Mask Mandates? Businesses Say Yes. Some Governors Still Say No.
This sad joke is making the rounds:
Q: What borders on stupidity?
A: Canada and Mexico.
Unfortunately there is some truth to it.
Gov. Greg Abbott says Harris County can't impose fine over face mask order - April 27 2020
Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday that local officials cannot impose penalties on residents who violate rules about wearing masks in public — including those in Harris County, where county Judge Lina Hidalgo’s mask order went into effect that morning.
“We strongly recommend that everyone wear a mask,” Abbott said at a press conference where he announced his plans for reopening Texas. “However, it's not a mandate. And we make clear that no jurisdiction can impose any type of penalty or fine.
“My executive order, it supersedes local orders, with regard to any type of fine or penalty for anyone not wearing a mask,” he added.
Some three months later sanity had set in:
‘It’s the least people can do’ — Abbott’s mask order meets mixed response in S.A. - July 3 2020
On Thursday, Abbott signed an executive order requiring nearly all Texans to wear masks in public.
...
First-time offenders will receive warnings. Subsequent violations are punishable by fines up to $250 — but not by jail time.
Source: COVID Tracking Project - bigger
The number of new cases in Texas started to rise at the beginning of June. Hospitalization started to rise a week later and deaths numbers started to rise two weeks later than the hospitalization numbers. That pattern is by now well established. To prevent new waves of Covid-19 deaths one must introduce countermeasures as soon as the new case numbers trend up.
Abbott's turn about on mask mandates should have been a warning for other governors. Unfortunately some still do not get it.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday suspended all local government mask mandates despite the rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in his state.Under the executive order the Republican governor extended the state's public emergency and said face coverings are "strongly encouraged," but not required.
Kemp's executive order voids masks mandates imposed by some local governments as Covid-19 cases tick up in cities across the state, already claiming over 3,000 lives.
Source: COVID Tracking Project - bigger
In terms of the epidemic Georgia is two weeks behind Texas. New cases started to rise in mid June. Hospitalizations started to rise a week later. Two weeks on the deaths numbers also start to rises. It is obvious where this is going.
That's why I do not get it. What did Abbott think would happen in Texas? What does Kemp think will happen in Georgia? Does he wish for more deaths in his state? Is it malice that is driving him? If not malice what is it?
The Republican governors claim to care about businesses. But businesses will suffer as long as the epidemic is ravaging their states. The people have fear. That fear is reasonable. This isn't the flu:
Although COVID-19 is most well known for causing substantial respiratory pathology, it can also result in several extrapulmonary manifestations. These conditions include thrombotic complications, myocardial dysfunction and arrhythmia, acute coronary syndromes, acute kidney injury, gastrointestinal symptoms, hepatocellular injury, hyperglycemia and ketosis, neurologic illnesses, ocular symptoms, and dermatologic complications.
As long as people have fear they will not go shopping or eat out while they know that their hospitals are already filled up to capacity with Covid-19 casualties. They feel a bit safer when everyone wears a mask because they know that masks work well.
bigger
To get business back up one needs to push the epidemic down to a sustainable level and then manage it by testing and tracing. The cheapest and most effective step on that way is to mandate the wearing of masks. To enforce that one must at least threaten those who ignore the mandate with punishment. There are further steps that need to be taken but mandating masks is the very first and easiest one.
Walmart, Target, CVS and others have recognized that under the current circumstances mandating masks is good for their businesses. They now require nationwide a mask for anyone who wants to enter their shops.
Texas has currently some 320 new cases per day per million people. Georgia has reached its current 322 per day per million in a much shorter time frame. Georgia's case and deaths numbers per inhabitant will therefore likely rise higher than in Texas.
Georgians can thank their governor for causing that.
Posted by b on July 16, 2020 at 16:53 UTC | Permalink
next page »This is how hard it is even when the virus is no longer being spread:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/one-new-covid-19-case-today
We in the US are a long way from this situation, but as b points out, not mandating mask wear in no uncertain terms is akin to deliberate mayhem.
Australia learned about opening too soon and are trying to cope. Thanks to b. Somebody who reads these threads will have understood what you are saying. Each time, the message resonates a bit further. Those who don't appreciate these threads don't need to read them; we who are in the midst of chaos obviously do
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 17:14 utc | 2
I live in what is reputed to be "progressive" Oregon but mask wearing has gone down again around where I live. Even going into the Post Office people are not wearing masks to check the mail in their boxes even if they have to wear a mask to see a worker. The same in grocery stores where help wears masks but now less and less of the clients.
The brainwashing is thick in America. It is not stupidity, nor ignorance but outright brainwashing via ongoing propaganda.
The war crimes being committed by the global financial elite against Americans need to be prosecuted.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 16 2020 17:28 utc | 3
Related, and an article by Whitney:
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/covid-19-phase-1-of-the-permanent-crisis/
"We’re not saying that Covid doesn’t kill people, and we’re not suggesting that Covid is a bioweapon released on the public for nefarious purposes. (although that’s certainly a possibility.) What we’re saying is that scheming elites and their allies in the media and politics see every crisis as an opportunity to advance their own authoritarian agenda. In fact, the restructuring of basic democratic institutions can only take place within the confines of a major crisis. That’s why the CIA, the giant corporations, the WHO and the Gates Posse gathered for meetings that anticipated an event just like the Covid outbreak. They needed a crisis of that magnitude to achieve their ultimate objective; total control. That’s what they mean when they say there will be “no return to normal”, they mean they’re replacing representative government with a new totalitarian model in which the levers of state power will be controlled by them. So while the virus outbreak might be coincidental, the management of the crisis certainly is not."
So basically my take is that Covid 19 has been coopted as a part of the class war along with the patriot act, the quantative easing, the promotion of racism and social sectarianism, all funded by the oligarchy for the oligarchy, with tax payer money of course.
The 21st century is the "century of fear" - be afraid.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 17:33 utc | 4
I should say, masks are still compulsory in Turkey when going to markets and in crowds, and in some areas, like Istanbul, compulsory even when walking outside. Needless to say, when people are frolicking on the beach in the water, they do not wear masks, but most do when not in the sea or on the beach.
I still wear one when in markets, even open markets, not when few people are around. I have it but only for close proximity to people.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 17:39 utc | 5
How can any sane person agree to buy any idea fauxi and gates want to sell?
Posted by: klj | Jul 16 2020 17:45 utc | 6
All this piss taking and still no analysis of the worst case scenario or how many people are genuinely threatened by Covid.
Perhaps we should do the Umbrella test instead - An umbrella certainly protects us from rain, but who cares?
Posted by: Michael Droy | Jul 16 2020 17:49 utc | 7
Whenever I think the bottom of stupidity has been reached here in the U.S., Albert Einstein's quote comes to mind:
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
I'm working on unplugging from all the reporting which simply confirms what I already know: it's not just the U.S., we are well and truly fucked as a species.
Posted by: Trisha | Jul 16 2020 17:52 utc | 8
...and this is how fascism creeps up on us. I don’t have a strong opinion either way about masks, but I do have a strong opinion about being forced to wear a face burka.
I won’t judge you if you wear or don’t wear a mask, the fact of the matter is, Covid is endemic not a pandemic, which means we will have to live with it, just like all the other viruses.
However, do we still want to live with fascism or rather do we still want to live with a fascist compliant society?
Posted by: Norfolk N Chance | Jul 16 2020 17:53 utc | 9
Winston Churchill had it right " You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, afer they exhausted all other possibilities."
Unfortunately the stupid runs deep and we have a way to go.
Posted by: Tobi | Jul 16 2020 17:54 utc | 10
Where are the masks? It's incredible to me the media covering these protests aren't also pointing out how irresponsible and inconsiderate it is that many of these folks are not wearing masks, all things considered.
Tune to 1:41. BLM may as well be SWM (Screw Wearing Masks).
The irony, especially when the same media talks incessantly about how blacks are affected by this NOVEL virus substantially more than other races, and yet, here are a substantial number of them out protesting without masks — STILL!!!!!!!
