Tag Archives: coronavirus

medical news

March Madness now becomes March Slumber

You can rest assured that I am not a college basketball fanatic who lives, dies, eats and sleeps according to the bracket I might fill out for the men’s college basketball tournament.

However, the cancellation of March Madness — the men’s and women’s tournaments — is a big, big deal.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed a gigantic “victim” in the form of these two major sports and entertainment events.

Disneyland has closed its park in Anaheim, Calif., the NBA and the NHL have suspended their seasons until further notice; Major League Baseball has delayed its opening day for two weeks (but I’ll bet real American money it’ll last longer than that); colleges and universities are canceling “face to face” classes; school districts are closing for two weeks.

Major disruption anyone? Hmm?

Meanwhile, the Trump administration seeks to restore some semblance of order to the chaos that has enveloped the nation. Its strategy ain’t working. Donald Trump’s speech last night from the Oval Office was meant to quell the stock market turmoil, but it made matters worse; what’s more, the White House issued a “correction” two minutes after Trump’s speech to “clarify” what he had just said in announcing the travel ban from some or most of Europe … whatever the case may be.

So, lots of public institutions that rely on men’s and women’s basketball teams to make money for them are going to do without. Professional team owners that rake in millions every day when their teams performing against each other are watching the turnstiles remain quiet. Same for the Disney Corp.

Oh, how I wish this wasn’t happening. Wishing it, though, won’t solve this problem or end this crisis. Patience and prudence are the rule of the day … and likely beyond the foreseeable future.

medical news, science news

Let’s stop arguing over which ailment is deadlier; it’s Covid-19

I heard him say it with my own two ears, both of which are in good working order.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the world’s leading epidemiologist, told Congress this week that the Covid-19 strain of the coronavirus that the World Health Organization has labeled a pandemic is about 10 times more lethal than influenza.

He said the mortality rate from the flu is less than half of 1 percent; the death rate from Covid-19 is about 3.5 percent.

There. Is that clear? It is to me.

Yet we hear some politicians and other doubters fall back on the raw numbers, the gross number of cases as a defense of their downplaying of the threat that Covid-19 poses to the public. Donald Trump, for one, keeps saying the flu kills more people annually than coronavirus. Yes, that is true. It’s also irrelevant.

Dr. Fauci tells us the pandemic we’re experience is going to worsen before it improves. It could worsen by a lot. Meaning that a lot more human beings are going to succumb to this illness. What’s more, they will do so more frequently than they fall victim to the flu.

I am weary of the argument. Anthony Fauci settled it for me.

Covid-19 presents the type of existential threat to our very lives than the flu ever has done.

Period. Now, let’s get to work trying to control this frightening disease.

local news, medical news

This medical crisis is starting to alarm me

I am not about to push any panic buttons.

However, I am about to change my daily routine while the world responds to the coronavirus outbreak that the World Health Organization has determined to be a pandemic.

I have been walking this good Earth for a little more than 70 years. I do not recall ever living through a medical crisis that has prompted the president to declare a travel ban from virtually an entire continent; nor do I remember sporting events that banned crowds of screaming fans; nor do I recall a time when we ran out of certain supplies such as hand sanitizer and — this is rich — toilet tissue!

And this just in: The NBA is suspending the remainder of its season after tonight’s game until further notice. Holy cow, man!

The coronavirus has gotten our attention. By “our,” I mean my wife and me. We are now wiping down shopping carts and fuel pumps with sanitary wipes. We now are going to restrict our daily travel through our North Texas neighborhood. We’re planning an excursion in our recreational vehicle to points along the Gulf Coast but we are going to stay away from large gatherings of fellow human beings; being the social animal that I am, this is going to drive me a bit nuts, but I certainly understand the need for extreme prudence.

Donald Trump tonight could have declared a national emergency, but he didn’t. He imposed a travel ban for virtually all of Europe to the United States. He exempted the United Kingdom. Why? The UK has a greater per capita infection rate than the United States.

The president is canceling two campaign events. So are Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. They’re all exercising what’s been called an “abundance of caution.” I get it.

So are we in our household.

I am getting alarmed.

education news, medical news

Spring break while WHO declares a pandemic among us? Well …

When someone speaks to me and asks that his or her comments are off the record, I will honor that request … even when the individual tells me something of extreme significance.

That said, I spoke today with a Texas state legislator whose name will remain my secret. He told me was meeting in Austin with state education agency officials on the topic of the Covid-19 outbreak and its potential impact on the Texas public education system.

