Craziness Over Coronavirus in the U.S. Should I Move to Sweden?

While there was a growing coronavirus epidemic by mid-February, at that time I don’t think that normal people could have predicted the utter craziness that’s going on now. But since that time, governments in the states and in Washington began to impose more and more draconian rules and diktats on the people.

Also in mid-February the stock market began to decline and crash, big time. So, this is a bad time now. And these terrible events were totally avoidable. Governors ordered stores and businesses to close. I mean, really? That’s nuts. And ordering people to stay in their homes? Government-mandated home imprisonment.

And for what? It’s because of coronavirus? Like it’s Ebola. No, it’s a flu, with a 1% death rate, or less than that! Most of the people who get it will have “mild” symptoms, like the flu. But mainly the elderly and those with serious illnesses are the ones who need to be protected.

So I was in the bank, and the teller is saying, “Put your check(s) on the counter and go stand back on the tape on the floor!” And she then stands back like she’s hysterically rushing over to hide, like I might give her the Plague, or the Black Death or something. She was literally hysterical. And so now the bank’s hours are reduced, and we have to make an appointment just to cash or deposit a check! And there’s no good reason for all this.

We’re allowed to go to the grocery store. At two stores there is a line outside, we must stand “6 feet apart,” and still there’s no toilet paper! People, there is no reason to hoard the toilet paper! Oh wait, at one store last week they were putting packages of toilet paper on shelves, but only the 24-packs. The guy said they had nothing smaller at that time. So, I didn’t have enough room to carry an entire 24-pack in addition to the things I needed to get, so I had to pass that up. Oh, well.

By the way, blogger Robert Wenzel mentioned that one idea is to find a restaurant that might be “open,” and ask if they have toilet paper in storage (because they don’t have customers actually going into the restaurant at this time who would be using the restrooms), and offer to pay a good price for a few rolls of toilet paper. I can’t remember if Wenzel mentioned that on his Economic Policy Journal blog or his Target Liberty blog.

But this whole thing is making people needlessly hysterical, like the above bank teller, and others, like neighborhood Nazis who are reporting on their neighbors for escaping from their homes, having gatherings of more than 10 people, or for coughing. Seriously? (Are you a Nazi neighbor? I hope not.)

And, speaking of Nazis, I think that governors who order businesses closed even if their owners had done nothing wrong, and in the absence of due process, are bad enough. But when such governors send their police after travelers coming in from other states and ordering them into quarantine i.e. home or hotel imprisonment, or police going door to door to harass visitors or following cars with NY license plates to terrorize innocent people, those really are Nazi governors, and I hope that each and every one of them loses his/her/its next election. They are horrible, terrible people.

And no, such policies will not “save lives,” or prevent people from getting coronavirus. In Sweden (of all places!) they have a much more relaxed attitude about all this, they aren’t imprisoning people in their homes or closing down businesses. Out of a population of 10 million, Sweden has 105 deaths allegedly from coronavirus as of two days ago. So they aren’t experiencing anything like the people in Italy or New York City, but they do have their FREEDOM!

So all this totalitarian crap is going to continue for the next month? Two months? Crash the economy? For a flu?

Aluminum May Have a Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

According to the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, aluminum buildups in the brain have been shown to be linked to familial Alzheimer’s Disease.

And I find this to be very important, because aluminum has been a known adjuvant in many vaccines. This second article refers to autism, but these articles are showing that high amounts of these elements such as aluminum that buildup in the brain over time can cause neurological problems.

“The science is settled” on the vaccine issue? No, the science is not settled on the vaccine issue.

Spread of Coronavirus in Italy and Italian Culture

Why are there so many deaths from coronavirus COVID-19 in Italy, even more than China? Some people are saying that it’s because there’s not enough testing in Italy. But, according to this March 18th Bloomberg article,

More than 99% of Italy’s coronavirus fatalities were people who suffered from previous medical conditions, according to a study by the country’s national health authority.

After deaths from the virus reached more than 2,500, with a 150% increase in the past week, health authorities have been combing through data to provide clues to help combat the spread of the disease.