The mixed messaging these days is so thick and palpable so ubiquitous, you can cut it with a chainsaw.
As far as I'm concerned, BLM are Trump supporters by virtue of the number of people I see not wearing masks, black and white alike. By not wearing masks, or wearing them incorrectly, they are honoring their great and dear leader Donald Trump by following his example. F*cking hypocrites, all of them.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 17:55 utc | 11
As long as people have fear they will not go shopping or eat out while they know that their hospitals are already filled up to capacity with Covid-19 casualties. They feel a bit safer when everyone wears a mask because they know that masks work well.
It is not easy to eat while wearing a mask.
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 16 2020 17:57 utc | 12
A good number of people are experience chronic fatigue type symptoms that persist long after the virus is gone.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-16/georgia-thought-her-coronavirus-would-last-a-couple-of-weeks/12444716
"What we've been seeing is that the greatest number of people make a full recovery, which is good news, but a significant proportion, somewhere between 15 and 30 per cent report some symptoms that are lingering 30, 60, 90 days after their initial illness," he said.
He said there is no pattern in terms of the type of person experiencing this. It is affecting people of all ages."
US has over 3.6 million confirmed cases. 15% or more taking months to recover after the virus is gone adds up to a lot of unwell people
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 16 2020 17:58 utc | 13
This link kills two birds with one stone. It underscores China's abysmal manufacturing quality and ethics and it reveals Barr's DOJ's hypocrisy considering Donald Trump's murderous criminality in managing this pandemic especially, but not isolated to, his behavior and words related to masks.
Chinese Manufacturer Charged with Exporting Misbranded and Defective Masks Falsely Purporting to be N95 RespiratorsNEWARK, N.J. – A Chinese manufacturer was charged today with producing and exporting to the United States in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly half a million misbranded and defective masks that falsely purported to be N95 respirators, U.S. Attorneys Craig Carpenito, District of New Jersey, and Richard P. Donoghue, Eastern District of New York, announced.
King Year Packaging and Printing Co. Ltd. (King Year) is charged by complaint with three counts of violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) for causing misbranded and substandard respirators that falsely purported to meet the N95 standard to be imported into the United States. The complaint also charges the defendant with one felony count of making a false statement by filing misleading registration documents with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The criminal complaint was filed in Brooklyn federal court.
“These charges demonstrate the continued commitment of the Department of Justice and our partners to aggressively pursue those who sell misbranded and defective personal protective equipment, whether they are located here or abroad,” Carpenito said. “We will aggressively investigate and charge manufacturers that put our medical professionals and first responders at risk in fighting this crisis.”
“The charges alleged in this complaint show a blatant disregard for the safety of American citizens,” Acting FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge Douglas Korneski said. “Had it not been for the actions of the investigative team, this defendant would have put first responders, hospital employees, and other front line workers directly in harm’s way with faulty equipment just to make a buck. The defendant tried to bypass the government's regulations by misbranding the quality of the equipment being peddled. The FBI remains vigilant in the pursuit of criminals trying to exploit the current crisis.”
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:01 utc | 14
@12
It's even more difficult to eat when you're dead. In fact, some experts say it's impossible.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:02 utc | 15
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 16 2020 17:58 utc | 13
Unfortunately, it is the oligarch controlled MSM reporting this. Can it be taken seriously? We can't even take the Lancet and NEJM seriously anymore, they are so eager to stoke the fear.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 18:02 utc | 16
Insanity took over this blog. Too bad, it used to be good.
Posted by: Norwegian | Jul 16 2020 18:07 utc | 17
I have yet to see outlets putting these daily Covid 19 deaths into perspective with normal death rate statistics.
Is it too much to expect reports which could say something like, '500 died in Texas today, 300 of which from Covid 19. Normally 250 die a day in Texas, so this is double the rate of normal death with X% from Covid'?
I will admit I am not looking very much at Covid 19 articles and data, but it seems like all these articles I happen across are happy to only report just the Covid death rates and leave me with a nugget of fear instead of a clear picture of what is happening.
Is there any outlet regularly presenting Covid data in a more complete manner?
Posted by: Rutherford82 | Jul 16 2020 18:08 utc | 18
I am grateful for b's coverage of the corona virus pandemic, and I'm posting for the first time to tell him.
Thank you.
Forget the propagandized deniers.
Posted by: furies | Jul 16 2020 18:10 utc | 19
@psychohistorian (3) "The brainwashing is thick in America. It is not stupidity, nor ignorance but outright brainwashing via ongoing propaganda."
But there is a reason why some people are so susceptible to brainwashing. In many, if not most, cases, it's willful ignorance.
Posted by: Rob | Jul 16 2020 18:15 utc | 20
Sanity fled from Montana yesterday, when Governor Steve Bullock issued a state-wide face mask mandate.
All the sate's law enforcement agencies are working on developing policies to enforce the non-law.
Posted by: Vonu | Jul 16 2020 18:17 utc | 21
Shame, shame, shame on all of you for drinking the Koolaid.
Posted by: jose | Jul 16 2020 18:21 utc | 22
@18
There's no chance of that any longer. Trump is now sequestering the data. He's a mass murderer, no doubt about it and now he's set to genocide teachers. If teachers are so important to the general welfare of America, and I would argue they are, then they should be paid many multiples of what they are currently being paid and a death risk bonus on top of that considering they are being asked to put their lives on the line as corporate sycophantic scumbags are sheltered and get to work from home.
As critical I always was of Obama, I know for a fact he would have managed this pandemic professionally and effectively. In fact, I would venture to say if Obama was POTUS, America would have experienced no more than 20,000 deaths to date and more than likely much less than that and there would be no question about opening schools in the midst of surging case numbers because the virus would have been knocked back into its bat cave by now.
Trump Administration Strips C.D.C. of Control of Coronavirus Data
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:25 utc | 23
Posted by: Vonu | Jul 16 2020 18:17 utc | 21
The problem with the UK and US is inconsistency and excessive enforcementwhen final decisions are taken, at least as reported in blogs like this and the news. Whether this is incompetence or a part of creating fear in the populace through uncertainty, or maybe a little bit of both, is hard to say.
Then again, the heath care systems are so poor in general because of the pursuit of profits or underfunding, that it may just be government panic in some cases.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 18:25 utc | 24
Blue Dotterel 16
I judge the seriousness of the pandemic by the actions China and Russia are taking. I read bits here and there from different sources on lingering after affects and the piece I linked came across as genuine to me. It may be a year or more before a reasonably solid figure is known on what percentage of people have longer term after affects.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 16 2020 18:25 utc | 25
The invisibly scary thingy dust mask mandate again, huh?
Those damned Americans just can't seem to understand that the entire structure of our physical social interactions will be hunky dory if dust masks are mandatory, for some reason, because some alleged government dude (or maybe not even a government dude), said so, according to someone or other...
What a bunch of assholes, right?
@25
I take the same approach sans Russia. China's response was massive and necessarily draconian. There is no way China would undertake such measures for merely a psyops ruse and America's healthcare professionals also part of the ruse working for the CCP.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:28 utc | 27
Bad news for the people who believed COVID-19 didn't kill people, but the comorbidity:
Coronavirus direct cause of 89% of pandemic deaths in Italy – study
Just to clarify: 100% of the deaths were due to the COVID-19. What the studies state is that, of the 100% COVID-19 deaths, 89% were killed directly by the virus, while for the other 11%, the body "gave up" short before the virus would kill them anyway.
To understand this, I must introduce to you here the concept of prognosis. Prognosis is how much an individual patient is expected to live (any patient, even healthy ones). Only a doctor can give someone a prognosis, and only on a case to case basis. If a cancer patient under chemotherapy has a prognosis (given by his/her doctor) of five years, and then the patient contracts COVID-19 and dies in three months, then the cause of death is COVID-19 - even if the "last blow" was given by the cancer, or if it was the cancer that "prepared the terrain" for COVID-19 to kill the patient.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:02 utc | 15
It's even more difficult to eat when you're dead. In fact, some experts say it's impossible.
