Some Chinese media disseminate information about reported cases of unknown pneumonia in Kazakhstan that seems to be more deadly than coronavirus.

slider

“The Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan officially declares that this information IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH REALITY.” – from the article.

https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/dsm/press/news/details/informaciya-nekotoryh-kitayskih-smi-o-novoy-pnevmonii-v-kazahstane-ne-sootvetstvuet-deystvitelnosti?lang=en

So, The Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan claims that the news reports from sources such as The South China Morning Post and Reuters is “Fake News”.

Will keep an eye on it.

628 Kazakhstanis died of pneumonia in June – Новости Казахстана – свежие, актуальные, последние новости об о всем

  From The South China Morning Post

Story published on – published on 3 July 2020

https://www.kazpravda.kz/en/news/society/628-kazakhstanis-died-of-pneumonia-in-june

Post that started me looking into this “Unknown Pneumonia’ today that I shared a short time ago.  It was a warning to Chinese Citizens in Kazakhstan (several whom have died from this “Unknown Pneumonia”. Somehow the South China Morning Post got a hold of the warning and published it today.

‘Unknown pneumonia’ deadlier than coronavirus sweeping Kazakhstan, Chinese embassy warns | South China Morning Post

https://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/diplomacy/article/3092563/chinese-embassy-warns-deadly-unknown-pneumonia-kazakhstan

The first news reports I could find about this came from Reuters on 25 June 2020 and republished by The National Post on the same day.

Kazakh capital reports surge in pneumonia cases – Reuters

https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-kazakhstan-idINKBN23W0MR

Also from Reuters on 25 June 2020

Kazakh health minister resigns amid coronavirus crisis – Reuters

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-kazakhstan/kazakh-capital-reports-surge-in-pneumonia-cases-idUKKBN23W1NT

Since the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan formally announced this “Unknown Pneumonia” today, several blogs/specific sites have begun investigating this disease:

Community Acquired Pneumonia – Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and environs. – FluTrackers News and Information

https://flutrackers.com/forum/forum/the-pandemic-discussion-forum/876510-community-acquired-pneumonia-kazakhstan-and-kyrgyzstan-and-environs

 

A Lot Is Going To Change In 2020!

