to those who need them but there are other ways of delivering that service in a situation like this. I showed you the edition of the Straits Times that had an article saying the South Korean government wanted to pursue a murder charge against that bizarre cultish church where their own outbreak of the virus was incubated.

    • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 1:49 pm #

      Need God?
      No
      You are God
      But you don’t know it
      You forgot
      How you programmed it
      Programmed to forget
      Experience your reality
      God watches
      Waiting for you to remember
      You are the watcher
      Loop until you find the way
      Love hides in familiar faces
      Love hides in molecular structure
      Love comes when you least expect it
      Beauty is the universe gazing at itself in a mirror

      • WayfaringStranger March 20, 2020 at 2:38 pm #

        It’s nice for others here that she felt compelled to reveal herself so fully.
        It’s unfortunate however that the desire to be god is an embedded part of human nature. Reading such words as Evelyn writes here, some will respond with n elevated and hopeful yearning to “finally be free” and things of that sort. Others maybe respond more openly malevolently.
        The examples of destruction that results when people do make that choice (to any degree, large or small) are countless. You can see them in your own life, community, relationships, and throughout human history.
        When someone, coyly or cleverly, urges you to give in to this impulse, as Evelyn has here – do not.

        • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 5:55 pm #

          Or do if you are sufficiently illuminated.

          Belief in deities is so dark ages.

          There is NOT a deity.

          Only CONSCIOUSNESS.

          You are in a dream and when you die you wake up.

          • Daddyotis March 20, 2020 at 6:01 pm #

            Ha ha ha!

            How “humanistic” of you, E. I’ll bet the tens of millions of tortured dead souls who were the victims of this govt-mandated, proudly-hailed ideal of “freedom through atheism” might disagree, however.

            It just hasn’t ever been implemented correctly, right?

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 9:11 pm #

            “tens of millions of tortured dead souls ”

            Tortured dead souls? Is that your god of love at it again?

            Please…

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 10:13 pm #

            “I show how much I care about you by the frequent beatings” Also the guiding philosophy of traditional Russian husbands.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:07 am #

            Yes, we know, hm.

            The rationalisations of the wife-beaters are as sick as they ever were. And people who hit less physically strong people are exactly the same scum as they ever were too.

    • draupnir March 20, 2020 at 3:11 pm #

      An elderly poster, from another site, who was a teenager at the time, the youngest of four, told us his depression story and I’ve never forgotten it.

      The crash of ’29 never touched his father, as his father didn’t speculate in stocks. The part-owner of a small manufacturing firm, he was still doing fine, and the poster remembered that he bought his sister a bright blue roadster with yellow tires for her high school graduation.

      Then, the business situation worsened. Orders became fewer and component parts harder to come by. At first, they only let the women who were not heads of households and the young, unmarried men go. They kept the breadwinners as long as they could, and occupied them with sweeping and painting when there was no manufacturing to be done. They burned through all their money and finally had to close their doors.

      On the home front, they had to economize. The luxuries went first. The coal man, who shoveled coal into the furnace, and the gardener had to be let go. The poster and his older brother were chagrined to learn those chores were now their responsibilities. His mother was going to let the housemaid go, as well, but the girl begged to be allowed to work for room and board alone.

      His mother was reluctant to work the girl too hard, as she wasn’t being paid, so his mother and sister took on more of the household chores, and took in boarders to earn a little cash. When the maid’s parents were evicted. They cleaned out the chicken coop for them and their children.

      The poster’s oldest brother, married and with small children, lost his job as an accountant, so they were moved into their summer cottage. They now had around 16 people to feed.

      They started selling whatever they could. Land, his mother’s jewelry, silver and china and crystal, his father’s stamp collection, anything that wasn’t functional and necessary, only precious to them. I guess they never could unload that blue roadster.

      His older brother decided to ride the rails to see if he could find work somewhere. His mother begged him not to do that, but he was nearly a man and she couldn’t prevent him. He wrote to tell them he had found something temporary, out west somewhere and would come home with the money when he was finished. He wrote to say he was on his way back and to watch for him around a certain date, but he didn’t show up. As the days passed, his mother grew more anxious and then frantic. For weeks they heard nothing, and then they were notified that he had been found, frozen to death in a boxcar. He’d been hit over the head with a club, by a railroad detective, and left to die. His wages were still pinned to the inside of his shirt.

      When things started to improve, his father finally found work as a janitor and kept that job to his dying day. He was able to save his home, for which a balloon payment was due, with some program of Roosevelt’s, though most of the land, other than the home acre, was long gone.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 6:25 pm #

        Let’s hope it doesn’t come to all that, Draupnir.

        • draupnir March 20, 2020 at 7:22 pm #

          It’s been done before. By the time this is finished we will probably all be pretty much ruined, not matter what happens with the virus. The survivors of that last convulsion are mostly dead now and the suffering is mostly forgotten. My mother is 87 and she was born during the Depression and doesn’t remember much, except that all of her uncles lived with them at one time or another. My grandfather rode the rails and he said that trains full of men heading east to look for work passed trains full of men heading west to look for work. The farmers had pretty much given up their horse-drawn technology and the banks were glad to give them loans to buy tractors and other automated equipment. They put up their farms as collateral and when they defaulted on their loans, the banks came in and liquidated them at auction and put them off their land. Farmers in California, unable to sell their oranges would pile them up and douse them with gasoline, so the destitute, unable to afford such an indulgence, couldn’t eat them. Many people lost their houses because they couldn’t meet their balloon payments. The bankers and the rich rampaged through the land picking up anything of value for pennies on the dollar.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:13 pm #

            If you can’t sell it, destroy it. So American. As Prabhupad said of his godbrothers, Their philosophy is if you can help someone by farting, hold it in.

          • draupnir March 21, 2020 at 12:21 am #

            Yes, it was uncharitable of them.

        • draupnir March 20, 2020 at 9:50 pm #

          Then they started the whole thing over again.

      • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:06 am #

        They started selling whatever they could. Land, his mother’s jewelry, silver and china and crystal, his father’s stamp collection…” to those who, mysteriously, still had cash to buy it.
        Whenever we hear of hardship in the 3rd World (as was) there are tales of having to sell… whatever.
        Then the Oxfams (60yrs fighting poverty and the CEO is on £370K pa) of the world as for cash – to buy food – from locals.
        What is lacking is not wealth but civis, a long forgotten concept.

        • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:10 am #

          oops, “of the world ASK for cash

          • draupnir March 21, 2020 at 3:44 pm #

            Coffee can and under the mattress banks didn’t fail.

        • draupnir March 21, 2020 at 3:34 pm #

          That was one of those good, old, Roman virtues, so admired, so rarely practiced.

    • outsider March 20, 2020 at 7:29 pm #

      Oh, for the days when we could actually “go down to a corner bar and sip beers until it’s time to stagger back home.” Alas, they have all been closed by the Czars. And, to top it off, with no sports to watch, how long till these lost men go crazy.

    • gonetohell March 22, 2020 at 4:11 pm #

      The only ones that will continue to rest well, and EAT well, are the pigs that have been resting and well all along.Corporations will be bailed out, again, under the guise of somehow helping the middle class worker. Just as they did in 08 when they saved the banks while workers lost their homes and jobs, the political deviants will take care of the donor class.

  2. RaymondR March 20, 2020 at 10:05 am #

    Great post Jim

    The current crisis may, just may, provide an opportunity for reform of at least some of the problems afflicting us in N. America. Maybe I am too optimistic.

    • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 10:24 am #

      If ‘it’ makes us close the border or have a border.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:25 am #

        The horse was out of the barn on the border question weeks ago. COVID-19 outbreaks all circle around major airports. ‘Border’ is not the subject of this blog for a few hours.

        Jet airliners turned out to be the equivalent of city drones in a silent attack far more vicious than 9-11. In 9-11 terrorists were the terror. This time around the fruits of globalized western industrial civilization produces the terror.

        • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:43 am #

          Face it, whatever the source, through the border, cruise ships or airplanes, the introduction of viral vectors is easy in the modern world. So when it happens that a virus becomes successful, until the “border” is sealed, the virus prevails.

          Unless a virus killer is discovered, then borders do not matter, again.

          China’s ego is the number one guilty party here. If they had surrounded the emerging bubble in December, did the isolation things it finally did anyway, the single cluster might have been controlled.

          The world by ignoring the potential spread, condemned us to what we are seeing today. Where were the folks to stop China flights into Milan or Iran? Or the US, or Europe?

          All the idiots trying to blame Trump for this should stop throwing stones in their glass houses!

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:20 pm #

            I noticed a tweet by Chuck Schumer where he took President Trump to task for racism has disappeared.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 7:45 pm #

            JohnAZ

            You are nuts. We don’t know what small number of Chinese were able to suppress action for as long as they did, but you can be sure it was only because of the decision of one two important people.

            Whoever they were, were protected from total blame in some degree because they were operating much more in the dark. Whatever there is to say about that, once they realized mistakes were made they went whole hog dealing with it.

            Along comes our fat ass of a so called leader and he is no longer shielded by even so much as the veil of ignorance a couple of Chinamen had. China’s world known distress is the reason the rest of the world is not treating this like flue. Italians were late to wake up to the fact but fatso knew from the get go and he tried harder than any Chinaman ever thought of to deceive his own people. At least forever how long it tooks his cohorts to drain what they could from the stock market while the getting was still good,

            This is an apocalyptic event and you don’t even realize it. It’s more trite than calling a world leader you don’t like a Hitler, but if I believed in the book of superstition, ie. the bible, it would be difficult not to recognize someone who I won’t mention but his son’s name is Baron, as fitting the description of the anti-christ almost to a T.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 11:47 am #

            “Italians were late to wake up to the fact but fatso knew from the get go and he tried harder than any Chinaman ever thought of to deceive his own people.”

            Why would he do that, Evelyn? Doesn’t make sense to try to suppress knowledge of something that can’t be suppressed. Not that I think Orange man can do no wrong but events are moving fast & he’s been dealing with the facts as they arrive.

          • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 1:53 pm #

            Tate

            You are evidently living in a cave,

            https://youtu.be/JxG241bExqY

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 2:13 pm #

            They say it takes a certain amount of psycho-pathology to make a great political leader. Look at Churchill. Look at Roosevelt. He is definitely no Jimmy Carter.

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:09 pm #

          I’m afraid that’s simply not possible. Everything that is defined, that is to say, everything that is has a border. You don’t have borders? And not just your skin? Can I walk up to you and say something horrible and not be rebuffed?

          a is a. That’s a border, one that makes life possible. a is not b – another one. Try living as if that’s not true. a is not a? Not all saber tooth tigers are like that. Fail.

    • FallenHero March 20, 2020 at 10:36 am #

      I hope so too, but seeing a lot of this monetary corruption continue (such as the senators inside trading before telling us how bad the virus is) I am not too hopeful.

    • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 10:46 am #

      Like, firing everyone at the CDC who doesn’t work on infectious disease?

  3. shotho March 20, 2020 at 10:05 am #

    I suppose it really matters who is elected in November, but from the current vantage point, there doesn’t seem much for him to do but preside graciously over the ongoing national decline.

  4. par4 March 20, 2020 at 10:08 am #

    Shamdemic?

    • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 10:20 am #

      maybe

      • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 10:21 am #

        Italy is a dying country–dying from many other things, including its failure to replace itself–but it is…a dying country.

        The people we’re told who’ve died from corona were old with conditions that would predispose them to fail victim to almost any attack on their system.
        To shutter businesses, which will kill economies all over the world tells me something else entirely is going on here–something very sinister.

        –I am going out into the quarantine, to get provisions. Wish me luck.

        • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 10:35 am #

          It looks like a controlled deflation of the asset bubble. The stock market capitalization will not return to 150% of gdp any time soon, unless GDP drops to match the lowered capitalization.

          • AKlein March 20, 2020 at 1:05 pm #

            Excellent observation, Dr Tom. This corona virus “thing” has been extremely well choreographed.

          • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 7:13 pm #

            I think it’s a crisis that’s been put to use. I cannot imagine that they planned this, even given the relatively light death toll.

        • FallenHero March 20, 2020 at 10:38 am #

          What do you mean? I am pretty hard on the police state idea, especially with bill gates wanting to id everyone, loosely implying chipping them. This is whacko conspiracy, he outright said it recently on some reddit threads and a site I think called id2020.org

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 10:47 am #

            “This is whacko conspiracy”

            Amen. No shortage of it unfortunately. As Professor Osterholm pointed out, nature can do a much better job of this stuff than we can.

          • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 10:50 am #

            Silicon Valley wants to use their high tech to control everything. Their answer to every problem is to computerize it. They, hopefully, will be regarded as the enemy of humanity, the humanity they want to replace with AI.

            If exposing their evil is a result of the virus, it may be worth it.

          • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:33 am #

            GA,

            I’m thinking Osterholm had the stealth nature of the spread of COVID on his mind when he said that. The diabolical spread of the virus would be a hard thing to engineer without test. Hard enough to be impossible. Something only evolution in a mammal could produce and testing a pandemic would be hard to hide. Anybody who still advocates conspiracy theories are trying to cover up for government incompetence. Power has minions.

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 10:45 am #

          You’re actually going out of the quarantine, malthuss, but if you feel you need luck, then I wish you luck.

          I go to the corner shop every morning while walking the hound – this morning for a fresh baguette and some milk. Those of us who live more closely with the rest of our community are in it whether we like it or not.

          And I’m assuming from a considerable number of unpleasant ageist epithets hurled my way that you are rather younger than me.

          So maybe man up a bit. Your chances are pretty good.

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 11:54 am #

            You GA, are a “coincidence theorist” in contrast to we the “conspiracy theorists”. I don’t expect you to change your mind, but I hope you can understand that other ways of interpreting the world can be sane and plausible.

            Yes, government is full of incompetent, selfish, short sighted people. Accidents and coincidences happen. But people acting in concert to do wicked things is also part of our reality.

            You may not believe COVID-19 was deliberately released, you may not even believe it’s a humanly modified virus. But do you believe there are no Bio Labs funded by governments creating such “bugs”?

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:01 pm #

            “But do you believe there are no Bio Labs funded by governments creating such “bugs”?”

            No, I don’t believe that at all, hm. Not sure why you’d think I would, unless you insist on seeing people’s views as caricatures.

            Have you listened to Prof. Osterholm? He explains why scientists do not believe this virus was engineered or could have been engineered. Happy to hear from you with specific arguments against his arguments once you’re listened.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 12:16 pm #

            I don’t know whether the Wuhan Virus was deliberately released, but I do know there was a biolab 900 feet from the supposed site of the outbreak.

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 12:16 pm #

            GA, I did a quick google search and got a long list of articles debunking the silly ideas I expressed above. Thank goodness we live in a world where the moguls of the internet censor ideas to protect us from bad thoughts.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:33 pm #

            “I don’t know whether the Wuhan Virus was deliberately released, but I do know there was a biolab 900 feet from the supposed site of the outbreak.”

            I know that too, Nightowl. I think everyone does.

            I haven’t checked all the other biolabs in China, though, to see whether they are near sites of human habitation (you’d think they’d have to be if people work in them) and to check if any others also have markets 900 metres from them.

            You are welcome to your circumstantial evidence. Professor Osterholm is very aware of it too. I hope you will never demand or expect anything more exacting should you ever find yourself accused unjustly of a heinous crime.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Evans

            That guy was only yards away. Good enough for the jury.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:39 pm #

            hm, you are welcome to whatever thoughts you like.

            I didn’t ask if you’d read multiple sources of ‘debunking’, but merely if you’d listened to Professor Osterholm. I consider him ‘authoritative’ but in a good way.

            You may not agree, which is absolutely perfectly fine.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NSw&t=3426s&app=desktop

            The bit I’m referring to is quite far in, but it wouldn’t hurt to listen to the whole thing. There’s some stuff of general interest about BSE in deer and Lyme disease in there too. All good, useful knowledge and he’s eminently ‘listenable’. Not an ounce of ‘what a daft question’ or ‘I’m so much more knowledgeable than you’ in his delivery. Just someone who knows what he’s talking about, unlike thee or me.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:23 pm #

          When you see it starting in California, the extremism, with New York following suit, you know it’s part of the plan.
          We were supposed to be part of the North America Union by now.

        • beantownbill. March 20, 2020 at 12:36 pm #

          I wish you luck. Really.

        • WayfaringStranger March 20, 2020 at 2:52 pm #

          There have been numerous attempts to explain away the high numbers in Italy. None are successful. Many hinge on open contempt and devaluation of people over 50. I shouldn’t need to point out that is deeply sick, but apparently I do.
          The tragic situation with the New Jersey Italian family (fully Italian as many in Jersey are, but homegrown and fully American) shows the inadequacy of all these rationalizations.
          They’re Americans, yet rapidly decimated in a way that defies comprehension. Just like Italians still on Italian soil.
          We don’t know yet why this is, and people should stop pretending they do.
          If you hear a scary noise and you hasten to say “it’s just the wind” and maybe it isn’t the wind, you’d be better off to wait, admit you don’t know yet, and figure out what it is.
          Scoffing gets you immediate answers, and it shuts people up, but few are inwardly impressed by scoffers or take them seriously. They’ll pretend to agree to stop the ridicule, but keep listening for what the noise really is. So false assurances waste everyone’s time and distract from the truth.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 8:55 pm #

            “None are successful. Many hinge on open contempt and devaluation of people over 50.”

            I’d say that was quite the opposite of the situation in Italy. There is a lot of inter-generational love and support there that you might not find in a country where youngsters are gleefully talking about the ‘boomer remover’.

            The fact is that doctors have been placed in a position where they have one ventilator and 15 people in a corridor waiting to use it. If you’re a doctor you don’t have the luxury of saying ‘Father, let this cup pass from me’. You’re the doctor and it’s your job to make that decision in that situation.

            Who would you choose? The 35-year-old with two toddlers at home, who has a good chance of surviving with the ventilator, or the 60-year old with high blood pressure and diabetes, who you might figure has 25% chance of surviving even with the ventilator (half of the people put on ventilators are dying anyway, as far as I know).

            I ask that as someone who has three reasons to be triaged into the corridor, including a history of cancer, which I heard one Italian doctor mention as a factor. If my daughter and I were both desperate for a ventilator, the one of us who has a young child is the one who has to get the ventilator.

            It’s not ‘Sophie’s Choice’, it’s real life.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 8:58 pm #

            And it’s going to happen here too. One hospital in London has already declared a 24-hour emergency because it’s out of critical care facilities. And we’ve hardly started compared to Italy.

            And some people call it ‘fear porn’ or a hoax. The smugness takes my breath away. (Sorry, bad choice of words.)

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 9:02 pm #

            Apologies if I misunderstood your point in your first paragraph. I’m not sure if you meant the devaluation of people over 50 is deeply sick, or the suggestion by others that that might be the case.

        • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:28 am #

          Most of the West is in terminal decline due to a surfeit of comfort & privilege.
          The Benighted States only continues to function (kinda-sorta) because of the yoooog influx of illegals to do the akshal real work – maids, veg/fruit picking and break back shelf packing.

    • capt spaulding March 20, 2020 at 11:08 am #

      It was created by the Deep State in an attempt to make Trump look bad.

      • WayfaringStranger March 20, 2020 at 2:54 pm #

        Say that when you’re intubated. (it’s the next Tide Pod Challenge)

        • capt spaulding March 20, 2020 at 8:30 pm #

          Funny.

  5. Pucker March 20, 2020 at 10:11 am #

    Education

    I have a friend who teaches at a small college in the US Midwest.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qPiZSF1Pi0M

    Support this blog on PatreonSupport this blog on Substack
    Support this blog via Patreon or Substack
    • CancelMyCard March 20, 2020 at 11:43 am #

      Not a big fan of Tucker Carlson, but he is dead on here with these observations about the delivery of higher education to the masses.

    • WayfaringStranger March 20, 2020 at 3:18 pm #

      Then they’ll be able to tell you how massively dependent those college town are on the physical presence of those institutions. How deeply the growth of said institutions have changed the community, from policing needs and patterns to radical and irreversible changes to housing stock and neighborhood make-up and cohesion.
      There’s no going back.
      Student slums, minus students are…what. Anybody? Bueller?
      It’s never been a good system, at least not for the last several decades. The Admins get rich, quality goes down, indoctrination and debts go up. It’s bad beleive me I know. But now we’re looking a hundreds/thousands of mini-Detroits. The impact on the host communities will be just like Detroit when the auto industry died. You can rejoice that the air quality improved as a result but holy hell other really bad stuff comes along with that one happy thing.
      We’ve got to start thinking like adults at some point.
      The 2008 downturn was hard on the student housing neighborhood here. Drug and cartel and crime assholes from the wider area filled in the rentals, caused havoc, misery. They brought their friends who brought their friends. it happens fast, and I live in it. Things got back to normal more or less, I just started to become hopeful the trend would continue. Now this crap.
      Our campus just shut down for the rest of the semester, beyond the original April return date, for the entire up-coming summer session, and who fucking knows what for next fall. This is HUGE.
      And other campuses will too, across the US.
      I’m afraid now, for real. This is way too much shit all at once. And, it’s a matter of time before the attempted break-ins start up again, like the last downturn. Before the drug use is way up again, all of it.
      I learned to use a 9 back then but I sure as fuck do not want to have to. I am too old for this shit.
      (cue Boomer Remover jokes…then go to hell)
      This is all very, very serious people. So far beyond problems getting toilet paper it’s impossible to even express. Wake up.

      • Daddyotis March 20, 2020 at 6:16 pm #

        Best brush the dust off that 9, WFS. See about digging up some ammo and preparing the mags which came w said 9 as well. It’s a scary time, but I’d challenge you to turn that fear around to the extent that you can.

        Good luck

        • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:26 pm #

          Civil society breaks down quick if and when it happens.
          You should also look into having plywood cut to cover the windows if it gets ugly just like during bad storms.
          Anything to limit peoples ability to get into your home easily.
          If it never gets used great but it’s a cheap investment should you need it.

      • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:42 am #

        Dunno about the rest of the exigencies, but student housing etc is not an issue in Euroland has Studentenheims – subsidised, when not included in the usual student grant, 1b/r flats in the thousands.
        As in the rest of the West, civilised countries with universal health care and a functional welfare system at a fraction of the cost of private health insurance and student loans.
        Just sayin’

  6. Pucker March 20, 2020 at 10:18 am #

    It’s very rare for a virus to jump from one species to another. It would be a bit suspicious if the virus was able to jump between multiple species. Looks fishy…like a bioweapon?

    “ The Hong Kong government has urged people not to abandon their pets and to stop kissing them after a second dog repeatedly tested positive for coronavirus.
    A German shepherd living in the Pok Fu Lam area on Hong Kong Island was sent for quarantine along with another mixed-breed dog from the same residence on Thursday after their owner was confirmed as being infected, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) said in a statement.

    No positive result was obtained from the mixed-breed dog, and “neither dog has shown any signs of disease,” the department said, adding it will continue to monitor both dogs and conduct repeated tests on the animals.”

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:35 am #

      Pucker, a link please. I have to know about this.

    • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:46 am #

      Influenza originates in water fowl, usually migratory ducks, across the Eurasian land mass and passes to”humans” through close, daily contact.
      Just as cow pox became small pox (from the norm of keeping domestic animals in the family home until the 1800s) and wiped out Indigenes in the New World.
      That’s why ‘flu shots are B/S – the strain changes every year, those feathered fuckers just can’t refrain from traversing the world.

  7. BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 10:19 am #

    All the local pols here are getting in on the Covid 19 show, signing executive orders, making a steady stream of TV news appearances, issuing proclamations, giving sage advice, declaring States of Emergency … haven’t seen anything like this since the market meltdown 2008, and before that the 9/11 disaster.

    In Ct 3 confirmed deaths from Covid19 so far, aged 79, 88, and 90.

    “His role was not that of Goodfather, it was the half crazy old uncle in the attic …” that paragraph, wow, writing of the highest order.

    Brh

    • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 10:24 am #

      Western Civilization or Eastern?
      I was in Pacific palisades, yesterday [had nothing better to do], Nice place.

      Thoughts on east-west,

      Gandhi was asked what he thought about
      Western civilisation, [British spelling?]
      he said it would be a good idea to try.

      –Well, since 1900 India was the land of Sati, female infanticide, child brides sold for a dowry, no TP, untouchables [known as gypsies outside India], Islam, mass starvation, sacred cows, government corruption, dirt roads, snake charmers, lazy beggars and greedy Kings [rajas] and God knows what else, that shows what a cultural chauvinist [read, idiot] that Mr Gandhi was.
      The modernism in 1900 India was courtesy of the White guys…..Railroads, Printing presses, automobiles, modern medicine, etc.
      Is 2020 India any better? Vivekananda bemoaned ancient India disappearing circa 1900.

      • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 11:47 am #

        Well, they make and sell most of the medicine that the Chinese don’t make and sell to us.

        • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:14 pm #

          I did not know that.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:26 pm #

            I knew that, what I didn’t know was how much of a share China had now.
            India was worrisome enough, with a culture where corruption is a way of like, and also not quite as much attention paid to sanitation.

      • beantownbill. March 20, 2020 at 12:47 pm #

        I would recommend you read the book, “Freedom at Midnight” by Larry Collins and Dominque LaPierre. Very fascinating reading about India.

        • Q. Shtik March 20, 2020 at 2:59 pm #

          Very fascinating reading about India. – bean

          ============

          I will recommend “An Area of Darkness” by V.S. Naipaul.

        • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 3:47 pm #

          Great book. They also wrote ‘O Jerusalem’ which I read while a student in Jerusalem summer 1975.

      • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:51 am #

        Check out Modi & the BJP – big Hitler fans from wayyyy back – and their India for Hindoos obsession.
        I hold no brief for the mussleman but India has more than Pakistan (aka “Land of the Pure”) and ain’t one of them wants to migrate there.

        • hmuller March 21, 2020 at 10:39 am #

          It’s easier to be a Muslim in India than a Hindu in Pakistan.

  8. venuspluto67 March 20, 2020 at 10:24 am #

    Yeah, if Joe Biden were to become president, he clearly would not be the one who is in actually charge.

    • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 10:53 am #

      The amazing thing is that the remainder of the Dem political world put up with the DNC.

      It also shows who is still in control of this country.

    • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:53 am #

      ummm, how short are memories?
      Killary will be Veep and the 25th will be invoked in short order, maybe Spring 2021.

    • hmuller March 21, 2020 at 10:41 am #

      I think Kennedy was the last President who tried to be in charge and the deep state cleared his head of such thoughts.

  9. Pucker March 20, 2020 at 10:26 am #

    “On October 3, only five days after Krusen had let the parade proceed, he banned all public meetings in the city—including, finally, further Liberty Loan gatherings—and closed all churches, schools, theaters. Even public funerals were prohibited. Only one public gathering place was allowed to remain open: the saloon, the key constituency of the Vare machine. The next day the state health commissioner closed them. The first temporary facility to care for the sick was set up at Holmesburg, the city’s poorhouse. It was called “Emergency Hospital #1”; the Board of Health knew more would follow. Its five hundred beds were filled in a day. Ultimately there would be twelve similar large hospitals run with city help, three of them located in converted Republican Clubs in South Philadelphia. It was where people had always gone for help. In ten days—ten days!—the epidemic had exploded from a few hundred civilian cases and one or two deaths a day to hundreds of thousands ill and hundreds of deaths each day. Federal, municipal, and state courts closed. Giant placards everywhere warned the public to avoid crowds and use handkerchiefs when sneezing or coughing. Other placards read “Spitting equals death.” People who spat on the street were arrested—sixty in a single day. The newspapers reported the arrests—even while continuing to minimize the epidemic. Physicians were themselves dying, three one day, two another, four the next. The newspapers reported those deaths—on inside pages with other obituaries—even while continuing to minimize the epidemic. Health and city workers wore masks constantly. What should I do? people wondered with dread. How long will it go on? Each day people discovered that friends and neighbors who had been perfectly healthy a week—or a day—earlier were dead.”

    John M. Barry
    The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

  10. akmofo March 20, 2020 at 10:27 am #

    Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley leaves Boeing board, opposing federal aid: http://dlvr.it/RSCtbc

    I love this woman! She should be the next POTUS.

    Support this blog on PatreonSupport this blog on Substack
    Support this blog via Patreon or Substack
    • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:06 am #

      Akfomo, there’s a good chance she’ll be Trump’s VP running mate this time around, with Pence moved over to State.

      • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 1:09 pm #

        Pence, Haley, Pompeo, I like them all. I even think Ivanka will make a good pick for VP.

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:23 pm #

          Hardcore Zionists who put Israel ahead of their own Nation. Of course you agree.

          So does Pelosi btw. They’ve got us from both ends. We’re bracketed. That’s why they hate Tulsi Gabbard. She outside the bracket racket.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 1:47 pm #

            Ok, Janos, I’ll bite. Show me the goods. Back your assertions.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:24 pm #

          The Evangelicals want Pence there. Just saying.

          • Iananna March 21, 2020 at 6:54 am #

            Yay for Gilead! How many OfMike’s will there be?

    • beantownbill. March 20, 2020 at 12:54 pm #

      I agree.

  11. newworld March 20, 2020 at 10:28 am #

    If memory serves me correctly in the first “By Hand” novel basic hygiene was paramount to the residents of the town. Good advice with a novel virus running about to keep the immune system in good working order.

    Great comparison of Biden to a mob flunkie, that is basically how they all end up if they are not on top.

    And a once frequent topic, banking, in the coming liquidation that business needs a stern reorganizing, something the Obama admin skipped for the Culture War, yay Culture War.

  12. stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 10:33 am #

    So the Big 3 auto makers are gonna switch from making f-350s to ventilators. What a joke. They say we switched from autos to B 24s in 1940 so no problem. Huge differance between trucks and medical equipment than between trucks and bombers. How exactly do you convert an assembly line form engine blocks to circuit boards?

    • Ishabaka March 20, 2020 at 10:38 am #

      If you haven’t volunteered to work making ventilators for free, then keep your whining to yourself. If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Government isn’t going to come to your house and wipe your ass for you this time. Time to grow up, quit complaining, and take care of yourself, your family, and your community if you can.

      • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 11:06 am #

        What the fuck are you talking about? I’m putting together a half dozen in the barn as we speak. I’m using flat head V-8s that can pump up four sets of lungs at a pop. Moron.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:12 am #

        If I buy a 3-D printer haw many ventilators can I make in an hour?

        • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:12 am #

          how

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 11:34 am #

          Perhaps someone will invent a 3-D printer that turns out fully trained specialist critical care nurses to manage the ventilators?

          If they do, we’ll have some, please…

          Recent talk (here anyway) has mentioned the possibility of having as many as nine patients attached to one ventilator. Problems abound, it would seem, but it can be done it the patients are matched in their needs.

          https://emcrit.org/pulmcrit/split-ventilators/

          Haven’t read it all – too technical for me – but it’s there if anyone is interested. I’m assuming the need for multiple critical care nurses would be much greater in this scenario.

          • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:16 pm #

            That is cloning. 3D in a bottle.

            Or as JHK would note, Too Much Magic.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:30 pm #

            Baltimore’s mayor asked residents to refrain from shooting each other, to keep hospital space open.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:43 pm #

            That’s gone viral (sorry) over here too, Beryl.

    • abbybwood March 20, 2020 at 5:21 pm #

      What is the sense in making ventilators if you don’t have the nurses and respiratory techs and the labs to run the blood gases and all the masks and gowns and goggles and gloves and catheters and suction machines etc. needed to run the whole show?

      I saw an article yesterday about rich people buying ventilators for their homes. Fools.

      What do they think?? Get violently ill, develop severe respiratory distress then just plug in the ventilator and poof!!!! you are magically intubated (takes an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist or a damn sharp ACLS nurse to properly place an endotracheal tube!), and all you have to do is let the ventilator perform it’s magic!

      Arrrggghhh!!!!!!!!

      • benr March 20, 2020 at 5:49 pm #

        Training!
        Anyone can be trained to do the basics well almost anyone.

      • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 6:12 pm #

        I’ve seen my paramedic friends throw tubes in on a sidewalk in a blizzard. I can’t do it but they do it all the time. Just sayin’.

        • Ozymandius March 20, 2020 at 8:39 pm #

          Don’t necessarily need ventilators. Back in the day it was tube ’em and bag ’em to get a good feel for airways resistance. Train teams of medical students to do this in the wards if tshf.

  13. Ishabaka March 20, 2020 at 10:36 am #

    Anyone who uses this pandemic to try to score political points against their adversaries, whether they are politicians or media, are despicable – they are showing they place their agenda ahead of American lives.

    Now is the time for Americans to put aside our political differences and work together to get through this.

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:33 pm #

      The ones screaming whenever the President says “China” are showing whose payroll they are on.

      I may have heard something about Hunter Biden and China, come to think of it.

  14. Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 10:36 am #

    JHK (re Trump): “You can call that a lot of things, but one of them has got to be: strength.”

    Ignorance is the strength of bigots. Fuckface von Clownstick has got that in spades, both in his own right and having stoked the very worst instincts of his following.