That is correct. Wearing a mask is pretty much as being dead as eating out is concerned.
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 16 2020 18:35 utc | 29
@ 17 Norwegian.
I agree however as with all things it will pass...
Posted by: Beibdnn | Jul 16 2020 18:36 utc | 30
I don`t get it either.
The one most astonishing thing about the coronavirus epidemy is the extremely provincial attitute that most people display. The public discussion in my country (Germany) about corona goes on almost as if the outside world didn`t excist. Nobody in politics, media or private discussions ever refers to events in China, the USA etc. This is true for all sides of the political divide - the left, the right, the populists etc. In this regard they are all the same.
This is so incomprehensible! A simple look at other countries and a comparison both between them and the situation in one`s own country sets immediately so many things straight.
Posted by: m | Jul 16 2020 18:40 utc | 31
@29
People eat out too much as it is. Learn to f*cking cook. It's incredibly gratifying and an act of love, really, especially considering this pandemic and the fact you are saving lives and preventing needless suffering by dining in versus out.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:44 utc | 32
Posted by: Norwegian | Jul 16 2020 18:07 utc | 17
Me and many sane were here L-O-N-G before the insane came...
Posted by: JC | Jul 16 2020 18:46 utc | 33
@23 450.org
I don't believe that Trump single handedly can control information the way you suggest. If every Democrat actually hates him the way they say they do, most of all Western media would be scraping every ounce of data from all hospitals to expose him as the mass murderer you suggest he is.
I am not suggesting Trump is exonerated in his handling of things, but he is not some media czar that controls the flow of information.
Every single state could easily record and report their own data accurately even if the CDC were against them, unless the CDC somehow has personnel on the ground in every hospital.
Spare us all your nonsense about Obama, by the way. He pretended to drink Flint's water.
Posted by: Rutherford82 | Jul 16 2020 18:47 utc | 34
Posted by: jose | Jul 16 2020 18:21 utc | 22
Shame, shame, shame on all of you for drinking the Koolaid.
After so many of you using this, I finally looked up what 'drinking the Koolaid' means.
What a terrible reference. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 16 2020 18:50 utc | 35
This is not just the USA. Cases are spiking back in Spain, Italy and Japan (reopening for a "tourism boom").
Russia is being carved up by the COVID-19 (750,000 landmark toady).
The reality is simple: COVID-19 is making capitalism its little bitch.
Case in point. Donald Trump is a war criminal especially when you consider he once referred to fighting this pandemic as a war. He not only threw in towel but instead welcomed the enemy in and gave it the key to the shining city on the hill. The sad fact is, Biden, once and/or if elected, would do as Obama did with Dubya and just forget the whole thing telling us we should look forward and not back and thus forgoing justice against Donald Trump and all the king's men.
Coronavirus Data Has Already Disappeared After Trump administration Shifted Control From CDC
Why Does DeSantis Continue To Hide COVID-19 Data? Florida Already Looks Like A Loser
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:56 utc | 37
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 16 2020 18:25 utc | 25
Yes, I take China and Russia's efforts, as well as Turkey's, since I live here, seriously. What bothers me is the continous narrative changes in the the UK and US, kind of like the Skripal affair when the narrative weakens.
The Covid 19 death rate slips from a supposed 3.0 to 0.25, so now we need another headline - so Covid 19 attacks the heart and organs, Covid 19 lasts for months and months no matter what the age. One gets the feeling one is being led by the nose to keep the fear factor up, when the previous claims weaken in effect, a new, more threatening claim is "discovered". Many of these may be correct for specific cases, but are generalized to heighten the fear.
My take is that we have two "viruses at play here: Sars-cov2 and corporate neoliberalism. The latter parasitizes the former, and which will prove more dangerous to society in the long run is naybodies guess.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 18:57 utc | 38
Ugh "anybody's guess". Need to proof read, need to proof read
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 18:59 utc | 39
Got a buddy in Corpus Christi who's a nurse. Two days ago he told me that at his hospital they were in danger of being overrun with 390 out of 450 beds currently full with mostly covid patients.
He said that the culture of willful ignorance is still strong but that people are starting to wake up as more and more people know someone with it. Unfortunately it looks like learning the hard way is policy.
Posted by: PleaseBeleafMe | Jul 16 2020 19:05 utc | 40
"However, do we still want to live with fascism or rather do we still want to live with a fascist compliant society?" Norfolk N Chance@9
You already live with a compliant society: a society in which you cover your genitals in public, and in which women clothe their breasts. In which consent is considered necessary before sexual engagements and in which a large number of potential couplings are taboo. In which you return library books and refrain from spitting on carpets.
Our lives are thoroughly regulated- we can consume alcohol in certain places and at certain hours, we are barred from ingesting certain substances. We are required to treat animals in certain ways and not allowed to do a long list of things to them. We are bound by laws, criminal and civil. You get the message, I suspect.
"..They needed a crisis of that magnitude to achieve their ultimate objective; total control. That’s what they mean when they say there will be “no return to normal”, they mean they’re replacing representative government with a new totalitarian model in which the levers of state power will be controlled by them..."
It is sad to see Mike Whitney coming out with rubbish like this. But one point is undeniable and important, there can be no return to normal.
Which means that what happens next is up to us. If we want to ensure that the lessons of the pandemic are learned- that the Pharmaceutical industry is placed under public control, that healthcare is made free, that the enormous inequalities in society, which are the root cause of all our problems, are dealt with equitably- then we must use our power, which is essentially derived from unity and commitment to a common cause, to ensure that the bad old days of the past are replaced by a new era of humanism.
Similarly, and of particular urgency, we must be ready to insist that the enormous costs currently earmarked as public debts to be paid by future taxpayers, are, firstly reduced by an audit of public debt and secondly defrayed by a new tax system based upon a wealth tax and a steeply progressive income tax together with a guaranteed living standard for all.
The idea that the pandemic arose as a result of a conspiracy and was designed to empower the ruling class (already as the name suggests empowered and notorious for having done just about anything it pleased during the past seventy years) is nonsense, of the sort that inevitably emanates from a society in which socialist alternatives have been effectively banned during our lifetimes, the nonsense that comes from a mind trying to be critical but prevented from questioning the central pillar of society, private property.
If those who fear the introduction of face masks- to mitigate the communication of the virus- as an attack on freedom think about it, they will realise that they are suggesting that not being required to wear a mask and being at liberty to communicate airborne disease at will are indications of a better time, a time to which we ought to wish to return. And that this is evidently nonsense.
Posted by: bevin | Jul 16 2020 19:16 utc | 41
@40
Unfortunately it looks like learning the hard way is policy.
You give them too much credit. Cult members do not learn the hard way. They serve their dear leader even if that means dying for him.
I doubt Herman Cain has learned anything. He is still as willfully ignorant as ever.
Any news on his recovery? I did a search and nada. The status of his condition has been blacked out since it was reported two weeks prior.
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 19:18 utc | 42
Obey. We love you. Trust Us, We are Experts, You are not.
We want you healthy and happy so you can go shopping, go out dining, let Us entertain you.
We want you free so you can consume more.
We want you healthy, your food is rich with antibiotics, growth hormones, bleach, toxic oils and syrups to keep you safe, healthy and happy.
We have the Best healthcare system in the world. Our Insurance Companies ensure you will receive the Best care your policy permits. We profit from your illness and you benefit from the Best care money can provide. We love you and want you healthy and happy.
We want you safe. We spend the most for your defense. We are the best. We will kill anyone to keep you safe. We love your freedom, it is not free, we must kill to keep you free.
We love life and want a healthy happy world. We sanction others for their, yours and our good. We will not let them have medicine, food, clean water or electricity so they too will one day be healthy, happy and free like you.
We will use the Best weapons. Our Depleted uranium, chemical, biological and conventional weapons are the Best. We are Experts and we will use all of them to keep you healthy and happy.
We have the Best economy and the Best money. Trust Us. We will keep you prosperous and healthy in any emergency, natural or otherwise. You will never be homeless, hungry or alone.
Trust Us, We love you. Obey Us.
