Citizens seem to be clamoring for shutdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There is one major difficulty, however. Once an economy has been shut down, it is extremely difficult for the economy to recover back to the level it had reached previously. In fact, the longer the shutdown lasts, the more critical the problem is likely to be. China can shut down its economy for two weeks over the Chinese New Year, each year, without much damage. But, if the outage is longer and more widespread, damaging effects are likely.
A major reason why economies around the world will have difficulty restarting is because the world economy was in very poor shape before COVID-19 hit; shutting down major parts of the economy for a time leads to even more people with low wages or without any job. It will be very difficult and time-consuming to replace the failed businesses that provided these jobs.
When an outbreak of COVID-19 hit, epidemiologists recommended social distancing approaches that seemed to be helpful back in 1918-1919. The issue, however, is that the world economy has changed. Social distancing rules have a much more adverse impact on today’s economy than on the economy of 100 years ago.
Governments that wanted to push back found themselves up against a wall of citizen expectations. A common belief, even among economists, was that any shutdown would be short, and the recovery would be V-shaped. False information (really propaganda) published by China tended to reinforce the expectation that shutdowns could truly be helpful. But if we look at the real situation, Chinese workers are finding themselves newly laid off as they attempt to return to work. This is leading to protests in the Hubei area.
My analysis indicates that now, in 2020, the world economy cannot withstand long shutdowns. One very serious problem is the fact that the prices of many commodities (including oil, copper and lithium) will fall far too low for producers, leading to disruption in supplies. Broken supply chains can be expected to lead to the loss of many products previously available. Ultimately, the world economy may be headed for collapse.
In this post, I explain some of the reasons for my concerns.
[1] An economy is a self-organizing system that can grow only under the right conditions. Removing a large number of businesses and the corresponding jobs for an extended shutdown will clearly have a detrimental effect on the economy.
Figure 1. Chart by author, using photo of building toy “Leonardo Sticks,” with notes showing a few types of elements the world economy.
An economy is a self-organizing networked system that grows, under the right circumstances. I have attempted to give an idea of how this happens in Figure 1. This is an image of a child’s building toy. The growth of an economy is somewhat like building a structure with many layers using such a toy.
The precise makeup of the economy is constantly changing. New businesses are formed, and new consumers grow up and take jobs. Governments enact laws, partly to collect taxes, and partly to ensure fair treatment of all. Consumers decide which products to buy based on a combination of factors, including their level of wages, the prices being charged for the available goods, the availability of debt, and the interest rate on that debt. Resources of various kinds are used in producing goods and services.
At the same time, some deletions are taking place. Big businesses buy smaller businesses; some customers die or move away. Products that become obsolete are discontinued. The inside of the dome becomes hollow from the deletions.
If a large number of businesses are closed for an extended period, this will have many adverse impacts on the economy:
- Fewer goods and services, in total, will be made for the economy during the period of the shutdown.
- Many workers will be laid off, either temporarily or permanently. Goods and services will suddenly be less affordable for these former workers. Many will fall behind on their rent and other obligations.
- The laid off workers will be unable to pay much in taxes. In the US, state and local governments will need to cut back the size of their programs to match lower revenue because they cannot borrow to offset the deficit.
- If fewer goods and services are made, demand for commodities will fall. This will push the prices of commodities, such as oil and copper, very low.
- Commodity producers, airlines and the travel industry are likely to head toward permanent contraction, further adding to layoffs.
- Broken supply lines become problems. For example:
- A lack of parts from China has led to the closing of many automobile factories around the world.
- There is not enough cargo capacity on airplanes because much cargo was carried on passenger flights previously, and passenger flights have been cut back.
These adverse impacts become increasingly destabilizing for the economy, the longer the shutdowns go on. It is as if a huge number of deletions are made simultaneously in Figure 1. Temporary margins, such as storage of spare parts in warehouses, can provide only a temporary buffer. The remaining portions of the economy become less and less able to support themselves. If the economy was already in poor shape, the economy may collapse.
[2] The world economy was approaching resource limits even before the coronavirus epidemic appeared. This is not too different a situation than many earlier economies faced before they collapsed. Coronavirus pushes the world economy further toward collapse.
Reaching resource limits is sometimes described as, “The population outgrew the carrying capacity of the land.” The group of people living in the area could not grow enough food and firewood using the resources available at the time (such as arable land, energy from the sun, draft animals, and technology of the day) for their expanding populations.
Collapses have been studied by many researchers. The book Secular Cycles by Peter Turchin and Sergey Nefedov analyze eight agricultural economies that collapsed. Figure 2 is a chart I prepared, based on my analysis of the economies described in that book:
Figure 2. Chart by author based on Turchin and Nefedov’s Secular Cycles.
Economies tend to grow for many years before the population becomes high enough that the carrying capacity of the land they occupy is approached. Once the carrying capacity is hit, they enter a stagflation stage, during which population and GDP growth slow. Growing debt becomes an issue, as do both wage and wealth disparity.
Eventually, a crisis period is reached. The problems of the stagflation period become worse (wage and wealth disparity; need for debt by those with inadequate income) during the crisis period. Changes tend to take place during the crisis period that lead to substantial drops in GDP and population. For example, we read about some economies entering into wars during the crisis period in the attempt to gain more land and other resources. We also read about economies being attacked from outside in their weakened state.
Also, during the crisis period, with the high level of wage and wealth disparity, it becomes increasingly difficult for governments to collect enough taxes. This problem can lead to governments being overthrown because of unhappiness with high taxes and wage disparity. In some cases, as in the 1991 collapse of the central government of the Soviet Union, the top level government simply collapses, leaving the next lower level of government.
Strangely enough, epidemics also seem to occur within collapse periods. The rising population leads to people living closer to each other, increasing the risk of transmission. People with low wages often find it increasingly difficult to eat an adequate diet. As a result, their immune systems easily succumb to new communicable diseases. Part of the collapse process is often the loss of a significant share of the population to a communicable disease.
Looking back at Figure 2, I believe that the current economic cycle started with the use of fossil fuels back in the 1800s. The world economy hit the stagflation period in the 1970s, when oil supply first became constrained. The Great Recession of 2008-2009 seems to be a marker for the beginning of the crisis period in the current cycle. If I am right in this assessment, the world economy is in the period in which we should expect crises, such as pandemics or wars, to occur.
The world was already pushing up against resource limits before all of the shutdowns took place. The shutdowns can be expected to push the world economy toward a more rapid decline in output per capita. They also appear to increase the likelihood that citizens will try to overthrow their governments, once the quarantine restrictions are removed.
[3] The carrying capacity of the world today is augmented by the world’s energy supply. A major issue since 2014 is that oil prices have been too low for oil producers. The coronavirus problem is pushing oil prices even lower yet.
Strangely enough, the world economy is facing a resource shortage problem, but it manifests itself as low commodity prices and excessive wage and wealth disparity.
Most economists have not figured out that economies are, in physics terms, dissipative structures. These are self-organizing systems that grow, at least for a time. Hurricanes (powered by energy from warm water) and ecosystems (powered by sunlight) are other examples of dissipative structures. Humans are dissipative structures, as well; we are powered by the energy content of foods. Economies require energy for all of the processes that we associate with generating GDP, such as refining metals and transporting goods. Electricity is a form of energy.
Energy can be used to work around shortages of almost any kind of resource. For example, if fresh water is a problem, energy products can be used to build desalination plants. If lack of phosphate rocks is an issue for adequate fertilization, energy products can be used to extract these rocks from less accessible locations. If pollution is a problem, fossil fuels can be used to build so-called renewable energy devices such as wind turbines and solar panels, to try to reduce future CO2 pollution.
The growth in energy consumption correlates quite well with the growth of the world economy. In fact, increases in energy consumption seem to precede growth in GDP, suggesting that it is energy consumption growth that allows the growth of GDP.
Figure 3. World GDP Growth versus Energy Consumption Growth, based on data of 2018 BP Statistical Review of World Energy and GDP data in 2010$ amounts, from the World Bank.
The thing that economists tend to miss is the fact that extracting enough fossil fuels (or commodities of any type) is a two-sided price problem. Prices must be both:
- High enough for companies extracting the resources to make an after tax profit.
- Low enough for consumers to afford finished goods made with these resources.
Most economists believe that an inadequate supply of energy products will be marked by high prices. In fact, the situation seems to be almost “upside down” in a networked economy. Inadequate energy supplies seem to be marked by excessive wage and wealth disparity. This wage and wealth disparity leads to commodity prices that are too low for producers. Current WTI oil prices are about $20 per barrel, for example (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate oil, based on EIA data.
The low-price commodity price issue is really an affordability problem. The many people with low wages cannot afford goods such as cars, homes with heating and air conditioning, and vacation travel. In fact, they may even have difficulty affording food. Spending by rich people does not make up for the shortfall in spending by the poor because the rich tend to spend their wealth differently. They tend to buy services such as tax planning and expensive private college educations for their children. These services require proportionately less commodity use than goods purchased by the poor.
The problem of low commodity prices becomes especially acute in countries that produce commodities for export. Producers find it difficult to pay workers adequate wages to live on. Also, governments are not able to collect enough taxes for the services workers expect, such as public transit. The combination is likely to lead to protests by citizens whenever the opportunity arises. Once shutdowns end, these countries are especially in danger of having their governments overthrown.
[4] There are limits to what governments and central banks can fix.
Governments can give citizens checks so that they have enough funds to buy groceries. This may, indeed, keep the price of food products high enough for food producers. There may still be problems with broken supply lines, so there may still be shortages of some products. For example, if there are eggs but no egg cartons, there may be no eggs for sale in grocery stores.
Central banks can act as buyers for many kinds of assets such as bonds and even shares of stock. In this way, they can perhaps keep stock market prices reasonably high. If enough gimmicks are used, perhaps they can even keep the prices of homes and farms reasonably high.
Central banks can also keep interest rates paid by governments low. In fact, interest rates can even be negative, especially for the short term. Businesses whose profitability has been reduced and workers who have been laid off are likely to discover that their credit ratings have been downgraded. This is likely to lead to higher interest costs for these borrowers, even if interest rates for the most creditworthy are kept low.
One area where governments and central banks seem to be fairly helpless is with respect to low prices for commodities used by industry, such as oil, natural gas, coal, copper and lithium. These commodities are traded internationally, so it is not just their own producers that need to be propped up; the market intervention needs to affect the entire world market.
One approach to raising world commodity prices would be to buy up large quantities of the commodities and store them somewhere. This is impractical, because no one has adequate storage for the huge quantities involved.
Another approach for raising world commodity prices would be to try to raise worldwide demand for finished goods and services. (Making more finished goods and services will use more commodities, and thus will tend to raise commodity prices.) To do this, checks would somehow need to go to the many poor people in the world, including those in India, Bangladesh and Nigeria, allowing these people to buy cars, homes, and other finished goods. Sending out checks only to people in one’s own economy would not be sufficient. It is unlikely that the US or the European Union would undertake a task such as this.
A major problem after many people have been out of work for a quite a while is the fact that many of these people will be behind on their regular payments, such as rent and car payments. They will be in no mood to buy a new vehicle or a new cell phone, simply because they have been offered a check that covers groceries and not much more. They will remain in a mode of cutting back on purchases, not adding more. Demand for most kinds of goods will remain low.
This lack of demand will make it difficult for business to have enough sales to make it profitable to reopen at the level of output that they had previously. Thus, employment and sales are likely to remain depressed even after the economy seems to be reopening. China seems to be having this problem. The Wall Street Journal reports China Is Open for Business, but the Postcoronavirus Reboot Looks Slow and Rocky. It also reports, Another Shortage in China’s Virus-Hit Economy: Jobs for College Grads.
[5] There is a significant likelihood that the COVID-19 problem is not going away, even if economies can “bend the trend line” with respect to new cases.