Get a load of this:

Millions of Texas students are on spring break this week; thousands of Texas teachers are on break, too. Many thousands of students, their families and teachers are going to travel abroad during this time. They will return home late this week and are slated to return to school next week.

This legislator is concerned about the impact that the Covid-19 will have on the system, namely whether it would be wise to allow students and teachers back into classrooms when they might potentially have been exposed abroad to those who are carrying the coronavirus germs.

Hmm. I asked the legislator: Do you think the Texas Education Agency is going to close our schools? This legislator doesn’t think so.

Here, though, is the question I would ask someone in authority: Wouldn’t it be prudent to close Texas’ public school system for two weeks to examine all those who traveled abroad to see if they had been exposed to coronavirus carriers and then extend the school year two weeks at the end of the academic year?

The World Health Organization today declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic, which means it’s beyond epidemic status, that it’s now a worldwide threat to potentially every human being on Earth. The virus is reported in 142 countries, killing more than 4,000 victims worldwide.

Italy has shut down. There might be more nations that follow the Italians’ lead. I don’t expect the United States of America to join them. Still, there well might be some drastic measures on tap to deal with those who ventured perhaps too close to where the coronavirus is doing its worst.

national news

Trump’s unfitness for office on full display

I am not usually one to say “I told you so,” but I want to make an exception right here and now.

I told you that Donald J. Trump’s entire adult life was geared toward one selfish end: to further his own ambition. That history in my view disqualified him from seeking — let alone achieving — election as president of the United States.

He took an oath more than three years ago to protect Americans, to defend the Constitution and to provide for the general welfare of the nation he was elected to govern.

He has failed! Miserably, I should.

The coronavirus is just one more despicable example of this man’s unfitness for public office.

His hideous tap-dance messaging on the coronavirus outbreak illustrates that this individual’s primary objective is not to protect Americans against potentially fatal illness. It is to further his re-election effort.

He didn’t want that cruise ship to dock in Oakland, Calif., because he was afraid it would boost the number of Americans infected by the Covid-19 strain of the virus. He has sought to downplay the danger. He has contradicted the medical experts almost daily. He has boasted (falsely) about his “knowledge” of medical issues, while wearing a Keep America Great campaign gimme cap at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention office in Atlanta.

Jennifer Senior, writing an essay in the New York Times, summed up nicely why that CDC press conference was so damning: That news conference was … the most frightening moment of the Trump presidency. His preening narcissism, his compulsive lying, his vindictiveness, his terror of germs and his terrifying inability to grasp basic science — all of it eclipsed his primary responsibilities to us as Americans, which was to provide urgent care, namely in the form of leadership.

Donald Trump cannot lead a nation of frightened citizens. He is incapable of exhibiting an ounce of the qualities we seek in our president at times like these.

Many of us saw it coming the moment he rode down that escalator in that shiny skyscraper to announce he would seek the presidency of the United States.

I told you so.

International news, medical news, national news

It ain’t the flu; let’s treat this outbreak with seriousness

(Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Donald J. Trump keeps downplaying the severity of the health crisis that threatens to turn into a global pandemic.

He keeps telling us the flu kills thousands of Americans annually and that the Covid-19 virus has taken only a fraction of that amount.

What’s the problem? he wonders.

Here is the problem as I see it, Mr. President: The strain of coronavirus that is causing near panic in many countries has the potential of being far worse than influenza. It is being transmitted by casual contact, what medical/science experts refer to as “community transmission.”

We need to treat this matter with all due seriousness, not pass it off as some sort of “Democrat hoax,” which Trump has called it. We have to establish clear, concise and coherent lines of communication; the White House cannot tolerate any more contradictions from the president of the medical experts who keep telling us the truth about the threat we face.

I continue to believe Wall Street’s reaction to this crisis is partly a result of the clumsy, stumblebum response we keep hearing from the White House and from the president. Yes, there’s also that oil-price fight being waged by Saudi Arabia and Russia, which has sent the price of petroleum plummeting; it’s good for you and me at the fuel pump, but it’s playing hell with the fossil fuel industry, which — for better or worse — still is a key economic driver in this country.

So, let’s stop with the flu comparisons, shall we? The Covid-19 outbreak has turned into a crisis that needs to be treated as a matter that well could put billions of human beings in dire peril.

medical news

Who’s to blame for the stock market free fall? Hmm, let’s see …

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is still in free-fall and of course, Donald John Trump wants to weigh in with his notion of who or what is to blame for our retirement funds being flushed away in front of our eyes.