We are Experts, you are not. Trust Us, Obey Us.
What you see is not what you see.
What you think is not what you think.
What you feel is not what you feel.
We love you. Trust Us. Obey Us.
Posted by: CitizenX | Jul 16 2020 19:18 utc | 43
psychohistorian @3--
There might be an explanation within this essay:
"But beneath both these obvious disintegrating factors, I propose lies a single deeper destructive force. It is the infantilization of more than 200 million adult Americans themselves. In the words of St. Paul in Second Thessalonians in the New Testament, God has sent them strong delusion so that they may believe a lie. Except today the delusions and therefore the lies have proliferated beyond number.
"Beneath, them all, however, lies the same terrifying phenomenon. For more than half a century, the United States has experienced the largest number of broken families and children brought up by single parents or in drug and alcohol-riddled families than any other nation in the world.
"What this has created is generations of human beings in a nuclear-armed society of more than 330 million people who are emotionally simplistic, however well fed, well-educated and well informed (in reality of course they are not) and how financially wealthy they are."
We've been over this before, but in this case the epitome of stupidity comes from the most visible entity that's supposed to provide leadership--Trump--whose outrageous behavior and covidiocy IMO is part of his attempt to get reelected as suggested by the coauthor of Angernomics in this interview. The tragic irony is it's far more likely that people from Trump's camp will become infected and die thanks to his Treason.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 16 2020 19:23 utc | 44
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 18:44 utc | 32
People eat out too much as it is. Learn to f*cking cook. It's incredibly gratifying and an act of love, really, especially considering this pandemic and the fact you are saving lives and preventing needless suffering by dining in versus out.
Tell that to b, not to me.
He is the one who wrote that as long as masks were not worn in public, people would be afraid to eat out.
I just pointed out that wearing a mask is incompatible with eating out.
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 16 2020 19:28 utc | 45
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 16 2020 19:23 utc | 44
"The tragic irony is it's far more likely that people from Trump's camp will become infected and die thanks to his Treason."LM and
Except that many anti-trump supporters are on the beaches and in the demonstrations with BLM and antifa, also not wearing masks and social distancing. So, I am not so sure the Trump factor is really the primary factor in all this. There is a disconnect with reality here. In any case, I am also not sure it is necssarily Trump's "treason", but also the "treason" of his advisors, perhaps, even more so. That the oligarchy seems to be funding the BLM, Antifa crowd, thereby encouraging them and not discouraging them from the method of protesting suggests there is a lot of treasonous behaviour in other camps.
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 19:36 utc | 46
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 16 2020 19:28 utc | 45
On eating out, there is no problem, as long as it is in the open and has 7-8 meters distance from other people. Never inside though.
The mask issue does matter in eating out, for example i would prefer that the food/drink establishment stuff wear masks during a pandemic.
A recent study for example found that 2 hair salon employees (who had Covid) wearing masks did not infect anyone of their nearly 140 clients, in indoor setting, working very close with them.
Masks prevented major coronavirus outbreak at US hair salon, study shows
Posted by: Passer by | Jul 16 2020 19:48 utc | 47
"Q: What borders on stupidity?
A: Canada and Mexico."
It's not stupidity that borders Canada and Mexico but a fanatically fundamentalist people who worship themselves as the Shining City on a Hill, Leader of the supposed Free World, and Beacon of Liberty.
This fundamentalist ideology is the basis of American identity as a people, and it is a plague infinitely worse than COVID-19, as it has blighted the planet since 1776.
But the Shining City on a Hill is in reality a Shining Shithole on a Hill.
COVID-19 and Donald Trump were merely symptoms of this American disease--not the cause.
The Demorats, Progressives, and other fake anti-Trump "Resistance" don't have the honesty to admit that.
As Caitlin Johnstone has stated,
"Stop calling homegrown US illnesses 'Trump’s America.' You’re just seeing America. As it is. As it has always been. Trump is the fruit of America. Trump arose from America. The nation isn’t Trump’s America, the nation’s president is America’s Trump."
Posted by: ak74 | Jul 16 2020 20:27 utc | 48
Passer by @ 47:
In a recent MoA comments forum, commenter Muzaffar gave an example where a crew of 61 went fishing for 35 days, during which time they were out at sea and did not dock anywhere. Before going out to sea at Ushuaia (Argentina), the crew had been in quarantine for 14 days and then all were tested for COVID-19. All tests came back negative.
Nevertheless 57 out of the 61 in the crew came down with COVID-19 symptoms.
It is likely that in this case, the crew's food supply, brought on board before the ship set off, had been contaminated with the coronavirus. Refrigeration at 4 or 5 degrees Celsius - the usual setting in many fridges - encourages the coronavirus to multiply.
In Australia now, most new outbreaks of COVID-19 are starting in food-processing plants where working conditions are crowded, the people employed may be on low wages and poorly trained in hygienic measures, and food is kept at 4-5 degrees Celsius; in supermarkets and other places where people handle food and drink. It would make no difference if people went out to dine or bought food and cooked it at home, if they're handling food constantly and storing it at temperatures that favour coronavirus survival.
The COVID-19 outbreaks in Wuhan and Beijing took place in contexts where food at similar temperatures were being handled by people of working class backgrounds.
Hairdressing salons would be less likely to pass on COVID-19 because staff are often working with hair-dryers set at hot temperatures which either kill coronaviruses or slow down their multiplying. Of course, having staff wear masks and disposable gloves (changed between clients - not always practical as staff sometimes deal with two clients at once) helps.
Posted by: Jen | Jul 16 2020 20:40 utc | 49
There is no doubt that Amerikkka was fated to be a failed state. It's shining beacon was counter-revolution. The rest of the West follows its lead at their own risk. Why attach your nation to a plague-ship that is going down? It's lunacy but I suppose it's to be expected of the settler-colonial ruling classes of the West. This minority are an apocalyptic breed.
Posted by: dimitrov | Jul 16 2020 20:42 utc | 50
@48
It's true. All the Americans of Mexican and South American and Chinese and Russian and Japanese and Indian and Iranian and African descent are all part of the American illness as are the Europeans. Same holds true for the dumbass Canucks up north who keep coming south. My bro in Florida just sold his home to a wealthy Canadian couple for a small fortune. The idiotic Canucks want to be part of, and contribute to, America's and Caitlin's illness. Caitlin is as clever as Colbert. She sure knows her audience and what they want to hear and what they want her to say — all the way to the bank. She is a hustling two-bit grifter like all the rest.
Tell me, @48, why do they keep coming if what you say and Caitlin say is true?
Posted by: 450.org | Jul 16 2020 20:45 utc | 51
Unfortunately there is some truth to it.
Some? Nah, 'some' doesn't come close to covering the situation in the pariah state.
The US may exceed 1,000 daily deaths today for the first time since June 9th (1,104 deaths on that day).
A death cult is in charge.
Posted by: snow_watcher | Jul 16 2020 20:48 utc | 52
"That's why I do not get it. What did Abbott think would happen in Texas? What does Kemp think will happen in Georgia? Does he wish for more deaths in his state? Is it malice that is driving him? If not malice what is it?"
I may be dreaming, but perhaps he took constitutional government seriously? Perhaps he took limited government seriously?
Perhaps some of us actually agree that certain things (like wearing masks in close public proximity) make sense and do them and still do not believe a limited government has the right to force anyone to wear masks or inject themselves with vaccines (which will be the next thing the powers that be will insist on ... where's your vaccine clearance, citizen?).
This is the difference between living in a free republic versus being a citizen of an unlimited all-powerful state. Just because the latter holds elections does not prevent it from being tyrannical ... the tyranny is simply subject to new masters every few years.
Posted by: Caliman | Jul 16 2020 20:51 utc | 53
I live in what is reputed to be "progressive" Oregon but mask wearing has gone down again around where I live. Even going into the Post Office people are not wearing masks to check the mail in their boxes even if they have to wear a mask to see a worker. The same in grocery stores where help wears masks but now less and less of the clients.The brainwashing is thick in America. It is not stupidity, nor ignorance but outright brainwashing via ongoing propaganda.
