February 28, 2020

What does it mean that I put up a picture of a beautiful sunrise and the first comment contains the words "full panic mode"?

1. It means that Trump Derangement Syndrome has burst out into a raging pandemic that includes the coronavirus and anything else that comes along. (In the car ride home from my sunrise run, the CNN announcer at the top of the hour said, breathlessly, that yesterday the stock market took its biggest one-day plunge ever, "12 thousand points," before correcting it to "12 hundred points." We're supposed to feel as though it's 12 thousand, when it's only 12 hundred. Add a zero to every number to feel the feeling of today.)

2. It means that any photograph on the Althouse blog signifies an open thread, and that's actually true and something I've said many times. I'm not needy or bizarre enough to expect every sunrise pic to get comments like "beautiful," "one of your best," and other Facebookish clutter. If I did, I wouldn't have written "expect every sunrise pic to get comments like...." I'd have written "expect every sunrise photograph to garner comments like...." And you know I'm not that kind of blogger. So I understand that the comments would tend to be about whatever's in the news that I'm not blogging about in the same proportion as the news, and obviously, right now, that's coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus.

3. The commenter was going meta on the news coverage — "Wow. Drudge is in full panic mode today." The commenter is not looking at the sunrise and saying "Panic!" The commenter is, perhaps, looking at the sunrise and perceiving the harmony and grandeur of nature and the modest impression human footsteps make upon it, and he is observing and mocking the press in panic mode.

4. "... and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.... And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.... [T]he lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west.... [T]he sun [shall] be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken..." (Matthew 24).

200 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

I like how Jesus foresaw the cancel culture: "And then shall many be offended."

Inga said...

I wonder, was it Obama Derangement Syndrome when Republicans held hearings regarding Obama’s response to the Ebola virus in 2014?

tcrosse said...

It's the end of the world

Fernandinande said...

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Sailer has a short post about how that doesn't happen.

Rory said...

"We're supposed to feel as though it's 12 thousand, when it's only 12 hundred."

We discount everything they say by 90%, so they multiply to compensate.

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rory said...

"I wonder, was it"

You tell us - do some work beyond the punchline.

Inga said...

I see that Trumpists are very offended by people questioning the accuracy of Trump’s statements at his Coronavirus press conference day before yesterday.

Inga said...

“I wonder, was it"

“You tell us - do some work beyond the punchline.”

It was a rhetorical question.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

What a sad existence for Inga.

AllenS said...

Inga said...
This comment has been removed by the author.

I agree, Inga. One of your better comments.

Wince said...

... and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diver's places.

Is this a thread about Michael Douglas?

Mr. Majestyk said...

What strikes me is that Althouse banged out this post in less than 25 minutes.

narciso said...

Indeed, professor it is the proper perspective,

Fernandinande said...

I like how Jesus foresaw the cancel culture: "And then shall many be offended."

LOL, no. You edited out the reasons for being offended; violating a speech code was not among them.

narciso said...

Obama policy was to let in people from affected countries, which had killed thousands.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Inga said...
I wonder, was it Obama Derangement Syndrome when Republicans held hearings regarding Obama’s response to the Ebola virus in 2014?


The endless whining and hysteria from commenters about the Obama and Ebola was one of the most ridiculous things we have ever seen on this blog. Have not seen anything similar from the non-Trumpists.

The market correction was long overdue, we have been in bubble territory for a while. If it wasn't this it would have been something else.

mockturtle said...

Who would listen to CNN radio when driving?

Bob Boyd said...

Jesus was okay, but let's face it, he wouldn't have gotten into Harvard.
He didn't have the right connections, for one thing.

hawkeyedjb said...

The market dropped 12,000 points when it was discovered that 157 million people had been killed by guns.

daskol said...

I think this post deserves a new tag: stephen cooper

Unknown said...

Every day is TDS day... sometimes the needle goes up a bit, sometimes just quivers, and sometimes it pegs itself right to 11.

M Jordan said...

Drudge has gone to the dark side.

Meade said...

"I wonder, was it Obama Derangement Syndrome when Republicans held hearings regarding Obama’s response to the Ebola virus in 2014?"

Rhetorical answer: no.

Laslo Spatula said...

The main problem I see with the sunrise photographs is there are not enough mountains in the background.

The backgrounds need more mountains.

I am Laslo.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

"Although the coronavirus’ suspected mortality rate of 2 per cent sounds low, it’s about the same as that of the Spanish flu of 1918; and that virus killed between 40 and 100 million people. "

I doubt this will be anywhere near that bad but it would be irresponsible to gag the CDC and other experts from voicing their best predictions on what may happen. The public has the right to know what the experts think in an unfiltered way so that they can make their own decisions on what is best for them and their family. To politicize this flow of information should be condemned by every thinking person.

M Jordan said...

If the US doesn’t have a Coronavirus outbreak, Pence will be elected President in 2024.

M Jordan said...

“ To politicize this flow of information should be condemned by every thinking person.”

Silly rabbit, everything is politicized always in politics. Grow up.

gilbar said...

isn't it, a TRUE FACT; that these sunrises are CAUSING these pandemics?
is Anyone, going to Actually be such a fool;
as to postulate that we'd be having pandemics if we hadn't had sunrises first?

Darrell said...

We'll get Putin to brighten our national mood by spending $1200 on Facebook ads.

Just hold on for a few minutes.

Fernandinande said...

It means that Trump Derangement Syndrome has burst out into a raging pandemic that includes the coronavirus and anything else that comes along.

LOL, no, again. Drudge doesn't mention Trump in his panic headlines.

alanc709 said...

If we have a coronavirus outbreak, California will solve it's homeless problem involuntarily.

rehajm said...

Tump is winning some of those head to head polls! The left needs new narratives- quick! The virus, the market sell off fit the bill. Pump them up a bit. A lot...Tomorrow it's Slow Joe's comeback! He's still got it! Wednesday might be there's no clear front runner! Oh noes! What to do?

Let's all watch The Hillary show on Hulu. Ah, sweet Hillary...

gilbar said...

hawkeyedjb said...
The market dropped 12,000 points when it was discovered that 157 million people had been killed by guns.


I agree with what you are saying 100,000%!

J. Farmer said...

The intersection of the Never Trumpers and the Ever Trumpers. An unstoppable force meets an immovable object

Roger Sweeny said...

"harmony and grandeur of nature"? The vast majority of animals and plants that begin life die before attaining reproductive age--often in unpleasant ways. Mother Nature doesn't just allow, she forces, her children to play in traffic.