Bending the trend line has to do with trying to keep hospitals and medical providers from being overwhelmed. It is likely to mean that herd immunity is built up slowly, making repeat outbreaks more likely. Thus, if social isolation is stopped, COVID-19 illnesses can be expected to revisit prior locations. We know that this has been an issue in the past. The Spanish Flu epidemic came in three waves, over the years 1918-1919. The second wave was the most deadly.
A recent study by members of the Harvard School of Public Health says that the COVID-19 epidemic may appear in waves until into 2022. In fact, it could be back on a seasonal basis thereafter. It also indicates that more than one period of social distancing is likely to be required:
“A single period of social distancing will not be sufficient to prevent critical care capacities from being overwhelmed by the COVID-19 epidemic, because under any scenario considered it leaves enough of the population susceptible that a rebound in transmission after the end of the period will lead to an epidemic that exceeds this capacity.”
Thus, even if the COVID-19 problem seems to be fixed in a few weeks, it likely will be back again within a few months. With this level of uncertainty, businesses will not be willing to set up new operations. They will not hire many additional employees. The retired population will not run out and buy more tickets on cruise ships for next year. In fact, citizens are likely to continue to be worried about airplane flights being a place for transmitting illnesses, making the longer term prospects for the airline industry less optimistic.
Conclusion
The economy was already near the edge before COVID-19 hit. Wage and wealth disparity were big problems. Local populations of many areas objected to immigrants, fearing that the added population would reduce job opportunities for people who already lived there, among other things. As a result, many areas were experiencing protests because of unhappiness with the current economic situation.
The shutdowns temporarily cut back the protests, but they certainly do not fix the underlying situations. Instead, the shutdowns add to the number of people with very low wages or no income at all. The shutdowns also reduce the total quantity of goods and services available to purchase, regardless of how much money is added to the system. Many people will end up poorer, in some real sense.
As soon as the shutdowns end, it will be obvious that the world economy is in worse condition than it was before the shutdown. The longer the shutdowns last, the worse shape the world economy will be in. Thus, when businesses are restarted, we can expect even more protests and more divisive politics. Some governments may be overthrown, or they may collapse without being pushed. I fear that the world economy will be further down the road toward overall collapse.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/13/study-coronavirus-fatality-rate-lower-than-expected-close-to-flus-0-1/
“The Economist article cited a new study by Justin Silverman and Alex Washburne that used data on influenza-like illness (ili) to show that the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) is now widespread in America.
Silverman and Washburne found that the coronavirus mortality rate could be as low as 0.1 percent, “similar to that of flu.”…”
or…
“A study from Britain published at the end of last month in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases also found that fewer people are dying from the novel coronavirus than previously estimated.
That study estimated the coronavirus death rate could be as low as 0.66 percent and as high as 1.38 percent.”
0.66% would be about ten times higher than the average flu death rate of about 0.05%…
and many survivors of C19 appear to have physical damage to their bodies which doesn’t seem to be reported for flu survivors…
but that is still no justification for lockdowns… in retrospect, the reasonable course would have been voluntary social distancing and mask wearing…
these lockdowns are the biggest blunder in the history of IC…
many survivors of C19 appear to have physical damage to their bodies which doesn’t seem to be reported for flu survivors…
Could it be because many C19 patients were put on ventilators at high pressure for an extended period?
Ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI) is an acute lung injury that develops during mechanical ventilation and is termed ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) if it can be proven that the mechanical ventilation caused the acute lung injury. Mechanical ventilation is life saving, but numerous experimental and clinical studies have shown that it can induce lung injury, leading to potentially irreversible structural and functional damage.
This is the advantage of controlling the MSM…. you can just make sh it up…. twist the facts….
And then if anyone exposes you and that gets any traction you call them a… starts with C……. (Norm???)
It’s impossible to win….. worst case if you press the matter — you end up like this fella:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_the_Messenger_(2014_film)
when the vocabulary of your argumentative opponent sinks to the lowest common denominator, you know he’s run out of anything else to say of any consequence.
words reveal so much
which serves only to confirm my earlier comment
wordball is not an easy game to play
And the next question: has ‘Return to Neverland’ been comprehensively debunked?
NOW there’s a great example of a C T.
How many billions of people believed that big fat lie that he didn’t ___ young boys — gosh Mike admitted to bringing little boys into his room – and he paid their families millions in hush money…
And even after that incredible expose on him last year — there are huge numbers of people who STILL believe the lie.
Kinda like how with the mo — on thing… and 9—11…. you can rub someone’s face in the facts — and they’ll still refuse to accept the truth.
Even worse — they will refuse to even look at the facts.
It’s kinda like someone says to a fan … hey bud I’ve got this vid video of MJ beating it beating it… beating it… beating it… (feel free to humm along with that part)…..with a 12 year old lying naked next him on the bed …
While the kids mother knitted MJ a sweater in the other room and pretended her lad wasn’t being Chips Ahoyed by the King of Pop…..
And he says NO!!! I refuse to look at that. MJ would never do that. How could never do that.
How could he get away with it….. Too many people would have to know and someone would reveal all!
Ummm… ya but I am revealing all….. you just have to watch.
I told you already NO….. NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! Go Away you bad man!
https://i0.wp.com/iscriblr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/iScriblr_mixtape7.gif
Wait till the rest of this gets released by the Censors…
I think FE Fans will LOVE IT
https://i0.wp.com/iscriblr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/iScriblr_mixtape7.gif
Due to the fluid buildup in the lungs, they put the ventilator pressure up very high. This can be very damaging to the patient.
it would help of they’d stop mixing meth in with the oxygen….
Good one covid
I went back and looked at the underlying reports. Breitbart relies on an Economist article, which in turn relies on a preprint journal article. It also relies on a Lancet model based on early China data.
This is a link to the Economist article. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/04/11/why-a-study-showing-that-covid-19-is-everywhere-is-good-news
It shows two interesting charts:
https://gailtheactuary.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/estimates-of-patients-with-flu-like-symptoms-by-state-economist.png
and
https://gailtheactuary.files.wordpress.com/2020/04/if-covid-has-spread-faster-than-indicated-then-it-is-less-deadly-economist.png
The Lancet article is from here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30243-7/fulltext
I was not as impressed by it. It could not look at reporting at all.
Wyoming Reports 1st Coronavirus Death As Global COVID-19 Cases Near 2 Million: Live Updates
USA – The overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths
I tell people all the time that more die from common flu each year than coronavirus and their response is, that’s not true. They have bought into the MSM’s and Chris Martenson’s fear and hysteria.
Rodster, Covid-19 has only been around for about 3 months so saying that more people die from the flu each year is just plain wrong, at this point.
yes, M R, that’s a better way to look at it…
the C19 numbers for 2020 may eventually total about the same as flu… or less…
but flu never had a (stooooopid) lockdown to keep its numbers down…
if the flu season always had extreme social distancing and mask wearing, then flu related deaths would be almost non-existent…
nevertheless, the lockdowns are s…
Well, the restrictions in Hong Kong ended the flu season one month early. The only comparison that may be possible is the case fatality rate; what proportion of infected people end up dying, though perhaps we should also include those whose lung function is permanently and significantly damaged. Current estimates for the case fatality rate make Covid-19 at least several times as deadly and perhaps an order of magnitude more deadly. It is also much more infectious.
If the US exceeds their 45 million flu infections from 2017/18 (winter months) then I will agree Wuhan is more infectious.
Until then the jury is out.
Reality doesn’t need your agreement, FE, but, of course, you can believe whatever you want and make up your own rules for how you reach your opinion.
WMD 2.0 staring people right in the face… but they go to the NYT and CNN for the truth.
You really cant make this sh it up
Those projections are about as accurate as the climate change projections.
The news is not a good source of scientific data about Corna. In fact, I know no more today about the thing than when it was first reported about.
But you keep styling yourself as informed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-hospitals-bronx.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab
We were being told by Dr. Fauci that millions of Americans would be dead from Coronavirus and now that number has been revised in the thousands. How many have died from coronavirus vs with coronavirus because we are not being told that information? This is how you spread fear and panic.
A Florida man jumped out of a plane without a parachute and died. It was discovered he had the coronavirus, so everyone assumed he died from coronavirus, or did?
Dr. F could have been correct, if there was no (stooooopid unreasonable) lockdown…
but we may never know for sure…
unless we get second wave third wave etc… never ending surges might continue season after season…
and then we may know if millions died C19 related deaths…
it’s way too soon to know what the totals will be…
but yes we do know that the fear of (about) 50 Governors has caused horrific economic damage to tens of millions in America…
land of the not so free, and home of the not so brave…
We are guaranteed to get more waves… https://www.thecollegefix.com/epidemiologist-coronavirus-could-be-exterminated-if-lockdowns-were-lifted/
That’s the whole point of the lockdowns…. keep the virus resurfacing… build more FEAR….
By the end of this people will be begging to be put out of their misery….
Well said Fast. Here, here!
https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-four-devastating-weeks-americans-100036290.html
“By an overwhelming 3-1, 69%-21%, Americans endorse a nationwide lockdown through the end of April, requiring people to stay at home except for essential work. The idea is backed by solid majorities across partisan lines, by 8 in 10 Democrats and 62% of Republicans.
In follow-up phone interviews, those surveyed express more concern about the health risks of reopening the country too soon than of the economic risks of keeping it closed for too long.”
huh, Americans…
less concerned about the long term massive devastating permanent deep economic horrror show that is here now and will be in full force by Autumn…
They dont understand money.. And they dont want to. They think everthing can be solved with it. At the same time they condemn reopening to “save a few bucks” irresponsible and callous. They love drama. The whole country has become a combo of baywatch, zombie apocalypse and a jerry springer show and they dig it.
Lockerdown!!! LOCKERDOWN!!!
I don’t give a dammmm if it means I have no money to buy food and my kids starve and we die.
Just lockthesumbitchdown!!!
You see — when you have 300+M people who subsist on KFC, Domino’s Triple Cheese + Cheese Filled Crust —- McDs… and Big Gulps….. arteries clog… the brain gets less oxygen…. the cells die… and fat blocks the neurons from firing ….
And you end up with an average national IQ of 63.7 ….. which is below the threshold of 70 qualifying America as a province of Idiocracy….
Of course not everyone lives on KFC and Big Gulps… there are many millions of people who lead healthy lives —- they have much higher IQs….
That’s why you have such polarization of wealth in Ah-Merica.
This will make more sense when my previous post gets release:
Evolution:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_S_WbuXV5eVU/TTiFVKWxrSI/AAAAAAAAABM/9YAymtrKtD8/s1600/big-gulp.jpg
It sounds like a lot of people have been fed a lot of misinformation about the benefits and costs of lockdowns. They also have a very inflated view of what the healthcare system can really do, and lack of understanding of how important the overall interconnected economy is.
The overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2017-2018.htm
And my second favourite link …. Orwell would just LOVE this….
A Tent Hospital that is Near Capacity except that it’s Empty
https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/central-park-coronavirus-field-hospital-near-capacity/
It’s kinda how I read earlier that Tesla shares are up 43%….. I guess people have stopped buying all cars except Tesla… or could it be that because almost no cars are being sold so Tesla’s share of the market has increased…. like you round their previous volume down to zero – round everyone else’s recent sales volume down to zero—- and it’s a BIG BIG Win for Tesla….
The overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600×315/a8/13/2a/a8132a9e654530ac6ec255ad838edc38.jpg
just wondering… does the internet have an equivalent for applications of hot tar, feathers, and rail riding? tar is a fossil fuel product, so good for the economy.
Not true, in France, Italy, Spain, UK there are already more COVID19 death in one month with a lock down than a normal flu season without lockdown. In France, a normal flu season is estimated to be 10 000 deaths. We already have 15000 dead people from Covid.