200108214800-coronavirus-medium-plus-169  locusts AP19155657217976

The year 2020 is going to see a lot of changes in the World by December 31. Old problems are going to become even more unbearable and new problems are going to strain everyone even more and drastic changes are inevitable. To survive, people (espicially in the United States) are going to have to change or fall by the wayside. It is defintely going to be a strange year.
POLITICS
COVID-19 is proving to us that our governments are failing the people on the basic premises of health and safety.  Health and safety – the keystones of any society – are the first things cut by politicians at any level of government when budgets get tight. I was a Police Officer in Baltimore and Baltimore, in response to the COVID-19 budget disruptions, is going to lay-off Police Officers and Fire-Fighters:
Mayor Young considers layoffs amid coronavirus pandemic; candidates weigh in | WBFF – posted 04/11/20
Former police spokesperson and mayoral candidate T.J. Smith points to Baltimore’s crime. He says:
“We are in the midst of uncertain times in a global pandemic, but Baltimore has been facing a crime epidemic for much longer. While other cities have seen a reduction in violent crime during this pandemic, we have not. Attempting to balance the budget shortfalls on the backs of our first responders is disheartening, especially right now. They are essential employees who must be on the frontlines and don’t have the option to work from home. Before our employees are asked to give, every single penny needs to be accounted for and other fiscally responsible moves should be considered before our depleted first responder ranks are further demoralized.”
https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/mayor-young-considers-layoffs-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-candidates-weigh-in
Of course, what politicans say during an election year should always be taken with the “Grain of Salt”. It’s amazing how it all changes after the election or re-election.
The major problem is that no one says you have to be smart to be a politician. That you have to have Critical Thinking Skills or even common sense to run a government. My favorite example is the President of City Council of Los Angeles and an outbreak of Typhus in L.A. last year:
Los Angeles City Council’s president suggests to deploy ‘army of cats’ to deal with rat situation | Fox News – posted 02/19/19
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/los-angeles-city-councils-president-suggests-to-deploy-army-of-cats-to-deal-with-rat-situation
Remember what I said about the intelligence level of politicians?
To get elected the major point is: “Promise everything to everyone and you will get elected.”
Unfortunately most politicians have little or no experience with emergency or crisis management and have to learn by On-The-Training.  I mean, a Mayor of a City will not get re-elected if they can’t handle a normal winter snowfall let alone a major snowstorm
Pandemic Provides Defining Moment for Government Leaders
Governors and mayors don’t run for office with the intention of managing emergencies. But when a crisis strikes, they become the public face of government response and need to be ready to communicate accurately and calmly.
https://www.governing.com/now/Pandemic-Provides-Defining-Moment-for-Government-Leaders.html
A second major problem is that being prepared, being trained up and keeping what is necessary on hand is expensive, time consuming and often doesn’t lend itself to the promised political agenda all politicians have in getting elected. We’ve always known that a COVID-19 (or some other major event) was coming. It’s been written about, discussed and planned for ever since I can remember and they were not ready.
My father ran the local truck dock in my small town and was tasked in the 60’s with setting up fallout shelters in case of nuclear war. We stocked the shelters with hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Civil Defense supplies big back then. My father carried a pocket dossimeter and, when we heard of a atomic weapons test, would check it frequently. And none of it was ever used – sort of makes you think.
The United States (and the whole world) has dealt with infectious disease since before we became a country – all of the “Classics”. Remember Polio and Smallpox? We ALL got the vacinations for them – lined up to get them. Measles, chickenpox and so on. And what happened? – We forgot everything from those days. Remember the panic over H1N1 in 1976? It was 1918 all over again – we are all going to die! It wasn’t 1918 and the H1N1 of that day was a different strain and the rushed attempt to vacinate people was almost as bad as the actual disease:
The Long Shadow of the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine ‘Fiasco’ | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/long-shadow-1976-swine-flu-vaccine-fiasco-180961994/
I did 20 years in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman – mainly in the field with the Marines. We studied and practiced responses to Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare. We went to the “gas chamber” at least yearly (remember doing that?), ran courses in full MOPP gear and trained and trained. Yeah, I know a little bit about it. Thankfully never had to use those skills.
