lewrockwell--2020-04-29--Covid-19 and the Red Dawn Emails

Covid-19 and the Red Dawn Emails

The Covid-19 outbreak has so far killed more than 200,000 people and frightened billions more into panic .
A panic that deprives most of them of any critical sense and pushes them to make or approve stupid political decisions .
A group of personalities , Red Dawn , whose correspondence was revealed by Kaiser Health News and the New York Times website , managed to impose an apocalyptic ideology : China would have declared war on us and we could only protect ourselves by confining all civilians .
In an earlier article [ 1 ] , I demonstrated how frightening @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Covid-19 would cause were made by a charlatan , Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London , who has been repeatedly contradicted by the facts over the past two decades .
I have also shown in another article [ 2 ] that the containment measures in China were not medically motivated , but politically motivated ( the “ Mandate from Heaven ” theory ) .
It remains to be explained where the mandatory containment of everyone as practiced in the West comes from .
Solgar Vitamin D3 ( Cho ... Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) I spent weeks and weeks looking at epidemiological literature , but nowhere did I find any evidence of such a measure .
Never in history has an epidemic been fought in this way .
Then , a corner of the veil was indirectly lifted by correspondence revealed by Kaiser Health News : this measure had been planned by the Bush administration in 2005-07 .
The assignment of military and civilians In 2005 , the US Department of Defense was studying how to prepare for bioterrorist attacks against US troops stationed abroad .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are foreigners and that they would not be able to enter US military facilities , the department was concerned about preventing attacks that soldiers might face during their sorties .
Isolating sick soldiers in hospitals and placing healthy soldiers in barracks was a logical option .
Moreover , U.S. military bases are small towns , designed to withstand sieges .
One can live there for months without any problems .
However , Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld intended to transform society so that the distinction between civilian and military would disappear .
Everyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war on terror .
This is what he explained in an op-ed published by the Washington Post [ 3 ] .
UVILIZER Flip | Foldab ... Buy New $ 29.95 Dr. Carter Mecher of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Dr. Richard Hatchett of the National Security Council have been asked to extend this military rule to civilians .
They were only able to impose it on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 , just before Rumfeld ’ s departure .
It immediately sparked a storm of protest in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Donald Henderson , who had headed both the John Hopkins University School of Public Health and the US epidemic response system .
He – and all the doctors who spoke out at the time – believed that placing the entire population under house arrest made no medical sense and violated fundamental freedoms .
It is nothing more and nothing less than the totalitarian drift of the administration that had passed the USA Patriot Act on the occasion of the September 11 attacks .
It was not until 2017 that all official US documents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration .
Richard Hatchett became the director of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations ( CEPI ) , which coordinates global vaccine investments .
One of the Red Dawn e-mails .
Dr. Lawler explicitly refers to the plan developed for President Bush by Drs .
Mecher and Hatchett to place the civilian population under house arrest .
Resveratrol Supplement ... Buy New $ 21.95 ( $ 0.37 / Count ) Everyone followed the contradictions in the White House press briefings on the reaction to Covid-19 .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advocated authoritarian measures to contain the epidemic , while apparently unconscious President Donald Trump opposed containment measures in the name of freedom for all .
In order to prove the president ’ s incompetence , Dr. Fauci ’ s friends leaked some of their correspondence [ 4 ] .
It appears that they formed a discussion and action group , the Red Dawn [ 5 ] .
This name refers to a little-known operation by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger who , in 1984 , sent a delegation throughout Europe and Latin America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the face of an imminent invasion of the United States .
The French Secretary of State for External Relations , Jean-Michel Baylet , told me about this grotesque attempt at manipulation : a host of US generals had come to Paris to expose in the most serious way possible that the world ’ s leading power was threatened by two small , poor states , Cuba and Nicaragua .
In the room , the French diplomats , who could not believe their eyes at being taken for fools in this way , were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ laugh in their faces .
To support this campaign , the Pentagon had a propaganda film made by Hollywood with Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen .
Later , it used the name “ Red Dawn ” to refer to the operation to capture Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003 .
By choosing to be called “ Red Dawn ” , the 37 personalities involved clearly display their visceral anti-communism .
There is no longer a USSR , but the Communist Party still rules China , from where the epidemic originated .
They claim @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regain power and wage war .
Among the members of this group are the inevitable Drs .
Anthony Fauci ( Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ) and Robert Redfield ( Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ) as well as Drs .
Carter Mecher ( advisor to the Department of Veterans Affairs ) and Richard Hatchett ( Director of CEPI ) who imposed the military rules of civilian containment during the Bush administration .
Survival of the Riches ... Donald Jeffries Best Price : $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hatchett ’ s ideas were taken up in full by French President Emmanuel Macron .
We are at war and we must confine all civilians to their homes to protect ourselves .
They have also been taken up by some US governors , but not by President Donald Trump .
The rest is well known .
Panic has gripped public opinion .
Political leaders fearing that they will be accused of doing nothing are mimicking those who act .
The U.S. military rule adopted by France has spread like the virus it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is interrupted .
Food problems are arising everywhere and , if nothing is done , famines will appear , including in certain sectors of rich countries .
[ 3 ] “ A New Kind of War ” , Donald Rumsfeld , The Washington Post , September 27 , 2001 .
[ 5 ] “ ‘ Red Dawn Breaking Bad ’ : Officials Warned About Safety Gear Shortfall Early On , Emails Show ” , Rachana Pradhan & Christina Jewett , Kaiser Health News , March 28 , 2020 ; “ The ‘ Red @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Faltering Response to the Coronavirus ” , Eric Lipton , The New York Times , April 11 , 2020 ; “ The Social Distancing Origin Story : It Starts in the Middle Ages ” , Eric Lipton & Jennifer Steinhauser , The New York Times , April 23 , 2020 .
The Best of Thierry Meyssan