The war crimes being committed by the global financial elite against Americans need to be prosecuted.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 16 2020 17:28
That's interesting! I'm in Portland and what I've noticed is that in the last few months, especially since the rioting has ended, people are really masking up. Before it was just indoors, but I've been noticing recently how widespread outdoor masking, at least in my neighborhood on the eastside. I'd put it at 60-70% outdoors, and indoors its ubiquitous. I was inside the post office yesterday to drop off my taxes and everyone was masked up
Posted by: Daedalus | Jul 16 2020 20:55 utc | 54
Caliman @ 53
The tyranny never changes, but you're right the face of it does....every four years. I suppose the insistence of having a vaccination is indeed waiting in the wings to be rolled out at a time of the master's choosing.
Posted by: Digital Spartacus | Jul 16 2020 20:57 utc | 55
The Trumpers have convinced me. Trump is a 5-D chess player! How else are you going to cull the stupid? Trump and Darwin 2020!
Posted by: Seer | Jul 16 2020 21:08 utc | 56
karlof1@44:
Thanks for reposting these exerpts. I had seen the essay linked by vk on the previous thread, and it raised plenty of questions for me, though the Dostoievski reference could open up an interesting line of investigation -- but I digress, as the old saying goes. And here I will just requote one paragraph:
"...What this has created is generations of human beings in a nuclear-armed society of more than 330 million people who are emotionally simplistic, however well fed, well-educated and well informed (in reality of course they are not) and how financially wealthy they are..."
Excuse me, but this is one horrendous paragraph! To go through it bit by bit, the 'this' from the preceding paragraph turns out to be a 'phenomenon' that is described thusly "...the US has experienced the largest number of broken families and children brought up by single parents or in drug and alcohol-riddled families than any other nation in the world..."
And then, if that description isn't enough to make those hordes of well-to-do but hugely (330 million!) somehow both well fed and alcoholic and all the rest rush pell mell to the nuclear button (said society being the well-armed singleminded broken family raised bunch of cretins that they are -- a totally inappropriate quote from the good Saint Paul tops of the whole shebang.
This is too over the top - we have seen why Trump got elected in the first place. We saw why Obama got elected in the first place. Good people made careful decisions with what they had to work with - they chose the lesser evil on the one hand, and on the other they chose what they thought would be Big Change. It wasn't because of generations of Americans marching lock step into idiocy! The idiots are the leaders!!!
I don't even have to bring Dostoievski into it; I'm sure he's much relieved. Bad enough Saint Paul had to be part of the mishmash.
(I love you karlof1, but really!)
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 21:11 utc | 57
@52 roughly 7800 US citizens die every day. 2,840,000 die every year. No place on earth has death been cured. Is anybody actually dying from covid? Who knows? The CDC is keeping two running counts. The CDC doesn't even keep a statistic of people who die of covid. It clearly states covid "involved deaths". Looking at excess deaths the US is now well below average yet the hysteria and paranoia is even higher than the April 11 peak. CDC excess deaths
Posted by: goldhoarder | Jul 16 2020 21:14 utc | 58
Blue Dotterel @46--
Thanks for your reply! The Establishment links to various groups is SOP as it's part of their Divide and Rule protocol. As for which group of Sneeches is going to the beaches, Florida is a Red State with out-of-control covid numbers as is Texas. Same with the rest of the Sun Belt. Unfortunately, they have yet to learn the lesson from the story, which is almost 60 years-old. You wrote, "... there is a lot of treasonous behaviour in other camps." If you've read enough of my writings here, you'll know I share that sentiment, although I'd posit there's one main camp housing several factions all beholden to the same paymasters, which is essentially the same for all the Neoliberal captured nations. However, our play has yet to reach the intermission between acts as the playwright can't or is unable to provide closure.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 16 2020 21:34 utc | 59
I will have to apologize, karlof1 for exploding upon your well intended statement that Trump is more to be blamed than misled followers - I had seen as perhaps you did not that the reference to Saint Paul's words is in a fiery account of the second coming of Christ. I'm a strong believer in the separation of church and state, and this was a bridge too far for me. It probably colored my response, sorry.
I'll still make it, but toned down in appreciation for all you bring us here.
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 21:37 utc | 60
Let’s assume that the events of the last five months are neither random nor unexpected. Let’s say they’re part of an ingenious plan to transform American democracy into a lockdown police state controlled by criminal elites and their puppet governors. And let’s say the media’s role is to fan the flames of mass hysteria by sensationalizing every gory detail, every ominous prediction and every slightest uptick in the death toll in order to exert greater control over the population. And let’s say the media used their power to craft a message of terror they’d repeat over and over again until finally, there was just one frightening storyline ringing-out from every soapbox and bullhorn, one group of governors from the same political party implementing the same destructive policies, and one small group of infectious disease experts –all incestuously related– issuing edicts in the form of “professional advice.”
Posted by: jose | Jul 16 2020 21:41 utc | 61
What’s most astonishing about the Covid-19 operation is the manner in which the elected government was circumvented by public health experts (connected to a power-mad billionaire activist.) That was a stroke of genius. Most people regard the US as a fairly stable democracy and yet, the first sign of infection triggered the rapid transfer of power from the president to unelected “professionals” whose conflicts of interest are too vast to list.
Posted by: Jean | Jul 16 2020 21:43 utc | 62
We’re not saying that Covid doesn’t kill people, and we’re not suggesting that Covid is a bioweapon released on the public for nefarious purposes. (although that’s certainly a possibility.) What we’re saying is that scheming elites and their allies in the media and politics see every crisis as an opportunity to advance their own authoritarian agenda. In fact, the restructuring of basic democratic institutions can only take place within the confines of a major crisis. That’s why the CIA, the giant corporations, the WHO and the Gates Posse gathered for meetings that anticipated an event just like the Covid outbreak. They needed a crisis of that magnitude to achieve their ultimate objective; total control. That’s what they mean when they say there will be “no return to normal”, they mean they’re replacing representative government with a new totalitarian model in which the levers of state power will be controlled by them. So while the virus outbreak might be coincidental, the management of the crisis certainly is not.
Posted by: jb | Jul 16 2020 21:44 utc | 63
I'll just add that I think it's equally impossible to bring Dostoievski into these discussions of state matters, simply because while "The Demons" is perhaps his closest related work to political goings on, having been initiated by a sad incident in which a student protester lost his life, Doestoievski as he always does traces his path into the individual souls of his characters, and that takes him into soul realities that are far deeper streams than those we attempt to understand here.
In other words, like Saint Paul, he can't really be quoted out of context.
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 21:50 utc | 64
juliania @57--
Thanks for your reply and terms of endearment! Yes, I admit the essay's really poor; it's like Sieff was already drinking when he began and it took over. You'll have seen my several plugs for the latest Renegade Inc production which interviews the co-author of Angrynomics. You can get the links from this discourse between myself and Grieved. It's 28 minutes well spent and gives us another economic voice to follow, albeit from the UK. It would be good if a few more women with your gumption would sit down at the keyboard and join our discussions. Do keep up with your precautions!
I now see your newest comments. I took no offence!!
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 16 2020 21:53 utc | 65
Posted by: jb | Jul 16 2020 21:44 utc | 63
Indeed. It is almost beside the point whether this thing originated in government, was a conspiracy, or was as seems most likely an accident of nature in a very crowded human world. The policy effects of its use are what matters.
In fact, this is very similar to 911: no matter who was behind it, whether it was the mostly Saudi conspiracists or others, the undisputed fact is that there was a "plan for a new american century" which called for a Pearl Harbor type event to get going.
Similarly, Covid19 is simply a fabulous tool for even more circumscription and control of our lives ... it can lead to all kinds of things various State controllers have wanted for a long time: the cashless society (money is dirty, don't you know); acceptance of population tracking tools; ubiquity of recognition software; easy access to private health and work records; etc.