Fernandinande said...

Who would listen to CNN radio when driving?

Somebody with an aversion to politics, at least where aversion means "obsessive fascination".

rehajm said...

I'm still taking the over on another beautiful sunrise coming along, even if I'm not here to see it...

Darrell said...

Since human shit is a coronavirus vector, San Francisco and Portland must be shaking in their boots now.

narciso said...

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/horowitz-bottomless-money-pit-agencies-dealing-coronavirus-already-record-funding/

mockturtle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

M Jordan said...
Grow up.


One non-thinking person.

mockturtle said...

Laslo notes the disturbing lack of mountains in the background of our hostess' photographs. As a fellow PNW resident I can relate. But I've learned to be more tolerant of the topographically challenged.

narciso said...

interesting

Inga said...

“To politicize this flow of information should be condemned by every thinking person.”

Indeed, but it seems that the outrage over anyone questioning Trump over his inept comments at the press conference and his gutting of the US Pandemic Response Team and the cutting of funding for the CDC and NIH, trumps Trumpists’ rational thoughts processes. Just WHO is more outraged, people questioning Trump or people defending Trump?

tim in vermont said...

Defensive Jill Stein voter says what?

Beaver7216 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rhhardin said...

The price of a stock is the present value of all future earnings, added up. Equivalently, it's the present value of every dividend it will ever pay.

There's some uncertainty about the future earnings, and about how to discount them into the present.

mockturtle said...

isn't it, a TRUE FACT; that these sunrises are CAUSING these pandemics?
is Anyone, going to Actually be such a fool;
as to postulate that we'd be having pandemics if we hadn't had sunrises first?


Good point, gilbar. And there can be no sunrise until Orpheus plays his lyre so we can certainly blame Orpheus.

Fernandinande said...

Anti-viral clothing

alanc709 said...

How much was funding for CDC and NIH cut, Inga? How much less money do they have for 2020 compared to 2019? Inga always uses socialist math, but still. If I have $5, does that make it yours, since you use socialist math?

Dave Begley said...

1. "Facebookish clutter." There's a nice Althousian phrase invention.

2. How in the world does Ann know so much Scripture? I sure don't and I went to Catholic schools and Mass.

Darrell said...

The Associated Press is calling out two leading Democratic presidential candidates for what the outlet says were inaccurate comments about the government's ability to address diseases like the coronavirus.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg were "both wrong" to say critical health agencies faced funding cuts. While discussing the coronavirus during Tuesday's debate, those candidates blamed President Trump for restricting resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“There’s nobody here to figure out what the hell we should be doing. And he’s defunded — he’s defunded Centers for Disease Control, CDC, so we don’t have the organization we need. This is a very serious thing," Bloomberg said.

Biden similarly indicated Trump reversed the Obama-Biden administration's budget increases to those agencies.

But according to the AP, Trump's proposed budget cuts never went into effect. Funding to fight the latest outbreak also came from a congressional fund created for health emergencies.

Some public health experts say a bigger concern than White House budgets is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness — the front lines in detecting and battling new disease. But that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that predates Trump.

M Jordan said...

“ Since human shit is a coronavirus vector, San Francisco and Portland must be shaking in their boots now.”

I’ve given up Frisco burgers. Just doesn’t work for me anymore.

Browndog said...

A certain liberal commenter, like all liberals, spends a lot of time pointing out the deficiencies of big government in an effort to promote the only obvious, fail safe solution to all problems-

-More bigger government.

Every. Single. Time.

Bob Boyd said...

Those darn Israelis are league with Trump. First the Ruskis and now this! When are the good guys going to catch a break, for Pete's sake?

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101

rcocean said...

Some people love to panic. And get away from "Boring" reality, by endlessly speculating and taking about the UPCOMING DISASTER. Sorry, I'm skipping all the hysteria and media manufactured nonsense. Trump is being set up for a Katrina, but he's too smart, to do that, and the Democrats and Media have ZERO credibility except with low-information Dumbos.

Something had to fill the anti-Trump negative coverage after impeachment, and this is it. No doubt "Trump being supported by Putin" or "Trump accused of sexual assault 20 years ago" will have to be put on the back-burner.

rcocean said...

The stock market got hit because the virus is hurting the economy in East Asia, and people are scared that Bernie will get elected. Its all short-term reaction. If I was more risk tolerant, I'd look for it as a buying opportunity.

The Real stock crash will occur, when Wall Street panics over Trump losing in November.

chuck said...

Well, that's a relief. I'll worry about the coronavirus when the Democrats take it seriously enough to put aside their political games.

William said...

No one knows where bottom is. The market will continue to fall. The wealth effect and those sunny feelings it engendered are gone. It's quite possible that this sell off will lead into a recession which could lead into a Sanders' Presidency. Plague and then pestilence....On the plus side, pneumonia is said to be the old man's friend. It's a relatively easy death. I'm an old man and live in NYC where the disease is bound to happen. Coronavirus is not the worst way to go, and there's not much to live for during a bear market and a Sander's Presidency.

Inga said...

“The cuts started in 2018, as the White House focused on eliminating funding to Obama-era disease security programs. In March of that year, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, whose job it was to lead the U.S. response in the event of a pandemic, abruptly left the administration and his global health security team was disbanded.

That same year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was forced to slash its efforts to prevent global disease outbreak by 80% as its funding for the program began to run out. The agency, at the time, opted to focus on 10 priority countries and scale back in others, including China.

Also cut was the Complex Crises Fund, a $30 million emergency response pool that was at the secretary of state’s disposal to deploy disease experts and others in the event of a crisis. (The fund was created by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.)

Overall in 2018, Trump called for $15 billion in reduced health spending that had previously been approved, as he looked at increasing budget deficits, cutting the global disease-fighting budgets of the CDC, National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Health and Human Services (HHS) in the process.

The effects of those cuts are being felt today. While the CDC announced plans to test people with flu-like symptoms for COVID-19, those have been delayed and only three of the country’s 100 public-health labs have been able to test for coronavirus. The administration’s request for additional funding came roughly two weeks after officials said HHS was almost out of funding for its response to the virus.”

https://fortune.com/2020/02/26/coronavirus-covid-19-cdc-budget-cuts-us-trump/

Darrell said...

If the coronavirus scare was real, Democrats would be setting up base on Epstein Island.

rcocean said...

