Last summer, cable personality Tucker Carlson started doing a bit where he claimed to believe in things like extra-terrestrials, or at least believe they are possible. He would go through a list of things that he used to think were impossible, then finish with how in a world where Donald Trump is president, anything is possible. The point was not to talk about little green men, but to highlight how our old assumptions have to be abandoned, because many of them have been proven false by events.
It is a good thing to keep in mind when evaluating predictions about what comes after the great lock down. Trump is no longer talking about Easter as the back to normal date and has extended the lock down through April. Governors are now in a race to see who can come up with the bleakest prediction for when things get back to normal. The Brits now lead the race with six months as their estimate. This is an unprecedented time, which means what was considered unthinkable is very thinkable.
For example, ten years ago most Americans assumed the political classes had learned a hard lesson from Watergate. They had let the security services run wild for too long and suddenly they were a threat to the politicians. The days of a J. Edgar Hoover spying on people were over. Not only was that false, but there was a plot among FBI officials to interfere in the presidential election. They went so far as to concoct an impeachment trap in order to remove Donald Trump.
Six months ago is was unthinkable that these same security agencies would have the president removed by some other means. Six month ago we did not have a third of the country hiding under their beds. We did not have major cities turned into ghost towns by quarantine orders. How unreasonable is it to think that the same people who launched the seditious plot in 2015 would find themselves a Lee Harvey Oswald? It sounds crazy, but we live in an age where the crazy quickly becomes the norm.
What about something less cloak and dagger like martial law? State governors are getting pretty close to the line between state of emergency and assuming dictatorial powers over their states. New Jersey is supposedly issuing travel passes to citizens and arresting people for gathering in their own homes. Los Angeles has suspended the second amendment. Trump has contemplated a Federal quarantine of New York City, which would probably mean troops on the streets to enforce it.
On April 27, 1861, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia so military authorities could silence rebel dissenters. In a world where governors are calling up the National Guard in order to enforce a lock down, is martial law really unthinkable? Sure, some nutty judge would no doubt challenge Trump on something like this, but what about governors? Would a corrupt judge like Amy Berman Jackson challenge a fellow party member like Cuomo on this?
What about the upcoming election? The Democrats have already suspended many of their state primaries for this virus. Given that Joe Biden is in such poor health now, they may force the suspension of the remaining primaries in order to have an easier time finding a replacement for him at the convention. That’s a precedent that could easily be used to delay the general election in November. What if New York and California have a second wave of the flu in the fall? Unthinkable?
How about something way out there with Tucker Carlson’s space aliens, like a military coup to topple Trump? The military is riddled with multicultural lunatics these days, so you know many are fanatical Trump haters. You can be sure there are a few generals who think they are Napoleon trapped in the body of a mediocrity. Given what we saw with the FBI, it is not unreasonable to think that the same “us versus them” mentality has crept into the officer ranks of the military.
Of course, for a military coup to work, it needs at least some support down the line, but mostly it needs civilian support. An ambitious general would need someone that really hates Trump to be the fig leaf for the coup. Would a vindictive old bat like Nancy Pelosi entertain such an idea? Would a group of Senators from the neoconservative cult consider such a thing? It seems unthinkable, but again, we live in an age when the unthinkable is not just thinkable, but happening in real life.
Of course, military coups and revolutions at the top have the habit of setting off civil unrest, as some portion of the public protests what’s happening. Locking people in their homes and communities will have unanticipated consequences. Lots of things that were out of the question now start entering people’s minds. The riots in Wuhan after they lifted the lock down is a good reminder that forcing people to do something does not change their unhappiness with the policy. It just intensifies it.
If this does go on for months and the cracks in the ruling class begin to show, is civil unrest really unthinkable? Is civil war unthinkable? Rhode Island now considers New Yorkers persona non grata. Pennsylvania is doing the same. Mainers are now going vigilante on suspected New Jerseyites. Sure, concern for the virus is the stated reason, but a general dislike for New Yorkers is the real reason. There are lots of such divisions in this country. Is civil war really so unthinkable?
Just because something is possible, does not mean it is likely. It is possible to hit the lottery for a billion dollars, but the odds are very small. What we’re talking about here though are the things that were thought impossible or close to impossible just six months ago that are now suddenly possible. Maybe they are still unthinkable within the ruling classes, but we thought the FBI and CIA spying on presidential candidates was unthinkable until not so long ago.
We live in an age where the unthinkable, like the fog, quietly creeps up on us until suddenly the unthinkable is the new normal. Just as “shelter in place” is the new normal whenever it snows, mandatory lock downs will be the new normal whenever too many people get the sniffles. The unthinkable not only becomes thinkable, it becomes impossible to think otherwise. It also means that everything unthinkable today is suddenly on the table, maybe even the menu, for tomorrow.
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What else would anyone expect of the tribe in action? After all, they learned well from their Messiahs – Lenin and Stalin!!!
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I’ve seen a number of stories about churches being responsible for gatherings which have resulted in mass exposure to CV-19. This story linked below is from France.
Oddly, I haven’t seen anything about gatherings in Mosques. Is it just me or the media? Curious if anyone has noticed this in the US also.
Does the unthinkable mean the powers that be will target church services? Odd no one has mentioned gatherings of non-Christians.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-france-church-spec/special-report-five-days-of-worship-that-set-a-virus-time-bomb-in-france-idUSKBN21H0Q2
In Israel, all synagogues, mosques, and churches are closed
I hate it, but at least the muslims get to suffer with us
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/at-parks-and-beaches-some-new-englanders-flaunt-social-distancing-guidelines/2099410/
People aren’t buying it. New England is fine . We just gotta keep those scummy New Yorkers out of here 🙂 ( NYC )
Oh fer the love of Jaysus, NBC!
It’s FLOUT and not FLAUNT.
“Layers and layers of editors” my scrawny pale butt.
Actually, “flaunt” can be used synonanymously with “flout”. It carries as a secondary meaning “to treat contemptuously”. I wonder, however, if the author of this piece knew that.
Good points Z. The lockdowns are likely to be a new normal because they play well to female hysteria and virtue signaling and they give our overlords cover for their desire for totalitarian control and their inability to improve the standards of living for their subjects.
That last point is particularly important. Climate change has been a good smoke screen to justify turning first world nations into third world nations but too many of the plebs are still resistant to destroying their lives to fight the weather. Hey, maybe panic over a virus will do the trick!
I just had a chat with my auntie who has a close relative who died at age 52 from corona
She called me insane and screamed at me for daring to challenge the mainstream narrative that we need to shut whole countries down
I think the a few quotes from Machiavelli’s the prince pertain pretty well to our current situation.
“The vulgar crowd is always taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.”
“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by a new one.”
“Cruelties are well used, if it is permitted to speak well of evil, that are carried out in a single stroke, done out of necessity to protect oneself (or ones country) and then are not continued, but are instead converted into the greatest possible benefits for the subjects. Those cruelties are badly used that, although few at the outset, increase with the passing of time, instead of disappearing. Those who follow the first method can remedy their standing both with God and with men. The others cannot possibly maintain their position.”
I’ve had to abandon some comment sections I used to enjoy because too many of the commenters have become just plain hysterical. I can never look at them the same knowing how easily they pulled their skirts over their heads, surrendered their rights and boarded up their windows when their lives are essentially the same as before. Most frustrating though was how thoroughly my opinion has been dismissed and I’ve been told that ‘alternative’ opinions have no place right now in the discussion. And now in my part of the world – I’m being proven correct. Just like I was correct with Trump, Brexit and the Russia hoax. I’m not gloating though, I’m angry that so few people have any sort of critical thinking ability or brains enough to see over the repeat offender bullshitters. People in my sphere don’t want liberty, so bring on the dictatorship. I just hope it is someone who has my interests at heart….
Anyone else out there getting super tired of the sociopaths that keep repeating the tired, “Small business is toast, what’s the big deal?” conjecture?
The Fed buying of $250 Billion of MBS has crashed the housing market; it blew through the Hedges and they’re ruined on the margin calls.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡🤣🤣🤣
Yes, I’m laughing.
They’re sunk their own boats in the very docks.
https://www.ccn.com/did-the-fed-just-accidentally-trigger-a-housing-market-crash/
Macy’s fired 133k employees. The Fed is predicting a third of people unemployed.
I’d say odds of a military coup to save diversity and open borders and seize all property of The Demons — Straight White men is high. Probably put us all in camps for a final solution to the White man problem.
How else will the gibs be paid.
Z,
With regard to a military coup…
Ah…
Er..,.
I think you’re going to be comprehensively disappointed.
Most of our Generals are either burnt out Queegs or venal, the former are pitied, the latter despised. None will be followed on the path of coup.
As for those that fancy themselves Warriors… they combine the tenacity and wisdom of Ludendorff with the talents of Mussolini.
I mean neither Ludendorff nor Mussolini in a complementary sense. The former destroyed any hope for Imperial Germany in a mad 1918 offensive, created the Demon of the USSR in the East and was Hitler’s introduction to Big Time Politics.
Hitler did do something wrong: he lost.
As for Mussolini he destroyed the morals and character of the Italian Officer Corps by instituting a Command Climate that passed responsibility down and gathered evidence at every level (this is the Command Climate of the American Army now, and for some years).
That’s why they turned in such a poor performance in WW2.
But there’s a larger problem; America is administratively quite coup proof.
Of course you could take the capital, you could never hold the country.
It has 85,000 separate governments in 50 states – each with their own legislatures, governors and militaries (National Guard). Not to mention a very heavily armed population that is daily more wary and increasingly desperate about its government.
As for Lincoln; like the New Deal he could only happen once. The Civil Service makes any effective tyranny impossible, because it makes governance itself impossible.
Indeed I also think secession too could only happen once. Sorry Rebs.
In truth; we need a President like Stalin or this fellow; who establishes control of the other politicians and hacks at the outset. Stalin was simply a capable administrator, and so was this man.
Saddam purges Baath Party upon assuming control in 1979. If you know the history you know he was right.
https://youtu.be/njeb56_V30o
We don’t need OrangeBadMan.
We need a Demon Administrator.
“How shall we answer these betrayers?
With the Sword, nothing less.”
3:17
https://youtu.be/njeb56_V30o
Molyneux’s ongoing career suicide is breathtaking. AJ is talking out of all sides of his mouth, presumably so he can claim to have predicted the outcome, whatever happens.
What a bummer. I like those guys, but it’s getting difficult to keep listening.
Oddly, Owen Benjamin’s talk of ‘gammas’ masturbating to the fear porn comes across as sober analysis.
I just passed a chubby guy in full cycling tights leisurely pedaling up the hill. He looks to be sponsored.
What a world!
From Jon Rappoport’s blog:
——
Start with Europe and just plain flu. Not COV. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe [1], “During the winter months, influenza may infect up to 20% of the population…” That’s ordinary seasonal flu.
The population of Europe is 741 million people. This works out to 148 million cases of ordinary flu. Not once. Every year. EVERY YEAR.
According to statista.com [2], “As of March 23, 2020, there have been 170,424 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the whole of Europe since the first confirmed cases in France on January 25.”
I urge readers to roll those comparative figures around in their minds, and realize that ordinary flu has never been called a pandemic, and has certainly never resulted in locking down countries. …
——————-
The most illuminating thing is that a very mild “flu” this season has brought the world to its knees. So, very powerful forces are behind this outlandish delusion. This total fake of a “pandemic”. (great word — scares the hell out of the morons)
My friends, we are in deep, deep shit.
This might not be apparent to people in the Acela corridor or in large cities, but the Coronavirus is laying the groundwork for a county-level secessionist movement, like the Greater Idaho effort taking place in which counties in Oregon are trying to float ballot measures to secede from Oregon and join Idaho. We should encourage this with every fiber of our being.
The Coronavirus is almost exclusively an urban health crisis. In rural areas it’s at most a minor event. Nonetheless, citizens of exurban, and rural counties are being put out of work and placed under an effective house arrest by Governors acting solely in the interest of urban areas. The blatant disregard these Governors hold for their rural counties is on stark display.
Colorado’s Governor signaled today that a statewide lockdown order will remain in place at least until April 30, and possibly longer. At the time I am writing this comment Colorado has 2307 cases, 1642 of which (71%) are in the front range counties along I25 between Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. Another 304 cases (13%) are in the four mountain counties (Eagle, Gunnison, Pitkin, Summit) where it was spread via ski resorts. That’s fully 84% of infections in urban counties or the urban ski resort destinations.