What I’m trying to say is that we’ve always known it was coming and we should have been prepared but we weren’t! The plans changed, fell by the wayside, weren’t “politically correct”, cost to much, demanded constant attention and just “weren”t important” to the politicians in today’s world.
US never spent enough on emergency stockpile, former managers say – News – GoErie.com – Erie, PAposted 03/27/20
https://www.goerie.com/zz/news/20200327/us-never-spent-enough-on-emergency-stockpile-former-managers-say
George W. Bush in 2005: ‘If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare’ – ABC News – posted 04/05/20
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013
How New York City’s Emergency Ventilator Stockpile Ended Up on the Auction Block – Route Fifty – posted 04/07/20
https://www.routefifty.com/health-human-services/2020/04/new-york-city-emergency-ventilator-stockpile-auction-block/164424/
Calif. halted reserve of ventilators, masks, mobile hospitals | Reveal – posted 03/27/20
https://www.revealnews.org/article/california-created-a-massive-medical-reserve-with-acute-care-beds-ventilators-and-n95-masks-and-let-it-collapse/
Our politicians have failed us and we failed by voting for people who promise everything and actual give very little.
FOOD INSECURITY
COVID-19 and Natural Events are going to overwhelm the world’s food supply this year. If this is news to you then crawl out from under the rock and actual look around you. Surprisingly, even the “News” is starting to talk about it and when the “News” gets past its political asgendas and discusses real news, then you know it is getting bad.
Right now, the world is looking at a major starvation event that is going to be pushed on us for the next year to 18 months. This is not an uncommon event when situations affect the World as whole – history is filled with examples. Even in the United States it is going to get more expensive to buy food and supplies will run low at times. Of course, the people who were struggling BEFORE COVID-19 will struggle even more and the “News” will be filled with the sad and tragic events and blaming everyone but themselves for what is occurring.
I’m not going to include a bunch af articles and reports in this section because it would go on forever! I’m going to direct you to 2 of my pages that should give you a very good idea of what is occurring because of COVID-19 and Natural Causes.
For COVID-19 and other illinesses affecting the Food Chain, check out my Food Insecurity Page – General at:
Food Insecurity – General
Now, for Natural Causes and Food Insecurity. The 2nd page I would like you to look at mainly deals with an ongoing event that is hitting some of the most starvation-prone areas of the world and, because of COVID-19, the resources needed to remedy the situation are going to COVID-19 and not the issue. East Africa and the Middle East are seeing a plague of Locust – yes, grasshoppers – and it is almost biblical in natural. While ALMOST biblical it is not that uncommon, but this year it is bad. Check out the page covering this plague at:
Food Insecurity – Locust Plague
Something for which I don’t have a page for is Natural Disasters – earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, volcanoes and so on.  I believe that the world is entering/in a cyclic of particularly bad disasters and it is going to make the COVID-19 era even worse.
As John C. Mutter, Ph.D writes in “Tremblor” under the title:
“What if? What if a natural disaster strikes amid a pandemic? | Temblor.net”
“Given the timescales of the Earth’s natural spasms, and the course of the pandemic, it will only be by luck that we will avoid an intersection. Somewhere an earthquake or a major storm will happen in a place where the nemesis is out of control. Then what?”
https://temblor.net/earthquake-insights/what-if-what-if-a-natural-disaster-strikes-amid-a-pandemic-10789/
Pandemic And Wildfire: California Is Preparing For A Crisis Within A Crisis – capradio.org – posted 04/16/20
https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/04/15/pandemic-and-wildfire-california-is-preparing-for-a-crisis-within-a-crisis/
Why a natural disaster during the coronavirus pandemic worries some who’d be in charge – CNNPolitics – posted 04/19/20
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/18/politics/coronavirus-natural-disaster-response-fema/index.html?utm_source=fbCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2020-04-19T16%3A01%3A43&utm_medium=social
Sort of says it all. It’s going to happen.
Now to Natural Disasters let’s add Man-Made Disasters to the mix.  The debate is raging on where and how COVID-19 came into being and it is getting shriller.  My belief, based on the fact that some scientists are claiming it is very similar to the original Coronavirus S.A.R.S. -which broke out in China, just like COVID-19 – that they are calling in S.A.R.S.-2 is that it was manmade. Weaponized S.A.R.S. or not, it is still makes you think. This debate will go on for decades.
Other examples:
Chernobyl – yes the nuclear plant that crashed in 1986.  Wild fires were raging a very short distance from the site – which is still radioactive – over the past week thretening to re-release radioactivity back into the air.
Chernobyl fire under control, Ukraine officials say – BBC News – posted 04/14/20
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52277414?at_custom3=BBC+News&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_campaign=64&at_custom2= facebook_page&at_custom4=1AC8D830-7E22-11EA-92CE-DD153A982C1E&at_medium=custom7

