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Re: Unclean! Unclean! The Chinese Sneeze!, by L. Neil Smith
The article by L. Neil Smith and the one by Sarah Hoyt “A State of Madness” reflect what I’m seeing at the local Walmart where it is becoming next to impossible to get some basic necessities like toilet paper and cleaning supplies. It truly is a state of madness and people really need to chill the hell out because this unnecessary sacking of supermarket shelves is going to make this crisis far worse than it ought to be.
Mainly because the last minute preppers are stressing the supply chains and causing stores like Walmart that used to be open 24 hours a day to close their doors between 11:00 PM and 6:00AM so the night crews can get their restocking and cleaning done without having to work around the crowds that would surely converge to intercept the the new supplies that get put out during the night. I will never complain about the bare shelves here and there or areas roped off for cleaning ever again when things return to normal. In addition to the bare shelves that have spread from the toilet paper and cleaning isles to meat, bread and canned goods etc. Talk about heights of ridiculousness! I did a little prepping for Y2K and also in the days following the economic crisis in 2008 and I learned the distinction between a preppier and a hoarder—the latter is someone who runs out at the last minute when a winter storm or nuclear strike is incoming and cleans out the store shelves. I was thinking about rebuilding my stockpile of canned goods and other foodstuffs with long shelf life but lately I’ve more or less been shopping to get what I need for the week like most normal sane people and now the panic stricken mobs who really ought to own some of the responsibility for allowing themselves to be manipulated and stampeded by media sensationalism and hacks looking to lay blame and influence the outcome of the upcoming election are making things more difficult, annoying and even more dangerous.
By forcing stores to limit hours, they are forcing more shoppers into a narrower time window that is going to increase opportunities for transmission of the virus. That on top of the crowding and I’d presume the long lines formed by these morons waiting for the doors to open in the morning. Also the shortage of cleaning supplies this is creating. The dispensers for germicidal wipes provided to sanitize shopping carts at the front door were empty when I walked in so I grabbed a hand basket which I figured would be sanitized by store employees as Walmart usually bends over backwards to assure the safety and health of customers. It would be nice if I could buy one container of Clorox wipes to replace the one in my kitchen that will soon run out. Or a bottle of bleach—which I use alternately with iodine to sterilize water bowls for critters and could use in lieu of wipes to sanitize surfaces in my kitchen and elsewhere. One meme that really needs to be propagated is that those who buy up and hoard these supplies—or to sell at ridiculously inflated prices on eBay or Amazon are going to contribute to the spread of this disease because other people will run out and won’t be able to get them. It’s also compelling people to make multiple visits or run around to other stores to get stuff that they could have gotten at one time and place and that’s increasing opportunities for spreading the Coronavirus around.
I’m curious enough to wonder what I might see if I get up early and drive by the store front at opening hour? I’m not going in if there are long lines or big crowds. It’s not worth the risk of infection or the aggravation. I don’t want to say it will serve them right because it goes against ethics of the health care profession that is dedicated to doing no harm to wish sickness upon someone—but lining up to fight over rolls of toilet paper and canned goods and loaves of bread during an outbreak of a contagious and potentially fatal disease is asking for trouble.
My shopping trip this evening was like something out of the former Soviet Union with its legendary bare store shelves. But I consider it better to pick over what’s left after the crowd thinned out in the late evening than go when it was more crowded and have increased risk of exposure. I do take this seriously—even if it’s probably not going to be the second coming of the 1918 influenza. I used to be a little more caviler about it at first but now two ER physicians (not my hospital or region) ended up fighting for their lives in the ICU. So I’m not counting on getting a mild case and acquiring herd immunity and I’m taking sensible precautions like wearing gloves and masks when in close proximity to patients. I’m also limiting my contact with people outside of work—which isn’t really that much of a change because apart from there I’m pretty much a loner and spend most of my time tweaking my Florida Room and the outdoor pond season is starting and the majority of the turtle flock will be soon waking up. I always have plenty to keep me busy here.
Jeff Fullerton
[email protected]
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Before I retired I used to point out that the free market was more democratic than democracy. For this concept we will define democracy as majority rule with the protection of minority rights.
The example I would use is Senior class t-shirts. You gather the senior class together and let them vote on what colors they want for their shirt. Using my old high school colors here (I suggest using the school colors you’re at if you use this as a teaching example) the kids can have a black shirt with red logo or red with black logo. The majority vote red on black and everyone gets black shirts with a red logo. Yay class unity, a democratic choice is made.
In the market place most people get a red on black shirt for twelve bucks, for two extra the largest minority get black on red. But wait, there’s more. The kids in ROTC and a few others get camo patterned tees with olive drab logos for an extra four and for twenty even some hippy types get tie dyed shirts with paisley logos that would scare Lucille Kropotkin.
More democratic than democracy.
Apparently people are voting with their pocket books about how they really feel about guns. They like them, especially in a crisis. There has been a run on guns and ammo as the gravity of the situation with Corvid-19 sinks in. (Whether it is the actual seriousness of the illness or simply awareness and anxiety over the disruptions in daily life efforts to contain its spread is a case of six of one and a half dozen of the other.) People deal with a crisis by gunning up.
People who told a pollster they supported banning AR’s and AK’s are buying them. By the way, they want thirty round magazines or bigger, thank you much. Bloomie and others take note. Sadly, when things settle down, as they will until the next time, many of these people will vote anti-gun again.