Looking back George Bush really was a moron, wasn't he? Its not wonder the R's got creamed in 2006, and he left office with the lowest ratings ever, ever. Even in 2012, Romney kept saying "I'm no George Bush".

Between Bush, McCain, and Romney, you can see why we got Trump. He towers over them like a colossus.

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.”

M Jordan said...

Every word we speak is chosen from a cafeteria of choices, even “a” and “the.” Every sentence constructed of such choices reflects a bias. It has always been and will always be. Good communicators quickly infer the underlying factor — or in current parlance, algorithm — of such sentences and can then gather a closer approximation of the truth. To demand institutions give out information without an underlying algorithm operating is childish and counter-productive. Far better to show where the skew is.

And despite the moaning about biased media, that’s what we’re getting in America: a cacaphony of voices which help us see the actual truth much better than in a place like, say, China. I hate CNN because I hate their duplicitous algorithm but I acknowledge they play an important role in painting the truth, even if only by painting in the negative spaces.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's your party, Inga.

Lying liars who lie.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

1. Trump derangement derangement syndrome, seeing Trump derangement syndrome where it isn’t.

donald said...

No panic here. Taking the new Hobie PA12 out tomorrow and Sunday, then over to Metairie to pay my respects to Gram. On my 60th birthday. A day I did not expect to see 5 years ago. Now that’s the life.

rcocean said...

The CDC budget wasn't cut. End of Story.

Marxist Pocahontas wants to take money from border security and give it to the CDC. even though the CDC doesn't need it to fight the virus. Of course, she doesn't want a border anyway, and is A-OK with sick people coming across with contagious diseases - as long as they're foreigners.

Darrell said...

But according to the AP, Trump's proposed budget cuts never went into effect. Funding to fight the latest outbreak also came from a congressional fund created for health emergencies.

Some public health experts say a bigger concern than White House budgets is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness — the front lines in detecting and battling new disease. But that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that predates Trump.

See Inga's "called for" os the AP's "Trump's proposed budget cuts never went into effect." So go with AP, not Inga.

Otto said...

Ann do you know what happened 40 years after Jesus made that statement?

Darrell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Churchy LaFemme: said...

The main problem I see with the sunrise photographs is there are not enough mountains in the background.

The backgrounds need more mountains.


You know, I think we should put some mountains here
Otherwise, what are the characters going to fall off of?
And what about stairs? Yodellayheehoo. Ooo coo coo ooo

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

The same people who couldn't build a working website for Obamacare will surely save us from Corona virus.

rcocean said...

"On the plus side, pneumonia is said to be the old man's friend. It's a relatively easy death."

Really? I believe you suffocate. Want an easy death in NYC? Jump off a tall building.

J. Farmer said...

1. Trump derangement derangement syndrome, seeing Trump derangement syndrome where it isn’t.

And if Sanders wins in 2020, expect Bernie Derangement Syndrome from the right. And if a Republican wins in 2024, expect whoever that is derangement syndrome again from the left. This is the new normal. The US is broken, and all the King’s horses and all the King’s men can’t put it back together again.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

When an answer to Corona virus is found, it will be found by an evil pharmaceutical corporation, not the government. Hopefully it will be found before Bernie puts them out of business.

alanc709 said...

But Inga, did they cut the CDC's Muslim outreach program and China appreciation initiative? Because those are the critical programs, far more than disease prevention and detection, or developing antivirals or returning antibiotic production to the US.

Ann Althouse said...

"How in the world does Ann know so much Scripture? I sure don't and I went to Catholic schools and Mass."

Weren't you discouraged from reading it for yourself? Protestants feel free to do their own reading. I've read the New Testament many times and memorized many parts of it. I used to read several chapters of Gospel every day, and I had the Sermon on the Mount completely memorized and would recite it to myself (silently) when out walking.

I think when you're guided by religious authorities, they steer you away from problematic lines and try to make sure you don't do your own interpretations. Did you ever, on your own, as a teenager, try to understand things like: "take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

Mark said...

rcocean, so the reason why international markets are tanking even worse than the Dow is Bernie?

He sure lives rent free in a lot people's heads. The Bernie Derangement Syndrome is the actual global financial pandemic.... why knew?

Darrell said...

North Korea shot their first coronavirus victim.

That's a national health care plan the Democrats support. Government guns only though.

henge2243 said...

It seems to me that people who focus too much on politics wake up everyday in full panic mode. As a friend said in college, "they have lost all sense of proportion." Anything and everything is political and nothing is evaluated with any context to it's real world effect. Entertaining to watch but tiresome.

Darrell said...

Car factories around the world are shutting down because of the lack of Chinese parts. Stuff like that gets the markets moving.

Carter Wood said...

OK, but can I at least ask what camera you use? Is it a smart phone or something else?

Wa St Blogger said...

The main problem I see with the sunrise photographs is there are not enough mountains in the background.

The backgrounds need more mountains.


Sometimes Laslo just nails it. Even without ponytails.

M Jordan said...

Wow, Ann, I’m impressed with your scripture reading/memorizing. Very healthy, imho. The true psychotherapy.

effinayright said...

If you read this article you can see the depressing similarities between the political posturing re Ebola and the frenzied response to the coronavirus:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/10/ebola-politics-13-ways-democrats-and-republicans-are-exploiting-the-virus-for-political-gain.html

Plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose....

Ken B said...

Fernandistein “LOL. No.”

LOL. Yes. Not only is Trump the subtext. Drudge has a cartoon of Trump wearing a mask over his eyes, Trump blind to the danger.

stever said...

I'm glad to have Drudge off my list. If I need hysteria, I can look at my sister's Facebook posts.

Bob Boyd said...

North Korea shot their first coronavirus victim.

To be fair, he snuck out.

M Jordan said...

The Jerusalem Post has an article claiming Israeli scientists are weeks away from Coronavirus vaccine. The Jews who win the Nobel for that one will surely deserve it.

https://m.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga repeating the big lie.

Trump cannot cut funding - that's is the job of congress.
Congress has not approved those reductions. In fact, Congress has increased funding.

narayanan said...

I want to dial it down - Virus looks like POM

Jersey Fled said...

Before Inga accuses Trump of lying again about the number of cases in the U.S., here are the official number as of this morning from the CDC.

Confirmed cases in the U.S

Travel related - 12
Person to person contact - 2

Total confirmed cases - 14

* This table represents cases detected and tested in the United States through U.S. public health surveillance systems since January 21, 2020. It does not include people who returned to the U.S. via State Department-chartered flights.