And FEAR ... fear on an industrial scale that is making big majorities simply CLAMOR to be told what to do. Oh, save us Saint Fauci and your priesthood of fellow doctor/scientists. Oh tell us what to do and how big a proportion of our economy to sacrifice on the altar of the endless (or at least 100 years) life that we have been promised by modern science.
Posted by: Caliman | Jul 16 2020 22:07 utc | 66
jb @63:
"...That’s why the CIA, the giant corporations, the WHO and the Gates Posse gathered for meetings that anticipated an event just like the Covid outbreak. They needed a crisis of that magnitude to achieve their ultimate objective; total control..."
If they did, jb, that was a fool's errand. This thing is too big for them to achieve control over it. Remember that tv ad?
"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."
What they need to do is fool us; they are not doing so. Because, nature.
But it doesn't matter if they actually at first gamed the situation. Of course they did; it's what they do. We still have sensible protocols to follow, and to disseminate, as b is doing here. And we all have brains - we can figure it out. Young people, old people - we can wear masks! Nobody is prohibiting that. It won't kill you to do so. Just possibly you will be unaffected by the virus even though a carrier; but you will know that if you are, you are protecting others.
Self control is where it's at. Wear a mask when you are around others. And good for businesses to require it. Where I shop, all of them do. And I wouldn't go in otherwise.
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 22:09 utc | 67
Blue Dotterel
I read the handbook put out by Jack Ma. Chinese doctors from a leading university that were treating critical ill patients wrote what they knew of the disease at the time and best practice in treating it. This should have been used as a starting point by every other country that had outbreaks after that was published. US and UK ignored it.
Australia has pretty much kept the disease under control and have a very low death rate as a percentage of confirmed cases. Australian health authorities, although our government has been following Trump's lead with the anti china propaganda, where in touch with and working with China from an early stage.
China invited other nations to take part in, I think a video conference, where the Chinese official updated health officials on containing outbreaks and treatment and so for. Apart from Australia, it was only African and Asian nations bothered to show up. No other five-eyes, nor Europeans attended.
As for ,masks and other basic hygiene stuff that have been known for many decades .... Yanks screaming about having to wear a mask like little toddlers throwing a tantrum - I guess wearing masks doesn't fit their exceptional image.
the US military is at least smart enough to realist wearing a mask inhibits transmission, but like little kids the wear black. I guess it makes the feel a bit tougher like some sort of doom warrior out of a video game. That sort of thing is usually light coloured so it is easier to see if its clean or not - camo colors I guess would be somewhat fitting for the military but black just shows their juvenile mindset.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Jul 16 2020 22:11 utc | 68
Power to the people! Wear that pesky mask; take control! Let's become a nation of mask wearers now!
Look, we got them to put organic food back on our menus by boycotting unsafely produced food. This is that!
Posted by: juliania | Jul 16 2020 22:14 utc | 69
Assume? Michael Parenti once asked this question, "Why are there poor people?" And he answered: "Rich people."
Posted by: donten | Jul 16 2020 22:18 utc | 70
All of the prior posters who complain about wearing a mask: Do you frequently have casual sex without a condom? Do you walk slowly through commercial construction sites without a hardhat?
Viruses persist whether you like them or not.
Posted by: Unsympathetic | Jul 16 2020 22:21 utc | 71
thanks b....
to the americans here who think the world revolves around everything that happens in the usa - @ 62 jean, or 63 jb.... it doesn't.... we have a health official here in b.c. bonnie henry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Henry who is not a part of some grand conspiracy involving bill gates and whatever other conspiracy theories you have to offer.... i wish you folks would recognize how messed up the response of the usa gov't has been and no amount of conspiracy theories are going to change any of this.. all the best to you, figuring it all out..
Posted by: james | Jul 16 2020 22:21 utc | 72
61, 62 & 63--
There's ample evidence that Trump and Company devised a Do Nothing Policy as we witnessed when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. Budget cuts to vital agencies charged with "providing the common defence" were administered beginning in 2018 as documented here. I have another timeline beginning in January 2020 attached to the appendix of the draft for my book Critical Mass showing Trump did nothing until he was forced to in mid-March. We also have the evidence that Trump's government told Dr. Chu in Washington State not to test for COVID-19, but she ignored the order, tested and confirmed the USA's first case. Thank goodness for her insubordination. Most recently, there're the very serious charges leveled at Trump and Company by Wayne Madsen:
"But what of the 135,000 (and counting) deaths of Americans from Covid-19 caused principally by the criminal negligence of the Trump regime? When the statistics are perused, the victims of Trump’s genocide-by-inaction are principally ethnic minorities, an alarm bell that should be sounding in every international human rights office around the world." [My Emphasis]
Yes, Obama threw millions of homeowners onto the streets and refused to prosecute the massive fraud committed by Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, and members of the government's relevant regulatory agencies; yet, Trump did nothing about that great injustice despite his supposed hatred for Obama.
Look at whom both the R- and D-Party are beholden: The Rentier Class of Financial Parasites running rampant on Wall Street, at the Federal Reserve, and within the US Treasury Department--the grand masters of Neoliberalism. They are The Enemy Within that ALL US Citizens ought to be hunting down, divesting, and putting on trial for massive fraud, then jailing for the rest of their days.
But then, you're just a set of trolls in the service of the Masters. What a waste!
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 16 2020 22:29 utc | 73
One gets the feeling one is being led by the nose to keep the fear factor up, when the previous claims weaken in effect, a new, more threatening claim is "discovered".
Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jul 16 2020 18:57 utc | 38
Or just maybe, this is a disease about which virtually nothing was known a half a year ago, and as the months have gone on researchers have made observations, developed putative explanations, and then modified those explanations when necessary as more data became available. That's the way science is supposed to work, by the way. Enough of your paranoid nonsense.
Posted by: farm ecologist | Jul 16 2020 23:08 utc | 74
james @72
i wish you folks would recognize how messed up the response of the usa gov't and half the USA citizens has been and no amount of conspiracy theories are going to change any of this
FTFY. If only it were just the government. US citizens are complicit.
I would also like to note that I appreciate MoA's ongoing COVID coverage in the face of intense trolling.
Posted by: snow_watcher | Jul 16 2020 23:08 utc | 75
@ CHYYNNA.org | Jul 16 2020 18:01 utc | 14
Just sooo cute how you managed to barf another CHYYNNA CHYYNNA CHYYNNA vomit into the thread.
Let me mention to you how my country bought a fancy F35 military airplane from the USA. Supposedly the best there is. And when it was delivered, it turned out to be a flying lemon.
As the plane finally arrived, it was welcomed with a festive reception. Airbase personnel saluted the newly landed superplane with an arch of waterjets. Oops, that damaged the superplane's superstealth superpowers. It had to undergo expensive repairs, before ever having taken off on a maiden flight. I hear they're not flying the new superexpensive winged piano much anyway, as that might damage it all too easily, and the repairs a are - you guessed it - super expensive.
I wish my country had bought some Russian planes instead. Cheaper, better. But hey, we're not allowed to do that. Buying anything but Freedom Gas is an outright declaration of war. We considered filing a complaint at some international court, but the USA adotpted a law to invade us if we did. It's called the The Hague Invasion Act.
Anyway, Caitlin is from the land of Oz. Hope that helps you to accurately inform us even better.
Posted by: Lurk | Jul 16 2020 23:29 utc | 76
james | Jul 16 2020 22:21 utc | 72
"...to the americans here who think the world revolves around everything that happens in the usa..."
Going back 3-4+ years ago there was a much smaller percentage of American contributors to this site, but like the corona virus they have rapidly infected the comments section with their total lack of self awareness & collective twattery.
Best described as "Septic Centric Syndrome".
Unfortunately, B seems to be enabling this poor behaviour by writing bi-weekly US centric mask stories.
Before the perpetually outraged start smashing their keyboards - yes, B can write about whatever he wishes ..... (add associated nonsense here).
What would be much more interesting is if B could use his insight into writing more articles about his homeland - Germany.
Being of no interest to the Americans the comments section would be much shorter & be of a higher quality.
