Al Peffley

Here is more information about Hubei Province impacts from inside China sources that I found this morning:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8165717/Locals-Wuhan-believe-42-000-people-died-coronavirus.html

The media report sounds believable considering the reported lethality of this pandemic virus outbreak and satellite sensor data transmissions from NASA atmospheric surveillance satellites of cremation gas [and smoke] emmisions around Wuhan. (Edited on 31 March, 2020. There! Is that better sentence structure?)

Some of our state governors are using the pandemic orders for political leverage and supressing "essential" commercial public services. Distancing makes sense, but some people are angry and acting out inappropriately. We don't need a police state to handle distancing guidelines, just public cooperation and social awareness and shopper warnings enforcement. The jails are full enough with bad people without adding misdemeanor violators to the jails' population.

Tom Chavez

Al, the article you refer to has no basis except an anonymous person who did not want to give his real name. 

Did you stop to wonder how people under lockdown know exactly how many urns have been handed out from seven different locations every day? 

Several sensationalist newspapers have stated that satellite maps showing very high levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in areas of China affected by the new coronavirus may indicate the mass burning of dead bodies. Most of those statements have been removed.

Fullfact.org says the claim is false: The maps are not satellite images, and do not show actual levels of sulphur dioxide. They are simply forecasts based on historical data and weather patterns from a weather forecast site called Windy.com.

Snopes.com (fact checking site): The data presented are not a real-time observation of sulfur concentrations above Wuhan. The image is a computer-model output designed to predict, based on a historical knowledge, what concentration of sulfur is likely. Second, sulfur is not a significant emission from human cremation. It is, however, a significant emission from the burning of coal in power plants. The area directly below the hotspot shown in Twitter thread is, in fact, the Wuhan Iron & Steel Company.

The origin of this is a viral Twitter thread. Anybody can say anything. Why not fact check before posting?

Gregg Wilson

Any detection of sulfur dioxide is from coaled fired power plants and steel mills.

However, the communist government has been lying about everything.

They sent, what was presumably test kits and protective gear, to the Netherlands. It was worthless and the Dutch threw the material away.

Communist China is in very big trouble. Their lying about the coronavirus will result in many countries never trusting them again. I have bought goods made in China. They were unreliable and broke down. This includes medicines which were recalled because they were contaminated.

And, Tom, this comes from my direct experience.

Tom Chavez

Good advice about how to bring groceries and take out food into your home while protecting against viruses; video by an American doctor.

https://youtu.be/sjDuwc9KBps

Virginia Wolfe (Scheffer)

I too, appreciate all the advice, humor and articles you are all posting.  My mother (now 100) who lived in Great Britain during the war, always told us the reason so many survived is because "we were all in it together."   Same applies now, we will survive!!!!  Thanks to all the first responders!!

Al Peffley

No where in my posting did I mention "sulfur dioxide". Snopes is biased and they sometimes omit information because of political correctness. I have seen them spin all kinds of answers -- they don't know everything, and neither do we. I did not get my information on Twitter. If the factories were shut down, then how could they emit smoke (especially in non-industrial locations outside of the city)? Actually, the report was that in the Wuhan metro area the pollution level had gone down, because the factories were shut down, workers and their families were staying at home, and the coal-fired plants and major imdustries were producing less contaminants. You are reading words into my comments that are not there. The deaths to recovered ratio in China does not make sense compared to data ratios from the rest of the world that is being gathered from epicenter areas like northern Italy (or even Washington State, for that matter.)

Tom Chavez

How the Czech Republic flattened the curve!

The growth of coronavirus cases has “flattened” in the Czech Republic ever since the country’s government has made masks compulsory, claimed data scientist Jeremy Howard.

In the Czech Republic, the growth of new cases is low whereas in other parts of Europe the pandemic is largely out of control. This occurred after the government announced it was compulsory to wear something covering your mouth and nose when leaving your residences – such as a home-made mask or a scarf — on March 18.

Masks catch droplets from breathing, coughing and sneezing, and thus viruses are contained instead of being spread/sprayed into the air. People may not know they are infected, but if they wear a mask, they are unlikely to infect others.

Howard claimed that “one of the key reasons for the decrease in the growth of the cases is a massive country-wide community initiative to create and wear home-made masks.”

In just 10 days, the country went from no mask usage to nearly 100 percent usage, with nearly all the masks made at home with easily accessible materials, like old t-shirts.

Howard claimed that South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan are using masks to prevent the spread of the disease. “In South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan there is no lock-down. Yet COVID-19 is being controlled in these countries. How has this happened? One of the key reasons is that mask-wearing in public is ubiquitous and socially expected,” Howard said.