1077176_9_0218Chernobyl_standard Chernobyl-Season-1-HBO-Series-All-cmyk

Read this book or watch the HBO Mini-series for a very good idea of what happened there.
I really don’t think tht man’s pollution is going to stop because of this pandemic.
Toxic Waste Products –
Possible Toxic Crisis Looms in Russian Far East Because of Industrial Disaster Inside China – Jamestown – posted 04/08/20
https://jamestown.org/program/possible-toxic-crisis-looms-in-russian-far-east-because-of-industrial-disaster-inside-china/
Social Disorder 
At first it started out with criminals and stupid people – people taking advantage of COVID-19 to get something they wanted.  There are just to many exmples out there to even attempt to pick out just a few. These will always be here in times of trouble.
Now, in some ways, our current society is starting to fail apart and the divisions might just tear some parts of the Country apart. All of the pundits have been talking about the “City vs Rural” divide and, truthfully, the “City”, due to sheer numbers, has been winning. I believe that things will be changing in the near future. In “Rural” I include the small cities across the county.”  Reasons:
  1. Pandemics hit the Cities worse than the rural areas – logical. People packed in closer together versus spread out further apart. People will search for fewer people areas to live in.
  2. Politicians (most from cities) believe that what is good for the cities is good for the rural areas – false! Don’t even need to discuss the obvious differences.
  3. Rural people don’t want “Big City” people, politicians and values telling them how to live their lives.
I could go on but why? If the differences aren’t obvious to someone then they should go back under their rock.
The other main reason for the upcoming social disorder is that most people in our current society have not had to deal with this kind of problem EVER! 9/11, terrorism, threat of war and so on are completely different than a global pandemic. With those you watch the world a little closer, but they rarely disrupt “normal” life. Yes, somethings changed but life went on fairly routinely.  The measures needed to control Pandemics disrupt “normal” life to the extreme and people don’t know how to deal with it – change, even temporary, scares people and they start to rebel when scared.
One of two other thing that must be mentioned is the role of the “Press/Media” in the upcoming Social Disorder. Remember what I said about “Big City” politicians above? Well the “Press/Media” is even worse in these values. The “Press/Media” no longer report the news they MAKE the news fit their agendas.
The other entity playing a role in the upcoming social disorder is the “Hollywood/Sports” elites. They who believe themselves next to Gods and that they deserve the love and respect of those fawning all over them. Woe to those that don’t think of them as the “New Gods”.
Whenever you find the “Big City” politicians in a “Social Setting” you will also usually find the “Press/Media” and the “Hollywood/Sports” elites rubbing elbows with each other. That says enough I think.
WAR
At this time, it is almost inevitable. I’m not talking about the U.S., Russia and China (although that is a possiblity) but smaller, more regional wars. Resources and money are drying up around the world and those who don’t have them will be looking to take them from their neighbors. Throw into the mix the present COVID-19 problem along with continual outbreaks of Ebola, Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Dengue and a whole host of other diseases people will get desperate. Add the aforementioned Natural disasters and Locust plague and it just does’t look good for a peaceful world right now.
Keep an eye on Iran, North Korea and a number of African and South/Latin American countries for trouble to brew up.
China might also start problems in the South China Sea while Russia will play games in the Artic Circle area.
For America
I’m willing to go out on a limb and predict fairly massive social unrest this summer.  Our politicians have not learned ANYTHING over the past 5-6 years and will continue to divide for political purposes – they care nothing about the people they represent, just their power. We’ve allowed them to divide us and have actually encourage it in many ways, but it all relates to the politicians and their personal gains.
The divide between the “Cities” and the more “Rural Areas” is going to blow up in the faces of those trying to divide us. I weould actually not be surprised to see something like the old “Iron Curtain” springing up in areas dividing areas between Left and Right or Liberal/Progressive and Conservative. We’ve already had some regions of states trying to succede from the rest of the state because of these social divides – think California and Washington – but “Big Cities” versus “Rural” areas is coming to a head this year.
Overall, this is going to be a strange, distructive year. Be ready and don’t be surprised.

Chernobyl – Still Deadly Even Now.

Are you even hearing about this?

chernobyl-exclusion-zone-1996    Exclusion Zones

92564719_1872566129545148_5276345813939781632_o  The Fire

 

BACKGROUND

Chernobyl-Season-1-HBO-Series-All-cmyk

The HBO Mini-series Chernobyl from last year was an excellent production that gave you some sense of what happened back in 1986 at the nuclear reactor. Not only that, but it showed how the former USSR functoned and how the “System” was responsible for eveything that went wrong. While obviously a television show, it was rather good.

I followed watching that by reading “Midnight in Chernobyl” by Adam Higginbotham – which is an excellent account of the disaster. All of the mistakes made by the Soviet system were truely mind-blowing.

1077176_9_0218Chernobyl_standard

Makes you really wonder how the USSR system survived as long as it did.

What is bringing Chernobyl back into the news is a large outbreak of forest fires in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – a zone still heavily radioactive in places. Forest fires that are throwing radioactivity from the dust and dirt from the reactor meltdown into the air once again.

While they say it is “SAFE” that’s exactly what was said back in 1986.

The current “Situation”.

Chernobyl radiation levels skyrocket as fires burn in exclusion zone posted 04/07/20

https://nypost.com/2020/04/07/chernobyl-radiation-levels-skyrocket-as-fires-burn-in-exclusion-zone/?fbclid=IwAR0a3jGnziOQkPTo62vXcqH4kIGlDnVYT8n1byBFPCG0MlDMymhfsdXlsk8

Wildfires burning within Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine posted 04/10/20

https://watchers.news/2020/04/10/wildfires-burning-within-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-ukraine/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

Wildfires in Chernobyl lead to elevated radiation levelsposted 04/11/20

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/wildfires-in-chernobyl-lead-to-elevated-radiation-levels

Ukraine deploys troops to Chernobyl nuclear plant – Defence Blog – posted 04/13/20

https://defence-blog.com/army/ukraine-deploys-troops-to-chernobyl-nuclear-plant.html

We can but hope.