    Nor does this have anything to do with ‘hatred of men’. My view of Trump would be exactly what I’ve just said, even if the Democratic Party had never existed and identity politics had never been invented. It follows from paying heed to substance, not authoritarian narratives. Anyone who considers Donald J. Trump as a satisfactory leader in any way, for any purpose, has gone mentally off the rails.

    • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 10:44 am #

      That would be my wife, then, Elrond. She has been disgusted and embarrassed by the man since he became President. Watching the press conference yesterday, she turned distinctly anti-media and pro-Trump. If she has gone mentally off the rails, as you say, I suspect she will have a lot of company.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:39 am #

        If only Trump were alone in being dysfunctional, DrTom. But if he were, he could not possibly have become president. It was the general dysfunction of American politics that allowed that. Both major parties had to fail, each in its own special way — the Republicans by allowing him to seize their nomination, and the Democrats by nominating Hillary Clinton.

        What’s interesting is the form that the dysfunction has taken since the election. The Republicans, frankly, are faring much better simply by carrying on with their standard sociopathic policies: huge tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, while racking up enormous debts (which they would be demagoguing the Democrats over, had Clinton won).

        The Democrats, meanwhile, have (a) refused to face facts and promulgated the fake Russia narrative to cover their failure, and (b) pursued a terrible strategy for a respectable goal, namely employing constitutional means (impeachment) to remove Trump, who is a lifelong criminal and a disgrace to the office. There is (was) more than ample material to impeach Trump over emoluments, using the office to enrich himself, but that kind of corruption is so pervasive in Washington that no one was left with the integrity to do so. Dysfunction abounds.

        And I haven’t even touched on the corporate media. Anyway, the fact remains that Trump is unfit in himself for the office he holds. This remains true regardless of the circumstances that circulate around him. My respects to you and your missus, but that’s still the case.

        • DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 7:20 pm #

          Fair enough. I never cared for W, whom I consider the worst disaster of my lifetime as a President. But he did get acclaim for scrambling around with a megaphone after 9/11. He looked in command. Trump did too, yesterday.

          I think my wife never saw that side of him because she hasn’t had the time to watch this stuff. Or the stomach, since it was only a month ago that she was complaining about Trump calling Bloomberg Mini-Mike.

          He gave a good presser, and is going to skate on the economic collapse because the virus caused it, not his constant haranguing of Powell to cut interest rates.

          On that last note, neither one of us is happy that our interest income on T-bills has been cut by 98% in one month. So the financial scam continues.

    • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 10:46 am #

      Isn’t your little worm of a PM, Trudeau, in hiding right now?

      • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:42 am #

        He’s in quarantine, because his wife is infected with COVID-19. He makes regular media appearances. Would you prefer that Canada have a leadership crisis right now? Is that really in your best interests, considering the pandemic is real and we share a border over 5,000 miles long?

        • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 10:27 pm #

          Maybe the little germ factory is reading that old Dale Carnegie book, “How to Win Friends and Influenz People”.

    • MC Hammerabi March 20, 2020 at 10:53 am #

      What a stupid thing to say.

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:11 am #

      Off the rails in a screeching train wreck.

      Sens. Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler sold off more than a million dollars each in stocks in the days and weeks after attending private, senators-only briefings about the severity of the impending coronavirus crisis. Burr is a Republican from North Carolina who serves as the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He dumped between $582,029 and $1.56 million of his shares over a series of 33 transactions beginning on Feb. 13, just days after he wrote an op-ed for Fox News arguing that the U.S. is “better prepared than ever before” when it comes to facing public health threats like COVID-19. Burr was also one of only three senators in 2012 who voted in opposition to the STOCK Act, which explicitly prohibits lawmakers and their staff from trading on nonpublic information. Loeffler was recently elected as the newest Republican Senator from Georgia and is married to the chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. She and her husband dumped between $1,275,000 and $3,100,000 in jointly owned stocks over the course of 29 transactions starting on Jan. 24, the same day the Senate Health Committee on which she sits hosted a private, all-senators briefing about the virus from Trump administration officials and the head of the CDC. Only two of the 29 transactions Loeffler made during that time period were purchases, one of which was for $100,000 and $250,000 in shares of Citrix, a technology company that provides telecommuting software and services. Both Burr and Loeffler have denied any wrongdoing. (ProPublica / Daily Beast / NPR / Axios / Reuters)

      No excuse for it. Kunstler can check and find out facts before he publishes just like the rest of us. Trump incompetence is a smoking gun. Trump was afraid to rock the economy and do the right thing. Doing the right thing is not Trump’s style and expecting good judgement from Trump is like trying to get water from a stone.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:23 am #

        All this hatred K-Dog, where does it come from?

        What do you get out of propagating such disinformation?

        • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:38 am #

          Funny you should ask.

          Where does the hatred come from.

          https://youtu.be/8ChGRCWwYwY

          It is not disinformation and you know it.

          • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 8:13 pm #

            is that you in the vid there K-Dog??

            lol

        • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:46 am #

          This happens whenever someone posts information or opinion that makes Trump look bad.

          – Didn’t provide links or reference? They’ll criticize you for that.
          – Do provide links? They’ll ignore it.
          – Provide full text, and cite the news source? They’ll say it was disinformation.

          It’s almost like people feel entitled to their own facts.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 12:20 pm #

            Because 99 percent of the time, it is fake news.

            And it is really funny when 99 percent of what the McResistors post on this board can be defeated by typing one sentence.

            Your mind, it is weak.

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 12:27 pm #

            Thanks for giving me a good laugh, Elrond. Your opinions are as Sgt Joe Friday would say ‘the facts, just the facts”. Sometimes you seem so intelligent; then you reveal a compete inability to distinguish subjective from objective thought.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 1:42 pm #

            My opinions are the result of applying well-developed critical faculties, hmuller. It’s enormously important to learn how to disregard prejudices, both one’s own and others, and navigate facts instead. Try watching this video (the first three minutes will do), and you may see what I mean:

            https://youtu.be/BMvgOjGPXyw

            Gain an appreciation for the value of stable facts and principles and you empower yourself. There’s no substitute for being able to parse fact from fiction, prejudice and error, instead of relying on consensus opinion to do it for you. (Including the reigning consensus here at CFN.) Sadly, not everyone has the tools, or the inclination.

          • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 3:52 pm #

            Only mathematics can be free of human subjectivity – and maybe not even that bastion. The distinction between subjective and objective is very slippery. If you think you’ve achieved it, you’re probably just an opinionated coot, lacking true introspection.

            And don’t even get me started on quantum physics, which I don’t understand (and neither does anyone else).

          • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:27 pm #

            Indeed you post you own facts daily and they are called opinion.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 7:42 pm #

            benr, one day I aspire to post something so transcendent, so compelling, that even your skepticism of me will be overawed, and you will humbly yield to my irresistible rightness.

            In the meantime, I offer another link for hmuller (and anyone else) to peruse, about how and why to change one’s beliefs:

            https://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe

      • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:28 am #

        Kdog forgot something. There are four Senators involved and under scrutiny. One is a Democrat, Dianne Feinstein.

        I thought members of Congress are immune from insider trading. Maybe this will put a stake in the heart of that debacle.

        • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:42 am #

          I did not forget and have posted about all four elsewhere. Thank you for bring her up and I’ll go to the other blog and bring what I ‘forgot’ here too.

          In addition to Burr and Loeffler, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein sold $1.5 million to $6 million worth of shares in late and mid-February, Senate records show.

          And Oklahoma Republican Senator James Inhofe sold as much as $400,000 in equities on January 27, disclosure reports show.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:48 am #

            Good work, K-Dog. I also tweeted about this article this morning:

            https://twitter.com/lbeaton1/status/1240984398612357121?s=20

          • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:58 am #

            This obvious ethical misbehavior is a product of THE real problem of this country.

            Washington DC is no longer the product of nor the protector of the people of the USA. The Deep State, the protective wing of the Washington scene, is showing its ugly side. Their self protective instincts just showed their real colors. Hopefully, the ambivalence of the American people will discontinue, think 2016, and the corruption will decline. Trump was elected, primarily, to Drain the Swamp. He better get at it.

          • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:06 pm #

            Thank you, I wish that graphic could be shown here. The ‘other’ blog I posted in lets me post pictures with my text. I added a picture of a guillotine at the bottom (animated). I hope it was a fake body in the animation.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 12:39 pm #

            JohnAZ: “He better get at it.”

            What’s your hurry? It has only been… *checks watch*… three years. Just think of all the concrete actions Trump has taken in that length of time.

            Anyway, what’s on Fox News?

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:08 pm #

            JohnAZ

            Yet who defended these three lowlife grifters??

            Who expressed his belief that they are ‘ honorable people’?

            Who mentioned Feinstein (only) in his reply to a question about it, but then BERATED a reporter who dared to mention the other three culprits, all GOPers, for making it ‘partisan’?

            Only The Gaslighter in Chief, Himself.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:14 pm #

            Sorry – FOUR low-life grifters…

        • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:17 pm #

          t y

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:27 pm #

          Feinstein? The one who had the commie in her office and driving her around, for what, a couple decades?
          Nothing to see there.

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:36 pm #

      I love President Trump. I would crawl across broken glass for him. I have been hanging out with evangelicals, boy are they nice people, and not undereducated. Doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers… we aren’t who you say we are, Elrond.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 12:43 pm #

        Beryl: I haven’t denounced evangelicals, and I make a sincere effort not to be the kind of person I think you have in mind. The Richard Dawkinses and Sam Harrises of the world repel me, even when I think they have reason on their side.

        Everything I’ve said so far is about Trump himself, and the kind of person he is in particular. We all have our good and bad qualities, and Trump’s unique gift is to bring out the worst in everyone for his own benefit.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:31 pm #

          I haven’t gone mentally off the rails. You seem to think there is something unbalanced about me, and other people who support the president. We have our reasons, and we are decent productive human beings.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:34 pm #

        Crawl across broken glass? That’s pathetic. He plays you people like a violin. His Christianity is of the prosperity gospel and Zio variety – to the extent it is real at all.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 2:03 pm #

          Janos, I am not one of the Evangelicals, I said I was hanging out with them. They are quite aware of the fragility of his faith, that’s why they want Pence there. They care about his soul.

          As for me, I understood that there was no one else who was even aware of some of the things he talked about, except for the corrupt ones who made their living off of the things that were dragging down the middle class in America.

          Is he perfect? Is he the best one for the job? He’s the only one who stepped up and tried.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:27 pm #

            See his long interview with Laura Ingraham. She grilled him about his wanting mass immigration from Mexico and Central America. He defended himself saying, we need these people because jobs. What about unemployed Americans? Ingraham concluded by saying, That’s not what you campaigned on.

            He did a bait and switch. He’s just another Big Business Republican President. We are betrayed.

          • hmuller March 21, 2020 at 10:50 am #

            Trump says the right things more often than he does the right things. Is he too a captive of “them”? (No, not the big ants.)

      • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 5:58 pm #

        If you approached him through all the broken glass do you think he’d want to touch your naughty bits with all that blood on them?

      • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:26 pm #

        I agree with Beryl..

        I grew up with a lot of evangelicals and many “fundamentalists” and even though I personally don’t share their religious convictions, the majority were very good, decent people.

        Certainly misunderstood & maligned by the MSM

    • beantownbill. March 20, 2020 at 1:03 pm #

      “Fuckface von Clownstick” – sounds very juvenile to me, Elrond. I’d expect that comment from a 12 year-old. If you dislike Trump, fine, but stop with childish non-sequitors, please.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 4:10 pm #

        Bill

        I think what we need here is a ‘Hate-O-Meter’ scale to rate hateful comments directed at President Trump.

        Scale goes 1-10, 1 being mild constructive criticism, 10 being full blow, malicious, rabid hatred.

        For example Elrond calling the President “F#ckface von Clownstick” would rate about an 8.

        I still have to flush this out a little bit. What do you think.

        Brh

        • beantownbill. March 20, 2020 at 6:26 pm #

          I was going to say a 10, but on second thought an 8 is good. Why not only do a rating on Trump, but also on other topics?

          • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:29 pm #

            Would suggest the further left the higher on that scale they will feel about Trump.

        • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 11:35 am #

          Actually, BRH, it was Jon Stewart who originally called Trump by that name, after Trump initiated hostilities by tweeting an anti-Semitic troll at him.

          https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/2/13499036/jon-stewart-trump-feud

          I think the name suits him admirably.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 4:15 pm #

        At the end of each day we can add it up the hate score. One day Evelyn might be champ, one day Elrond might be champ. Occassionally Cargill and Maj would jump ahead. And don’t count out Little Jane. It will become a real horse race. Haven’t determined a prize yet.

        Brh

        • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:31 pm #

          Just quit the BS, Marlin, and give me a permanent ’10’.

        • Cargill March 22, 2020 at 9:45 pm #

          At the end of each day we can add it up the hate score. One day Evelyn might be champ, one day Elrond might be champ. Occasionally Cargill and Maj would jump ahead.

          I don’t understand where this “hatred” meme comes from … if you see society and political life from the centre-left, and dislike Trump and his Republican cohort very much – why is this hate?

          I can only assume those who use the word “hate” don’t believe in democracy at all, and would prefer a one-party state … you’re either a Trumpist Republican or your a “hater”.

          All very disturbing in a society where having a regular change in who is the governing party should be seen as a good thing.

          I haven’t even mentioned how Trump is the worst president in US history. Somebody wise said that America might just survive four years of the Trump anomaly if there were no crisis.

          But Trump’s inability to do the job of president has become abundantly clear with the coronavirus – as if any further proof were needed.

          He still calls it the “Chinese Virus” FFS … the man-child has no level to which he cannot sink to try and politicise this thing in his favour.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 10:25 pm #

            Cargill: “I can only assume those who use the word ‘hate’ don’t believe in democracy at all, and would prefer a one-party state … you’re either a Trumpist Republican or your a ‘hater’.”

            This was clearly the case with Republicans well before Donald Trump staged his hostile takeover of the party. That bastion of communism, the Brookings Institution, published this all the way back in 2012:

            Let’s Just Say It: The Republicans are the Problem

            https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/lets-just-say-it-the-republicans-are-the-problem/

            “The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

            “When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.” (Emphasis added.)

            All of the above is true of the Republicans and especially of their house organ, Fox News. The rot is very deep now.

          • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 10:54 pm #

            He still calls it the “Chinese Virus” FFS … the man-child has no level to which he cannot sink – Cargill

            ============

            How ’bout if he starts calling it the “slant virus?”

          • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 1:29 am #

            This was clearly the case with Republicans well before Donald Trump staged his hostile takeover of the party.

            Thanks for that Elrond … and I have read a bit about this extreme right-wing take-over of the party.

            What I don’t understand is why so many on this forum – who are presumably quite good Americans, and understand the infield fly rule and much else – go along with it.

            Are they so far to the right that they really believe the Democrats should be kept from power by every illegal means possible? If so it’s shameful.

      • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:29 pm #

        Bill

        FFvCS was originally coined by Jon Stewart,back in 2013, in reply to a hugely childish twitter storm initiated by Drumpf himself, calling Stewart the usual list of ad hominems, ‘phony’, ‘loser’ and (of course) ‘overrated’.

        He also accused Stewart of not being ‘proud of his name’ (Liebowitz). John Oliver pointed out some years later that the “Trump’ name has been corrupted from Drumpf, the name of Himself’s grandfather, ironically a refugee from Germany.

        Personally, I think ‘FuckFace von ClownStick’ perfectly describes the guy. The fact that he wouldn’t be able to come up with anything so creative must REALLY piss him off….all he has been able to manage is ‘crooked Hillary’ and ‘crazy Joe’ Biden, and then deriding anyone else as a ‘loser’. What a Clown Stick, and what a Fuck’n Face…

    • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:29 pm #

      Note how he puts hatred of men in quotation marks – as if it isn’t real. It’s everywhere because of people like him have made it not only acceptable, but cool.

      He’s one of the few good White Men – and that feeling is simply too delicious to ever give up. He’s one of the “saved”. Yes, this whole thing is a religion.

      • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 1:43 am #

        He’s one of the few good White Men – and that feeling is simply too delicious to ever give up.

        The trouble is that all you good white men have tiny dicks … which is why every foxy white girl goes for the big black guys. I think I’ve just summed up your entire socio-political position.

        • Majella March 23, 2020 at 3:15 am #

          Nailed it, Cargill- the underlying anxiety at the very heart of Janos, screwed up pseudo-philosophy.

    • Daddyotis March 20, 2020 at 6:25 pm #

      Trump has gravitas. You do not. Simple, Simple.

      • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:36 pm #

        “Trump has gravitas”

        Right on! Here he is at his most grave!

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjZHDcKCA-I

        • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 10:41 pm #

          OMG I can’t take it! My head is gonna explode!

  15. Figaro March 20, 2020 at 10:38 am #

    If only Mr. Kunstler would decide once and for all whether or not he supports President Trump. His careening back and forth between
    damning the president with faint praise and condemning his opponents
    is enough to make his faithful readers (of which I am one) dizzy.

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    • Epicur March 20, 2020 at 10:51 am #

      Is it possible that Mr. Kunstler thinks there are more important things than taking sides in the complex playing out of human affairs?

      I think so.

      “A foolish consistency is a hobgoblin of little minds.”

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 10:59 am #

        Perhaps he has a stock market position and is worried?

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:04 am #

      If you know where bears shit I think you can figure out that Mr. Kunstler is pro-Trump. It would be one thing to seriously posit that America needs a Daddy but Trump is not my daddy and he never will be. Trump has done nothing to earn my respect and is a contemptible human being. As daddys go Trump is incestuous as Ivanka and everyone else knows. As daddys go there will be a bulge if you sit on Trump’s lap.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:05 am #

        Hope he wears pants.

      • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:24 am #

        One opinion, minority thank goodness.

        • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:48 am #

          Seconded.

        • CancelMyCard March 20, 2020 at 12:02 pm #

          A *minority* opinion??

          As I recall, a majority of American voters did NOT vote for Trump in 2016.

          What say ye to that?

          • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:09 pm #

            The thing is, I actually do not deal in opinion. I’m always fact based.

            https://forward.com/schmooze/357185/7-creepy-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-ivanka/

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 12:23 pm #

            Prove it. With undeniable concrete evidence.

          • cbeard March 20, 2020 at 7:28 pm #

            I say that I am constantly amazed at the genius of the founding fathers and the foresight of having the electoral college.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 1:33 am #

            NigIQwl – from his own lips, FFS!

            cheated – the EC was designed to stop electoral idiocy like 2016.

          • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 4:50 pm #

            Post the quote fully in context, Maj.

            You are pathetic.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:39 pm #

            NigIQwl:

            “Pathetic”? Your aspersions are losing their vigour. Better keep up the Vit D, Sonny Jim.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP7yf8-Lk80

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 8:43 pm #

            and…

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h8XzB6-m1s

          • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 3:50 am #

            I say that I am constantly amazed at the genius of the founding fathers and the foresight of having the electoral college.

            I say that I am constantly amazed by the stupidity of the founding fathers, and their lack of foresight in understanding how party politics might work.

            The Constitution is a totsl crock indeed – current events demonstrate how awful it really is.

    • Nik Charles March 20, 2020 at 11:57 am #

      I’m surprised you need Jim to be black and white.

    • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 11:59 am #

      What do you mean by “if”. He’s already changed “golem” to “gentleman” and gravitating towards “god” instead.

      The sensation of having admired JHK all these years shares a lot in common with having admired Lance Armstrong all those years.

      In the end both nice looking logs rotten with termites to the core.

      • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 12:32 pm #

        But JHK still has both his testicles (I’m assuming).

    • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 2:22 am #

      If only Mr. Kunstler would decide once and for all whether or not he supports President Trump.

      His careening back and forth between damning the president with faint praise and condemning his opponents is enough to make his faithful readers (of which I am one) dizzy.

      I agree entirely – I come here to find insightful analysis … but for the last x months all I am getting is pro Republican Party and conspiracy theory nut-fudge stuff.

      I’ll hang in for a while longer – but he really is going apeshit pro Trump – that’s for sure.

      • Majella March 23, 2020 at 3:30 am #

        I know what you mean, but it’s really NOT ‘pro-GOP’…rather it’s rabidly anti-DNC, with Himself & the Shit Show White House just getting a lazy pass.

        Being a long-time Democrat (I’m assuming card-carrying paid-up member) JHK’s disappointment with the DNCis visceral and deep. Perhaps he feels embarrassed at having been fooled for so long?

  16. DrTomSchmidt March 20, 2020 at 10:41 am #

    Trump actually looked Presidential yesterday. Since he had claimed credit for the grossly inflated stock market, I had figured the crash would mean his end. Instead, he has a perfect explanation for the crash, and can engage as a leader.

    One major thing yesterday: he mentioned that bailout dollars would be targeted to firms that had invested in productive capacity, not stock buybacks. Wow! I think That was an Elizabeth Warren talking point. If he is serious, he will win easily as he win drain away the Warren/Sanders crowd who’ve made that just critique of our system of managerial capitalism.

  17. Epicur March 20, 2020 at 10:48 am #

    “Hence, their nonstop underhanded attempts to get rid of him the past three years — which had all the earmarks of a neurotic adolescent rebellion.”

    If there is anything that typifies this neurotic rebellion it is the conduct of the MSM as the pandemic unfolds. The “hands off” attitude towards the Chinese government and its responsibility for the pandemic is disgusting.

    One can only understand this as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, one of the more base human impulses when taken to this extreme. To the MSM, Trump is the ultimate evil, and any and all measures to oppose him are justified, even if it involves ignoring obvious wrongs by the Chinese government.

  18. pdewolf March 20, 2020 at 10:54 am #

    Strength and Donald Trump?! James you have finally lost it.

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 10:58 am #

      He needs to Photoshop a red MAGA hat into his picture of the car being pulled by a …..jackass. I’ll agree, it looks like he caught the Biden virus.

  19. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 10:54 am #

    To that class of scribes, professors, assorted “creatives,” virtue signalers, and social justice seekers, even Tennessee Williams could not conjure up a more fearsome and detestable Big Daddy than Mr. Trump.

    Guilty as charged though the hatin of white men as SJW shit can go where the sun don’t shine. Fearsome really. Meeting a ‘creative’ in a dark alley Big Orange would find a mouse intimidating.

    The Biden stuff, we can skip that. I agree and the Biden smirk shows him to be Mini Orange Lite. But Trump as the conquering hero? Give me a break. Lets look at this. We know Trump can murder Arabs from the air so he has some military stench about him. The shapeless miasma is not without odor, but Mr. Trump by failing to act three weeks ago has condemned hundreds of thousands of Americans to death by Covid-19. His inaction means we have been following the exponential growth of Italy by a lag of ten days.

    The economy was more important than a few hundred thousand American lives to trump. Trump will have Osama beat for killing Americans but Osama is still ahead in the Arab kill. Think about it.

    Anyone who votes for Trump has rocks for brains and a heart of coal. Ignoring the incompetence is without excuse.

    • MC Hammerabi March 20, 2020 at 11:04 am #

      You must be insufferable in real life. I’ll vote for Trump and would bet I have more brains than you and a big heart that pumps blue blood.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:58 am #

        I’m please to see you only have insults. Thank you for making my day.

    • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:18 am #

      You may espouse your opinion all you want, you are not going to change one vote. Trump is showing true leadership, managing the efforts of a superlative team and making the hard decisions. That is what he will be remembered for. His reaction to the virus will eclipse all the stupidity of the Resistance for the last three years. Kdog, your thesis will just blow away.

      Like FDR, who showed the same thing. Through the Depression, and into WW2. He made decisions that adversely affected many people but ultimately led to the resolution of major problems.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:52 am #

        Quoth Trump: “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

        https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/trump-coronavirus-testing-128971

        Deflecting responsibility and pointing fingers — this is your idea of true leadership. I weep for the USA.

        • Tate March 20, 2020 at 2:58 pm #

          “We will always have Paris,” Trump will always be Trump, & Elrond will always ‘weep for the USA.’

          • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 10:41 am #

            Not necessarily. One way or another, one day Trump will be out of office. Then we can reassess.

          • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:34 pm #

            “Trump will always be Trump, & Elrond will always ‘weep for the USA.’”

            Elrond reminds me of a Tennessee Williams character…. probably one of the female ones who is “waiting for her gentleman caller” or some other melodramatic

        • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:32 pm #

          “I weep for the USA”

          ROFL

          A buddy in Saskatoon told me yesterday he saw ppl looting a store there

          I think you oughta be ‘weeping’ for the Socialist State of Ontario there buddy

          • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 7:51 pm #

            Not socialist enough to suit me, PeteAtomic.

            Ontario’s government is currently held by the conservative party, under the rulership of the brother of the late crackhead mayor of Toronto. The premier himself was a hashish dealer for several years back in the 1980s.

            Not smart of you to try to pick a fight about Canadian politics. The most ignorant Canadian knows more about it than most informed Americans.

          • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 8:07 pm #

            I don’t give a fuck about Canadian politics, Elrond

            just keep wiping off that tired, over abused keyboard of yours buddy, & avoid getting the Kungflu

            everything will be alright, ok?

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:37 pm #

        The higher ups finally stepped in to guide the Infant. Before that he was denying it was real and then switched to saying what a great job he was doing before he did much of anything.

    • Bytes March 20, 2020 at 11:50 am #

      What a blithering fool you are to blame Trump for supposedly condemning “hundreds of thousands” of Americans to death. Try again, comrade.

      Trump is handling this crisis as well as it can be. Your frothing at the mouth hatred of him is typical for a pointy headed partisan Biden loving idiot that you are.

      I really hope you aren’t an American, as so many of you TDS afflicted nutcases are.

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:55 am #

        No he is not. He failed to listen and heed expert advice. Being POTUS is not a reality TV show. This is real life and Trump is responsible for his inaction.

        • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:57 am #

          And sorry to disappoint. I am an American who unlike you cares about the health and sustainability of this nation.

        • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:59 am #

          That is a lie!

        • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:12 pm #

          You know you are going to piss me off if you say I lie.

          https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/02/trump-says-the-coronavirus-is-no-big-deal-the-disease-wont-stay-on-message/

          Eat it.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 12:25 pm #

            Mother Jones.

            L. O. L.

            Might as well cite Infowars for counterpoints.

          • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:32 pm #

            Omission of common sense is worse than a lie.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 1:44 am #

            NigIQwl – wanker. From his own lips:

            https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UuOatLZPwgI

            benr – eventually, if hit enough keys, you’ll write something comprehensible.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 1:49 am #

            NigIQwl – you really blew that one, you arrogant twit. Please- post a counter-argument to Himself’s own words. Ha.

          • benr March 22, 2020 at 10:21 am #

            You really are not near as smart as you believe you are.

            Slow down and read it again.
            YR NT SMRT.
            c YR MND S RLLY PWRFLL F U LT IT WRK.

          • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 4:52 pm #

            It is going to go away. That doesn’t mean we do nothing at all, and we have not.

            You utter retard.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 6:35 pm #

            NigIQwl:

            I asked “post a counter-argument to Himself’s own words”

            Well? Well?? Nothing?

            Himself: “There are 15 people, – 15 people out of billions (I guess he meant 330 million, but he makes the same mistake with his net worth) and they’re getting better – soon, they’re all gonna be better”

            At that point – Feb 27 – the cases were 60 (not 15 – danged cruise ships!). Now, 22 March, there are 38,757 & 400 deaths.

            Yes, it WILL ‘go away, like a miracle…’ but Himself talking utter shite in those early days was Canute-like self-delusion.

            More to the point, your dismissiveness towards Mother Jones is clearly a nasty little biased reflex, when the information in K-Dog’s post was clearly corroborated and accurate. Arrogant wanker.

            And you shouldn’t call benr an ‘utter retard’.

          • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 6:49 pm #

            No counter argument is needed, as his response was and remains appropriate.

            There are no reliable figures, as testing is poor and the issue politicized.

            Your political narrative spells (spoon fed to you by professional propagandists and regurgitated) have no power here.

            Your brain, it is jello.

          • Majella March 23, 2020 at 3:39 am #

            No, it is (like yours) the consistency of blancmange.

            https://www.academia.edu/10883256/The_Brain_Physical_Characteristics

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:43 pm #

          That didn’t happen. President Trump has done everything a president can and should do.
          Even Andrew Cuomo acknowledges that.
          Andrew probably wants to be sure to distance himself from the crazy leaders (Pelosi, Schumer) who tried to obstruct the president. I wouldn’t want that taint either.

          • Majella March 22, 2020 at 1:50 am #

            You’re in denial.

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:40 pm #

          Would Obama have kept it out? Or Hillary? I doubt it. Our whole way of life is crazed “openness”. Political Correctness is the shield of Capitalism and the Spear of Communism. And a shield can be used as an offensive weapon tool.

    • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 6:45 pm #

      Germany just cancelled flights from a hot spot in Iran about 2 days ago. I guess they failed to act.

      So many emotions, so little sense. Don’t let TDS destroy you.

    • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:30 pm #

      “Anyone who votes for Trump has rocks for brains and a heart of coal. Ignoring the incompetence is without excuse.”

      I voted for the fella in ’16 & if they plan on running this decrepit automaton Biden in ’20, then I’m certainly voting for Trump again….

      my brains are muskie guts & I got the heart of a wolf

      🙂 lol

  20. Doc Holliday March 20, 2020 at 10:57 am #

    Good Father / Big Daddy; I have watched each of the daily national press meetings, regarding ‘C’ (China or Corona) virus this week. Though Trump is not the greatest orator, his comments are far more focused than his rally speeches. Many do not like his delivery and his , occasion, rambling. I, however, am more concerned with his actions than his words and I commend most of his actions. He is, obviously, not a scientist nor a doctor, but he has surrounded himself with an “A Team”. A few of the press, beginning yesterday, attempted to hijack the meeting by asking childish (and ‘hurtful’ to mimic their phrasing) questions and accusations that calling the virus ‘chinese’ was an insult too large to bear. Give me a break. His team members especially Deborah Birx, is about as honest, transparent, and sincere as can be. What a great family doctor she would be! Anthonly Funci relays the facts and disables the spin. He refuses to answer questions about the timing of the end of the pandemic, as he should, who can know? No to pep rallies, yes to scientific facts. Stephan Hahn and Seema Verines, also, fall into this category. It is extraordinary refreshing to see this team to be apolitical and completely embracing Emperical Science. I have very much enjoyed these meetings. One bone to pick is at the bottom right of the screen on NBC and CBS (can’t get ABC on my ‘leaf’ antenna) is the site of the Dow Jones ‘meter’. It seems to, more or less, continue to go down during these meetings (but not after they are over). I find that just a damn bit coincidental. Who chose that graphic as compared to ‘newly infected, newly cured, and newly died’? Which is more relevent?

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    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:46 pm #

      That’ a good catch, Doc.
      I notice some in the media have trouble with those figures. I wouldn’t expect the number of infected to drop as the disease is fought.

    • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:48 pm #

      Yes the Left has zero dignity at all. Their pettty hatreds are everything to them. Just witness Elrond, Evelyn, and alas, Kdog.

      During the debates last time around, they played with Trump’s mic to muffle his voice. No fairness at all, just victory at whatever price.

      • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 3:28 pm #

        You did love your dog, you did.

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:29 pm #

          Every time I start loving him he shits on the rug.

          • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 7:14 am #

            What?!!! You made love to your dog on a rug and him bowels let loose. Jezzuss!! Did you do it doggie style? That might have been the problem.

      • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 7:11 am #

        Janos

        What the heck are you talking about here?! My hatreds aren’t petty.

        • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 7:54 pm #

          EvelynV, there’s no point trying to engage Eyesore McGee as though substance played a role for him. He’s completely toxic, and his toxicity can and will far outlast anyone’s patience.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 8:12 pm #

            So it’s all about how I make you feel, eh? Very telling. No wonder you won’t respond to me.

  21. JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:09 am #

    Dr. oz has called the HCQ + z-pack a potential game changer this AM. The study was released two days ago, and things are already winding up to get this proved out and into mass production.

    This is the solution, a way to kill the virus or disable it. Vaccines take too long.

    Two heroes, the French MDs that started the study and domestically, Trumps team who jumped on it.

    Quarantine may be over in a few weeks if the drug works.

    • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:17 am #

      Well, best advice I’ve seen so far concerning this pandemic came from a commentor who calls himself ‘Akfomo’ — abide by Old Testament lessons on personal hygiene, and eat a lot of oranges. Oranges are plentiful in our local grocery stores, bought a sh#tload of them. Strategy is working pretty good, everybody at the homestead feeling chipper.

      Brh

      • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 11:25 am #

        What a shame they don’t have oranges in Italy and Spain.

        Oh, wait…

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:30 am #

          Well, it’s working here.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 11:48 am #

            You’re not really a scientist, are you, brh? 🙂

            You remind me of an Italian colleague I had when I worked in France. She insisted some cream potion or other prevented stretch marks in pregnancy because she used it and didn’t get any stretch marks.