Posted by: ted01 | Jul 16 2020 23:46 utc | 77
Thank you so much karlof1 for comments and the Wayne Madsen link - also to Grieved, understanding you will see when you see, and james and all others posting with vigor here - I think some elements of the 'angernomics' are appropriate from time to time - that is, the philosophical arguments could well have some of the indignation of the football aarena infused, in small increments, lest righteousness fall limply in summer's heat. Just in moderation, that!
I liked the idea of seizing what the bad guys have been practising and transforming it into good energy when deflationary interest rates provide the opportunity. Oh yes!
And that sounds very interesting, your book, karlof1. We all should be thinking of our record keeping during this critical time, and how we want to be remembered after these important days. b's record keeping has been meticulous, an example to us all!
And very opportunely, my little town library (which I have sorely missed) just sent out an advisory on how to order books - our librarian will drop them off curbside! Boy, that will make things so much more bearable for me - I've been rereading what I have on the shelves, along with the online stuff, but there's nothing like sitting in the rocker with a good book in hand... heaven should be so enticing!
Thanks to all.
Posted by: juliania | Jul 17 2020 0:24 utc | 78
@51, 450.org
Snowflakes like you get easily triggered when people like Caitlin Johnstone commit the Thought Crime of simply calling out America for what it is, don't you?
You can't deny what she is saying, so you either engage in ad hominem attacks of her or try to spread the blame around to other nations and indeed the entire world for the sickness that is America.
At base, you are just like your hated bogeyman of Donald Trump, who is simply a more open cult proponent of American "Greatness."
Pathetic.
And people that move to the USA are largely opportunists who go there to reap the perceived--emphasis on perceived--economic benefits of the so-called Land of Opportunity. They definitely would not be moving to America if it were a poor developing nation--no matter its putative "rights and freedoms."
When these people get to the USA, however, they may discover a very different reality that contradicts American propaganda about being the Land of the Free, as they could be subject to ICE harassment, immigrant concentration camps, or merely joining the American rat race in general.
What these opportunists--like Americans themselves--also ignore is that American wealth, prosperity, power, and beloved Way of Life itself are fundamentally based on subjugating and exploiting much of the world--particularly the Global South--through its imposition of the Washington Consensus and US Dollar Imperialism.
But don't worry.
America will reap what it has sown around the planet--either through internal implosion, if it is lucky, or a catastrophic nuclear war that will render the precious American fatherland a irradiated Shithole on a Hill.
Posted by: ak74 | Jul 17 2020 0:49 utc | 79
@450.org, #51:
Ah, yes. Ye Olde "But if 'Muricuh's so awful, why is it evr'bawdy wants t' move here?"
I'll answer that one, for ya. 2 sorts of people move to 'Murica, and to some extent they overlap--but not entirely. The first are people who are fleeing war-torn areas where the devastation was unleashed by the US military.Many of these are pury innocent people looking to escape the destruction that the US, via CIA, military, or policy--unleashed on their countryfolk--think Honduras, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Syria, Congo, Sudan, or Nicaragua.
The others are members of the Neolib Kleptocratic Klass, their enablers, and/or people who aided and abetted the CIA and US military in creating the wars their countryfolk suffer beneath. These make up the vast majority of (legal) immigrants, and so far as the rest of the world is concerned, these sorts are simply thieving, murderous traitors to their nation and neighbors.
So yes: the US can, at one and the same time, be a hopelessly corrupt nation ruled by grasping, uncaring leaders and staffed by brute thugs with the maturity and acuity of 10 year olds while still attracting a brisk array of fools who have overstayed their welcome in their homeland precisely because they are one of the same.
Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Jul 17 2020 0:50 utc | 80
Posted by: Lurk | Jul 16 2020 23:29 utc | 75
I wish my country had bought some Russian planes instead. Cheaper, better. But hey, we're not allowed to do that. Buying anything but Freedom Gas is an outright declaration of war. We considered filing a complaint at some international court, but the USA adotpted a law to invade us if we did. It's called the The Hague Invasion Act.
You should be grateful that you enjoyed protection from America.
Without it you would be speaking Russian now instead of English.
And your high school literature classes would be way harder: Ana Karenyina in grade 10, War & Peace in grade 11, Crime & Punishment in grade 12...
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 17 2020 1:04 utc | 82
what a gaggle of trolls , 450.org the sinophobic trolls tryhard and even play sockpuppettry .. he is not even pretending nowadays , just post post post for his meager salary depend on the post count..
as for @jen , please tell me how virus in food container multiply inside cold storage. do you even understand how virus multiply ?
that comment of yours showed how you post sensationalist nonsense without the backing of facts
Posted by: milomilo | Jul 17 2020 1:13 utc | 83
@ Rob (20) who wrote about my stupidity/ignorance/brainwashed comment
"
But there is a reason why some people are so susceptible to brainwashing. In many, if not most, cases, it's willful ignorance.
"
As a person who started life in faith but has evolved to take personally responsibility for all of my life I would posit that the willful ignorance you write of is faith.
@ karlof1 (44) who provided a link and the "emotionally simplistic" term
Emotionally simplistic is a loaded term that to me speaks to the perceptions of an individuals place in society/tribe or of that tribe's place in the bigger world. Emotionally simplistic would reflect the unipolar mentality and multipolar mentality by more complex emotional capabilities.
In simple terms, as has been written here before, the emotionally simplistic sort should not have been allowed to matriculate from grade school without learning how to share with others.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 17 2020 1:20 utc | 84
Posted by: Passer by | Jul 16 2020 19:48 utc | 47
On eating out, there is no problem, as long as it is in the open and has 7-8 meters distance from other people.
Well that would be pretty lame way to spend an evening out. I prefer to sit with my friends at the same table. And eating out alone, why bother, better stay at home.
Posted by: hopehely | Jul 17 2020 1:22 utc | 85
@86
A world where the Soviet Union achieves victory over capitalism is preferable over this PlagueStates led capitalist timeline. This embarrassing 'show your gratitude' attitude is peak reactionary american exceptionalism but it's to be expected from a bootlicker.
Posted by: dimitrov | Jul 17 2020 1:23 utc | 86
milomilo @82--
It was the Chinese who announced the ability of the COVID-19 virus to withstand cold storage and capable of being transportable via food storage containers in connection with the recent outbreak in Beijing. Here's the link to the article announcing that capability. Extreme heat is the enemy of all micro-organisms; extreme cold serves to put them into a state of suspended animation.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 17 2020 1:45 utc | 88
psychohistorian | Jul 16 2020 17:28 utc | 3
"...The brainwashing is thick in America. It is not stupidity, nor ignorance but outright brainwashing via ongoing propaganda."
By the time an American is @ 8 years old their brain has turned to mush - totally incapable of thinking or free thought. These years are considered to be the most formative years for a child.
What is considered normal for the American is totally abhorrent to people from the rest of the world.
From the age of 0 years to 8 years of age, the American is bombarded with the crass, mind numbingly inanity of American TV.
From the age of 0 years to 8 years of age, the 5 human senses of the American are assaulted relentlessly on their visits to the shopping mall, to sporting venues and all manner of public events.
From the age of 0 years to 8 years of age, the American is subjected to an onslaught hyped up patriotism & jingoism.Relentless & ongoing.
All this of course carries on into their teenage years & on into adulthood - the result of which is the 'perfectly formed American".
The Americans who post here are the product of this environment.
Posted by: ted01 | Jul 17 2020 1:58 utc | 89
There's a lot of irony in this mini civil war in the commentary. Covid deniers thinking they're "woke" is probably the biggest aspect of it.
Posted by: Atreides | Jul 17 2020 2:08 utc | 90
@ ted01 | Jul 17 2020 1:58 utc | 88 who wrote
"
The Americans who post here are the product of this environment.
"
I believe that there are a few of us Americans that have risen above the brainwashing which you so clearly described. While we might be some of the older barflies, I can remember clearly in my Catholic grade school class of the 1950's hearing about the evils of communism and its sneaking in like the rising tide....so its not like it wasn't there before but the propaganda tools now are more sophisticated (excluding the trolls at MoA).