Of Colorado’s 64 counties, 41 have fewer than 5 cases. Further, 18 have 0 cases, and 14 have 1 case–that’s fully half of the counties in the state that have 0 or 1 case. These people’s lives have been disrupted, their jobs are on hold, and they are facing the threat of fines up to $1000 and up to a year in jail if they fail to comply with an order that is utterly irrelevant in their local jurisdiction. Hopefully these good people will start to realize that they have far more in common with their sensible neighbors in Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, and maybe Arizona than they have with the lunatics in Denver.
Utah has about 800 Caronachan cases, 1 case here in southwest Utah somewhere. 4 deaths. All up north. This is an urban problem. The gov has not locked us down. The wahmyn politicians up north have grabbed the big stick, locked down Salt Lake, fines and ratting on your neighbor. Notice those who tend to enjoy ratting are the single cat drinking whine women and puss ass emotional soy boys, and lefty men trolling for nookie because they’ll do whatever it takes to virtue signal and attract.
It occurs to me that enduring “house arrest” as a society-wide phenomenon has taught us some valuable lessons. Writers of apocalytic fiction didn’t know wtf they were writing about when they proposed that humans could live enmass in enclosed underground spaces. Ditto for the idea that a significant number of people are going to sign up for domes on the Moon or Mars or life ships ala Babylon 5 or the fleet escorted by Battlestar Galactica. Hell, Manhattatenites can’t even being crammed on a twenty-three square mile island with a breathable atmosphere. I guess the city that never sleeps isn’t so hot when you can’t get a good slice of pizza at 3 a.m. anymore.
Chinese and Japanese seem to be able to. Westerners, nope.
So nobody’s gonna talk about Tucker and the aliens!?! Well, somebody has to do it. My take on this is that I’ve been drifting closer to Tucker’s point of view, which seems to be just one of openness to the idea that (some) UFOs might be alien hardware. Most UFO photos and videos, or course, are either fakes or “something else”, ranging from camera glitches to our old friend the planet Venus.
I was actually thinking this way before I found out Tucker was interested too. My main reason is that the Fermi paradox has been getting more and more troublesome for a long time and this would clearly resolve it. When Fermi proposed the paradox in the 1950s very little was known about other star systems and much of our own solar system was just blurry images in earthbound telescopes. People were not even sure if planet formation was common or extremely rare. We now know of thousands of exoplanets and quite a few candidates for Earth clones. Life keeps getting found (on this planet) in places where it was supposed to be impossible like the deep crust and there are hints that something biological may be producing methane on Mars and even Titan. Of course Martian or Titanian life is likely to be microbial but it seems you need that before anything more complex.
So what are the objects in the few unexplained videos and pictures? Well, if they are structured objects one thing we can surmise from their sudden acceleration and deceleration is that they use propulsion systems quite a bit more advanced than reaction drives (rockets, jets, etc…) This hints that there still is a lot to be known about physics and reason to hope that the 20th century will not be the last great time of breakthroughs in physics.
What do the aliens think about Covid-19? Well, I’m pretty sure that whatever they think about it they would agree with us here that New Yorkers should be shot on sight. So if you someone in a Yankees ballcap with a giant hole vaporized through their torso, thank your friendly neighborhood aliens!
It might have been unthinkable to not invest for your retirement in order to live without government scraps. Viral Stock Market manipulation may now make the SM a non-choice for most of us. Shame on me for being greedy and not trusting in the benevolence of our gubermint.
Z Man said: “Thinking About The Unthinkable.”
Here’s another cheerful post from James Howard Kunstler. A man who makes his living Thinking About The Unthinkable.
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/kunstler-when-americans-wake-corona-coma-will-be-different-country
Z ! Look at you going all Alex Jones on us 🙂 Just kidding , but yeah complete craziness.
White people will continue to do what they’re told to. Blacks will burn down their neighborhoods as per usual. All the muslims being pumped into the country ? That could definitely be a wild card.
They’re not obeying the shelter-in-place nonsense overseas and they certainly won’t do it here either. Maybe the elite will be too busy trying to control their new pets and leave the rest of us alone ?
Interesting times indeed
Now that Hogan has issued a stay-at-home order for your state, Zman, I would love to see how this will be enforced on the streets of Lagos? Somehow I doubt the police department will make any effort to clear the corners on North Avenue or around Lexington Market unless they want more riots. Instead, state and local police will probably put most of their effort into hassling POL (people of lightness) while POC are free to do as these please, as usual. Anarcho-tyranny.
The decision in several cities to set criminals free from jail is just another example of anarcho-tyranny, even though isolating and keeping criminals in jail cells is the very definition of quarantine: they’re probably safer from the virus in prison than returning to the corners of North Avenue to hang out with their buddies! It’s funny how cities arbitrarily decided police departments will no longer respond to “nonviolent” crime and it there is a test to see how genuine they really are: would the sudden proliferation of a bunch of “it’s ok to be white” stickers be ignored in these “trying times that require us to save police resources for real violent crime” or would police departments still be rabidly sicced on the sticker-plasterers? I think we all know the answer!
I saw the GoodBad news late yesterday. Today’s a bright, bright sunshiny day in SoCal. Going to bask in some confirmation bias and schadenfreude to keep muh Vitamin D robust.
Not counting my chicken-swingers before they hatch more plots but considering the frogs are raining on New Jerusalem for a change, including the banksters and Wall Street, it’s a good day to be a goy.
New Jacob City will soon be New Jackboot City and the kvetching will be heard from sea to shining sea. No more wedding parties during quarantine, rabbi*.
If any of this was intended vs. Bad Gaia happenstance, that tiger has slipped his leash. Regardless of etiology, let’s make the most of this by keeping our own safe and sane while raining down righteous mockery on our enemies. Trust your fellow White man, not The Plan.
Anyone care to place bets on where the Orange Dradle spins next?
* https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-over-240-new-coronavirus-cases-in-nyc-s-orthodox-community-1.8690269
Silver Linings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j42O1cvT0c
In their bible, they keep wondering why their god is punishing THEM.
The only antidote for rank speculation is pure hindsight. Every free man much choose what he will do or not and the event that will trigger his reaction. The only thing you or I can control and indeed the only thing that bears thinking seriously about is how we will react. Time to live according to the pre-pozzed Scouting motto: Be prepared.
Exactly. Live by our own heuristics and don’t make speculation on motives, exoteric or esoteric, a primary concern.
Those who’ve been implementing an anti-fragile dissident plan of disconnection from Empire are proving to be ahead of the curve. It’s a matter of common-sense self-interest that applies whether you blame our present mess on Yahweh, Yids, or cruel fate.
The problem is that our current ruling class never had a time of tragedy and adversity to get through, so they’ve creating one, inadvertently, through their incompetence and avarice. Having sex in the mud at Woodstock is not adversity. Going to Lilith Fair circa 1994 is not adversity. We have a bunch of degenerates running the show. They watch Hollywood interpretations of their lives such as House of Cards, and make reckless, power hungry, off the cuff decisions as if that’s what you’re supposed to do. There’s no tenderness or care in their thought process. The country could take their recklessness when it was strong. After years of their “leadership” it’s not longer strong. It’s very sickly and indebted, and they’ll break the place. They’ll eventually break the currency itself. That’s what everyone has to prepare for over the next few years. We have scary times ahead. The virus year will be a picnic. But we have to realize that it’s the natural cycle of humanity to build something spectacular and then destroy it all. Future generations will never believe that we once touched the moon, and never forgive the people alive today.
Future generations will be told that we were such bad actors, that we even dared to fake the moon landings.
They will have to be told such, otherwise how will the general decline in technical ability and the observable reality—like people now riding around in horse drawn carriages instead of cars—be explained?
This is getting ridiculous. The Chinese are prepping for a second wave in November. Are we gonna have yearly lockdowns for 6 months?
Anyways, hard to care what happens to your fellow countrymen when they’re all foreign, from a different culture and speak a different language.
Geting sick of this bullshit for sure. Shocked the vibrants haven’t started rioting yet. They must sense that whiteys are actually distraught over this currently.
Repeated lockdowns might be their playbook for implementing global government. Eventually the subject populations will develop such a sense of learned helplessness and lock themselves down permanently.
The truth; the niggers are chimped out.
Its kinda over, and been over for awhile.
The obama chimp- outs were astroturf, yes including the bussed in chimps.
In the 2016 election get out the vote for the Dems; They weren’t actually burning down their neighborhoods, with some rare local exceptions. Those were hire a thug bussed in by Soros, antifa.
That and kids let out of school to riot.
> that students are led by teachers to protest and riot is nothing new. Its also a marker of increased education* and affluence. *
I think the genuine chimp out, poor man’s chimp out time has passed.
What we actually saw were the college students and activists, along with ACORN type rent a riot. 2016 was actual professional, organized and bussed in rioters. Congratulations, you’ve arrived.
*keep in mind I want to raze education to rubble, this is why. That doesn’t mean the new, dusky hued nihilist isn’t moving up in the world, with college and all.
Well, if you’re ever in Jersey, let me know.
Gynocracy I think this is maybe the best term to describe the situation. A term the Z presented to us a few days ago.
I talk to some women yesterday and today I talked to some more women. To the women with whom I talked to all lives must be saved. If possible.
Turning the economy off does not seem to have any cost in their minds. To say it has costs is to be greedy.
Our society now views everything like an I Phone. Just push the little button on the side it reboots every time and it comes back to normal.
No problem.
I work with high powered RF systems. Turn that power button off and it may or may NOT come back on.
A farmer knows that not feeding his horse for a couple of months means the damn horse might possibly die.
We are being led by a feminized society of loons.
Prepare accordingly.
All lives must be saved except the ones the woman chooses to kill in her womb. The level of dissonance would be striking if it weren’t so typical.
Unthinkable thoughts; Would that include actually acting?
Even if the Optics were bad?
I think not.
It might not be unthinkable to actually censor the internet.
Censoring the Internet; now that would be…
A big nothing.
So I was chatting with a plastic surgeon from Johns Hopkins a couple of weeks or so ago about how he felt with the loss of business because the Bangers ‘O Baltimore were sure to heed the Mayors plea to stop shooting each other up to free up the beds for the plague victims, He told me Friday the rise in head and face traumas from people being locked up with their families is more than making it up.
Maybe the Donner party was not really all that hungry? They just got locked in a chuck wagon for a month together.
Upon the 2nd or 3rd relief party from Sutters Fort arriving at the cabins near Donner Lake, Lewis Keseberg had by then eaten one of the Donner kids. Later he opened a restaurant on K Street in Sacramento. It failed.
[Baltimore Bangers] locked up with their families
Well, to be fair, the concept of fatherhood (as opposed to sperm donor) thereabouts is largely theoretical, so maybe Dontay is right to not feel any connection with the sprogs with whom he’s holed up….
You know what’s unthinkable but much needed by the world?
Actuarial Tables for Women; I mean exactly Actuarial Tables for the dysfunction of broken families, the actuarial tables for single moms.
And then laws and insurance, social insurance, family laws to follow.
I Am a Trad, but my side lost to the Prots and their true religions of law and science. And money.
Well let the science, money and law follow.
You would be hard pressed to present a conspiracy theory today that I considered so outlandish that I would dismiss it out of hand.
And in fairness to Mainers, people who voluntarily live in New Jersey should have been forcibly quarantined in their own state a long time ago.
trump didn’t lock anything down though. he just put some guidelines social distancing distancing. which came from the cdc. What is probably going to happen is, due to loss of popularity and populist pressure, state governments will begin relaxing restriction regardless of what Trump says or does not say.
Hopefully, but I’m thinking the opposite. Trump is the one who is providing cover for spineless State governors. Had he stuck to Easter, we’d have seen such movement. But Trump is leading in promoting another 30 days and claiming it’s prudent medical advice. I’m doubtful there are more than a governor or two willing to stick their necks out and contradict the Fed’s.
Trump is on his game, and extremely manipulative of schemers.
He’ll tack port and starboard based on his judgement and instinct while the average pols are still staffing their moves and focus grouping.
He maneuvers well. It may not change the outcome, but the pols will be reacting to him until the end.
Until and unless events overcome.
“We live in an age where the unthinkable, like the fog, quietly creeps up on us until suddenly the unthinkable is the new normal”.
Indeed. Slowly, slowly, then all at once.
