Anti-vaxxers, are you ready to get your shots for coronavirus when it becomes available?

Tray of vacinnes for childhood diseases

The person credited with saving the most lives ever is Edward Jenner, inventor of the smallpox vaccine. The disease had a much higher mortality rate than the novel coronavirus that is confining many people to their homes right now; about 80% of children and 60% of adults who contracted smallpox died of it. In the 20th century alone, it killed more than 300 million people before the vaccine eradicated it worldwide in 1979.

CDC officials announced Tuesday that they believe the new vaccine currently under development aimed at controlling the rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 virus — responsible for causing COVID-19 — will be approved and ready to be utterly rejected by those in the anti-vaccination (anti-vax) movement by next year.

Anti-Vaxxers are terrified the government will ‘enforce’ a vaccine for coronavirus. Anti-vax groups on social media are claiming that the spread of the disease will lead to mandatory vaccinations and ‘unlimited surveillance.’ For most people, the news that a vaccine had been developed against the disease would come as a relief, but for anti-vaxxers it ties together two things. The first is, naturally, an overwhelming fear and distrust of vaccines; the second is a terrified certainty that someday the government will find a convenient excuse to enforce Orwellian degrees of control. This is a common theme in the anti-vax world, and conspiracy theorist communities more broadly: that every disease outbreak is a pretext to enforce a secret, frequently sinister agenda.

When available should we just let them die or force inoculations against their will?

U.S. economy is now in recession but there is Good News

The bad news. Ten million people have filed for unemployment insurance in the past two weeks.

We all knew this day would come, so let’s bow our heads in reverence to what will be remembered as the longest bull–market run in history.

THE NINE YEARS OF JOB GROWTH that started in the aftermath of the Great Recession under BARACK OBAMA and continued under DONALD TRUMP came to a screeching halt in March, when the U.S. economy lost 701,000 full-time jobs. The jobless number rose to 4.4%, up nearly a full percentage point.

The monthly BLS survey was taken March 8 to March 14 — well before the nation went into practically full lockdown — so the unemployment rate is probably much, much higher and likely upward of 10%.

Before the stay at home orders were given by most states the U.S. economy was roaring. Most economists are saying that once the stay at home order is lifted things will return to normal rather quickly.

It’s all about buying stuff.  Americans, I believe, are anxious to continue their buying ways. Of course they might be just a bit more cautious.

The April Fool – A President Divorced from Reality

Quest Diagnostics had about 160,000 coronavirus test orders waiting to be processed on March 25, which amounted to about half of the 320,000 total orders for the tests the company had received up to that date, according to Quest internal materials obtained by CNN.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that there’s no longer a shortage of coronavirus tests, calling the assertion “just not true” and warning that no state has enough tests.

New Orleans Mayor appearing on MTP Daily said they needed 5,000 ventilators but have received about 150.

CBS News obtained audio of a call Monday between Pres. Trump and rural state governors about coronavirus. After Montana Gov. Steve Bullock discusses difficulty getting testing equipment, Trump says, “I haven’t heard anything about testing being a problem.”

At Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing President Trump said that there are almost 10,000 ventilators being “held back” from distribution because “the surge is coming.” Why would the government hold back ventilators that are needed now?

What is the first order of business in today’s briefing is an issue warning of deploying naval vessels searching for drug cartels trying to bring drugs into the United States. It was at that point that I turned off the press briefing and so did MSNBC.

The Blame Game – The Buck Does Not Stop Here

Donald Trump in the East Room discussing health care

The sign “The Buck Stops Here” was on President Truman’s desk in his White House office. In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, “The President–whoever he is–has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.

Sadly our current president takes no responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault. That is strange considering he repeatedly refuses to listen to the specialists in intelligence, health care, and every other department.

As president, Trump blamed “liberal judges” for rejecting his initial travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries. He blamed Obama for his own policy of separating families seeking asylum. He blamed the media and Democrats for perpetrating a hoax about the dangers of the coronavirus. He then blamed China for failing to apprise us about the pandemic, even though he was briefed on it before he took remedial action. He blamed a nonexistent Obama era regulation for his own failure to provide medical professionals with adequate testing kits for the coronavirus. He blamed governors for the lack of protective equipment for health care workers.

March 13: “I don’t take responsibility at all,” Trump said defiantly, pointing to an unspecified “set of circumstances” and “rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.”

March 27: The president blamed General Motors and its CEO, Mary Barra, for not manufacturing more ventilators to treat patients.

What’s next for our very “stable genius?” Or perhaps the question should be Mr. President, When will you take responsibility?

The Failing Joe Biden Presidential Campaign

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 4, 2012, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Los Angeles Times offered an update of the Joe Biden campaign and it clearly pointed out that he has become irrelevant in today’s battle against the coronavirus. Donald Trump has a daily soap box with his updates seen by everyone on-line and on cable television.  Although those updates are filled with lies and wishful thinking where is Joe?  He should be countering Trump but he isn’t. I see nothing telling viewers anything about Mr. Biden.  Biden’s daily updates are not being reported on any news sites. A studio in Biden’s home is a wonderful idea but unless we see announcements of about his presentations and interviews it is all meaningless. Meanwhile Donald Trump is looking presidential.

I’m not alone in my observations. David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, has warned the Biden “Up your campaign, now!”

Census 2020 – An Invasion of Privacy

My life is not the government’s business!

I object to the 2020 census questionnaire. I have no intention of answering their list of questions other than telling the government how many people live in my house and their names. They actually already know that information since it is required information on annual income tax filings. Actually the filing provides some information that is not included in the census questionnaire like social security number and birth date.

The questionnaire asks my race or national origin (White/Irish, White/Lebanese, White/your family’s origin. Black/your family’s origin, American Indian/your tribe, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Chamorro (the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands), Latin American/your family’s country of origin.

What is your relationship with the people living in your house? Are you married and is the person of the same sex or opposite sex?

Who owns your house? If is not your house do you live rent free? Is there a mortgage?

The problem is that the government already knows the answer to many of these questions because you most likely file an income tax return where you provide your social security number and the numbers for your children and spouse. If they want to know who owns your home and if there is a mortgage they can find the answers at the hall of records.

This census questionnaire is really an effort to obtain information about your personal life. For what purpose? I believe we have a government that wants to control our lives and our behavior.

The constitution of the United States directed a census every ten years to allocate members of the House of Representatives. That is the only purpose stated.

I went on-line to fill out the census form. I provided the names of the people living in the house and my phone number. The next on-line question was the inquiry about the ownership of my house. I tried to skip the question. The program would not permit me to do that. I exited the program.

On my census form it says, ‘Your response is required by law. … if you’re over 18 and refuse to answer all or part of the census, you can be fined up to $100. In practice, though, no one has been prosecuted for not filling out the census since 1970, according to a 2014 PolitiFact article.

If they knock on my door I will not tell them anything.