As has been explained they are calling all flu deaths Wuhan deaths…. they cannot even tell the difference.
Again – when the MSM runs the show — it’s very difficult to get at the truth without digging.
And most people are too lazy or just to s t upid.
The flu season in France is in January, February, in April it is almost over. So the 10 000 people that just died in France since the beginning of April are not due to the usual flu…
When you are pulling a ho ax…. the easy part is making up numbers
Like I said – when you get caught lying once you lose all credibility — and you cannot get it back.
I’ve got at two BIG FAT LIES for you to chew on:
https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/central-park-coronavirus-field-hospital-near-capacity/
https://nypost.com/2020/04/01/cbs-admits-to-using-footage-from-italy-in-report-about-nyc/
Where’s the mass chaos in Indonesia and the Philippines???? Bali is not locked down — where are the bodies on the street there?
Then we had WMD — and more recently the US organize shoot down of a Malaysian Airlines Flight and the US organized barrel bomb of chemicals that killed women and children.
How many times do you have to be lied to before you understand that you are being played?
https://media.wired.com/photos/5932723026780e6c04d2bc98/master/w_660,c_limit/brain-dead.png
It’s 4pm here in NZ… and we all know what that means…. it’s:
TIME TO TAUNT GEEEEETTTA TIME
Today’s TAUNT Is brought to you by Ohai Coal — the best coal money can buy. Get your big sacks at the Mitre 10 in Cromwell Today.
Ok Geeetaaa…. here’s the problem…
Ohai coal burns nice and black and hot…. smells a bit like napalm …. which reminds me of death and destruction (happy thoughts)…. but I’ve got this problem … we use maybe two big sacks per day and those orange sacks are filling up our big plastic trash cans (and the council will only allow us to use one can)….
So if we cram those orange (did I mention they are plastic?) sacks into the trash can we have no space for our normal rubbish.
This leaves us with various choices — we can:
1. Put the orange sacks in the ute then drive out to the highway and fling them out the window
2. Drive to the river and dump them in the water
3. Bury them in the back paddock
4. Burn them in the Rayburn.
Hmmmm… 1 and 2 are not environmentally friendly because I’d have to use a few ounces of diesel… and what if someone were to catch me doing that…. fines… shame…
3. is not such a bad choice but we live in a pile of rock so I’d need a pick to dig a hole … nahhh too much work
That leaves us with 4. Burn the sacks in the Rayburn. Impossible to get caught because who will be able to identify the dioxins and other stuff that is coming out the chimney – black smoke is black smoke … technically it’s more gray than black so it’s probably mostly steam…. which is more water than anything else…..
There is the added benefit of the heat that is created by burning the plastic sacks. Kinda like a fringe benefit…
Everything points to 4 being the best choice. All upside. No downside whatsoever.
4 it is. Burn the Plastic Sacks in the Rayburn.
Oh and since it’s mostly steam I am thinking of adding a steam whistle to the Chimney….
So if you ever make it to Queenstown on a jet to go up and down the ski hill you can pop by and I’ll let you make the whistle go Tooooooot… Tooooooot.
Ooops… Ohai is asking where’s their branding…. sorry fellas….
Order Ohai Coal Online here https://www.newvaleohai.co.nz/ Or visit Mitre 10 to fill up your tandem trailer today.
https://www.gibbswoodandcoal.co.nz/images/156/800/Gibbs-Firewood-and-Coal-Bagged-20kg-Ohai-Nuts.jpg
Hallo… who’s this?
Antony Stodart… GM of Ohai Coal….
Oh hey Antony… wazzzzz up.
Well we just got 765 orders for 89,000,000 tonnes of coal come in online and we traced that activity back to you….
Wow that’s awesome — I am working with your marketing guys on a little thing over on OFW.
Well Mr Fast… you are obviously a marketing genius …
Oh … I’m not sure I’d go that far… although I did do a PHD yesterday in marketing….
Don’t sell yourself short mate… this is true genius…. we’ve never sold so much coal in a month never mind an hour!
Listen — we’d like to hire you as the Face of Ohai Coal…. the salary package involves a base of USD2.5M per year… and 15% of the gross price of all sales you generate.
We’ll need you to appear in a TVC with you tossing the organge plastic sacks in the burner and tooting the whistle after you say ‘Ohai Coal – It’s the Best Coal in The World’ – Toot Toot!
Sounds interesting Antony…. throw in unlimited use of a Gulfstream and we’ve got a deal.
Consider it Done.
Look forward to working with you and the fellas.
http://cdn.ppcorn.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2015/12/Gulfstream-II-Private-Jet-ppcorn.jpg
You just don’t get it, Fast Eddy.
You.
Just.
Don’t.
Get.
It.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1248729405016256513
Unfortunately, without greed and capitalism, we cannot support the population we have today.
It is a cheap energy problem. At one point, we could manage with a system of cutting down trees and burning them. We outgrew this system as our population outgrew that resource. Also, deciding to make metals using charcoal required huge amounts of wood, so we could have a hot enough fire to smelt metals. It was much more efficient to use coal for smelting, and less damaging to the environment. Deforestation was huge problem, even thousands of years ago. It leads to soil erosion, among other things.
Communism hasn’t worked well. The Former Soviet Union fell apart; Cuba barely sputters along, with the people saying, “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work.”
Gail, I fear that once again I must respectfully disagree. We cannot support our present population with greed, capitalism, altruism, socialism, bimetallism, Gnosticism, or anything else. We crossed that bridge in about 1800, and burned it behind us. As ever, Nature bats last.
Or perhaps this quote may resonate: “Gottes Mühlen mahlen langsam, mahlen aber trefflich klein” (Friedrich Von Logau)
Bimetalism LOL
Bryan, having established the right of silver supporters to petition, explained why that petition was not to be denied:
It is for these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them![74]
With this call to action, Bryan abandoned any hint at compromise, and adopted the techniques of the radical, polarizing orator, finding no common ground between silver and gold forces. He then defended the remainder of the platform, though only speaking in general terms. He mocked McKinley, said by some to resemble Napoleon, noting that he was nominated on the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.[75] The lengthy passage as he discussed the platform and the Republicans helped calm the audience, ensuring he would be heard as he reached his peroration. But Bryan first wished to tie the silver question to a greater cause:[46][76]
Upon which side will the Democratic Party fight; upon the side of “the idle holders of idle capital” or upon the side of “the struggling masses”? That is the question which the party must answer first, and then it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic Party, as shown by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic Party.[77]
He faced in the direction of the gold-dominated state delegations:
There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.[76]
This statement attracted great cheering, and Bryan turned to rhetorically demolish the compromise position on bimetallism—that it should only be accomplished through international agreement:
It is the issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, when but three millions in number, had the courage to declare their political independence of every other nation; shall we, their descendants, when we have grown to seventy millions, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? No, my friends, that will never be the verdict of our people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but that we cannot have it until other nations help us, we reply that, instead of having a gold standard because England has, we will restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost.[1][78]
Now, Bryan was ready to conclude the speech, and according to his biographer, Michael Kazin, step “into the headlines of American history”.[1]
Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests, and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: “You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
For Ed: Many thanks; yes, I well remember William Jennings Bryan (1860 to 1925) and his (justly) famous “cross of gold” speech. That same spirit today informs those who say “you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of energy”. Alas, they are wrong. Gold in his day was a metaphor for energy, and a bad one; money is today the same metaphor, and a far worse one.
i agree
every whale
every tiger
every eagle
every bee
i know,
is just as guilty of capitalist greed as every human being i know.
Humankind is doing the right thing by getting rid of all the above, (and all their cousins, whose only use is to animate so-called nature programs on tv anyway.)
The sooner they are got rid of, the better the planet will be, Far more room for us.. We can then have it all to ourselves without all this animal rights nonsense
Do you live in a cave in the bush and eat only what you kill?
If not then
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-shut-your-pie-hole-8.png
BREAKING NEWS: Dr Fauci announces that RATS can transmit a more LETHAL Mutation of the Coronavirus to BABIES!
Fauci said, “The mutated virus is passed from rats to babies and it eats their brains leaving them alive but requiring intubation for the rest of their lives. With so many restaurants closed this is becoming a pandemic on in itself as the rats swarm babies as mothers push them about the parks in their carriages. We strongly advise everyone to stay home. We will take care of you and make sure the food is delivered.’
Other medical experts were warning that if babies stay home the rats might start attacking children, r e tar ded mor ons the elderly and possibly even adults. The military is standing by.
Read More https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-KILLS-YOUR-BABY
I hereby anoint the first Tuesday after Easter…. GEeeeeta Thornburger Day….. it is the day when the Burning of the Coal shall commence each year (if there is an each year)
All Hail the Coal Fire
https://ichemepresident.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/burning-coal.jpg
Let me take a selfie outside with the house in the background (everyone make chugga chugga noises….)
https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/images/2014/08/energy-coal-power-plant-smokestacks-with-tailings.jpg
Happy Coal Day Everyone – Happy Geeeettaaaa Day!!!
See the building on the left? That’s where the concubines live….. it’s got a big disco ball hanging from the ceiling and a lab where we make our own pills.
(S is for Superman … it’s what the concubines call Fast…)
https://www.ravejungle.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/pink-superman-ecstasy-pills-ravejungle.jpg
I still don’t think you’re giving social distancing a chance.
It keeps the germs away, and with some precautions, you can enjoy the activities you used to enjoy.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/60/d5/fe/60d5fe0eb538f77ced6f6bbf711716dd.jpg
China’s economy may not grow at all in 2020. That hasn’t happened in 44 years
http://nathinonsense.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/l8q3fcvjzllbgk5oovjs.jpg
“Hong Kong (CNN Business)China’s economy is showing some tentative signs of recovery from the devastation caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic but the path ahead remains hugely uncertain and growth could be entirely wiped out in 2020, putting millions of jobs at risk.
GDP growth this year in the world’s second biggest economy could sink to just 1% or 2%, down from 6.1% in 2019, according to recent estimates by analysts, including a Chinese government economist. In a worst case scenario, the $14 trillion economy may not grow at all, the World Bank warned earlier this week.
That would be its weakest performance in 44 years, worse even than the troughs hit during the 2008-2009 global recession and in 1990, when the West imposed sanctions on China after the Tiananmen Square massacre.”
https://genesiustimes.com/breaking-skydiver-who-forgot-parachute-dies-from-coronavirus/
Scam-demic
https://genesiustimes.com/breaking-skydiver-who-forgot-parachute-dies-from-coronavirus/
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/armys-seattle-field-hospital-closed-after-3-days-without-seeing-single-patient
Not all heroes wear capes.
https://twitter.com/leeagilbert/status/1248886490962300928
https://twitter.com/i/status/1249298102323986432
Not all heroes wear capes.
“It’s The Perfect Storm” – SoftBank Reports Staggering $25 Billion Q1 Loss
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/its-perfect-storm-softbank-reports-staggering-25-billion-q1-loss
https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/3/10/1394443662119/Orangutans-Laughing-011.jpg
Yep just like I was told Bali was going to be overwhelmed by the wuhan… 3 weeks and counting…
Is everyone dead in Africa about now?
Brazil likely to have 12 times more infections than reported, study finds
Death rate much higher than expected, suggesting many cases not being counted; researchers say figure could hit 60,000 within a week in worst-case scenario.
2020: This year can’t possibly get any worse!
Chernobyl: Hold my beer
In Ukraine, forest fires approach radioactive waste storage facilities
https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/12145038-3×2-700×467.jpg
“A member of the public council at the State Agency for Management of the Exclusion Zone (GASO) of Ukraine, Yaroslav Emelianenko, said that forest fires in the Chernobyl zone burn 2 km from storage facilities with highly radioactive waste.
It is reported by “112 Ukraine” with reference to the post Emelianenko on Facebook.