With each passing day, finding a way out of the fog and the vaunted ‘V’ curve recovery seems more unlikely.
Latest stats. No positive test results in over a week
• We received 9 COVID test results today; 9 negative and 0 positive.
Total tests sent: 117
Positive: 3
Negative: 104
Pending: 10
Thank you again for posting these result. Really appreciate it.
The other sources I am tracking are all trending toward a 90% negative result baseline, plus or minus a few percent. Testing has been a relatively scarce resource and has been rationed accordingly, so only the sickest patients have been tested. I would expect the percentage of positive tests to go down as testing becomes more widely available and extends to patients who are less sick.
roberto,
You never mention how many have died. Since they say this stuff is as bad as the famous black plague, surely most of the people who got it died. Right?
Looks like 4 plus years of non-stop hysteria has a toll after all. Part of what made this possible, or all but inevitable, is the hysteria in the news about everything. When hyperbole is the central feature of public life, how could this not have happened.
That and how economic efficiency, “diversity,” has become the new state enforced religion. Not only do we have scores of millions of foreigners among us, but the constant moving of the natives has destroyed any real sense of community which once existed. Your neighbors are not really your neighbors, they are your temporary neighbors and your family is spread across the country. All in the name of economic efficiency.
To borrow from BigLaw, we have all become FBU’s — fungible billing units. A commodity to be deployed and discarded with considerable enumeration by imbeciles in charge of things, because.
Enumeration or remuneration?
Good call on spotting an under-rated hysteria-driver.
Karens have been stewing in ever-escalating rage and paranoia since Crooked got Gay Mulatto’d in 2008, with a sharp vertical spike in 2016, of course.
Every one of those years has also been another year without Wahmenocracy, another year without a good man, another year of Cats > Kids, another year of box-wine & Xanax.
And now this. THIS. REEE!!!!!!!!!
#Repeal19A – a future worth fighting for.
Janice Fiamengo has an excellent video from just the other day about how female hysteria and lack of prudence was the main argument against the granting of the vote to women. An example of a modern feminist fighting with her husband for not voting in gender solidarity with his wife for the phony Indian. This woman, despite being highly educated is so hysterical about a primary vote that she not only bitches to her friends about the hubbies’ vote, but actually writes and article about it. She is the perfect example of why women, and frankly, most men, should not have the vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkptp7Urlcw
I actually am 100% behind Repeal 19.
The 20th century is unthinkable without the 19th Amendment.
Including of course Hitler.
They ❤️ Him.
That’s how he got elected.
Adolph Hitler never won an election in his life. The NSDAP was never even a majority party IIRC.
Repeal of 19th won’t help. Check out the history of women and the vote and you’ll find the majority of States had allowed women the right to vote in some form before the amendment. Most notable in the West, perhaps less in the South. You’d need to repeal and then pass another amendment disallowing voting for women.
Utah gave women the right to vote in 1870.
The Mormon women I know are blinkered up and don’t discuss politics-life-the world or much of anything. When I talk about local geology, they reply the mountains are there because of all the earthquakes that happened when Jesus was resurrected. I know there are a few exceptions, but they are few and far between.
Fat lotta good having the vote did them.
Tongue-in-cheek, Comp. I’m far past worrying about amending the Magic Paper.
In the future, let’s be more careful who we allow a say in the manly art of politics. I’m for a “paterfamilias” approach to voting to the extent we incorporate democracy. Only clan-heads get to vote – patriarchs with children/grandchildren who have their own extended family “constituency” of dependents they represent – being a nuclear family dad would be just a step on the ladder to voting.
Fun Fact from my favorite homeless sage – strongwomen are 30% more likely historically to go to war than strongmen.
Those inclined to a female outlook on the world, no matter what wedding tackle they possess, have, in the past few days, returned to the belief of miasmas. There has been a shift from believing that normal precautions are effective, to accepting that 6 feet is a hard rule for distance between people, to fearing that even going outside is inviting the grim reaper in your midst.
The concept of social distancing as practiced today is destroying our shared social bonds in a manner that the tech giants could only dream of. My mom told me about my older sister doing a group meeting with the diaspora of her high school class on Zoom and how fun it was. “Sure,” I replied, “once, but it can’t be a substitute for legitimate human interaction.” What did I get in reply? “What, do you want to catch the disease?!” I’m almost running out of lip to bite.
KGB – Brilliant. Miasma is exactly the term – everyone now believes in ‘bad air’ the way they used to. Hell, the medieval (and previously utterly discredited) ‘cupping’ was all the rage among the celebs (because repackaged with a cool Asian/Indian vibe). Why not add in miasmas and bad humours (again, medieval European and modern Chinese/Indian belief in bodily balance, ‘heaty’ foods, and all that rot). I’ll volunteer to walk through the streets calling “Bring out your dead!” and Bob’s your uncle.
I would love to go to Costco in one of those old vulture-faced Black Death masks.
Holy Crud! Plague Doctor masks are A Thing!
Who knew there were so many makes and models?
https://www.amazon.com/plague-doctor-mask/s?k=plague+doctor+mask
I like to fancy that I am pretty level headed, but I suspect that the Z-Man’s fears may be warranted, if not actually realized. “Thinking the unthinkable” seems to be the logical conclusion to the illogic expressed by our ruling class.
The few well-educated and intelligent people with whom I regularly communicate seem to think that this cannot last much longer. They say that it is unnatural for people to stay barricaded in their homes. But humans are extremely adaptive. Has living under virtual house arrest become a new normal?
Whenever Fauci opens his mouth, we seem to fall deeper into a sinister cul-de-sac. I am unaware of any significant authority figure articulating a clear exit strategy with clear metrics and timelines. Some like Cuomo apparently expect total victory over a virus that will never really go away.
I fear that the American people are much more passive than many would have thought. When asked by people if I am worried, I say yes, but I am far more worried over the overreaction than the virus itself. I usually get a response of silent incredulity.
The ‘american people’ are no longer American People. Apologies to Yogi Berra not to be confused with Yogi Bear-a.
You guys should be reading Ibsen in your spare time. He understood herd mentality including the governance herd.
Since we’re talking about the unthinkable, I suppose I can bring up Q. I have a couple of friends who are convinced that “the plan” will happen. Trump is working with the military (the non-woke part of the military) to bring down the deep state, and it will happen soon. The last I heard, around Easter this will happen. The Q believers are very convinced this will happen.
Posted in the window of the Q bar and grill: “Free beer tomorrow!”
People are lining up.
We’ve already plunged so far down the rabbit hole of political correctness, I see no limits to what the ruling class can foist upon the citizenry. Merely replacing us seems mild by comparison to what they are contemplating.
I see the “not really” quarantine here in CA as a test and a calibration of the public mood. Allow people out there in the world, but encourage them not to trust each other. Let them blow off steam by shopping at Costco.
I doubt there will ever again be simple things like a bunch of people eating in a restaurant together, or listening to a concert at an event. So much for school assemblies or sports events. Those NFL owners are going to be eating it. County fairs are done. A few people drinking beers around a campfire is going to be deeply subversive…
Dutch – it’s all part of destroying the commons – the public trust and institutions and habits and celebrations that used to define common White European culture. First outlaw freedom of association and seed vibrancy everywhere (water parks with fecal matter in the pools and county fairs where dindus attack Whites with impunity). Add in paranoid fear of the germs that ensue when more than two humans stand less then 10 feet apart, put AWFLs and catladies in charge of society, and end up with empty streets and everyone a bugman wearing a damned facial mask as the new normal.
Jesus said that wherever two or three gathered in His name, He’d be there. Gavin Newsome, whorespawn of the Antichrist, decided he’d put an end to that. And now, if you dare to speak to anyone at so much as an inch closer than six feet; be prepared to be reported to law enforcement and suffer the wrath of those who know better than a filthy suspected plague-bearer like you.
Ep, Dutch, I’m not convinced this is according to anyone’s Plan anymore. I smell Chaos, hubris and incompetence.
If this repeated zig-zagging between “just a cold” and “shut it all down until further notice” furthers someone’s plans, they’re a higher-dimensional chess player than I am.
No doubt they will make the most of their situation where they can, but I think we’ve strayed off the chessboard.
Things aren’t run according to ‘master plans’, they are run according to subconscious instincts. When women get into power it is not their plan to wreck the place. Their instinct is to react outrageously, to provoke a dominant (and hence attractive, healthy and strong) man to put them in their place. That’s called a sh*t test. When there are no such men around, you end up like Sweden. Basically similar arguments w beta males and such. These aren’t ‘plans’, these are different phenotype of (white) humans acting out their instincts. The only thing wrong with society is that white alpha men have surrendered the reigns of power to a bunch of b*tchy women and backstabbing betas, b/c they weren’t confident enough to reject these. Ie they are failing nature’s ‘will to power’ sh*t test.
There’s more blame to go around than simply “hypergamy.” At the very least the major players include Scale, Hypergamy, Finance Capitalism and Credentialism.
And whenever you turn over a rock in any of those gardens of woe, (((what))) scurries out?
It’s not their master plan – it’s just (((instinctual))). Or more precisely, a convergence of interests among like-minded activists, cultural, political and otherwise.
Almost every one of these problems is mutally reinforcing.
The common denominator is hindbrain processing, the lusty broil of the breeder’s brain.
Compared to the cooler rationale of the mechanist brain, frontal cortex processor, evident even in the Dissident women here.
IQ means little. It’s the dominant processor that guides. That’s why the Elves, the Caucasians, were unstoppable- they improved everything they came upon and used it better.
“Incompetent AND authoritarian ain’t any way to go through life, son”.
When I see the situation in New York City, I just can’t resist:
“And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.”
I mentioned at home that I’d nuke NY in a heartbeat. Hubby replied “But if you nuked NY you might kill one hundred Americans.”
So it sounds like Z-Man doesn’t believe in alien races, in a universe with quadrillions of star systems and billions of earth-like planets, but he does believe in the Lee Harvey Oswald theory of the Kennedy assassination…..Wow
“So what you’re saying is…”
Possibilities probabilities. It all needs tending. We can do a lot of things. You make the play you can with the cards you have. If the deck is stacked, why play along? What will be our duty going forward? The ever changing dilemma. The bosses are always the same. The bosses are always different. The longer it lasts the more precarious it all becomes. Until it doesn’t. Morning meditations have never been as clear as they are now. Why is a perfectly good question. No is a perfectly good answer. We don’t know what we don’t know. Digging in is different than getting out of Dodge. We will know what must be done. Eventually. Or, will we?
Great analogy JMDGT. Sometimes it’s better to fold than to draw to a gut shot straight. These days I am more inclined to push away from the table with the few chips I’ve got left, cash out and gear up for a different game. We need to recapture the spirit of a time when men backed up the words “live free or die” with concordant actions.
It’s important to remember this only signifies a changing of the guard. It does not mean things will be worse in the long run. To put it in perspective, most of the craziness is happening in the northeast, and to a lesser extent the west coast. To my knowledge, other parts of the country are less disrupted.
We’ve reached the tipping point of ongoing trends. If you live in the south or mountain west, be prepared for swarms of locusts to descend on you. What you’ve experienced so far is just the beginning. The herd (including the so-called elites) follows money and power. Managing them is the price of success.
Do yourselves and everyone else a favor and don’t let them establish on their terms. Future generations will thank you for your wisdom.
Speaking of locusts – the actual insect and not the figurative ones – I’ve noticed that the current locust plagues in East Africa are getting little airtime. As Monty Burns would say, Excellent!.
I’m not wishing literal plagues on East (or other) Africans, but hopefully the hard-stop put on our own economies will cause people to think twice, then think again, before sending money and other aid to Africa. (Be much more efficient to simply send the aid money directly to Swiss bank accounts, for one thing….)
Next year we get to enjoy the 17-year locusts. They’re everywhere but never seem to do much damage. Unlike the locusts I’m talking about 🙂
The unthinkable indeed.
It’s already happened with the least likely group in the US here in CA. I have seen videos and news reports of literally miles of CA good whites lining up at gun stores. Many had never owned a gun before but while they lie about what they believe their actions don’t lie. They know what and who could be coming.
Going into gun stores to buy a gun is like going into stores to buy toilet paper. As an example, the popular Glock 17 or 19 is virtually impossible to find except for a very small number of fully accessorized out ones on sale for $3,500 and above.
I get some Schadenfreude hearing virtuous white females literally pleading that they will pay whatever for any kind of weapon.
