WHO, CDC, State emergency managers, hospital doctors and managers are no experts

I find it funny (in a dark way) that the same idiots at the WHO and CDC who were telling people in January that it wasn’t spreading person to person, who were urging the people of NYC in Feb and early/mid March to go out and mingle, urging Mardi Gras fun, urging Spring Break fun, urging people to not be racist by avoiding going out in early March, and who were telling us in February and March that masks and face coverings wouldn’t help are now are about to change the guidelines to tell everyone to wear them.  And that these are the same group of people who are running the CDC and WHO, and in charge of hospitals and hospital systems around the world and around the country, who are in charge of emergency management in every state, (a) weren’t smart enough to replenish supplies at all during 11 years after the H1N1 pandemic, (b) were too stupid to think that they might need to have extra masks, respirators and ventilators on hand when there were plenty of people out there who spent $20 on a box of N95, or N100 respirators at any point in the last 5 years.  These same “experts” who are now guiding everyone today and yet were too moronic to be able to think strategically for 4+ decades. 

The NY Times and it’s ilk, like Joe Biden, were also calling Trump racist and xenophobic for the late January 2020 travel ban.

Slowing the spread, Flattening the curve, not stopping the spread of covid-19/coronavirus

Today’s announcement about the 15 days to slow the spread is important. Note that this is NOT about stopping the spread. That ship sailed at the end of December 2019 or early January 2020 once it escaped (or was allowed to escape) from China.

Everyone (or some large percentage of a population) is going to get this at some point until there is herd immunity (60-70% of the population as a start) or a vaccine. The goal is to stop a short-term spike, not stop people from getting it.

Of course the same people from the WHO back in January who were saying it wasn’t being transmitted person-to-person are now advising the US government. The same people from NIH/CDC who were saying back in February that it didn’t pose a significant risk to the US population are advising them too. Ditto the same people saying masks don’t help, UNLESS you are a first responder.

If the closures were required in March [edit: and now April], what exactly will have changed by May, June or even September – no vaccine, no herd immunity, no double blind studies showing the efficacy of a treatment etc.   Perhaps widespread fast and accurate testing will allow people out, but so far the testing accuracy has been lacking.

Continuing it longer than 15 or 30 days will make no difference long term unless it continues for 12-24 months without testing and then quarantining people who test positive . Shutting everything down for 1 or 2 years is tantamount to suicide for the country and the world.

Some huge portion of the world population will get it eventually unless there is a vaccine. It is just a question of when.

Bucknell professor wishes death on rush limbaugh

A letter to Bucknell President Bravman:

Dear President Bravman,
I am completely disgusted to read that “A professor at Bucknell University tweeted out last week that he wished death on Rush Limbaugh,”(https://www.thecollegefix.com/professor-wishes-death-on-rush-limbaugh-attacks-republicans-on-social-media/ ) particularly after insinuating that a US House of Representatives member should be hanged last year.  
First as an alumni, seeing Bucknell’s name in the context of Michael Drexler wishing death on someone in a news article that is circulated worldwide is deeply disturbing.  Does anyone, let alone a professional, want to have their alma mater brought up in such a manner?  Does Bucknell have plans to prevent such events in the future?  Do professors have any standards that they must follow, like morality clauses in professional athlete contracts, so as to avoid painting the University in a bad light?  When you see patterns of public behavior of a person wishing death on people, there should be a concern on how it reflects upon the institution and professors should, frankly, have better judgement than to do so without the need of contract terms.
A second concern is, of course, about current students and faculty at Bucknell.  If someone is publicly wishing death to at least several people, I would be concerned about their stability as it relates to on-campus violence against people with whom Drexler disagrees whether they are students, faculty, administrators, or even alumni.  What is Bucknell doing in order to promote a safe campus environment that is open to viewpoints, particularly those that are anti-fascist, anti-communist, anti-socialist,  – in short anti-authoritarian – and pro-liberty?  I am concerned that someone wishing death on people and publicly calling Professor Riley (no relation) a “white supremacist skinhead” (from the article) might be temperamentally unfit to be educating students safely.  
I have to say that during my four years at Bucknell, not only did none of my professors ever wish death upon anyone or call students or other professors names, neither did the swim coaches, administrators, staff or anyone else with whom I interacted. The head swim coach (Dick Russell)  insisted that when we went to swim meets,  both home and away, we “look neat and clean” (nice shirt, (often) ties, no scruffiness) because we were “representing Bucknell”.  Professors today should have as much sense as he did.  Which leads to my next question.

How lax are the current hiring standards that Bucknell is hiring and promoting to tenured professor people who are immature and immorally evil that they would wish death on someone in a public forum where they are associated with Bucknell?  Does Bucknell do anything to promote tolerance among faculty members and promote mental health of faculty members who are advocating violence among sitting members of Congress, calling other faculty members vile names and wishing death on public figures?
Seeing some of the anti-free speech protests on campus recently makes me concerned about the direction the University has taken, but I do commend the school for standing up for free speech such as allowing Heather Mac Donald to speak last year.
A University should be about civil discourse, not vile names, threats and the like whether or not you disagree with someone or not.
Thanks,

saying that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.

“Ultimately, saying that you don’t care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different from saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say. Or that you don’t care about freedom of the press because you don’t like to read. Or that you don’t care about freedom of religion because you don’t believe in God. Or that you don’t care about the freedom to peaceably assemble because you’re a lazy, antisocial agoraphobe. Just because this or that freedom might not have meaning to you today doesn’t mean that it doesn’t or won’t have meaning tomorrow, to you, or to your neighbor – or to the crowds of principled dissidents I was following on my phone who were protesting halfway across the planet, hoping to gain just a fraction of the freedom that my country was busily dismantling.”

Ed Snowden, Permanent Record, pp. 208–209

And that you don’t care about the second amendment because you have nothing to defend.

FaCEBOOK’S CRYPTO

So this is a semi-centralized crypto, tied to a basket of centralized fiat currencies.  In that case, what is the point?  Just use a database, PayPal, credit cards,  Apple Pay, Zella etc.   This is what Venezuela tried with the Petro to capitalize on buzzwords and the naive. 

It will not be censorship resistant, would not help avoid the whims of central bankers and it is doubtful it would be secure software.

Just wait until one is shadow banned from using the currency.  Or blocked entirely. 

Who could possibly think this is a good idea?

“I Don’t See Myself Casting a BLACK Dude as the Lead”

If a director had said “I DON’T SEE MYSELF CASTING A BLACK DUDE AS THE LEAD” they would be run out of town for being racist.

And yet Jordan Peele stated about making movies after ‘Us’: “I Don’t See Myself Casting a White Dude as the Lead”. ( https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/jordan-peele-says-i-dont-see-myself-casting-a-white-dude-as-lead-us-1197021 )

Wow. He is a racist solely focused on skin color.

Individual Rights and Today's Issue