When I wear a mask, I protect you; when you wear a mask you protect me. Let's protect each other!

How to make your own mask with scissors, sewing supplies and tightly woven cotton fabric: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/opinion/coronavirus-n95-mask.html

Tom Chavez

Al Peffley

A few tips when you are away from home and return home (some repeated from my past postings):  Wearing a face mask keeps you from touching your face around your mouth and nose (advice from a South Korean MD Health Services Official). Glasses keep your eyes protected (but goggles are better if your imune system has been compromised or you have prior respitory issues), and latex/vinyl/nitrile gloves keep the skin on your hands from collecting the pathogen on grocery store surfaces. Wipe the exposed surfaces of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) items with 3% hydrogen peroxide solution when you get home if reusing items. Wash home-made masks often. My wife is washing the hand towel in our main bathroom daily. Wipe door handles with hydrogen peroxide on disposable paper towels. Wash your WET hands for 20 seconds with any soap and warm water (including around nails and under rings). Be safe out there for the next three weeks. We have still not seen a significant bend in the US of the confirmed cases curve, but the reported death count is still low compared to Italy and Spain that are both much smaller countries than the US population.

Gregg Wilson

We have the problem that the testing for coronavirus has been slow and very inadequate. It is unknown how many Americans had the virus and recovered. They could be, of course, tested for the antibody. But that has not been done.

So the hypothesized per capita death rate is probably overstated. If "herd" immunity is underway, then returning to work could be sooner than predicted. The current demand of "staying home", etc, may be an overreaction by the politicians.

I am not saying to rush forth and ignore the safety precautions. But the testing has to be greatly speeded up, so we have a better assessment.

Tom Chavez

Parable of the Four Wives

Once upon a time there was a king with four wives. The king caught corona virus, and was soon on his death bed. 

Afraid to go into the afterlife alone, he called his fourth wife, whom he loved the most and whom he had gifted with diamonds, gold and elegant clothing. He asked her, “ Will you die with me and go with me to the afterlife?”

The fourth wife replied, “I’m sorry, I can’t do that,” and walked away.

The king also loved his third wife of whom he was very proud. He would show her off to neighboring kingdoms. So he called her and asked, “Would you accompany me to the afterlife?”

The third wife replied, “I’m sorry, I cannot go with you. When you die, I’m going to remarry.”

The second wife had always been there for him in times of need, so he asked, “Would you accompany me to the afterlife?”

The second wife then replied, “I’m sorry that I can’t do that, but I will arrange your funeral and be there for your funeral.”

A voice called out saying, “I will leave with you and follow you wherever you go, even if it is to the afterlife.” 

The king looked, and it was his first wife, the one whom he cared for the least. Embarrassed, he said, “I’m sorry. I should have taken better care of you and given you more attention during my life.”

The moral of this story is that we all have four wives. Our fourth wife is our body. We like to decorate it with jewelry and clothing, but in the end it can’t follow us to the afterlife.

The third wife represents our possessions. We gather many possession and proudly show them off, but in the end, they cannot follow us to the afterlife, they will go to others, just like the third wife said that she would remarry.

The second wife, our friends and family, we trust them. They are always there for us in time of need, but the furthest they can go with us is to our funeral to send us off. 

The first wife represents our soul, our consciousness. We usually neglect taking care of our soul, but that is all we have in the afterlife.

Care for your body, keep it healthy. Enjoy your possessions and the comfort they provide. Cherish your friends and family for the love they give. 

But don’t forget to care for your soul, your very consciousness. Take time alone, to pray, to meditate, to realize your true self, the source of all your life and your most faithful friend.

Al Peffley

I like the parable. Tom. It sounds like good advice to me.

The tests should come soon. This sounds like the right test candidate if they can pull it off without the FDA dragging their feet:

https://www.militaryaerospace.com/sensors/article/14172933/smartphone-test-coronavirus?utm_source=MAE+Weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200331011&o_eid=7433D6821612C5R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7433D6821612C5R&oly_enc_id=7433D6821612C5R

I am sure there are other test options, but this one sounded promising, if the sample culture strips work.

Second Try Shopping at Costco

We went to COSTCO today for the "8 A.M., Thursday Morning Shopping Hour for Seniors". It was raining hard and the waiting line (with six foot distancing markers) was a block long! There was no cover from the rain mixed with a few snow blobs and it was cold this morning at NW Vancouver Costco, near Salmon Creek. Costco buildings don't have eaves except at the front door areas. We left that "senior zoo queue" situation and went to breakfast at a nearby Carls Jr. drive-thru.

By the time we returned to Costco at 10:00 AM there was no line to enter and the parking lot was maybe one tenth full instead of two thirds full. You have been warned.