…

The new study could provide insight into why Italy’s death rate, at about 8% of total infected people, is higher than in other countries.

The Rome-based institute has examined medical records of about 18% of the country’s coronavirus fatalities, finding that just three victims, or 0.8% of the total, had no previous pathology. Almost half of the victims suffered from at least three prior illnesses and about a fourth had either one or two previous conditions.

More than 75% had high blood pressure, about 35% had diabetes and a third suffered from heart disease.

…

The average age of those who’ve died from the virus in Italy is 79.5. As of March 17, 17 people under 50 had died from the disease. All of Italy’s victims under 40 have been males with serious existing medical conditions.

While data released Tuesday point to a slowdown in the increase of cases, with a 12.6% rise, a separate study shows Italy could be underestimating the real number of cases by testing only patients presenting symptoms.

According to the GIMBE Foundation, about 100,000 Italians have contracted the virus, daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported. That would bring back the country’s death rate closer to the global average of about 2%.

Also, a higher percentage of Italy’s elderly are smokers. And there may be another reason why there is such a higher rate of infections in Italy, the fact that Italians are more affectionate than perhaps people in other countries, with the hugging and kissing in their greetings. And apparently it’s is hard to shake that habit.

It would be quite revealing, I think, if the news reporters here in the U.S. would give some statistics as far as what percentage of those confirmed cases that are in the hospital or in ICU are smokers or ex-smokers, and what are the specific preexisting conditions that many people have who are getting seriously ill from COVID-19.

Does Coronavirus Justify Governors Violating the Constitution?

The hysteria and panic continues with the COVID-19 coronavirus, a virus that is much like the flu, and which has a death rate of 1% or less. Probably much less than 1% of those who get it will actually die from it. According to the World Health Organization, over 80% of those who get COVID-19 will have “mild,” flu-like symptoms and recover. According to Forbes, recent studies showed that another 15-20% of those infected have no symptoms at all (and in Japan it was 30%).

I know, people who do not have symptoms but who may have the virus are also supposedly a problem, because they could have the virus and not know it and then give it to someone else. That is why at this time people have to be careful, and maybe just not be with (or be too physically close to) those who are more vulnerable, such as the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. Especially those with respiratory illnesses or conditions.

But the hysteria still is not justified, in my opinion, given that most of the people who do experience symptoms will have “mild” symptoms. And unlike Ebola with a 90% death rate, COVID-19 has a 1% (or less) death rate.

Not only are the hysteria and panic not justified, but the lockdowns, the orders to stay inside, restaurants and other businesses to be closed (and some will be closed permanently because of that), and causing more people to be unemployed, is not only not justified but actually criminal in the governments’ usurpation of the rights of the people, in my opinion.

Governors are ordering people to “shelter in place,” i.e. home imprisonment, in which you can’t go out unless you have to do something that’s “essential,” and ordering “non-essential” businesses closed. (But what about the laundromat? Is that “essential”? We need to have clean clothes! Being sanitary is important, especially at this time.)

How do our masters and overlords define “essential” and “non-essential”? Hmm?

The governors of California, New York, Connecticut, Illinois and New Jersey imposed their irrational and draconian orders to shelter in place, stay at home, don’t go out, except going to the grocery store, etc.

All “liberal” governors.

At least the governor of Texas Greg Abbott issued more of a voluntary order, more or less voluntary anyway. “Every person in Texas shall avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people,” “shall avoid eating or drinking at bars, restaurants, and food courts, or visiting gyms or massage parlors,” but he’s not (so far) saying “may not go into,” or “must not,” or ordering those businesses to be shut down. Phew, that was close.

The Texas governor also stated, “This executive order does not mandate sheltering in place.” And that is what, so far as of today, the governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker has stated. He gave an “advisory” that people remain at home or “shelter in place,” but didn’t give a mandatory order. However, he did order all “non-essential” businesses be closed.

But why not let businesses be open if they want to be, and let the general population patronize the businesses if they want to, voluntarily, and decide for themselves whether or not to enter a business, voluntarily. Who are these bureaucrats to order that we stay in or that businesses be closed?