In a series of Twitter messages today, POTUS posits notions that place the blame on the media and on Saudi Arabia and Russia bitching at each other over the price of oil.

The media? Yep. Of course The Donald would blame the media, which he has taken to suggesting is part of the “Deep State” conspiracy aimed at destroying the presidency while he occupies the office.

That, of course — to borrow a phrase from The Donald — is pure “bullsh**.”

Here’s another thought about what might be driving the markets nuts. It well might have something to do with confused messaging from the White House over the Covid-19 outbreak.

Trump’s health team offers dire warnings about a pandemic, they seek to quarantine cruise ship passengers, they warn against international travel, they are sounding alarms left and right.

Meanwhile, the president says it’s overblown, that he has “no worries” about the virus invading Washington, D.C., that the United States is the best prepared nation on Earth to handle the outbreak, even though health organizations tell us we’re still woefully short of testing kits to examine folks for possible contamination.

The World Health Organization places the mortality rate of those infected at 3.4 percent, but Trump says he has a “hunch” that it’s much lower. What a dipsh**!

Hmm. Well … If I am an investor I might be panicking over the confusion, the lack of steady leadership, the ignorant pronouncements coming from the current president.

Will the president own any of this? Pardon me while I bust out laughing in disgust.

medical news

Prepare for the worst while hoping for the best

My family and I live in two locations in Texas. My wife and I live just a few minutes from our son and his family in North Texas, while our other son lives in the Texas Panhandle, about 360 miles northwest of us.

We’re all acutely aware of what is happening around the world with the Covid-19 outbreak. We all know what we’re supposed to do to avoid being struck by the virus.

However, speaking only for myself I must admit to a bit of confusion, although it’s probably unwarranted.

Our president seeks to downplay the significance of the outbreak, relying on a “hunch” that the mortality rate isn’t as great as it is being reported by those chumps at the World Health Organization.

Meanwhile, health experts tell us to avoid cruises; airlines are slashing flight itineraries; the United States has imposed travel bans to places in Asia and Europe; athletic events are occurring on fields and indoors with no fans in the stands.

Is the coronavirus serious? Well, I am believing that it is. It is far more serious than Donald John Trump seems to suggest it is.

Our family members aren’t overreacting to it. They aren’t closeting themselves indoors. They are going about their lives. So are my we in our house. My wife and I are not going to hunker down unnecessarily.

The cruise ship advisory is just fine with us, as we weren’t planning a cruise any time soon … or later, for that matter. Air travel? We are staying away from airports.

The good news for us is that we’re all blessed with relatively good health. However, we aren’t going to nap at the switch while so many others are being struck down by the virus that can kill people — and has done so already!

As for the confusion, I will set aside what comes from the president and rely instead on the health experts who know better than a politician whose primary interest is in protecting his backside.

medical news

POTUS is the ‘snake’

(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Vice President Mike Pence traveled this week to Washington state to see where the coronavirus has killed more than a dozen residents. After all, he supposedly has taken the point in managing the federal response to the virus.

He met with Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat. He spoke supportively of Inslee’s efforts to combat the coronavirus.

Donald Trump’s response? He went to the Centers for Disease Control and called Inslee a “snake” a “bad governor” and someone who would criticize the federal response to the coronavirus crisis. He said Pence can say nice things about Inslee, but he won’t.

Good … grief!

The president’s petulant, childish, ignorant and boorish reaction to the trouble facing one of our nation’s governors tells me that Trump is the snake.

Trump lies without shame. He enrages me every single day.

medical news, science news

It’s your lying ignorance, Mr. POTUS

Donald John Trump’s lack of credibility was on full display as he toured the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

He claims to know everything about the coronavirus and the impact its outbreak is having on the nation and around the world.

According to DeadState.com: “I like this stuff,” Trump said. “I really get it … Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability.”

Umm. No, Mr. President. You don’t.

Your only “natural ability” that I can discern is to lie with impunity, with no regard, or awareness or understanding of how badly you do it, how transparently false your statements sound to those of us who hear them.

Trump’s credibility in handling the coronavirus crisis is at utterly zero, no matter the fawning praise heaped on him by Vice President Mike Pence or any of the other sycophants who do his bidding.

If we ever hear from a single doctor who can confirm what Trump says about his knowledge of the coronavirus, I will eat my words.