Doc’s Public Health Issues – Crisis Point

Sorry People – It’s Not Going Away Soon!

View image on Twitter

Privileged America complains on its endless coronavirus spring break – U.S. News – Haaretz.com – posted 03/29/20

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-privileged-america-on-a-permanent-coronavirus-spring-break-1.8722552

Haaretz is a left-wing site out of Israel which hates Trump, Republicans and Fox News even more so than a lot of our left-wing individuals and News Organizations do. They do produce some “News” worth knowing about so I keep an eye on what they say and I have to agree with this opinion piece’s headline if not a great deal of the article.

Below you will find a list of articles broken down into several categories, which are actually interchangeable in many regards, which shows how badly we as Americans are dealing with this pandemic. All but some background articles are just some of the articles and reports I’ve seen in TWO days – just TWO days – and I could probably find a lot more without even trying. Pretty pathetic actually.

I was at a local grocery store this morning picking up some routine medications for my wife and put a few items into my cart and was in the line to check out – short line and the store had almost restocked on all store brand items. The gentleman behind me started talking about how “today’s generation” never had to deal with something like this before and were failing miserably.

We were close to the same age and had dealt, in our youths, with polio and smallpox vaccines, measles and German Measles (which my mother had while pregnant with my youngest sister who was born with birth defects associated with German Measles) and all of the other diseases and historical events in years gone by. We weren’t panic buying or anything and were surviving nicely and following the rules – which really aren’t THAT bad. There were still some people buying large quantities of articles indictive of “panic buying” but they were younger than us.

I tend to look at things based on my background as a retired Navy Hospital Corpsman and as a former Baltimore Police Officer. The medical side led me to post on January 4th that this was coming – and I was right. Now the Law Enforcement side is telling me that the social turmoil and out-right lawlessness is coming and that everyone should be ready for some social breakdown.  Add the fact that the politicians and media are still playing political games and that just reinforces the belief.

BACKGROUND

The Coronavirus Response is Straining an Already Depleted Public Health System – Route Fifty – posted 03/16/20

https://www.routefifty.com/health-human-services/2020/03/coronavirus-response-depleted-public-health-system/163520/

Pandemic Provides Defining Moment for Government Leaders – posted 03/16/20

https://www.governing.com/now/Pandemic-Provides-Defining-Moment-for-Government-Leaders.html

FRAUD/CRIME

SC man lied about positive coronavirus test to get paid vacation: sheriff | Fox News – posted 03/21/20

https://www.foxnews.com/us/south-carolina-man-lied-positive-coronavirus-test

Armed vigilantes in Maine chop down tree, block driveway to force neighbor to self-quarantine amid coronavirus pandemic | Fox News – posted 03/29/20

https://www.foxnews.com/us/maine-coronavirus-armed-vigilantes-chop-down-tree-block-driveway-force-neighbor-quarantine

Drivers funneled through roadblock by police impostors during COVID-19 Pandemic | FOX31 Denver – Colorado – posted 03/30/20

https://kdvr.com/news/local/drivers-funneled-through-roadblock-by-police-impostors-during-covid-19-pandemic/

More burglaries reported in west Erie – News – GoErie.com – Erie, PA – posted 03/31/20

https://www.goerie.com/news/20200330/more-burglaries-reported-in-west-erie

GOVENMENT RESPONSE

Florida begins coronavirus checkpoints, threatens jail time for out-of-state travelers who don’t self-quarantine | Fox News – posted 03/29/20

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Monroe County Sheriff's Office Col. Lou Caputo, right, directs a driver wanting to continue down the Florida Keys Overseas Highway near Key Largo, Fla. Saturday, March 28, 2020. The Keys have been temporarily closed to visitors since March 22, because of the coronavirus crisis. Keys officials decided to established the checkpoint Friday, March 27, to further lessen the threat of virus transmission to people in the subtropical island chain. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Col. Lou Caputo, right, directs a driver wanting to continue down the Florida Keys Overseas Highway near Key Largo, Fla. Saturday, March 28, 2020. The Keys have been temporarily closed to visitors since March 22, because of the coronavirus crisis. Keys officials decided to established the checkpoint Friday, March 27, to further lessen the threat of virus transmission to people in the subtropical island chain. (Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-coronavirus-border-checkpoints-nyc-louisiana-self-quarantine-60-days-jail