I would say our Costco is about 85% back to normal stock quantities on the racks and floor displays. They have reasonable item purchase quantity limits posted. Employees are seen constantly cleaning all surfaces that get handled frequently. Our Costco has a large plexiglass screen installed now between the customer and their cashier at each checkout position. Their prepared fast food service counter for cutomers was closed. The employees were polite and friendly. Gas pump handles were cleaned by the attendents immediately after each fueling session was completed. They are limiting customer entrance to approximately 50 customers shopping in the warehouse at one time. I did not see any people wandering around looking at stuff, they just shopped quickly and got out of there ASAP. Maybe 60% of customers were wearing masks, and at least 80% of customers were wearing gloves. People were good at distancing. I did not see any Costco employees wearing masks and few wearing gloves (those employees cleaning surfaces with disinfectant spray bottles and cleaning towels).

Bill Engelhardt

Wait a minute....

Tom Chavez

I’d bask in the glow of your approval, Al, but I suspect that you just like the idea of having four wives. Ha!

Here is a tempting segue into marriage and sex, but how can I go there with the coronavirus on the prowl?

Why, Coronavirus, why?! You are making us die and cry!

This is another zoonotic disease, coming into human society from animals. Ebola, HIV, mad cow disease, swine flu, SARS, MERS, bird flu, all these diseases are linked to the exploitation of animals. Of course, atheists will say it is just a matter of chance, with no rhyme or reason, and no God in control…

“…but you and I have been through that, and this is not our fate.

Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.” —Jimi Hendrix

I refer to an ancient Vedic text, written in the oldest human language, Sanskrit:

“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned

by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself,

which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things,

knowing well to whom they belong.” —Sri Isopanisad Mantra One

Nothing happens by chance, there is divine intelligence behind everything, every motion even of a blade of grass. 

Our factory farms put the animals through lives of misery, and slaughter billions annually. They suffer, they are conscious, and they also have souls, for consciousness is the symptom of the soul. 

“The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the

worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.” —Sri Isopanisad Mantra Three

I wonder, does that have anything to do with the Coronavirus?

Al Peffley

Your "plants only" diet tried to kill me with a kidney and lower GI tract infection from a calcium and plant oxalates stone obstruction, Tom. White rice is OK, brown rice - not so much. I thank God for modern orthoscopic surgery and mini lasers technology!

You'll like this one, Gregg -

Bill - great photo...LOL! I saw a similar disconnect at WINCO the other day. The Safeway ads are getting smaller and smaller in our local newspaper. Charmin ads are still showing up on TV -- who is not buying TTP?!!!

Tom Chavez

Hydroxychloroquine and Dr. Fauci

Report from Katherine Seley-Radtke, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and President-Elect of the International Society for Antiviral Research, University of Maryland, a medicinal chemist researching antiviral drugs for 30 years and coronaviruses for the past seven:

A study just published in a French medical journal provides new evidence that hydroxychloroquine does not appear to help the immune system clear the coronavirus from the body. 

Hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin gained attention after a study published on March 17 by Philippe Gautret in Marseille, France. Most of his patients only had mild symptoms, 85% didn’t even have a fever.

A second French group, led by Jean-Michel Molina, has tested hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin on 11 patients; 8 had underlying health conditions, and 10 had fevers when the dosing began. After six days, eight still tested positive for COVID-19, one died, two were transferred to the ICU and another had serious complications.

A similar study in China also showed no difference in viral clearance after seven days either with or without hydroxychloroquine for the patients in the trial. This supports Molina’s findings.

End of Professor Seley-Radtke’s report summary.

Note that Dr. Anthony Fauci has been attacked and vilified for not endorsing the use of Hydroxychloroquine without further research. A member of this forum referred to an article expressing extreme antipathy toward Dr. Fauci.

It may still turn out that some combination including hydroxychloroquine is effective. We should let the medical professionals work without attacking them for political ideological reasons. Let’s not let negative emotions get out of hand.

Anti-vaccine groups have also blasted Dr. Fauci for supporting immunizations, and accused him of promoting coronavirus vaccine research to enrich pharmaceutical companies.

Due to the proliferation of fanatical threats against Dr. Fauci’s life, the Justice Department recently authorized the U.S. Marshals Service to provide security for Dr. Fauci. That such a dedicated and expert public servant has been attacked so unjustifiably does not do justice to who we should be as a society.

Gregg Wilson

It is snowing here on April 3, 2020. I am praying for global warming.

Tom Chavez

Big Money Heading to China

Al and Gregg, you like to bash China, but some entrepreneurs see it differently.

