RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://amgreatness.com/2020/03/22/the-virus-is-not-invisible-but-its-exposing-whos-irreplaceable/

When your refrigerator goes out under quarantine and your supplies begin to rot, do you really need another rant from Maxine Waters—or do you rather need a St. Michael Smith and St. Uriel Mendoza to appear out of nowhere as the archangels from Home Depot to wheel up and connect a new one?

In all the gloom and doom, and media-driven nihilism, there is actually an array of good news. As many predicted, as testing spreads, and we get a better idea of the actual number and nature of cases, the death rate from coronavirus slowly but also seems to steadily decline.

Early estimates from the World Health Organization and the modeling of pessimists of a constant 4 percent death rate for those infected with the virus are for now proving exaggerated for the United States. More likely, as testing spreads, our fatality rates could descend to near 1 percent.

There is some evidence from Germany and to a lesser extent South Korea, that it may be possible to see the fatality rate dip below 1 percent. And with the breathing space from the lockdown, better hygiene (the degree of constant and near-obsessive cleaning at businesses that are still open is quite amazing), more knowledge and data, better medical protocols, the use of some efficacious drugs, warmer weather, and experience with the disease will, in perfect-storm fashion, begin to mitigate the effects of the virus.

Should we get the lethality rate down to German levels (currently two to three in 1,000), then we can cautiously assume that those who predicted that the coronavirus could eventually be contextualized as a bad, H1N1-like flu will no longer be demonized as nuts, and life can resume with reasonable precautions and focused quarantines and isolation.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/nr-coronavirus-update-10-u-s-states-with-500-cases/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=fourth

Ten American states now have more than 500 confirmed cases of coronavirus. In comparison, twelve Chinese clusters reached 500 cases (according to the available data, which is by no means totally trustworthy). Most of the outbreaks outside of Wuhan seem to have been contained early, whereas in the U.S., the number of cases within each cluster continues to grow exponentially. 

However, New York is carrying out more tests per capita than other states, so the numbers don’t necessarily reflect the severity of each statewide outbreak. Fifty-five percent of those infected in New York are between the ages of 18 and 55, which, while troublesome, bodes well for the death rate, as COVID-19 is most deadly in elderly populations. New York governor announced that he would send 1 million N95 facemasks to New York City and would continue purchasing medical resources, such as ventilators, to combat the virus.

After initial obstacles, the U.S. has succeeded in massively increasing its testing capacity. Over the past few days, the number of tests administered domestically has grown by nearly 40 percent each day. Yesterday, the FDA approved a test that could diagnose coronavirus in just 45 minutes. As the U.S. ramps up its ability to diagnose the virus, the most severe social-distancing measures could possibly be rolled back, but only if authorities pair testing efforts with tracing efforts, ensuring that those tested remain in strict quarantine. We’ll be watching tracing measures in the next few days to see whether states can capitalize on testing to reduce lockdowns.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethpfeiffer/2020/03/18/science-works-to-use-old-cheap-drugs-to-attack-coronavirus–it-might-just-work/#124588355c49

Update on March 19: In a press conference, President Trump announced that the FDA was fast-tracking use of hydroxycholoquine and other anti-viral drugs for COVID-19 patients.

  An old malaria and autoimmune drug is showing promise as a potential treatment for COVID-19 – although health officials are urging caution until clinical trials are done.

  The drug, hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil, was reportedMarch 9 in Clinical Infectious Diseases journal to be effective at killing the virus in laboratory experiments. In a letter in Cell Discovery Wednesday, the study’s authors, mainly from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, wrote, “(W)e predict that the drug has a good potential to combat the disease.” 

   Repurposing established drugs like Plaquenil — which was approved in 1955 — may be a quick, safe and economical way to attack emerging illnesses. In this vein, specialists have adapted long-standing leprosy and alcoholism drugs, for example, for patients suffering another global epidemic, Lyme disease.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mark-penn-in-coronavirus-fight-america-needs-a-60-day-plan-to-battle-virus-and-save-our-economy

It’s time for the Trump administration to take the next steps now to stop the uncertainty gripping America by adopting a responsible 60-day plan for both retarding the coronavirus and saving our economy.

America can go on lockdown for a month or more, but those days need to be used to prepare to emerge and get back to the essentials of daily life. We have to defeat the coronavirus, not let the virus defeat us.

The back-to-work plan must ensure certainty regarding: plans to deal with liquidity to avoid another full-blown financial crisis, programs to encourage retention of employees during the crisis and benefits for those laid off, and confidence in the health care system to ensure that it is safe enough to go back to work.

Right now we are led by a group of health care experts who have little understanding of the economy, and a group of economists with little understanding of health care. We have turned our country over to the health care experts, but we need a balance. We need our leaders to come together and bridge these disciplines to chart a clear path forward.

We know the worst is yet to come. The statistics show that in most places we are seeing a geometric increase in the spread of the coronavirus that we are working to slow and even reverse.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/the_covid19_paradigm_shift_on_war_and_weaponry.html

It’s time to shift our thinking about an arms race coming in the form of a nuclear mushroom cloud and devote some serious thought to biological warfare.

Over the course of the last two months, we have witnessed how a virtually invisible yet highly insidious weapon like a virus strain can glom onto the human body and wreak worldwide havoc.  We’re witness to wholesale closure of countries, home restrictions, economic slowdown on some fronts with total destruction on others and long-term catastrophic effects on the rest, broken supply chains on a global scale, and a sense of uncertainty to paralyze anyone who has been paying attention.