Mayors to Governors: Toughen Up! – Route Fifty – posted  03/30/20

https://www.routefifty.com/health-human-services/2020/03/mayors-governors-toughen/164194/

A North Carolina county is using checkpoints to block visitors a – Erie News Now | WICU and WSEE in Erie, PA – posted 03/30/20

https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/41949605/a-north-carolina-county-is-using-checkpoints-to-block-visitors-and-keep-coronavirus-out?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Erie_News_Now

Coronavirus Latest: Delaware Gov. John Carney Orders Out-Of-State Travelers To Self-Quarantine For 14 Days – CBS Baltimore – posted 03/30/20

https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-latest-delaware-gov-john-carney-orders-out-of-state-travelers-to-self-quarantine-for-14-days/

N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatens to sue R.I. – News – providencejournal.com – Providence, RI – posted 0330/20

https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20200328/ny-gov-andrew-cuomo-threatens-to-sue-ri

Coronavirus Texas: Gov. Greg Abbott expands quarantine order to include all Louisiana travelers | abc13.com – posted 03/30/20

https://abc13.com/6060832/

SOCIAL DISTANCE FAILURES  (Some are actual crimes)

UW students test positive for COVID-19 after spring break trip – posted 03/27/20

https://wkow.com/2020/03/27/uw-students-test-positive-for-covid-19-after-spring-break-trip/

Maryland State Police: Local, State Officers Respond To Hundreds Of Calls Reporting Large Gatherings – CBS Baltimore – posted 03/30/20

Myers was charged with violating the governor's emergency order regarding the COVID-19 outbreak.

Myers was charged with violating the governor’s emergency order regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. (Charles County Sheriff’s Office)
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-latest-maryland-state-police-large-gatherings-calls/

Large Crowds Gathers For Illegal Oakland Sideshows In Violation Of Shelter-In-Place Order – CBS San Francisco – posted 03/30/20

View image on Twitter

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/30/sideshows-oakland-illegal-social-distancing-large-crowds-shelter-in-place-coronavirus/

Jarring photo shows difference between open and closed Florida beach amid coronavirus pandemic | WFLA – posted 03/30/20

View image on Twitter

https://www.wfla.com/community/health/coronavirus/jarring-photo-shows-difference-between-open-and-closed-florida-beach-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/

A Mount Vernon choir went ahead with rehearsal. Now dozens have coronavirus and 2 are dead. | The Seattle Times – posted 03/30/20

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/a-mount-vernon-choir-went-ahead-with-rehearsal-now-dozens-have-coronavirus-and-2-are-dead/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=owned_echobox_f&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1585583490

Tampa pastor arrested for holding church services despite ‘safer at home’ order – posted 03/30/20

https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/coronavirus/tampa-pastor-arrested-for-holding-church-services-despite-safer-at-home-order

Police break up 47-person ‘corona party’ at New Jersey apartment, charge renter – posted 03/30/20

https://www.wtxl.com/news/national/coronavirus/police-break-up-47-person-corona-party-at-new-jersey-apartment-charge-renter

Since writing the above yesterday a number of things have changed – mainly that they now expect the U.S. might suffer from between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths if people don’t follow some basic rules.  Of course,  they said this Sunday on the talk shows, but since it was formally announced on Tuesday, the Media is going crazy and playing even more politics. No such thing as “togetherness” when politics are concerned.

What we have been seeing since the above is the “Religious” Community (Evangelical or Pentacostal mainly) rebelling against the Stay At Home orders. I guess they feel their”God” will protect them from the Coronavirsus, but how many times has that been invoked throughout history and people still died. They are also stressing their First Amendment Right of Freedom of Religion, – which ought to set off some very stirring court cases.

Church Stays Open Despite Orders From County Officials – Erie News Now | WICU and WSEE in Erie, PA – posted 04/01/20

https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/41959808/church-stays-open-despite-orders-from-county-officials?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_Erie_News_Now

Baltimore pastor plans to defy Gov. Hogan’s ban on gatherings | WBFF – posted 04/01/20

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/coronavirus/baltimore-pastor-plans-to-defy-gov-hogans-ban-on-gatherings

Just a few of the many articles along this line.

And then there will be the challenges presented by the “Nut Cases” and Conspiracy theorists out there. I’m not going to dwell to much on this category except for extreme cases.