“The situation is critical. The area is blazing. The local authorities report that everything is under control, but in fact, fire is rapidly seizing new territories, ” he wrote.”
herd immunity may be more than we expect. maybe even as high as 82%
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/the-virus-that-causes-covid-19-could-be-even-more-contagious-than-previously-thought-a-new-study-finds/ar-BB12yPFk?li=AAggNb9
Good riddance … Let’s keep this lockdown on until McDonalds goes down too
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/121000806/burger-king-franchise-owner-in-receivership
I second that!
McDonald’s faces class action over ‘pervasive sexual harassment’
By Brendan Pierson
ReutersApril 13, 2020, 12:30 PM EDT
(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp has been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing it of subjecting female employees in its corporate-owned fast-food restaurants in Florida to widespread sexual harassment.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Chicago, says the company fostered a climate of “severe or pervasive sexual harassment and a hostile work environment, including groping, physical assaults, and sexually-charged verbal comments.”
,..About 95% of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are run by franchisees rather than by McDonald’s itself. The company has argued that it cannot be held responsible for harassment in its franchise restaurants, and a federal appeals court in California agreed with that view last year.
Friday’s lawsuit, however, concerns only corporate-owned stores.
Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook was fired last November for having an improper consensual relationship with an employee, though he was not accused of harassment
A group of public health experts has broken ranks on the Government’s lockdown strategy, calling for a return to near-normal life in two weeks.
As the number of new coronavirus cases continue to drop, the group of academics told Stuff the Government’s lockdown plan is out of proportion with the health risks posed by the virus.
The alternative plan was developed by Auckland University’s Senior Lecturer of Epidemiology Simon Thornley.
Others to back the plan include Grant Schofield, Professor of Public Health at AUT, Gerhard Sundborn, senior lecturer of population and pacific health at Auckland University, Grant Morris, Associate Professor of Law, Victoria University, Ananish Chaudhuri, Professor of experimental economics, University of Auckland, and Michael Jackson, postdoctoral researcher in biostatistics and biodiscovery, Victoria University.
“Lockdown was appropriate when there was so little data…but the data is now clear, this is not the disaster we feared and prepared for. Elimination of this virus is likely not achievable and is not necessary.”
Thornley said the risk to most working people was low and likened it, for most people, to a seasonal influenza virus.
He said the plan was developed amid concern the Government’s strategy was over-the-top and likely to “substantially harm the nation’s long term health and well being, social fabric, economy and education”.
No deaths had occurred in New Zealanders under 70 and much of the modelling related to the mortality associated with Covid-19 was overestimated, the group said in a statement.
The real threat posed by the virus was it would overwhelm the health system but New Zealand’s risk was lower than in other countries with higher population density, and our health system currently has spare capacity.
“Data shows a large majority of Covid-19 fatalities have occurred in people due to their comorbidities rather than directly from the virus. Even in Italy only 12 per cent of cases were directly due to Covid.
“If you catch Covid-19 your likelihood of dying is the same as your average likelihood of dying that year anyway. It has been described as squeezing your years mortality risk into two weeks.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120984583/coronavirus-lockdown-rules-should-be-relaxed-health-experts-say
https://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/thats-all-folks-bugs-bunny-gif-1.gif
Meanwhile … in Ah’merica…. it’s an apocalypse out there….
I still don’t think you’re giving social distancing a chance, FE.
It keeps the germs away, and with some precautions, you can enjoy the activities you used to enjoy.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/60/d5/fe/60d5fe0eb538f77ced6f6bbf711716dd.jpg
Taiwan: 23 million people, high population density, lots of traffic with China and everywhere else, really. Less than 400 cases, 273 of them active now (and declining). 6 people have died.
Caption: A large tent in front of Wellington Hospital Emergency Department.
Let me fix that for ya’ll: A large empty tent in front of Wellington Hospital Emergency Department put there to frighten people.
https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/2/0/1/h/6/b/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240×700.201dau.png/1586823234273.jpg
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120996246/coronavirus-bluff-grooms-father-dies-of-covid19-in-wellington-hospital
What they AREN’T showing you, smarta$$ are the brave men, women, and nonbinary folk who are removing the scores of dead bodies and loading them onto trucks while wearing gas masks. corona viruses can stay in the air and swarm a victim and we’re all potential victims.
Yep, this is just the start.
We shall see how this unfolds.
3% of population has been infected.
We need 70% to reach herd immunity.
Or a vaccine — but that is years away.
Stay tuned campers!
For 4 out of 5 of you, should not be a problem.
Nice of you to make an appearance GE…..EEEta….
How do you feel about airline traffic being reduced to something like 5% of normal?
Do you consider that a victory for your cause?
‘Nonbinary folk’ I am unfamiliar with the term…. is that new gender term? Please elaborate.
Have you and Justin decided on a name yet? Boy? Girl? It?
Have you done a genetics test… 1-1=0…. if you toss in all of the father’s drug use and your number goes way negative….
You might want to get checked… huh…
https://i0.heartyhosting.com/radaronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/justin-bieber-lawsuit-wall-celebrity-settled.jpg
PERHAPS this will change your tune.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1249412488363376640
https://twitter.com/i/status/1249412488363376640
Familiarize yourself with my tune:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-07/michael-burry-slams-virus-lockdowns-in-controversial-tweetstorm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120984583/coronavirus-lockdown-rules-should-be-relaxed-health-experts-say
Two things:
1. Lockdowns are futile and will make this worse
2. If the authorities were serious we would see laws past in every country on the planet forcing every person to wear a face covering.
The conclusion is inescapable – the authorities are purposely collapsing the global economy.
I will assume this is a good idea and that the alternative is less palatable.
But it’s quite irritating to have to listen to their lies.
That would be total 4 (four, IV, quattor) in NZ.
Can I sell you a forklift?
Plandemic
The faces of Jacinda…
Here we have Serious Jacinda
https://www.rnz.co.nz/assets/news/167398/eight_col_181011_Women-In-Sport-6.jpg
Sad Jacinda
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/01/it-will-be-tough-for-us-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-gives-coy-kiwibuild-update/_jcr_content/par/video/image.dynimg.1280.q75.jpg/v1548732244244/Jacinda-Ardern-post-cab-290119-1120.jpg
And Angry Jacinda (lockerdown lockerdown… screw Fast Eddy and his damn ice hockey… I said LOCK >>> HER>>>> DOWN!!!)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rzx4IuKMUUk/WtKZg44ooNI/AAAAAAAB6ig/QKpNN_RD93AtwqL0BfC17Y8nu3o5uxOywCLcBGAs/s640/Jacinda-Ardern.png
Only one face for Justin
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YgGxDHiUR50/maxresdefault.jpg
Why do these super scams tend to manifest themselves in nyc?
https://youtu.be/PKQiuEZKbmE
Start spreading the NEWS
I am leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York
These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I wanna wake up, in a city
That doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill
Top of the heap
This little town blues
Are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can FA KE it there
I’ll can FA KE it anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New YorkNew York, New York
I want to wake up in that city
That never sleeps
And find I’m hey number one
Top of the list
King of the hill
Hey number one
These are little town blues
They have all melted away
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can FA KE it there
I’m gonna FA KE it anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New York, New York
EINSTEIN IQ X 5 = FAST EDDY (SUPER GENIUS)
http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/kneel-down-and-hail-the-king.png
Now I imagine that the city deals with quite a few ‘unclaimed dead bodies’ each week (deaths from overdoses… street bums freezing to death etc…) and I suspect they don’t book a truck to bring each body to the ditch rather they hold them in the morgue and maybe make a once a week or every two week run?
How do we know that’s not what is being depicting in that video?
We don’t and we won’t.
https://twitter.com/EstulinDaniel/status/1249845955538685954/photo/1
How are we able to get an accurate count of those who actually died of COVID?
Bloomberg reporting out of Italy that 99% of those who died from virus had other illness.
This sounds like a PLANED-DEMIC. Be scared.
This is just as bad if not worse than 9/11…..i mean wow 3 towers and 2 planes and a missile into the Pentagram.
Now we have millions dying….wait lets revise that down….hundreds of thousands….o wait tens of thousands…..really? CDC says doctors can just assume covid and list as cause of death….
But all these hospitals are empty and nurses are being laid off ? LOL
6 minute mark – Javits Centre is an Apocalypse!!!!
https://youtu.be/mNzFMiq2qQ8
Ok… I am dying from boredom… watching military people walking back to work with their lunch boxes doesn’t do it for me….
Can it get any more ridiculous???????????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_bTNU2vx0
Dayton, Ohio hospitals completely empty.
Hospital workers without masks, protective equipment, etc. None of them abiding by the social distancing policy.
Testing centers completely empty.
The video showcases the scam.
I done seen all them vidjos… and I seen the empty Tent Hospitals…. it’s all f ake n.ews…. them vidjos is fake…
Lockerdown… we gotta lockerdown … can’t you see this is a god da mn apocalypse? It’s Iraq war out there…. flatten the curve flatten the curve!!!
Now you be fure to …. stay safe Mr Z….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhrzisFfuEE
People are starting to protest in US States against the lockdowns, finally.
Update from the US on the corona virus scam. Currently Ohio has 6518 cases with 4570 recovering and at home. 248 deaths. Going by CDC guidelines Doctors are able to just assume someone has COVID and list it as cause of death. This is no larger or serious than a normal flu season.
Hopefully, more people will wake up that this is a major scam inflicted on the people for a reason.
They’re going to be hated by the public as much as the white supremacists at Charlottesville
https://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/virginia-charlottesville-protest/2017/08/12/id/807295/
when the media is done with them.
Public opinion is dominated by cowardly people.
Insert one asymptomatic carrier. Cuts way down on tear gas cost.
Interesting. The protestors outside didn’t look like they were making an attempt to stay six feet apart.
I believe it when I see it most protesters are dumb a’ just trying to get on t.v and their 15 minutes of fame!
Anyone who has read books of Kim Stanley Robinson? (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction.
« The environmental, economic, and social tjenester in Robinson’s oeuvre stand in marked contrast to the right-libertarian science fiction prevalent in much of the genre (Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle being prominent examples), and his work has been called the most successful attempt to reach a mass audience with a left wing and anti-capitalist utopian vision since Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1974 novel, The Dispossessed.[15]»
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson
I don’t think there is anything particularly special about Kim’s approach to science fiction.
If anyone’s been paying attention to science fiction, there has been a number of sci-fi writers pushing a utopian, anti-capitalist vision over the years. In recent years, the genre , like many things in our society, has become more overtly political while eschewing any pretense of entertaining audiences. The ruling class regularly heaps praise at entertainment that has political and social messages they support.
Go visit the syfy channel’s home page. and then visit
https://sciencefiction.com/
Science fiction’s public image is that it is now a platform for left-wing futurist ideas. I’m pretty sure Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle and despised by the current crop of science fiction writers and readers.
China Miéville, la Guin, Banks, Huxley, Orwell, Atwood, Vonnegut– just to name a few of the visible.
Gabriel Chan
Gabriel Chan, Overseas Chinese (華僑)
Answered Nov 13, 2017 ·
https://tinyurl.com/ueyjy8l
“A Chinese bureaucrat, an Indian bureaucrat and an African bureaucrat walk into a bar. They’ve known each other for years, having met every year at UN conferences, and they’ve become friends.
But, talking over drinks, they realise that they’ve only ever met at conferences. So the Chinese bureaucrat suggests that after the next one, in Beijing, they come to his house to relax for a few days.
They all agree, and when the next conference ends, they set off. They get a plane at Beijing’s airport, fly to a provincial city and speed off down a pristine six-lane highway to a large house in the suburbs.
“This is a really nice house,” the African bureaucrat says. “How did you afford it on your government salary?”
“Well, did you see that new highway we drove on? I just took some money from the project and spent it on the house.”