The Covid-19 outbreak has so far killed more than 200,000 people and frightened billions more into panic. A panic that deprives most of them of any critical sense and pushes them to make or approve stupid political decisions. A group of personalities, Red Dawn, whose correspondence was revealed by Kaiser Health News and the New York Times website, managed to impose an apocalyptic ideology: China would have declared war on us and we could only protect ourselves by confining all civilians.
In an earlier article [1], I demonstrated how frightening statistical predictions of the number of deaths that Covid-19 would cause were made by a charlatan, Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London, who has been repeatedly contradicted by the facts over the past two decades.
I have also shown in another article [2] that the containment measures in China were not medically motivated, but politically motivated (the “Mandate from Heaven” theory). It remains to be explained where the mandatory containment of everyone as practiced in the West comes from. Solgar Vitamin D3 (Cho... Buy New $15.00 ($0.12 / Count) (as of 11:23 UTC - Details)
I spent weeks and weeks looking at epidemiological literature, but nowhere did I find any evidence of such a measure. Never in history has an epidemic been fought in this way. Then, a corner of the veil was indirectly lifted by correspondence revealed by Kaiser Health News: this measure had been planned by the Bush administration in 2005-07.
The assignment of military and civilians
In 2005, the US Department of Defense was studying how to prepare for bioterrorist attacks against US troops stationed abroad. Based on the neo-conservative principle that terrorists are foreigners and that they would not be able to enter US military facilities, the department was concerned about preventing attacks that soldiers might face during their sorties. Isolating sick soldiers in hospitals and placing healthy soldiers in barracks was a logical option. Moreover, U.S. military bases are small towns, designed to withstand sieges. One can live there for months without any problems.
However, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld intended to transform society so that the distinction between civilian and military would disappear. Everyone could then be requisitioned for the total war on terror. This is what he explained in an op-ed published by the Washington Post [3].
UVILIZER Flip | Foldab... Buy New $29.95 (as of 02:45 UTC - Details) Dr. Carter Mecher of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Dr. Richard Hatchett of the National Security Council have been asked to extend this military rule to civilians. They were only able to impose it on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006, just before Rumfeld’s departure.
It immediately sparked a storm of protest in the United States under the leadership of Professor Donald Henderson, who had headed both the John Hopkins University School of Public Health and the US epidemic response system. He – and all the doctors who spoke out at the time – believed that placing the entire population under house arrest made no medical sense and violated fundamental freedoms. It is nothing more and nothing less than the totalitarian drift of the administration that had passed the USA Patriot Act on the occasion of the September 11 attacks.
It was not until 2017 that all official US documents mentioning this measure were destroyed by the Trump administration. Richard Hatchett became the director of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which coordinates global vaccine investments.
One of the Red Dawn e-mails. Dr. Lawler explicitly refers to the plan developed for President Bush by Drs. Mecher and Hatchett to place the civilian population under house arrest.
“Red Dawn”
Resveratrol Supplement... Buy New $21.95 ($0.37 / Count) (as of 02:49 UTC - Details) Everyone followed the contradictions in the White House press briefings on the reaction to Covid-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s ephemeral scientific backer, advocated authoritarian measures to contain the epidemic, while apparently unconscious President Donald Trump opposed containment measures in the name of freedom for all.
In order to prove the president’s incompetence, Dr. Fauci’s friends leaked some of their correspondence [4]. It appears that they formed a discussion and action group, the Red Dawn [5].
This name refers to a little-known operation by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger who, in 1984, sent a delegation throughout Europe and Latin America seeking the help of the Allies in the face of an imminent invasion of the United States. The French Secretary of State for External Relations, Jean-Michel Baylet, told me about this grotesque attempt at manipulation: a host of US generals had come to Paris to expose in the most serious way possible that the world’s leading power was threatened by two small, poor states, Cuba and Nicaragua. In the room, the French diplomats, who could not believe their eyes at being taken for fools in this way, were pinching their lips so as not to laugh in their faces. To support this campaign, the Pentagon had a propaganda film made by Hollywood with Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen. Later, it used the name “Red Dawn” to refer to the operation to capture Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
By choosing to be called “Red Dawn”, the 37 personalities involved clearly display their visceral anti-communism. There is no longer a USSR, but the Communist Party still rules China, from where the epidemic originated. They claim that it is up to them to regain power and wage war.
Among the members of this group are the inevitable Drs. Anthony Fauci (Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and Robert Redfield (Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) as well as Drs. Carter Mecher (advisor to the Department of Veterans Affairs) and Richard Hatchett (Director of CEPI) who imposed the military rules of civilian containment during the Bush administration. Survival of the Riches... Donald Jeffries Best Price: $7.29 Buy New $11.50 (as of 07:10 UTC - Details)
Dr. Richard Hatchett’s ideas were taken up in full by French President Emmanuel Macron. We are at war and we must confine all civilians to their homes to protect ourselves. They have also been taken up by some US governors, but not by President Donald Trump.
The rest is well known. Panic has gripped public opinion. Political leaders fearing that they will be accused of doing nothing are mimicking those who act. The U.S. military rule adopted by France has spread like the virus it is supposed to fight until the world economy is interrupted. Food problems are arising everywhere and, if nothing is done, famines will appear, including in certain sectors of rich countries.
—
[1] “Covid-19: Neil Ferguson, the Liberal Lyssenko” , by Thierry Meyssan , Translation Roger Lagassé , Voltaire Network , 20 April 2020.
[2] “Covid-19: propaganda and manipulation” , by Thierry Meyssan , Translation Pete Kimberley , Voltaire Network , 21 March 2020.
[3] “A New Kind of War”, Donald Rumsfeld, The Washington Post, September 27, 2001.
[4] Document : ‘Red Dawn’ Emails (80 p., 24,8 Mo).
[5] “‘Red Dawn Breaking Bad’: Officials Warned About Safety Gear Shortfall Early On, Emails Show”, Rachana Pradhan & Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News, March 28, 2020; “The ‘Red Dawn’ Emails: 8 Key Exchanges on the Faltering Response to the Coronavirus”, Eric Lipton, The New York Times, April 11, 2020; “The Social Distancing Origin Story : It Starts in the Middle Ages”, Eric Lipton & Jennifer Steinhauser, The New York Times, April 23, 2020.
The Best of Thierry Meyssan


lewrockwell--2020-04-29--Up for a New Cold War—With China?

Up for a New Cold War—With China?