ExNativeSon – I’ve already mentioned that my son, who works at Cabelas, has said they only remain open to sell guns and ammo. I see people (mostly but not exclusively White men) waiting outside the door for their turn to enter every day I drop him at work. Last night he was instructed to move an extremely large and heavy gun safe to block the glass door to the gun room – to prevent a break-in after hours. We online dissidents are not the- only ones who are ‘noticing’ things.
3g, that is a good gun store. People are noticing. They probably will not admit it, but they are definitely noticing. I hope the more vibrant population of CA is also noticing. The CA National Guard is quietly getting ready from the signals I am hearing.
I think EVERYBODY is noticing.
7 day backlog on NICS checks in my state.
I have a spare 12-gauge and two boxes of shells – will trade for trad-wife.
Hi Exile. You’re a cheapskate! Your offer price will get you a 2-bits woman. You better turn the lights off!
The exchange rate in California is much more favorable than gun-friendly Utah, missy.
For a vintage 1911 Colt Brad would give me Angelina AND Jennifer.
“Wife wanted. Must have hunting cabin and bass boat. Send photo of boat….”
You should be scared out of your f-ckin’ gourd at the thought of it, not laughing.
Can you imagine an already panicky wine aunt who jumps at shadows of ‘killer viruses’ with a loaded pistol in her purse? These are the people that REALLY should not be weapon owners under any circumstances. Easily frightened children (leftists) are the last people you want packin’ heat.
Presenting the unthinkable.
One. New York public officials encourage the largest participation possible in the Chinese new year celebration.
Two. New Yorkers are infected by in droves because the five-eyes ran an operation to infect people in droves.
Three. Ensure no quarantine is imposed. Check. 3b. Fan the flames of panic in New York with things like Civil War style triage in Central Park, so that anyone that can get out will.
Four. Mid-April there is a Krakatoa-level explosion of new cases all over the country at the same time as the New Yorkers spread the virus to their family and friends. People are seeing New York plates in Idaho already, for example.
Five. I’ll let your imagination run wild from here. Be creative!
Six. I wonder what they’ll the next authority to govern this, or parts of this, land mass? My “vote”, to use a quaint term, goes to The Free People’s Democratic Republic of Liberty, Justice, and Equality.
I saw NY plates the other day and took a picture. NYS is one that has plates front and back. I did not walk around the car to see the back but the front plate had a secured narrow white plate above it with red lettering saying Montauk Fire Dept. MEMBER. Montauk is a town on far-eastern Long Island, near where lots of wealthy folks go in the summer, places that have gotten very busy this off-season. WTH is this vehicle doing in a Kroger parking lot in Middle Tennessee (SE of Nashville). Visiting family? Huh. I’d use a different car/rent to do that, wouldn’t you? I did phone my contact at our Sheriff’s Office to alert them and to run the numbers on the tag.
Saw a promo for local CBS news affiliate of their hosts “working from home.” One says something about the lockdown and living with the virus as “the new normal.” This will take a lot longer than anyone can imagine to return to the ‘old normal’ and it is likely to never happen.
We never went back to “normal” after 9/11; no reason to think we will here.
They’re finished as an economic/cultural force. Same for Hollywood, maybe even academia. That’s the new normal. I’m sure it feels like the end of the world to them.
There’s a famous Mark Twain quote that comes to mind here….
“They’re finished as an economic/cultural force. Same for Hollywood”
From your keyboard to G-d’s ears, Paintersforms.
I prefer to look at the bright side of life, and take hope that corona virus will run hot and deep through the ruling class, leaving a trail of bodies; “The Masque of the Red Death” style.
Well, we have what looks like a genuine national, and international, crisis, we have clowns in positions of authority b/c if you re not a clown it will probably be impossible to bear the work environment in such places and generally, clown bosses never get rid of ppl dumber than themselves but are vigilant to get rid of ppl smarter than themselves, ie ‘threats’. So yes, anything is possible.
Two words about the virus; no, I don’t think ‘the real reason’ that RI is locking out New Yorkers is b/c of dislike of New Yorkers. It’s b/c of fear of the virus. You underestimate how others view this thing, b/c you believe it is ‘a bad thing but not that big a deal’. But that’s not how it’s viewed generally.
The other thing is your comments on masks which I really take issue with, for several reasons. I acknowledge that this crisis is confusing and that there’s probably a 100 bad ideas or false data out there for every bit of genuine data. I actually think you have an important point about the economy as well as the ‘unfortunate’ new things the state is learning it can cajole, coerce and bully ppl into doing and get away with. But attacking masks, as ‘ridiculous’ or something to that effect, is different. B/c masks do nothing to hurt the economy, their use is closely correlated with the countries that seem to have managed this outbreak best, there’s a very plausible rationale for their use and, despite the CDC’s idiotic statements about them, even data to support that rationale. Masks are basically a couple of bucks worth of cloth or similar material that there is strong reason to suspect significantly depresses R0, not to mention, together w hand sanitizer, probably one of the most popular products in the US right now, which would be a modest but positive thing for the economy. Attacking masks, which if Im wrong about this crisis, are at worst a silly and harmless gimmick, defeats your own purpose to end the lock down asap.
Here is some myths about the virus. There is one in there about masks.
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/coronavirus-myths-mythconceptions/
The mask one makes sense. It is only going to reduce the spread by infected people. I doubt, unless you have a high quality mask, that it will stop you breathing out the virus.
The problem is how much do you trust the sources listed?
Snopes, NYT, WHO, CDC, CBS News
All are known for incompetence and that is one of the problems we face. How to get facts from their bias.
I generally don’t trust them but in this case, the facts they present seem logical. The problem is that this info doesn’t get out therefore there is panic in the streets.
Only to stop spreading it: if you’re coughing or sneezing, or taking care of somebody with symptoms. Loose masks don’t offer much protection. Tiny infected droplets can still get into the nose, mouths & eyes.
Just consider the faulty logic of this. If masks have no effect, why should health care workers need them?? And with a virus that spreads asymptomatically, you don’t know who, yourself included, has it. It is also not true that masks only protect others. For one thing wearing them makes you far more conscious of when you’re touching your face. The inconvenience and touch of the mask reminds you every time and thus reminds you to ask yourself if you washed or cleaned your hands before you last touched something potentially contaminated.
The CDC and surgeon general’s motive to discourage the use of masks was a transparent attempt to avoid a run on masks that could lead to health care workers not having enough. It’s like saying ‘bad times coming so we ll need to close the gun shops in case the cops and military need all those guns’. I mean, how can anyone fall for that nonsense??
Health care workers are also wearing googles or face shields along with the masks. The everyday mask I see a lot of people wearing doesn’t offer a lot of protection because they still have too many openings.
They don’t always wear face shields but it’s really an odds game. A mask reduces the risk of infection, either way. It does not remove it.
So, do you wholesale or retail masks? Or own shares of Becton Dickinson? The monomania on masks seems a little try hard. I certainly don’t want to transform our culture into one where everyone wears a mask 24/7. In a surgical suite, yes. On the street, I’d rather see the pretty girls’ smiles or the scowl betraying an approaching Karen.
lol well, you can be sure I don’t do try hard for you 🙂
Even crude masks have efficacy because virus particles are such low mass they stick to statically-charged fibers in masks and subsequently denature. Many air and water filters utilize charge to capture particles too small to be physically obstructed. A clean bandana is actually better than nothing, although a contaminated one might infect.
Yeah, masks are not an absolute. Masks are fairly analogous to body armor; they don’t guarantee you won’t get shot and they are not exactly ‘fun’ to wear. But they affect the odds. Same w masks.
Moran, I strongly disagree about masks. Yes, people coughing and sneezing into the air spreads droplets and disease . . . all the time and from all sorts of viruses, not merely the latest disease du jour. So I’m fine with all the Chinese and Indians wearing masks. For the average White person, though, who theoretically understands and believes in the germ theory of disease in the way the numericans do not and cannot, the danger is far greater from touching things – door handles, grocery carts, bathroom doors. Again, from that perspective I take no issue with cashiers or grocery produce stockers wearing gloves – I think it’s a terrific idea and should be the norm.
Gloves not only reduce the risk of all sorts of things, but then there is the visual aspect – and yes, it does matter. White Europeans are not bugmen who shuffle about wearing masks all the time. That’s not our history or our character. Doctors generally did not wear masks for routine care – even infectious viral care – prior to this, but only in the hospital because of open wounds and the high transmission rate of germs in a crowded and enclosed space. Based on your argument, all people should wear masks all the time to reduce the threat of viral diseases. There is such a thing as acquiring immunity over time, and culling of the weakest. Wrapping an entire society in cotton batting (to use the British expression) is not a long term solution, and I will not wear a mask.
Couple of things:
For the average White person, though, who theoretically understands and believes in the germ theory of disease in the way the numericans do not and cannot,
It is one thing to dislike other groups, especially if they threaten yours. To consider groups that show significant general intelligence dumb, is worse than wrong, it is a mistake. Chinese and the sorts of (generally high caste) Indians who immigrate to the US may be all sorts of things but one thing they generally are not, is dumb. There’s a reason Hispanics tend to enter society on the ground floor and Asians on the upper floors. Derbyshire asked about ‘the wisdom of importing a foreign elite’, and no, he was not getting into the JQ, he was talking about East and bright South Asians. And thus far, India is faring a lot better than America or Europe w this pandemic. Whether China has it tamed as they are claiming, remains to be seen. And yes, India could be in for a bad April w this thing, though I personally hope not. In any case, dislike Asians of various kinds all you want. But if you make plans on the assumption they are ‘stupid’ I suggest you prepare for failure, through the classic cause of ‘ignored reality’.
The other thing, about touching things, is probably quite true. But how do you think it infects you from the fingers. It doesnt jump into your body from your fingers. It goes from your fingers to your mouth, nose or eyes. That’s how it gets inside from your hands. Again masks have a beneficial effect here b/c the simple fact of wearing one makes you aware that you are touching your face. There’s no hard data available to separate the two effects of masks, filtering out aerosols vs literally being a ‘memeto’ barrier to touching your face (even w/o eye shield the mask tends to remind you as your hands approach to rub the eyes). But I personally suspect that the ‘reminder’ effect is not insignificant.
Point about fingers to hands and mouth is valid – but I still disagree masks are the answer. You’re basically asking humans to change all natural habits and reorder all society to avoid a seasonal viral disease. I do not concur.
Second, re the overall intelligence of Asian/Indian immigrants: You may well deal with the top 1% who are admittedly quite clever. Their overall intelligence is not nearly so high as presumed, though – don’t mistake ethnic networking and low social trust/sly work arounds as general intelligence. I’ve dealt with them in a number of different countries and continents, and I’m speaking in broad general terms here. Just as the average White is pretty stupid, more so the average non-White. Personal antipathy (which I most definitely have) is not the only thing at play here. The level of superstition and irrational behavior and lack of hygiene is quite high among them, and – at least in the US – we are not getting the creme de la creme among immigrants.
You’re mixing (conjectured) facts w opinions when you say you ‘disagree’ that masks are ‘the answer’. Ignoring that I didn’t say they are ‘the’ answer but rather a smart and beneficial thing to use, it doesn’t matter what you agree or disagree with. There are two factual possibilities here; masks either do or do not reduce transmission. This is not an opinion question, it’s a factual one.
Re Asian immigrants, b/c of fewer universities serving giant populations, entrance to elite Chinese and Indian universities makes admission to elite US institutions look like signing up at the local community college. So you’re probably right, the US does not get the very smartest Chinese and Indians. They get the second-smartest layer; the ones just short of what it took to get into Beijing University or Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. But smart enough, especially w points for non-white/non-American, to get into Harvard or Stanford. That’s why Derbyshire is talking about ‘importing a foreign elite’.
z didn’t mention masks in this article so I suppose you are referring to an older article.
no one is stopping you from wearing one, or even two masks at once, if you so please, for double the protection.
Masks help, but how much is hard to know. Why some countries were able to contain the virus probably has more to with very early intervention and or extreme measures , including everyone wearing masks at the very onset of the epidemic than waiting too long. Mandatory use of masks in public and closing of schools (which are indoctrination centers anyway and useless for learning) are two regulations I can support.
He’d previously disparaged masks, as had some commentators here.