The other bureaucrats nod, obviously impressed. For the next few days the three men have a wonderful time, and agree to meet again after the next summit, this time at the Indian bureaucrat’s house.
A year goes by, the conference ends and they set off. They fly from the airport in Delhi to a little provincial town. Then they jolt down a long, potholed road until they get to a large mansion.
The Chinese bureaucrat, obviously impressed, asks how the Indian bureaucrat could have afforded it. The Indian bureaucrat replies, “Well, did you see that highway we drove on? I just took some money out of the project and spent it on the house.”
A year later they are in Africa, and they all agree to head to the African bureaucrat’s house. They go to the airport, and fly to a smaller airport in the middle of the jungle. From there they board a helicopter and fly over a pristine jungle to a large palace surrounded by military guards. They look out over trees as far as the eye can see.
The Indian and Chinese bureaucrats are amazed, and they are both eager to know how he managed to afford such a palace.
“Well, did you see that highway we drove on?” the African bureaucrat asks.
Behind every joke is some grains of truth. The nature of corruption in each region is different: in China, corruption results in too much being built; in India or Africa, corruption results in too little or nothing being built. India cannot seem to finish its construction projects while China tends to build way more than it actually needs.”
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-India-lacking-in-infrastructure-as-compared-to-China?share=1
I bring this up because I do think the U.S. leadership have been looking for a way out of reliance on China for cheap goods. China’s perceived complicity in the covid-19 epidemic provides them with a good reason to seek a new trading partner. I also posted this because mismanagement and what I would call
hoarding
is inevitable no matter what path is taken.
I bet on everyone taking more than they need.
Call me cynical but I never believed in altruism was a thing among heterogeneous people and I don’t think the lockdowns are a manifestation of altruism.
Btw, does anyone know where the begging homeless have gone? I can’t find them anywhere.
I found a couple of articles:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-23/san-francisco-fights-coronavirus-by-finding-the-homeless-a-home
Another article is not as positive:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americas-homeless-staying-home-coronavirus-outbreak-option/story?id=69780705
For America’s homeless, staying home during coronavirus outbreak is not an option
Few states have announced steps to protect the homeless from COVID-19.
My guess is that some of the homeless are in jails, passing around the virus to other jail inmates.
The Corona Con:
“Drilling down into the US numbers reveals two states account for 59.41% of the Covid-19 deaths in the United States on the 12th April 2020. When the Covid-19 deaths for New Jersey and New York are removed from the US numbers it’s evident the United States is not experiencing a Covid-19 epidemic.”
https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/the-corona-con/
What happened to California? You’d think California’s large homeless population PLUS its large population would result in a high number of infections in-state.
no?
There are a lot of Mexicans in California who are worried about being deported if they show up for treatment of COVID-19. I expect that that is holding down reported cases.
California was quick to establish state wide ‘shelter in place’ and it’s working. Roads have some vehicles but it’s a tiny percentage to what it was before.
California also does not have all of the public transit that New York and New Jersey have. They ride in their own cars, so they don’t catch illnesses from fellow passengers.
Where’s the ‘apocalypse’ in Bali that was predicted?
March 23 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/fears-bali-emerge-indonesia-coronavirus-hotspot-200323053749834.html
Nothing since according to Google — and it’s …. 3+ weeks later….
My contacts in Bali are not reporting a viral apocalypse…. only an economic apocalypse as the tourists are gone.
Bali has a horrible medical system … it’s a joke…. anyone who can goes to Singapore for anything more than a cut….
So where are the mass graves?
Same with the Philippines where we know people working IN the hospitals. Sorry but there is no apocalypse.
Where are the videos of the mass graves in Africa where huge numbers of Chinese people have returned post chinese new year…. as we know the major flight hub in Ethiopia never stopped flights from China
Oh but NYC is an apocalypse….
There really is no cure for Stu ___ y…. other than mass radiation poisoning.
Unfortunately, New Your and New Jersey are part of the USA.
Note: Quite a large part
It’s the Tri-State area, centered around NYC. Geographically it’s a tiny part of the U.S. and demographically it’s maybe 5%. So no, not “quite a large part”. In fact, not even a moderately sized part.
Hint:
That is 1/20 the population of the US.
(23 million residents)
Aside from California, no State has more population.
Hint: Texas has a population of 29 million.
With everone in lockdown u would expect less deaths. So its hard to tell. Its looking to me that the death rate from all causes has fallen. While the COVID19 TM death rate is pounded into our head not a single news outlet is reporting the death rate from all causes. Would a increase in death rates of 10% for a period of time be worth it to sustain the economy? I make this a .00014% increase for a duration of six months.
. compared to total population
That’s a great question and, believe it or not, overall mortality is way, way down in March and so far in April, at least for the United States. So, the lockdowns are overkill from a mortality perspective. Coronavirus’s mortality contribution will be totally swamped by the lockdown measures.
Where do you get real-time US mortality data? The numbers I see are very old data, on a very aggregated basis.
1.5 to ten thousands odds increase a individual might die.
Anything unusual? You decide.
https://www.indexmundi.com/clocks/indicator/deaths/united-states
Its hard to find data. I wonder why. No one is including “covid” deaths in with other deaths. Because they are so special. Its looking like 1000 less deaths from all causes per day occuring now than in previous years, the average being 8800. If someone can contradict this would be glad to see better numbers. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6826a5.htm
Excuse me 7708 deaths per day average USA.
This is an estimate of future deaths by state, excluding COVID-19, based on a model using historical data. I would expect deaths to vary by month of the year, with more in the winter, but this model is too simple to show this.
OMG! covid covid covid movid lovid
Guess what?
People die.
More people are not dieing.
https://www.indexmundi.com/clocks/indicator/deaths/united-states
Imagine what the MSM could have done with THIS …
The overall burden of influenza for the 2017-2018 season was an estimated 45 million influenza illnesses, 21 million influenza-associated medical visits, 810,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, and 61,000 influenza-associated deaths
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2017-2018.htm
It would have been so much easier if the hospitals in the US were actually full and hospital tents were required…
They could have taken photos that match the story https://nypost.com/2020/04/09/central-park-coronavirus-field-hospital-near-capacity/
🙂
Could this explain the variation in severity of Cv-19 across the world? And the difference in contagion/death numbers between Spain and Italy, for example, and Portugal, where BCG vaccination is universal, contrary to what happens in those countries?
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alice_Zwerling/publication/50892386/figure/fig2/AS:277209752326147@1443103363144/Map-displaying-BCG-vaccination-policy-by-country-A-The-country-currently-has-universal.png
“The reasons for a wide variation in severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the affected countries of the world are not known. Two recent studies have suggested a link between the BCG vaccination policy and the morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. In the present study we compared the impact of COVID-19 in terms of case fatality rates (CFR) between countries with high disease burden and those with BCG revaccination policies presuming that revaccination practices would have provided added protection to the population against severe COVID-19. We found a significant difference in the CFR between the two groups of countries. Our data further supports the view that universal BCG vaccination has a protective effect on the course of COVID-19 probably preventing progression to severe disease and death. Clinical trials of BCG vaccine are urgently needed to establish its beneficial role in COVID-19 as suggested by the epidemiological data, especially in countries without a universal BCG vaccination policy”
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.07.20053272v1
Map displaying BCG vaccination policy by country. A: The country currently has universal BCG vaccination program. B: The country used to recommend BCG vaccination for everyone, but currently does not. C: The country never had universal BCG vaccination programs. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001012.g002
I am confused. The exhibit does not go with the article. Alice Zwerling is not an author of the non-peer reviewed paper. Maybe you intended to link to another article as well.
It might be that BCG vaccine is helpful, but I was not convinced by the non-peer reviewed article. Clinical trials would be helpful. Or a more in-depth analysis, looking at more than the death rate to date.
You really need BCG vaccine to be mandatory for older age groups, to expect to affect death rates. Portugal did not start its program until 1965, according to Wikipedia. Norway and Ireland seem to be a better examples of mandatory BCG vaccination.
Sorry, the image is from another source, that i should have mentioned:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-displaying-BCG-vaccination-policy-by-country-A-The-country-currently-has-universal_fig2_50892386
You are right, the mandatory BCG vaccine in portugal began in 1965 and was discontinued in 2016. Since 2016, the recomendation is to give it only to people in risk groups.
I saw a article yesterday on the portuguese press about the possibility of BCG vaccine conferring partial protection against covid-19 and wanted to know if anyone at OFW would have an opinion on the matter. The article starts with this:
“Can BCG vaccine provide partial protection against covid-19, mitigating the most severe cases and reducing mortality? There are some studies that suggest yes, but there are also many scientists who argue that it is necessary to wait for results in clinical trials before moving on to any type of measure. In the last week, another study was released, signed by researchers in India, which also concludes that there is “a marked difference” in the average mortality rate between the two groups of countries, with and without BCG vaccination. Without BCG, the average is 5.2% and, with the vaccine, it is 0.6%.”
https://www.publico.pt/2020/04/12/ciencia/noticia/covid19-mata-menos-paises-pessoas-vacinadas-bcg-1911764
Hint:
https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/
Virologists can give you the details.
(there is no protection)
You are saying that somewhere in the various two-hour podcasts the virologists say specifically that BCG vaccine is of no benefit for COVID-19? Or is this just something that a person might surmise, from listening to a lot of their podcasts?
Taiwan is miscolored, probably due to the usual political considerations.
Question of the day:
What is the ideal size of a whisky bottle for barter?
I think the markets are all fake news, the wonderful irony is when the elites confiscate all the fake paper/digital wealth they will find they have nothing, their control won’t even extend on to the streets in front of their high rise condo’s. A different set of rules as approximately described by the UPS man metaphor above. Liquor stores are still well stocked, maybe avoid the rush?
All the best,
Dennis L.
40 oz for bigger jobs and pints for smaller. Fast Eddy, you would be interested to know that our Canadian Tire has 65% moonshine for sale at $10 a pint. Sold as “hand sanitizer” but produced at a local distillery. All the guys are drinking it. Great stuff!
Thank you, that is helpful. On a lighter note one can never be too liquid.
Dennis L.
Food may be a problem in ways we are not anticipating. Processing plants are very close, difficult to socially isolate, many times workers live in very close quarters to save money.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/livestock/smithfield-closes-pork-plant-indefinitely-hot-spot-for-coronavirus?did=511680-20200413&utm_campaign=todays-news_newsletter&utm_source=agriculture.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=041320&cid=511680&mid=32232666410
Animals for millennia have been a way to store a harvest and move it from place to place without a truck. In the end it needs to be converted into an edible form, my grandfather could butcher, my mother ate blood sausage, nothing was wasted. I suspect “Whole Earth Foods” does not have that sausage in the cooler, not unlike haggis, ugh. Sort of goes with the bit about the UPS man above.
For those of you unfamiliar with the dish, “a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep’s or calf’s offal mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning and boiled in a bag, traditionally one made from the animal’s stomach.” FE has the right idea here with whiskey, need to increase my supply of whisky.
Dennis L.
A person would hope that after people recovered from COVID-19, there would be at least a little immunity. In this way, herd immunity could be at least a partial answer to the problem.
I am generally the optimist and have a belief in getting some things over with, but this idea seems to be recurring; the disease does lasting damage to organ systems so even if recovered one’s ability to do tasks is diminished. It will not be the case for all, but for which? This one is hard to predict, it is coming so very fast over the entire planet it would seem.
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/doctors-fear-coronavirus-survivors-may-have-lasting-damage-multiple-organs
Irony, Michael Greer wrote a novel about an American aircraft carrier sunk by Chinese cruise missiles, seems a cough might be an adequate weapon.
An aside, Mayo’s revenue is down $150M/week, layoffs in Rochester, salaries cut. Not sure if that is operating revenue or gross revenue, whatever, cashflow has gone to heck.