            I didn’t point out to her years later when I went back that I’d had two kids and didn’t have any stretch marks either, without using anything at all.

            But if you think you’ve cracked it, you should notify the WHO. They’re desperate for insights! Oranges. Who’d have thought it was that simple?

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 12:05 pm #

          Akfomo, for one. I still think it was good advice.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:15 pm #

            Eating oranges is always good advice.

            But it’s not going to stop Covid19 in its tracks. It will make some minute marginal difference to some individuals’ chances of getting a milder dose of it.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:51 pm #

            I just had one or two sections and I could feel the chi coursing thru my body, even down my legs as Chris Matthews did while listening to Obama.

            Oranges are packed with life energy whether you call it Chi, Prana, Vril, Huna, or Wakan.

            All fruit is good. Oranges are very good. BRH is right and Alba is wrong.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 2:07 pm #

            Wrong when I said “Eating oranges is always good advice.”?

            Colour me confused.

      • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 1:32 pm #

        Brh, I’m guessing the chipperness has to do with them knowing their problems will be over and the stench will be gone after your waiting period for the handgun is up.

        Heck, I’ve been a little more chipper about it myself lately. How many more days?

        The worrisome thing is I’m having difficulty imagining you aren’t going to fail the criteria.

      • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 1:42 pm #

        Brh,

        It’s not just what you eat and drink, it’s also what you don’t eat and drink. I would avoid animal products, especially dairy eggs seafood. Lamb and goat meat is the only meat I would eat, but stick to fruits and veggies. Avoid all man made products like veg oils, refined sugar/salt, vinegar, alcohol, breads, and chemicals. Keep the diet lean and low in fat. Olive oil is fruit oil, and is ok when used sparingly.

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 3:03 pm #

          More good advice, Akfomo.

        • elysianfield March 20, 2020 at 4:38 pm #

          Mofo,
          What about corndogs? Two of the basic food groups…three, if you eat the stick.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 5:08 pm #

            Sure, as long as you water them and give them some sun to grow.

    • Elrond Hubbard March 20, 2020 at 11:57 am #

      I would not rely on Dr. Mehmet Oz for medical advice or guidance, to say the least. He’s a media nitwit who promotes pseudo-science, homeopathy and similar quackery.

      • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:20 pm #

        why is he center stage? that area is for BIG PHARMA.

        • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 12:35 pm #

          Oz sure loves vaccines.

          • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 3:30 pm #

            bingo

    • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:22 pm #

      “Dr. oz has called the HCQ + z-pack a potential game changer this AM. The study was released two days ago, and things are already winding up to get this proved out and into mass production.”

      Medical/scientific opinion seems to be mixed and it would be very premature to latch on to this as a panacea at this stage.

      https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/927033

      I can’t read the whole article as I’m not a medic so can’t register, but the comments are available to read. Here’s one:

      Dr. Maurice Ramirez

      Beware the French study!!!!

      There are a number of problems with the draft document and associated data.

      There are three arms in this 36 patient pilot. Of the 16 controls, 38% of the data points are marked “n.d.” for “not done” i.e. MISSING.

      The hydrochloroquine arm of 14 patients shows a 53% raw recovery rate, but with so much control data missing this is at best interesting but not in anyway proof of success.

      The hydrochloroquine plus azithromycin arm is only 6 patients and while all 6 recovered, the number of patients is insufficient to draw any conclusion.

      More troubling is that the references include references to the Chinese trial registry but if one follows that link and then follows the Chinese links two more layers deep you discover that the data is not publically available and was only reported to the Chinese government in mid February 2020. The Chinese government audit reports indicate data will be shared sometime after May 2020.

      Certainly there is good theoretical basis for these treatments and encouraging in vitro data but hydrochloroquine is not without risk to significant portions of our population. More study is needed before anyone in government, academia or clinical care recommends the widespread use of these treatments.

      Not saying it won’t help, but people clutch at straws and it’s not fair to get their hopes up.

      • Ozymandius March 20, 2020 at 9:36 pm #

        “More study is needed before anyone in government, academia or clinical care recommends the widespread use of these treatments…….”

        Well, it’s already happening. And for the good Dr. Maurice Ramirez’s
        information, in such trying times observational studies and not double blind cross-over etc etc studies may be all we have to go on to start with. To see what the Belgians are recommending click on the link below.

        https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_InterimGuidelines_Treatment_ENG.pdf

        • Ozymandius March 20, 2020 at 9:43 pm #

          Simple statistical tests such as Fishers Exact Test for small numbers will give a quick and dirty answer regarding the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine when treating severe COVID 19

      • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 10:36 am #

        I’m grateful for the individuals around here such as GreenAlba who are prepared to deal with what actual science does and doesn’t say. Those interested might also want to read the following Twitter thread:

        https://twitter.com/GaetanBurgio/status/1241201751916568576

        Quick summary:

        – First, chloroquine (CQ) and hydrochloroquine (HCQ) are confirmed effective in reducing viral loads in the lab.
        – The widely publicized French study of HCQ + azithromycin was small (n = 42 and some dropped out). 14 patients received HCQ only and 6 received HCQ + Az.
        – A control group of 16 patients received no treatment. (Controls are needed to compare and ensure there is an actual effect from the drug.)
        – The big problem: most of the controls didn’t have their viral load properly measured — only 4 out of 16.

        Conclusion, the French study was overhyped compared to its value, which unfortunately is zero. Someone needs to do a better version of this experiment on a larger scale. And Beryl was correct that Doc Oz likes to jump on board hype trains on scant evidence.

        • Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 10:39 am #

          Addendum: The combination of HCQ + azithromycin was supposed to be the big winner, but 6 people are just too few to have any confidence in that conclusion. At that small a number, individual variations can and do swamp the effect you’re looking for and leave the impression you’ve seen an effect that isn’t there.

        • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 9:25 am #

          Thank you, Elrond. I just try not to get carried away by wishful thinking which is not justified by sufficient evidence. Which doesn’t mean I don’t engage in wishing, but I recognise it for what it is.

          Same with people staying Wuhan wet market + nearby lab = ‘too much of a coincidence’, without at the very least mapping all wet markets and nearby labs in the whole of China. I just don’t get how people are so easily satisfied by their pet theories which may or may not be true but until proven remain in the realm of wishful thinking or speculation.

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 9:29 am #

            Mapping wet markets without nearby labs and labs without nearby wet markets would also need to be mapped!

            And you STILL wouldn’t have anything more than circumstantial evidence.

            As Timothy Evans might have been the first to understand, had he not been hanged thanks to those too fond of their own reasoning.

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 9:30 am #

            Sorry first sentence got mangled!

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:50 pm #

      The trouble with Oz is that he often jumps on board these things on scant evidence. Maybe this is different, but he’s been known to pitch discredited supplements as cure-alls.

      Not that a cure isn’t to be hoped for. The virus is real, and dangerous to those who catch it, even if it’s overblown.

    • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 1:38 pm #

      JAZ,

      I posted about this solution the other day. 100% success rate. Just as good as a vaccine for all intent and purpose. We should get back to normal ASAP. When Trump and the MSM propaganda mafia agree, there’s something seriously wrong. I think Trump should call off all quarantine measures, mandate to open the borders and for all to get back to work. This hysteria is staged nonsense.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:54 pm #

        Open the borders? Why? Does Israel open the borders? Things are what they are because they’re not something else. To you, America is just an economic zone. To us it’s home. Try to have some empathy.

        • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 2:07 pm #

          I like your sense of humor, Lizard. I know you prefer that we all join you in your dark underground cavern, but prefer not to. This is staged nonsense, and most people in Israel treat it as such. Our gov mafia on the other hand, is playing along with the Vatican mafia. They always do and always did, so I’m not surprised.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 2:46 pm #

            but ^I^ prefer not to

      • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 2:36 pm #

        “100% success rate”

        See above at 12:22 pm. Unscientifically minded people should be wary of their understanding of scientific literature and processes.

        And adding a pile of gratuitous insults, as you did on the previous thread, won’t add to the reliability of your ‘case’.

        Apparently there are at least 400 million people worldwide for whom this drug would be contraindicated anyway because of an existing condition. You can read about that in the comments below the Medscape article (of which I can only access the first paragraph). I forget the condition.

        • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 2:56 pm #

          I didn’t read the scientific literature. I don’t intended to. This is all contrived bullshit. I just picked up my brother from the airport. He arrived from Koh Chang where he spent a month, and nobody cared to screen him at the airport for even basic temperature. The whole thing is a joke. FAKE NEWS.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 3:13 pm #

            Happy that you’re happy, Mr Mofo.

            “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.”

            JC

            No, not that one. The other one you don’t like.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 4:34 pm #

            I suppose woman are exempt since they leave the thinking to others.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 6:48 pm #

            The best part is seeing how everything major cities like NYC is closed — except the fucking metro/subway system.

            Because if there is one place you are safe, it is on the metro.

            Your spidey sense is correct, IMO.

            This is not about a virus.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:36 pm #

            “I suppose woman are exempt since they leave the thinking to others.”

            No demographic is exempt. But awareness of the phenonemon helps. And when you know that you believe things you’d rather not believe, you have an inkling that you may be just a little bit exempt. Evidence is still the way to go.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:36 pm #

            *phenomenon*

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:39 pm #

            “The best part is seeing how everything major cities like NYC is closed — except the fucking metro/subway system.”

            People still have to get to work, those who are manning essential services.

            Our buses are still running, but my sister in law tells me there are very few people on them so you can sit a long way from anyone.

            When my husband gets back to work, he’ll have to take the two buses he normally takes or walk a pretty long way if they’ve stopped by then.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 9:55 pm #

            Even if 10% of the population got the virus and say 10% of that were to die, then we are at 1968 flu epidemic levels where 3 million people died. They did not shut down the world economy for that. There is another agenda here.

            The gov mafia is testing the public for compliance to its authority and credibility, and the public is stupid and credulous to oblige.

  22. ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 11:09 am #

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/20/us/wipes-flush-toilet-pipes-wellness-trnd/index.html

    LOL. Predicted this would happen. Might be a good time to be a plumber. Whole lotta shit going out with the trash in the coming weeks I’ll bet.

    • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 11:23 am #

      This issue contributed hugely to the famous massive fatberg that had to be confronted in a London sewer a couple of years ago.

      What kind of moron takes a wipe they’ve used in the kitchen and puts it in the toilet?

      Words fail me.

      • PeteAtomic March 20, 2020 at 11:27 am #

        yuck!

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 11:36 am #

          There’s a bit of it in a museum somewhere, I believe!

          • PeteAtomic March 20, 2020 at 12:01 pm #

            thanks

            I’m getting back to my cinnamon raisin bagel now

            🙂 ha

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 8:34 pm #

            There you go, PeteA, now that you’ve finished your bagel.

            https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-44615693

            The bulk of the thing was chopped up and converted to biodiesel – what a job!

            Wet wipes act as some kind of binder, helping the thing to hold together and grow. But restaurants are guilty too, for disposing of fat and oil down drains.

            Yuk indeed.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 8:14 pm #

            The Fatberg is your God. You never stop thinking about it.

      • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:57 pm #

        They make wipes for the bathroom. I heard Rush Limbaugh complaining about that, he says there is an expensive brand marketed to athletes and so forth, as an ‘aspirational’ product.

        I also notice that older systems can’t handle the one-two punch of removing phosphates from dish detergent and the increase of flushable wipes instead of toilet paper.

        When environmental concerns run up against commercial interests, it always seems to be only the way of life of the average schmuck is affected. Those wipes will never be banned.

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 1:06 pm #

          I had one roll of wipes when my kids were babies and it never even got used up. Eventually they dried up and I threw them out.

          Never had ‘wipes’ in the house since, including now. I was brought up with ‘cloths’ and have continued in that mould ever since. You wash them, you soak them or do whatever you want with them but they never find their way into the plumbing. If ever there was a product that no-one actually needed, ‘wipes’ are it.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 1:07 pm #

            More or less. There will be statistically insignificant exceptions. 🙂

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 2:14 pm #

            What would be the statistically significant sample, Mrs Green?

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 2:30 pm #

            I don’t know, akmofo. If you want to design a study around it, you can figure it out yourself. People will know you’re serious because they’re won’t be a smiley at the end of the abstract.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 2:30 pm #

            *there*

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 2:43 pm #

            In other words, you can’t admit that you don’t know, but too lazy and incurious to even look it up on google. Sums you up, doesn’t it.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 2:57 pm #

            Don’t know what FFS? The comment has a smiley at the end of it. As in LIGHTHEARTED COMMENT.

            Get a grip. If you want to look into the vital necessity of wipes to human populations, deal with it yourself and sort out what you think would be statistically significant in the context.

            I know you’re smarting from not getting the salt water thing, but let it go.

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:52 pm #

      My trash didn’t go anywhere. The city sent workers home.

      • benr March 22, 2020 at 10:25 am #

        There Is the beginning of the end when the trash stops being picked up.
        Trash collectors might be some of the most important people and the most important service.

  23. JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:22 am #

    I have noticed that Andrew Cuomo has taken the same tack as Trump. Daily pressers, honesty, a focus point for the efforts behind them, very little politics, no overreactions.

    Both will be remembered favorably after this goes away.

    • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 11:22 am #

      This is what a Democrat should be!

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:28 am #

        I suggested to Jim a few weeks ago that Coumo might be the competent tough (and younger) Dem pol that could take on President Trump. Jim responded that Coumo is personally an unlikable and unpleasant man, implying those traits would probably doom him as a national candidate.

        • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:21 pm #

          thats how far that party has sunk–the best is someone who authorized the murder of live babies.
          And the dems cheers on.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:01 pm #

            That show you how desperately he wants the presidency. That he went ahead with that extremist and ghoulish (and totally redundant and unnecessary) law, just to grab some leftist bonafides when he thought the party was leaning that way.

            Andrew is also pretty lousy at governing in general. He’s always looking for new revenue, because he wastes millions on economic development schemes that only benefit cronies, some of whom are in prison.

          • Majella March 20, 2020 at 5:43 pm #

            So far, Beryl et al, he sounds overqualified to be POTUS.

    • PeteAtomic March 20, 2020 at 11:59 am #

      I agree

  24. Pucker March 20, 2020 at 11:36 am #

    I’m thinking of starting a greenhouse to grow vegetables. Any advice? Which is better: a traditional soil greenhouse or a hydroponics greenhouse?

    Thank you

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:44 am #

      I think you have to look at how much time each will suck out of you in a day to decide right.

    • Epicur March 20, 2020 at 11:50 am #

      What little knowledge I have is that hydroponics allow closer spacing, therefore more production for the space available, but require more investment of time and equipment. Plus, not all vegetables are suited for hydroponics.

      For a first-timer, I’d go with soil.

    • CancelMyCard March 20, 2020 at 12:21 pm #

      There are also a multitude of plant diseases which thrive in the warm, humid atmosphere of greenhouses.

      The best greenhouse systems I’ve seen sit on rail rollers, and can be pushed off the beds in the summer, and rolled back over them in Spring and Autumn. This removes the problem of intense heat in the Summer, and allows rain on the beds as normal.

    • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:23 pm #

      Hydroponics is for deep pockets. Ive done gardening.

      Start at you tube> Michigan Gardener. usually it takes 1-5 years to green your thumb. I had a pal who said it took him 20 years to get to where he had great tomatoes, every summer.

      Too bad Tripp Ticket doesnt blog at his site any more.

      • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 1:10 pm #

        “Hydroponics is for deep pockets. ”

        That’s a novel idea for a mini-nursery!

        • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:35 pm #

          No not really nor does it take up much space.
          You can do hydroponics on the cheap just takes a little red neck know how.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:10 am #

            That was a joke, benr.

            Deep pockets as a handy place to raise plants… 🙂

      • Pucker March 20, 2020 at 1:14 pm #

        Money is not really a problem. The greenhouse-on-wheels sounds interesting. The focus now is on production since we’re anticipating food shortages. Are there mineral nutrient solutions for hydroponics? I recall seeing a hydroponics system involving PVC pipes and solar panels on a street in Singapore.

        • CancelMyCard March 20, 2020 at 1:23 pm #

          There is a rather large industry catering to the hydroponics growers, fueled heavily by the cannabis sector. There is much information to be garnered through search engines and YouTube.

          My own personal experience with hydroponics led me to the conclusion that, at scale, it requires a larger time commitment than with outdoor/soil gardening, due to the steeper learning curve and associated systems tweaking.

          Best of luck, and please get back to us with your results.

          • Pucker March 20, 2020 at 1:27 pm #

            So if I go out and buy a lot of Hydroponics supplies, then people will assume that I’m growing Weed commercially and my name might get on a List?

          • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 3:33 pm #

            Puck, anything is possible. Folks have been busted for water and electrical overuse, ie they grow weed.

          • elysianfield March 20, 2020 at 4:51 pm #

            “then people will assume…”

            Puck,
            Yeah…”people”….

          • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm #

            Most people caught growing weed that way don’t get caught for power use as they wire around the meter,
            They get caught by FLIR and heat signatures then they get nailed with the felony of wiring around the meter.
            That felony is far worse then growing the weed now.

    • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 1:57 pm #

      The Robinson’s on Lost in Space used hydoponics. But weather on those planets can be tricky.

      • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 4:33 pm #

        If they revive the series I nominate creepy Adam Schiff to play creepy Doctor Smith. ’nuff said.

  25. Pucker March 20, 2020 at 11:42 am #

    Demonic possession….

    “ Literally hundreds of thousands of people in Philadelphia were falling ill. Virtually all of them, along with their friends and relatives, were terrified that, no matter how mild the symptoms seemed at first, within them moved an alien force, a seething, spreading infection, a live thing with a will that was taking over their bodies—and could be killing them. And those who moved about them feared—feared both for the victims and for themselves.”

    John M. Barry
    The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

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    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:48 am #

      “Many houses were then left desolate, all the people being carried away dead . . . and some that died last in several of those houses were left a little too long before they were fetched out to be buried; the reason of which was not, as some have written very untruly, that the living were not sufficient to bury the dead, but that the mortality was so great in the yard or alley that there was nobody left to give notice to the buriers or sextons that there were any dead bodies there to be buried. It was said, how true I know not, that some of those bodies were so much corrupted and so rotten that it was with difficulty they were carried”

      Daniel Defoe
      A Journal of the Plague Year

      • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:49 am #

        Janos, don’t let this happen!

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 2:02 pm #

          Ramakrishna described with what unspeakable tenderness Shiva takes each soul.

          The foul body? The quicker it decays the better. Burn them! Let us dance around the fire! Perhaps once festivities get going, I’ll dance in the flames.

          One has to be in the proper state to do such things. The body must be partially dematerialized by Ecstasy. Otherwise you’ll get hurt…..

  26. Nik Charles March 20, 2020 at 11:42 am #

    Looks clear to me the Democrats will offer a woman VP and that woman will soon be president.

    • Epicur March 20, 2020 at 11:51 am #

      That surely seems likely, but I would not count Trump out yet.

      “A week is a long time in politics.”

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:05 pm #

      I think they will have to go with a woman VP. I think they will have a white man first on the ticket, and I don’t think they will risk it being Biden in the general, because the general is harder to rig.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 2:03 pm #

        Goldman Sachs refuses to take Companies public if they don’t have one woman or minority on the board. Soon the quota will be increased no doubt. And then people deny we are being persecuted.

        • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 2:26 pm #

          What are the requirements to be on a board? Does it have to be a different woman on each board? I can be a minority, if necessary.

          • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 3:01 pm #

            Nice legs.

            Decent figure

            Breasts that won’t quit

          • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:33 pm #

            What are you? A Black woman with White hair from Kerala, India?

  27. BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 11:44 am #

    On a happier note sun’s declination at 0°N 13`. Spring has arrived!

    • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 1:16 pm #

      Frost is out of the ground and the earthworms were up three days ago . Right on schedule 8 days after the worm moon.

    • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 2:07 pm #

      So your researches have indicated the climate hasn’t changed in the last three hundred years and more? Interesting because what’s his name who has written on the Pilgrims and the Whalers, thought that Old New England had a much more severe climate than now, with Plymouth being like the coast of Maine.

      In any case, it was more severe than Southern England. Maybe the shock of the Pilgrims influenced him. They were not prepared obviously and suffered horrendously.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 2:16 pm #

        An early spring what can I say,

        It happens sometimes

        I’ll take it

        Brh

        • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 2:35 pm #

          Snow on Monday Marlin. The worms will be layin’ low like the humanoids. Not too much I hope or I’ll have to break the lockdown to head out for cleanup.

          • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 2:59 pm #

            Sh#t. I just put away the snow shovels, spiked the snowblower.

  28. xxzzy999 March 20, 2020 at 11:47 am #

    Bernie is despised by the Democrat Party. They tolerate him because he funnels votes into the Party. Bernie has ZERO CHANCE of getting the nomination… just as in 2016.

    Biden is UNELECTABLE. Too much baggage/corruption unfolding… Hunter’s involvement in Ukraine and China. Biden’s brother involved in Iraq construction projects. Biden’s deteriorating mental state are visible and very concerning. Biden would be a disaster running against President Trump, and the Democrats know this.

    Hillary will be the nominee and is the Democrat’s best candidate to run in 2020 (no matter how much the Republicans despise her… me included). She has enormous power in the party and has the people and money to launch by far the best campaign. Hillary received 95% of the Super Delegate’s vote in the 2016 Convention. The Super Delegates are the heart and soul of the Democrat Party, made up of all Democrat Senators, House members, Governors, ex-Presidents, etc… approx 775 delegates.

    She has learned from her mistakes in 2016… she has avoided running in the primaries, thus avoiding any negative press so far. She has been very visible lately with appearances on late night talk shows, podcasts, book tours, HULU biography launched last week during Super Tuesday, thus polishing her image before entering the race. Get ready for Trump vs. Hillary 2.0 my friends.

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 11:51 am #

      A head of lettuce running against Trump is electable. Which is actually a problem.

      • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 12:07 pm #

        We will see, in November. Are you going to join CNN and Rachel Maddox in a good cry when Trump wins, like 2016.

        • xxzzy999 March 21, 2020 at 10:03 am #

          MAGA! also MLCA! (make liberals cry again)

      • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 12:53 pm #

        Far too early to read the tea leaves, Dog. My sense is that Trump is doing very well in all this after his early gaffes. Biden’s senior moments do not bode well for his chances, even if he only holds the office ceremoniously and briefly. But more than any of that, I think there’s a WHOLE LOT more going on with this CV thing than we know about now. So it’s just damn near impossible to make predictions about anything as silly as a presidential election at this point.

        • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 2:48 pm #

          You are right! Call it hopeful thinking.

        • xxzzy999 March 24, 2020 at 11:57 am #

          … silly?

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:11 pm #

      Andrew wants the nomination.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 2:42 pm #

        BoO

        The Dems have to have a plan If 80 yo Biden collapses while campaigning in the Texas heat later on in the year, say, August, 105°F, in Dallas, 100% humidity and not a breath of fresh air available for 250 miles working the crowd of curious Mexicans and Bernie Sandals stragglers, trying to win them over. Sweating like a dog, greasy tacos roiling his stomach, can’t breath, can’t breath! All goes dark!

        That’s when DNC chief Tom Perez places the call to Albany.

        • Majella March 20, 2020 at 5:47 pm #

          You’re assuming the Covid19 drama will be over by August? Wishful thinking, I’m guessing.

          • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 7:04 pm #

            You’ve said something correct! Where I work (an elite global firm that has been successfuly integrated into the Purple Revolution) they are setting up for very long term telecommuting.

            Our cushy salaries and benefits aren’t going anywhere, which I suspect is the case for most organizations and folks privately or not so privately cheering the virus’ spread.

            The media-based fear porn is scheduled to continue well into 2020. But we could see that coming a mile away.

            Kill that economy and influence that election. Screw those who will suffer heavily, because the Orange Man won’t stop fighting the Open Society plantation.

        • xxzzy999 March 24, 2020 at 11:59 am #

          You care correct… except the DNC won’t wait until Biden collapses. They aren’t that stupid.

    • hmuller March 20, 2020 at 4:56 pm #

      Does old uncle Joe know about this plan? Is he scheduled for a fatal stroke at or just before the convention?

      • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 6:15 pm #

        You’ll have to check with Hillary for an answer to that question.

  29. fugeguy March 20, 2020 at 11:52 am #

    “America’s hard time: weakness and their own death, by suicide”

    So far dead on. All I’ve seen from my fellow citizens in this crisis is weakness, stupidity and false bravo f u c k it mentality. In the press conferences one must credit Trump for not b i t c h slapping a couple of these reporters. I’d have thrown the Kung Flu broad out and made sure she never got back in. The luxury of virtue signalling is over kiddies and papa’s boot is coming for your azz if you dare to disagree.

    On a brighter note there has been a lot of friends, family and neighbors helping each other and sharing stuff, doing the shopping, etc in y locale. We may get through this despite the government and national media 😉

    • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:09 pm #

      I was just in a local supermarket, they seem to have told their overworked employees to be extra nice. A cashier came to the front and waved me into her empty lane.
      I stopped at a co-op on my way home, because the market was out of an item I wanted. This co-op has been in the local news lately because they are financially stressed. First thing I noticed on my way in, a young girl was coughing all over.
      This was not in a poor neighborhood, quite the contrary. THe customers tend to be somewhat ‘upscale’.
      After finding what I needed, I headed for the register, only to have the cashier set one of those bars that go betwwen orders down, and tell me I had to stand behind it, and wait for the woman at the end to leave. “Social distance” you see. What a maroon.
      Hope they go under.

      • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 1:07 pm #

        6:00~8:00 AM has now been unofficially designated as “Geezer Hours” locally. The old birds settle on the local supermarket like a plague of locusts, leaving the stock utterly depleted until the poor stockers can catch their breaths and get it all built up again for the second wave a few hours later. The old bastards can be quite surly as well, my stocker friends tell me. If this goes on for awhile I can imagine assigned shopping times and store occupancy limits. They’ve evidently already implemented that last one at store opening time, letting the teeming throngs through the doors in 25 shopper increments, spaced out by a few minutes per wave.

        • fugeguy March 20, 2020 at 1:23 pm #

          Yea 97% of the population is trying to go from 7 days food at home to 6 months. Gonna take some time. Hope these folks understand shelf life?

          But golly people have to have enough TP by now you’d think.

  30. Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 12:10 pm #

    Just got a call, Cuomo shut down non-essential businesses.

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    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:15 pm #

      duh

  31. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:16 pm #

    “The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, ‘doing business.'”

    “You must picture the consternation of our little town, hitherto so tranquil, and now, out of the blue, shaken to its core, like a quite healthy man who all of a sudden feels his temperature shoot up and the blood seething like wildfire in his veins.”

    Albert Camus, “The Plague”

  32. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:19 pm #

    “He knew quite well that it was plague and, needless to say, he also knew that, were this to be officially admitted, the authorities would be compelled to take very drastic steps. This was, of course, the explanation of his colleagues’ reluctance to face the facts.”

    Albert Camus, “The Plague”

  33. Soloview March 20, 2020 at 12:22 pm #

    There are only a few things I am sure of more than that Joe Biden is a more palatable Big Daddy figure than Donald J. to at least one half of the country. I agree with Jim that he is senile-strength incompetent and an arch-corrupt Washington weasel but unlike Jim I don’t think these things will matter to most voters in the fall. During his first term in office, Reagan said many idiotic things, mixed up life memories with his movie roles, had Nancy or cue cards prompt him when he was lost for words, and all but undid the regulatory systems and taxation that kept the U.S. decent and its economy manageable. And yet, he was re-elected even after a disastrous first debate with Mondale, in which he easily matched blanks by Sleepy Joe. But somehow Ronald managed to talk coherently while shuffling his feet, in the second debate. He campaigned, smiling and waving, occasionally delivering some really stupid joke, like when he at the height of the campaign announced he signed a bill to outlaw the “Evil Empire”. And yet he was the Big Daddy who made everyone with money feel good about America. In the end, they were the ones that mattered. The thing is that under Reagan and the second Bush, a manifestly incompetent president is actually a boon for powerful cliques around him, for a cackle of smart boys and girls who will do what is good for the Big Money in the U.S., China and places elsewhere, just like it has been done since Ronald Reagan. Trump is no exception, all his tweeting twaddle all the same. This should be self-evident to anyone who knows the name of Arthur Laffer and that Trump considered him the economics thinker most deserving the presidential Medal of Freedom. So, as we go through the sad saga of a pandemic that has crippled the world economy before it materialized as a lethal scourge, it should be clear that all bets are off concerning the November election shenanigans. It actually looks better for Biden because if the stocks do not recover substantially by fall, which looks improbable, the Trump fairy-tale of unprecedented prosperity for working Americans will have gone faster than this week’s toilet paper off the shelves. There was a great line in a silly Mel Gibson flick called “The Edge of Darkness”. It was delivered by a corrupt cop called “Whitehouse” (kid you not): “It never is what it is, it’s always what it can me made to look like”. Biden as a Big Daddy is no problem to arrange at all.

    • Tate March 20, 2020 at 3:39 pm #

      It may be Biden’s to lose, & he just may pull it off (lose). If anybody can do it, he can. How ironic if Trump ends up unifying the country. Problem is, nobody can unify this mess. Trump doesn’t have the killer instinct. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, then he watched as his older brother drank himself to death. He never expected to take the family reins. Life was always a game to him. He played it well but he was never going “to do whatever it takes,” as Richard Crenna said playing Edmund Walker in the brilliant 80s film noir “Body Heat.”

  34. malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:25 pm #

    Can anyone confirm this–

    It also may be a coincidence that the primary US bioweapons lab, Ft. Detrick, was shut down in summer 2019 over fears that weaponized pathogens might escape.
    It may be a coincidence that absurdly under-performing US military athletes came to Wuhan for the World Military Games in October and have since been accused by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs of being the source of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    It may be a coincidence that at the same time those “athletes” were in Wuhan, the World Economic Forum, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and other Establishment titans were hosting a pandemic simulation called Event 201.

    It may be purely coincidental that the virus appeared in Wuhan, home of China’s biggest biodefense laboratory, and China’s biggest transportation hub, just in time for the Chinese New Year, when most Chinese travel to visit relatives.

    Likewise, it could be coincidental that the real-life Covid-19 pandemic almost perfectly mimics Lockstep, the Rockefeller Foundation’s recipe for a global police state emerging on the back of a coronavirus-style pandemic.

    Then again, it could be that the Chinese government’s suspicions about the US, or others’ suspicions about Israel (especially regarding the coronavirus catastrophe in Iran) are justified.
    But such possibilities are far outside of the mainstream media’s Overton Window. The whole topic of bioweapons in relation to coronavirus is an MSM no-go zone, just as the evidence and arguments refuting the official story was a no-go zone after 9/11.

    The very fact that such things are unspeakable in the Mockingbird media suggests that yet another nefarious propaganda operation is underway

    • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 12:58 pm #

      Where’d you pick this up? I was reading similar stuff all day yesterday. There’s much more out there too.

      • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:11 pm #

        The MSM is pushing Communist China’s propaganda for them.

        • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 2:40 pm #

          Yeah, right. Quite the opposite.

        • Nightowl March 20, 2020 at 7:06 pm #

          China is now homebase for many of the Open Society elites and their associated business enterprises.

  35. malthuss March 20, 2020 at 12:29 pm #

    Eating oranges is always good advice.–not for everyone.

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    • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 12:56 pm #

      Too acidic. And off the charts in fruit sugar.

      • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 1:01 pm #

        You aren’t not required to eat five of them every day, ellipsis. Or even one every day. As part of a balanced diet they’re way better than a bottle of fizzy goo.

        • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 2:52 pm #

          Nope. No fizzy goo either. False dichotomy.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 3:04 pm #

            It’s not a dichotomy for me – I eat what I like and I prefer vegetables to fruit, although I do eat fruit.

            If we could get all kids to quit fizzy goo and eat an orange every day, that would be a massive benefit compared to the current situation.

            You can work on getting them to eat spinach, kale and turnip in Stage 2.

      • Epicur March 20, 2020 at 1:20 pm #

        Greens (turnip, spinach, collards, kale, etc.) are quite high in vitamin C. The important thing is that the half life is very short, like 1/2 hour, so you want to graze on small quantities throughout the day.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 2:56 pm #

        What about the Vitamen C? That’s good for you, isn’t it. OJ is like liquid sunshine.

    • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 12:57 pm #

      I suspect, then, that those for whom it is contraindicated will be aware of the contraindication.

      Just like my other half knows not to eat prawns or clams if he wants his head to stay roughly the same size. And not die.

      • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:14 pm #

        That reminds me. I have been hearing “take acetaminophen, not ibuprofen” for the coronavirus. I don’t know what the reason is.

        • Epicur March 20, 2020 at 1:17 pm #

          French Doctors are saying that ibuprofen burdens the kidneys as does corona virus, therefore one should not combine.

          Pretty speculative, but I certainly would not take ibuprofen if I had corona symptoms.