Your comment about ‘double protection’ triggered my geek side b/c there is no way two masks will exactly multiply your protection, or divide your risk, by two. That is difficult to calculate w body armor, which works as a physical barrier to block high kinetic objects, but even more difficult to calculate w a filter, which is what a mask is (ignoring that it may have an important effect simply to remind you not to touch your face before you wash your hands).
But whether the effect of two masks either more than doubles it, say if it works as a form of titration, or the marginal effect of the mask is far less than to double it, is kinda hard to say. I suspect it’s the latter though, far less than double. But a Q I’d never thought about before.
Analogous, hearing protection at the firearms range works like this. You can achieve roughly 34 db with in-ear or over-ear technology. Add another 34 db device, say foam earplugs under headset and your total protection level is only roughly 38 db. It isn’t truly additive unfortunately. You can only contribute 4 db extra no matter what given the characteristics of propagation of sound through your boney head. Anti-viral facemasks are comparable despite what you may read. Capture-resistant particles will penetrate extra layers, however, they are unlikely to infect you individually, rather, overwhelming your average person’s autoimmune system requires presence of 30-40 virus particles before infection is likely. If you need a mask, as I do given my wife’s compromised autoimmune system due to therapeutic radiation 50 grays, please try to acquire a P100 filter from the locl welding syupply or hardware store, so far that’s worked for us even though we live in a dense urban core (awesome views though).
That’s pretty interesting about ear protection although I noticed that ear plugs reduce noise far more than ear muffs.
About the virus, it is probably very unlikely that any one virus will cause an infection, each probably has a low probability of that. But many millions or billions exposed to living tissue and it can happen. There is also a theory that initial viral load you are exposed to helps determine how bad your infection will develop, the smaller load the better. The theory is that a smaller load, even if it causes infection, will give the immune system a better chance to catch up. But this is no more than a theory for now.
ChicagoRodent brings up a number of interesting points. The one I’m focusing on is the P100 filter; both the “P” part and the “100” part.
Ordinary surgical masks (OSM) provide minimal protection to the wearer – their purpose is to keep medical personnel from spit-spraying or snotting onto the patient and/or “sterile field” during procedures. The only benefit of an OSM (in my not particularly humble opinion) is that it reminds you to NOT touch your nose and mouth.
The “high level protection” masks I’ve seen out and about are overwhelmingly N95 masks. The “95” indicates they block ninety-five percent of particles down to a certain size. The “N” indicates that they do NOT protect against oily droplets. In contrast, a “P” designated device is supposed to protect against both non-oily and oily droplets. And of course the designation “100” indicates blocking of 99+% of particles.
All that said, if your mask does not fit your face properly, the protection is markedly reduced. If you have a beard (or big moustache) you get no additional benefit from an N95 or P95 (or 100) mask, because you have no seal of mask-to-face. And you can’t judge goodness-of-seal by feel alone. Unless you’ve been fit-tested for a particular type/size of mask, it’s just guess work. (The lowest level of fit-testing is where you put on the mask, then get into a hood, whereupon the tester sprays a saccharine solution into the hood. If you can taste sweetness, your mask ain’t fitting you.)
As to the sociocultural aspects, I’m with 3g4me and Lordon Giddy. The masking up is un-American and un-Western. Without VERY solid evidence that there is any health benefit to masks for the general population, I don’t want to see the damn things worn in my country.
That was a good overview of masks, the tighter fit probably the better.
About them being ‘un-American’, ppl here, for very good reasons, complain that the economy is hemorrhaging, w 6 T $$ added to the federal debt so far. Suppose wearing masks could end the lock down sooner or maybe prevent the need for another later this year. That ugly little face cap might mean the difference between China winning our little ‘cold econ war’ or the US having a fighting chance. In the 1930s the US army didnt want tanks so Christie sold his suspension system to the Russians and Germans, who didnt find it ‘un-comradely’ or ‘un-Aryan’ to use tanks.
To be fair, some guy above criticized me for going overboard on masks. I don’t think they are the silver bullet here. But if it’s masks or the economy, I say scr*w cultural sensibilities.
“In the 1930s the US army didnt want tanks so Christie sold his suspension system to the Russians and Germans, who didnt find it ‘un-comradely’ or ‘un-Aryan’ to use tanks..”
Germany bought nothing from Walter Christie. No German tanks had a Christie suspension. The Soviets abandoned the Christie suspension after 1945. The T34 was the last Soviet tank with a Christie suspension.
So eff your stupid face masks.
Talk about missing the point lol You’re technically right, the Germans didn’t use Christie’s suspension. But the Russians did, on the most successful tank design of the entire war. So even if Christie’s suspension was ‘un-Aryan’ that minor analogy point still stands.
But, when you’re right you’re right. The greatest generation of Americans were only asked to storm beaches and win a little world war. But asking you to wear a mask to help save the US economy, not to mention a few hundred thousand old geezers, w the occasional tough luck younger guy, w anesthesiologists and ICU nurses overrepresented in that crowd, thrown in, now we’re talking real sacrifice. Too much to ask, gotcha.
No wonder things are coming apart.
Mike_C: Thank you for your factual info re masks. I was unaware of the differences and your point about fit is highly relevant. My electrologist wears one for exactly the points you mentioned – not to accidentally get droplets on anyone’s face. She’s noted they do not stop disease. Thank you also for supporting my sociocultural point. I have appreciated reading RightDoctor’s comments about his experiences re the ‘crisis.’ What are yours, if I may ask?
@3g
I don’t see patients directly these days, so I’m not on the front lines personally. And back when I did, I was sufficiently specialized that I couldn’t be trusted with general internal medicine. (That’s supposed to be a joke but probably a little too much truth for comfort 😉
That said, I can say that friends who are currently practicing general medicine are mostly stressed out. Some staff have been quarantined for being China Flu-positive, and those remaining are over worked. I’ve seen some chest x-rays of (really ugly) florid bilateral pneumonias in young (40’s) people without any known risk factors but are COVID-positive. So my take (admittedly from a very limited sample size) is that WuFlu is a real thing and can really mess up some people. It’s not at all clear to me whether we have a handle on the individual-patient factors that make a given person more or less likely to have bad outcomes (other than the general ones of being old, diabetic, and having pre-existing heart or lung problems). A good friend serving as a hospitalist has an elderly father who has a bad heart (30% ejection fraction, if that means anything). My friend is very close with her dad, but has resolved to not see him AT ALL for at least two months. Anecdotes are not data, but maybe give a little insight into what at least some docs are thinking. (Not to forget the nurses, techs, aides, and the guys who literally take out the trash — all these folks are on the sharp end.)
@Moran
We may be in more agreement than it seems. IF there were good evidence that mask-wearing was genuinely helpful I’d be for it.
But I just don’t think that it helps much. The other day at the grocery store I saw a heavily-bearded man wearing an N95 mask. /eyeroll He probably had a good half-inch gap all around with all that facial hair. Pretty much pointless. I may be reading too much into the mask thing myself, but my (admittedly emotional) reaction is to place 90% of it in the same mental space as mandatory headscarves on women.
On a practical level, over the years I’ve undergone lots of fit tests for regular N95 masks. (This is done regularly by all staff with patient contact, and done in batches of 10-20 people usually – meaning that I got to see how it worked for lots of other folks.) Generally at least 25-30% of people either don’t get a good fit with the size mask they first tried, or failed to properly adjust the little metal nose-strip to get a good seal. Some people simply can’t get a good fit with any of the common N95 masks and end up having to be fit with an alternate model (our hospital’s alternate make is an orange mask that looks like a duck’s beak!), or move to a higher level of protection (heavier, more uncomfortable, more expensive). So my takeaway is that some guy who’s never been fit tested, and simply acquired whatever size is not sold out at the Home Depot or wherever — odds are at least 30% (or considerably higher) that the N95 isn’t doing much good due to poor fit.
Mike_C,
it seems where we do differ is the efficacy of masks. Of course you have to use it correctly for a mask to be most effective, that’s true of any equipment, from masks or respirators to aircraft or super computers.
I can’t show you peer reviewed data on the effect of masks on infectivity of respiratory tract vira but some may be emerging. There’s also theoretical reasons to think that they are beneficial. But fair enough. More aggressive testing is something I would also like to see in the US. Germany, which has a surprisingly low number of critical patients and deaths compared to overall confirmed cases, tests about 500,000 a week and South Korea has also tested aggressively and isolated carriers. I think that should be done in the US as well.
“South Korea has also tested aggressively and isolated carriers.”
Indeed. Very early Monday morning I took a dear (Korean) friend to the airport for a BOS-SFO-ICN (Seoul) flight. I received the following email Monday evening:
I am at a government facility, being quarantined until I get negative from the COVID-19 test. If it is positive, I will go to the hospital. Thankfully they have internet connection and TV at the facility. But no desk and bed.
The lack of desk is a problem only because she’s hyper-conscientious and really is working remotely. Anyway, after April 1st policy will be to quarantine ALL arrivals to the ROK for a minimum of 14 days regardless of what the COVID test results are. People with a home in the ROK will be quarantined at their registered home address. Foreign visitors will be put into a government-designated facility at their own expense. The South Koreans are not screwing around.
—
it seems where we do differ is the efficacy of masks
Yeah. In full disclosure, I’m pretty sure you’re right that some sort of mask is better than no mask, even if the marginal difference is very small. But! That’s assuming people largely adhere to proper “technique”. My logical (such as it is) support for my position is that enough people will misuse their masks that it’s not worth legal/cultural downsides of making masks mandatory. I’ve been paying extra attention to what mask wearers are doing in public and I see persons frequently reaching under their masks to scratch, play with their chewing gum (seriously) or pick their nose (again, seriously!). Also have seen people smoking, repeatedly pushing aside their masks to take a drag. And my emotional antipathy to mandatory use of masks we’ve already covered.
Mike_C, fair enough. I’m not in favor of mandatory use of masks. But when a grizzly comes into your camp at night, if your knife is all you have, well, that’s what you ll have to use if things go south.
It seems to me that this Covid-19 crisis is becoming the hardest split inside dissident circles, comparable to the hardest divides over the JQ. It is moving at insane speeds, it is remodeling society in matters of days if not hours. Of course everybody’s tempers are going to be up, including mine at times. But I hope it doesn’t splinter opposition to all the other problems, population replacement not least, usually discussed here and other places. When this is over, I hope Z-man and Steve Sailor, and the rest of us, are still on the same team.
Not to say I would never wear a mask. I would. But let’s not jump right away to the ways of the Asians. We are the west, act like the west, get your balls out of your pants and start showing them off.
It’s what allowed the west to conquer the world.
Walking around like a bunch of ant acting Chinese on a ant hill does not qualify.
Go out with your boots on and your balls hanging out.
Our young men will learn more about leadership than acting with the fear our elite want.
There’s nothing more old school Western than adopting and improvising. How do you think the British Empire was built? Your ‘be a man’ approach is kinda like cavalry generals in WWI saying ‘to hell w machine guns, get on ‘or horses and charge!!’
It’s not ‘very American’ to be ordered to go to some camp 500 miles away, put uncomfortable (if very practical) green clothes on, a steel pot on your head and be told to follow every d*mn order you get or be court-martialed.’ But, that’s what they did, to win both world wars.
Improvise, adapt, overcome. Ego gets you killed when you’re playing for real stakes.
The point was not to talk about little green men, but to highlight how our old assumptions have to be abandoned,
#AlexJonesWasRight
In a fog, facts matter more than ever. The Obama Administration seduced the DOJ/FBI/CIA/IRS/NSA etc into becoming de facto criminal enterprises beginning in 2010 and persisting to the present. That fact is not a trivial thing. Despite trying everything short of overt assassination, the Deep State has not given up on removing Trump from office. It will only get worse, and trashing the world economy is just the latest ploy. This game is being played for keeps and you will know the tipping point has been passed when the jackboots show up at your door.
“The military is riddled with multicultural lunatics these days, so you know many are fanatical Trump haters…” Sure, but… the percent in the ranks of actual combat units with TDS…? I’d guess a single digit percentage. Who cares what woke single mom in Navy Admin thinks? If some Admiral or Air Force General wants to become Caesar, s/he/ zi might find out that the 2nd Marine and 82nd Airborne Division troopers have different ideas and far more ability to get things done.
Smidge optimistic. The Washington officer corp is only ever around people inside and outside the government who think like them. I’m not sure how self-aware they are, but I’d imagine they are enough to know that, for example, the dyke carrier captain got her job the same way they did and that she’d be on the same page with whatever action they’d take.