Officials: Engineer deliberately ran train off tracks in attempt to smash the USNS Mercy – ABC13 Houston – posted 04/01/20

http13.com/officials-engineer-tried-to-smash-train-into-usns-mercy/6069459/s://abc

The next few months are going to be interesting and I am very glad that I do not live in a major city or are used to the lifestyle associated with living in a major city. People here in the U.S. tend to think of themselves as undestructable – and it’s not just younger adults – and there will be some major unrest in the near future. Today there is little or no concept or idea of what “Public Health” is and what it is supposed to do. The”Needs of the Many out-waying the Needs of the Few” is only in movies now.

 

Despite Outreach, Few Bay Area Homeless Occupy New Shelters As Coronavirus Epidemic Deepens – CBS San Francisco

Photo from the article.

Homeless Person Oakland

In this March 19, 2020 A homeless encampment in Oakland. (AP Photo/Ben Margo

(“Obviously these are people who are writing recommendations who don’t have any direct experience with what a person goes through when they are homeless,” said Joe Smith, advocacy director for Loaves & Fishes, a Sacramento nonprofit group that provides meals and services to the homeless.)

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/26/coronavirus-despite-outreach-few-bay-area-homeless-receive-shelter-epidemic-deepens/?utm_campaign=true_anthem&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=social

Back in the day, when I was a Police Officer (before political correctness), we had a “Street” person whom we called “Crazy Mary”. Mary ate out of trash cans, ran into hotels and took a dump in the hotel hallways and just about everything else you can think of a homeless person would do. The Post and Sector Officers all knew Mary and kept an eye on her.

Part of it was that Mary was actually quite well off financially.  She never had less than a $1,000.00 dollars in her beat up purse when we had to deal with her. Supposedly her husband had died and left 8 different bank accounts with enough money in them to keep Mary set for life, but she chose to live on the streets. I never did learn when her obvious psychosis began – before or after her husband passed.

The main point is that Mary would never go to a shelter or seek help in any way. Everyone in the various governmental agencies, Nonprofits, churches and so on could not talk Mary into getting any kind of help – she preffered the streets.

The point is that there are a lot of “Mary’s” on the streets. Either because of their mental health issues, refusal to want to follow the basic rules of a shelter, will not give up the drink and drugs or a myriad of other reasons, a large number of the”homeless” will not avail themselves to even tempory quarters of any kind if it takes them from the street. Any one who works with the homeless knows this fact of life and what it takes to get the people to accept necessary help.

Political types are usually clueless and can’t understand how anyone would refuse their generous offer. They’re very good at spending money, but not very good at understanding the root causes behind a problem – except for the political reasons.

Now they will spend millions of dollars for temporary fixes and you know what – it won’t work.

Others articles of Interest about CoVid-19 and homelessness.

First Coronavirus-Related Death Of Homeless Person Sets Off Race To Find Shelter In Santa Clara Co. – CBS San Francisco – posted 03/18/20

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/17/first-coronavirus-related-death-of-homeless-person-sets-off-race-to-find-shelter-in-santa-clara-co/?utm_campaign=true_anthem&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=social

Coronavirus Update: Gov. Newsom Authorizes $150M To Protect Homeless From COVID-19 – CBS San Francisco – posted 03/19/20

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/03/18/coronavirus-update-homeless-protection-gov-newsom-authorizes-150m-emergency-funding-covid-19/?utm_campaign=true_anthem&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=social

Cities Rush to Respond as Homelessness and Coronavirus Collide – Route Fifty – posted 03/21/20 

https://www.routefifty.com/public-safety/2020/03/homelessness-and-coronavirus-collide/163978/

States and Cities Turn to Empty Hotel Rooms to House Homeless and People Ill With Coronavirus – Route Fifty – posted 03/25/20

https://www.routefifty.com/health-human-services/2020/03/states-and-localities-turn-empty-hotel-rooms-house-homeless-and-others/164076/

Unfortunately, all of the rush to take care of the homeless in the midst of the CovID-19 pandemic – when they’ve been putting it off for years – is pretty much a failed exercise in government waste and mismanagement.

California Cities Could See Coronavirus Outbreaks As Bad As NYC, Officials Say – CBS Sacramento – posted 03/27/20

https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/03/27/california-cities-could-see-coronavirus-outbreaks-as-bad-as-nyc-officials-say/

It will probably be worse than New York’s due to sheer numbers.