Is America , in lockdown , with 26 million unemployed and entering a new depression , up for a confrontation and Cold War with China ?
For that appears to be where the GOP wishes to lead us .
According to Politico , a 57-page memo from Mitch McConnell ’ s senatorial committee instructs GOP candidates to blame the coronavirus pandemic on China , commit to stand up to China , end U.S. dependence on Chinese manufacturing and tell voters “ my opponent is soft on China.
” “ China is not an ally , and they ’ re not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adversary and the Chinese Communist Party is our enemy , ” reads one of the talking points .
China Rx : Exposing the ... Singh , Janardan Prasad Buy New $ 13.99 Sunday , Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas echoed the memo , charging that China ’ s leaders wanted the coronavirus to spread because they “ did not want to see their relative power and standing in the world decline.
” Cotton went on : “ It ’ s a scandal to me that we have trained so many of the Chinese @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come here and learn Shakespeare and the Federalist Papers — that ’ s what they need to learn from America ; they don ’ t need to learn quantum computing and artificial intelligence from America.
” The Wall Street Journal ran back-to-back editorials last week urging a more confrontational stance toward Beijing and endorsing GOP plans for new defense spending on U.S. air and naval forces in the Western Pacific .
Cotton and the Journal are not wrong in their characterization of China ’ s behavior .
It is belligerent toward its neighbors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China has indeed sent student-spies to study at U.S. universities .
Under cover of the coronavirus crisis , Beijing is moving to strip the 7 million people of Hong Kong of the rights they were guaranteed when the British departed .
The Uighurs of Xinjiang are being persecuted and coercively cleansed of their cultural and religious beliefs .
GOCOM Walkie Talkies F ... Buy New $ 48.99 The Peoples Liberation Army seeks to intimidate Taiwan by sending military aircraft near the island .
China ’ s warships have harassed Vietnamese , Malaysian , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its claim to the entire South China Sea .
Chinese propagandists have accused the U.S. of creating the coronavirus crisis that broke out in Wuhan last winter .
JFK may have been inexact when he observed : “ When written in Chinese , the word ‘ crisis ’ is composed of two characters .
One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.
” But that is an accurate description of how China has conducted itself since it unleashed the Wuhan virus upon the world .
But why did Americans , after a 40-year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” ever believe differently about the Communist Party of China ?
Under the code of that party , the morality of an act is determined by whether it advances or retards the goals of the regime : expansion , conquest and domination .
C. Crane CC Skywave SS ... Best Price : $ 156.39 Buy New $ 169.99 As President Ronald Reagan undiplomatically observed in an early press conference , Communists reserve to themselves “ the right to lie , cheat and steal , ” which is pretty much how the Chinese Communists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reengaged with them in 1972 .
What course does the Journal recommend that we pursue ?
“ Freedom of navigation exercises ” by U.S. naval and air forces are “ not enough to secure the Western Pacific from Chinese domination.
” Instead , the Journal says the U.S. “ may need to start recognizing claims of countries like Vietnam to make China pay a price for further expansion .
The U.S. should also try to maintain its defense pact with the Philippines ’ mercurial President Rodrigo Duterte.
” The Journal seems to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vietnam ’ s claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea .
None of these islands belongs to us ?
Why should the U.S. Navy risk a clash at sea by making us a party to these latest quarrels halfway around the world ?
Vietnam is a country of 95 million people .
Like China , it is also Communist .
The Philippines have more than 7,000 islands and 100 million people .
Indonesia has 17,000 to 18,000 islands and is the fourth-most populous nation on earth with 267 million citizens .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ South China Sea with China acquire coastal navies to defend their own waters ?
Why is the Journal volunteering the U.S. as Coast Guard of the South China Sea ?
The Journal argues that with Chinese nationalism rising under Xi Jinping , “ It ’ s more important than ever for the U.S. to signal that it considers the independence of Pacific states a vital interest and isn ’ t retreating.
” The independence and borders of these states is undeniably vital to them .
But how is that vital to us , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ side of the Pacific ?
This is power politics , pure and simple .
The Best of Patrick J. Buchanan

Shop all books by Pat Buchanan
Is America, in lockdown, with 26 million unemployed and entering a new depression, up for a confrontation and Cold War with China?
For that appears to be where the GOP wishes to lead us.
According to Politico, a 57-page memo from Mitch McConnell’s senatorial committee instructs GOP candidates to blame the coronavirus pandemic on China, commit to stand up to China, end U.S. dependence on Chinese manufacturing and tell voters “my opponent is soft on China.”
“China is not an ally, and they’re not just a rival — they are an adversary and the Chinese Communist Party is our enemy,” reads one of the talking points. China Rx: Exposing the... Singh, Janardan Prasad Buy New $13.99 (as of 04:38 UTC - Details)
Sunday, Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas echoed the memo, charging that China’s leaders wanted the coronavirus to spread because they “did not want to see their relative power and standing in the world decline.”
Cotton went on: “It’s a scandal to me that we have trained so many of the Chinese communists. If Chinese students want to come here and learn Shakespeare and the Federalist Papers — that’s what they need to learn from America; they don’t need to learn quantum computing and artificial intelligence from America.”
The Wall Street Journal ran back-to-back editorials last week urging a more confrontational stance toward Beijing and endorsing GOP plans for new defense spending on U.S. air and naval forces in the Western Pacific.
Cotton and the Journal are not wrong in their characterization of China’s behavior. It is belligerent toward its neighbors and hostile toward the United States.
China has indeed sent student-spies to study at U.S. universities.
Under cover of the coronavirus crisis, Beijing is moving to strip the 7 million people of Hong Kong of the rights they were guaranteed when the British departed. The Uighurs of Xinjiang are being persecuted and coercively cleansed of their cultural and religious beliefs. GOCOM Walkie Talkies F... Buy New $48.99 (as of 04:33 UTC - Details)
The Peoples Liberation Army seeks to intimidate Taiwan by sending military aircraft near the island. China’s warships have harassed Vietnamese, Malaysian, Philippine and Indonesian commercial vessels to assert its claim to the entire South China Sea.
Chinese propagandists have accused the U.S. of creating the coronavirus crisis that broke out in Wuhan last winter.
JFK may have been inexact when he observed: “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”
But that is an accurate description of how China has conducted itself since it unleashed the Wuhan virus upon the world.
But why did Americans, after a 40-year struggle with another “Evil Empire,” ever believe differently about the Communist Party of China?
Under the code of that party, the morality of an act is determined by whether it advances or retards the goals of the regime: expansion, conquest and domination. C. Crane CC Skywave SS... Best Price: $156.39 Buy New $169.99 (as of 03:13 UTC - Details)
As President Ronald Reagan undiplomatically observed in an early press conference, Communists reserve to themselves “the right to lie, cheat and steal,” which is pretty much how the Chinese Communists have been behaving toward us since we reengaged with them in 1972.
What course does the Journal recommend that we pursue?
“Freedom of navigation exercises” by U.S. naval and air forces are “not enough to secure the Western Pacific from Chinese domination.”
Instead, the Journal says the U.S. “may need to start recognizing claims of countries like Vietnam to make China pay a price for further expansion. The U.S. should also try to maintain its defense pact with the Philippines’ mercurial President Rodrigo Duterte.”
The Journal seems to be suggesting that we formally recognize and back Vietnam’s claims to disputed islands in the South China Sea. None of these islands belongs to us?
Why should the U.S. Navy risk a clash at sea by making us a party to these latest quarrels halfway around the world?
Vietnam is a country of 95 million people. Like China, it is also Communist. The Philippines have more than 7,000 islands and 100 million people. Indonesia has 17,000 to 18,000 islands and is the fourth-most populous nation on earth with 267 million citizens.
Cannot the nations that share the South China Sea with China acquire coastal navies to defend their own waters? Why is the Journal volunteering the U.S. as Coast Guard of the South China Sea?
The Journal argues that with Chinese nationalism rising under Xi Jinping, “It’s more important than ever for the U.S. to signal that it considers the independence of Pacific states a vital interest and isn’t retreating.”
The independence and borders of these states is undeniably vital to them. But how is that vital to us, 8,000 miles away, on the other side of the Pacific? This is power politics, pure and simple.
The Best of Patrick J. Buchanan