“…the percent in the ranks of actual combat units with TDS…? I’d guess a single digit percentage. Who cares what woke single mom in Navy Admin thinks?”
Indeed, however the vast majority of line officers come out of state colleges, not West Point (for the Army) nor whatever the equivalent for the Marines is. A college degree is required to obtain officership in the US military. Where the vast majority of mid-rank and senior government positions are held by liberal morons, people indoctrinated and produced by an insipid college system, it’s not out of the realm of possibility the armed services could go through the same thing.
Marines get some O’s from Annapolis and Navy ROTC w/ Marine option. Also a get a few Mustangs – enlisted who get their degree and go to Officer Candidate School.
Here’s my take on the chessboard (2D, 3D, or 4D, take your pick). The ruling class hates Trump more than they love anything, including their own children. The saner elements probably suspect that Trump is right that the cure is worse than the disease, but that’s why they’re publicly advocating the extension of the cure in supposed good faith. Sure it will cause a Depression, and no it won’t be entirely or even mostly Trump’s fault, but they called them Hoovervilles (even though a lot of historians argue he wasn’t as responsible as he was painted) and the mud will stick to Trump. And think about how Leftist institutions grew in our last Depression under the guise of fighting poverty: The Federal Writers Project was giving surly Negroes grants to pal around with communists and write poems about rape fantasies while white workingmen were tearing each other apart for a spot to ride in a boxcar. People will be much more receptive to Ocasio-Cortez and the Squad after this too, since real, grinding poverty radicalizes people. Krugman even came out and admitted he was happy Trump hadn’t done much on infrastructure, because infrastructure is popular and thus it would help Trump. It’s better for Americans to starve than be fed by Trump.
Hoover is a great example of how the history books are propaganda. Hoover was a member of the Efficiency Society. I think he was the president of it at one point. He was a devotee of Taylorism for a while. Yet, the history books paint him as a laissez-faire stooge of big business. Hoover was anything but that. It was just a slander from the Left repeated throughout the ages.
Amity Schlaes’ “The Forgotten Man” (which I admittedly read pre-Redpill) doesn’t exactly exonerate Hoover…As I recall, it’s an example of agreeing with Liberals for the wrong reasons.
I don’t think Hoover was a great man or anything like that. I was just pointing out that he was welcome among the beautiful people and held many of the same ideas. He was as progressive as the rest. That whole period though is a great example for us. The Great War was one blunder after another, as leaders refused to abandon old ideas, instead doing the same things over and over. The so-called roaring twenties was not a new phenomenon. Speculative bubbles had created panics in the past.
There are a lot of great lessons for us today in the events a century ago.
I always think of “Ham on Rye,” Bukowski’s book about the Depression: “Hitler was acting up in Europe and creating jobs for everyone.” The Left in Europe likes to pretend neo-Nazis are real Nazis (since it keeps people scared and sort of justifies the oppression and surveillance), and they’ve literally made it legal to put the Flügel (arm of the AFD) under Verfassungsschutz control (basically our FBI for controlling internal dissidents), but the situation’s too hopeless right now probably for a strongman to rise on the continent and start a war to boost American manufacturing. The closest we get to Braveheart these days are incels shooting up Turkish shisha shops and kebab stands.
Jim Grant wrote this about the last non-Fed intervened financial crash in our history. Good book. https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Depression-Crash-Cured-Itself/dp/1451686463
Hoover presided over the greatest expansion of the Federal Govt, then seen.
H.L. Mencken on Coolidge: “ In what manner he would have performed himself if the holy angels had shoved the Depression forward a couple of years – this we can only guess, and one man’s hazard is as good as another’s. My own is that he would have responded to bad times precisely as he responded to good ones – that is, by pulling down the blinds, stretching his legs upon his desk, and snoozing away the lazy afternoons…. He slept more than any other President, whether by day or by night. Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored…. Counting out Harding as a cipher only, Dr. Coolidge was preceded by one World Saver and followed by two more. What enlightened American, having to choose between any of them and another Coolidge, would hesitate for an instant? There were no thrills while he reigned, but neither were there any headaches. He had no ideas, and he was not a nuisance.“
One of the “world savers“ referred to is Hoover. Paul Johnson said that Silent Cal’s nickname for Hoover was “the Wonder Boy”. As Z says, he was a standard issue Progressive, and conjecturally if the movers and shakers of 1929 had been polled as to who would be the best equipped to lead the US through a time of great trial- many would have answered “Hoover”.
I haven’t read The Forgotten Man since shortly after its publication, but that was my memory as well. Schlaes opens the book with the story of Hoover’s response as Commerce Secretary to the 1927 floods along the Mississippi River. Hoover setup “dictators of resources” to distribute aid to those displaced by the flood. It is amazing how the left has been able to rewrite him as a hands off stock market worshiping President.
“It is amazing how the left has been able to rewrite [Hoover] as a hands off stock market worshiping President.” Same as depicting the socialist Hitler and his socialist workers party as “right-wing.”
He was right wing. Defining right and left through economics is a modern thing.
I am curious whether Trump will be turned into a version of moustache man, who lives under the bed and never goes away (like he does now), or perhaps he will be airbrushed out of history, and there will be this strange four to eight year period in our history where “everything was terrible and nothing of it may ever be spoken of”. If Trump fails spectacularly during his time in office, be will be the boogily moustache man. If he largely succeeds, he will be airbrushed out, IMO.
Apparently the new guidelines come Tuesday, which could point to the statement being a trial balloon to test the people’s reaction. He can’t say people need to get back to work from one side of his mouth and say lockdown through April through the other.
An optimistic picture will be for the new recommendations to be healthy people work, lock down those at risk for the rest of the month. Of course, even our red state governors are too scared to be the first to lighten restrictions since, as Z has stated, there are only political downsides.
I’m hoping some of them get smart and decide that taking temps before entering work, spacing people out at restaurants, and keeping the vulnerable locked down is a better choice at this point. Plus shooting New Yorkers on sight.
Things change fast. It’s hard to believe that our west coast meet-up, nine of us, was less than two and a half months ago. Seems like years ago in another universe. We would now not be stopped because we openly discussed seditious and blasphemous things, but because getting nine people together in one place is now verboten.
The good news is that a lot of rotten congregations like university education and false religion are shut down. The bad news is that, one day, our current links to the world, which are sites like these, will wink off. “Terms of service” violations of some sort, no doubt.
isn’t it convenient that we’re not permitted to assemble?
It’s amazing how so many of the “requirements” to fight CV19 are straight from the NWO globalist wishlist – cashless society, internal travel limitations, and proles shuttered in their homes.
Dutch, absolutely agree with everything except “university education being shut down.” Not only is it not shut down but it is more of a joke than ever. Professors who had never set foot in an online LMS (learning management system) within a week of training are now “teaching” online courses.
Not only that but there is a push to make most or all spring courses Pass/Fail because of “equity” concerns. I.E., POC students, not being blessed with white privilege are at a distinct disadvantage. As one example, an unmarried student said it was unfair to her because she had her 5 children running around her small apartment while more privileged students had no children and had their own room.
The U’s used to be able to pretend that being on campus somewhere was the student’s ticket to the good life. Now the same student is going to quickly figure out that teaching himself welding by YouTube is infinitely better than listening to some professor prattle on about privileges. Said student can have the U’s video going, to get his degree, while he secretly surfs sites that teach real world life skills.
Similarly, without the trappings and environment of the church sanctuary, the messages being given must stand or fall on their own accord. I’m not seeing much success there, amongst the mainliners.
Dutch, I am hoping for major changes in higher education being unexpected consequences of this virus shutdown. I agree that you need a church-like atmosphere in a confined area for the “white privilege” and “equity” BS to be followed blindly.
I also don’t see parents continuing to shell out $35,000 a year to send their children to a UC to live on campus when they are in REAL TIME seeing said child sitting on the couch at home taking UC courses over the internet. Obviously some disciplines need to be taught at a campus site but thankfully those are “stem-like” disciplines and not “*%#& studies” disciplines.
I have no faith in the vast majority of white Americans speaking the truth about what they believe BUT I am hoping to see by their actions that they continue to buy guns and start taking their children out of ridiculous degree programs taught on campus.
A little over a month ago I did not expect to see empty store shelves. A little over a month ago I expected most health care professionals to act coldly analytical. A little over a month ago I did not expect to hear people asking for martial law (curiously, the same people calling Trump a dictator).
The divisions we glossed-over in a polite society are now there for all to see. I don’t believe we go back to ignoring those divisions to be polite.
How about the Dems as the ones who try to postpone/cancel the fall election? If Biden is their guy, they may want to stretch things out until he shuffles away from the camera for good, like Tim Conway in a Carol Burnett episode, and they can then offer a real candidate.
You also see other resentments bubble to the surface in situations like this. That is what the incident in Vinalhaven, Maine is about. In places like that there are always a considerable number of locals who resent the tourism industry and the people it brings into their communities. The construction workers were probably working on a property for an uber wealthy out of state resident who spends weekends there in the summer. The locals who don’t work in tourism hate these people, with some jealously of their wealth playing into the resentment. They couldn’t stick to him personally, but they had a chance to stick it to his construction crew. The Rhode Island incident is different in that it is government mandated action based on the same concept.
The island where I spend the summers has five cases–all appear to be imports from people fleeing there from NY/NJ. The locals are not amused.
When my wife and I were vacationing in Maine we took a harbor cruise in Camden. The boat captain told a story about the former CEO of MBNA who paid an astronomical amount in fines to clear cut trees on his property so he could build a helicopter pad and fly in directly to his property on the weekends. I thought, the locals have to absolutely despise these people.
It’s like the old couple who got robbed of their dream home by the New York Richard Dreyfus in “What About Bob.”
The moral here is the general uselessness of fines against the rich. If its going to be seriously against the law offense needs to carry mandatory time, maybe hard labor for some years to deter.
Otherwise the complete inability of society to shame the rich just makes the fine a “fee” which middle class people can’t pay.
The other option which is fines scaled to income would probably require a Constitutional amendment but is the only way it would work with a fine.
If the fine for a person of say 100k income is 100k (you did say astronomical) that Mr. Rich Man would get a fee of say $10 million if that is what he made.
Otherwise all a high concentration of wealth does is erode the rule of law.
This erosion and the ease of which the rich can opt out of the system is ruing the egalitarian ideal that is America.
The locals are not amused.
But they are happy enough to take the tourist dollar.
I am of the school of thought that believes tourist should be summarily mowed down with machineguns – especially when they loiter up locations I prefer to visit in peace, quiet and dignified contemplation – but if you allow tourists into your community, you don’t get to dictate when they can use their summer homes.
All logical, but these are not logical times. Grew up in a tourist town, and now summer in one. One takeaway is am always conscious of that tension and actively try not to be a “tourist asshole” even after spending 27 years going to the place–and have more year-round friends there than “summer friends”.
“if you allow tourists into your community”
Sure, but how do you keep them out? A nontrivial proportion of the most resentment-breeding summer home people are precisely those who have not only great wealth, but undue influence on both the creation and enforcement (or lack thereof) of laws. Any person or group trying to keep them out would be law-fared beyond an inch (or cm) of their lives, not to mention the de rigeur smears about Muh Anti-something something.
Mike, I’ve lived in neighborhoods that managed to keep AirB’ing your neighhbors a manageable nuisance.
Guess what my neighbors did on Saturdays.
Had sex?
Depends on whether the sex includes “work”.
Battery-operated sex toys would definitely be forbidden. (Though one on a timer that started automatically might be allowable, or perhaps a filthy nonbeliever subhuman could turn it on. Hmmm. Now there’s a niche career!) A culture where people spend their time figuring out ways to obey the bare letter of the law while blatantly ignoring the obvious intent and spirit, and indeed plotting how to fool G-d, is clearly incompatible with an open, high-trust society.
Sure, but how do you keep them out?
Don’t you have zoning laws? If you don’t want summer homes in your county, don’t zone for them?
Problem where I live is many former tourists are coming here to die. The retirement industry is happy to oblige. 55+ developments popping up everywhere. Who needs little league baseball fields when you can have luxury condos?
A temporary situation but there will be quite a mess to clean up in 20 years.