Cases among person repatriated to the U.S.

Wuhan, China - 2
Diamond Princess Cruise Ship - 42

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Now y’all will make Inga sad by pointing out the hilariously fakenews printed (uploaded?) by Fortune. CDC & NIH budgets have gone UP each year because Congress voted for increases AND TRUMP SIGNED THE BUDGET. So Bad Orange Man isn't to blame, you wretched losers.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Hill: AP fact-checkers find Biden, Bloomberg paint 'distorted picture' on Trump CDC funding

(fact checkers are often hacks themselves)
from link:

"Trump’s budgets have proposed cuts to public health, [prove it] only to be overruled by Congress, where there’s strong bipartisan support for agencies such as the CDC and NIH," it said. "Instead, financing has increased.

"Indeed, the money that government disease detectives first tapped to fight the latest outbreak was a congressional fund created for health emergencies."


Inga spreading lies again. Russia Russia Russia! You'd make a good Soviet, Inga.

traditionalguy said...

How to make famines , pestilence so and earthquakes in divers places all Trump’s fault. That is Fake News’ mission.

Ann Althouse said...

"OK, but can I at least ask what camera you use? Is it a smart phone or something else?"

It's always just my iPhone — XS.

I'm running, so I'm carrying as little as possible.

Dave Begley said...

Per Jim Cramer on CNBC, China is testing vaccines on perfectly healthy people. "We don't do that in this country."

Howard said...

You can bet that these folks coming up with the vaccines so rapidly are elite libtards... not your I don't need no stinking pointy-headed intellectual telling me what to do deplorables. You people are what is known as free riders. You're welcome.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

more:

"Some public health experts say a bigger concern than White House budgets is the steady erosion of a CDC grant program for state and local public health emergency preparedness — the front lines in detecting and battling new disease. But that decline was set in motion by a congressional budget measure that PREDATES Trump."

rcocean said...

"rcocean, so the reason why international markets are tanking even worse than the Dow is Bernie?"

I said the Virus AND Bernie. I was talking about the Dow. Where did i mention international markets?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Let’s not forget that Obama appointed a political hack with zero medical knowledge as his Ebola Czar. Let’s face it, progs just love to use words like czar and oligarch. It makes em feel romanoffy.

Nonapod said...

It's both predictable and depressing that a potential crisis is being politicized even before it's fully started. The hyper-polarization can be seen in headlines.

Dems first attempt to lay coronovirus on Trump with their usual silliness, first accusing him of not asking for a enough money, then of course accusations of funding cuts (that it turns out never actually even happened, but whatever). Then Trump gives his typical rambling press conference with all sorts of odd moments, quotes, and counterpunches. And of course the Dem-Media complex goes into overdrive deconstructing everything he said with all sorts of silly "fact checks" and gotchas. And then everyone goes to their respective side, gets angrier, and more divided.

It's predictable and tiring. The only people benefiting from all this division monetarily are in the media.

mockturtle said...

Fact: Fourteen passengers on a plane that evacuated Americans from cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19 and were 'isolated' from other passengers. WTF? Isolated? On a plane? Will the plane be quarantined? For how long? Will all the passengers be quarantined? If not, why not?

rcocean said...

Ok so we've proven the CDC budget was NOT cut by trump. So of course, Inga will admit she's wrong. LOL.

Back to work.

tcrosse said...

I should have taken my RMD's while the market was still up. Oh, well. It'll be back. There was one year when the market was in the shitter that Obama allowed us not to take them.

effinayright said...

mockturtle said...
Fact: Fourteen passengers on a plane that evacuated Americans from cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19 and were 'isolated' from other passengers. WTF? Isolated? On a plane? Will the plane be quarantined? For how long? Will all the passengers be quarantined? If not, why not?
*************

Just the other day my F A wife was showing me a diagram of the system planes use to circulate air during flight. In a space of only about three minutes the intake air is sent back out, continuously.

So it's not really a matter of the non-positive passengers breathing in stale air from the positive types. Cabins can, after all be partitioned if need be.

JAORE said...

If the Corona Virus breaks out in San Fran or LA in homeless areas it won't solve the homeless crisis even assuming a 20 percent fatality rate.

What it will do is overwhelm the health care facilities throughout the state.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CNN Anchor Claims Coronavirus Part Of Trump’s War On Truth

Wilbur said...

"take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

I wonder what the Ukranians under Stalin's thumb would've said about this?

William said...

There's nothing much to recommend our economic behavior, but it's more rational than our religious or political behavior. I'm not particularly panicked by the coronavirus, but this stock market sell off gives me a profound sense of unease. What's worse is that the sell off is perhaps a rational response to the virus. The market may indeed tank another 12,000 points....On the plus side, Sanders will not be able to hold mass rallies in Yankee Stadium to cheer on the execution of hedge fund managers. I suppose he can put the executions on television without spreading the virus, but such murders won't spark the same community building enthusiasm.

SDaly said...

The CDC - Centers for disease control could stop mission creeping into non-disease areas, like gun control and "intimate partner violence."

traditionalguy said...

The amazing Althouse reads the Bible, and I suspect Jesus reads her blog to stay informed.

Jake said...

Trypophobia

That picture had all those little holes in the snow and ice. Creepy.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Who the fuck reads Fortune anyway? People googling for orangemanbad news that’s who.

Wince said...

Howard said...
You can bet that these folks coming up with the vaccines so rapidly are elite libtards...

So pharmaceutical companies are good guys now?

Drago said...

Howard: "You can bet that these folks coming up with the vaccines so rapidly are elite libtards...."

LOLOLOL

The fastest movers are the Israeli's...whom vast swaths of democrats hate. Not least of whom are the Sanders team!

Cant wait to see the dems BDS lefty movement types try to rationalize that!

Should be fun.

purplepenquin said...

the CDC budget was NOT cut by trump.

Exactly. He doesn't have that power and it's an untrue statement to say he does.

Some people are now trying to claim that Trump proposed massive cuts to the CDC. Other say he got rid of the entire White House Pandemic Team without replacing 'em.


Are those folks lying as well?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I bet the Romanoffs read Fortune, at least until they were murdered by Sanders types breaking a few eggs to start the century.

Jeff Brokaw said...

I have found that being intentional about ignoring “the news” is great for your mood and avoiding worry, anxiety, and depression.

99% of it is useless anyway. What the hell are we supposed to DO with this firehose of information?