lewrockwell--2020-04-29--Lockdown Continues To Kill

Lockdown Continues To Kill

Even cancer examinations and organ transplants not acutely necessary for survival cancelled to make room for Covid-19 patients .
A @ @ @ @ @ concludes that there are currently about 2000 people per week dying at home without Covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ do not want to use the health care system .
These are mainly emergency patients @ @ @ @ @ as well as chronically ill people .
The German newspaper DIE ZEIT focuses on the @ @ @ @ @ hospitals , which in some departments are as high as 70 % .
Even cancer @ @ @ @ @ were not acutely necessary for survival had been cancelled to make room for Covid-19 patients @ @ @ @ @ far been largely absent .
Fear Itself : The Cause ... Gordon , Ann Best @ @ @ @ @ New $ 16.90

Even cancer examinations and organ transplants not acutely necessary for survival cancelled to make room for Covid-19 patients.
A new analysis from the UK concludes that there are currently about 2000 people per week dying at home without Covid-19 because they cannot or do not want to use the health care system. These are mainly emergency patients with heart attacks and strokes as well as chronically ill people.
Delays cancer treatment
The German newspaper DIE ZEIT focuses on the high vacancy rates in German hospitals, which in some departments are as high as 70%. Even cancer examinations and organ transplants that were not acutely necessary for survival had been cancelled to make room for Covid-19 patients, but these have so far been largely absent.
Read the Whole Article
Fear Itself: The Cause... Gordon, Ann Best Price: $23.69 Buy New $16.90 (as of 04:13 UTC - Details)


The Great Conundrum

Don ’ t it always seem to go , that you don ’ t know what you ’ ve got ‘ til it ’ s gone , Joni trilled half a century ago .
Another song , by CSN , went , it ’ s been a long time coming , it ’ s gon na be a long time gone .
Boomers .
Back in the day – before they invented the hedge fund , glyphosate , and political correctness – they had a way with the deep vision thing .
And now , here we are !
Just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is code , of course , for return to normal .
You ’ re kidding , right ?
Where I live , the future happened ten years ago .
Main Street is nothing but consignment shops , that is , old stuff people got rid of , mostly for good reasons .
The one thing you can ’ t get there is food , unless there ’ s a bowl of mints next to the cash register .
Oh , and the Kmart in town shuttered exactly a year ago , so the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , too .
Welcome to America , the next chapter .
Too Much Magic : Wishfu ... James Howard Kunstler Best Price : $ 4.53 Buy New $ 8.06 The public is understandably frantic to bust out of their quarantine bunkers .
Seven weeks of jigsaw puzzles bears an interesting resemblance to the old Chinese water torture .
( Can you even say that ?
There , I said it for you . )
What will they find as they emerge blinking from the doleful demi-life of the sequester ?
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just about everything no longer works the way it was set up to work .
For instance : work itself .
A lot of it has gone missing .
Despite the feel-good propaganda broadcast on CBS ’ s 60 Minutes , converting General Motors ’ Kokomo plant into an emergency respirator manufacturing operation is not going to save that company , or the greater mission it serves : US suburban life per se .
The car industry was on-the-ropes before the Covid-19 virus landed .
Car dealers were so desperate to move the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they attempted to induce folks who had already defaulted on their car loans to come sign up for another car and a new loan .
And that was after they ’ d tried seven-year loans for pre-owned vehicles .
General Motors sold 7.7 million vehicles last year , while the whole US auto industry sold 17 million .
They are not going to survive as boutique car-makers .
Which leads to the Great Conundrum of the moment : Reality is telling us that things organized on the gigantic scale are entering failure mode @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by exactly those activities organized on the gigantic scale .
Or were , I should say .
The humungous joint effort by the federal government and its caporegime , the federal reserve , to flood the system with dollars is precisely a desperate effort to prop up the giant-scale activities that defined the prior state-of-things .
Those giant enterprises even did an end-run around the truly small businesses that were supposed to get scores of billions in grants , loans , and bailouts so congress is attempting a do-over of that play .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kunstler , James Howard Best Price : $ 1.10 Buy New $ 10.56 The question , then , is how do you go through a swift and dramatic re-scaling of a hypertrophic , excessively complex , ecologically fragile economic system in a way that doesn ’ t produce a whole lot of damage ?
I can ’ t answer that satisfactorily except to say this : at least recognize what the macro trend is ( downscaling and re-localization ) , and support that as much as possible .
Don ’ t knock yourself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enterprises that need to go out of business .
Don ’ t bankrupt the society or destroy the meaning of its money to prevent the necessary bankruptcy of things that must go bankrupt .
Remove as many obstacles as you possibly can to allow smaller-scaled enterprises to thrive and especially to support the rebuilding of local networks that smaller-scaled businesses play their roles in .
Apart from the insane spending orgy of the fed-gov and the fed , a lot of this is already underway organically and emergently .
Few have failed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retail , for instance .
Macys , JC Penny , Neiman Marcus and many other outfits like them are whirling around the drain .
By the way , even the holy sainted Walmart will not be immune to this trend .
Its supply lines have been cut .
And , as I averred on Friday , Amazon ’ s dumb-ass business model will sink with the oil and trucking industries .
Realize , too , commerce will persist in human life .
It just won ’ t be the Blue-Light-Special , credit-fueled phantasmagoria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decades .
Commerce , i.e .
the trade in goods , will have to be reorganized differently .
There are huge opportunities for young people who recognize this .
Living in the Long Eme ... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $ 24.95 All this remains to be worked out , and quite a work-out it is apt to be before we get to it .
Even with those glorious $ 1200 checks , millions of people know just how broke and how probably screwed they are .
They are being let out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the land .
It will be momentarily exhilarating .
Then , the rage and resentment will percolate up and the bile will rise .
Before you know it , they ’ ll be singing that other old Boomer refrain of yesteryear ( the Rolling Stones ) : Summer ’ s here and the time is right for fighting in the street… .
The Best of James Howard Kunstler

Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone, Joni trilled half a century ago. Another song, by CSN, went, it’s been a long time coming, it’s gonna be a long time gone. Boomers. Back in the day – before they invented the hedge fund, glyphosate, and political correctness – they had a way with the deep vision thing. And now, here we are! Just like they saw it.
Open up is code, of course, for return to normal. You’re kidding, right? Where I live, the future happened ten years ago. Main Street is nothing but consignment shops, that is, old stuff people got rid of, mostly for good reasons. The one thing you can’t get there is food, unless there’s a bowl of mints next to the cash register. Oh, and the Kmart in town shuttered exactly a year ago, so the supply of new-stuff-waiting-to-be-old-stuff has been cut off, too. Welcome to America, the next chapter.
Too Much Magic: Wishfu... James Howard Kunstler Best Price: $4.53 Buy New $8.06 (as of 10:05 UTC - Details) The public is understandably frantic to bust out of their quarantine bunkers. Seven weeks of jigsaw puzzles bears an interesting resemblance to the old Chinese water torture. (Can you even say that? There, I said it for you.) What will they find as they emerge blinking from the doleful demi-life of the sequester? It’s liable to be a society in which just about everything no longer works the way it was set up to work.
For instance: work itself. A lot of it has gone missing. Despite the feel-good propaganda broadcast on CBS’s 60 Minutes, converting General Motors’ Kokomo plant into an emergency respirator manufacturing operation is not going to save that company, or the greater mission it serves: US suburban life per se. The car industry was on-the-ropes before the Covid-19 virus landed. Car dealers were so desperate to move the merch off the lot last year that they attempted to induce folks who had already defaulted on their car loans to come sign up for another car and a new loan. And that was after they’d tried seven-year loans for pre-owned vehicles. General Motors sold 7.7 million vehicles last year, while the whole US auto industry sold 17 million. They are not going to survive as boutique car-makers.
Which leads to the Great Conundrum of the moment: Reality is telling us that things organized on the gigantic scale are entering failure mode; but so many Americans are employed by exactly those activities organized on the gigantic scale. Or were, I should say. The humungous joint effort by the federal government and its caporegime, the federal reserve, to flood the system with dollars is precisely a desperate effort to prop up the giant-scale activities that defined the prior state-of-things. Those giant enterprises even did an end-run around the truly small businesses that were supposed to get scores of billions in grants, loans, and bailouts so congress is attempting a do-over of that play. World Made by Hand: A ... Kunstler, James Howard Best Price: $1.10 Buy New $10.56 (as of 10:30 UTC - Details)
The question, then, is how do you go through a swift and dramatic re-scaling of a hypertrophic, excessively complex, ecologically fragile economic system in a way that doesn’t produce a whole lot of damage? I can’t answer that satisfactorily except to say this: at least recognize what the macro trend is (downscaling and re-localization), and support that as much as possible. Don’t knock yourself out trying to save giant, foundering enterprises that need to go out of business. Don’t bankrupt the society or destroy the meaning of its money to prevent the necessary bankruptcy of things that must go bankrupt. Remove as many obstacles as you possibly can to allow smaller-scaled enterprises to thrive and especially to support the rebuilding of local networks that smaller-scaled businesses play their roles in.
Apart from the insane spending orgy of the fed-gov and the fed, a lot of this is already underway organically and emergently. Few have failed to notice the death throes of national chain retail, for instance. Macys, JC Penny, Neiman Marcus and many other outfits like them are whirling around the drain. By the way, even the holy sainted Walmart will not be immune to this trend. Its supply lines have been cut. And, as I averred on Friday, Amazon’s dumb-ass business model will sink with the oil and trucking industries. Realize, too, commerce will persist in human life. It just won’t be the Blue-Light-Special, credit-fueled phantasmagoria we got used to for a few decades. Commerce, i.e. the trade in goods, will have to be reorganized differently. There are huge opportunities for young people who recognize this. Living in the Long Eme... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $24.95 (as of 10:56 UTC - Details)
All this remains to be worked out, and quite a work-out it is apt to be before we get to it. Even with those glorious $1200 checks, millions of people know just how broke and how probably screwed they are. They are being let out of confinement just as fine spring weather sweeps across the land. It will be momentarily exhilarating. Then, the rage and resentment will percolate up and the bile will rise. Before you know it, they’ll be singing that other old Boomer refrain of yesteryear (the Rolling Stones): Summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street….
Reprinted with permission from Kunstler.com.
The Best of James Howard Kunstler


lewrockwell--2020-04-30--The COVID-19 and ‘Spanish’ Flu Pandemics, A Century Apart