The sentiments down in Florida are the same. Every year it seems the traffic from the visiting “snowbirds” gets worse. Lots of NE and Midwest plates on cars driven by old fogeys who can’t drive competently, causing accidents. I’ve had a few close calls myself. Then there’s all the drunk spring break faggots clogging the beaches early spring. Looks like a lot of them are bringing the kung flu back with them to their home states.
Traffic on the roads has been quite light, which is nice for a change. I can ride the motorcycle down the main roads and not have to worry so much about being run over. I’m kinda enjoying this aspect of the lockdown.
I’m highly suspicious of the claims about the springbreakers taking the kung flu back with them. Either way it is a way to shame or to try to shame young people to toe the party line. As a matter of fact, that was the first act of real defiance and dissidence.
Tourism is a seductive easy buck. It rots out the soul of a town that once did more than sit on its backside all winter long.
Almost every New England seaside vacation town once had a vibrant economy: Boat building, shipping, commercial fishing, furniture fabrication, knitting mills,canneries, iron works and summer tourism. The selling off of our industrial base made people more and more dependent upon tourism so towns changed zoning laws and made other accommodations which further expanded the their dependence on the tourist dollar. The loss of a diversified economy forced the young to look for opportunity elsewhere. Local investment like its young people was siphoned off to regional megalopolises. No long-term community passed on from generation to generation…no long-term need to invest in a long-term economic infrastructure. This is the story of the past 50 years for most of small town America. Cater to the weekend and summer-time retreaters; whatever locals remain can service their needs.
The wonderful efficiencies and the extraordinary savings of economies of scale and the invisible hand. If the overreaction to WuFlu throws a wrench into those works then it will have been worth the price.
The video of the unrest on the Hubei/Jiangxi border was somewhat astounding to me. I live minutes from the NY/PA line and I can’t quite picture our respective law enforcement departments battling each other in the open. In one of the videos, the crowd can be heard chanting something akin to “Let’s go Hubei!” almost as if it was a sporting event. Perhaps, however, the events in RI, ME, and FL show that regionalism is similarly alive in these parts. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen, in fact it’s long past time to redraw some borders.
“The locals who don’t work in tourism hate these people”
Probably not as much as the locals who DO work in tourism hate those people. Heh.
Though I think the above is true, I’d add two thoughts:
1. Absolute poverty is not nearly as much a breeder of resentment as is relative poverty. And uber-wealthy outsiders are pretty much the case study for highlighting relative poverty.
2. I seem to recall that a certain group of people (it escapes me exactly who at this moment, please forgive this isolation-induced dementia) frequently end up resented and hated, throughout time and space, and they always blame it on resentment and jealousy. There are no other factors involved in this mysterious hatred. Never. Much of our moneyed and influential class(es) similarly lack insight into themselves and their own behavior.
I think it’s time to start gathering.
Correction: It’s time to start gathering.
NO! That just makes it easier for the jackboots to round up dissidents for the detention camps. Go dark and wait. The Deep State is very well prepared to defeat ad hoc militias (shoot first is their SOP). The citizenry is not the enemy. The fish rots from the head. That is where the cure will be found.
Do nothing and wait? That’s what we’ve *been* doing. It’s what they’re planning for. And they could round us up right now if they’d like. Perhaps they already have.
I would never advocate violence. Still, the government needs to witness that we are willing and able to mobilize.
The fish’s head has enough ice to stay fresh forever.
The tyranny disease is concentrated in a relatively small number of psychopaths that are well guarded by a phalanx of jackboots and mercenaries. The average Joe Citizen is not the problem. And you cannot be of any help in remedying this curse by putting a target on your back. Be smart, be dark, and be ready. And think outside the box. If you’re predictable, you’re as good as dead already.
Isn’t “be dark” just a stylized way of saying “do nothing”? That’s the most predictable thing around. In fact, I bet that’s part of what draws us here. This site is indispensable, but theorizing and dialogue convinces us we’re doing more than we really are. What is a movement that never appears?
And I am not casting any aspersions on the citizens.
Isn’t “be dark” just a stylized way of saying “do nothing”?
It can be, yes. But serious people rarely speak publicly about all (or any) of the things they are doing.
“He knew nothing about me, which was good. But I would’ve preferred he knew several things about me, none of which were true.”
Anon – Celtic saying
Yeah Tom, just prior to the virus, the neo-nazi white nationalism is our greatest threat to democracy narrative was trending sharply from the usual sources.
How easy will it be for them to dovetail the white men bad into new normal of virus-mandated civil obedience?
I am already seeing the crazies on the neighborhood boards playing the ‘toxic white male privilege’ card on any man attempting to bring a calm, rational tone to the otherwise histrionic echo chamber of NPR talking points.
That said, I think our guys would be well served to spend the house arrest time continuing to build a network that can feed into IRL.
Particularly as it relates to economic networks that can help elevate us all during the coming displacement.
I don’t know what this looks like but I do know that we are about to send more men into their opiate graves if we do not have a means to take care of our own.
From the coming chaos there will also be a lot of opportunities for grassroots synergy and symbiotic relationships to form, insulated from the pozz and .gov madness. Or so I hope.
Right, that’s what I mean. I’m not talking about a rebellion; I’m talking about people getting together and sharing information. Still, I think we should prepare to peacefully protest.
Yes, the media will call us monsters. But it will become harder to vilify us as our social conditions worsen, and we can take measures to mitigate the media’s attempts to malopticize us.
start by building a well at your house for clean water and getting a gas power generator for your home (solar sucks) to decompress your house from the city electrical and water grid and perhaps a septic tank.
“start by building a well at your house for clean water and getting a gas power generator … ” etc.
That sounds like a lot of work. Make sure the top of your septic tank is below the level of the bottom of your well.
Your going to get all that done by the time the quarantine’s lifted, right?
piss off.
Recommended reading during the lock down, Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade.
Time for us to “get swole” like our African-American friends like to say.
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mp_getswole_phase1-4-bb.pdf
Takes more muscles to frown than smile.
Get them gains.
120# of Quikcrete, 48” piling concrete form cut into 6” pieces, 5’ galvanized 1” pipe. 6” 1.25” pvc joiners. $30 at the Home Depot.
Backyard barbell. An hour of yard time mandated by the state board of corona prisons. Corona gains!
I’m just picturing a person doing sit ups and coughing at the peak each rep.
You know never even thought of this. Amazing. I suppose dropping the weights is out of the question since they’ll crack?
Badthinker, sadly yes, the “crossfit drop” is not advisable. Unless maybe you have a rubber mat. You could higher quality cement too. I went cheap. Though the curing process os probably most important. But I also like to do the full lift. And while I do have a mirror (you know, purely for form) there are no fit bitches around to admire the ruckus of my swolle-storm. A tree falls…
Found this…
https://www.instructables.com/id/Concrete-Weight-Plates/
A commenter recommends adding iron or lead shot to the concrete to make heaver plates of the same size.
Could also maybe put some rebar in there for strength.
This guy too.
https://homemadestrength.blogspot.com/2012/04/concrete-weights.html
…OR go to Walmart/Target and buy the proper equipment.
“Murph”
1 mile run
20 sets of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squatz
1 mile run
When it comes down to it nothing beats calisthenics for functional strength, and cardio is the most important.
Trump should really listen to his gut and tell the ‘health professionals’ in his advisory board to sit down. Ending this thing by Easter was something many people I know out here in flyoverland found to be a reasonable (if not a maximum) amount of restriction they’d be willing to tolerate. This has certainly put a damper on some attitudes in a few corners.
To paraphrase a certain treasonous neocon snake, “This is not who we are.”
Trump quoted Fauci estimating 2.2 million U.S. deaths if we don’t continue the lockdowns. This is insane. If we assume all 330 million American get it, and the death rate stays impossibly high at 1%, you only get 3.3 million deaths. So we expect over 2/3 of the maximum possible if this were a much worse contagion? The cruise ship infection rate was 17% while they were living in a giant petri dish. Smart politics on Trump’s part, because he is following elite medical opinion, and will get credit when the death rate turns out to be about 100,000. But if this sparks a depression, all bets are off.
Hopefully he will pivot back to Easter end of the craziness with good data and the efficacy of the Trump-pill cocktail.
This is just like trying to do loss estimates on mass tort cases. Sketchy input information will generate results that are all over the board.
His health advisors don’t won’t have to answer for the unemployment- he will. They should not be the ones making these decisions.
Civil unrest is a given now. Does that transition into a civil war between and among states? It’s still unlikely but not so much we shouldn’t acknowledge it. You are right there. The fury directed at New Yorkers by their fellow Northeasterners makes sense in hindsight but it was not expected.
I stick with this as the last week where Americans abide by lockdown requirements, which in places such as New Jersey are as draconian as found in officially totalitarian countries. How the state and local governments respond to dissent will tell us about the trajectory this will take. People will be tested in ways unthinkable as recently as a month ago.
What do you think of Trump’s comment on “forced quarantine” of NY/NJ and then walking that back? And then punting on Easter, deferring to the latest carbon credit calculator for more federal distancing guidance?
I hadn’t paid much attention to it as the Trump twitter bluster ticker is tedious to track. But, it occurred to me later that perhaps he was baiting them.
I.e. If it is so awful there, so dire, and the shelter-in-place is the only option, lets bring in the guard and really apply the cure with gusto.
So the gov either works with Trump (terrible!) or rejects the idea on live TV.
So in a week, when the $1,200 is still at the print shop and people start demanding more gov’t issued corona blankets and people are out of cash and weed, the idea of troops patrolling the streets suddenly doesn’t look so bad to those who own property.
Most surprising thing to me is just how docile and compliant people have become.
But there are limits. And in this case its two pronged: those who will reject State authority and go feral; but also those who will deputize themselves with state power to turn on their neighbors who are not obeying.
And I guess cops are getting the cough too, further eroding force continuity. Hmmm.
The single most terrifying thing is citizens reporting on citizens who are believed to have “too many people” inside their houses or at gatherings. This is social media shrieking and censorship moving into real time. That’s how all totalitarian systems work–with the compliance and full support of the oppressed. Dissidents always are, usually for a long time, small minorities in communist countries and they always are hated by the masses until a certain point. It’s why accelerationism is a bad idea as strategy, in my opinion. It would fail at this point because it is too soon.
I stick with the initial pushback coming this week. It will bring more people to our way of thinking. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the governments start with arrests and amp up to live ammunition. That also will bring more people to our side. Small steps, then big steps come. Also look for a crackdown on unauthorized cellphone footage of the official responses.
Trump either has been conned or he is letting Cuomo and company hang themselves. Maybe it is both. He’s resisted a national quarantine and left it up to the states and cities and that was wise and cunning. Many people will vote with their feet after this ends, if it ever does. This draws clearer lines if and when things finally get hot.
“The New Normal”, “buy the dip”, “flatten the curve”, “trust the plan”, “patriots are in control”. What other ones have I forgotten?
“Better to fight them over there than over here”
“if you’re not with us then you’re with the terrorists”
Remember this one…?
http://oldpoliticals.com/ItemImages/000024/34413_lg.jpeg
Ha! An oldie but a goodie from the late, unlamented Ford Administration; along with swine flu and legionnaires disease. Although we didn’t totally tank the economy over those, so Jerry had at least that over Don.
Not a good example …. The guy that said that got hit by the Diversty Truck.😆👍
“Don’t let the terrorists win.”
“Love wins”
“When you’re hungry for bat, Wuhan’s got you covid!” “Don’t go to Dunkin’. Go spelunkin'”
I am warming up my social responses about the next administration, whenever that is. “Vote like a ‘Good American'”. “One party, one leader, one country”. “That new guy sure is going to get the trains running on time”.
“Diversity is our strength.”
“That’s racist!”
“We just can’t cut and run”
“We’re all in this together”
“Work makes you free”.
“That’s who we are.”
You forgot one of the big ones from post 9/11 that is now coming back with a vengeance. The State Approved Snitch Mantra. “If you see something, say something.”
And the sheep who gladly lick their master’s hand are doing so with glee snitching on their neighbors for not ‘social distancing’. This whole thing is a bit of a black pill if I’m being honest at just how easily cowed the average retard is.
“Just Say No.”