Some of the restaurants and similar businesses who have been ordered to be closed will end up closing permanently and workers will be out of a job now, because of these orders.

You can say what you want about Judge Napolitano on Fox News, but he had a good piece on how these orders violate the U.S. Constitution, which supposedly is the law of the land:

The Contracts Clause of the Constitution prohibits the states from interfering with lawful contracts, such as leases and employment agreements. And the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the states from interfering with life, liberty or property without a trial at which the state must prove fault. The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires just compensation when the state meaningfully interferes with an owner’s chosen lawful use of his property.

…

Add to all this, the protection in the First Amendment of the right to associate and the judicially recognized right to travel — both of which are natural rights — and it is clear that these nanny state rules are unconstitutional, unlawful and unworthy of respect or compliance.

With a 1% death rate or less, why are so many people acting like this virus is an Ebola-like disease? Why the irrationality? And again, I understand that some people are dying from it, mainly the elderly and people with serious medical illnesses. But we aren’t panicking or acting hysterically with the regular seasonal flu, which so far this season has killed 20,000 people in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Why is this different? Why are these politicians so willing to cause so many job losses now and not only a recession worse than in 2008, but possibly a depression? And Trump might want to make things even worse, with his considering putting a halt to Wall Street trading and possibly ordering a national “shelter-in-place” i.e. home imprisonment.

What’s going on?

Is COVID-19 Coronavirus Panic Giving Way to an Escalated Police State?

Besides the governors of various states ordering “shelter in place” i.e. home imprisonment, police in New Jersey are now arresting people for violating the government’s “no more than 50 people at gatherings” rule. In that story, two homeowners have been arrested for hosting weddings on their property, with more than 50 people there. Those police are party poopers, quite frankly.

But with this 24-7 news cycle of all-COVID-19. all the time, everybody knows about it, and they know that they might want to think twice about attending large gatherings. That said, the American way is the voluntary way. Let people voluntarily go to a damn wedding if they want to, knowing the risks.

Oh, I see, because of possible “community spreading,” more people can be infected by COVID-19 and pass it along to their grandmother. But it’s the same thing with the flu and other infectious diseases and viruses that could be going around. (The flu has killed 20,000 people in the U.S. so far this season. That’s relevant.) I can see if the death rate were a lot higher this situation would be something to be more concerned about. But it’s a 1% death rate, or less than that.

So now it’s a police state with a particular contagious virus that’s more like the flu, and certainly not comparable to Ebola.

Besides police arresting innocent people, now the U.S. Department of Justice wants Congress to allow officials to have new emergency powers to detain people indefinitely, citing coronavirus pandemic, i.e. panic.

So all this is becoming more like 9/11 and the post-9/11 police state with the Patriot Act, FISA secret kangaroo courts, and other totalitarian impositions. And this is even more made up a situation, given that COVID-19 really is closer to the seriousness of the flu, compared to Ebola at the other end of the scale.

In New York City, transit workers are being given “travel papers,” to prove that their work that they are going to is “essential,” and they are excused from Gov. Cuomo’s order to be imprisoned in your own home.

These government people really suck, in my opinion.

Everybody, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, especially while out, and don’t visit with elderly people for a while. If you are elderly or have a serious condition especially a respiratory condition, maybe you should stay in for a while.

But this police state i.e. martial law, is the way for a totalitarian, third-world, tin-pot dictatorship. It’s not America.

Mass Hysteria in the U.S. with COVID-19

With this COVID-19 coronavirus panic and hysteria, the real trouble is coming not from the virus itself but from the panic and hysteria, over-hyped by a very dishonest “news” media, in my opinion. It’s the first time in my 50+ years that I have seen this kind of panic and hysteria over what appears to be the same kind of illness as the flu.

But in the U.S., in which we’ve been through a Civil War and other major wars, Y2K, 9/11, not to mention the “Spanish Flu” of 1918, SARS and H1N1, with COVID-19 it is as though “We’re All Going to Die!” People are literally hysterical.