          • Beryl of Oyl March 20, 2020 at 1:42 pm #

            It’s interesting the way different countries that practice Western medicine, have different aspects they emphasize.
            I read a book by a woman who was misdiagnosed for her breast cancer in France. Back in the USA, doctors treated her for it, but told her there was nothing they could do for a side effect of her treatment, a burning and tingling in her hands.
            When she went back to France, doctors gave her some “vitamins” for that, and it went away.

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 1:35 pm #

          Yes, they’re saying that here. Take paracetamol. NSAIDs generally that are contra-indicated.

          But people who have been prescribed Ibuprofen for other conditions should apparently continue taking it.

          https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/51929628

          Sorry, it’s the BBC – first one that came up!

          • stelmosfire March 20, 2020 at 6:20 pm #

            ” Take paracetamol” On this side of the pond we call it acetaminophen. I saw that term ” paracetamol” and did not have a clue what it was.

          • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 7:27 pm #

            Likewise with your version, StE!

  36. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:35 pm #

    https://youtu.be/RKpjOOGSwx8

    K-Dog “There Is No Exit Plan. It Is Like a Spark in a Powderkeg.”

    • K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 12:58 pm #

      Please give me a thumb. Up or down.

  37. rexl March 20, 2020 at 12:59 pm #

    I am not “replying” to anyone. But I must say, to all black potential candidates, “You are not Obama.”

  38. JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 2:01 pm #

    Just finished Living in the Long Emergency. Very different than the first two. The biographies put a real feel on the prognostications. “Now what-“ was very effective.

    JHK, my first reaction was how your predictions have accelerated with the virus and it might be time for an addendum already. It is incredible how fast things are changing.

  39. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 2:07 pm #

    “To some, the sermon simply brought home the fact that they had been sentenced, for an unknown crime, to an indeterminate period of punishment. And while a good many people adapted themselves to confinement and carried on their humdrum lives as before, there were others who rebelled and whose one idea now was to break loose from the prison-house.”

    Albert Camus ‘The Plague’

  40. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 2:13 pm #

    “He knew that the tale he had to tell could not be one of final victory. It could be only the record of what had to be done, and what assuredly would have to be done again in the never-ending fight against terror and its relentless onslaughts.”

    Albert Camus ‘The Plague’

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    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 1:35 am #

      Dog,
      To hell with final victory…what happened to the old gent who would go out on his balcony and spit at the cat?

  41. Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 2:39 pm #

    https://www.thelocal.dk/20200313/denmark-passes-far-reaching-emergency-coronavirus-law

    Forced quarantine and testing is one thing – but forced vaccination is another. Seems like another 9/11 shaping up, with a huge increase in Government power in the offing.

    Remember, if you accept the chip, you will not see God.

    The only publication in English (the lingua franca of Western Civ) that is reporting this. Thank Anglin for his tireless service.

    • ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 2:50 pm #

      Yep! There it is.

    • Tate March 20, 2020 at 3:09 pm #

      Forcing vaccination?! This is indeed madness. It goes beyond even ‘Reefer Madness,’ which is one of the most subtle & powerful madnesses there is.

      I will never allow myself or my loved ones to be vaccinated against our wills. They will have to drag us away blindfolded, gagged & in handcuffs first.

      I have begun to agree with the Zman, who is standing against the mania of the multitudes. Let’s steepen the curve, bitches.

      • Tate March 20, 2020 at 4:23 pm #

        This is in accord with Bastiat’s ‘broken window’ fallacy. By allowing the economy to atrophy, we may actually be costing lives, not saving them.

    • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 3:52 pm #

      “Forced quarantine and testing is one thing – but forced vaccination is another.”

      So why are you mentioning forced vaccination when it’s not in the law and there isn’t even a vaccine?

      • Tate March 20, 2020 at 3:55 pm #

        Article mentions the law includes forced vaccination (when a vaccine is developed).

        • GreenAlba March 20, 2020 at 4:05 pm #

          OK, thanks – didn’t read that far. Mea culpa.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm #

            Ah, that’s telling indeed. Just reads enough to bash. You are not forgiven thus you will be called, The Unforgiven.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 12:12 pm #

            You’re welcome, GA. And things were going along so well, Janos. But then this morning she replied very harshly to me in a thread above. I’m going to have to remember never to use the expression “Content Development Specialist,” which she claims is an American invention. It does sound bureaucratese which is associated throughout the world these days as characteristically American, but the British had an official empire, which we never did, and the Brits do speak approximately the same language we do. She also said that she would never want to meet me personally, but I never proposed anything of the sort, what an outlandish idea.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 8:25 pm #

            Quit with the disingenuous pretend innocence, Tate. I have replied to it elsewhere. You are as dishonest as Janos.

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 4:29 pm #

            I’m going to have to remember never to use the expression “Content Development Specialist”.

            That would be good, Tate, and would add to your credibility as an adult.

            I have no wish to bore you or anyone else with details of what a CDS/Development Editor is expected to do with text, references, illustrations and video footage submitted for a book on, for example, inflammatory bowel disease.

            But if your lurid imagination can dream up anything sinister that might be included in the job processes, please give details or give it a feckin’ rest till the end of time.

            FYI, the inclusion of the word ‘content’ in that and related job titles resulted from the expansion of an editor’s remit to include online digital material in addition to physical books.

            See how un-sinister life can be when you don’t let your febrile paranoia run away with you?

  42. JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 2:45 pm #

    On a much lighter note,

    Did anyone else balance an egg on end yesterday? It worked for us.

  43. ellipsis March 20, 2020 at 2:48 pm #

    The NFL’s New Orleans Saints’ head coach Sean Payton has reportedly been diagnosed with CV. He “wasn’t feeling well” over the weekend, so he just popped in for a quick test, and sure enough! In spite of the fact that he still isn’t exhibiting the two hallmark symptoms of the virus, high fever and labored breathing, which means he never should have qualified for testing – assuming it was even available – in the first place! Nope, resting comfortably at home now, just wanted everyone else to know that this shit’s damn serious, and we should all just do as we’re told.

    One word (compound): BULLSHIT!!! Two words: FUCKING BULLSHIT!!!

    • tucsonspur March 20, 2020 at 5:14 pm #

      When asked about elites getting tested quickly, Trump essentially responded, ‘that’s life’.

  44. Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 2:49 pm #

    Mr Kunstler describes the adolescent childishness of Trump’s detractors and Elrond and Evelyn chime right into to illustrate the same.

    Thanks kids!

    • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 5:48 pm #

      Jezzuss Janos,

      Anytime children are mentioned you perk right up!

  45. snagglepuss March 20, 2020 at 2:59 pm #

    “You can call that a lot of things, but one of them has got to be: strength.” JHK

    He isn’t my President, but as an observer of the american political scene I totally agree with that comment. I think the USA is lucky to have him. I would vote for him if I were american.
    It’s true he lacks some of the finesse commonly associated with the office, though I prefer that to the glib rehearsed responses of some of his predecessors. You can agree or disagree with his position on issues or the manner in which he presents them, but there is no question he has taken more abuse than any other President. By the media, the democratic opposition, even some in his own party. He’s a bit of a street fighter, though. Very tough. I have to admire him for it. He didn’t need to run for President. Seemed to have a pretty full life without it. Raised a more or less level headed family which one seldom sees with that kind of money. Doesn’t smoke or drink. So what if he likes hamburgers. I do too. I’ve crossed a few other lines in the past as well, but most people I know have as well if they would admit it. The amount of time and money wasted on the ridiculous ‘Russian Escapades’ was unbelievable. Sometimes Jim asks “Has America lost its shit”? It sure as hell did on that issue.
    I wonder what would happen if for just one brief shining little moment the country got behind their President? Try to work through disagreements. But just once try to unite as a country. That could be the path back to greatness. Trump has accomplished a lot given the number of blows raining down on him, many dirty, dirty underhanded ones.
    I like him. Go orange man. Your nation needs you, even if they can’t see it.

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  46. Tate March 20, 2020 at 4:01 pm #

    Janos,

    Someone calling themselves ‘abbybwood’ made a puerile attempt to deflect from a comment I made above. Can you put on your special goggles & give me a heads up as to whether this individual is one of Them? Thanks.

    • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 9:58 pm #

      here

      “Italy lost 410,000 people in 1918 to Spanish Flu. I’d be surprised if they get even half that now.” — Dr Tom Schmidt

      You can’t call it Spanish Flu anymore, Dr. Tom. The (((Gatekeepers))) at Wikipedia are working overtime (see discussion box at top of article) to get the name changed to “1918 influenza pandemic”. In fact, by the time you click the link, you may be directed to the desired title. See, that un-PC (as of four days ago) title doesn’t fit the agenda anymore. Hence down the Memory hole. (It’s all about power or as they say, “Who/Whom?”)
      Reply

      abbybwood March 20, 2020 at 3:36 pm #

      I didn’t realize the 1968 “Noro-virus” originated in Norwalk, Ohio! A mere 17 miles from my hometown!

      Norwalk virus! Norwalk virus! Norwalk virus!!!!

      • malthuss March 20, 2020 at 9:59 pm #

        Can KDog find out where Abby posts from?

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:44 pm #

          What was the name of that woman who used to post from Appalachia? Was it Abby? She was a teacher who hated the local Whites with a passion, but was fine with the Blacks. She had moved to live there and hate these people. Yes, Tribe.

          She used to joust with Q. Very smart. He knows his grammar by what sounds right. She could explain why it was like that. Old school, grew up diagramming sentences, etc. I did a bit of that, but it’s pretty much forgotten now. I go by “ear” as Q does. Most of my mistakes are typos, though you guys probably don’t buy that cuz it would get in the way of your pleasure at correcting me.

          • Q. Shtik March 20, 2020 at 11:10 pm #

            Was it Abby? – Janos

            ===============

            I seem to recall the name “AbbysBooks”, I think.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:10 am #

            Thanks. That rings a bell.

      • Nightowl March 21, 2020 at 4:46 am #

        Wikipedia is such a joke.

    • Tate March 21, 2020 at 11:55 am #

      By Them of course I mean the movie “Them.”

  47. tucsonspur March 20, 2020 at 4:35 pm #

    You’re always outdoing yourself ,Jim. Great stuff, great take on Biden.

    Spring is in the air and so is Death. Go out for your eggs, you’re on your last legs. Go out for your bread and you’re stone cold dead.

    I’ll give you that. Trump strong like bull. But he could have done better on this one, and no, I’m not going to repeat the many examples out there that indicate this is true. But like Obama would say, ‘make no mistake’. My vote is still for the Grand Gadfly of Gotham.

    No, Trump isn’t a ‘Reservoir Dog’, but he is Mr. Orange. Is Trump Lawrence Tierney? No, but I wish he was.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj43p_qMTgs

  48. wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 4:38 pm #

    I am saying we don’t know yet what his mettle will show in this crisis, and where it might take us. One thing for sure: he’s been subjected to more political abuse than any character on-the-scene in my lifetime

    I would say Obama suffered more abuse. No one is questioning where Trump was born. No one is demanding Trump produce a long form birth certificate to prove he is American. No one is calling Trump a Muslim, or a Marxist. Trumps bows to dictators, takes Putin’s word over American intelligence agencies, and no one is calling Trump an apologist. Obama brought us out of a Bush recession. Trump is taking us into an economic Depression greater than 1929.

    We do know what his mettle is in this crisis. He denies all responsibility. He claims he is the victim. He talks incessantly in superlatives about how great he is. He has failed the leadership test. Trump is to blame for the humanitarian and economic disaster Americans are suffering. This is a fact which cannot be denied.

    Here are the facts:

    Trump had the advantage of seeing how Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and others prepared for the coronavirus and took proactive measures to prevent its spread, Trump did nothing.

    Trump dismantled the White House task force responsible for pandemic responses.

    Trump sat on his hands while the death toll escalated in other countries.

    Trump called the virus a “hoax.” 

    Trump repeatedly claimed it would “miraculously” go away on its own.

    Trump downplayed the intensity of the virus by comparing it to the seasonal flu.

    Trump insisted for months that the situation was “totally under control” saying it was only a few cases soon to go to zero.

    Trump failed to procure ventilators, personal protection equipment, or even basic diagnostic tests.

    Trump is a weak leader. Now the United States faces a domestic crisis unseen since the Great Depression. The markets know this and have reacted to Trump’s piss poor “briefings” in which he attacks the press and attacks reporters personally, even if they ask soft ball questions like: “What would you like to say to Americans?”

    The situation we are in is the result of a weak President’s political malpractice, not biological bad luck, and certainly not the press. Trump is his own political enemy.

    • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 4:50 pm #

      Congratulations, Little Jane!

      You’re the first CFN poster to get rated on the Hate-O-Meter scale!

      A little weak and repetitive, Hate-O-Meter awards you a score of: 5.

      You can do better, I know you can, Little Jane.

      You’re ahead, but rest assured Evelyn and Cargill are cooking up hate as I type this. Yo have your work cut out for you.

      Brh

      • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 4:55 pm #

        Who is Little Jane? I have searched the archives and there is no one who posts with that handle.

        ALEXANDER: “What do you say to Americans who are scared?”

        TRUMP: “I say that you are a terrible reporter. That’s what I say.”

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 5:06 pm #

          Weak! WEAK!

          Nonetheless, Hate-O-Meter rates you a 2.

          The points are picking up Asoka.

          Brh

          • Majella March 21, 2020 at 3:49 am #

            Truth = Hate, Marlin? Take your lips off Himself’s anus.

      • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 5:50 pm #

        Which brings up this question:

        Is it MAGA time yet?

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 7:15 pm #

          Nice

          A gratuitous shot, out of nowhere, unrelated to anything.

          Evelyn, the Hate-O-Meter rates that comment at a 4.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 7:52 pm #

            Why can’t you just answer the question.

            And, the other question. How much longer is the waiting period for you?

            If they turn you down I have .22 rifle I could loan you.

          • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 8:43 pm #

            Evelyn no waiting period for me; I have a permit.

            Also, .22s aplenty around here, hold on to yours.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 10:24 pm #

            Why don’t you come and borrow it anyhow? I know a good place we can meet up in the woods.

          • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm #

            BRH – maybe half the states allow bypassing the waiting period if you own a permit.

            So I guess there is only a fifty percent chance you are lying.

            Besides a continual state of confusion, what other state are you in?

          • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:42 pm #

            “EvelynV
            March 20, 2020 at 10:24 pm #

            Why don’t you come and borrow it anyhow? I know a good place we can meet up in the woods.”

            Seriously?
            That really does smack of going to far.
            Knock it off if this was my site you would get a week ban for that comment.

          • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 12:06 am #

            Thanks benr, I needed that,

            BRH hopefully knows how much I enjoy his presence here.

            You only tease the ones you love.

          • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 9:34 am #

            Yeah, no worries, Evelyn,

            Sometime the rhetoric here upsets overheated,

            It just makes this place more interesting.

            Brh

          • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 9:35 am #

            That’s “gets overheated”

    • tucsonspur March 20, 2020 at 5:07 pm #

      You’re only partly right here, wpa. Obama never had to fend off a ferocious, fabricated coup attempt. If this had happened to him, he’d probably still be hiding in some Kenyan mud hut.

      • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 5:13 pm #

        If said hut utilizes passive solar adobe construction, he could do worse.

        • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 7:31 pm #

          Asoka, you told us you lived in an Adobe hut one time remember?

  49. wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 5:11 pm #

    In just one month Trump has wiped out all of his vaunted years of DJIA gains.

    To equal Obama’s performance Trump will need close to a Dow of 50,000.

    Personally, I don’t think that will happen before he is removed from office by the citizens on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

  50. akmofo March 20, 2020 at 5:19 pm #

    “There was something certainly supernatural about his ascent in the recent cluster of primaries, as if some gang of someones worked strenuously behind the scenes to make it happen.” — JHK
    ==

    Some may even call it conspiracy.
    I prefer to call it for what it is: Mafia.

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    • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 6:56 pm #

      Where is Biden, incidentally? Past 5 or 6 days haven’t heard much from him.

      • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 7:43 pm #

        #whereisjoe

    • EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 7:58 pm #

      Bernie made a strategic error.

      He should have privately met with the big shots in the DNC.

      He should have laid down some terms and made them understand in no uncertain language.

      STAY NEUTRAL IN THE PRIMARIES.

      If any attempt was made secretly or privately to steer the primary against him,

      he would run as a 3rd party candidate.

      If the primaries are fair and square with regard to DNC’s involvement,
      he would support whoever runs.

      • BackRowHeckler March 20, 2020 at 8:52 pm #

        Problem is, Breadline Bernie is not a Democrat and not a party member. Why should the DNC deal with him at all? The Dems tolerated him for awhile, but that’s over. Next thing you’ll hear about Breadline is he’ll be running for association president at some retirement home in Rutland, Vt. It has to be tough for you lefties … you lose every time — it makes you bitter — and all that’s left is hate, as we see on this site,

        Hence, the Hate-O-Meter

        Brh

        • benr March 20, 2020 at 10:43 pm #

          You forgot to mention some of them straight up stole his platform and gave him nary a nod while doing it.

        • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:47 pm #

          Imagine how much BRH hates “Bernie Sandals”. There’s two kinds of men: those who wear sandals and those who don’t. Guess which kind BRH is? Kdog wears sandals too….

  51. Jigplate March 20, 2020 at 5:20 pm #

    I’m happy to be out of NYC, all of those”urban youth” running wild, with no high school day care centers to keep them busy, it’s going to be a long hot summer in fun city!

  52. tucsonspur March 20, 2020 at 5:37 pm #

    Trump will rally America by going out to help treat infected people wearing only golf shorts and an Arnold Palmer top.

  53. K-Dog March 20, 2020 at 5:37 pm #

    Trump looks into the mirror and smiles.

    Chinese flu woo-hoo, finally I am a war time president Bernie can’t touch me now..

    https://youtu.be/oz6rG3PsuyA“>

    • PeteAtomic March 20, 2020 at 10:55 pm #

      The Dems have gone balls deep into Joe Biden.. and what do they got?

      well look at the last couple days.. where the fuck is Joe? The guy has disappeared.. you’d think that he would be a strident voice out there right now in the middle of this pandemic.. but the guy has literally vanished.. he had some kinda bizarre “virtual town hall” that was just a bunch of platitudes.. Dementia Joe was shuffling around talking on his cell phone.. I just don’t know how the DNC sees a path to victory with this guy..

      • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 12:00 am #

        Maybe Joe has been exposed to the Asoka virus too.

  54. Tate March 20, 2020 at 5:40 pm #

    Tulsi Gabbard dropped out & endorsed Biden. What’s the angle she’s playing? Cabinet post?

    • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 5:51 pm #

      Secretary of Defense

    • Nightowl March 21, 2020 at 4:50 am #

      And there it is. I told you she was a fake. Just like Sanders before her. They stand for nothing.

      • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:57 pm #

        She’s starting her own brand of luggage. “It’s a Tulsi Gabbard,” she said smugly.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 9:21 pm #

      For a pound of flesh. But it does not matter. The nation needs health care so it is time for Bernie to tell the Democratic Party to stick it where the sun don’t shine and get elected as an independent. It will be like catching fish in a barrel.

  55. knuclebuster March 20, 2020 at 6:37 pm #

    Monty Python “Bring Out You Dead”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU0d8kpybVg

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  56. wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 7:32 pm #

    GDP GROWTH

    UP +5.5% … Obama Q2 2014

    DOWN -24.0% … Trump Q2 2020

  57. akmofo March 20, 2020 at 9:57 pm #

    Even if 10% of the population got the virus and say 10% of that were to die, then we are at 1968 flu epidemic levels where 3 million people died. They did not shut down the world economy for that. There is another agenda here.

    The gov mafia is testing the public for compliance to its authority and credibility, and the public is stupid and credulous to oblige.

    • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 10:10 pm #

      It is eerie. Who is benefitting from what is going on here? It really seems like a huge overreaction by everyone. What is everyone so afraid of? Better question, why are people not as afraid of the flu as the Corona virus? Why don’t we shut down everything during the flu season max? What are we not being told about the effects of the coronavirus?

      Is this an attempt by the Deep State to take over control of the country, or at least the health care part? Is Trump’s seeming slowness to react his reluctance to knuckle under to the Deep State? His group and he have been disagreeing a lot in the last couple of days. Has he got another Deep State group trying to take over through another channel?

      Why the big reaction now?

      • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 10:27 pm #

        Why the big reaction now?
        ==

        It’s not only an overreaction, but it is a completely inept reaction. Viruses can live in water. Once the water supply is infected, well then, that’s it. You will get infected. All it takes is one infected person peeing in the toilet, and whole country will get infected.

        The idiocy of this whole nonsense is just staggering.

        • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 10:36 pm #

          The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection, such as those in most municipal drinking water systems, should remove or inactivate the virus that causes COVID-19.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 10:39 pm #

            Nope. Conventional water treatment methods only work partially. You will always have a low grade infection.

          • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 10:44 pm #

            You will always have a low grade infection.

            Great!

            Building up herd immunity is the most effective way to stem Covid-19.

          • akmofo March 20, 2020 at 11:00 pm #

            There’s no such thing as herd immunity. There’s no such thing as a herd. That’s all 19th century applied “Darwinian” nonsense. I say Darwinian, because that’s really where this idiocy all ultimately originates. You’re like your cousin Alba, cycling propaganda nonsense without even giving it a thought.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:29 am #

            There is no such thing as an individual in an ordinary economic, social, political, or psychological sense. As the Ancient Greeks observed, A man alone is either an animal or a god. And human animals far outnumber human gods.

            In a more Monotheistic framework: the Church would only let mature monks become hermits or solitaries. Men who had fulfilled the social discipline and who were obedient to their superiors. Men who were ready to be alone with the Alone in other words.

            The Syrian Monk, Simon Stylites wanted to stand on top of a pillar as his form of asceticism. The Church ordered him to come down. Because he did so willingly and without resentment, they let him go back up again.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:15 am #

            “There’s no such thing as herd immunity. ”

            Yes there is. It’s how we protect vulnerable children, in particular, from measles when they have a pre-existing condition that makes vaccination contraindicated for them.

            If enough (the vast bulk) are vaccinated, those vulnerable children (e.g. those undergoing cancer treatment which suppresses their immune system) don’t risk exposure to the extent they do among irresponsible dipstick anti-vaxxer communities.

            Such as the anti-science ultra-orthodox from your country who brought the infection to New York.

          • akmofo March 21, 2020 at 9:21 am #

            You are a pathetic troll, Mrs Green.

            Define a herd when people eat foods and drink liquids shipped from all over the world, when they have a million and one different diets and recipes thereof, when they are all of different genetic varieties, when there is constant travel to a million and one different points on earth, when there is constant mixing of new potentially infectious materials from all over the globe, including new genetic varieties of persons and animals.

            Now according to your idiotic theory, the “anti-science ultra-orthodox” community should be hardest hit. Where are your statistics on this? Where are your statistics that the “anti-science ultra-orthodox” has been hit at all? I certainly haven’t seen this Israel. In fact, just this minute I checked the map showing the towns supposedly affected by the current virus, and none of them are inhabited by said community. So where is your evidence?

            Where are those statistics in regards to any virus or ANY pathogenic exposure EVER affecting the “anti-science ultra-orthodox” in New York, or anywhere else?

            This is such bullshit, that there isn’t even anecdotal evidence for any of this nonsense. But what there is plenty of anecdotal evidence for, and I know of 2 serious injuries personally, is that people likely in their millions are getting injured and are even dying from exposure to vaccines, and that there is a deep coverup and silencing of said injuries and deaths by the gov mafia the media the medical establishment and the companies involved.

            You are bullshit artist, Mrs Green, and an extremely vacuous one at that. You have the most superficial kindergarden understanding of anything, and the minute someone challenges you, you come up empty. Go and do your own research, you scream.

            Now, show me the statistics!

            Of-course, you won’t, because you can’t, because per usual your conventional knowledge is based on empty propaganda which you are too stupid too lazy and too propagandized to challenge.

          • akmofo March 21, 2020 at 9:36 am #

            Btw, Mrs Green, don’t think I haven’t noticed your outrageous blood libel: The “ultra orthodox” infected New York. Your repulsive shallowness and complete lack of character reveals itself to be limitless. Pathetic.

          • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 7:31 pm #

            Mr Mofo

            I have tried to remain polite, despite your desperate insults, but you are an ignorant fool on whom I do not wish to waste any more of my valuable time.

            https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/11/9/18068036/measles-new-york-orthodox-jewish-community-vaccines

            i didn’t comment on the orthodox community regarding Covod19 – as you may have noticed there is no vaccine for them to refuse.

            Now get thee behind me, fool.

          • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 12:08 am #

            Honestly, I am really starting to think you are retarded.

            So what happened to the infected kids? Anyone die? Anyone suffer any injury of any kind? I’ll tell you happened, NOTHING happened! I got the measles when I was 12, and a week later it was gone. The rash came and went and that was it. I don’t even remember feeling sick in any way when it happened. This is what we’re supposed to endure permanent liver and brain damage for because of multiple vaccine heavy metal poisonings?!

            Retards like you need to be locked up in an institution. You are too damn stupid to function in a free society. You’ve been vaxxed!

          • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 2:09 am #

            i didn’t comment on the orthodox community regarding Covod19 – as you may have noticed there is no vaccine for them to refuse.
            ==

            Yeah you did comment on the orthodox community, you retard liar. You asserted that they infected NYC with the corona virus brought over from Israel. Israel keeps a detailed map of the corona cases down to the street level of where these people are. I checked, and there are only 3 cases in the whole country where the orthodox live and they are all in old Jerusalem. An area which is a highly mixed area and touristy area. So I’m not even sure the 3 cases are Jews or even locals.

            Second thing, you ignorant idiot, you implied that vaccinated persons cannot be carriers for viruses. Well, I have news for you. Vaccinated or not, you are always a carrier of viruses, they are just made dormant by a healthy immune system, that’s all! And immunization happens naturally, regardless of the nonsense of vaccination! To blame unvaccinated persons for the possible ills of persons with a suppressed immune system, is not only idiotic, it is an outright outrageous and disgusting blood libel.

            You and your doctor husband are a complete embarrassment. You are both senile if you hold such views.

          • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 8:53 am #

            I’m still waiting for the statistics. Where are the statistics that the “Orthodox” community has been affected or hit in any way as result of exposure? Where are the numbers of deaths or injuries as a result of exposure to ANY pathogen at any time and at any place? Where is your evidence that they have been hit in any way?

            Where is the evidence, Mrs Green? Where are your facts, Mrs Green?!

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 9:02 am #

            The post and the linked article were about MEASLES, moron.

            And the point was about anti-vaxxers, who have caused deaths from measles to soar worldwide wherever their ignorant braying is listened to.

            I do not intend to engage with you any further, Mofo The Ignorant. You are not only ignorant of science, but you have the most ignorant manners on this board.

            A nasty little shit, in other words.

          • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 9:39 am #

            The conversation was about the corona virus. Your statement implied it was brought to NYC by the “orthodox” from Israel. There was no mention of the measles prior to and on the specific post you made that disgusting accusation.

            You are a disgusting slimy liar.

            And your link was supposed to show how that community was affected by not being vaccinated. But you are a complete idiot dolt and your article just proved the opposite, that no one was affected. Natural immunity took over and no one was injured as a result of the exposure to the measles.

            Again, you are a disgusting slimy liar and a complete idiot senile dolt!

          • GreenAlba March 22, 2020 at 3:44 pm #

            GreenAlba

            March 21, 2020 at 7:15 am #

            There’s no such thing as herd immunity. ”

            “Yes there is. It’s how we protect vulnerable children, in particular, from measles when they have a pre-existing condition that makes vaccination contraindicated for them.

            Note the rest of this post continues to refer to measles vaccination as an illustration of herd immunity. NO MENTION WAS MADE TO COVID19 IN THIS POST.].

            If enough (the vast bulk) are vaccinated, those vulnerable children (e.g. those undergoing cancer treatment which suppresses their immune system) don’t risk exposure to the extent they do among irresponsible dipstick anti-vaxxer communities.

            Such as the anti-science ultra-orthodox from your country who brought the infection to New York.”

            You are a sick and nasty individual. Please stay a barge pole’s distance from my posts. I do not wish even that level of toxic infection. Thank you.

        • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 10:41 pm #

          That is the mystery! The flu is not paid much attention to because there is nothing that can cure it, a vaccine sorta exists for it, and it is just “a fact of life”. It is not worth bothering with, and the world just keeps spinning as society just ignores it.

          Why should we shut down everything for a very comparable situation? There better be a really good reason here. Conspiracy ideas are going to really start up when the shock dies down. Is there an agenda going on, are the Elite pulling a power play? I guess time will tell.

          • Majella March 21, 2020 at 4:00 am #

            No, the ‘standard’ influenza is not paid much attention to because it’s death rate is minuscule compared to Covid19. It also is not as infectious.

          • Nightowl March 21, 2020 at 4:56 am #

            Based on actual stats it is a flu. The fear porn is snowballing however, and idiots are doing what idiots do.

            To be fair, however, something like this isn’t that hard to pull off with controlled media. And the media today is controlled on a global level.

            Nothing has demonstrated this better than 3.5 years of Orange Man Bad. German news, for example, pushes out the exact same talking points as US MSM sources, the only difference is that the delivery is adjusted as needed.

      • Majella March 21, 2020 at 3:57 am #

        ‘Is this an attempt by the deep state to take over control of the country?’

        Huh? JohnAZ – from all you’ve written before, I was led to understand that the deep state ALREADY controls the US, and has for some time. Please clarify your position?

        • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:45 am #

          In process, in process.

          We would be much further down the road if HRC had won.

          We would be much, much further down the road if Bernie had gotten in there.

          It is interesting to see the interplay of the Fed group and the governors. Amendment ten in action. However, this shows a weakness in this case. We need national unity in the required actions to stem the viral tide. It is not happening, only three states have gotten draconian to steal Janos’ word.

          I heard an MD this morning saying that isolation needs to be total. He had been in China in January and related that their isolation efforts had turned the corner.

          Then I hear Trump say that total isolation is not needed. There is definitely a schism occurring at top levels. As long as people do not 100% isolate, this will expand.

          As I have said, there is something eerie going on here.

  58. wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 10:21 pm #

    Republican “stimulus” plan

    “a single person who had little or no income tax liability last year gets a one-time payment of $600” Such a generous response to a pandemic!

    Woo-hoo! A whole one-time payment of $600. How will that stimulate the economy? Won’t even pay one month’s rent in lock down.

    The average monthly rent for an apartment in the United States is $1,471 U.S. dollars

    • JohnAZ March 20, 2020 at 10:45 pm #

      Per the prior discussion, why do we need a subsidy at all?

      Arizona has 75 cases, no deaths. Better than the flu! I hope the mystery is solved. What would happen if we just opened the doors. Why is Italy having the problems it is having? There are just not a lot of answers forthcoming.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 20, 2020 at 10:55 pm #

        Maybe there are more and less lethal strains, either naturally occurring or released.

        Best get draconian and knock it down quickly. China reported no new cases yesterday. Get draconian and save the economy. If we dither, we will suffer terribly in the long run. But will we get our rights back? We better be ready to demand them and make it a campaign issue.

        • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:21 am #

          We live in interesting times and I’m finding I agree with you so much recently I have scared myself.

          • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:33 am #

            ” I have scared myself.”

            Dog,
            Is that a typo? “scarred?”

        • Tate March 21, 2020 at 12:34 pm #

          Then there are those who say we should do nothing & let itself burn out in one steep peak of infectivity, even if hundreds of thousands are turned away from treatment. They say that the damage is going to be much greater to life & material prosperity by allowing the economy to grind to a halt.

          I say that it doesn’t matter at this point what we do. Even if we could all go back to business as usual on Monday with no danger of infection, there has been an irreparable injury inflicted to the public psyche which cannot be undone for perhaps a couple of generations. People are going to change their behavior in important ways. The age of mindless consumerism is over.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 12:48 pm #

            And you may respond, the Spanish flu was followed by the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties. Why won’t prosperity return just as quickly this time?

            It won’t be the same because today everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt. That’s for starters, individuals, businesses, & governments all swimming in debt. Also, we’re in a different part of the generational cycle (Strauss & Howe), thus a completely different demographic profile. Also, death was taken more casually then. People expected to die even in the prime of life. People lived life fully & there wasn’t this preoccupation with dying as there is today. Religion still had a prominent place in people’s lives. They relied more on their religion to see them through hard times.

            You godless generation, repent of your sins. Accept the risen Christ! His blessed balm will heal all your wounds.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:44 pm #

            Yes, Poe was wrong. There IS balm in Gilead.

      • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 11:27 pm #

        why do we need a subsidy at all?

        Should money just all go one direction, toward the government? Or if the flow reverses, say to save an industry, should bailouts only go to multinational corporations? What about the 140 million people are poor or low wealth?

        What good does it do to bailout the auto industry or aerospace industry if most people don’t have any money to buy a car or buy an air ticket or pay rent? Subsidies stabilize the economy.

        Give subsidies to those who have the least income, not to those with $55,000 incomes (an average individual income in the USA is around $55,000). That will enable the low income to participate in the economy. In any case the money goes back to the haves from the have-nots.

        • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:58 am #

          Yes, a UBI would rapidly be re-absorbed by an increase in rents and a rise in prices. Better if people who get free money have to be certified bozos of some kind.

          • Q. Shtik March 21, 2020 at 5:32 pm #

            have to be certified bozos of some kind. – K-Dog

            ============

            Sew a scarlet letter B on their shirt.

        • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:37 am #

          “why do we need a subsidy at all?”

          wpa.

          Well, some of us need revolvers…good Smith and Wessons, not that Crap that Colt makes.

          BRH has been window shopping…my bet is he is looking at a model 57, maybe even cased.

      • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:45 am #

        John seriously, a math lesson. There is a subtle thing about the exponential function. Understanding the exponential function as an acceleration is one thing but a lot of playing with it shows that it sort of always looks the same if you look at it through a zoom lens.

        That has to be as clear as mud but it explains that unless circumstances change the American infection rate matches the Italian rate by a lag of 10 days. Understanding this pattern I realized the WA state numbers tracked the numbers in the rest of the USA closely. I think they are deviating because WA state has been doing things to control the virus longer than the rest of the country and there are demographic reasons but I’ll check the map now.

        Deaths WA 83 and the rest of the nation has 177. It has separated more. I noticed the deviation yesterday and it grew but it had tracked pretty well for days. The reason is the doubling time of the infection is essentially constant region to region.

        The point is the infection in any area should reflect the same rate of rise once an infection becomes noticed. The difference is time when an infection is noticed. Every area was seeded at a different time but time since first infection gives an overall infection number with reasonable confidence.

        There is a definite time lag between when the infection is first noticed in an area and the first death occurrence in the area. The numbers always start out looking good.

        It seems convenient to pretend there are no answers forthcoming, and this is not on you. Rather the feeling you express reflects an atmosphere of despair. The truth is, all this stuff is known by epidemiologists who have run very sophisticated computer models with which to direct tuned in politicians.

        • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:48 am #

          So if someone sent Trump a brain all those of us who also have one would like it very much.

        • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:49 am #

          Good analysis. The geometric progression has a top limit, when the vast majority has had the disease and immunity kicks in, the bug runs out of candidates. That is what probably will happen.

      • Majella March 21, 2020 at 4:02 am #

        Come back in 4 days, or eight, and update us all, JohnAZ

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 3:00 am #

      So tell them if they don’t double down you are going to revolt. Then tell me how that goes down after you are done.

      • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:47 am #

        Ha, I hear you. Not much we can do but bitch! I am on isolation along with my wife. That is all I can personally do. Except maybe converse on this blog.

  59. EvelynV March 20, 2020 at 10:50 pm #

    OK, big news. A member of Pence’s staff has the black plague.

    But don’t worry kiddies, that person didn’t have contact with big cheese or little cheese.

    Wait! What about the rest of the story you lazy f&cking journalist wanks?!

    Did the infected person have contact with any other people who then had contact with the big boys? After how many degrees of separation do you run off and type up your pathetically inadequate news report?

    Hope lives on.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:20 am #

      So you are saying the staff member is no hero then. Hope lives on.

  60. snagglepuss March 20, 2020 at 11:18 pm #

    Grow up.

    ‘Perhaps our most significant conclusion is that mitigation is unlikely to be feasible without emergency surge capacity limits of the UK and US healthcare systems being exceeded many times over. In the most effective mitigation strategy examined, which leads to a single, relatively short epidemic (case isolation, household quarantine and social distancing of the elderly), the surge limits for both general ward and ICU beds would be exceeded by at least 8-fold under the more optimistic scenario for critical care requirements that we examined. In addition, even if all patients were able to be treated, we predict there would still be in the order of 250,000 deaths in GB, and 1.1-1.2 million in the US. ‘

    Support this blog on PatreonSupport this blog on Substack
    Support this blog via Patreon or Substack
    • wpa_ccc March 20, 2020 at 11:30 pm #

      “Grow up.”

      Coronavirus affects children less than elderly.

      Do not grow up. Let your inner child out.

  61. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:13 am #

    Globalism is the Disease, by John Young

    Over 300,000 Chinese nationals were enrolled in U.S. colleges in the Fall of this school year. Last year, the number of newly added H-1B workers was 199,000, of whom half were from India and approximately 20,000 were from China. During the month preceding the administration’s half-hearted “travel ban,” over 100,000 people entered the United States from the environs of Wuhan.

    Now, we have churches closing to avoid spreading the Sars-2 virus. We have people being laid off left and right. Malls are shutting down. We have extended family who can’t see each other, businesses folding, untold thousands in quarantine and hospitals expecting to run out of critical supplies in mere days. The price of oil, which is what actually supports the American dollar, is plunging through the floor because demand for gas is low among people “sheltering in place.”

    Today out of curiosity, I looked at a box of masks I had purchased at a brick-and-mortar retailer about a year ago. Like 90% of our antibiotics, they were made in China. We have businesses, including biotechs whose work might be critical, shutting down entire sections due to a lack of raw materials because they aren’t made in this country. We have the national guard deployed near major cities in preparation for expected disorder.

    The price of globalism has, of course, been with us all along, it just hasn’t been as obvious to the average city dweller who works in a high rise office shuffling papers. But the reality is our manufacturing capacity for all manner of things ranging from nitrile gloves and masks to antibiotics and even the resistors required in nearly every electronic circuit have been outsourced to countries who, right now, aren’t shipping.

    But long before it reached this point, globalism was the logical extension of the Ponzi scheme of our centralized banking system – a Federal Reserve that is neither Federal (as in part of our government) nor a Reserve. Our Federal Reserve system has two features that made globalism inevitable. The first is that it is predicated on constant growth, which means once growth opportunity was exhausted within the United States it required growth without limits throughout the world. The second is that it induces price inflation both through injection of money and through the use of leverage.

    As a result, wages even for professionals outside the “financial sector” have been flat for 30 years, and wages for everyone else have literally fallen to such a degree that the lifestyle that could once be afforded by one person now requires two people working non-stop. Well-qualified college graduates who should be starting families are living at home with their parents because their wages can’t match the cost of living.

    But it is worse than even that. With globalism and constant offshoring and competition from foreign labor even within our borders, people have been increasingly economically insecure, with most just two paychecks from bankruptcy or eviction.

    And this is why, with many governors declaring states of emergency, they have issued orders prohibiting evictions or turning off the electricity for non-payment. People are so close to the edge that they are in danger of homelessness within two weeks of being laid off. That, also, is a product of globalism.

    While globalism has granted a handful of people unbelievable wealth, it has come at the expense of creating an America where most cannot even feed themselves if they miss a paycheck.

    With the Covid-19 illness, the fact America has been turned into a skeleton has been laid bare. In order for hospitals to have key supplies, they are coming from stockpiles on military bases, and even then it will not be enough. Because we have no domestic manufacturing capacity for these items. Domestic manufacture is limited to only the most expensive and specialized of items. Anything that doesn’t net windfall profits is made on the other side of an ocean.

    If you weren’t fortunate enough to buy bleach or toilet paper just before the panic hit, good luck finding it. If you ordered some masks online so you can avoid infecting loved ones if you get sick, good luck because if you find them at all, they are coming from China. Slowly.

    So what is the alternative to globalism? Nationalism.

    The problem with nationalism is not, as its detractors claim, that it has any number of moral deficiencies. Rather, the problem with nationalism is that it prioritizes the well-being of the people of the country rather than a tiny minority who parasitically suck the nation dry.

    The time when America gained its greatest strength and influence throughout the world, as Pat Buchanan has thoroughly and repeatedly documented, was also the time when we vigorously protected our domestic industries and our workers through tariffs and sometimes outright import prohibitions.

    Once we stopped doing that, we increasingly replaced the real wealth of this country with a pyramid of increasingly Byzantine paperwork derivatives and a fake consumer-driven service and throwaway economy based on imports. This can chug along for a long time, but if something goes just a wee bit awry, the results we are now seeing become unavoidable.

    Nationalism does not mean that foreign nationals can never come to America. It simply means that they come as tourists or collaborators in limited numbers, and return home when they are done. It means that foreign nationals don’t crowd out our native population for top educational opportunities. It means they don’t get brought in to depress our wages. And they don’t come here by the hundreds of thousands … potentially spreading a virus.

    Nationalism does not mean that you could never buy an imported product. But it means that we would retain the ability to do our own manufacturing of anything of importance, and that the people employed here doing that would be paid enough to raise a family.

    We are living in an extraordinary time, a time we will remember as a turning point. And I will address the opportunities this gives us later.

    But for now, let me just leave you with this: Covid-19 is merely a symptom. Globalism is the true disease, and Nationalism is the cure.

    JS: Akmo says we need to reopen out borders immediately. Why? Why does he care so much? What’s in it for him? Could he be one of this small selfish group that Mr Young mentions – or related to them somehow?

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:18 am #

      Janos, fascinating. I really enjoyed it until it got to Nationalism. Then I still liked it but the taste was tainted with the realization that the analysis had been hijacked to foster a self-serving agenda. What had been shaping up to be a subtly shaded portrait by a great master digressed into a cartoon rendition using only a smattering of colors.

      I did make it all the way through. You had better give me that.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 3:03 am #

        Explain please – if you can. You are against open borders but against the Nation?

        You are for communities only? What is their guarantor? Or Who? Striders and the Rangers protected Bree and the Shire – even thought were despised as just dirty weirdos or “just rangers”. But after he was unveiled and on the eve of his coronation, Barliman said to Aragorn, This is all very well, but we want to be left alone. Aragorn replied, “You will be”. These are some of the most beautiful words in a very beautiful book full of such words. They are quintessentially Anglo-Saxon. The individual is part of something greater, but his individuality is preserved. The Community is part of something bigger (it must be), but it is to be valued and preserved in itself as well. Or do you believe Hillary’s villages to be anything but a localization of the Feds or better yet in their book, World Control a la Mustapha Mond?

        Orcs come in many forms. As do degraded men. Both serve the Dark Lord as do Trolls, Balrogs, Dark Elves, Greedy Dwarves, etc. In earlier Ages, even the Elves of Light were seduced by Sauron when he could still assume a beautiful form. Perhaps this is what is happening to you, eh? Look down: are you wearing sandals perhaps? Are your feet hairy? Did you comb them today? But as a human, you’re not supposed to have hairy feet. What is going on with you? How can you be against America, your Nation and the only Home you will ever have? The real America that is, not the imitation.

      • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 7:18 am #

        Not following either, K-Dog. Janos has been known to rant from time to time, sure, but this post is well reasoned and quite moderate by any standard.

        • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 11:02 am #

          Let the chow bark.

      • Tate March 21, 2020 at 1:08 pm #

        Nationalism is just an “ism.” Obviously, you have something in mind objectionable about it, but what? America has been on a self-destructive course these last 60 years.

  62. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:23 am #

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-scale-back-arrests-illegal-123521205.html

    Well that answers that question. The Mexican border is to remain open. Open borders trumps national security and national health. The Globalists remain firmly in charge. They control Trump or he is one of them. Simple as that.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:06 am #

      There you go falling for the bait and switch again. The Panopticon arrived long ago but circumstances needed to align before proper introductions could be made. Now it is time to smile.

      • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 3:06 am #

        America is on the rocks and you are worrying about Mexicans. How fucking crazy is that?

        Your crashed your supertanker and you are the last man aboard. The Captain of beached ship.

  63. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:52 am #

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/fauci-tempers-trumps-optimism-on-chloroquine-use-for-coronavirus-181035811.html

    Who is right here? Trump is. The People need hope. The drug is not poisonous and if it can help why not? Let the very sick sign waivers or something so they or their families can’t sue. And of course, their choice as to whether they want to try or not.

    We’re in the Crisis. We don’t have time for tests – even fast tracked ones. Treating the seriously ill will be the Test, for those who agree to it.

    A parallel: Once during the Vietnam war, a pilot came back with a bullet hole in one of his wings. He was supposed to go out again later that day for more bombing but his plane was compromised. So he took out his sidearm and put a bullet thru the other wing in exactly the same place to “even it out”. His superiors agreed and he went out on the scheduled run.

    He got a medal for so shooting his plane – which he would have been court martialed for if he had done it in any other context or at any other time.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 2:02 am #

      If Trump was the captain of a supertanker at least we know he would not put it on the rocks. He does not drink.

      • capt spaulding March 21, 2020 at 8:58 am #

        If I remember rightly, Hitler didn’t drink either. He was also a vegetarian. He only had one bad habit. Killing Jews, but I guess nobody’s perfect.

        • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 11:04 am #

          Canard. He did not ‘just kill Jews’–he killed all kinds.
          Its the Jews that want your canard believed.

        • Tate March 21, 2020 at 1:11 pm #

          He identified them with the communists & he hated communists.

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:49 pm #

          He was a dog lover. Couldn’t be that bad.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 5:58 pm #

            Indeed. He loved all animals, that’s why he was a vegetarian. He explained his choice once to the German people and then let it lay. He knew that centuries or ages would have to pass before the average person would attain his evolutionary level. But he would have guided Germany and the West in general to make it easier and quicker. He was going to try and force the average German to give up his beer and sausage. But he would raise up a Pure Elite to stand as an example of something higher to stand before them as exemplars.

          • hmuller March 21, 2020 at 7:06 pm #

            They say Martin Luther loved his beer and sausages and consequently could never stop farting. A better role model for Germans in my opinion.

    • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 7:00 am #

      Janos

      Hope is the greatest falsifier of the truth.

      However, since I’m understanding that you are willing to try anything on hope alone I have it on good word that if you swallow a whole tablespoon of horseradish after swishing it around in your mouth for at least one minute, your concerns about coronavirus will go away.

      I haven’t tried it yet because I am hardcore social distance but let us know how it works for you.

      • benr March 21, 2020 at 10:17 am #

        That sounds like fun I will give it try.

      • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:48 pm #

        Hope and the lottery are the opiate of the masses.

  64. toktomi March 21, 2020 at 3:44 am #

    I wuz just thinkun. What would give with a world that had more government officials than there were people to govern?

    Do ya suppose all those errand boys that get all the dirty work done and have enough grade to qualify for an exit visa believe that they’re getting out of this with their dental fillings intact?

    So, I didn’t read any of y’all’s comments. Martian landscape. Anybody startin’ to figure out what the end of the world is going to look like? Here we go, ladies and gentlebeggers.

    ~toktomi~

  65. tucsonspur March 21, 2020 at 4:05 am #

    Skiing the Covid crud:

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexicos-wealthiest-residents-went-colorado-001235027.html

    “What would happen if the epidemic hit marginalized communities on the outskirts of Mexico City, where some lack running water and many live several to a room and wouldn’t have the space to self-quarantine? What would happen if it hit a rural village in Oaxaca, hours from the nearest hospital?

    Until today, coronavirus in Mexico has been a problem for the elites,” wrote journalist Luis Manuel Arellano on Twitter. “Most infected people have financial solvency and good income. When we enter [the next phase], the epidemic will be something else — widespread and massive.”

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    • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 7:14 am #

      The poorest of the poor will grin and bear it with humility and patience like they always do. Likewise, the elite will pay them no mind whatsoever in their hour of suffering just like they always do.

      • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 11:05 am #

        Grin? some will die. I think its man made. Not from bat soup.

        • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 11:49 am #

          What about the people living on the streets of LA, Malthus.

          Are those pavement encampments still there?

          Those people are already unwell, for the most part. I’ve read all kinds of infectious diseases extant in that homeless population.

          What can be done, if anything?

          And why has the city let that situation fester for so long?

          Brh

          • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 1:43 pm #

            BRH – what is the solution for it?

            The sociopath in me says people living in blue tarps fouling the landscape and piling up feces, trash, and drug paraphernalia all around their sites should be awarded prolonged vacations in specially constructed resort locations established in places far away from the toiling masses.

            A fervent effort made to distinguish the destitute good guys from the shiftless skunks and house them accordingly.

            Of course that would never work in todays world, even though it would be far less draconian than what we did to my ancestors and later to the Japanese.

            You white fuckers made your beds and now you will be sleeping in them. Perhaps the long sleep.

          • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 8:42 pm #

            what about the people living on the streets and alleys withing 5 blocks of me? I cant get trespassers removed, as I dont live on the properties.

          • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 11:21 pm #

            One of the ironies of the homeless situation in west coast cities is, in the name of humanity, the more services that are provided, the more homeless people are attracted from thru out the whole entire country.The population gets larger, not smaller

            The weather is so good year round in LA and San Diego if you are going to be homeless, you could find worse places to be homeless in,

            Evelyn, there are all kinds of people living on the streets of LA, not just white people. As a matter of fact, historically LA was a destination for down and out native Americans, many of whom were alcoholic. Jim Thorpe, who lived in LA and appeared in a few movies, talks about it in his autobiography.

            brh

  66. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 4:26 am #

    Renaud – the important Camus. Well known queer author and friend of Barthes and other French modernists, he had an epiphany and went White Nationalist when writing a tour guide. He suddenly realized that even small villages like the one he was in were changing ethnically. Thus he became the Theorist of the Great Replacement as an idea and as a meme. The chant, You will not replace us, comes from him.

    From the wiki:

    Views
    On democracy and multiculturalism
    Camus sees democracy as a degradation of high culture and favors a system whereby the elite are guardians of the culture, thus opposing multiculturalism.[37]

    On white nationalist terrorism
    Camus has repeatedly said that he condemns the violent attacks and terrorism committed which echo his ideas,[38][39] dismissing them as “Occupier’s [i.e. immigrant’s] practices.”[40] However, his use of strong terms like “colonization” and “Occupiers”[d] to label non-European immigrants and their children,[38][41] has been described as implicit calls to violence.[42]

    I therefore believe that we are entering into an absolute necessity of a struggle that will no longer be political, […] for which there are two main sources of inspiration: that of the Resistance and that of anti-colonial struggles. We are under occupation—I am absolutely not afraid of the word, I often speak of the second occupation. […] We also follow the tradition of all anti-colonial struggles. […] Algeria, which has become independent, has considered that it would not really be independent without the departure of the settlers […] I also believe that there will be no liberation of the territory, without the departure of the occupier or colonization, i. e. without remigration. All the major texts in the fight against decolonization apply admirably to France, in particular those of Frantz Fanon. […] Faced with this, I propose open resistance, that is, to revolt.

    —?Renaud Camus. Speech of the 10 years of Riposte Laïque, 2 December 2017.
    Historians Nicolas Bancel and Pascal Blanchard, along with sociologist Ahmed Boubeker, state that “the announcement of a civil war is implicit in the theory of the ‘great replacement’ […] This thesis is extreme—and so simplistic that it can be understood by anyone—because it validates a racial definition of the nation.”[43] In 2014, Camus was fined 4,000€ in Paris for referring to some Muslims as “hooligans” and that they were “the armed wing of a group intent on conquering French territory,” a case which he appealed.[6]

    Camus’ tract for his 2014 “day of anger” manifestation against the “great replacement”: “No to the change of people and of civilization, no to antisemitism”
    While he denies stigmatizing all Muslims, Camus believes in an unbroken line between petty crime and Islamic terrorism: “all the terrorists are known by the police, not for terrorist acts or for religious extremism, but by petty larceny and bank attacks, or even by very small things like attacking old ladies in suburban trains, or conflicts between neighbours,”[6] adding in another speech: “we are talking about the fight against terrorism: in my opinion there are no terrorists, not a single one. There are occupants who […] kill a few hostages from time to time to better remind us who the master is.”[18]

    • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 4:31 am #

      Allowing for his restraint as an established intellectual operating behind enemy lines, I agree and endorse his views 100%.

      White Nationalism tends to be quite a bit “cooler” over there I must admit. Morrissey, another example. And never forget the Martyr, Pim Fortuyn.

  67. tucsonspur March 21, 2020 at 5:37 am #

    Is a national collapse on the way? Will there be martial law?

    “Finally, there is a question of agenda and motive behind the rising call for martial law-like measures over the pandemic. For example, Champaign, Illinois mayor Deborah Frank Feinen has given herself executive powers in response to the coronavirus infection that are outright dictatorial and Soviet in their violations. Among other things, she demands the power to enforce curfews, ban public gatherings, ban alcohol, ban or confiscate firearms, as well as confiscate supplies from any citizen if those supplies are “needed for emergency response”.

    “Also, understand that Covid-19 is only part of the problem. The bigger crisis is in the economy itself; a collapse has been baked into this cake for years now, and the virus has little to do with it. Leftist kids are going around calling this pandemic the “boomer remover”, almost cheering the assumption that mostly older and conservative Americans will die from this. I have to break it to them that during the economic collapse that is inevitably coming they will have to wipe the snot from their noses and put on their big-boy diapers otherwise they aren’t going to survive either; most of them have no discernible skills and no preparations to speak of. They are essentially useless.”

    Read it all here:

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/quarantine-tyranny-rebellion-where-line-sand

    A prelude to what I said is coming; the time of Rebels and Tyrants.

    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:45 am #

      “Is a national collapse on the way? Will there be martial law?”

      Tucson,

      …Maybe. Probably.

      I would predict that “National Collapse” is not a necessary requirement to see “Martial Law”.

  68. tucsonspur March 21, 2020 at 5:43 am #

    And in case you missed it:

    “Understand also that the Champaign mayor is not the only official calling for these types of actions. From New York to LA and beyond, those of us who are paying attention have noticed a swift and quiet implementation of orders that are whittling down American freedoms. Do not expect Donald Trump to operate differently, either. Expect him to initiate martial law measures (though he may not call in “martial law”) in the next few months. Expect him to activate Executive Order 13603, which was created by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows the federal government to appropriate everything from land to food to firearms in the event of a national emergency. This is going to happen. Count on it.”

    • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 6:07 am #

      Everything in Ct being closed except for ‘essential services’. Essential services is broadly defined because an in laws family owns a hardware store and the store is staying open. The newspaper I work for will continue to operate, so I’ll still be driving into Hartford 3 nights per week. Interestingly enough, package stores are not only (not closing), some are expanding their hours.

      I don’t really have any way to judge it — having no background in this sort of thing — but does anyone here think things have gone a bit overboard? Has a mass panic set in, not with the people, but with the people in charge?

      Brh

      • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 7:10 am #

        NY is evidently keeping their liquor stores open too, so no need to panic just yet. No need to even comment on the irony of that.

        • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 8:43 pm #

          well ‘it’ does disinfect.
          No rubbing alcohol available at 3 stores near me.

    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:47 am #

      “activate Executive Order 13603, which was created by Barack Obama in 2012 and allows the federal government to appropriate everything from land to food to firearms in the event of a national emergency. This is going to happen. Count on it.”

      Tucson,
      Those Commie Socialist Bastards had better keep their hands off my Social Security….

  69. Theedrich March 21, 2020 at 6:02 am #

    The “cure” is worse than the disease. Dr. David L. Katz, founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, has pointed out in a Friday, 2020 March 20 ??? ???? ????? op-ed that

    “The data from South Korea, where tracking the coronavirus has been by far the best to date, indicate that as much as 99 percent of active cases in the general population are “mild” and do not require specific medical treatment. The small percentage of cases that do require such services are highly concentrated among those age 60 and older, and further so the older people are. Other things being equal, those over age 70 appear at three times the mortality risk as those age 60 to 69, and those over age 80 at nearly twice the mortality risk of those age 70 to 79.

    “These conclusions are corroborated by the data from Wuhan, China, which show a higher death rate, but an almost identical distribution. The higher death rate in China may be real, but is perhaps a result of less widespread testing. South Korea promptly, and uniquely, started testing the apparently healthy population at large, finding the mild and asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 other countries are overlooking. The experience of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which houses a contained, older population, proves the point. The death rate among that insular and uniformly exposed population is roughly 1 percent.

    “The clustering of complications and death from Covid-19 among the elderly and chronically ill, but not children (there have been only very rare deaths in children), suggests that we could achieve the crucial goals of social distancing —saving lives and not overwhelming our medical system — by preferentially protecting the medically frail and those over age 60, and in particular those over 70 and 80, from exposure.”

    “I am deeply concerned that the social, economic and public health consequences of this near total meltdown of normal life — schools and businesses closed, gatherings banned — will be long lasting and calamitous, possibly graver than the direct toll of the virus itself.”

    Added to this, the Wall Street Journal sums up the situation with the statement that “If this government-ordered shutdown continues for much more than another week or two, the human cost of job losses and bankruptcies will exceed what most Americans imagine.” In short, we are looking economic death in the face.

    Meanwhile, the world rulers in Washington D.C. and other citadels pursue their self-centered goals behind the curtain. Note:

    (1) The southern border kept wide open for disease-bearers and other trash to enter. “Sanctuary cities” are more important.
    (2) Mega-companies whining for bailouts: Example: Nikki Haley, UN ambassador and ex-South Carolina governor, has just quit Boeing board of directors in protest against this kind of demand by the company.
    (3) At least four Congresspeople (Senator Richard Burr, Senator Kelly Loeffler, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Jim Inhofe) with foreknowledge of COVID-19 engaged in insider trading to make big bux.
    ****************************************
    We need no more proof to see that American “democracy” is a sham and a ripoff operation of bribery and theft. The citizenry is used as a cash cow to delude and from which to steal every last penny. It now turns out that the globalist elites are using the inflated threat of a pandemic to destroy Western civilization by suicide while the oligarchs and high politicoes ride high above the chaos.

    • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 7:08 am #

      Exactly! Time to move on and begin deciphering the long term strategy behind all this current insanity, other than the obvious:

      – instilling even more fear and precariousness in the populace to enable even greater social control through an even further enhanced national police state.

      – continuing to push the economy to a crash point in order to undo whatever remaining social support programs remain in place and to wipe out retirement programs for the masses throwing them into the soup with the bottom 50%. How far does anyone think that $1-2K in GOV funny money is going to go if this thing drags on? Better hold onto it, because it might be the last money you see for a while.

      – to continue to vilify foreign governments (China is the obvious target here), so as to further expand the US’s Global War of Terror and probably push us into a hot war when the inevitable finally happens and the US economic house of cards finally implodes, as it very well might in the very near future.

    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:48 am #

      “We need no more proof…”

      #Italy

  70. jeff2002 March 21, 2020 at 8:13 am #

    True strength has a moral core. It is not a hard and brittle shell masquerading as strength. Yesterday a reporter asked Trump what he has to say to Americans who feel truly frightened right now, and his response was “You’re a terrible reporter.” I wonder if Eisenhower would have said something like that.

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    • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 9:22 am #

      Whoever looks at that orange douche bag standing at the podium and thinks strength would see a pile of horse shit and think fragrance.

      • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 9:39 am #

        You just earned a score of 8 on the Hate-O-Meter scale, my friend.

        Very crude, no finesse whatsoever.

        Brh

        • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 3:52 am #

          He’s got the blues, my friend. None of his predictions of doom and gloom ever come to pass.

      • benr March 21, 2020 at 10:08 am #

        It’s all perspective.
        Take for example Dogs most people like dogs and dogs look at a pile of horse shit and think it must smell great.
        Why you might ask?
        Because most dogs will eat a horse apple and like to roll in it.
        I have met many people in my life that I did not like but I have never met a dog I didn’t like.
        As far as opinions go yours is a pile of stinking pig shit except worth far less at leas we can use manure to help grow plants your opinion is worth far less and smells far more.

        • capt spaulding March 21, 2020 at 11:01 am #

          Actually benr, as an old farm boy, I have to stand up and defend horse manure. Of all the shit produced by various animals, horse manure is the most pleasant smelling. Pig shit is far and away the worst. In comparison, horse manure has a greenish scent to it, and smells more like vegetation. I feel that as someone who really knows his shit, you can take my word on this. I’m not saying that I would purchase a cologne based on this observation, but really, all things considered, it’s not all that bad.

          • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 1:53 pm #

            LOL! Best comment of the day so far, Cap’n! Accurate too! It used to fill the streets of the American west, where many a final gun fight took place. How bad could it have been? Maybe that’s even where the phrase “Eat shit and die,” came from?

          • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:47 pm #

            yep Capt. is right there
            ha ha 🙂

      • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:50 am #

        LB,
        Horseshit? It has a distinctive “fragrance”…do you deny this?

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:31 pm #

          I do not.

        • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:46 pm #

          fella hasn’t been around a lot of horses lol

      • Tate March 21, 2020 at 1:42 pm #

        The old games don’t work anymore.

  71. MontanaMan March 21, 2020 at 8:46 am #

    I’ve always enjoyed reading Howard’s blog and I don’t always agree with him on everything but I do agree with him on many things. And that’s OK. I don’t have to agree with somebody on absolutely everything to like them.

    And that’s the way America used to be. Especially among us white people. It really wasn’t too long ago when Democrats and Republicans got along a lot better. I’m still that way. I still know some of what I call old fashion democrat voting liberal.

    Such as JHK. Not bad folks. Pretty good folks actually. And I’m a Conservative. Not one of the extreme hard right though. Today in our nation we have what I call the “EXTREME SUPREMES.”

    The extremes of the left and the right. And the funny thing is, when compared to just us regular old fashion liberals and old fashion conservatives, we greatly out number them.

    The problem is, this thing called the MSM=ABC CBS NBC CNN MSNBC will focus on either of them 100% more and give them 100% more air time than any of the regular guys and gals.

    • benr March 21, 2020 at 10:13 am #

      The problem is the entitled spoiled class like we see on here value their opinion way to much and feel they must express it over and over as of telling us how much they hate Trump will somehow sway our opinions.
      They have done the opposite I was at best a tepid hold my nose and vote for the guy but after a couple of years of obvious lies I will gladly vote for him again.

      Why because the other side is unhinged totally and completely devoid of common sense and rational decision making.

      All the crap they talk about Trump the last resident in the Whitehouse did and far more.

      • CancelMyCard March 21, 2020 at 8:51 pm #

        You are delusional,

        but, then again . . .

        . . . your reputation precedes you.

        • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:22 am #

          So says the fool.
          I spoke not a word of untruth which is why it is so repugnant to you.

    • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 10:25 am #

      ya the most fringe ppl out there get clicks & views on the media.. so

      they don’t come around your farm there Montana, or my house here in Duluth and sit here and look at me while I drink my coffee 🙂 and listen to me talk about how fast the snow is melting this year..

      pretty boring stuff

  72. Pucker March 21, 2020 at 9:00 am #

    Which would be a better investment of one’s time given the current predicament: starting a garden, or learning about the alleged 57 different genders?

    • benr March 21, 2020 at 10:14 am #

      And there you have it this progressive movement is insane.
      Instead of bringing up needed topics they cater to the insanity.

    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 11:54 am #

      “Which would be a better investment of one’s time given the current predicament: starting a garden, or learning about the alleged 57 different genders?”

      Puck,
      I would suggest you learn of the 57…Smith and Wesson, model of….

      • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:22 am #

        Far prefer the Colt python.

        • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 11:48 am #

          I believe Colt is making the Python again, ben. So expensive tho. I saw a price of $1499. Not much of a discount available either.

          • elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 4:21 pm #

            benr/BRH,
            The Colt Python, in my estimation, is vastly overrated. I’ve owned…I mean, I know this guy who has owned four or five over the years. Smith & Wesson makes a stronger revolver, and at half the price.

            Look for a used S&W in the N frame calibers…50’s, 60’s and 70’s production the best. Better calibers…the Colt only allows 38/357, and the occasional very rare 44….

  73. Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 9:20 am #

    Reporter:”What do you say to the thousands of bodies on the street? What do you say to the funeral pyres stacked 20 bodies high? What do you say to the oveerwhelming smell of death across the countryside? What do you say to the reports of cannabilism?”
    Trump:”You’re a terrible reporter.”

    • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 9:50 am #

      Where are the bodies in the streets?

      Where are the funeral pyres?

      We’ve had 4 deaths so far in this state, all over 80 years old.

      Fewer than have been killed in car accidents.

      • benr March 21, 2020 at 10:15 am #

        Or the almost 1k abortions a day.

      • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 11:08 am #

        When I mention the ‘relative fatalities of corona and cars’ I get–but car crashes are not contagious.

      • GreenAlba March 21, 2020 at 8:20 pm #

        brh

        There have been almost 5000 deaths in Italy, almost 800 of them in the last 24 hours.

        It’s not all about you. But it will become more about you.

        And believe me, the ‘funeral pyres’ are becoming a problem for the crematorium services in Italy.

        • CancelMyCard March 21, 2020 at 9:02 pm #

          Yep,

          you got that right.

          Kudos.

          I’m sooo amazed that there are

          sooo many right-wingers in total

          denial about this virus.

          It’s coming for EVERYBODY

          and it doesn’t care about your politics.

        • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 11:50 am #

          “Its not all about you.” — GA.

          Its not?

    • James Kuehl March 21, 2020 at 10:49 am #

      Had Alexander asked the question you made up here Trump would have been justified in calling him out. It was, in fact, a softball question offering Trump the opportunity to give a reassuring answer. Why he instead went off on the reporter is baffling.

      • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 1:20 pm #

        Because Trump is a sick fuck and you are wasting your time wondering why he does anything.

        https://youtu.be/JxG241bExqY

        • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 1:38 pm #

          Pot. Kettle. Black.

          • CancelMyCard March 21, 2020 at 8:54 pm #

            Bigot.

            Nazi.

            Lunatic.

          • Janos Skorenzy March 22, 2020 at 12:53 am #

            Canceled
            Your
            Humanity

          • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:27 am #

            Bespawler
            Dalcop
            Lubberwort

      • Tate March 21, 2020 at 1:47 pm #

        We don’t know what he was saying before that clip.

      • Tate March 21, 2020 at 4:58 pm #

        It wasn’t really a softball question. Alexander had been harassing Trump for the preceding several minutes, trying to sound the alarm & create an atmosphere of hopelessness. But Trump put him in his place.

        https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2020/03/21/nolte-if-nbcs-peter-alexander-did-nothing-wrong-why-are-the-media-lying-about-it/

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 5:17 pm #

          It was was a damn good question. Trump’s happy talk is killing people. His followers are the ones on the beach, the ones at the pub, the ones on this site downplaying the pandemic. When you have a mortality rate of 2 or 3 %, that means the 1,000 people at your church, 20 to 30 of them are going to die if they all keep going to church. It’s not the flu. The flu is when 1 person dies. Those numbers don’t change because Trump says they’re wrong. It is what it is.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 7:04 pm #

            “What do you say to Americans who are scared, nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions who are scared right now, what do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”

            Trump had been trying to lift the nation’s spirits, giving them hope just as Roosevelt did in the depths of the Great Depression when he said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” or Churchill when he gave his rousing address of resistance during the Battle of Britain, but after all that Trump was trying to provide reassurances this dufus asks that question so of course he finally lost patient with the whiny little twerp.

        • James Kuehl March 22, 2020 at 4:51 pm #

          It was a softball question. Here’s a brushback fastball at the temple: “On February 26 you said, quote, ‘The fifteen cases within a couple days is going to be down close to zero.’ Today you are saying we can expect many more cases. Both these pronouncements cannot be correct. Were you wrong on February 26 or are you wrong today?” Not one of those reporters has the stones to call him out like that. His knickers would get so twisted he’d have a stroke.

          • Tate March 22, 2020 at 6:37 pm #

            Whether it was a “softball” question or not is not to the point. Trump saw it for what it was, a disingenuous question. The man doesn’t play by the rules set up by our pretend “two-party” system & its media auxiliaries.

            To address your “brushback fastball” question. This kind of question, had anyone asked it, hopefully would have got them banned from the White House press corps. And rightly so. You & your crowd would be outraged by it, you wouldn’t understand the reasons for it, you would deny the legitimacy of it, you might even say it would be illegal & would have to be adjudicated.

            We. don’t. care.

            Just as you never listened to us nor cared when the Obama administration was in charge & perpetrated worse.

          • James Kuehl March 22, 2020 at 9:05 pm #

            You’re right, Tate, anyone asking a question like that would be banned from the press room. Just like anyone who refuses to stroke Trump’s out-sized ego is fired from his staff. He surrounds himself with sycophants who understand anything resembling dissent means banishment. He’s too thin-skinned for the job.

  74. Vinnie the Vintner March 21, 2020 at 10:22 am #

    RE: best ways to grow your own. It depends on your resources and where you reside. If you’re in a big city you can grow some food in containers, or talk to your apartment neighbors and start a community garden, preferably in a protected courtyard to avoid pilfering from outsiders. As for greenhouses, you could start small, start seedlings indoors and move to a cold frame you can easily build yourself. The trend in greenhouses that appeal to me are ones with wide-swinging doors where you drive your tractor through the enclosure and culvitate the land under the enclosure, thus eliminating all the plastic pots and labor-intensive steps of re-potting or planting. The ones with wheels need some form of anchoring. Even though I have tractors, I decided to build raised beds by digging out about 12-18″ of the soil and combining that with peat moss, manure compost, and saw dust. This significantly reduces your carbon footprint by eliminating the energy and pollution from plowing and cultivating. Weeds are easily pulled from this mixture of soil.

    Companion planting and French-intensive gardening techniques should also eliminate most of the weeds and allow you to grow a lot of food in a small area. In essence, your beds should provide a canopy to prevent weeds from coming up, and you are constantly replacing the early producers with something else, which should help to extend your growing season into late Fall. Just FYI, keep indoor seedlings away from pets.

    If you can still get a dehydrator, get one. I’ve already dried several bags of apples and bananas. They work well for jerky, too.

    This where things get real. I called my butcher on Thursday to see if they had any beef. My preparations began two months ago, but I forgot to put some filets in the freezer. BTW, 89.2% of the friends and family I spoke to back in January thought I was crazy. Sorry to digress. So, I get to the butcher shop and started asking some questions. They said the truck they got yesterday is their last one until further notice as the slaughterhouses have been shut down for poultry, beef, and pork. A CNBC guest from the food business was asked if he was confident that they would be able to get product to their customers. He dodged the question. I called a guy an hour from me on March 2nd about laying hens. He had seventy-five. I got so busy getting the raised beds ready I put off calling him back. I called him on Wednesday and he had only six left, which I picked up. Again, I asked some questions. He cannot get any more chickens because the brooder houses have shut down.

    The real panic and chaos is coming. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Sardines and vinegar for everyone.

    Once the checks start, they won’t stop. Andrew Yang must be pissed. Here comes UBI. Once the hospitals are overwhelmed and bankruptcy chatter begins for healthcare, the sheep will be begging for Medicare-For-All. So easypeezy.

    Those of you with doctor friends, ask their opinion. One friend, a top kidney transplant specialist said nearly 100% of the population could be infected because of the lackadaisical attitude of the government and overall population. Another doctor friend wrote an Op-ed last night saying 80% of us will be infected due to the non-chalant attitudes. Both said, it ain’t the regular flu.

    My heart goes out to the MILLIONS of people that will be unemployed on Monday. God bless us all and be safe out there.

    • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 1:46 pm #

      Perfect symmetry: Fed Zero, Dow Zero. Coke Zero, anyone?

      Umm, no. The checks WILL stop. Or they will be worthless. Take your pick. A rather more uncomfortable reality is about to unfold. Planting optional, but rest assured, it ain’t going to save you. News at Nine.

  75. benr March 21, 2020 at 10:35 am #

    Rip Kenny Rogers.

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    • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 11:09 am #

      I knew his plumber. I assume KR lived in the hills, hollywood hills.

    • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:42 pm #

      Worst facelift ever.

  76. Elrond Hubbard March 21, 2020 at 11:03 am #

    The Very Real Prospect Of $5 Oil
    The rebound in oil prices on Thursday didn’t last long as bearish sentiment once again took hold on Friday morning, with some analysts contemplating the possibility of $5 WTI.

    https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Very-Real-Prospect-Of-5-Oil.html

    “Oil prices rebounded on Thursday on hopes of a trillion-dollar stimulus package from Washington, along with other stimulus measures from governments around the world. The rally was short-lived however, with a growing number of analysts see a deeper bottom for oil.

    “Citi: $5 oil is possible. Citigroup laid out a pessimistic scenario in which WTI falls to $5 per barrel. Energy Aspects said Brent could fall to $10. Mizuho Securities said some oil could even fall into negative territory absent shale shut-ins. ‘This is Operation Desert Storm, Enron, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina/Rita, Lehman Bros, combined,’ Stephen Schork, president of the energy consultancy Schork Group Inc., told Bloomberg.

    “Majors could store jet fuel at sea. Oil companies are rushing to store oil at sea, but the glut has become so severe that the majors are looking at even storing jet fuel at sea. That practice is rare because jet fuel degrades more quickly than other fuels and is sensitive to contamination. ‘The industry generally expects products will be used within three months of being produced,’ said George Hoekstra, an independent consultant, told Reuters.

    “Texas considers the unthinkable – regulating production.”

    Forget toilet paper, stock up on gas while it’s cheap!

    • elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 12:03 pm #

      “Texas considers the unthinkable – regulating production”

      Well Elrond,
      Consider that the Texas Railroad Commission has been regulating gas and oil production for…oh, I don’t know, about 130 YEARS;

      What we really need regulated are “Eskimo Pies”…we all know that they come from the Frozen Wastelands of Canada.

      • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:41 pm #

        Goodbye Joe, me gotta go me oh my oh
        Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
        My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
        Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou

        Jambalaya, a-crawfish pie and-a file gumbo
        ‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
        Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
        Son of a gun, we’ll have big fun on the bayou.

  77. stelmosfire March 21, 2020 at 12:34 pm #

    Beautiful spring day here. Garlic’s up, fruit trees starting to show some growth. I’m just back from a reconnoitering patrol. Flags are all at half mast around town. Who died? Freedom? the economy? Kenny Rogers?. Hardware store crowded. Grocery store 3/4 stocked. Nobody with a mask. Myself and one other person wearing gloves. Duct tape on the floor at the checkouts. KEEP BACK SIX FEET!!

    • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 12:51 pm #

      Interesting sidelight. If we practiced this degree of separation all the time, the flu would be severely curtailed too. Maybe!

      • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 1:28 pm #

        So would syphilis, gonorrhea, AIDS, over population…

        • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 2:59 pm #

          Ha! You are right!

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 4:49 pm #

          Avoid the clap. That’s good advice.

    • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 3:58 pm #

      Ocean State Job Lot had TP this morning, all you could handle.

  78. JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 12:49 pm #

    There are some really good posts this time showing some appropriate cynicism about what is going on.

    Another approach.

    What is going to happen? This virus is going to run its course, It is going to infect a certain percentage of the population regardless of how much isolation there is. That is because no matter how many requests the government puts out about isolation, people will violate them. This is not China. Okay, so it runs its course. A percentage of older and susceptible folks are going to die. They are going to die anyway regardless of how much isolation is implemented. The end result of all of this is no matter what we do, folks are going to get sick and people are going to die.

    The real issue is the surge. How fast it comes on. The number of serious cases that go to the hospital is going to overwhelm the health care system. Trump’s 15 day program is there to try to slow it down and flatten the curve to prevent the overloading. A yuge question- what is going to happen if the 15 day program does not stem the tide? It will be time to panic, then.

    Rightfully so, the economic impact is going to be enormous. We are going to see real soon how an agency can manufacture money out of thin air. The bail outs aren’t. Money will be printed with no man hours to back it up. Inflation! Money will be there with nothing to spend it on as the supply chains dry up.

    Isolation or no isolation? That is the question. What is it buying us? Time? Flatter infection rates? Is all the brouhaha about isolation worth destroying the economy? What would happen if we just all went back to normal Monday? The disease would run its course, a percentage would stay home, a small percentage would go to the hospital, a smaller percentage would die. Just like the flu! Work the health care issues, government has really messed this up. Eventually, after a majority of folks get over the virus, the host field will dry up and the plague will abate.

    My question is, is destroying the world economy by flattening the curve worth it?

    Especially when the disease is going to run its course no matter what we do. Just slower! Think what will happen if after the 15 day plan does work, we open the doors and it starts all over. That may happen in China now, I hope someone is watching.

    Cuomo did his presser this AM. Same messages as Trump’s team but delivered smoother. A big statement was that NY is now half of the cases in the US. I wonder what makes them so special. Maybe testing levels.

    After it runs its course, the blame game is going to start. That should be something!

    • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 12:49 pm #

      The blame game = the national election?

    • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 1:20 pm #

      So you seriously are still comparing the coronavirus to the flu at this point? Actually its a known fact that many 20 and 30 year olds will go to the ICU with this and a percentage will die. At least half the cases here are below the age of 50. Maybe business should do what you always talk about and adapt or die. Kinda like your cold anology of going back to business and people adapting or dying. And then you wonder why people start hating Capitalism. Jesus healed people and threw money changers out of the temple. And that is what we need now. Not cold hearted Capitalism.

      • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 1:37 pm #

        Don’t believe the hype. Is this “just the” flu? Yep. Albeit a purposely amped-up version. I’ll be more than glad to see Capitalism as we know it go, even as I know full well what we’ve got in store will be MUCH, MUCH worse. For a time at least. The legend of Jesus might have been prescient way back when, but he’d have nothing to say AT ALL about our current predicament, other than possibly “Good Luck!”

        • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 3:41 pm #

          What do you think we have in store? I heard today that the military is preparing for a second wave already.

      • Tate March 21, 2020 at 2:06 pm #

        We need Jesus more than ever today. It’s ironic that all the liberal churches have closed their doors.

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:33 pm #

          Jesus was a pagan.

          • Tate March 21, 2020 at 4:05 pm #

            He was of the royal house of David. He wasn’t one of these Idumeans who pretended the Talmud was a secret source of YHWH’s teachings, & later muscled out the real Israelites such as this poster calling himself Akmofo (Bill the cat hacking up a fur-ball).

          • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 8:24 pm #

            didn’t he have a hooker girlfriend?

      • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 2:51 pm #

        My point, which you missed, is that whether we tuck everyone away for who knows how long, or let things go on as normal will make no difference in the long run to how many people are affected or the mortality rates. Flattening the curve is to help the health care folks deal with the overage.

        • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 3:37 pm #

          Not sure about that. Better check that exponential function on your calculator.

          • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 3:45 pm #

            Thanks! Exponential function is super important here. And if the healthcare system is totally overwhelmed then they can’t help people having heart attacks or getting in car wrecks.

    • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 1:24 pm #

      I fixed your typo but left the hyper exaggeration alone.

      “… Trump’s 15 day LATE program is there to try to slow it down a…

      Should have been closer to 55 day late…

      • ellipsis March 21, 2020 at 1:38 pm #

        Trump/Biden, Rep/Dem, Left/Right, Lib/Con. ALL irrelevant.

  79. Vinnie the Vintner March 21, 2020 at 2:08 pm #

    Just had a fabulous conversation with Chuck and Nancy. Had a fantastic call with FEMA. Oh,yea, CDC call was beautiful. Spoke to clergy around the country. Can’t begin to tell you how fabulous that was. These folks around me are so incredible. Oh, did I tell you how awesome the people beside me are, too. We’re all in this together, so thank you for sacrificing your livelihood and futures so we can nationalize the “greatest” corporations in the world. All you other folks can call the SBA and we can get you a beautiful loan. FEMA rocks?That’s a good one.

    Oh, did I tell you what an incredible pig-effing you are getting ready to take? It’s going to be beautiful. Fantastic. Genius. I am so proud of you. You’re simply going to love it. Sorry, but I forgot to tell you the lube factory had to be shut down. Ned Beatty did a beautiful job ,so I know you can, too. Get ready to squeal, Boy!

    Am I being too presumptuous to suggest there might be some engineers and investors out there that can get an aerospace factory up and running in a matter of months, if not weeks ,if Boeing goes bankrupt? Please have your syndicate desk put me down for 1,000 shares.

    • Q. Shtik March 21, 2020 at 5:52 pm #

      fabulous fantastic beautiful fabulous incredible awesome the “greatest” beautiful incredible beautiful Fantastic Genius beautiful – Vinnie

      =============

      Great job of capturing the Trump superlatives zeitgeist.

    • readfreak March 21, 2020 at 8:48 pm #

      And now he wants a bailout for his hotels and golf courses.

      • CancelMyCard March 22, 2020 at 8:38 am #

        And he WILL get it . . . Trump will push through his own bailout;

        Millions of $$.

        But hey, you will be getting your $1K check which will cover about 3 weeks rent, but . . . you know . . .

        • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:37 am #

          Pfft week and half.

  80. elysianfield March 21, 2020 at 2:17 pm #

    Gentle readers;

    Fred is up…a Twofer!

    The second article is a tour of the Imperial Capital…it brought tears to my eyes.

    https://www.unz.com/freed/washington-in-the-time-of-domitian/

    I was elbow deep in this shit for years.

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  81. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 2:29 pm #

    Good news: Trump closes border with Mexico.

    https://www.amren.com/news/2020/03/trump-announces-u-s-mexico-border-closure-to-stem-spread-of-coronavirus/

    Bad news: ICE is scaling back its activity because of the shrieks from Liberals about persecuting illegals during this terrible time. As if they weren’t shrieking about it before. Thus their priorities are clear: aliens before Americans.

    • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 3:51 pm #

      It is amazing but that is how much they really hate us. They’ll close the borders but then let all the foreign nationals, including criminals, out of detention. If the death toll from the virus is as high as it appears to be then I think its going to be a big political problem in addition to everything else. Like who is responsible for putting us all at risk and why? What will be the remedy and how can we pursue justice?

      • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:59 pm #

        yep I agree with u SSL

        it’s pretty cooked, that’s for sure

  82. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 2:48 pm #

    https://www.amren.com/blog/2020/03/the-right-way-to-fight-the-pandemic/

    Hungary’s Orban shows the Way – again! Truly He is the Orb of Heaven, the Son of the Sun of the SON.

    Who can forget Uhuru telling Kirk that they had all gotten it wrong: they weren’t talking about the Sun but the Son of God! Blacks always know the score!

    • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:38 am #

      Uhuru was a her.

  83. Nightowl March 21, 2020 at 3:40 pm #

    So, Andrew Gillum (D) was running for governor of Florida. As many may have heard, he was found naked in a hotel room with male prostitutes and meth.

    He has been denying this, as you may also know.

    Looks like some photos have been released. Warning: mildly overweight, methed out almost-governor can be seen naked on the floor

    https://twitter.com/BenKTallmadge/status/1241207331548827648

    • BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 3:55 pm #

      That’s something you can’t unsee.

      It’ll take an ocean of Wild Turkey to get that pic put of my head.

    • Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 4:12 pm #

      “The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope.” Trump
      “I just asked you a question.” Reporter “Doesn’t that give you hope?”

    • Tate March 21, 2020 at 4:14 pm #

      WTF? This is why I’m not traveling anymore. Who knows how much disinfectant they have to use to clean those rooms? The last time we took an overnight trip, there were braying lowlifes running up & down the hallways into the wee hours.

      • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:59 pm #

        “This is why I’m not traveling anymore.”

        lol!

        bring your own sheets I guess.. and your own bleach as well

    • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:58 pm #

      omg that’s nuts

      ha ha ha

    • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 8:49 pm #

      old news…a few days old.

      on the down low with a cute white dude.

  84. Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 4:19 pm #

    Trump is like that guy who tells you to buy a stock and then when it goes down and you call him on it he says he’s buying more. US Intel told Trump the pandemic was coming. Ignored it. When it did he doubled down. Now that it’s going exponential he’s dressing down reporters. To say this guy is clueless is insulting to clues.So what people are dying. He was right goddamitt. Like the Alabama Sharpie, that’s all that matters to him and his cult.

  85. Majella March 21, 2020 at 4:25 pm #

    What’s this? White House going left of the Dems (spoiler alert : not difficult!) Taking on Bernie’s ideas the VERY NEXT DAY?

    Here’s Sanders’ plan:

    https://berniesanders.com/issues/emergency-response-coronavirus-pandemic/

    > Suspend foreclosures & evictions
    > $2000 per month for all workers
    > invoke National Defense Production Act
    And on and on.

    Hat-tip to Himself for taking it seriously -finally.

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  86. Laundromat Blues March 21, 2020 at 5:00 pm #

    I finally figured out why Trump has such a moot look. Destiny has come and taken away his rallies. No more love from his obsequious followers. No more adoration, no more cheers, no more “Lock her up!” Oh the humanity. And what will his followers now do with their lips. Talk about unemployment.

  87. AttackSub March 21, 2020 at 5:02 pm #

    MAJELLA : You’re full of shit:
    “No, the ‘standard’ influenza is not paid much attention to because it’s death rate is minuscule compared to Covid19. It also is not as infectious ”

    The overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths (Table: Estimated Influenza Disease Burden, by Season — United States, 2010-11 through 2017-18 Influenza Seasons).

    CDC estimates that the burden of illness during the 2018–2019 season included an estimated 35.5 million people getting sick with influenza, 16.5 million people going to a health care provider for their illness, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths from influenza (Table 1). The number of influenza-associated illnesses that occurred last season was similar to the estimated number of influenza-associated illnesses during the 2012–2013 influenza season when an estimated 34 million people had symptomatic influenza illness

    Care to retract your statement, douche bag?

    • Majella March 21, 2020 at 5:20 pm #

      Well, until you threw in the ‘douchebag’…

      Stats are facts. I won’t argue with them. My statement was nonetheless correct – Covid19 is highly infectious compared to annual ‘flu’, which has a death rate v. Infection of 0.01% v. Covid19 at around 2%.

      I’d save your name-calling until you have a comprehensive picture of Covid19, in say 12 months or so.

      If the infection rate is at the low-end estimate of 40%, and a death rate of again low-end 1%, that’d be 1.32 million deaths, or about 10 times what your stats for influenza show.

      What name are you going to call me now?

      • AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 7:08 am #

        Fear mongering cunt

        • Majella March 22, 2020 at 5:37 pm #

          Nice. Fear-mongering c***. Very classy.

          The numbers I used are sourced, not imagined, like yours you dimwit. Then I used the low-end of the estimates.

          From:

          https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/us/coronavirus-deaths-estimate.html

          “Between 160 million and 214 million people in the United States could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to a projection that encompasses the range of the four scenarios. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.”

          As for the Chinese experience, I would be very pleased if the numbers the CCP has released were accurate, but I’m not holding my breath. In the end, though, the Chinese experience may not be relevant, because the social dynamics of China & the West are so very different.

          In other news, I see Weinstein has been diagnosed. Every cloud, huh.

      • AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 7:14 am #

        I guess you haven’t noticed that the convid-19 has run it’s course in China, have you? now, What is the infection rate in China? Officially, it’s around 83,000. Let’s say they’re lying and it’s 10 times that. Divide 830,000 by 1.4 billion and tell me what you get.

      • AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 7:16 am #

        The infection rate, for those of you who are mathematically challenged, is nowhere near 40% anywhere. Especially, in China, where the reported number of new cases is approaching zero.

        • CancelMyCard March 22, 2020 at 8:50 am #

          And if you believe ANYTHING coming from the Chinese Communist Party . . .

          I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can get you for a song.

          • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:46 am #

            For one I agree with you the Chinese lie and lie non-stop.

      • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:45 am #

        Typically disease is either contagious or fatal but not both.

        @attacksub

        Calling someone a cunt is NOT nice.
        Try and be a little civil.

    • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 8:17 pm #

      Well and also we would need to see what happens when the cv infection numbers get on par with the flu numbers to even compare since they are completely different. What is your suggestion? Let the virus burn through the population rapidly and if it overwhelms the hospitals oh well?

      • AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 7:10 am #

        No. I believe a rational approach. You’re scare shitless over this aren’t you SSL?

        • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 12:33 pm #

          What is a rational approach in your perspective? Yes, in some ways I am scared, but moreso scared for my family, friends, etc. I think if I got it I have a good chance of getting over it. But we don’t know if you can get it again or have some sort of relapse later on. So all the unknowns do make it scary.

  88. doggersize March 21, 2020 at 5:05 pm #

    the Corona virus epidemic does not seem severe enough to merit the measures that have been taken. Maybe there is some kind of anxiety people have from being desensitized to sex and violence.
    Or more likely, the measures were not necessarily undertaken for the sake of the Corona virus. Instead it is akin to the old Insulin Coma therapy used on schizophrenics and depressives. The measures were undertaken so society can re-evaluate itself without having any real epidemic or natural disaster to actually deal with.

    • Majella March 21, 2020 at 5:20 pm #

      ????
      Blitherblather indeed.

      • SoftStarLight March 21, 2020 at 8:35 pm #

        So basically if you’re concerned about the virus you are a headcase and completely not connected to reality. Wow how original lol. I would rather be a space cadet than a bat virus super spreader anyway so whatevs.

        • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 9:08 pm #

          SSL

          I hear your opinion.

          My feelings are how long are we going to shut down the economy to flatten the curve. Are we willing to shut down the world to offset the mortality rate of this particular virus? So far, someone has convinced the world powers to shut it down.

          What happens if the CDCs 15 day isolation shows no improvement? That is a week from Monday. How long do we go before our unemployment rate hits 20%, which is Mnuchin’s estimate. That is Great Depression levels. Remember too, the longer it goes, the deeper it will get, a prime lesson of the FDR days. I just feel that no one knows what they are doing.

          If we set a precedent here, then we should close down the car industry because of the slaughter on the highways, or we should shut down the world yearly for the two high points of the influenza.

          Or should we just let it run its course?

          • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 12:50 pm #

            I’m not sure there is a good answer John. I also hear you that the shutdown is clearly an economic nightmare. The problem is that to have a healthy economy you have to have a healthy population and workforce. I don’t think that the response with this pandemic will set precedent for future responses to the flu. The reason is that this is not the flu. The main problems here are that no one is immune, there is no vaccine unlike flu, and no proven treatments unlike flu. Once even proven treatments come online that will probably bring down anxiety levels. In South Korea everyone is wearing masks in public and testing is much more accessible. That is what we need here but that is not going to happen right away. I will say I’m impressed with the businesses that have stepped up to make ventilators, masks and gloves, sanitizers, etc., and glad they are there and doing what they are.

    • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 11:17 pm #

      That’s why the measures ARE taken doggersize. Stop the spread of infection and by jingo the spread of the infection stops.

      But just so you know you are the right side of the argument walk your talk and volunteer to participate in a health services action taking care of people with the virus.

      Come back in a month and tell us what you learn.

      • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 11:19 pm #

        p.s. I plan to not get it. Holed up tight where I live and venture out into any situation mingling with people, never!

      • doggersize March 22, 2020 at 6:21 am #

        I am going by the 1957-58 flu pandemic.
        https://news-decoder.com/2020/03/05/asian-flu-coronavirus/

        https://www.city-journal.org/1957-asian-flu-pandemic

        I do not know what the mortality rate of 20 percent of the population going bankrupt will be. but it will probably decrease the lifespan of most of the people who do go bankrupt for years to come.

        While some actions are prudent to reduce the spread of the disease, this near total shut down may be doing more harm than good. At least, if it persists for more than a week or two.

  89. Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 6:07 pm #

    Just scored some Toilet Paper. Haven’t seen any in two weeks in the stores. Luckily I had some stored up. Six MEGA rolls=24. Life is Good….

    Is the shortage because of panic buying or because we get most of it from China – and people know that? If so, their fear is rational, though the politicians and media won’t admit it. The second clause (Chinese origin of tp) leading to the first clause, panic buying. In other words, if there was no panic buying, would we not still run out or not?

    • hmuller March 21, 2020 at 7:14 pm #

      Here’s what I found on the topic.

      Is toilet paper made in the USA?
      The vast majority of toilet paper consumed by Americans is made in North America. But about 10 percent of the giant rolls of paper that are used to make the rolls that end up in American bathrooms come from China and India.Mar 13, 2020

      https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=what+country+is+toilet+paper+made+in&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiy4Of416zoAhUQWa0KHZ80DrwQ1QIoAHoECAwQAQ&biw=1350&bih=585

      • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 8:51 pm #

        India???? what do they use there?

      • Q. Shtik March 21, 2020 at 11:38 pm #

        The vast majority of toilet paper consumed by Americans – hmuller

        ============

        consumed??? It has never occurred to me to EAT it.

    • PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:44 pm #

      “Just scored some Toilet Paper.”

      LOL thanks for the update bud, score another one for the master race! 🙂
      ((fist pumps))

      • Janos Skorenzy March 21, 2020 at 8:23 pm #

        We still have physical needs. If you prick a gentile, does he not bleed?

        • elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 1:15 am #

          “If you prick a gentile, does he not bleed?”

          Janos,
          Ask the Governor of Florida….

      • malthuss March 21, 2020 at 8:51 pm #

        o well

    • Q. Shtik March 21, 2020 at 10:45 pm #

      Just scored some Toilet Paper. – Janos

      =============

      scored Bwahhahaha. This may be the funniest thing you’ve ever written. LMAO…wife heard me and wanted to know “what the hell are you reading on that computer?”

      • Janos Skorenzy March 22, 2020 at 12:56 am #

        At least someone appreciate my efforts at humor – even if an ideological enemy and an atheist.

    • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 11:22 pm #

      What the hell do you do with it Janos?

      Aren’t you people smart enough to figure out a bidet hose is the way to go?

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C7Y5JXZ?tag=duckduckgo-osx-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

      • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 10:18 am #

        How do you instal a bidet in an outhouse with a hole in the ground?
        Now piggy, squeaaaaaaaalllllllll https://youtu.be/WqNMjZpSbnU

  90. PeteAtomic March 21, 2020 at 7:42 pm #

    I wonder if Hillary Clinton is sending gifts of fruitcake & cheese infected with the Kungflu to both Team Biden & Sanders..

    as BRH pointed to me, “what if Biden has the virus?” as to why nobody has seen the poor old fella..

    What malarkey will occur this summer during the virtual democrat convention this summer?

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  91. JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 8:53 pm #

    A lot of arguing going on relative to statistics on the two viruses.

    A note of caution.

    I do not know what gives the statistics for the horrendous quantities of flu illnesses and deaths. The statistics seem to set a mortality rate at o.1% of illnesses.

    I am skeptical of the Coronavirus stats so far. The reason is that the number of people getting the illness may be grossly understated due to insufficient testing.

    If the stats come from the same sources with the same levels of testing, the two can be compared satisfactorily. Otherwise, wait until the info is in.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 9:25 pm #

      https://youtu.be/RHmKY8wZfOg

      The Australian situation. If they are a fortnight behind Italy they are days behind us. Good info.

      • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:36 pm #

        Excellent podcast! Cargill should check this out. Forecast for Australia. Depressing!

        • JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:40 pm #

          The most important statement IMHO was that the politicians should just go away from the decision making right now. Right on. Trump and his detractors sound like a huge bunch of aholes right now. How can we impeach the whole Deep State?

          • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 11:23 pm #

            To that, if I knew I’d tell ya.

  92. JohnAZ March 21, 2020 at 10:50 pm #

    My question still stands,

    We are tracking the Coronavirus closely, but even the guy on the podcast said that if the current case count in Australia is 600, the real count is probably 6000. Interesting, if he is right, the ten times the mortality rate of the flu that current stats show may be incorrect.

    If we tracked the flu in parallel with Coronavirus, how would the infection rates compare? I do not believe that they can tell the difference between the two viruses, if positive for Corona do they also have flu?

    Assume for a second that the two viruses have the same effects on society, have we just screwed ourselves into the wall for no reason?

    A good question, who started the panic in the first place?

    • EvelynV March 21, 2020 at 11:39 pm #

      JohnAZ

      You seem to have a memory issue. Seeing the shocking response and behavior of the Chinese government, allowing their economy to be traumatized as severely as it has been, made all of us spectators at the time think they weren’t fooling around and must know something we didn’t and still don’t.

      • JohnAZ March 22, 2020 at 1:07 am #

        OMG.

        We agree on something. If you will read an earlier post, I am suspicious that this is contrived. China, maybe. Who has more to gain from a pandemic? Other possibilities exist also.

        • JohnAZ March 22, 2020 at 1:15 am #

          Do you think this is an attack with bio weapons against the entire western civilization? Knowing that personal liberties prevent the lockdowns required to stop the advance. Will Chinese Communism triumph over the West? I wonder if we will ever know whodunit.

        • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 3:38 am #

          Who has more to gain? Not necessarily any particular national. You have heard to expression “Boomer remover”.

          A lot of old fuckers who spent their lives sucking juice out of the system and now, besides owning a disproportionate share of everything, are becoming more and more of a huge financial burden on the young.

          So I’d the ones with the most to gain are the younger generations.

          For now though, I’m sticking with the non-man caused disease theory. I’d be more inclined to believe if man caused it was us who planted it to make the Chinese look bad.

          Let’s face it, we are a rotten do anything dirty to advance our goals nation.

    • K-Dog March 21, 2020 at 11:47 pm #

      We have the highest death count in the nation (WA) and as of yesterday testing had revealed an infection rate of 7%. My source is our governor who is very nervous, anal, and honest within limits. I have to give him that.

      I do not know how representative that is of the general population but we already have near 100 deaths so minimum deaths for the state will be around 2000. WA has over 7 million people so scaling it up for the country gives 50,000 deaths as a hard minimum.

      I know which way my assumptions went to give this ball park estimate. Round-ups to give 2000 for the state and finally 50000 for the nation were not large and not everybody who will die has died yet so the number is actually rather conservative.

      The second factor which will certainly make my guesstimate even more conservative is that the 7% is certainly not representative of the general population and favored areas of exposure. Not everybody who wants a test gets one. That will skew numbers up.

      Considering it all and considering how I was taught to inflate time estimates so that they represented reasonable real world values I seriously do not see America getting off with fewer than 150,000 deaths. I think that is still conservative.

      Is that worth lifestyle change?

      Janos make sure the flatbed is gassed up and ready to go.

      Bring out your dead!

      • AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 7:21 am #

        Yeah so why doesn’t your Washington State governor, lock the damn state down?

        • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 11:28 am #

          YEAH…Excellent point.
          K dog uses this to troll his arch enemy, Janos.

        • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:49 am #

          Dead Antifa = a better world would be my guess.

        • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 12:57 pm #

          So then you would agree that lockdowns are good in some cases?

  93. BackRowHeckler March 21, 2020 at 11:43 pm #

    Well, last night, ‘Yoofs’ rioting and looting in Paris and London. There were some brawls and stuff caught on video, but mostly it seems ‘diverse’ yoofs taking the opportunity to go on impromptu shopping sprees … sure windows were smashed, merchandise was stolen, fires were lit, people were terrorized, so what? No police to be seen. Hey let the boys have their fun! Now that whitey is a minority in most European Capitals one thing that cannot be risked is a full blown race riot. These ‘Youfs’ wil burn those goddam cities to the ground — don’t think they won’t — Asoka Virus or no Asoka Virus.

    brh

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 12:01 am #

      BRH,

      You do realize Asoka’s tools could be used to track people so when someone tests positive a list of everyone they interacted with in the last few days can be produced. Then people on the list can be ordered to self quarantine until they too can be tested.

      Hell, a few weeks of sequester in place to knock the exponential spread down a peg or two and then targeted sequesterization in place.

      I know the tools work. They were used to terrorize me for Christsake. One time I meet my son for a burger at a restaurant near Lake Union and we put our phones down on the table next to each other. I later get a ‘message’ after we part with a sentence of his from our conversation embedded in it.

      As BRH you have to appreciate the style. I do. Real life Tony Soprano Shit only the New York gang is Uncle Fucking Sam. Back to my point. We don’t need no stinking ‘app’. Tools already exist. Deep state tools can already map phones and make lists. As 9 out of 10 targeted individual can attest I can say, the tools work.

      Calling it the Asoka virus was prophetic. Congrats.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 12:02 am #

        Damn, I forgot the closing tag again. Oh well if anything I wrote this week is worth a shout, this is!

        • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 12:23 am #

          what brackets did you use…and where??

          • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 2:49 pm #

            you can use HTML tags for italics and bold here. JHK does not like too much shouting but used appropriately is OK.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 12:04 am #

        As 9 out of 10 targeted individuals can attest

      • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 12:11 am #

        K-Dog

        So when I pulled up behind a white utility van at Bradley Airport in Windsor Lock, Ct, 3000 miles away from you, with a sign on the back of it that read ‘K-Dog for President’ it wasn’t just a coincidence? Some people don’t believe in coincidences.

        I remember saying to my little nephew “Look at that, the words out about K-Dog”

        brh

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 4:00 am #

          That might have had something to do with it. Some people have no sense of humor.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 2:51 pm #

          If it was secret service protection and not harassment it would have been nice to have been told.

  94. Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 12:46 am #

    Under the wide and starry sky
    Dig the grave and let me lie.
    Glad did I live and gladly die,
    And I laid me down with a will.

    This be the verse you grave for me;
    “Here he lies where he longed to be,
    Home is the sailor, home from sea,
    And the hunter home from the hill.”

    • Majella March 22, 2020 at 2:43 am #

      Robert Louis Stevenson.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 4:08 am #

        In these times, strange comfort or perhaps it is me who is strange for finding it so.

    • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 12:28 pm #

      Home is the sailor, home from sea,
      And the hunter home from the hill.” – Q quoting RLS

      =============

      I always do the driving when the wife and I make trips (’cause HER driving makes me nervous). And for decades it has been my practice when we return home that I pull up the driveway, shut off the engine, and say:

      “Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
      And the hunter home from the hill.”

      For the shorter trips I say
      “Bring’em back alive.”

  95. dolph9 March 22, 2020 at 12:57 am #

    What….do you think you guys are only going to die from coronavirus, and if you don’t get coronavirus, you are going to live forever??

    Here are the top causes of death in the United States:
    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

    You could get into a car crash onto your way to Walmart or Costco to stock up on supplies. You can get a heart attack waiting in the line. You could become so inactive over the next year or two that you develop diabetes or cancer. (knocking on wood).

    Coronavirus is just another one of any thousands of things that can kill you. You people didn’t stop having sex just because of hiv, did you?

    Unbelievable, we are definitely overreacting to this. Your biggest threat, right now, is that 90% of you have virtually no real physical fitness. If you want to live, get outside and go for a long walk or run, and then lift some serious weights even if you are quarantined at home.

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  96. Janos Skorenzy March 22, 2020 at 2:27 am #

    Customs and Border Protection officials are defying the Trump administration’s directive to block all nonessential foreign travel into the United States from Mexico, allowing noncitizens claiming to be on shopping trips to continue entering, according to two officials involved in the implementation of the order.

    CBP employees in Arizona told the Washington Examiner Saturday they were instructed Friday night at the start of the executive order and again this morning not to turn around noncitizens who said they were coming in to shop, visit family, or for medical appointments. By Saturday morning, “hundreds” of vehicles that should have been blocked at the port of entry had been allowed through, two officials said.

    “We’re letting them through. And that’s pretty much the gist of it,” one official said. “Nobody’s enforcing it. It was put up — the president put it out. The chief patrol put it out. And we’re just not doing it.” “In plain English, it was a giant shit show,” said a second official. “Nobody followed the directive, a plain and simple directive. You’re trying to keep the coronavirus from going north … yet you just let it bleed through anyway, so you’re not doing the job you’re directed to. That’s what’s aggravating.”

    CBP’s Office of Field Operations officers who inspect vehicles at the border crossings were supposed to begin at 9 p.m. PT Friday turning away all noncitizens unless they had a permit to work in the U.S., are a legal permanent resident, or are a student. However, officers were told by supervisors not to do so, according to sources.

    Border Patrol agents familiar with operations at highway checkpoints located north of the ports of entry said employees at checkpoints were caught off guard late Friday when cars with Mexican license plates continued arriving since they should have been blocked at the border.

    Agents continued to see vehicles with plates from the Mexican state of Sonora, which runs up along the entirety of Arizona.

    “I’m asking in Spanish and English, whatever they can understand, ‘Where are you guys going?’ And it was either they’re going shopping at Walmart, or they’re going to visit family, which is not essential,” said a Border Patrol agent. This source added that he was confused about why people who had passed Walmart after crossing the border were driving further north instead of returning to Mexico. Others who passed through overnight claimed to have doctor’s appointments.

    Agents said Border Patrol managers ordered them against turning around any cars. In more than 10 hours, not a single vehicle was turned around out of hundreds that passed through and did not meet U.S. standards for admission.

    “The customs agents told us their supervisors told them to continue to let them go north because they don’t want the Mexican citizens to get mad at them,” an agent said.

    “Another customs guy, he said flat out, ‘There was an issue between the first-line supers and second-line,’” the agent said, referring to senior supervisors and junior supervisors. “Basically, second-line didn’t want to make the public angry. That’s pretty much your job at the port — to make people angry.”

    CBP referred the Washington Examiner to its Federal Register notice, which defines essential travelers as including those “individuals traveling for medical purposes (e.g., to receive medical treatment in the United States).” It describes “individuals traveling for tourism purposes (e.g., sightseeing, recreation, gambling, or attending cultural events)” as engaging in nonessential travel.

    As of Saturday morning, port of entry officers were still sending through noncitizens entering for nonessential travel, the officials said.

    wvwnews.net

    JS: The Hand does not obey its own Brain, but rather some other unknown one. Or perhaps the Brown hand (the Hispanic Guards) obey a brain similar to itself. In any case, the body, This Body, dies as pathogens swarm in thru every aperture.

    Too graphic? Ok, um – The Falcon cannot hear the Falconer. How’s that? Or maybe it does and is just ignoring him? There I go again….

    Ray Bradbury wrote a story about a boy dying of a disease that was taking over his whole body section by section rather than killing him outright. He found himself doing what he knew not what. Towards the end he became deaf and blind as the disease took over his senses, trapped inside an alien being….

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 4:05 am #

      The center cannot hold. Now we are inside a Bradbury story.

      • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 1:14 pm #

        Yes, you should be troubled. It’s one thing to have a weakened immune system. But a whole nother thing to have the immune system attacking the body it is supposed to protect. And is not a deadly cytokine storm simply an innappropriate reaction of the immune system to a pathogen?

  97. Ungaro March 22, 2020 at 4:17 am #

    What America, nay, the world needs is inspired and inspiring vision, visionary leadership with equal measures of charisma and conviction. What we have instead is a narcissistic egomaniac unable to communicate on one hand and an incoherent, bumbling puppet without an original thought on the other.

    Visionary leaders, especially those who are exceptional, decisive managers will never set foot in the stinking quagmire of politics. Are we doomed yet?

  98. Majella March 22, 2020 at 4:25 am #

    NigIOwl – here’s your mentor/hero in full flight…where he says, occasionally, ‘almost everybody’, he must be bowing to your high IQ;

    https://youtu.be/5GqJna9hpTE

    • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 1:05 pm #

      It actually makes me sick to listen to this link.

  99. Cargill March 22, 2020 at 5:23 am #

    For the time being, America has Donald Trump. To the agnostical thinking class, with its obsessive loathing of men, white men especially, and white men in the father role most of all, Mr. Trump represents the ultimate grotesquerie. To that class of scribes, professors, assorted “creatives,” virtue signalers, and social justice seekers, even Tennessee Williams could not conjure up a more fearsome and detestable Big Daddy than Mr. Trump.

    This is utter nonsense … there are millions of Americans who don’t give a continental about all that stuff, but they still detest Trump, his Senate bum-chums, and all the venality and corruption they stand for. For very good reasons – the worst US president ever, in a pretty tough field.

    • roccofire March 22, 2020 at 5:54 am #

      JHK—ATTENTION

      Can you start adding small instructions on your blog about doing a garden, taking care of fruit/nut trees, berry bushes,natural fertilizers, handling drinking water, first aid. I figure do one paragraph with each blog. I appreciate your work and insight. We finally got our own goggles at work, but still only one face mask per shift.

      ANY of the regular commenters/prep folks we, I need your advice on gardens,water, safety,etc. Thank you

    • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 1:19 pm #

      “who don’t give a continental”. 🙂 Is that an Aussie expression?

      • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 5:39 pm #

        SSL, our drongo down under friend Cargill stole an old American expression. “Don’t give a continental” refers to a worthless early American dollar. Perhaps someday soon our present US dollar will follow a similar fate.

        • Majella March 22, 2020 at 5:52 pm #

          Ah – there you go. St Elmo knows his stuff.

        • Cargill March 22, 2020 at 9:52 pm #

          Yep – I used an Americanism because I thought an Aussie-specific term might cause confusion … but I was wrong; I caused confusion anyway.

        • Cargill March 22, 2020 at 9:53 pm #

          I’m impressed StElmo that you know the term drongo …

          • stelmosfire March 23, 2020 at 8:18 am #

            yea Cargill, I get out of Podunk every now and then.

      • Majella March 22, 2020 at 5:51 pm #

        SSL –

        Perhaps, but a Kiwi one as well. I’m not sure what it’s derivation is (perhaps Cargill will enlighten us later) but I always thought it was short for ‘a continental f*ck’.

        Another possibility is that it refers to the ‘Continental’ currency issued during the War of Independence, which everyone KNEW was utterly worthless.

        • Cargill March 22, 2020 at 9:55 pm #

          Yes – a continental f*ck is the full term, but in polite society it’s shortened just to “continental”.

  100. stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 7:55 am #

    No way to verify when this was taken or even if it is just a normal amount of vehicles headed out from the factories. What I do know is this is a shitload of military vehicles headed as the guy says towards the east coast. This is what trains are REALLY good at. Trucks east- people to the camps!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxNQ8erWIW4&feature=youtu.be

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  101. BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 8:46 am #

    #where’s Joe Biden.

    Candidate Biden is laying low, real low.

    But why?

    • akmofo March 22, 2020 at 9:13 am #

      Joe is taking a leadership role, per usual. He is a hero top scholar, don’t you know. He will tax you and your AR-14 BB guns and give the money to his sister, err, wife, or maybe his son who he never talks to about the millions acquired while stoned.

      • PeteAtomic March 22, 2020 at 6:37 pm #

        ha ha

        AR 14s

  102. Pucker March 22, 2020 at 8:47 am #

    When I arrived at the JFK airport in early February from Asia, Trump’s quarantine order for arrivals from Mainland China had just gone into effect, but the CBP officials at the airport were not taking it seriously. No one wore surgical masks. I got the impression that the Customs and Border Protection officers didn’t give a shit, hated their jobs, and they just wanted to go home and watch TV.

    “ WHILE SCIENCE was confronting nature, society began to confront the effects of nature. For this went beyond the ability of any individual or group of individuals to respond to. To have any chance in alleviating the devastation of the epidemic required organization, coordination, implementation. It required leadership and it required that institutions follow that leadership. Institutions are a strange mix of the mass and the individual. They abstract. They behave according to a set of rules that substitute both for individual judgments and for the emotional responses that occur whenever individuals interact. The act of creating an institution dehumanizes it, creates an arbitrary barrier between individuals. Yet institutions are human as well. They reflect the cumulative personalities of those within them, especially their leadership. They tend, unfortunately, to mirror less admirable human traits, developing and protecting self-interest and even ambition. Institutions almost never sacrifice. Since they live by rules, they lack spontaneity. They try to order chaos not in the way an artist or scientist does, through a defining vision that creates structure and discipline, but by closing off and isolating themselves from that which does not fit. They become bureaucratic. The best institutions avoid the worst aspects of bureaucracy in two ways. Some are not really institutions at all. They are simply a loose confederation of individuals, each of whom remains largely a free agent whose achievements are independent of the institution but who also shares and benefits from association with others. In these cases the institution simply provides an infrastructure that supports the individual, allowing him or her to flourish so that the whole often exceeds the sum of the parts. (The Rockefeller Institute was such an institution.) Other institutions avoid the worst elements of bureaucracy by concentrating on a clearly defined purpose. Their rules have little to do with such procedural issues as a chain of command; instead rules focus on how to achieve a particular result, in effect offering guidance based on experience. This kind of institution even at its best can still stultify creativity, but such institutions can execute, can do a routine thing efficiently. They resemble professionals trying to do their jobs and duty; they accomplish their tasks. In 1918 the institution of the federal government had more force than it had ever had—and in some ways more force than it has had since. But it was aiming all that force, all its vital energy, in another direction.”

    John M. Barry
    The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

  103. BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 8:59 am #

    Spanish flu 1918

    Hong Kong flu 1968

    Asoka Virus 2020

    The Grim Reaper makes his rounds about every 50 years, apparently.

    Brh

    • CancelMyCard March 22, 2020 at 9:28 am #

      When you all here refer to the Asoka Virus, is this what you are referring to?

      https://www.worldcat.org/title/edicts-of-asoka/oclc/2028686

      • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:53 am #

        No one of the deep state government trolls had a handle called Asoka.
        Jane was another one.

  104. stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 9:13 am #

    Just we need, a bright comet in the sky to bring out the whackos. Beware Comet ATLAS ! Let’s hope Atlas doesn’t drop that ball he’s holding!
    https://www.livescience.com/comet-atlas-may-be-brightenting.html

    • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 10:52 am #

      RIP

      Don’t forget the plagues of Locust that currently are inundating parts of Africa … it all coming together, as predicted, haha.

      On a happier note, price of gasoline round these parts has dropped below $2 a gallon.

      Brh

      • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 11:32 am #

        Earthquakes seem to be going around also. When the New Madrid rumbles that will be the last straw. Perhaps Yellowstone, Fire and Brimstone my friend. What I don’t get is why the bad actors out there are missing the chance to kick us while we’re down. I would think the swarthy malcontents would not let a good crisis go to waste.

      • elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 12:13 pm #

        “On a happier note, price of gasoline round these parts has dropped below $2 a gallon.”

        BRH,
        Huh…On the left coast our prices just dropped below $3.00/gallon.

        How is your search for a revolver coming? Focusing on any model/caliber?

        • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 1:15 pm #

          El, I got a spot at the local club yesterday. Limited membership. twenty indoor lanes and 3 outdoor ranges. hard to get into. Qualified with my dad’s security six.

        • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 7:35 pm #

          E. Yes, I’ll be going old school and keeping it local

          With a S&W Model 19 .357 mag

          Right now all vendors are out of stock; I’m on the waiting list.

          Brh

  105. stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 9:16 am #

    Welcome to Bizarro World. Interest rates go down. Mortgage rates go up.

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  106. Pucker March 22, 2020 at 9:16 am #

    This Covid 19 crisis could potentially usher in an authoritarian government to reorganize society? Trump could declare a national emergency and assume emergency powers and then arrest people for not wearing his cheap, gaudy red hats, and for the crime of just “mouthing off”?

    “ The United States had entered the war with little preparation in April 1917, and mobilizing the country took time. By the summer of 1918, however, Wilson had injected the government into every facet of national life and had created great bureaucratic engines to focus all the nation’s attention and intent on the war. He had created a Food Administration to control and distribute food, a Fuel Administration to ration coal and gasoline, a War Industries Board to oversee the entire economy. He had taken all but physical control over the railroads and had created a federally sponsored river barge line that brought commerce back to life on the Mississippi River, a commerce that had been killed by competition from those railroads. He had built many dozens of military installations, each of which held at least tens of thousands of soldiers or sailors. He had created industries that made America’s shipyards teem with hundreds of thousands of laborers launching hundreds of ships, dug new coal mines to produce coal for the factories that weaned America’s military from British and French weapons and munitions—for, unlike in World War II, America was no arsenal of democracy. He had created a vast propaganda machine, an internal spy network, a bond-selling apparatus extending to the level of residential city blocks. He had even succeeded in stifling speech, in the summer of 1918 arresting and imprisoning—some for prison terms longer than ten years—not just radical labor leaders and editors of German-language newspapers but powerful men, even a congressman. He had injected the government into American life in ways unlike any other in the nation’s history. And the final extension of federal power had come only in the spring of 1918, after the first wave of influenza had begun jumping from camp to camp, when the government expanded the draft from males between the ages of twenty-one and thirty to those between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Only on May 23, 1918, had Provost Marshal Enoch Crowder, who oversaw the draft, issued his “work or fight” order, stating that anyone not employed in an essential industry would be drafted—an order that caused major league baseball to shorten its season and sent many ballplayers scurrying for jobs that were “essential”—and promising that “all men within the enlarged age would be called within a year.” All men, the government had said, with orders for an estimated thirteen million to register September 12. Crowder bragged about doing “in a day what the Prussian autocracy had been spending nearly fifty years to perfect.”

    John M. Barry
    The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

  107. Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 10:33 am #

    The Middle East doesn’t deserve Trump and his troop ‘repositioning’ – at least have the guts to call it a retreat
    The White House doesn’t have time to worry about Iraq and Afghanistan though. It has yet another war on its hands – against coronavirus

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/coronavirus-trump-iran-iraq-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan-a9412216.html#comments

    “Few can forget the words of Tony Blair’s government aide hours after the World Trade Center was destroyed on 9/11. ‘It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury,’ wrote Jo Moore. Donald Trump obviously thought the same thing.

    “As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps over America, he has ordered US troops to abandon three vital military bases in Iraq – to spare them further attacks from Iranian-supported Iraqi Shia fighters.

    “Trump has always boasted of the need for withdrawals – but this was a retreat. The official line – that the US was ‘repositioning [sic] troops from a few smaller bases’ – was almost as laughable as the final US marine abandonment of Beirut in 1984 after months under fire from Shia militias. Almost four decades ago, the Americans said they were ‘redeploying to ships offshore’.

    As in Napoleon’s ‘redeployment’ from Moscow. Or the British ‘redeployment’ from Dunkirk. Now US forces are going to ‘reposition’ from their bases at al-Qaim, Qayyarah and the K-1 base near Kirkuk in Iraq. As in George Washington’s ‘repositioning’ from Brooklyn Heights in 1776, I suppose, or the British ‘repositioning’ from Kabul in 1842.

    Such strength! That’s what a good father does: protects his little ones from truths that might cause them distress.

    • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 11:03 am #

      I’m a little puzzled, Elrond.

      I thought you wanted us out of the Middle East?

      Basically, anything this president does is open for criticism. But I don’t think he (or any American) cares much about criticism from Canadians. You have your own problems.

      If Trump had suddenly committed more soldiers and Marines to the locations you cited, you’d be criticizing that, too.

      However, since your comment was measured, you do not rate a measure on the Trump ‘Hate-O-Meter’. I don’t know, maybe you aren’t happy abou that?

      Brh

      • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 11:26 am #

        I want more than one thing, BRH, troops (including Canadian troops – we are there too) out of Iraq among them.

        A second thing I want is honesty from politicians. They will never provide that willingly — we have to demand it from them, constantly, and never let up. Since the topic du jour is Trump as ‘the good father’ projecting ‘strength’, that seemed a suitable angle from which to examine this one, single, measly example of him yet again being dishonest. Simple enough, no?

        • benr March 22, 2020 at 11:55 am #

          Honesty from the politicians that’s like people in hell wanting ice water.

        • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 11:56 am #

          You’d have more credibility if you hadn’t called the President “F#ckface” in an earlier post (which earned you a score of ‘8’ on the Trump Hate-O-Meter, incidentally)

          • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 10:14 pm #

            Credibility in your eyes isn’t a criterion for me, BackRowHeckler. As I stated above:

            https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/strength-and-weakness/#comment-476243

            … I wasn’t the one who invented that epithet for Donald Trump. Jon Stewart did. Stewart acted under unasked-for provocation, gave back better than he got, and actually got under Trump’s skin and put him off his game, which I find admirable.

            When civility is helping someone as toxic as Donald Trump, it’s time to tell civility to go fuck itself.

    • JohnAZ March 22, 2020 at 11:11 am #

      As all leaders know, When you have to take a position, there is always going to be a group that will think you are wrong and will oppose you. True leaders execute things in the direction they think is right regardless of what their opponents think.

      Sure, presidents are narcissistic in the eyes of their detractors. FDR was considered narcissistic, as was JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Reagan and Obama. They have to be, to do what they think is right amidst constant beratement by their enemies.

      Trump will be remembered by history as being a strong leader, Un afraid of the detractors and doing what he thinks is right, in spite of the Deep State. He will be condemned by the DS elite as having the courage to tell them all to go to hell.

      One thing to remember, no matter what your belief system is, there is no absolute right or wrong. Even historians will try to condemn the greatest of our national leaders. Identity politics has besmirched the reputations of many of our past leaders. No one is right or wrong, just in charge for awhile.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 11:28 am #

        JohnAZ, this example has nothing to do with a leader taking a position. It’s a leader exercising narrative control to prevent himself from looking bad. All politicians do this, but with Trump it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen, believe me.

        Trump will be remembered by history as a uniquely toxic and destructive human being. Of that I have no doubt at all.

      • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 12:07 pm #

        JohnAZ, one can readily go along with what you say about all president’s being narcissistic to some extent, probably even humble Jimmy Carter.

        The difference is that most of them have tremendous other characteristics to balance things.

        Fat bastard has no balancing characteristics. Erase his narcissism and there is nothing left but a fat tub of almost incoherent, illiterate, selfish, pompous and, friendless tub of lard.

        He will be primarily remembered as the fool on the hill who was pathologically narcissistic. Nothing more, nothing less.

        • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 12:40 pm #

          Fat bastard has no balancing characteristics. – Eve

          ===========

          I will credit him with being a natty dresser.

          • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 3:39 pm #

            Natty?? Samo samo boring togs, are you serious?

            Or was that a typo? You meant nasty?

        • hmuller March 22, 2020 at 10:51 pm #

          Evelyn, your body shaming, playground style attacks upon Trump’s weight place you low on the scale of clever mockers.

          And you’re making all the fat Trump haters feel uncomfortable and indirectly targeted. It’s like thinking I can call Obama a “nigger”, without offending anyone of color because I wasn’t talking about them. You see, it just doesn’t work that way.

          • EvelynV March 23, 2020 at 3:25 am #

            hmuller

            Think of it as me trying to save lives. According to the disease expert whose name I don’t want to bother looking for right now, the US is particularly ripe for the plucking by the grim reaper because obesity greatly jeopardizes the lives of people who get the virus. That means 50% of our population is in deeper trouble than would be otherwise.

            Convert the uncomfortableness of being aware of your fat fuckedness into motivation to mix in a few salads.

    • elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 12:15 pm #

      Elrond,
      Just wait until the USMC…”redeploys” to the Canadian Border. Our teeming masses require Canadian Women and Eskimo Pies….

      • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 10:33 pm #

        elysianfield, I believe the USA still has more moral fiber than its uglier manifestations would suggest. Present company, for example.

    • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 1:29 pm #

      What about Canada’s handling of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic? Sounds like Canucks ain’t doing any better than the US is lol.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 22, 2020 at 10:40 pm #

        It’s not a competition, SoftStarLight. As Sheryl Crow once sang, everybody’s equal in the glow of radiation.

        I don’t want you getting sick. For one thing, I bear you no personal malice. For another, everyone who gets the disease increases the risk that I’ll get it as well, and everyone I know. I hope you’ll take that into consideration.

  108. PeteAtomic March 22, 2020 at 11:20 am #

    What’s the new normal? interview with Michael Osterholm.. worth the read

    http://www.startribune.com/coronavirus-pandemic-what-s-normal-now-what-s-next-an-interview-with-michael-osterholm/568978932/

  109. hmuller March 22, 2020 at 11:23 am #

    Maybe this is nothing more than my paranoid delusions again, BUT…
    Did you notice at Trump’s Saturday White House press conference, the podium was lacking the Presidential seal. In the past the cloth featuring the Presidential seal was always draped on the podium before the President spoke. This time some big guy hung up a cloth that only stated “White House Washington “.

    Has the White House lost all interest in protocol, or is someone sending a subtle signal – like Trump is no longer in charge.

    • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 11:43 am #

      Others had mentioned President Obama with some strange symbols.

      I cant find photos–I searched–Obama sat in white house in chairs that were symbols..they were claw like chairs. ancient symbols some said.

    • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 11:44 am #

      Like Trump is no longer in charge.

      Janos would probably say Israel was always in charge.

    • Tate March 22, 2020 at 1:23 pm #

      Nah, it had to be simple error. The producers of “The Apprentice” would never have made such a mistake & that guy would have been eliminated on the next round.

  110. CancelMyCard March 22, 2020 at 11:34 am #

    And now Mnuchin says they are going to print $4 Trillion to hand out.

    Well, if you think you have been seeing inflation rearing its ugly head for years now,

    you ain’t seen nothing yet.

    When the .gov starts sending everybody checks . . .
    is $20. for a loaf of bread far behind?

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  111. Cavepainter March 22, 2020 at 11:51 am #

    Considering that the US medical delivery system is already overwhelmed by the Covid-19 plague, and with predictions only of a worsening state, here’s my proposal for the DNC and all of its army of virtue signally “wokesters” demanding that ICE’s detention centers free into our society all held illegal aliens on basis that the crowded conditions within those centers add to the detainees’ chance of contagion: SIGN A DOCUMENT expressing that in event of medical emergency due to Covid-19 infection, you decline medical intervention for self and family members so that the medical system will be that much relieved of the additional burden of entitling illegal aliens for treatment.

    • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 1:33 pm #

      This sounds very fair and rational to me. Let’s be sure that participation is mandatory!!!!

  112. elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 12:23 pm #

    Well….

    The headlines on the BBC site, this Am, report that over 300,000 cases of CV in extant worldwide. Two days ago, the number was 200K

    Can you say “exponential growth”?

    Italian victims of the CV are suffering…10% mortality…Spain 9%.

    Many deaths not necessarily in the danger demographic.

    Even Israel is getting smacked.

    Loins should be girded.

    Brace yourself.

    On another site, not necessarily to be trusted, it mentioned that the City of LA will no longer test the average sufferer of the disease…they will be told to go home…to save test kits, I imagine.

    • elysianfield March 22, 2020 at 12:25 pm #

      And…the link;

      https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-51994675

    • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 12:45 pm #

      How about if you’re a Big Hollywood Lefty and have showed up at every Climate Change rally with Jane Fonda? Do you go to the head of the line?

      • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 1:18 pm #

        The way I see it is the 2-4 billion gov. handout is really a bail out for the banks and creditors. Most of that money will go for mortgages, rents, etc. right back into the banksters pockets.

        • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 1:19 pm #

          Trillions with a T!

          • stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 1:35 pm #

            Since I’m not in school today I am practicing my cipherin’. Three trillion dollars or $3,000,000,000,000 bucks in 100 dollar bills US at 6.14 inches each if laid end to end would circle the Earth 116.75 times or to the moon and back 13.21 times give or take since the Earth/Moon distance changes and it happens to be close to perigee today. That my friends is A LOT of C-notes!!!

        • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 10:33 pm #

          Yup, the first time around the banks had houses to take away. This time around they want cash on the barrel head.

    • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 5:35 pm #

      I don’t know about Spain, but Italy’ s number is not correct as they count deaths as Corona deaths even if Corona is a secondary infection.

      The actual Corona stats are lower.

      Fear porn.

  113. AttackSub March 22, 2020 at 1:32 pm #

    The Trump Department of Justice has asked Congress to craft legislation allowing chief judges to indefinitely hold people without trial and suspend other constitutionally-protected rights during coronavirus and other emergencies, according to a report by Politico’s Betsy Woodruff Swan.

    • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 1:39 pm #

      Aren’t there still a ton of Obama people in the DOJ? Do you believe he would sign off on that? On the face of it, it sounds like something Obama would do. Plus the National Guard said this week there isn’t going to be a national quarantine.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 3:38 pm #

        It is a move on a chessboard. Trump will have to sponsor some civil unrest so he can take martial powers.

  114. stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 1:59 pm #

    Our money used to be backed by gold. 3 trillion dollars at today’s gold price of $1498 per troy once would buy 68,628 tons of gold. That would be a block of gold measuring 4214 cubic yards or a cube of gold measuring 45.46 feet on a side. That my friends is a big block of Mofo gold.

    • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 4:49 pm #

      All the gold in the world ever mined could be put in a square block 70’x70′, approximately.

      Greenbacks created on massive web presses in DC (on specialty paper manufactured in nearby Hudson, Mass., incidentally) and, later on, pixels on a screen, is a much more efficient way to spread the $$$ around, Rip.

      But I’ll take gold when I can get it.

      Brh

  115. Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 2:51 pm #

    Hey, if you’re worried about this Virus thing I’ll give you something to REALLY worry about:

    What if our host caught this damn thing and it resulted in the worst possible outcome? The D word. What the hell would we do with ourselves all day and night… and for the rest of our lives? I shudder to think. I don’t see an adequate replacement for Clusterfuck Nation.

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    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 3:14 pm #

      I’d be top dog. I’m not worried. I have a blog and youz all will have to sign up!

      But we have other things to worry about.

      The clown-clothed crowd on average only has $400 in savings. Trump is incompetent and he is going to let things degrade into civil unrest before he takes action to feed people. Chips and dip for three weeks and then big trouble. Trump will comfortably do this because it will allow him to ramrod a suspension of civil liberties as his current justice department request is trying to accomplish. The first step in president for life and a big Big Orange bronze statue in central park 100 feet high.

      American military coup. It may be necessary. Or:

      K-Dog for president.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 3:15 pm #

        And Q will remind me I should have capitalized Central Park.

  116. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 3:59 pm #

    Further, it means that if the ‘right’ part of a socio-economic system is sufficiently compromised (by a financial collapse, major pandemic, natural or environmental disaster, cyber/ hybrid- attack on critical infrastructure, state failure, or synchronous events), critical interdependent societal systems can fail collectively. In a time of always-on economies, of rapid financial flows and Just-In-Time logistics, the process may be rapid. Under certain conditions, this could be global and irreversible.

    K-Dog for President.

  117. JohnAZ March 22, 2020 at 4:28 pm #

    Currently reading the Fourth Turning. I have seen many folks address the concept and sorta understand the premises. I have not seen anyone address it relative to today.

    Here goes. During the past 10 -20 years it is very obvious that we have been in a realm of Unraveling, where individualism overwhelms collectivism. 50% of this country’s inhabitants hate this country an it has been getting worse over the last three years. All you Trump haters are just a reflection of the times now, “I am Supreme, I know best, the group, the country be damned, Trump the representative of the last turning be damned. It is getting to the point that people are actually discussing civil war.

    Well now. What comes next? What happens when things go off the deep end?

    Crisis! You are not going to get your civil war. You are going to get the Coronavirus, the next crisis. Political bullshit is now immaterial. This crisis that is still coming is going to tromp politics into the mud. All the things that have been argued about for the last three years are going to shrink in comparison to the real crisis, the killer plague. All the conspiracies, Russia, China, globalism etc. are going to go away for a while, right?

    Yes, until the crisis passes, which it will, even if it takes a couple of years. The next High will evolve from what institutions survive the crisis. The High will strengthen institutions at the expense of individualism and a “new civic order” will develop to replace the old.

    Who knows how many changes that the new Fourth Turning might bring into being. Trumpism is possibly a forerunner of the crisis, as such it will be replaced with something new. The Dem alternatives in 2020 are no different, representing the same order of things.