Tomorrow if time will walk downtown, look at lobbies and subway around Mayo, curious what it looks like. Rochester is such a wonderful city in which to live, very frustrating.
Dennis L.
I read today that Mayo clinic is cutting staff and wages. Coronavirus is hurting its prospects.
Dennis
Once more effects are being attributed to coronavirus as if they are unique when, in fact, they are common to all types of influenza.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/symptoms.htm
“Other possible serious complications triggered by flu can include inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), brain (encephalitis) or muscle (myositis, rhabdomyolysis) tissues, and multi-organ failure (for example, respiratory and kidney failure).”
Thank you, that is helpful.
Dennis L.
A little mystery keeps you scared. Most reporting on it relies on popular ignorance about how coronaviruses are spread.
I regret to inform you that the United States Department of Homlard Security has informed me that the terror alert has been raised to Orange. Make sure when you go outside you have some kind of shield you can protect yourself with in case a bomb goes off. If you are outside, run away if any one gets closer than six feet of you . They can give you the virus.
I have been informed that this is not another WMD lie… ‘because’
Actually this is much easier to expose because it was not exactly possible to go to Iraq to verify that Saddam had no WMD.
With this all you have to is read this
https://nypost.com/2020/03/30/disturbing-footage-shows-dead-bodies-loaded-onto-truck-outside-brooklyn-hospital/
and
https://nypost.com/2020/04/01/cbs-admits-to-using-footage-from-italy-in-report-about-nyc/
Since so many people are St….. then does it not stand that St___y… is a virus….
Nicely done.
If anyone is interested in the ‘horrible’ possible outcomes of catching the Wuhan flu… I highly recommend you visit the CDC site and check on the horrible side effects of catching ‘the flu’
What you will find is that they are…. the same.
Because the Wuhan Flu …. (or CCPD) … is simply another brand of the flu.
It’s not Ebola… or Small Pox… or HIV… it is ‘the flu’
And that’s why Fauci continues to copy and paste sh it directly off the CDC site when he references the potential side-effects.
If you want to make some money you can find some side-effects from the CDC site that Fauci has not yet mentioned yet… then bet someone that you can predict the future. You list a few side-effects and bet that Fauci will announce them within the next week.
Should be no problem to get say 10000-1 odds…..
Meanwhile — another day begins.. and billions of people are out of work … and going hungry….
May have partial immunity like the flu, for a year or so.
And, less serious future infections.
This is not a blood centric disease like measles, mumps, rubella, which one has life time immunity.
At least, this is what we project.
The future will tell.
Asking for immunity to the COVID-19 is like asking for immunity to the flu or the cold.
Maybe the elite need to get to get used to the idea that piles of dead bodies are going to be the norm from now long instead of hiding in their closets until cases go down.
When do the speakeasies return? Just requires a bribe to the right people.
@ FE and others
See this link:
https://www.henrymakow.com/2020/03/Coronavirus-is-another-life-drill.html?_ga=2.188598251.2144022467.1586790644-1799986317.1586790644
Moderators let this one through…..hopefully you all can read this and start to really think….
your conspiracy informant is wrong . they are looking at a year of this, They have introduced the term “rolling shutdowns” and have thrown around the term “18 months”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/neel-kashkari-federal-reserve-18-month-shutdown-covid-19_n_5e93c5dac5b6765e95635985
I don’t see this as a simulation people vs the rest but
as the Intelligensia vs the working people
From the perspective of the elite, we are awash in wealth and can afford to shut down large parts of the economy until corona cases around the world drop to zero.
The Intelligentsia? Do you mean Noam Chomsky? Or the American coffee roasting company of that name?
Since the deaths of Susan Sontag, Gore Vidal and Howard Zinn, Noam is the last of the intellectual Jedi.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/da/2c/84/da2c84fc66010e07db433ac628271861.jpg
The intelligensia includes everyone who doesn’t live paycheck-to-paycheck and work in the FIRE economy, arts and sciences. They are the people who move into newly built luxury apartment buildings. Regardless of whether they have two doctorates or they were plucked from ghettos by an executive with an eye for talent, they all share the same opinions.
The Harvard School of Public Health forecast I posted a link to before talked about the need for intermittent social distancing for a long time in the future.
According to the report:
“Under all scenarios, there was a resurgence of infection when the simulated social distancing measures were lifted.”
” Under current critical care capacities, however, the overall duration of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic could last into 2022, requiring social distancing measures to be in place between 25% (for wintertime R0 = 2 and seasonality, Figure S3A) and 70% (for wintertime R0 = 2.5 and no seasonality, Figure S2C) of that time.”
We are increasingly learning that COVID-19 is not a seasonal disease. This would tend to push the social distance requirements toward the high end of the range. Of course, the economy cannot withstand being closed endlessly.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KRmnn7o1mJ0/hqdefault.jpg
“The Harvard School of Public Health forecast I posted a link to before talked about the need for intermittent social distancing for a long time in the future.”
And, of course, continued funding of the Harvard School of Public Health for a long time in the future. I worked in a US university for ten years, and learned the hard way that every “scientific” paper is vetted by the bean counters, and will be published only if it can be used to grab more funding. (However, said bean counters didn’t understand the internet, so it was very easy to bypass them)
http://www.bbbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Screen-Shot-2013-09-30-at-8.55.38-PM.png
Gail blocks my post about prostitution and lets this come through.
How much are you charging per hour?
You some kinda cop or somethin?
Just askin’ on behalf of a friend.
Best tell you friend to get a personality and a haircut😜 just kidding
We all are KING RAT
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ruPysGfsRrY
Underneath its all a nicie nice
Nope — please stop trying to p im p your sister on OFW…. it’s both immoral — and it’s illegal to live off of the avails of said industry
Collen is no longer a doctor and simulation in this context simply means training courses. She is a presenter of training courses.
So John, how much of the current pandemic coverage in the mass media is a training course simulation complete with crisis actors, how much of it is genuine, and how much of it is just Americans going bat-sheet crazy as usual because their being told that coronaviruses with huge fangs and claws can live for two years on cardboard and forever on steel?
So she teaches yoga training courses?
Ohhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm……
Ain’t it crazy how she and the two main administrators all got Wuhan right after that story …. making it impossible for anyone to follow up with them.
That kills two birds with one stone – they cannot be contacted and it gets you another scary headline….
Sounds about right although I am still leaning towards the CDT to explain the why over the Satanists angle that is put forward….
The LAW of the JUNGLE ….KING RAT….in the CITY…Desperation…..
Starving, angry and cannibalistic: America’s rats are getting desperate amid coronavirus pandemic
Dartunorro Clark
NBC NewsApril 13, 2020, 7:14 AM EDT
America’s rats are being hit hard by the coronavirus.
As millions of Americans shelter indoors to combat the deadly virus, which has claimed over 21,000 U.S. lives, many businesses — including restaurants and grocery stores — have closed or limited operations, cutting off many rodents’ main sources for food. On deserted streets across the country, rats are in dire survival mode, experts say.
“If you take rats that have been established in the area or somebody’s property and they’re doing well, the reason they’re doing well is because they’re eating well,” Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist, told NBC News. “Ever since coronavirus broke out, not a single thing has changed with them, because someone’s doing their trash exactly the same in their yard as they’ve always done it — poorly
A restaurant all of a sudden closes now, which has happened by the thousands in not just New York City but coast to coast and around the world, and those rats that were living by that restaurant, some place nearby, and perhaps for decades having generations of rats that depended on that restaurant food, well, life is no longer working for them, and they only have a couple of choices.”
And those choices are grim. They include cannibalism, rat battles and infanticide
Sounds like our own future!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m82M_Bd11go
Great flick King RAT
From Rotten Tomatoes
James Clavell incorporated a few of his own experiences as a British POW in his novel King Rat. Bryan Forbes’ film version stars George Segal as the mastermind of all black market operations in a Japanese prison camp. He is called “King Rat” because of his breeding of rodents to serve as food for his emaciated fellow prisoners; the nickname also alludes to Segal’s shifty personality. British officer James Fox helps Segal expand his operation to include trading with the Japanese officers. Though on surface level a thoroughly selfish sort, Segal saves the ailing Fox’s life by wangling precious antibiotics from the guards. George Segal gave probably the best performance of his career. James Fox also gives an outstanding performance as Segal’s British counterpart who come under Segal’s spell and begins to do alot of his dirty work for him. There are many WWII prison camp films, but King Rat stands out for its gritty treatment of how prisoners survive in there bleak and painful worlds, where the meaning of hope has long been forgotten.
Hint:
Read the book
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Rat_(Clavell_novel)
Based on the author’s actual WW2 experience.
Just another retelling of Sir James Barrie’s Honorable Crichton. King was the King of the PoW camps, but immediately returned to a nobody once the war ended, probably to return as a small town criminal in the States.
And next up — watch as hungry rats devour a child as the mother desperately tries to fight them off!!!
And now this message from Fauchi’s Arm Pit — STAY INSIDE. ALWAYS. WE will make sure to deliver food.
Is anyone starting to think — hey this is the new normal — nothing bad has happened yet at least half of all global business activity has been halted for 3 weeks or so?
Not so bad…..???
Where not are food? Where u live uk? Maybe brexit? In Italia food are now
“Britain’s supply chain of food and medicine could eventually stop as almost half of the country’s haulage companies are now off the road.
“The Road Haulage Association (RHA) have warned that many haulage firms are on the brink of going under, and we are reaching crisis point.”
https://londonlovesbusiness.com/uk-food-and-medicine-supply-chain-could-reach-crisis-point/
Carrying around half-empty vehicles doesn’t work well enough. It is difficult to charge enough for kilo of weight being transported.
Mayor warns that City of Vancouver is on verge of insolvency due to #Covid19 shutdowns as 1 in 4 homeowners can’t pay their property taxes due to economic hardship.
https://biv.com/article/2020/04/vancouver-mayor-warns-drastic-measures-without-federal-and-provincial-government?
vancouver is the brother from another mother of bubbles.
There seem to be any number of things that can be defaulted on: rent, mortgage payments, property tax, income tax, auto payment, and I am sure many other things, like child support payments.
Is this one off or the beginning of what is coming?
Amazon Pauses Grocery Orders Amid “Unprecedented Demand
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/amazon-pauses-grocery-orders-amid-unprecedented-demand
Can anyone in USA give an update on the status empty shelves? Thanks
One of the ZH commenters:
They don’t have **** in stock anyway.
My wife tried Instacart and publix this weekend. Half the order was unfulfillable.
People don’t realize that normal is gone. Shortages are here.
What you were able to get two or three weeks ago was the remaining excess of supply chains that are gone.
Search “closed food processing” or “Food processing workers died” or “food dumping” to see what is going on.
Instead of $1200, your next government delivery will be a 10 pound brick of government cheese.
We are a few weeks away from a requirement to have a reservation to even go in a store. I think this will serve three purposes.
One is to control the numbers of people in stores. If you are not invited, you can’t come in.
Another is to track chronic shoppers and tell them they have used their allowance of store visits
And the worst one, is that being in this registry, you are listed in a directory of traceable individuals not known by a person who becomes infected. Call it “enhanced contact tracing.”
In terms of groceries, here in the UK some very basic products are now no longer available at all, although one can buy highly-processed crap versions.
Eg. no beef suet, and harder or impossible to get some types of flour (with ranges hugely reduced )or yeasts, and some famous names no longer on sale at all, but easy to buy rubbishy ‘over-processed products like ‘pancake, bread or dumpling ‘mix’ -which I wouldn’t touch with a barge-pole.
Worse, in fact, than WW2!
Back in WW2, if you coughed up a bit of extra dough, Maggie Thatcher’s dad could always find you a little something in excess of what your ration book allowed.
Depends where you are. The last time I walked into a store which was almost a week ago, people making the median U.S. wage have begun clearing out the vegetable section. I think that hoarding is continuing but that no one is talking about it anymore.
