It is Day 97 (approx) of the Great China Virus Apocalypse. The Diplowife and I are hunkered in our Wilmington bunker, the monotony of confinement shattered only by lunch-time trips to the hot bar at the local Harris-Teeter supermarket. We are limited to huge helpings of fresh salmon, pulled pork, shredded beef, prime rib, roasted turkey, chicken breast and wings, and tilapia in tomato sauce, not to mention fried okra, roasted vegetables, mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted red potatoes, broccoli with bacon, cauliflower, and a range of Asian foods, ironic given the origins of our current viral crisis. Has humanity no pity for our suffering? How much more of this can we take? President Trump, hear our cries! Mail us $1000! Send us more government! We can't take care of ourselves!
Signed for what posterity might follow, if any,
The Diplomad"
I have revealed to you the most private of my writings: the first page of my Viral Diary.
As you have guessed, I remain greatly troubled by the China Virus--and, yes, it is the China Virus as much we have had the German Measles, the Spanish Flu, the West Nile Virus, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the Lyme (Connecticut) Disease, a new Rebel Wilson Movie, etc.
The actual effect of the virus--I suspect--will be nothing more than another in a long line of flu epidemics/pandemics. The mortality rate numbers appear way off (see here for a good common sense look at those) and exaggerated either deliberately or through ignorance--you decide. The whole crisis, all over the world, is being used to increase dramatically the power and reach of government; the control by government over our daily lives is rising exponentially in "response" to the "crisis." Panic is being engendered by the mass media, government spokesmen, and, of course, the internet in all its manifestations. It is very difficult to get the truth of what is happening, so I fall back on my default setting of cynical disbelief. Whenever the media and government grab hold of a complex scientific issue and make an issue of it, beware. Something is afoot. I have worked overseas with the CDC, for example, and while there are some fine and dedicated people there, it is, as I have noted before (here and here, for example) a den of politically correct bureaucrats and Deep Staters as much as any other public entity. The CDC has spent a lot of time on nonsense having nothing to do with infectious diseases and has pursued the tax dollar with studies on gun violence, homosexuality, domestic abuse, etc., instead of being prepared for real diseases. The much quoted Dr. Fauci (NIAID director), whom I don't know, was dead wrong on HIV/AIDS, and his predictions on that disease were way off (look'em up; you'll see). Take what he says on the China Virus with a grain of highly sterilized salt. He hasn't met a camera he doesn't like.
My gym is closed, the restaurants are closed . . . I haven't tried the gun range, yet.
Anyhow, here I sit, wondering if we are going to go nuts like this every time something unexpected happens.
0 Yorumlar