    So what may be coming after the crisis? What will the next High be all about, to rally the folks around? Everyone has their own ideas, I’ll bet.

    How about a couple of my ideas,

    China will emerge as the number one economy in the world, in control of most of the manufacturing that makes the world go. The crisis is already showing how weak the US is in competing on the world stage. It’s financial priority setting is going to go down in flames as the house of cards collapses. We may never see the stock market up where it was again for a long time.

    Russia is in the process of using the crisis to drop the price of oil to the point that the frackers, in the face of tightening credit are going to, one by one, go belly up. The USA fossil fuels miracle may just dry up after the current set of wells, “dry up”. Saudi Arabia tried this a few years ago and failed, but our financial situation was better then. So oil may become a problem as we move into the High.

    The millennials are coming into midlife power. Is Bernie a precursor to the High that is coming? Is he a prophet for the future? Are the progressives really the new order that will survive the plague crisis and take us into the next saeculum? The old order elders, the Boomers are going to fade out over the next ten years or so and the Xers and the Millennials are going to assume the lead.

    2020 is the last power gasp of the old order. The new saeculum will advance. Institutions will advance and change to suit the new order.

    The good news is, IMHO, it will be the end of the Deep State as the old order in DC literally dies out and is replaced. The old order, since WW2, will go away. The Progressive movements will assume the mantle of power as the conservative nature of the old order dies with it.

    It is anyone’s guess what form this will take. The idea of individuality responsibility and liberty vs. government autocracy May take a big hit.
    I definitely think that climate change and energy conversion will change a lot. The availability vs, cost of oil is going to change the world. The US and Russia both will be secondary behind China. The effects of geopolitics will change everything. How is anybody’s guess.

    There is my straw man. Everyone get our your pins and get ready to stick them in.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 4:39 pm #

      I have a very sharp pin.

      The current crisis has been the trigger of an economic meltdown which will morph into the long emergency. People are going to run out of money soon and the chump change Trump throws will not go far.

      You started out Adam Curtis, ‘Century of the Self’ style but then you began a non-sequitur pro-Trump rant. That is particularly disturbing because Trump is a narcissist who embodies the century of the self taken to an Orwellian conclusion.

      China is also up shit creek without a paddle. They stock shelves but without jobs shelves can be full or empty but Americans can’t buy. This is a global economic downturn from which humanity will not recover without strong leadership and none of the conventional players have the needed mojo.

      • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 4:59 pm #

        I don’t agree. I think this economy and the markets will recover and restore themselves by late summer.

        There’s plenty of fuel, food supply chains are still open, the lights are on and will stay on. All the basics remain intact.

        And as ‘Pandemics’ go this one is pretty pathetic, 5 dead in the state so far, about the same number of people murdered on any given weekend summer weekend in Hartford and New Haven. When I hear ‘Pandemic’ I think cholera with millions dead, or events in Europe 1348-1350 with half the population wiped out.

        Brh

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 5:05 pm #

          It is your job to sing the happy song.

          • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 5:13 pm #

            I’m usually a pessimist. But this so called pandemic isn’t living up to expectations.

            I think we’ve been had.

            Brh

          • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 6:03 pm #

            Agreed. It isn’t about a virus either. Just the latest page in trying to stamp out the surge in nationalist poliicians.

            All the same players running attacks on the usual suspects.

          • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 6:38 pm #

            Nightowl — it is more devious than if it was planned which it was not. It will be exploited as if it was planned. It is not a matter of reductionism as your analysis suggests. Rather it is an expression of the fundamental dialectic between good and evil.

    • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 10:46 pm #

      You do create a straw man by claiming Trump haters claiming supremacy and all the rest of your bullshit. You don’t have to be any of those things to recognize a turd when you see one. Almost all people of normal intelligence recognize when someone has waded into water that is far over his head. On the other hand, the tools that wave “civil war” in the air are the stooges who wear the red hats with maggot misspelled on the front.

      Wherever the financial power is now will remain there unless this is more than the 4th turning, ie. the 6th extinction.

  118. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 4:45 pm #

    First it useful to acknowledge that the hazards referred to in the opening scenarios are increasingly likely. Po-tentially new pandemic strains are being encouraged by increasing human pressure on the biosphere, whilemass global air transport could aid rapid global transmission. Ecological constraints, presently pre-eminentamongst them are food and oil flows and increasingly the effects of climate change are growing. Stresses inthe credit backing of our financial and monetary systems are arguably increasing, with the additional vulner-ability that such systems are the primary vector through which major ecological constraints in energy andfood would be expressed (Korowicz 2011).

  119. stelmosfire March 22, 2020 at 5:32 pm #

    So I hear many businesses carry “business” insurance or whatever. Trouble is the policies don’t cover pandemics. I can see an epidemic of “electric wiring” fires soon.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 5:36 pm #

      “One week seems to be the maximum tolerance of a Just-In-Time economy”…..before major shut-downs in business and industries would occur.” — Korowicz

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 5:39 pm #

      “So the indications for the UK are that over the first week of the disruption, contagion across supply-chainsand businesses rises relatively slowly. But very soon after that socio-economic disruption rapidly becomevery severe. And then even if the primary cause can return to normal, the economy takes weeks to recover.The studies do not consider what would happen if the primary disruption were to continue for many weeks.”— Korowicz

      Seneca cliff time.

      • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 6:06 pm #

        Nonsense. The indiivduals pushing the fear porn and the shutdown likely know very well what will happen over time.

        I just saw today that they have started boarding up the fancy shops in many parts of Washington, DC.

        They are preparing for civil unrest. Luckily, I have little doubt that Trump and co. know what is likely coming.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 6:33 pm #

          T & Co. will welcome and use it.

          • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 7:01 pm #

            Feel free to make an argument or state something substantive.

            As is, I ain’t got much to work with for a response.

            The fear porn is one-sided.

        • PeteAtomic March 22, 2020 at 6:49 pm #

          I can’t envision the governments in NYC or LA able to keep their teeming masses of people inside for too long.. they’ll get restive pretty quickly I’d imagine

          • hmuller March 22, 2020 at 10:32 pm #

            Maybe we will again see armed Asians protecting their businesses from Americans of color in search of free merchandise.

            I imagine Elrond & crew would chirp in that human life is more important than property. Hence, you should stand aside and let the mob ransack and burn your family business.

          • Elrond Hubbard March 23, 2020 at 10:04 am #

            My purpose is always to direct attention farther up the chain of causation, hmuller, to keep things from getting to that point.

            If I ever have to defend my life against a determined attacker, I’ll do so without pity. Beware the anger of a gentle man.

      • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 10:49 pm #

        A lot of folks who have been living under blue tarps have long since become feral.

        Feral on steroids comes next.

    • Tate March 22, 2020 at 6:43 pm #

      The government can backstop that. Bailouts for every business with business insurance. It’s one of the easier steps to take.

    • Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 10:06 pm #

      I can see an epidemic of “electric wiring” fires soon. – stelmo

      ============

      …which Malthuss will refer to as “Jewish electrical wiring fires.”

  120. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 5:56 pm #

    This is a complex society’s equivalent of a heart attack. When a person has a heart attack, there is a briefperiod during which CPR can revive the person. But beyond a certain point when there has been cascadingfailure in co-dependent life support systems, the person cannot be revived. This means that the socio-eco-nomic system could be changed irretrievably and the job of society and government would be to both man-age the crisis and plot a fundamentally different path.“— Korowicz

    Get some world made by hand action going.

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  121. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 6:06 pm #

    And my reading reaches it’s conclusion:

    “Increasing vulnerability coupled with increasing hazard mean that the risk of a major socio-economic collapse is rising. The commonalities of catastrophic shock outcomes across a range of hazards suggest common risk and resilience planning is urgently required. Further, because of the possibility that a permanent state shift could occur, planning needs to consider how to deal with non-reversion to pre-shock conditions.”

    How is your permanent state shift going? So far mine is going good. It is bright outside and a grey sky holds everything in place. The wind only hints in stirring branches that something dramatic will soon transpire.

    • PeteAtomic March 22, 2020 at 6:36 pm #

      “How is your permanent state shift going?”

      pretty much as same as before this shit happened.. generally avoided other people, spend a lot of the time outdoors away from others, or inside as a homebody.. occasionally get some take out 🙂

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 6:40 pm #

        Sounds good !

      • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 7:21 pm #

        Same here, PA

        As a 3rd shift worker I’m already a ghost.

        Not much has changed for me.

        Brh

    • JohnAZ March 22, 2020 at 6:53 pm #

      You can tell when folks only read half your post.

      That was the point of my last, that we are heading for a saeculum change where a new order is going to replace an old order. I wondered what you thought of some of the changes I speculated. It has been 80 years since the last crisis, WW2, so we are right on schedule.

      BRH

      A crisis is what people make of it. I agree, it is overblown. But it IS overblown. And the response to what is going on will be huge.

      • Nightowl March 22, 2020 at 7:02 pm #

        Indeed. The giveaway is the response, which is entirely out of proportion to the “crisis.”

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 7:45 pm #

        Dead will exceed the Vietnam tally. If you have any stock left sell it tomorrow.

        • hmuller March 22, 2020 at 10:22 pm #

          I agree. One day soon, they’ll close the markets. Can the banks be far behind?

      • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 8:00 pm #

        Let’s wait a couple of months and see what happens. Tough to predict in hyper complex, non-linear systems. In a linear system, two different disruptions doesn’t matter so much. But with non-linear systems, adding a small disruption to the original one can produce effects much, much greater than the combined ‘strength’ of the original disruptions.

        There are many possibilities. Food supply chain, weather, locusts, economy, assassination, etc. Then, catastrophic chaos.

        The one change that MUST come out of this is our dependency on China. A change “in saecula saeculorum”.

      • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 10:59 pm #

        You don’t know if it is overblown or not. A lot of people think Y2K was over blown. Believing in the catastrophe it was to become is what prevented it from becoming so.

        Many physicists who worked on the atomic bomb later believed it was going to be a catastrophe. Believing it, has so far prevented it from being so. Verdict not in on that yet however.

        Is global warming going to be a catastrophe? By the time enough people are convinced, it will be too late.

        Corona virus just nature’s little distraction until the real clean-up party begins. At best.

  122. Majella March 22, 2020 at 6:17 pm #

    Where are you Walter B?

  123. Tate March 22, 2020 at 6:58 pm #

    From the Babylon Bee:

    Stop Using Racist Terminology.

    Instead of: Wuhan virus, it’s Lung pao sicken

    Instead of Black Death, it’s Death of color

    Instead of Indian giver, it’s Elizabeth Warren

    Instead of Canadian bacon, it’s Geopolitically irrelevant, inferior bacon

    Instead of Mexican jumping beans, it’s Latinx acrobatic moth larvae

  124. tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 7:24 pm #

    If the creeping crud gets me and if I enter the pearly gates, somebody is going to be held accountable and it won’t be me only. I will have to put God’s feet to the fire and ask, “Why do you torture us so?” Isn’t sadism Satan’s realm?” Heaven’s Vault will thunder and rumble with the tired, old answer, “It’s all part of God’s plan!”

    “And what plan might that be”, I humbly inquired, as I was immediately jettisoned to the horrors of Hades. I began to burn up with my fury but after awhile I became reconciled. After all, at least here I know what the plan is.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 7:48 pm #

      Torture you? You wanted to go your own way and I let you. You tortured yourself. Burn till you listen.

      • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 8:14 pm #

        Back up your J tone. How did I do so? You don’t have the power, although it delights you to think so. You’re also selling expired woof tickets. No sale. Burn? I can always stand the heat. C’mon, turn up the flame!

    • Tate March 22, 2020 at 8:53 pm #

      Fire & brimstone is just a metaphor for the horrors that await you.

  125. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 7:50 pm #

    https://www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/china-home-covid-19-turns-mask-diplomacy-burnish-image

    No help coming to America. Trump is afraid of catching the Chinese flu from the medical supplies. For real.

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  126. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 7:55 pm #


    Jack Ma, cofounder of the Chinese tech giant Alibaba. Ma’s philanthropic organization, the Jack Ma Foundation, said early Friday morning it would donate 500,000 Covid-19 testing kits and 1 million protective face masks to the US. The action comes after US health authorities have struggled for weeks to test people for the new coronavirus, falling far behind testing rates in other developed countries like Italy and South Korea.

    The crisis presents a huge challenge to all humankind in a globalized world,” Ma said in a statement published to Twitter just after midnight on the East Coast. “The pandemic we face today can no longer be resolved by any individual country. Rather, we need to combat the virus by working hand in hand. At this moment, we can’t beat this virus unless we eliminate boundaries to resources and share our know-how and hard-earned lessons.” The Jack Ma Foundation says it has already contributed supplies to other countries combating the coronavirus, including Japan, Korea, Italy, Iran, and Spain.”

    Come here, to this gate. Mr. Trump, open this gate. Mr. Trump, tear down this wall.”

    • Tate March 22, 2020 at 8:50 pm #

      A publicity stunt. The Wuhan virus should be called the Chicom virus.

  127. Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 8:07 pm #

    Watch it and weep:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o77Sgd_-EsE

    • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 8:18 pm #

      I didnt watch and I didnt weep. I did read the comments…all of them Trump haters. yawn.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 8:30 pm #

        He is an idiot who is killing people.

  128. Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 8:17 pm #

    At the corona virus news conference today some reporter asked about senators dumping stocks with insider knowledge. Trump’s retort was how much money he lost being president. “Billions and billions of dollars,” he said. During the news conference where the American people were waiting to hear what’s being done to combat the pandemic. Even then we have to hear about Trump. Surely there must be a film of Trump at a funeral talking about himself. The man is so tone deaf the entire symphony could be out of tune and he wouldn’t notice.

    • malthuss March 22, 2020 at 8:19 pm #

      if there was anything of value said at CVC, post tomorrow.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 8:34 pm #

      I’m watching the windbag. How is it I can go from nothing to knowing ten times as much about COVID as Trump in one week but he gets to be a decider.

      K-Dog for president

      • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 9:02 pm #

        Sorry, I can’t vote for Deputy Dawg. Now dog catcher, and I’m first in line! “I’ll hound ’em and impound ’em” can be your slogan.
        LOL.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:11 pm #

          Trump does not understand the gravity of the situation. He does not understand that he should be taking strong action on the order of California and Washington.

          IT IS A NO-BRAINER if you had at least 12th grade science and civic education. Trump apparently does not even know America had a pandemic before. Trump continues to believe that with half-assed solutions this little problem will go away. Trump is full of shit. We should be under martial law and figuring out how to keep food and essential services functioning. This is not a time for Wall Street to think moving zeros around is going to fix things.

          Trump is reactionary but proactive action is needed. Trump is weak. K-Dog for president.

          • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 11:24 pm #

            He kept going downhill after his early optimism bias. When you have to read, eyes down and say out loud to the country in a droning monotone that “we are all in this together”, you have nothing from within.

            I have been critical of Trump in this situation particularly.

            We need national lockdown and martial enforcement.

            I guess we’ll battle for the top spot. We need spurs, not dogs.

      • benr March 23, 2020 at 8:46 am #

        Same reason the last guy talked about a red line and the other side crossed it then nothing happened.
        Or how they all but destroyed two more countries and all the people who howled for Bush and Cheney’s heads were good with the same type of war crimes they cried about with their guy.
        People are crazy, politics makes them crazier.

    • BackRowHeckler March 22, 2020 at 9:04 pm #

      Well, he donates his salary to select worthy causes.

      Where do you donate your salary?

      • Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 9:08 pm #

        People who gave to the Trump Foundation used to believe that too till they shut it down in 2019. Sorry but with this guy I need to see receipts, notarized.

        • benr March 23, 2020 at 8:47 am #

          Good thing you don’t matter and no one cares what you think.

        • Nightowl March 23, 2020 at 10:19 am #

          Ah yes, the TF “scandal”

          It was most amusing watching rabid anti-Trump grifter and ex-NY AG Eric Scheidermann resign after being accused of abusing women in a basement sex dungeon.

          The TF misappropriated a few funds for misdirected legal fees and shut down, as Trump had stated it would do anyways (given his new position) way back in 2016.

          LOL.

          • Majella March 25, 2020 at 5:24 am #

            Apologist. What a fucking pathetic ‘defence’.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:13 pm #

        As much time he spends playing golf it would be criminal not to.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:22 pm #

          He is a very disingenuous and dishonest man.

          • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:33 pm #

            Trump should be using the D.P.A. and he does not know shit about Venezuela.

  129. K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:18 pm #

    This is bigger than just fighting the virus. We instantly have 10% unemployment and the economy is shut down. The longer it is down the harder it will be to start up. Cascading system failure is a real possibility. Pence does not get it and needs to expand his scope.

    KDFP

  130. Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 9:43 pm #

    651 dead in 24 hours in Italy. In 2017, 3,378 people died in road accidents in Italy.
    Corona Virus: 651
    Car Crashes:9.11
    Yeah they’re comparable. Trump supporters are mathematically challenged it’s true, but I did not think they were brain dead.

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    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 9:51 pm #

      Laissez-faire is no way to fight a pandemic. They are brain dead and are lying to cover up that they have egg on their face. KDFP

      • beantownbill. March 22, 2020 at 9:58 pm #

        Are you gonna run? Last week you said no. If so, I just may vote for you. And if you are running, I’ll give you a pass on your nasty Trump comments.

        • Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 10:10 pm #

          Nasty-highly unpleasant, especially to the senses; physically nauseating.
          I think you and your president need a new adjective-one that makes sense linguistically. I purposely did not put Trump’s name in the same sentence as linguistic. Didn’t want to shock the English language. It’s been through a lot lately.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 10:11 pm #

          I fear I am the best choice.

          • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 11:26 pm #

            Spurs, not dogs.

    • EvelynV March 22, 2020 at 11:05 pm #

      I’ve thought they were brain dead for a long time, what made you so skeptical?

  131. Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 9:56 pm #

    Remember when Republicans were Eagle Scouts who wanted to be prepared. “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best,” has changed with this guy. “Prepare for the best, and fuck the worst. It don’t apply to us.” Trump has got the whole world in those tiny hands, and all he can think about is a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

  132. Vinnie the Vintner March 22, 2020 at 10:34 pm #

    Geeez. Let me start a go-f-me page to save CFN so I don’t revert to K-dog blog.

    Everyone is coming to your site should something happen to CFN?

    And you dare call anyone else a narcissist?

    I’d rather watch Catdog cartoons than have a fireside chat with you. I’m going back to work. My third job’s third shift is getting ready to start, but you already told me I was full of shit.

    You won’t last two weeks when the SHTF. Try being nice, Dog. Might just save your ass one day.

    • Vinnie the Vintner March 22, 2020 at 10:37 pm #

      You could put a thousand faces on this video and the message would be the same.

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wtrcc9UoqoQ

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:01 pm #

        Your video, 58 views in 9 years?

      • Majella March 23, 2020 at 4:11 am #

        1:35 of my life wasted…

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 10:58 pm #

      That is hardly fair. I’d be a narcissistic if I just through up a WordPress site with a slick skin. My site is written from scratch and all all by me. All the HTML, all the PHP, all the JavaScript. I have been at it a long time an if you want a narcissistic i’ll give you this:

      I have one of the most original websites on the web. Everything is written by me. From the ground up to the content.

      That should make you happy. I don’t use blogSpot Wix or any other framework except that which I have written myself. If you know how to use Google Dev tools you can look at my javaScript. I see know reason to minimize my code so far so you can look at it all.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:16 pm #

        no reason

      • Vinnie the Vintner March 22, 2020 at 11:31 pm #

        K-Dog. You intimated in no uncertain terms I was full of shit when I said I worked three jobs. That was about thirty years ago and I still have the 1099’s and W-2’s. What if I said I have CD’s at 3%? (Not for long). Maybe I have SNP puts with statements to prove it. Maybe I don’t, but when you start a conversation with me by calling me a liar, well, that just don’t sit too well with me. And it is about me, remember?

        Honestly, I have looked at your site for several years. Very well written and composed. Straight forward and honest. I like your website. Why would I not look at your site going forward? Simple. I no longer have to deal with mean people or assholes. I did troll you, though. ROTFLMAO!

        Ok, I am bottling five gallons of Cab Sav/Petite Verdot 80/20 fermented blend tomorrow and I will make a peace offering. Get Jim to send me your physical address and I will send you a bottle as a gift. Why? I want us all to get along.

        Cheers!

        • benr March 23, 2020 at 8:41 am #

          Dude look at the guys posts and ask yourself do you care what the keyboard warrior thinks or posts?

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:25 pm #

      I do remember that. If it bothers you I’ll apologize. This is a tough crowd and if you are not tough you will get eaten alive as your ‘I’d rather watch Catdog cartoons than have a fireside chat with you. demonstrates so well. You do have the stuff.

      What I am apologizing for is going after you because of the personality portrayal you were or what I thought you were attempting to render.

      Three jobs at 8 hours a job is 24 hours a day. That leaves 48 hours a week for all your sleeping eating living and commuting. I was calling bullshit because I think you were wanting to play the fiddle. If I came down to hard, and I do remember in fact I did, I am sorry about that. About being nice. I try, but it is a tough crowd.

      OK ?

      • tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 11:29 pm #

        And it’s gonna get tougher!

      • Vinnie the Vintner March 22, 2020 at 11:44 pm #

        Ok. We’re good. You be safe out there.

  133. wwg1wga March 22, 2020 at 10:45 pm #

    Autarky: If your time to you is worth savin.’

    http://www.got-truth.com/docs/Autarky.pdf

  134. Cargill March 22, 2020 at 10:57 pm #

    The reason why the coronavirus is out of control in the United States is that Donald Trump is incapable of leading the nation.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:12 pm #

      Correctamundo. It spreads silently between people who don’t show symptoms and since cases in most states are few, the orange idiot does not understand that the small numbers only delay the exponential rise for a few days. Trump flunked math I think. The inability to understand the exponential rise means Trumps response will always be too little too late.

      Because of Trump being an imbecile hundreds of thousands may die who would otherwise live to see a vaccine. Or at least they would live long enough so they could get intensive care when a roll of the dice brought up their number. But trump only reacts. He is primitive.

      Trump does not understand that virus is zoonotic and that it has now entered the global reservoir. Isle-B-back means more than where Schwarzenegger goes to get his TP now.

      KDFP

      • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 11:26 pm #

        He could have done more but the CDC, media, and basically all levels of government dismissed the threat of the virus through January and February as well and encouraged the public not to worry. No one really was taking this seriously until two weeks ago at best. I’m not buying it. He does shoulder blame but not what you are saying. Most of the “experts” have gotten this wrong so far. And he admits he ain’t no scientist.

        • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:37 pm #

          Please, my liver is trembling and you just did it. You are cruel. I watched the whole thing you know.

          Do you think that was easy for me to do? An hour of Trump. I had to put video on pause a few times because I was starting to hyperventilate. At least at the end of the show when lies began being served up in an endless stream of verbal diarrhea I could tell which way was up and down again.

          Trump’s 2019 CDC proposed budget cut was 12%.

          So exactly when did he stop beating his wife?

          As POTHUS I’ll give the CDC everything it needs. But hey, Trump is doing that too now!

        • Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 11:44 pm #

          Jesus. Trump re-writing history is contagious. Everything you wrote is a lie.

          • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 12:05 am #

            It is almost like the Ministry of Disinformation is hard at work around here sometimes. Like there could be a connection. But a person who though there was a connection would have to be crazy or have made a deep dive into the techniques of propaganda. And who does that? They would have to have hung around this place for years to have seen the changes.

            They would have to know about the early history of Propaganda with Eddie Bernays and Walter Lippman and about the CIA tools revealed by WikiLeaks. A person would have to know about how the Battle of Algiers shaped the way America would come to fight terrorism in the 21’st century. They would have to have been a direct target of surveillance and psyop fuckification so that they would know with 100% certainty that American reality is not what the common herd thinks it is at all.

            That is only a smattering of what someone would have to know. A rare animal.

      • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 3:50 am #

        Sure, the polio epidemic in 1955 was Ike’s fault, and the HK flu in 1968 was the fault of LBJ. Got it.

        Brh

    • SoftStarLight March 22, 2020 at 11:19 pm #

      And coronavirus is not out of control in Australia? Check again. Your epidemic is spiraling out of control. I’m shocked at all of the hubris. Despite all the rhetoric no society is ready for things like this. Some may cope better than others. Could he have done more? Well yeah! And so can everybody else looking back in the rearview mirror. The most important lesson is that unrestricted international travel and open borders are lethal and nation ending practices.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:39 pm #

        He knows, you must have misinterpreted. It happens.

    • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 3:52 am #

      Why is it out of control in Australia? As if you’re in Australia.

    • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 7:57 am #

      Trump haters are coming out of the woodwork.

      Hate-O-Meter can’t keep up.

      Hate overload! Hate overload!

  135. Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 11:35 pm #

    The futures are pointing to another nasty day in the markets tomorrow.

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    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:44 pm #

      How could it not be. Trump says don’t worry be happy cuz we have Ventalators-R-Us now. But the death map says 417 for the US and climbing fast. Supply lines are going to shut down and before a month goes by Trumps inaction will result in martial law.

      That is not good for your 401K.

      • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:50 pm #

        Ventilators-R-Us

        • SoftStarLight March 23, 2020 at 12:12 am #

          Hey ssshhhh!! Guess what? We’re already basically under martial law. He’s a step ahead on that. For now its a nice ask. Be a good citizen and shelter in place. Soon it may not be an ask but a command. It all depends on the death rate.

  136. tucsonspur March 22, 2020 at 11:41 pm #

    Why haven’t we been prepared ever since the previous outbreaks, going back to Obama?

    The richest, most powerful nation on earth, with supposedly the best medical system in the world and we can’t handle this.

    Why? No vision, no prescience, for anything but profit.

    Trump hasn’t done well here, and neither has our system of health care.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:46 pm #

      Truth be told, Obama put plans in place and Trump got rid of them.

    • Laundromat Blues March 22, 2020 at 11:47 pm #

      Hasn’t done well here. And a Cat 5 hurricane is a little bad weather.

      • tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 12:19 am #

        Well, maybe. Hasn’t done well covers a lot of ground.

    • SoftStarLight March 23, 2020 at 12:04 am #

      I agree. I’m disappointed. But can any healthcare system deal with exponential growth? The growth of new cases is scary. If we would have closed the borders and stopped all international flights when we found out about it in January things would be better. The quarantines for returning Americans should have been mandatory for a month. So many lost opportunities! Once it spreads locally its just mitigation like where we are now.

      • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 12:55 pm #

        What you had to do early was a lot of testing, and a lot of contact tracing, backed up with quarantine. Didn’t happen … too late now.

    • benr March 23, 2020 at 8:39 am #

      Never let an emergency go to waste!

    • Cargill March 23, 2020 at 12:52 pm #

      The richest, most powerful nation on earth, with supposedly the best medical system in the world and we can’t handle this.

      I hate to break it to you, but most of the rest of the civilised world thinks your health system is the worst.

  137. Q. Shtik March 22, 2020 at 11:42 pm #

    Anyone who believes they would make a great President, regardless of party, is automatically disqualified by that belief in my eyes.

    • K-Dog March 22, 2020 at 11:48 pm #

      I fear I am the best choice expresses sufficient humility. My party is my own. KDFP

    • Vinnie the Vintner March 23, 2020 at 12:10 am #

      Here is the problem. Tried local politics. I led the R ballot. Just so you all know. Was a D, then R, now “I”. Got on the board and suggested we send one or two to national convention. 60% dems/40% R. Everyone balked. “We’ve been going on these trips for years and we see no reason to stop these informative trips now.” Sending ten people on a five hour flight four four days times three time a year is a lot of jack. Never mind that we just laid off 150 teachers aides. But it’s all about the children.

      Outnumbered 11-1. They all hated me for asking questions. I resigned in protest for other reasons and had reporters in my driveway the next day. ACLU emailing me the next day. Atheists emailing me. All wanting interviews. Fuck you! I stood up for freedom. The extremists had me surrounded on both sides. That’s why I took my toys and went home.

      • Vinnie the Vintner March 23, 2020 at 12:27 am #

        Postscript. I don’t run from a fight, but when the board attorney says their O&D insurance won’t cover me if we get sued as individuals, I’m gone.

  138. tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 12:43 am #

    You just can’t tell what will happen, so this happens:

    https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/coronavirus-fears-spur-shoppers-to-wait-in-2-hour-line-for-firearms-212718224.html

    I’m stocked with double stack capacity auto’s, a shotgun, Ar-15, and some sly little stingers like the Ruger LCP .380.

    Damn, I sure hope it doesn’t come to using any, but who the hell knows where this will take us?

    • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 3:46 am #

      Nice.

      • tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 4:32 am #

        Hey, thanks Brh. A lot of people still aren’t taking this seriously enough.Our numbers are still pretty low here, but growing, and last I heard a big swap meet was still scheduled to be held here.

        The governor of Oklahoma is taking selfies with groups of people.
        Frolicking Spring breakers, etc.

        I’ve heard two epidemiologists(?) today say that if we don’t control this soon, we could be seeing 3-4 thousand deaths a day in a few months. Italy is getting near a thousand a day, I hear.

        As you say, this could get ugly. Really, really ugly.

  139. BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 4:11 am #

    Working on the final tally as to who came out on top in this weeks Trump Hate-O-Meter. Anectodally, I would say its K-Dog based on the sheer volume of posts; when it comes to deranged nastiness, Elrond gets the not. In this instance I think its gonna be quality over quantity, we’ll see.

    A Canadian might be the champ. (With a nod to Laundrymat blues and Evelyn)

    Brh

    • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 5:48 am #

      I did not think telling the truth about the orange pig was a competition.

      • benr March 23, 2020 at 8:33 am #

        Your truth is not the truth merely opinion.
        You should read that several times until it sinks in.
        No need for the rolled up newspaper or the shock collar I believe in praise and chicken jerky treats as rewards but you have to get something right to get the treat.

    • Elrond Hubbard March 23, 2020 at 10:00 am #

      I welcome your hatred, BRH, and will continue trusting my own judgement over yours.

      • Elrond Hubbard March 23, 2020 at 10:02 am #

        Correction: I should say derision, not hatred. Any incivility should have a constructive purpose, and this had none. Please accept my apology.

  140. Cargill March 23, 2020 at 4:53 am #

    Happy Colorectal Awareness Month, everybody ¬— in case you’re wondering why it feels like fate shoved a four-by-four up your nether region where the sun don’t shine. Millions around the country must be stunned at how bad this suddenly is. And every new morning seems worse than the last:

    Friday the Thirteenth meets Groundhog Day.

    Really? I hardly think so … the potential impact of the coronavirus has been known for weeks. It’s just that the PTB haven’t found it convenient to tell the people the truth. Why am I not surprised?

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    • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 5:55 am #

      Ya know. As we await fresh meat it is worth noting that JHK lost us when he foolishly compared Trump to a father figure and I quickly forgot the beauty with which he had begun this current installment. The paragraph you quote. God-damn, it does feel like a two by four.

      • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 5:57 am #

        4 x 4

  141. Cargill March 23, 2020 at 5:00 am #

    This is our hard time. If you ever needed God, or some human representation of the good father, this would be the occasion; someone to guide and reassure you and inspire you to do your best under difficult circumstances. For the time being, America has Donald Trump.

    What a very sad sad position to be in … the world’s greatest grifter. My goodness.

    • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 5:42 am #

      He’s got feet down below his knees. If this daddy holds you in his armchair, he will make you feel his disease.

      • tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 5:53 am #

        Will they ‘come together’?

    • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 5:48 am #

      What position are you in?

      In Australia, ahahaha?

      Scott Morrison has the wisdom of Solomon, and the iron will of Bismark?

      Brh

  142. K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 5:59 am #

    Ho ho hey hey what happened to your 401 K.

    • BackRowHeckler March 23, 2020 at 6:21 am #

      KDog it sounds like you’re taking delight in people’s financial losses. Is that the case?

      Brh

  143. tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 6:01 am #

    James Bullard at the St. Louis Fed says unemployment could reach 30%. If some of these egghead medical people are right about their projections, it’ll go much higher.

    • K-Dog March 23, 2020 at 6:20 am #

      But don’t forget dead people don’t need jobs.

      • tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 6:26 am #

        That’ll help!

      • stelmosfire March 23, 2020 at 8:25 am #

        Vlad has posted a job offering for cart pushers over at Bring=out=yer=dead.com

    • tucsonspur March 23, 2020 at 6:22 am #

      March 17
      “I’ve always known this is a real — this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
      — Donald Trump

      Jan 30
      “We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you.”
      — Donald Trump

      Feb 25
      “We have contained this. I won’t say airtight, but pretty close to airtight. We have done a good job in the United States.”
      — Larry Kudlow

      ‘It’s only words and words are all I have
      To take your fear away…’

  144. SoftStarLight March 23, 2020 at 9:46 am #

    It’s too late already. And its too far gone. Let it all crash and burn!

    • tucsonspur March 24, 2020 at 3:04 am #

      That feeling is certainly understandable right now. Feel better, look at the stars as they look upon you.

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