My wife and I began the new year completing a two-week holiday cruise to Hawaii on the Star Princess , sister ship to the Diamond Princess , returning to Los Angeles on January 3 .
Our flight home was uneventful .
All seemed well .
In February , the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high ( 29,551 on Feb 12 ) .
Nothing to worry about .
Then came a virus virologists name “ SARS-CoV-2 ” ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 ) which causes “ Covid-19 ” ( Coronavirus disease , beginning in [ November ? ]
2019 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ man in the Seattle area who had recently returned from visiting family in Wuhan , China had a fever and dry cough and was found to be infected with Covid-19 .
As of April 28 , 2020 , in the U.S. , 1,011,6000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 ( Covid ) with 58,343 deaths .
Pale Rider : The Spanis ... Spinney , Laura Best Price : $ 24.05 Buy New $ 15.49 The 1918-1920 influenza pandemic ( Spanish flu ) killed 675,000 Americans .
One of them was my grandmother Mary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she fell ill and suddenly died , her stepmother , Mary Lyde Hicks Williams ( my great grandmother ) , a professional portrait painter , painted this portrait of Mary Ashby with her 18-month old daughter Charlotte ( my mother ) standing next to her .
Mary Ashby died in January 1920 at the tail end of the pandemic , age 23 .
Her daughter endures and will be 102 in July .
My wife ’ s grandmother Agnes Posten , an Irish immigrant , also died in that pandemic , age 26 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Spanish Flu in a population of 105 million and with 675,000 deaths , a 2.3 % fatality rate .
“ Fast forward ” to today .
The Director-General of the UN ’ s World Health Organization ( WHO ) , Tedros Ghebreyesus , an Ethiopian politician ( and former leader of a terrorist group ) —the first non-physician to head this body—declared that Covid-19 has a 3.4 % mortality rate .
With a rate this high Covid could kill many millions of people worldwide .
This spawned a global panic .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who become infected with this virus , did not get tested and didn ’ t get sick .
Up to 80 % of people who test positive for Covid either have no symptoms or only mild ones imitating a cold .
Counting them in the equation , the mortality rate for Covid in Wuhan , China would be closer to 1.4 % than 3.4 % .
The 1918-20 influenza pandemic killed between 15 and 100 million people worldwide , 0.8 % to 5.6 % in a population of 1.8 billion ( see here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 7.8 billion , one of comparable lethality could kill between 60 to 430 million people .
The “ Spanish ” flu started in Kansas .
It spread in 3 main waves .
The first one , from March to June 1918 , was relatively mild .
Soldiers called it “ the 3-day flu.
” It was seldom fatal , with a mortality rate near 0.5 % ( 5 deaths in a thousand cases ) , close to seasonal flu of 0.1 % .
The second wave , from August to December , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ While the first wave of flu in 1918 was relatively nonlethal , the second made up for it in spades.
” Two million American soldiers were shipped to Europe to fight with the Allies ( France , Britain , and Russia ) in World War I against the Central Powers ( Germany and its allies ) .
More soldiers died from the flu than in battle .
Laura Spinney , in Pale Rider : The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World writes : The Great Influenza : T @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 13.99 “ [ Flu ] Patients would soon be having trouble breathing .
Two mahogany spots appeared over their cheekbones , and within a few hours that color had flushed their faces from ear to ear… [ If it turned blue ] the outlook was bleak indeed .
Blue darkened to black .
The black first appeared at the extremities—the hands and feet , including the nails—stole up the limbs , and eventually infused the abdomen and torso .
As long as you were conscious , therefore , you watched death enter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” The Spanish flu targeted healthy young adults .
People between age 20 and 40 were the high-risk group .
Their robust immune systems would launch a “ cytokine storm ” —a cellular ( macrophage ) -induced severe inflammatory reaction , both against the virus and oneself .
Flooding one ’ s lungs , this “ storm ” could kill a person within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms .
Debate continues over Covid ’ s case mortality rate .
The number of Covid deaths is falsely high in jurisdictions where people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive for Covid ) in actuality die from a pre-existing condition ( heart disease , cancer ) and get included with people who die from the virus .
And there are Covid-positive people who remain asymptomatic that are not counted , which also makes the case mortality rate falsely high .
To remedy that everyone in a given population must be tested .
After testing positive for Covid one develops antibodies—immune markers in serum indicating prior exposure to a specific pathogen .
Antibody tests will capture all previously infected cases , including the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fraction for calculating the case mortality rate .
Controversy currently exists , however , over the sensitivity and specificity of the new antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2 .
A low specificity yields false positives of supposedly asymptomatic cases , a larger denominator and thus a falsely low case mortality rate .
Elderly people with pre-existing conditions are the high-risk group with Covid ; but a growing number of studies show that its overall lethality is lower than initially thought , somewhere between 0.1 % and 0.4 % , in the seasonal flu range .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ do well and have immune systems strong enough to handle the virus .
The Vitamin D Revoluti ... Soram Khalsa Best Price : $ 1.25 Buy New $ 10.69 The Diamond Princess finished a roundtrip 15-day tour of Southeast Asia from Japan on February 2 , 2020 .
It had 3,711 passengers and crew—2,666 passengers ( median age 69 ) and 1,045 crew ( median age 36 ) .
Some passengers tested positive for Covid on the cruise , and Japanese authorities quarantined the ship when it docked back at Yokohama—its passengers for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four weeks .
Health workers tested almost everyone on board for Covid and found that 712 ( 19.2 % ) were infected—567 passengers ( 21.2 % ) and 145 crew members ( 13.8 % ) .
There were 14 deaths ( 0.4 % ) , only in elderly passengers .
Analyzing the data from this “ ship laboratory , ” researchers estimate that the mortality rate from Covid in China is around 0.5 % , like in the first wave of the Spanish flu .
SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven coronaviruses .
Several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two other dangerous coronaviruses , SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV ( “ Middle East Respiratory Syndrome ” ) kill people .
The 2002 SARS epidemic caused 770 deaths and the 2015 MERS epidemic , 850 deaths .
But they did not come in several waves .
The current coronavirus may not come back in a second wave either .
Evidence shows SARS-CoV-2 is bioengineered .
A Biosafety Level 4 laboratory in Wuhan , China released this new coronavirus , presumably by accident .
Migrating water birds spread the Spanish flu virus to humans .
During @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of November 11 , 1918 ended World War I , President Wilson kept the nation fixed on fighting and winning the war .
He did not let a worsening influenza pandemic interfere .
John Barry , in his The Great Influenza : The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History , writes this about the state of American society in 1918 : “ Wilson ’ s hard line threatened dissenters [ against the war ] with imprisonment .
The federal government also took control over much of national life .
The War @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , guaranteed profits , and controlled production and prices of war material , and , with the National War Labor Board , it set wages as well .
The Railroad Administration virtually nationalized the American railroad industry .
The Fuel Administration controlled fuel distribution ( and to save fuel it also instituted daylight savings time ) .
The Food Administration—under Herbert Hoover—oversaw agricultural production , pricing , and distribution.
” How Not To Die With Tr ... Henriques , Tiago Best Price : $ 18.23 Buy New $ 17.97 Responding to the Covid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down , economically and personally .
Computer models greatly overpredicted the deaths it would cause .
They predicted that more than two million Americans would die from this infection ( even factoring in mitigation ) , as compared with 30,000 seasonal flu deaths .