Doc’s Public Health Issues – Crisis Point

May I Say – I Told You So!

NIAID-COVID-ElectronMicroscope-Website

Image credit
This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round magenta objects),                         also known as COVID-19, emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab.                               Image: NIAID-RML

There – I patted myself on the back for being right. Onward.

“Wuhan”, COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2 is here like some of us feared.

I’ve been quiet for a while because I wanted to see what would happen when COVID-19 went World-Wide – sometimes you just have to watch, be quiet and not get caught up in the hype. I’ve watched governments, politicians and the “people” and a lot of what I thought would happen has happened. Truthfully? I’ve been laughing my ass off at a lot of what is going on in the good old U.S. of A.

One of the first things I would like to point out is that COVID-19 burst onto the scene between 4 and 5 months ago. Do you realize how short of time that actually is for something of this magnitude? No government can react that quickly to something like this and people, politicians and news media types using this against ANY government or specific politician are speaking out of their asses. This article just appeared today –

Coronavirus: China’s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17 | South China Morning Post

https://www.scmp.com/print/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back

A month before it first actually hit the news.

Second I would like to say something about logistics.  I was a Navy Corpsman, Senior Corpsman of a shock/sugical/triage area of a Navy Field Hospital. I worked frequently with what we called Mount-Out boxes. AMAL’s or whatever they are called now. I’ve had to survey, inventory, rotate stocks, resupply and so on what went into those “boxes”. It’s “manpower” intensive and people can spend their whole careers just taking care of one area and nothing else.  Almost everything in the medical field has “expiration dates” or “Sterility Guaranteed” dates and are rotated frequently.. Medical equipment is much the same except it gets outdated quickly and new, current stuff gets fed into the chain replacing the old – frequently never used – equipment. The “News Media” seems to have no idea about what medical logistics, National Stockpiles and so on do and yet, they are “Experts” on it. They seem to think that there should be a respiratory in storage for every man, woman and child in the U.S. That the masks, goggles, outfits, and everything else need to protect people should just magically appear when needed. They are either totally stupid or still pushing an agenda.

Third I would like to talk about our “Public Health Leaders” – not the people who actually do the work – but the “Leaders”. People who, because of a PhD., being politcally connected, “politically” safe or not a threat to the current politicians, get the jobs as “Leaders”. While this is very noticable on a local level, it’s everywhere – every change in “Administrations”. Add the “politically correct” agenda items that every politician has – some of which have little or no Public Health component but will help getting them re-elected – and what is happening today is not unexpected or surprising. They aren’t ready for what is going on, never expected it to happen and don’t know how to respond except on a political level to a public health crisis. An interesting article in GOVERNING Magazine states this clearly:

Pandemic Provides Defining Moment for Government Leaders

Governors and mayors don’t run for office with the intention of managing emergencies. But when a crisis strikes, they become the public face of government response and need to be ready to communicate accurately and calmly.
https://www.governing.com/now/Pandemic-Provides-Defining-Moment-for-Government-Leaders.html

And a number of them will fail badly.

Fourth – “the people”. NO politician who wants to get re-elected is going to stop the American people of today from their rights to act like idiots – or so they believe. It’s just not done and “my” right to act like an idiot is a Constitutional right – at least that is what it has become – pushed by the same politicians who are now afraid to act on a number of Public Health Issues.  Plus, you have to add what is called the “Jaws Syndrome” – after the movie.  Closing the beaches closes the town and no one makes money. Just last night, the “news” interviewed a “Spring breaker” down in Florida and he was going to party, came down there to party and was going to party regardless of what was happening – and the beaches and bars were still open at that time. I think that says enough about “the people” – except for the toilet paper hoarders! Those clowns make everyone look bad.

My last point is about this one White House Reporter who (and I’m not saying her name or station), at every news conference, claims that saying COVID-19 started in China is prejudice against China. Hello, it did and that is well documented everywhere. We are to rewrite almost every bit of history because of her “Political Correctness” views? Geographic landmarks or individuals in power have been the source of events name for Centuries and we are supposed to rewrite history for one dizzy broad – yes I don’t care if you like it or not. Refer back to above “the people”.

Use some common sense people and get real.