Charlie said...

Speaking of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 10:28-31 Jesus says:

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [knowing]. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Coronavirus reminds us of our fragility and mortality. I think most people try not to think very hard about dying, especially our own inevitable death. But when faced with a real threat of death (and in this case an invisible and capricious one), panic sets in. Will this crisis lead us to ask good questions about the meaning of life and the possibility that we were created for eternity by a God who loves us? Or will we settle for yelling at our political masters to do something to stop this thing?

Scott M said...

The sunrise over a winterscape pic would appropriately garner the comment "full panic mode" if the commenter (commentor?) lived in Brazil and that was the picture out his window as the new ice age swept the globe.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Inga shovels leftwing schitt. That's her job here. Whatever BS she hears on MSDNC or CNN - it's gospel to her.

When leftwing candidates lie and their hack press lie - it's easy to fool people like Inga.
Willing participant.

Michael K said...

The stock market got hit because the virus is hurting the economy in East Asia, and people are scared that Bernie will get elected. Its all short-term reaction. If I was more risk tolerant, I'd look for it as a buying opportunity.

Yes and the hysteria the left is trying to create will probably collapse once the numbers stabilize this summer.

I keep recommending these facts be considered.

We have a plan. We’ve been moving in Trump time, which is to say as quickly as possible, since January 29 when the President courageously pulled down those flights from China. Let me lay the plan out for you, Hugh. And it’s a four-pronged strategy that we have to deal with. The first thing is on the front lines, the personal protective equipment that we need to have for our health professionals, folks in nursing facilities, things like that. What are that? That’s the gloves, that’s the goggles, that’s Tyvek suits. It’s the masks, the N95 masks. The second thing that we need are treatment options. The third is the vaccine development, and the fourth is the point of care diagnostics. Hugh, we’ve been moving very rapidly on all four fronts. Today, for example, on the personal equipment front, HHS is putting out a half a billion dollar proposal to rapidly get manufacturers of face masks in to get that done. If you look at the treatment options, this is what’s interesting, Hugh. If somebody gets Corona, and they’re moderately to severely infected, there’s, first of all, there’s a drug called Remdesivir. It’s made by Gilead. What we’ve done there are a number of things. First of all, we’ve secured the 4,500 doses that they have. In addition, as a cost of almost $200 million, we’re moving to secure the other 90,000 doses they have in involved material. Now the Chinese have been famously uncooperative, so what we’re doing with that drug is going to clinical trials in Japan as well as in Nebraska, where we have some patients.

The left and the Media are trying to panic the public. We see examples here. The antiviral; is likely to be more important as mass immunization will take years.

tcrosse said...

That picture had all those little holes in the snow and ice. Creepy.

Lester Flatt doesn't mind

Otto said...

Most atheists rely on the Sermon on the Mount to assuage their guilt feelings of not being a believer. In fact those atheists that were exposed to the bible from their youth especially rely on this biblical passage e.g. Ann.
However after saying that i am reminded of one of my favorite verses , which is part of the Sermon on the Mount: " And why beholdest thou the mote in Ann's eye but considered not the beam that is in Otto"s eye.

Ken B said...

Bleach bit
Yes, willing participant is exactly the right phrase.

Darrell said...

It's precious that Purple Pen Quin thinks the White House Pandemic Team actually does something that the hundreds of other national teams actually working in medicine and resource allocation don't do. Starting another committee always works.

stlcdr said...

Blogger gilbar said...
isn't it, a TRUE FACT; that these sunrises are CAUSING these pandemics?
...
2/28/20, 8:31 AM


Sunrises cause global warming. State Law.

mockturtle said...

Tradguy muses: The amazing Althouse reads the Bible, and I suspect Jesus reads her blog to stay informed.

I wouldn't doubt it. ;-)

Fernandinande said...

LOL. Yes. Not only is Trump the subtext.

IOW, he's not mentioned and it's just your imagination.

Whereas I see Jesus in the subtext, as well as on my toast.

Or, as LeftBank pointed out "Trump derangement derangement syndrome, seeing Trump derangement syndrome where it isn’t."

Drudge has a cartoon of Trump wearing a mask over his eyes, Trump blind to the danger.

I don't see a picture, even with the adblocker turned off.

Here are are the big-font panicky headlines:

OUTBREAK GETTING BIGGER
HITS MEGACITY LAGOS
SOON IN EVERY COUNTRY?
WHO UPGRADES RISK
MORE MARKET MELTDOWN

Here's are the smaller-font, but higher up on the page, panicky headlines:

California patient with UNKNOWN ORIGIN in serious condition...
NOT TESTED FOR DAYS...
Residents Near Mystery Case Worry and Wonder...
How many exposed?
State monitoring at least 8,400...
Only Has 200 Testing Kits...
FDA reports 1st drug shortage...
Masks Sold Out...
How Daily Life Could Change...
MULVANEY: SCHOOLS MAY NEED TO BE CLOSED...
Virus threatening to end air-travel boom...
Family kicked off flight over coughing daughter...
Whistleblower: Feds helping evacuees lacked protection...
CDC ominous scenario: Healthcare systems 'overwhelmed'...

No Trump...well, he is mentioned in the main non-headline part of the page:

Republican scramble on to succeed Trump in 2024... (no corona for you!)
Trump faces growing crisis... (not causing, facing)
NOONAN: President Isn't Easing Forebodings... (is that his job?)

stever said...

@Otto this

Fernandinande said...

^^^ Actually Drudge seems to have a considerably smaller amount of TDS on display than it usually does.

Ken B said...

Boasting of your blindness Fernandistein doesn’t prove you aren’t blind. This picture is on Drudge right now.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER0fRBFUYAYDfZ2?format=jpg&name=medium

Darrell said...

Nancy Pelosi is calling for a national stockpile of $1.5 billion worth of Gwyneth Paltrow Pussy Candles and double the amount of Zicam. Homeopaths, Naturopaths, and Crystalpaths will be on-call, as necessary. A national draft might be necessary.

Ray - SoCal said...

A blog that Michael K contributes to has a lot of good CoronaVirus info.

https://chicagoboyz.net/

CDC has major Coronavirus testing issues, and is trying to keep power by centralizing. They are not allowing private lab testing yet. CDC has issues dealing with Ebola, and it does not look like they have improved much.

CDC would have been smarter not to pick a fight with Trump with deliberate fear mongering, perhaps to hide their incompetence with the Ca testing case / their guidelines. This is why Trump centralized information releases, to de-power Rod Rosenstein sister that works for the CDC.