This prompted government officials to shut down the economy and order people to stay home .
Along with its predictions , however , Imperial College modelers did acknowledge this : “ We do not consider the ethical or economic implications of either strategy [ suppression or mitigation ] ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the lockdown on human health and behavior include domestic violence , child abuse , and the risk of suicide , followed by civil unrest and crime waves .
These consequences are yet to fully appear and be measured but they will be substantial and likely overshadow Covid deaths .
Hospitals have halted “ elective ” surgeries for people who suffer other diseases .
Delaying them also carries risk .
A more unrestricted approach is better .
While shielding vulnerable senior citizens , younger people who have a negligible Covid mortality risk should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to restaurants and bars ( and church ) , like in Sweden .
People there do go to work , cafes and restaurants are open , and its parks full .
The country remains open for business .
Covid-infected people who have mild illness help establish widespread immunity against subsequent and possibly more virulent waves of the infection .
There were no vaccines for the Spanish flu .
But vaccine companies a century later are working nonstop to develop one for Covid .
But human trials to confidently establish a vaccine ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months or more .
Of note , 93 % of vaccine trials fail .
Vaccines for flu viruses have a checkered history .
Public health officials had to recall the one made for the 1976 Swine flu when it was found to cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome—immune system damage with slowly progressive paralysis ending in death .
Vaccine officials promoted the vaccine Pandemix for the 2009 Swine flu and fast-tracked it without the requisite clinical trials .
This vaccine caused narcolepsy—difficulty sleeping at night associated with night terrors , hallucination , and mental health problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ... Jeffers , Nancy Best Price : null Buy New $ 6.98 Lacking a vaccine or an effective antiviral drug against Covid , physicians search for any pharmaceutical agents that might be effective in treating it .
The Trump-hating media , notably the New York Times , Washington Post , CNN , and MSNBC chastised President Trump for promoting the antimalarial drug chloroquine ( hydroxychloroquine ) for Covid-19 .
Long used for treating malaria , hydroxychloroquine prevents single cell malarial parasites from invading red blood cells and eating their hemoglobin .
Research shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , rendering its hemoglobin incapable of transporting oxygen to the body .
An intensive-care physician describes how patients who become seriously ill from Covid suffer more from hypoxia—a lack of oxygen—than from viral/bacterial pneumonia .
Covid is more like high altitude sickness ( here ) .
The way hydroxychloroquine shields red blood cells from malarial parasites can explain how this drug could also do the same thing against this coronavirus .
( See Dr. Dave Janda ’ s interview with Karen Whitsett , Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives on her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blogger sees it , “ Covid-19 had us all fooled , but now we might have finally found its secret ” ( here ) .
Thirteen years ago I researched and wrote , “ Avoid Flu Shots , Take Vitamin D Instead.
” It remains relevant , as this March 2020 review of the subject confirms .
In one study , 86 % of all Covid patients with normal vitamin D levels ( 30 ng/ml or above ) had a mild illness , while 73 % of cases that became severe or critical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than 20 ng/ml ) .
Vitamin D switches on genes in immune-system macrophages that make antimicrobial peptides , antibiotics the body produces to attack and destroy invading bacteria and viruses .
Vitamin C given intravenously in high doses is proving to be an effective way to salvage critically ill Covid patients .
Zinc , which suppresses virus activity , also helps ; but one has to be careful with zinc .
For the Spanish flu some physicians advised patients to take Aspirin , up to 30 grams a day .
A dose that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ buildup of fluid in the lungs—pulmonary edema .
Aspirin was a relatively new drug in 1918 .
( Physicians today consider 60 to 300 milligrams , 0.06 to 0.3 grams , to be the best dose for aspirin . )
Miller ’ s Review ... Miller , Neil Z .
Best Price : $ 8.32 Buy New $ 14.48 The Covid pandemic has pricked the debt-fueled Everything Bubble and precipitated a Greater Depression .
Maintained with multi-trillion-dollar bailouts , it could persist for years , like the Great Depression did .
Michael Pento @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ Greater Depression ] is a global depression just like we had in the 1930s combined with a 2008 style credit crisis.
” Doug Casey : “ We ’ ve entered a downturn that is going to be longer , deeper , and different than the unpleasantness of 1929-1946.
” And Jim Quinn : “ When ATM machines stop spitting out twenties , food shelves are bare and gas stations are shuttered , social chaos will ensue.
” Zerohedge.com reports that for every Covid death 565 Americans have lost their jobs .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experienced a temporary layoff , permanent job loss , reduction in hours , or reduction of income as a result of the coronavirus situation .
Eighteen percent have experienced more than one of these disruptions.
” The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates that the unemployment rate in the U.S. could reach 32.1 % in the second quarter as 47 million workers are laid off , easily eclipsing the 25 % rate during the Great Depression .
In 1918 Americans used gold and silver coins to buy things and pay debts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ were redeemable in gold .
Federal Reserve Notes today have become a fiat currency and have lost 98 % of their original value .
Since 1971 the dollar has also fallen 98 % in real terms measured in gold .
Government ’ s unlimited printing of dollars will accelerate as more companies and financial institutions default , courting hyperinflation .
The 1920-21 Depression followed the Spanish flu .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 47 % , industrial production fell 32 % , and corporate profits , 92 % .
The government did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cure this Depression .
Tax rates were lowered , the national debt reduced by one-third , and the economy recovered quickly on its own .
( See The Forgotten Depression , 1921 : The Crash that Cured Itself by James Grant . )
Curing the Incurable : ... Best Price : $ 12.95 Buy New $ 44.02 Narrative managers would have Americans live obediently observing Covid shutdown orders .
They do not want to see doctors present arguments for lifting the lockdown .
After going viral with 5 million views , YouTube @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who support the case that states should begin reopening their economies .
Today Americans are becoming increasingly compelled to live under an authoritarian technocracy , as Whitney Webb describes in “ Techno-Tyranny : How the US National Security State is Using Coronavirus to Fulfill an Orwellian Vision.
” In order to keep up with China in artificial intelligence , the Covid pandemic is enabling the Pentagon , intelligence community , and Silicon Valley to implement AI mass surveillance systems .
They are removing obstacles that have prevented their implementation “ under the guise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence , created by the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act , cites three “ legacy systems ” holding back adoption of AI-driven technologies : cash and credit/debit card payments , individual car ownership , and receiving medical attention from a human doctor .
In their place would come financial transactions done only with smart phones ( and computers ) , ride-sharing driverless cars , and AI robotic medical care .
Plus , authoritarian technocrats would have us stop shopping in stores ( many of which are going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything online , enabling them to more easily track our purchases .
The “ Spanish ” flu occurred in the spring of American imperialism , which started in 1898 with the Spanish-American War and Spain ceding its ownership and control of the Philippines and Guam to U.S. forces .
World War I turned the United States into a full-fledged imperial power .
Now , sparking the Greater Depression the Covid pandemic arrives in what is becoming winter of American imperialism .
For more on where the country is heading over the next six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rereading ) “ World War Redux : The Fourth Turning Fourth Time Around.
” The Best of Donald W. Miller , Jr. , MD