The first weekend, there was a lot of shopping and things like paper goods, eggs and meat tended to disappear. Also canned vegetables, dried beans, pasta and rice.
Now there is are moderate amount of things available, but often in the high-priced version. Eggs from chickens that are grass fed, for example. Or in sizes that people don’t usually buy. Such as 30 pound turkeys and a few 20 pound bags of rice. A person may need to go to a couple of different stores to find things in stock. Or they may need to substitute something that is sort of similar.
The hardware store seems to be pretty well stocked. One LED light fixture I was looking for was not available. The salesman steered me to another more expensive one that was, because he was uncertain when/if the other would be back in stock.
As it stands the CV19 will not solve the over population. Can it be tweaked to increase its fatality by a factor of 80?
Crop shortages caused by it will do the job, don’t worry.
Just wait for CV20. With all the latest upgrades.
You maybe correct on that!
A must read. https://swprs.org/a-swiss-doctor-on-covid-19/
I would agree with some of this, but not all of this. From the Diamond Princess experience, I think it is pretty clear that aerosol spread of the virus takes place. Also, from the widespread illness after some large church services.
The list leaves out some of the issues with COVID-19. A person may have it, or indirect effects of it, for a very long time, perhaps life. In the US, the cost of hospitalization will tend to be very high for most people hospitalized.
There really isn’t much we can do to get rid of the illness, no matter how hard we try. All we can do is reduce the amount of goods and services produced in all countries of the world. This in turn disrupts supply lines, making it impossible to repair things such as cars and motorcycles that are currently operating. It also moves medications that people expect to use.
The very first reference has the ‘Dea.th rate of South Korea at 0.6%, when it is currently 2.83% and rising. So many of these types of ‘research’ only are looking for articles that support their position, nothing else.
It is really simple when we cut through all the cr@p out there, if there was nothing to be seen with this virus, then the hospitals would not be overrun when the case loads mount up. First we had Wuhan, then Italy and Spain with overrun hospitals. Politicians everywhere know that they will not survive the next election if the country is littered with scenes of mass graves and deaths, so they will and have been acting.
It is very predictable all the lockdowns plus the newly instituted ones in both Hong Kong and Singapore, due to a rising community spread.
not all hospitals are overflowing with patients, einstein. Without knowing how many people are infected it’s hard to formulate a death rate. Not everyone who gets symptoms goes to the hospital.
Thee no known treatment for it so this idea that we need to shut down the economy so hospitals aren’t overwhelmed is flawed. Hospitals aren’t saving lives in many cases.
There really isn’t a cure for pneumonia . Hospitalization is the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass. Why should everyone go destitute and hungry for a Hail Mary pass ?
Anyone can post a video here ….
https://twitter.com/hashtag/filmyourhospital?lang=en
Is it not odd that not a single video has been posted depicting an apocalypse? Surely there must be a LOT of DelusiSTANIS who are frothing at the mouth because anyone DARED to suggest the MSM is lying…. there are comments from these people but strangely … no videos or photos….
How Dare You being all the rage at the moment… huh…
Oooh look at that massive queue at Bellevue! (not… as in NOT a single person)
https://twitter.com/BlogElTrompud0/status/1249822401686319109
Hang on … didn’t I post this yesterday?
AN INSANE SITUATION’: INSIDE THE CHAOS AT BELLEVUE HOSPITAL
https://thecity.nyc/2020/04/coronavirus-crisis-spurs-chaos-in-nycs-bellevue-hospital.html
HK – five. FIVE. new CCPD (aka Wuhan Flu) infections yesterday.
Nice find.
The problem is that no matter how many times you smash a mo r on in the face…. you will not beat the stoooo pidity out of him… he’ll refuse to acknowledge facts…. because he lacks an important body organ — it’s called a brain…
If you cut open his head (or bust it open with a hard right) you will see
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–CrNXzcFv–/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_center,h_900,q_80,w_1600/ynuwu8cx9slmonkfuzey.jpg
An interview with Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai.
From the comments, just to let you know how classy this is:
“Dr Shiva is right. This whole pestilence is part of a huge plot to destroy the financial system”
“Absolutely the best discussion I’ve heard to date that covers every aspect of this manufactured crisis from the political angle to the deliberate misconceptions about the virus.”
“He’s telling nothing but the truth, Dr Shiva, what a great name for this unique doctor. Long time I haven’t seen a person telling the plain truth the way He does.
And the anchor is definitely sweet and lovely…”
“I am learning so much just listening to this one video. Thank you for sharing your expertise. Please keep exposing the evils.”
“Finally some logic instead of fear. We are seeing people finally see that this thing goes way way deeper and for a very long time. If this was real fauci and company would always be wearing a mask.”
And, in the interest of balance:
“Ill see if I can spare some tinfoil for you poor saps. Keep waiting for that new world order.”
https://youtu.be/NjjybyJ59Lw
Shiva used to hang around with the charlatan Deepak Chopra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtLQTae0mKk
and was married to a TV star for some time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XKO8hdnAEw
A self aggrandizer with his own agenda.
Do you hate all successful people? Sorry i like his kool aid brand.
Fair dinkum. It’s good to get background information on people who pop up and talk big on the telly.
But is Dr. Chopra a charlatan? I know nothing about him beyond that he’s rich and that he pushes something called “alternative medicine”.
Dr.Shiva is blinking out some sort of morse code. At 5:30 he’s got her hypnotized and she starts blinking back.
What ist the difference between the human habitat and the animal habitat?
The human habitat requires higher energy supply.
Humans are extremely sensitive to discomfort, because we have been domesticated for so long and with access to fire, clothing and shelter, shielding us from the severity of the elements. And now our domesticated animals are going the same way.
https://pics.me.me/thumb_what-could-go-wrong%E2%80%A6-69674117.png
Yes, that is a nice comparison.
Pardon me please for posting something from Fox News!
But I think Tucker Carlson (on March 7) has basically got it right. We can’t stop coronavirus infections by forcing everyone to stay home and then telling them they can all go to the supermarket to shop for food. Because the supermarket is visited by most people, it is bound to be swimming in other people’s viruses.
https://youtu.be/ZCyqcoC747o
The supermarket is probably the place where you are most likely to pick up a virus (other than a hospital)
Donating blood probably ranks pretty high as well. I am scheduled to give blood on Saturday of this week. The donation site is a church, not a hospital, but the workers have been around a lot of people donating blood.
Bad idea. Giving blood reduces IQ. And Norm… that is not a c th eory… it is true.
Personally… I would never ‘give’ blood away — why should I give me IQ away?
This ain’t communism …. let them earn their own IQ… or pay for it.
Live Free or Die!
You know how they have spe rm banks where women can choose from various contributors… from smart men to athletes etc….
I would have set up something like that but it’s thinking too small — so few people would actually need or want to do that…
I am thinking For Profit Blood/IQ Bank…. you want Fast Eddy Blood + IQ coursing through your body? Say…$1,000,000 for 100ml. Now you might say hang on there… that’s a bit pricey…
To which I would say (and reveal for the first time EVER) … I’ve been doing this for years but on a very exclusive basis… my client list is Bill Gates, George Soros, Kyle Bass, Michael Burry, Jamie Dimon, Jim Rogers… just to name a few.
All of these cats were struggling Big Time…. (in fact Soros was a homeless bum sleeping rough and in stale urine… I gave him some cheap whisky and then transfused him …. and within a month he had made his first million… you can google that if you don’t believe it) until they heard about this killer opportunity… and let me tell you they never paid 1M …. no sirree — the FE Brand was unknown …
I think it’s time to open things up … if someone does not have 1M then I want say 25% of all future action that is sure to come once the IQ Blood Boost takes effect.
Gail – touch base and I’ll get you in the donor program …
Ring ring ring… hallo — oh Norm — sorry Norm can’t get you on the Dre…. oh? you want to join the donor programme? Sorry Norm the lawyers are concerned about legal liabilities… no can do.
On the upside, donating blood reduces the body’s iron burden, a major source of aging according to some observers. Under this theory, all those years of menstruation are a major reason why women tend to live several years longer than men on the average.
Not eating red meat also tends to keep the iron burden lower. A little fish is not a problem.
“Fitch Ratings on Friday cut Ecuador’s long-term foreign currency credit rating to C, a move taken after the government sought a consensual agreement from bondholders for relief from debt payments as it struggles with fighting the coronavirus pandemic and a plunge in oil revenue.”
https://www.latinfinance.com/daily-briefs/2020/4/13/fitch-cuts-ecuador-credit-rating-to-c-default-eyed
“Argentina is heading for its ninth sovereign debt default, analysts have warned, with increasingly frustrated investors set to reject the government’s debt restructuring offer due this month.”
https://www.ft.com/content/2fab03a5-ed35-489e-8f24-980c488d1ec6
It seems to me that “investors” who lend money to a country that has already declared eight sovereign defaults are not people whom I would trust with my money.
A country that defaults eight times may be considered unfortunate.
But nine times starts to look like carelessness.
😀
Thank you, Tim. Oscar Wilde is a great vaccine against viral pessimism.
A person wonders how many countries will have their ratings lowered.
“The global economy was facing the worst collapse since the second world war as coronavirus began to strike in March, well before the height of the crisis, according to the latest Brookings-FT tracking index.
“The index comes as the IMF prepares to hold virtual spring meetings this week, when it will release forecasts showing the deepest contraction for the global economy since the 1930s great depression.
“With confidence indicators falling off a cliff, financial markets in turmoil and real economic indicators plunging, bankruptcies and job losses will leave deep scars on the world economy and hinder its healing for a long time to come, the data suggest…
“With no country immune from the Covid-19 crisis, a recovery once the lockdowns have been eased is likely to be slower than hoped, said Professor Eswar Prasad of the Brookings Institution, who railed at the lack of a co-ordinated policy response from governments…
“…emerging economies have to deal not only with a health and economic crisis, but also with capital flight worse than in the 2008-09 global financial crisis and a sudden slump in demand for their exports.
“The Tiger index’s gloomy reading is in line with other economic indices and forecasts, which increasingly point to the most difficult moment for the global economy in almost a century.
“Prof Prasad [said], “Demand has been ravaged, there are extensive disruptions to manufacturing supply chains, and a financial crisis is unfolding simultaneously,” he said.
““Unlike the 2008-09 crisis that was triggered by liquidity shortages in financial markets, the crisis now unfolding involves more fundamental solvency issues for many firms and industries beyond finance.”
“…the outlook could still get worse if the pandemic continued to spread around the world.”
https://www.ft.com/content/9ac5eb8e-4167-4a54-9b39-dab48c29ac6c
The outlook is definitely not good!
Nice one Harry.
That pretty much confirms the CDT ….
I’ll claim that 10B now Don… what do you mean employees can’t enter??????
You can look at the clickable map on Brookings’ own website and see how the real activity indexes were already crashing pre-virus in nations like Japan, Germany and South Africa.
Not that I am subscribing to your CDT theory, FE. 😀
https://www.brookings.edu/research/april-2020-update-to-tiger-the-coronavirus-collapse-is-upon-us/
I am open to other explanations as to why world leaders are slamming the global economy against a brick wall…
Perhaps some analysis … with the headlines?
I’m just seeing a lot of panic, disorganisation and bureaucracy ill-suited to this sort of challenge. Here in the UK, for example, the Chancellor and Health Secretary are totally at loggerheads over when and how to re-start the economy. Superficially at least, their mandates are in direct opposition – one is tasked with saving lives, the other with protecting the economy. Meanwhile Boris Johnson remains too unwell to play arbiter.
Thanks! That is a nice clickable map. The US and Canada were doing quite a bit better than a lot of the rest of the world (China, Japan, South Africa, Germany, Italy, etc.) so it can be easy to overlook this trend.