Hopefully these new gun enthusiasts will take the time to learn safe gun handling skills and basic marksmanship. More importantly, hopefully they will remember what it felt like to justifiably feel a need for a gun and remember that not having much use for guns does not mean not knowing how to use them (to paraphrase Quigley Down Under and the latest version of Shaft.)
We are not digging out of bomb shelters in 30 days. Our infrastructure will be mostly intact as will be our work force and supply will easily catch up with demand as we come out of our houses and people return to work.
The S will HTF again so prepare but don’t be silly about it. For example, I am having to miss range time, so I bought a box of .40 snake charmers and an extra box of .40 social ammo. Buy just a little extra and put it away.
The government is threatening to send money to help cope with the crisis to people. If you choose to cash the check remember to spend the money with local vendors if possible.
The Democratic campaign just lost its airtime. Remember they are totally anti gun, all of them, Oat best one would disarm us slowly, the other in a hurry. One wants to impose Socialism immediately, the other wants to do so slowly.
General Elections are in November Things should be back to abnormal by then. Vote.
A.X. Perez
[email protected]
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The Corona Panicdemic
It's a con job. Having read all the MSM's predictable hysteria and downright lies, and all the leftist, rightist and even libertarian paranoid psychotic drivel, the facts that remain are as follows:
1) The Corona virus is not a serious threat to anyone but infants, the elderly (over 70) and people with pre-existing conditions which have lowered their immune systems. Imagine those with AIDS, for example.
2) The epicentres of it are: one province of China, and the north of Italy. The MSM would have you believe that it's killing all the Chinese, but it's only in one province and the number of deaths has been low there. "But THOUSANDS (may have) died in Henan!" I hear you say. Tens of MILLIONS live there, however, and when you consider the total population of China is in the BILLIONS, it's ridiculous to get panicked by manipulated numbers. The rhinovirus ("common cold") kills 10,000 people every year, but where's the hysteria?
And who are the "Italians" dying? They're refugees from various parts of Africa and the Levant who flocked to the north of Italy because that's where the jobs are. Most of those folks don't share our (allegedly) high standards of personal hygiene as a consequence of which many, many of them arrived with... TB. [Interestingly, no native Italians have died from Corona unless they had pre-existing immune system problems and came into contact with infected refugees.]
3) Tuberculosis (TB) killed between 1.5 and 1.7 MILLION people the world over just last year. And do you remember H1N1 Swine flu and Avian flu? Did they go away? Nope. So far this calendar year, together they have verifiably killed a combined total (the last I looked) of around 25,000 people in the USA alone.
4) Even most of those who have weakened immune systems and who contract Corona do not die; typically they get sick with "the 'flu" and recover. This is a non-epidemic and it's only a pandemic in the same way that the common cold is. It's more of a panicdemic.
5) "But we need the government to keep us SAFE!" bleat the Canadian sheeple. Shutting down the economy and quarantining people like my good friend Shari, who desperately needs gall bladder surgery (it was cancelled because the hospitals are entirely devoted to chasing the Corona bogeyman) is a direct menace to their health. Meanwhile, the doctors' offices are besieged by people who have the sniffles, as are the ERs of the hospitals. [I am having a lot of hay fever lately, and must constantly assure people that it's only an allergy to pollen and not contagious.]
Postponing vitally needed surgery and other medical treatments is not keeping us "safe", folks, so smarten up and tell the governments to back off.
I love my fellow Canadians, but I wouldn't want to marry one. Besides, been there, done that, and mucked it up badly.
6) Vaccines are worthless at best, and often quite harmful. Any "vaccine" they want to experiment with is always going to be outdated because viruses mutate way faster than "medical science" and its pals in Big Pharma can move.
7) At least one good thing will likely result from the terror; people may quit the disgusting habit of hand shaking and more will think to wash their hands after going to the loo. Or so one hopes.
In conclusion: don't worry, be happy.
yours for Peace and Liberty,
Manuel Miles, aka Kaptain Kanada
[email protected]
"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child."—Cicero
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CoronaVirus comment
Now that we have another government-forged crisis that seems pretty formidable, the fit, as Larry Elder often says, is hitting the shan.
Why is it that for every crisis, 99 percent of them government created, there are dozens if not hundreds of nasty little tin-pot dictators waiting in the wings to "take over" and make life miserable for those of us who simply want to live our lives and do what we enjoy. Enjoyment, from the point of view of these shit-heels is not a part of the game.
As was the chant of their ilk in antebellum America, we're to simply "haul that barge and tote that bale." No room for personal enjoyment in that scenario.
The various and sundry gubers, alcaldes and other stahlhelm wearers are of a voice in their shouts that all enjoyment must be stamped out.
They've shut down professional sports, movie theaters, concerts, restaurants, pubs, bars, night clubs libraries, schools (no great loss), many workplaces and any other place where individuals can enjoy each others' company.
Meanwhile, regulatory agencies hinder, squelch and prohibit innovators from developing cures for this government-inspired illness.
Government must be removed, bone and feather, from medicine. There is no room for bumbling, essentially malevolent oafs in a crucially important discipline (a bureaucrat with discipline?) as medicine.
Wayne Grantham
[email protected]
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