Ann Althouse said...

"The amazing Althouse reads the Bible, and I suspect Jesus reads her blog to stay informed."

If God is all-knowing, He reads all the blogs and the thoughts the bloggers don't even bother to type out and the blog posts that lurk unwritten in the minds of people who do not dare blog.

Bob Boyd said...

and the blog posts that lurk unwritten in the minds of people who do not dare blog.

Uh oh.

Inga said...

“Fears of a pandemic come after the Trump administration spent the past several years gutting the very government programs that are tasked with combatting such a crisis.In 2018, for instance, the CDC cut 80% of its efforts to prevent global disease outbreaks because it was running out of money. Ultimately, the department went from working in 49 countries to just 10.

Here are some other actions the Trump administration undertook to dismantle government-spending programs related to fighting the spread of global diseases, according to Foreign Policy:

Shutting down the entire global-health-security unit of the National Security Council.

Eliminating the US government's $30 million Complex Crises Fund.

Reducing national health spending by $15 billion.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-cuts-programs-responsible-for-fighting-coronavirus-2020-2

purplepenquin said...

It's precious that Purple Pen Quin thinks the White House Pandemic Team actually does something that the hundreds of other national teams actually working in medicine and resource allocation don't do

I truly wasn't aware that there are hundreds of teams in our nation that are tasked with directing a national response to pandemics, and that report directly to the President.

Sounds pretty inefficient to me...do you have a source for this information?

Nancy Pelosi is calling for a national stockpile of $1.5 billion worth of Gwyneth Paltrow Pussy Candles and double the amount of Zicam

I can't find a source for that anywhere. Link please?

Michael said...

The commenter has a sense of humor. Among the growing skeptics who detect a certain amount of bullshit hysteria.

Otto said...

I think it is admirable that you memorized bible verses, but that is Sunday school activity. Do you or did you study the bible, read voluminous exegesis, pray, listen to sermons, have fellowship with Christians to get their view's on the bible?
It is like engineering. Just knowing formulas and using them is just the first level of proficiency but to have insight into these formulas, knowing their true meaning is true professionalism.

Fernandinande said...

Boasting of your blindness

As Birkel often points out, you really are dishonest.

This picture is on Drudge right now.

Indeed it is; I don't see it, but the HTML says:
<"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ER0fRBFUYAYDfZ2?format=jpg&name=medium" width=200>
...an impressive and eye-popping 200 pixels wide.

++

Here's some internet weirdness - I just looked at drudge with a clean install of vivaldi - it shows blank rectangles with the 'broken image' symbol, but no pictures. Vivaldi shows pictures, including plenty of ads, on other websites.

tim in vermont said...

Everybody is fleeing to real estate, so it is probably a good time to sell some and buy stocks. But if there was a stock market bubble, it was a China bubble, and that bubble has burst.

Anonymous said...

AA: "Weren't you discouraged from reading it for yourself Protestants feel free to do their own reading?"
[...]
I think when you're guided by religious authorities, they steer you away from problematic lines and try to make sure you don't do your own interpretations.


Lol. Althouse: the (Black) Legend lives on...

I think it's certainly true that the average Protestant knows his Bible much better than the average Catholic does. (And your command is impressive.) But it's not because Catholics are "discouraged" from opening it, lol. Most Catholics don't know their catechism, either, despite the fact that "scripture and tradition" are supposed to be the foundation of their faith.

In my case my early ignorance of both was partly the result of having attended Catholic school in the great post-Vatican II Age of Groovealiciousness. ("Religion" classes consisting of some trendy mish-mash of middle-brow "existentialist" and "phenomenological" writing, with no Catholic theology to be found.) And partly the result of my youthful lack of interest in either. It's not like anybody was "discouraging" me from adding either to a voracious reading habit, quite the contrary. (My mother, on the other hand, educated in a more orthodox age, knew her Bible *and* her Aquinas cold, and was exasperated by my then-spotty knowledge of both.)

Michael McNeil said...

The sunrise over a winterscape pic would appropriately garner the comment "full panic mode" if the commenter (commentor?) lived in Brazil and that was the picture out his window as the new ice age swept the globe.

Even during the last ice age — though the rain forests which nowadays envelop a huge swathe of northern Brazil, were then reduced to a handful of “refugia” — however Brazil during that time-frame was certainly not glaciated (maybe a few spots in the foothills of the Andes), while probably only a relatively few upland areas even got much snow to speak of.

Here in California, as another example of this principle, while the Sierras were a solid icecap of glacial ice (with only the high peaks jutting forth above it) during the ice age — simultaneously, west of the Sierras in, say, Santa Cruz County on the coast where I live (though the coastline then retreated a bit out to sea — but only a bit, 'cause the California coast is mountainous), the climate during the ice age was (reportedly) very little different from what's experienced here now.

mockturtle said...

Good time to buy stock. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

chuck said...

"On the plus side, pneumonia is said to be the old man's friend. It's a relatively easy death."

I've heard the same said about heart attacks and urinary tract infections. And I think that it would be true if not for improved technology. These days folks can be kept alive for long, suffering months before they eventually succumb. Deciding when to give up and pull the plug is not easy...

Darrell said...

No Borders, No Walls, Coronavirus For All.
It's on the new Democrat platform.

Bob Boyd said...

It's a relatively easy death.

Have you ever seen someone die from pneumonia? They drown.

Douglas B. Levene said...


If you are going to cite the Bible on the Apocalypse, don't forget to mention the locusts in East Africa - the worst infestation in generations, threatening starvation to millions of people.

mockturtle said...

I had double pneumonia and pleuritis once and the pain when I breathed was worse than childbirth.

narciso said...

thanks to the who banning pesticides, the gifts that keep on giving,

Nichevo said...


M Jordan said...
The Jerusalem Post has an article claiming Israeli scientists are weeks away from Coronavirus vaccine. The Jews who win the Nobel for that one will surely deserve it.

https://m.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-scientists-In-three-weeks-we-will-have-coronavirus-vaccine-619101/amp?__twitter_impression=true



J. Farmer hardest hit. Double insult that his pals in Iran are among the hardest hit. (Unrelated but delicious is the Iranian cleric pushing oil on the anus to cure coronavirus*.) Triple insult that Israel will not deny Iran access to the vaccine, but they will probably spurn it.