We’ve all seen the black-and-white videos of nuclear tests, read about the nuclear build-up in Iran, discussions about which countries can be trusted to be in the global “nuclear club,” and heard how rogue elements could detonate a low-yield dirty bomb from a small suitcase in downtown Manhattan.  But the COVID-19 coronavirus strain is right out of a Hollywood movie that we’ve been watching for the last 50 years.  I’m not so far out on the conspiracy theory limb to aver that this is what is happening, but it certainly provokes some thought.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/what_did_dr_fauci_have_to_say_in_2009_about_the_deadly_h1n1_pandemic.html

It seems some viral infection pandemics are more equal than others. At least when it comes to burning a vibrant Trump economy to the ground. 

In September 2009, after millions had become infected with the H1N1 influenza and thousands had died, some of whom were young people and children, a relaxed and unalarmed Dr. Anthony Fauci told an interviewer that people just need “to use good judgment.”

“Parents should not send their kids to school if they’re sick, if you’re sick don’t go to work … avoid places where there are people who are sick and coughing, now that’s a difficult thing to do,” he said. “…You can’t isolate yourself from the rest of the world for the whole flu season.” That’s quite a change from the esteemed expert’s views on the current virus from China sweeping the world.

From YouTube:

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/coronavirus-response-executive-power-limits-of-law/

The extent to which law is a barrier against to future presidential muscle-flexing, for good or ill, depends not on what the statutes and opinions say, but on how scared we are.

Earlier this week, Jim Geraghty posted about the decision by Dare County, N.C., to close its borders to non-residents. Is it merely a reaction, or an overreaction, to the coronavirus pandemic creeping across the nation?

The county’s move raises all sorts of constitutional questions about federalism. At what level of government do we properly resolve such questions — federal, state, county, municipal? Do Americans have a settled right of travel — intrastate, interstate, international — that applies at all times, or is the law flexible in this regard (as it can be regarding the imposition of martial law in times of war, invasion, and insurrection)? If a county can ban the entry of non-residents from its territory, can it ban the exit of residents, or at least of their property?

We could bat these questions around for some time. The bottom line, however, is that there are probably no settled legal answers. We miss that in normal times of peace and prosperity, when the rule of law governs. But in crisis, we see the limits of law. In essence, these questions call for political determinations. They turn on the perception of peril at a given time, which is a function of fluid circumstances that cannot be forecast with precision.

https://canadafreepress.com/article/is-this-a-pandemic-or-a-dempanic

These are just a few of the forces who have been working overtime for the past four years to sabotage, undermine, and ultimately destroy both candidate and then President Trump

Now that we’re in a de facto Martial Law mode––a shutdown of entire industries and small businesses, nighttime curfews, social isolation, a run on goods, huge sports events cancelled, a “shelter-in-place” mandate in California, releasing prisoners in New York (God forbid these  miscreants get a flu!), Broadway gone dark, and a craven media inciting and delighting in the panic they’re causing, it is relevant to ask:

Are the powers-that-be withholding information about a deadly germ-warfare attack on the entire world, started by an aggrieved Chinese Communist nation that was perfectly happy with the Bush1 and Clinton1&2 and Bush1&2 and Obama1&2 regimes that kowtowed to their outrageous demands and unfair trade deals but is now existentially threatened because a Patriot President expects more equitable deals?
Isn’t it both alarmist and immoral, as reported in American Thinker by Andrea Widburg, that the fake-news media have never told the American people that the scary statistics from Italy are the result of Italy’s recent Silk Road Project agreement with China, which resulted in more than 300,000 Chinese workers entering Italy?
Is it just one of those strange coincidences that one of the four richest men in the world, the uber-leftist and population-control fetishist Bill Gates––just weeks after the corona virus hit in January––stepped down from the Microsoft giant he founded in 1975, and just weeks earlier, in December, sponsored a “fictional” simulation of such a corona virus catastrophic event which  spread wildly and caused 65 million deaths worldwide? Just asking.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/03/the_kung_flu_panic.html

With some exceptions, the Idiot Left has howled about President Trump’s handling of the ‘Kung Flu.’ As if they’d have done anything differently. They’re only howling because it’s Donald Trump, not because there’s anything wrong with his judgment or his timing. A reporter asks an obvious troll question, Trump shuts him down, and the media scream in agony.

Agonize, baby, agonize.

When Trump shut off travel from China at the end of January, the Left as usual leapt to slash his throat. Then it turned out he had done the best possible thing at the best possible time. Now they’re screaming about shortages of masks, test kits and so on, as if Hillary or Obama or Biden or Liz or Kamala or Buttigieg or Mini Mike would have anticipated all these things. Nobody would have (or could have) anticipated any better than this administration did.

Until we know more about this virus, anticipating it isn’t even possible. From all I’ve read – and that’s been a great deal in the last week or so – the Chinese (both in China and in northern Italy) are especially vulnerable to the virus because their personal hygiene is just awful. Human feces pretty much everywhere, unsanitary food preparation in restaurants, sneezing and coughing on others, etc. These practices aren’t the norm in America and that alone will go far in arresting the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-extreme-state-lockdowns-11584745130?mod=opinion_lead_pos2

“These shutdowns are extraordinary and have costs, not least the harm to small business owners. Americans may simply decide to ignore the orders after a time. Absent a more thorough explanation of costs and benefits, we doubt these extreme measures will be sustainable for long as the public begins to chafe at the limits and sees the economic consequences.”