From a poster over at http://www.srsroccoreport.com
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/exclusive-u.s.-banks-prepare-to-seize-energy-assets-as-shale-boom-goes-bust-2020-04-09?amp&__twitter_impression=true
Are you kidding me? The banks have become the FED’S special purpose vehicle (SPV) whereby these banks will simply be a front for the FED who will own these toxic assets through extension of bailouts that reach the banks. I do mean toxic as the costs for clean up, road repair, and opportunity costs resulting in this diversion from addressing more practical solutions will never be paid back.
We are holding off on firing up the Rayburn this year…. trying to conserve coal and run on electricity while there is still electricity. It snowed on the mountains last night so winter’s icy breathe has touched us…
We only have space heaters and turn one on in the kitchen/dining area (small ones for the bathrooms when in use) Never turn the heat on in the bedroom as I find sleeping in the cold results in deeper REM… it also increases the IQ considerably (there – FEs secret is out… my IQ business is shot)
Anyway– our dog worships the space heater in the kitchen. She will sit there for hours just enjoying the warmth.
If she could only develop her mind I am sure she also would drive a car… fly to top vacation spots… buy stuff in Kmart… eat in restaurants…. have a nice comfy bed… lots of clothes… drink wine…. go to concerts… might take up skiing…. buy a boat…. amuse herself watching TV and using social media….
We are still running the Waterford Trinity today as the weather is cool and rainy, and five of our six cats are crowded around it the way families used to gather around the tee-vee to watch their favorite shows. I have broken into next year’s wood supply to maintain a cosy temperature as this helps keep the peace between the felines.
The labrador is on the upper floor sleeping under a blanket as he’s too heavy to face the stairs. But we live on a hillside and there is an entrance on the upper floor so he can go in and out as he likes, which is more than a lot of people are allowed to do these days.
I usually reckon on five months of heating—from November 10 to April 10—with only evening to early morning heating for the first and last months and 24-hour heating for the middle three months. By this late in the spring we should be able to get by without any heating at all, but we have exclusive access to a virtually unlimited supply of wood from about 10 hectares of forest, and the weather is damp and chilly, so what the hell.
Tim, sounds like you have it made there. I put a big wood cookstove in a few years ago. Best move ever. My 17 year old ran off a batch of moonshine yesterday and made some bread with wheat that he milled in our kitchen with a hand mill.
The boys and I will be working in the garden today and probably go for a walk to the beach later and do some shooting. I don’t know where all this is going to end but to be quite honest, I’m having the time of my life these days. It feels more like there is no law and we are on our own which is rather exhilarating in the short term.
Very cold here yet too.
Beijing central heating lasts from November 15 to March 15. It is quite cold on March 15, based on when I was there.
https://www.weather-atlas.com/weather/images/climate/0/4/531240-750-temperature-c-en.gif
In Atlanta, we are still using heat at night. Most day-times don’t need heat.
lol
I used to do the operating manuals for Rayburn
you might have in your possession a treasured print of my art.
Here we go again:
Coronavirus latest: China tries to stop second wave as worst-hit countries report fewer daily deaths
China’s new coronavirus cases rise to near six-week high
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3079566/coronavirus-latest-italy-reports-lowest-daily
Told ya so… https://www.thecollegefix.com/epidemiologist-coronavirus-could-be-exterminated-if-lockdowns-were-lifted/
But of course they knew this was going to happen …. it’s part of the plan….
I see workers are going back to work in Spain today, according to the SCMP article. We will see how that works out.
This is the same “too glib” epidemiologist that was linked to before. If there is not good immunity to the virus, it doesn’t matter how many are infected. The virus will still keep coming back around. He also talks about “two weeks up and two weeks down,” in terms of how fast the ramp up and down in cases takes place. Not with COVID-19.
Reminds me of the war in Afghanistan…..
Okay, a bit of humor copied from you guessed it, Zerohedge!.
From an anonymous UPS delivery driver…
5 types of customers since the “rona”:
1) Steve: He has been waiting for this moment his whole life. He has been drinking boilermakers since 10:00 am in his recliner and his AR is within arms reach. He has 6 months provisions in the basement and a bug out bag due west buried in the woods. Steve demands a handshake as I give him his package. He’s sizing me up as I deliver his ammo. Steve will survive this, and he will kill you if he needs to.
2) Brad: He is standing at his window wearing skinny jeans and a Patagonia t-shirt. He is mad because there were no organic tomatoes at Whole Foods today. He points at the ground where he has taped a 6 ft no go zone line from his porch. I leave his case of Fuji water, organic granola bites, and his new “Bernie Bro” hat at the tape. Brad will not survive. Steve will probably eat him.
3) Nancy: She has sprayed everything with Thieves oil. Bought all the Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, meat, and bread from the local grocery chain. She has quarantined her kids and sprays them with a mixture of thieves, lavender, & mint essential oils daily. She has posted every link known to man about “The Rona” on her social media. She will spray you if you break the 6 ft rule. I will leave her yet another case of toilet paper. She will last longer than Brad, but not Steve.
4) Karen: She has called everybody and read them the latest news on “The Rona”. She asked for the manager at Food Lion, Walmart, Publix, McDonald’s, Chi-Fil-A, and Vons all before noon demanding more toilet paper. Karen’s kids are currently faking “The Rona” to avoid her. I’m delivering “Hello Kitchen” to her. Karen will not survive longer than Brad.
5) Mary: Is sitting in the swing watching her kids have a water balloon fight in the front yard as she is on her fourth glass of wine. She went to the store and bought 2 cases of pop tarts, 6 boxes of cereal, 8 bags of pizza rolls, And a 6 roll pack of toilet paper. There is a playlist of Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, and Post Malone playing in the background. I’m bringing her second shipment of 15 bottles of wine in 3 days. Mary will survive and marry Steve. Together they will repopulate the earth.
Ah, no more 3 b’s, but one b and wine to go with those horrible foods that have been aging in the bug out bag.
Dennis L.
The world may indeed be inherited by those who drink wine and remain cheerful – the only truly anxious thought being that supplies might give out….
I’m doing a lot of ordering on the net: recent ‘stock sold out’ items are candles and machetes. Suggests that some people are thinking ahead with clarity. Strong bread flour became impossible to order weeks ago.
On the whole, companies are less and less able to meet orders, or guarantee delivery dates and are imposing rationing – a change over the last week or so.
Quite soon they will shut up shop, lacking stock altogether, so this is my last bout of heavy buying before sitting back and enjoying the wine (rationed, alas!) while we await the decision of the gods…..
Sister in law reporting that prices have spiked around 25% on many items in Canada… she mentioned coffee, meat and vegetables.
We are noticing price increases in NZ.
We have gone the whisky route as it’s easy to rip through a case of wine fairly quickly…
FE,
The last sentence is be best idea you have had in months. It stores well and given time it will be used of its own accord either for drinking or trading. Need to make a liquor store run soon and beat the crowds.
Dennis L.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Mexico 4,600+ cases so up 10% today…
Mexico City is the most populous city in North America…
2 + 2 = …
4600 is the cumulative cases to date. Mexico’s cases to date seem to put it at the low end of European cases, relative to population. Mexico probably got the virus later.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/feds-kashkari-says-us-may-face-18-months-of-rolling-shutdowns/ar-BB12wqGD
rolling shutdowns…
because the R0 guarantees that the virus can’t be contained…
“We’re looking around the world. As they relax the economic controls, the virus flares back up again,” Kashkari said…
so why just 18 months… why not forever?
Because of vaccine?
If we’re lucky.
I will not hear the 17 year cicadas for 15 more years here in western NC. Say what? Yeah, they emerged 2 years ago. Almost like a constant siren in the background for a few weeks. So where did I read that the coronavirus may have the capability to remain dormant within a cell, and then re-emerge when conditions are right, not 17 years like the cicadas but decades later. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah, Chicken pox and shingles, the herpes virus. Remember the old cynical adage: “Herpes is forever.”
I would like to see if any meaningful research has been on these “internal timers.” It may may have a link to why bats may harbor the coronavirus seemingly without ill effect and attributing this resistance to natural selection for the ACEII enzymes that have evolved in bats without the key proteins that allow the coronavirus spike to lock onto and enter the host cell. Instead, a fiendishly clever virus might have evolved a “program” to allow it to remain dormant inside the cell. After all, it can’t spread if it cuts down too many of its hosts all at once. Nature is just playing with us. “You H sapiens think you have my small pox or polio viruses licked? Well, I have plenty more where those came from. “
And remember, although there is ample evidence that this Covid-19 was bioengineered as far as its surface spike proteins and not due to a natural process, the origins of the activation timer, if they exist, are not bioengineered. We humans are too primitive to engineer a new virus or organism de novo. Rather, we just tweek an existing virus that has already been formed by nature essentially in its entirety. (reports of 96% of identical genomes). So the human race may have replaced one hitchhiker like smallpox for another. We just don’t know it yet, or at least we may be overlooking the internal on-off switch this corona virus possesses
This is just such a great image I will try to post it again:
https://terlinguatradewinds.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theory-critical-thinking.png
is this the real story?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8211291/U-S-government-gave-3-7million-grant-Wuhan-lab-experimented-coronavirus-source-bats.html
“The Wuhan Institute of Virology undertook coronavirus experiments on mammals captured more than 1,000 miles away in Yunnan which were funded by a $3.7 million grant from the US government.
Sequencing of the COVID-19 genome has traced it back to bats found in Yunnan caves but it was first thought to have transferred to humans at an animal market in Wuhan.
The revelation that the Wuhan Institute was experimenting on bats from the area already known to be the source of COVID-19 – and doing so with American money – has sparked further fears that the lab, and not the market, is the original outbreak source.”
The Lab was definitely the source – at least in my opinion. There was a YouTube video linked yesterday on this site about the origins of the virus, and some woman who worked in a US lab similar to the Wuhan lab for 30 years said it’s a recombination. She said it has to be because it has the same S enzyme the Sars virus did which binds to human cells, and a segment from HIV which helps it to invade organs. I thought she was the most credible source to determine that it had to have come from a lab.
The recombined virus was the brainchild of a woman virologist working in the Wuhan lab and she openly talked about developing a synthetic virus using bat virus/es as a base starting point. It’s not clear whether or not she intended for it to get out of the lab. Also a Chinese military officer is now in charge of the Wuhan lab.
The Chinese authorities pointed the finger at the seafood market, (which was closed and quickly cleaned to wipe away any evidence) but there were no bats there.
There are those (like Duncan) who claim this is a transfer from bat to human. Let’s do a thought experiment. Thought experiments are common in science, as in example Einstein, and many others. But in this one we will access the probability that the Covid 19 strain is synthetic or a natural “ bat to human” virus. Think of let’s say a million years. The supposed bat virus did not mutate or jump to humans in all that time, despite Chinese eating them all that time, and despite quadrillions and quadrillions of replications over that time. But, we are supposed to believe, that, coincidentally, in a mere 40 yrs of time during which humans have been modifying viruses and genetic code, and having created many biowarfare labs around the world, that just coincidentally, the virus just so happened to jump from bats to humans during that 40 yr period out of a MILLION years period. It is amazing the coincidence that this would happen!
I have heard it said there are no coincidences.
You cannot but conclude that the virus is a result of biowarfare labwork.
I am afraid I don’t find that particular argument convincing. I find other arguments more convincing. For example, it should take more transitions to humans to get it to transfer as efficiently as it does from human to human.
What in the world? I thought that the United States decided in 2014 to stop funding studies having to do with “gain of function” with respect to viruses. This article says it was voluntary.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/10/us-halts-funding-new-risky-virus-studies-calls-voluntary-moratorium
Looking for this article, I found another article, however, from December 19, 2017. U.S. lifts research moratorium on enhancing germs’ danger.
So it looks like we are back where we were before. But sending money to China for this research!!