No, no difference between countries, no reason to prefer one over the other. Ally with the Philippines maybe, with Israel or against Iran, never.



*https://www.alaraby.co.uk › news
Web results
Applying essential oil to anus 'cures coronavirus': Iranian cleri
3 days ago · Iranian cleric Ayatollah Tabrizian has written extensively on violet leaf oil, which he says has miraculous properties. A local cleric from the Iranian city of Qom has suggested a novel cure for the new coronavirus - the pre-bedtime rectal administration of violet leaf oil.

wildswan said...

"The main problem I see with the sunrise photographs is there are not enough mountains in the background.

The backgrounds need more mountains."

There are mountains in the background - just beyond Michigan, the Adirondacks. Art appreciation requires imagination.

Howard said...

I don't think a lot people know the true meaning of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling

Howard said...

Mountains are a crutch to the artist hence the success and popularity of Bob Ross, one of the greatest art teachers of all time.

Meade said...

"Good time to buy stock."

Probably not today. Maybe not next week or even for the next few months. But if by "good time" you mean sometime this year, I strongly agree. Unless November brings Democrats in control of the White House and Congress. Even then, the U.S. economy is so fundamentally strong, you'd have to be either Paul Krugman or a fool to sell it short.

Bob Boyd said...

The markets have fallen to levels that were new records in October.

wildswan said...

Coke is good for clearing your throat plus it hydrates if you have ice on the side.

Ken B said...

So Fernandistein, you admit I told the truth and that you did not. And you conclude that I am being dishonest. Typical, sadly. You often have interesting things to say, but your need to be a contrarian often turns you into a twat. Case in point.

purplepenquin said...

Probably not today. Maybe not next week or even for the next few months.

Stock Market starting to look very good to me - why makes you think otherwise?

Browndog said...

"On the plus side, pneumonia is said to be the old man's friend. It's a relatively easy death."

Pray you never get it. As someone that has, I can assure you a "slow, painful death" is under stated.

purplepenquin said...

"As someone that has, I can assure you a "slow, painful death" is under stated"

Just getting over pneumonia myself. Living through it was slow & painful - don't grok how dying from it could be any better.

robother said...

For some reason, Ann's photo and the comments on the Viral Panic put me in mind of Augustine, rather than scripture:

"For we call 'world' not only this fabric which God made, heaven and earth...but the inhabitants of the world are also called 'the world'....Especially all lovers of the world are called the world."

Big Mike said...

Have you ever seen someone die from pneumonia? They drown.

And slowly.

Meade said...

"Stock Market starting to look very good to me - why makes you think otherwise?"

At my age, and retired, I'm only interested in relatively low-risk income-producing investments. I'm not seeing the bottom to this panic selloff. Are you?

purplepenquin said...

At my age, and retired, I'm only interested in relatively low-risk income-producing investments.

Given that, makes sense you wouldn't play the stock market much...if at all.

I'm not seeing the bottom to this panic selloff. Are you?

Dunno about where the bottom is gonna be, but have it on very good authority that stock market is starting to look very good.

Then again, some folks make their money at the expense/misery of others and there is no telling what the guy who I heard say that has personally invested in...for all we know he has been instructing his broker to sell short for the past couple years and its just now starting to pay off, eh?

Marc in Eugene said...

Thank you, ADSB, for your comment at 1022. I was going to ignore Althouse's 'weren't you discouraged from reading it for yourself?' comment since that seemed the better alternative to writing two hundred words. She long ago assured me that she's not at all 'anti-Catholic', and I've always taken her word for that.

I began with Christianity via Young Life in high school and was baptised in the Catholic Church my freshman year at university in '76 (ante the RCIA nonsense, thank goodness); I couldn't get my head around the notion that God intended that X billions of people should read the Scriptures 'on their own', as it were, imputing to them and taking from them doctrine, meaning, and significance, each according to the measure of their own intellects and experience. We live in a world with hundreds if not thousands of Christian 'denominations', however, so I'm well aware that non-Catholics manage.

I like how Jesus foresaw the cancel culture: "And then shall many be offended."

But it's true I'm often not sure whether Althouse's citations of the Scriptures are meant to be serious suggestions about their sense etc etc or are jeux d'esprit.

Sebastian said...

"Trump Derangement Syndrome has burst out into a raging pandemic"

Like it wasn't before now?

You don't mean that progs, before now, wanted to see us deplorables flourish and America be great, do you?

But according to the Universal Theory of Progressive Instrumentalism, even death is just a tool. As prog reaction to the virus confirms again, and again.

Otto said...

Ann is a typical 60's liberal Christian basher although i get the sense that she has toned it down lately. As I have always said Ann cites Scripture to ridicule , to show Christian hypocrisy or defend atheism. Their favorite is "let he who cast the first stone......."

Jim at said...

Indeed, but it seems that the outrage over anyone questioning Trump over his inept comments at the press conference and his gutting of the US Pandemic Response Team and the cutting of funding for the CDC and NIH, trumps Trumpists’ rational thoughts processes. - Inga

I hope blatantly lying like that is physically painful for you. There is not one, factual statement in that sentence. Not one.

BUMBLE BEE said...

tcrosse... Killer dobro on Footprints In The Snow... thanks!

narciso said...

romans 1, is on point

mockturtle said...

"Trump Derangement Syndrome has burst out into a raging pandemic"

But some of us have immunity.

purplepenquin said...

There is not one, factual statement in that sentence

You should re-read it again, but slowly this time.

While "US Pandemic Response Team" may not or may not be its actual title, it does appear that Trump removed all the members of the White House team that was put in place to coordinate actions in the event of a national pandemic. That was ~two years ago, and there have been no replacements for them. On another thread, a supporter of the President did agree that Trump did get rid of that particular team but that there are "hundreds" of other teams doing the same exact thing that the White House team would do.

If you have information that says otherwise please do share it.

"Inept comments" is certainly an opinion rather than factual - but after watching the clips of Trump saying one thing with the experts he brought along to speak at the press conference saying the exact opposite it does appear that he was ill-prepped and uninformed when he spoke about the situation. Hopefully the President has been brought up to speed since then.

Achilles said...

Inga said...

“To politicize this flow of information should be condemned by every thinking person.”

Indeed, but it seems that the outrage over anyone questioning Trump over his inept comments at the press conference and his gutting of the US Pandemic Response Team and the cutting of funding for the CDC and NIH, trumps Trumpists’ rational thoughts processes. Just WHO is more outraged, people questioning Trump or people defending Trump?