“Most powerful military in the history of man!”*
*(That can’t win wars, because reasons)
Come from a business where we regularly have to think about the “unthinkable”–50/100/250 year events. One has to adjust their resource commitment to the highest probabilities–but to devote no thinking or planning to the “tail” is foolish–since these are the events that are truly existential. Increasingly think the propensity of our elite “betters” to go and hide in some safe location–David Geffen proudly tweeting from his yacht ensconced in the Grenadines or wealthy NY’ers fleeing to NE island havens and bringing the virus with them and cleaning our the grocery shelves, while the year round population that barely ekes by is facing empty cupboards because their livelihoods have been taken away will not go unnoticed. And will bite back. Crises have a way of crystallizing otherwise unnoticed cracks in society. This morning it was reported that 13% of the NYPD is out sick or in quarantine due to positive tests or heavy exposure to someone with one. FDNY companies no longer make medical runs in order to keep the firefighters separated from the EMS/Medic division personnel who are becoming infected. And the media/Democrat politicians are becoming increasingly hysterical. Just like northern California–lot of combustible material is building up. We might get rain, but we might not.
Most of the country is growing to hate New York. First they behave stupidly and let their Chinese New Year’s festival continue, and encourage people to go. Next they whine they don’t have enough medical supplies. This from a city and state with massive taxes. Finally, their residents flee, spreading the virus.
How long before individuals are being sued for spreading the virus?
Most of us have always hated them. I have a friend from the Buffalo area, most upstate NYers are right with us.
I know there are lots of Bangladeshi immigrants in Brooklyn who are moving to Buffalo. Does your friend know why?
Obviously for its similarity to the climate of Bangladesh.
He moved to Minnesota.
I can’t say that I’ve noticed an influx of Bangladeshis in the Buffalo area. The largest (or at least most publicized and feted) subset of immigrants, outside the ubiquitous Hispanic horde, is from Burma. In the grand scheme of things, it could be a lot worse, e.g. the Somalis in Minnesota and Maine. I don’t know how they would support themselves, but Buffalo’s been somewhat of a lure for downstate hipster types because of the relatively inexpensive nature of the housing market.
And yes, there is surely a higher percentage of upstaters that are appalled by what’s happened this month. In my fairly rural, population roughly 100,000, county, there are 5 confirmed cases, no deaths, and no reason to believe things are going to get any worse. Hopefully, when the stay-at-home orders come down, we have Sheriffs who issue sanctuary orders as they have for the 2A. Our economy is extremely fragile and can’t take much more of this abuse. We can take care of ourselves, thank you.
No such thing as “it could be worse”. Stop grading non-whites on some arbitrary curve – well, Burmese aren’t Muslim and they don’t commit crimes, so I guess we have to let them in.
A non-white group in the country means another tribal competitor against my people. I have nothing against Burmese people; but they belong in Burma not in Buffalo. Regardless of their IQ, religion, or crime statistics.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t say, and certainly never thought, “we have to let them in because they’re not as bad as Somalis.” It’s just an observation.
Because the gibs go a lot further up there than in NYC.
“the gibs go further”
True, but I’d bet nearly anything the real reason is: BFYTW, you deplorable hicks. As in white(r) regions must be made less white By All Means Necessary.
In that vein, I now identify as African-American. Because I Believe In Science! (TM). My remote ancestors came from Africa, so I am AA. I think we should all identify as AA for the upcoming Census to show our Support for Science. The incidental effect of a sudden “influx” of AAs in previously non-diverse areas will have on redistricting is left as an exercise for the student.
I’m sure everybody will be shocked to learn than The Big Bagel is Europeans’ favourite US city.
Not really, there’s a lot to see in NYC. The trick is to be a tourist with a place to go back to. It’s a bit more disconcerting when having to resign yourself to living there.
I live in the Rochester area, I can attest to the fact we hate being tied to NYC
At one time, there was talk in NY State about upstate NY splitting away from NYC and its burbs. Nothing came of it, obviously.
That’s a shame. Wish we would do that with Philly. Give it to NJ, where it culturally and economically belongs.
You have to watch Red Bill ringside to fully appreciate the combination of laziness and stupidity.
#Superdole2020
I’ve always considered myself to be somewhat naive, perhaps even a bit obtuse. Unfortunately, and although I am now somewhat of a pariah for not believing that this manufactured crisis was a species-threatening event, I predicted that it would be used exactly as it is.
It is the second order effects that kill you. Take Haiti–few people die in the earthquakes and cyclonic storms–many more die of cholera, malnutrition and violence afterwards.
That’s what worries me, in particular, supply chains. At what point does the farm, processing, distribution and trucking system begin to crack? And if it does, of course the government has to step in and run it.
You think you want someone like Cuomo okaying your groceries?
SA, the government can always fill up the EBT cards with something that resembles dollars. Nothing to spend it on, the stores empty? I can see some violence, and political fractures. I think the moment the political class begins to get an inkling off this, that’s the moment the Great Virus Shutdown ends.
Already seeing worker revolts at Amazon as more workers test positive. Can’t pick, fill and label boxes from home.
He’s better than Bloomberg.
Haitians die because Haiti is what you get when you think Wakanda is possible.
I agree. Sadly, this country now has a lot of those people, too.
Do you think anybody realllly thinks wakanda is in the cards. I found it patronizing.
That makes two of us, GM. We’re all thinking the unthinkable now. The next civil war will have at least 5 teams on it.
you should take that predictive power to vegas
@Karl, if I could parlay it into some significant winnings, I would. Alas, it seems that, in this case, it has been easier for me to predict the actions of the psychopaths and tyrants that infest all levels of our so-called government.
I’ve largely given up trying to explain to the hysterics at iSteve that the fallout from euthanizing the global economy will be far worse than anything the virus could have achieved on its own. No one has been able to present any images of stacked corpses in return. The only images I’ve found are scare shots of empty tents, refrigerated semi trailers, and ventilators wrapped in plastic. The NYT posted an absolutely laughable, Blair Witch-style scare video from Elmhurst this past weekend. #Coronahoax
Behold!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8167283/Horrifying-moment-dead-bodies-loaded-refrigerated-truck-forklift.html
Absolute carnage!
https://nypost.com/2020/03/29/elderly-woman-dies-after-being-shoved-for-not-social-distancing-sources/
That’s it? 12 lumps under sheets?
The Buzzfeed version of the story has all kinds of bizarre, irrelevant details like the age of the nurse and the anecdote about his last patient’s pajamas come off like try hard details intended to humanize the story, especially the line about the Holocaust at the end. Come on.
This happens all the time with morgues; they fill up on weekends when killers kill each other. I remember it starting after the Dadeland Shootout in Miami, when the Cocaine Wars got started in earnest. Corona doesn’t kill people. Colombians with submachineguns kill people.
My YouTube feed is full of stills for videos showing just coffins, mainly in connection with the situation in Italy. That’s it, just out of context coffins. It’s like some deranged Hollywood Halloween for them. Next thing you know they’ll be showing the Italian parliament as a spooky old castle on a hill lit by flashes of lightning.
My favorite “almost” for a proxy to stacked corpses was the shot of an empty church in northern Italy where the pews were filled with the coffins of those destined to be unmourned. It was a tour de force of grief, fear and a slightly bitter hint of gratitude that but for lockdown this fate awaits us all. /sarc
Howard,
Not that it helps, but I appreciate your comments on Steve Sailer’s blog. If not for a handful of sensible commenters, I would have had to give up Sailer until the panic abates.
Has anyone considered the theory that this virus pandemic is a plot cooked up by spooks in the CIA? We know they consider human lives expendable in furtherance of their politics.
Only us tinfoil hatters.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Everything’s a psyop.
Epaminondas: The sad thing is we would be fools to rule out the possibility.
You know what I’ve thought about (but not mentioned for fear of people telling me I’m nuts)? Years ago a Chinese dissident was imprisoned, got TB in jail, and then when he got out he went around coughing and spitting in various bowls of food in restaurants all over the provinces (discreetly, of course). He killed hundreds. What if someone sympathetic to Hong Kong or another anti-Chi Com decided to get this bug out of a lab where their friend worked in order to spread it to make the Commies look bad?
What happens when this becomes endemic? We no longer have flu season, instead we have lockdown season.
There’s no doubt in my mind that this will happen again — at least as long as Trump (or a non-democrat party apparatchik) is in the White House. The power surge to the tyrants is too intoxicating to not do so.
There’s a significant percentage of people (mostly female, with some Soyboys mixed in there) who are actively enjoying this.
I question if life will ever go back to normal, and I question if there will ever be any significant pushback on repeated delays in letting us out of lockdown.
Even at Peak Soy there is a limit to what people will endure.
But keep in mind that in a progressive gynocracy the definition of Normal is Just a 12 month moving average. Fear is a powerful accelerant. So now I’d say we are running a 3-month window.
Progress has a way of turning us into goldfish. The youngins, who are assuming a larger role in who we are, also have no concept of history; who we were.
Even when the pushback happens, we might just find the demands of the grass-eaters to be more akin to comfortable imprisonment than to pitchforks and pikes.
To that end, before the paint job on our new normal dries, college debt will disappear into the Fedgov black box.
Forgive student debt. I am waiting for the banks to close for a few days because of the virus. Open back up a few days later and all of a sudden, you only have half you money. Bank holiday, here we come.
You mean something like the current stock market? Hell, they only needed to close for 15 minutes or so. 🙁
Selectively. I want sociology and grievance studies majors to work theirs off on asbestos removal teams.
As I wrote below, my, perhaps naive, hope is that at the county level we see sanctuary proclamations from these lock downs, much as we see with immigration or the second amendment.
well, i’m enjoying it immennsly. Laying about reading and fishing. also fixed a couple of things around the house. declaration of a debt jubilee and it would be perfect.
Yes, let’s push back.
I have noticed how weirdly resistant some Democrats are to alternatives to statist lock-downs. Chloroquine now the obvious drug to use as both treatment for mild cases to prevent hospitalizations, and as a preventative. Many New York nurses and doctors are taking it as a preventative while 1,100 people are in a trail in NY. Yet two Democrat Governors have actually banned prescribing it to outpatients. A big mask slip that they are high on their new power?
Yes, it’s strange that the left and the media don’t seem to be pleased that Chloroquine (plus the other drug) seems to working.
I’m sure big pharma would have preferred if some really expensive AIDS anti-virals were the magic bullets, not an 80-year-old drug and zinc-paks – both with expired patents and about as expensive to manufacture as aspirin. But the dumber Dems in NV and MI really dug in their heels on it.
Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic. The media is trying to slow roll Chloroquine because there’s no money in it for Big Pharma, which means no new ad buys from them. Some exotic, custom vaccine that can be patented by Big Pharma means billions in new ad buys for the media. Also, Orange Man Bad!!!!
That’s part of it. Also the moment Trump said it looked promising, TDS forced them to hate a drug developed during the Roosevelt Administration.
“TDS. Is there anything it can’t do?”
I like the Scott Adams thing this morning: Something along the lines of “Trump changes his mind so often that CNN can’t keep up with how to be on the other side of his arguments”.
“[T]he media don’t seem to be pleased that Chloroquine (plus the other drug) seems to working.” No, they’re not. The reason? HCL was first touted by Trump as a potential life-saver. The media is motivated by leftist hatred toward Trump, so anything supported by him must be bad. This is why Zman says we shouldn’t hate anyone, because when you do you “define yourself” with reference to that which you hate. Think about it: Hostility toward a life-saving drug in a possible pandemic because it was first promoted by Trump. Insane leftist hatred.
Because of my frustration with Trump for having never done anything he talked about as a candidate, I would have been the first one to tell the Trump defenders to stop exaggerating about how everything is a plan by the MSM/Democrats to get Trump. Sure, they’re going to spin it against Trump. No matter what he does, they’re going to be critical. They’ll highlight anything that makes Trump look bad while keeping quiet on the positive. But if one of these guys always going on about somebody “owning the libs” told me that because Trump spoke positively and hopefully of it, governors would ban the use of an inexpensive drug that appears to be effective against the virus, I would have rolled my eyes. Come on. That’s unthinkable.
The people in charge are totally insane. This should give pause to the pro-lockdown crowd. They’re in favor of all of the quarantines and shutting down businesses, etc. But just remember who is in charge and who is giving these orders – people that ban the use of a drug that may be a miracle cure.
“The people in charge are totally insane.”
One flu over the cuckoo’s nest.
My guess is it becomes a seasonal irritation like the flu. We’re biologically tough. The susceptible will be weeded out. The rest will adapt and overcome.
Good example, smallpox. Europe lived with it for millennia, Spaniards brought it over to new world and within 100 years or so, 90% of the natives, gone—as they had never encountered it and had no time to adapt.