We’re talking about a mortality rate of up to 1%, people! The hysterical ones are treating something with a mortality rate of 1% as though it is Ebola that has a mortality rate of 90%!

And many of those who actually do get infected probably won’t notice it or have symptoms, and most of those who do come down with the symptoms will only experience “mild” symptoms. 99% of those who get it will NOT die.

In fact, I believe that this virus has been around in the U.S. and other parts of the world outside of China for months now, and that many people have already had the damn virus and probably assumed that what they had was just a flu or a cold. That is my theory on that.

Most of the deaths from officially-confirmed COVID-19 in the U.S. have been in Washington state, and most of them were from a single nursing home. Most of the people who are dying from this disease are in their 70s and 80s. Even in China, not one child below the age of 10 has died from this disease.

If you’re young, try not to worry. If you think you may have contracted the virus, then to protect the more vulnerable among us, just don’t go into a nursing home or hospital, and so on. Tell Grandma you’ll visit her in another month, just in case.

But with our “snowflake” culture in America now, the major sports leagues are canceling their remaining games. Concerts are being canceled, and museums are closing down. And Wall Street is crashing, and not because of the COVID-19, but because of panic and hysteria. This really sucks now.

The “news” media especially suck, because they are also sensationalizing this virus situation, and over-hyping to the point of eliciting even more panic and hysteria, so that people are rushing to their stores to clear out the shelves to get toilet paper and foods and necessities.

The public schools are closing for a few weeks or a month, and in some cases they and businesses are being like Felix Unger, “scrubbing down” and “disinfecting,” “out of an abundance of caution.”

No, out of an abundance of hysteria and irrationality!

Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade has been canceled, as it has been canceled in other cities such as New York, and the Boston Marathon has been postponed until September.

Am I the only one around here who thinks all that is overkill?

Instead, officials should warn elderly people or those who have serious illnesses to not participate in or attend those events. But canceling all these events for everybody?

And then we have Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declaring a “State of Emergency!” As of today there are 108 “cases” (not “confirmed,” just “cases” which means they could be cases of common flu or something else) and ZERO deaths in Massachusetts.

So other power-grabbing governors are ordering the schools including private schools closed! One thing’s for sure, these politicians love power, they love ordering others around and throwing their weight around.

And this is what we have now. Irrationality. Authoritarian declarations by governors, and all the cancellations of sporting events, concerts and public gatherings, colleges and schools ordering students to leave their dorms early, completely unnecessary.

John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute recently wrote an article on how the COVID-19 overkill could be the excuse of our overlords to impose a Total Surveillance State. (This is another reason why I am a libertarian.)

According to the health officials who are not hysterical or bought and paid for by Big Pharma or who are not on a power trip, most of the people who actually get the COVID-19 virus may experience more mild than severe symptoms. Some may need to be hospitalized. If people already have respiratory issues, or smoke or live in heavily polluted areas, they are more vulnerable.

I think this is like any flu virus or cold that goes around. Chances are that most people will get this virus. They just have to be self-protective if you are among the more vulnerable, the elderly and those with serious medical conditions.

But the country is hysterical now, and it’s affecting the stock markets. And that’s a BIG problem, in my opinion. This mass hysteria is what really frightens me, not the virus itself.

What else concerns me are those people out there who are always on the lookout for someone to report on. So, watch out for all the Gladys Kravitzes out there, everyone. If you go out with a slight runny nose or happen to sneeze out in public, the health stasi may report on you. (Out of concern? No, out of ignorance and hysteria, and self-importance!)

Some More Rational Articles on COVID-19

Here are some of the more rational articles I have seen recently regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus that I thought people would find enlightening.

COVID-19 Isn’t As Deadly As We Think by Dr. Jeremy Samuel Faust (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School)
The Misleading Arithmetic of COVID-19 Death Rates and COVID-19 deaths and incredible WHO estimates by Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute)

And here is a study that was linked from an article at libertarian website LewRockwell.com:

Study: (47%) Potential false-positive rate among the ‘asymptomatic infected individuals’ in close contacts of COVID-19 patients, from PubMed.