The NIH and CD have larger budgets in 2020 than in 2019.

This is a cut to Inga.

She is politicizing this virus on purpose as usual to gain power and doing it dishonestly.

Because she is a piece of shit.

J. Farmer said...

@Nichevo:

J. Farmer hardest hit. Double insult that his pals in Iran are among the hardest hit. (Unrelated but delicious is the Iranian cleric pushing oil on the anus to cure coronavirus*.) Triple insult that Israel will not deny Iran access to the vaccine, but they will probably spurn it.

No, no difference between countries, no reason to prefer one over the other. Ally with the Philippines maybe, with Israel or against Iran, never.


Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Wake me when you get some new material.

tcrosse said...

Blogger BUMBLE BEE said...
tcrosse... Killer dobro on Footprints In The Snow... thanks!


That's "Uncle" Josh Graves. Plenty of his stuff on YouTube.

Michael K said...

PP, as usual, is trolling again.

daskol said...

I'm not seeing the bottom to this panic selloff. Are you?

As a matter of my opinion on the fact, I think we just it. NASDAQ actually rebounded out of the red today. The bears and the fearful are giving way to the optimistic.

Ken B said...

“PP is trolling again.”

And counting divorces. He might be purple but his nose is blue.

daskol said...

Or at least the opportunistic.

purplepenquin said...

“PP is trolling again.”

And counting divorces. He might be purple but his nose is blue.


Funny thing is, both these statements appear to me to be nothing more than "trolling"...statements made in bad faith and stated solely for the sake of getting a response. Don't see how they are on topic nor how they could be considered anything more than just an ad hominem.

If you're not just trolling me with those comments, then could either of you please show me where in this thread ya'll feel I am "trolling"? Thanks

Michael said...

I am most interested in Sander’s EF. I presume it is low to borderline. Would like to see his list of meds. That would reveal much b

Nichevo said...

J. Farmer said...

Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Wake me when you get some new material.

2/28/20, 3:00 PM


But J-Farm, I can't refute an incredulous snore!

Maillard Reactionary said...

If I were still working, I'd start buying the market now. No one knows where the bottom will be, but you'll probably do OK by getting in a little bit at a time over the next few months or quarters.

It could still go lower when you run out of cash (or nerve) but it will go up again at some point, and you'll feel smart then.

You have to think that Warren Buffet is buying. He's seen all this before.

A bigger threat is if the Socialists get control and somehow institute a wealth tax. Market corrections and recessions come and go, but taxes are forever.

Regarding COVID-19, we just aren't buying into the media-driven fearmongering. It's not Ebola, kids. It's not even AIDS. It's just this year's model of flu, with its own little quirks of course, but basically, that's it. The media love a sensational "human interest" story and this fits the bill. They, and some politicians, have their own agenda and informing the public about the facts and context doesn't enter into it. One of the reasons why I never watch TV.

Diseases like COVID-19 are always worse in shithole countries, or countries that mishandle the situation during the early stages. We're not there yet, not by a long shot. We'll be fine.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Regarding the Holy Writ, growing up RC during the 50s an 60s reading the Scriptures wasn't exactly discouraged, but it wasn't encouraged either. Based on what I saw they didn't have too much to worry about in that connection. People back then (as now) were just too busy with their lives to put any real time or effort into Bible study.

My guess is that they (the Church) wanted to make sure we were presented with their own predigested/edited interpretations, so that we would not be "confused". As it turns out what was delivered was hardly any more coherent or plausible that what anyone might come up with on their own, as far as I'm concerned.

That said, anyone who has had no exposure at all to the Bible (e.g., many young people these days) are missing a lot of insight into our civilization, not to mention human nature. It really should be part of a liberal education whether one is a religious believer or not.

Iman said...

Jesus was okay, but let's face it, he wouldn't have gotten into Harvard.

Jesus is just alright with me and the no entrance to Harvard is potential grounds for a lawsuit.

J. Farmer said...

@Nichevo:

But J-Farm, I can't refute an incredulous snore!

That presumes I have some interest in engaging with you. I don’t.

narciso said...

jesus wasn't keen on the scribes of his day either, but he was learned in the book, not like many of the apostles, specially when he referred to the book of Isiah,

daskol said...

Fake Jews!

pacwest said...

Good time to buy stock. You'll kick yourself if you don't.

Good time to start averaging down.
There is going to be at least one bad quarter yet.

Josephbleau said...

Matthew's Law: "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."

JAORE said...

"If God is all-knowing,..."

He knows every plug on Joe Biden's head.

Birkel said...

This thread missed a lot of opportunities to thank Trump Administration policies regarding a shifting of manufacturing out of China. The capital outflows China experienced last summer mean the US and ROW are less affected than they would have been.

And Trump was absolutely correct to want supply chains repatriated to the United States. Our pharmaceutical production should be declared a national security matter. Both the quality of the drugs and the security of the supply are a national concern. A ban on drug importation of critical drugs or piece supports would make more sense than allowing production in China.

The purists at Reason magazine would shriek. Who cares about them?

Nichevo said...

J. Farmer said...
@Nichevo:

But J-Farm, I can't refute an incredulous snore!

That presumes I have some interest in engaging with you. I don’t.


You clever bore, you. Feel free not to respond, then. Isn't that what you always say?

Your trouble is that in your mid-thirties you have amassed all the wisdom of the ages, and, more to the point, have insisted on sharing it all with us. So if you have nothing new to say, don't say it.

J. Farmer said...

@Nichevo:

Allow me to offer you a very simple solution: don’t read what I write.

Anonymous said...

Birkel: And Trump was absolutely correct to want supply chains repatriated to the United States. Our pharmaceutical production should be declared a national security matter. Both the quality of the drugs and the security of the supply are a national concern.

Well, yeah, but this should have been a huge issue 20 years ago. Nobody cared.

I had to laugh at the breathless headline at an Instapundit post this morning: "'THE U.S. CAN NO LONGER MAKE PENICILLIN. . . . THE U.S. CAN NO LONGER MAKE GENERIC ANTIBIOTICS.' What Washington Doesn’t Know About U.S. China Drug Dependence Can Literally Kill Us." Well, no shit, Sherlock. Though I'd quibble with the "what Washington doesn't know". Washington surely knew a long time ago, and Washington didn't care.

The purists at Reason magazine would shriek. Who cares about them?

Washington, apparently - well, not the spergs at Reason themselves, but on this issue, their preferred policies.