All the Germans didn't kill Jews any more than all of Americans are killing the current victims of global private finance controlled empire. The world's enemy are those that own global private finance and much of the rest of "private property" of the Western world.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Jul 17 2020 2:42 utc | 91
Well, Florida's screwed...
Dr. Alina Alonso, Palm Beach County’s health department director, warned county commissioners Tuesday that much is unknown about the long-term health consequences for children who catch COVID-19.X-rays have revealed the virus can cause lung damage even in people without severe symptoms, she said.
“They are seeing there is damage to the lungs in these asymptomatic children. ... We don’t know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,” Alonso said. “Is that child going to have chronic pulmonary problems or not?”...
About 17,000 of Florida’s roughly 287,800 cases have been people younger than 18. Of the 4,514 COVID-19 deaths reported by Florida as of Tuesday, four have been younger than 18...
State statistics also show the percentage of children testing positive is much higher than the population as a whole. Statewide, about 31% of 54,022 children tested have been positive. The state’s positivity rate for the entire population is about 11%.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jul 17 2020 2:42 utc | 92
Atreides | Jul 17 2020 2:08 utc | 8
Anybody that considers themselves 'woke' for any reason deserves all the scorn they get.
'Wokeness' - perfect example of American stupidity insidiously inserting itself into the feeble minded.
Posted by: ted01 | Jul 17 2020 2:46 utc | 93
The official death rate figures that we commonly see are understated and invalid. The reason is that those numbers are a comparison of total deaths to the total confirmed cases as of a given date. But just like deaths from cancer or heart disease, people don't generally die on the day of diagnosis. So this method is not counting those currently confirmed cases that will lead to subsequent deaths.
A more accurate way is to compare the number of deaths to the sum of deaths plus recoveries, and thereby exclude from the calculation those people who have a confirmed case but have neither died nor recovered.
According to https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ there are currently 3,695,025 confirmed cases in the U.S., but of these only 1,820,751 are considered closed. That is to say, that 1,679,633 (92%) are recovered/discharged and 141,118 (8%) have died.
Posted by: FZ | Jul 17 2020 2:53 utc | 94
@ Blue Dotterel 46
"That the oligarchy seems to be funding the BLM, Antifa crowd..."
Please stop pushing corporate/government propaganda on this site. Anyone that performed due diligence would not confuse an activity (antifa) with an organization. Let alone an organization that could receive funding. As far as BLM goes, I can see why you might be confused. BLM is an autonomous movement with no leadership or organizational structure. However, there is a national BLM astroturf organization that has basically adopted a neoliberal POV and should not be confused with the original grassroots autonomous BLM that you see in the streets.
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 17 2020 3:12 utc | 95
"There's a lot of irony in this mini civil war in the commentary. Covid deniers thinking they're "woke" is probably the biggest aspect of it."
Posted by: Atreides | Jul 17 2020 2:08 utc | 89
..
Majority of Americunts are selfish braindead fucktards.
Denial is an Americunt speciality. Hypocrisy their feel good religion.
Suddenly Americans, particularly the lefties, are concerned about human life? Only because for a change it is their skin on the line.
Oooooh, the VIRUS might kill me, ohhh everyone clap along and wear a mask. Same fuckers could care less about the Death toll of what 20, 30, 50+ million murdered over the past decades by the scum US Regime? Pretty sure those murderous wars could have been avoided if human life was a priority? The only priority in America is selfish assholes thinking they are exceptional.
Your mask will not protect you when the economy collapses. Your mask will not raise the dead or stop US wars of aggression. Your mask will not help the homeless and forlorn. Your mask will likely not even save your pathetic ass. Larger forces are at play here so continue being distracted by mask drama and get on your knees. The Pale Rider is coming to visit you in America- and Americans deserve no mercy for their collective hypocrisy.
Posted by: CitizenX | Jul 17 2020 3:15 utc | 96
@Norwegian 17
"Insanity took over this blog. Too bad, it used to be good."
Ain't free expression a bitch!
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 17 2020 3:22 utc | 97
@jose 22
"Shame, shame, shame on all of you for drinking the Koolaid."
Which 'Koolaid' would that be?
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 17 2020 3:24 utc | 98
@hopehely 35
"After so many of you using this, I finally looked up what 'drinking the Koolaid' means.
What a terrible reference. You should be ashamed of yourself."
Not at all. Apparently you aren't familiar with analogy and metaphor.
Posted by: anonymous | Jul 17 2020 3:28 utc | 99
Russia is hacking virus vaccine trials, US, UK, Canada say
A 16-page advisory prepared by Western agencies and made public Thursday accuses Cozy Bear of using custom malicious software to target a number of organizations globally. The malware, called WellMess and WellMail, has not previously been associated with the group, the advisory said.“In recent attacks targeting COVID-19 vaccine research and development, the group conducted basic vulnerability scanning against specific external IP addresses owned by the organizations. The group then deployed public exploits against the vulnerable services identified,” the advisory said.
This is probably bullshit. First of all, they admit that the malware being used has not been previously used by that group. Then they claim their evidence is based on "vulnerability scanning" against "external IP addresses". That sort of thing is done all the time by every hacker on the planet with access to the Internet. *Every* organization gets their IP addresses scanned every day. That's what your firewall handles. It's only an issue if you have a specific vulnerability that is un-patched on your systems.
The specific vulnerabilities which these hacks allegedly exploit include (from Threatpost's report):
To mount the attacks, APT29 is using exploits for known vulnerabilities to gain initial access to targets, according to the analysis, along with spearphishing to obtain authentication credentials to internet-accessible login pages for target organizations. The exploits in rotation include the recent Citrix code-injection bug); a publicized Pulse Secure VPN flaw (CVE-2019-11510); and issues in FortiGate (CVE-2018-13379) and Zimbra (CVE-2019-9670).“The group conducted basic vulnerability scanning against specific external IP addresses owned by the [targeted] organizations,” according to the report. “The group then deployed public exploits against the vulnerable services identified. The group has been successful using recently published exploits to gain initial footholds.”
Note that all of this is known stuff. Allegedly the malware deployed is "custom", but it was discovered back in July, 2018. So anyone could have it by now.
The vulnerabilities listed are not impressive as the targets are relatively obscure, except for the Citrix one, which has had patches for it since January. Unless the organizations involved have those services installed, they're unlikely to be useful to the hackers. The spearphishing would be much more effective.
I can find little useful information on the malware. Interestingly, FireEye reported this:
Cybersecurity researchers have seen the malware WellMess and WellMail deployed before, some going back to 2018, but until Thursday's joint notice by the three countries, they had been unable to link it to a nation-state hacker, said Ben Read, senior manager for cyber espionage at cybersecurity firm FireEye's intelligence unit.So in fact, there is *zero* evidence that these alleged hacking incidents can be definitively attributed to APT29 or anyone else, outside of the accusation of the US and UK intelligence agencies - whose credibility in this regard after the 2016 election debacle is zero.
That said, it is obvious that any hacker with a remote interest in intellectual property theft is going to be targeting vaccine research, with the expectation of being able to sell it on the Dark Web for tons of money. This might well include every government on the planet with a PC manned by a hacker.
What we're seeing here is the same scam used during the 2016 election:
1) Collect a group of random indicators of compromise from a victim's system.
2) Allege that these belong to a coherent group of hackers.
3) Give the alleged group a name (APT 29).
4) Claim this group is connected to the Russian government (with zero evidence.)
5) Claim the Russian government is hacking the victims (with even less evidence.)Same gameplan as the 2016 election bullcrap, which was later admitted in Senate testimony that they had no actual evidence Russians were involved - despite the nonsense indictment that Mueller put out - also with zero evidence attached.
Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jul 17 2020 4:07 utc | 100
The comments to this entry are closed.
the urine test is a good analogy. and guaranteed, some people, if it were politicised, would be talking about how piss is natural and good for you, and anyway gandhi did it, or whatever the talking points might be; "if you don't want to get pissed on, just stay home and let the rest of us get on with life!"
Posted by: pretzelattack | Jul 16 2020 17:13 utc | 1