Not much has happened in the past few weeks that hasn’t been overshadowed by the coronavirus. But here’s a $30 trillion example. China on April 1 officially opened its fund management market to foreign firms such as BlackRock and Vanguard. The $30 trillion number is how much in assets companies could be managing in this market by 2023. 

It’s also why industry luminaries such as BlackRock’s Larry Fink, who said as recently as February that he sees great opportunity in China, have made the country a key part of their global strategies. 

But it won’t be easy. China has plenty of local champions, ranging from giant state-owned commercial banks to Jack Ma’s Ant Financial, which owns the country’s largest asset manager. Then there are celebrity investors like Chen Guangming, whose funds are so popular that he can raise $17 billion in a day.

Tom Chavez

Help Protect Our Healthcare Workers & Caregivers

Do you have supplies? Can you sew? Check this website to see how you can help:     https://www.getppe.org

Bill Engelhardt

Al Peffley

This is an interesting article written by an Olympia, Washington resident who is a book author, part-time journalist, farmer, and international missionary:

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/04/an_eyewitness_perspective_on_how_south_korea_tackled_the_covid19_virus.html

Some cultural traits can be an asset in trying times like these. We need to get out of this draconian lock-down mentality and still use appropriate PPE, temperature checks, testing, sanitize hands and surfaces, and social distancing to curb spreading the virus. Our Bill of Rights feedoms are being violated in some states, with little return on isolation investment for the loss of those individual freedoms due to panic and misinformation.

Tim Jones (Jones)

I'd say we're on the ragged edge of martial law, especially if the worst is yet to come. Closing the beaches down here in Pacific County, closing the boat yard at Swantown Marina in Olympia, parks and recreation areas closed and numerous other businesses closed. 

I suppose the reasoning is we were so grossly unprepared. I'm guessng a lot of those 'Preppers' out there are feeling pretty smug right now. 

I took my boat out for three days.  Was great to get out of the house.  The sun came out occasionally, but it was pretty cool out there.  46 degrees and a 8 to 10 mph wind.  Had pancakes for breakfast and baked a loaf of bread on Friday morning. 

We've got a long way to go so hunker down and stay informed. 

Tom Chavez

A Philosophical Response

Tim, you are fortunate to get away out on the water. I go almost daily to the bayou for a jog. There are a lot more people out there these days. I don't want to lose my freedom to go out for exercise and fresh air, but that day is inexorably approaching.

Why the negativity? I'm being realistic. I got a message this morning from a friend in China who just lost their son due to a brain tumor. He was a good kid, just ready to graduate from high school.

My friend was asking, why? I recommended the philosophy of the Gita.

Arjun was suffering on the battlefield, facing an opposing army which included respected teachers, cousins, friends and relatives. Krishna explained how to act in a way to become free from suffering.

Material laws are the cause of all physical actions and reactions, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world. We should not blame others for our suffering. What comes to us is due to our own past actions, in this life and in previous lives.

The intricacies of action and reaction are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action (karma), forbidden action (vikarma) and inaction (akarma) are.

As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjun, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities. In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge.  

Transcendental knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.
 
The doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge. Armed with yoga, O Arjun, stand and fight.

Tom Chavez

Face Masks and Taiwan

From the start, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there was no need for people who are well to wear masks. That position was adopted by the United States, Britain, much of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Singapore. 

On Friday, both the US and Singapore switched to advising citizens to wear masks. The WHO also made the U-turn, due to growing evidence that people infected with the coronavirus may not show symptoms but can still infect others.

Taiwan’s ability to control the Covid-19 outbreak highlights the strengths of its medical system. Taiwan has offered to donate urgently needed face masks and medical aids to other countries.

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen promised, “We will donate 10 million face masks, or around one day’s production, to support medical workers in countries where the Covid-19 outbreak is particularly severe. Later on, we will provide even more support to the international community based on our domestic production capacity.”

Tsai also offered to share the island’s electronic quarantine system that uses big data analytics.

Due to its geographical closeness to mainland China and the frequent exchanges of people, Taiwan had been expected to be one of the places worst hit by the Covid-19 outbreak.

But Taiwan’s fast response in tackling the virus, transparency in informing the public, efficiency in tracking confirmed infections and advice for the public to use face masks have been credited by health experts in keeping the disease under control.

As of Saturday, the island had recorded 355 cases of infection and five deaths.

Stephen Tan, president of the Cross-Strait Policy Association, a private think tank, said Taiwan was hoping to enlarge its participation in global affairs and show that it could do better than mainland China.

Beijing has also tried to to promote itself internationally by offering face masks and other medical supplies, but some equipment was defective and had to be recalled.

< Report from South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) >

Bill Engelhardt

The fashionable ensemble