My wife and I began the new year completing a two-week holiday cruise to Hawaii on the Star Princess, sister ship to the Diamond Princess, returning to Los Angeles on January 3. Our flight home was uneventful. All seemed well. In February, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high (29,551 on Feb 12). Nothing to worry about.
Then came a virus virologists name “SARS-CoV-2” (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2) which causes “Covid-19” (Coronavirus disease, beginning in [November?] 2019). On January 20, a man in the Seattle area who had recently returned from visiting family in Wuhan, China had a fever and dry cough and was found to be infected with Covid-19.
Mortality
As of April 28, 2020, in the U.S., 1,011,6000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 (Covid) with 58,343 deaths. Pale Rider: The Spanis... Spinney, Laura Best Price: $24.05 Buy New $15.49 (as of 04:12 UTC - Details)
The 1918-1920 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) killed 675,000 Americans. One of them was my grandmother Mary Ashby Warden Williams. Several weeks before she fell ill and suddenly died, her stepmother, Mary Lyde Hicks Williams (my great grandmother), a professional portrait painter, painted this portrait of Mary Ashby with her 18-month old daughter Charlotte (my mother) standing next to her. Mary Ashby died in January 1920 at the tail end of the pandemic, age 23. Her daughter endures and will be 102 in July.
My wife’s grandmother Agnes Posten, an Irish immigrant, also died in that pandemic, age 26.
More than 30 million Americans had the Spanish Flu in a population of 105 million and with 675,000 deaths, a 2.3% fatality rate. “Fast forward” to today. The Director-General of the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian politician (and former leader of a terrorist group)—the first non-physician to head this body—declared that Covid-19 has a 3.4% mortality rate. With a rate this high Covid could kill many millions of people worldwide. This spawned a global panic. The Director-General, however, left out people who become infected with this virus, did not get tested and didn’t get sick. Up to 80% of people who test positive for Covid either have no symptoms or only mild ones imitating a cold. Counting them in the equation, the mortality rate for Covid in Wuhan, China would be closer to 1.4% than 3.4%.
The 1918-20 influenza pandemic killed between 15 and 100 million people worldwide, 0.8% to 5.6% in a population of 1.8 billion (see here). Now, with the population 7.8 billion, one of comparable lethality could kill between 60 to 430 million people.
The “Spanish” flu started in Kansas. It spread in 3 main waves. The first one, from March to June 1918, was relatively mild. Soldiers called it “the 3-day flu.” It was seldom fatal, with a mortality rate near 0.5% (5 deaths in a thousand cases), close to seasonal flu of 0.1%.
The second wave, from August to December, was more lethal. One observer noted, “While the first wave of flu in 1918 was relatively nonlethal, the second made up for it in spades.” Two million American soldiers were shipped to Europe to fight with the Allies (France, Britain, and Russia) in World War I against the Central Powers (Germany and its allies). More soldiers died from the flu than in battle. Laura Spinney, in Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World writes: The Great Influenza: T... Barry, John M. Buy New $13.99 (as of 02:52 UTC - Details)
“[Flu] Patients would soon be having trouble breathing. Two mahogany spots appeared over their cheekbones, and within a few hours that color had flushed their faces from ear to ear… [If it turned blue] the outlook was bleak indeed. Blue darkened to black. The black first appeared at the extremities—the hands and feet, including the nails—stole up the limbs, and eventually infused the abdomen and torso. As long as you were conscious, therefore, you watched death enter at your fingertips and fill you up.”
The Spanish flu targeted healthy young adults. People between age 20 and 40 were the high-risk group. Their robust immune systems would launch a “cytokine storm”—a cellular (macrophage)-induced severe inflammatory reaction, both against the virus and oneself. Flooding one’s lungs, this “storm” could kill a person within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms.
(The nations fighting in World War I censored any mention of this pandemic, which laid waste to both sides. Spain remained neutral and did not censor its newspapers, thus the name “Spanish flu.”)
Debate continues over Covid’s case mortality rate. The number of Covid deaths is falsely high in jurisdictions where people who die with the virus (test positive for Covid) in actuality die from a pre-existing condition (heart disease, cancer) and get included with people who die from the virus. And there are Covid-positive people who remain asymptomatic that are not counted, which also makes the case mortality rate falsely high. To remedy that everyone in a given population must be tested.
After testing positive for Covid one develops antibodies—immune markers in serum indicating prior exposure to a specific pathogen. Antibody tests will capture all previously infected cases, including the asymptomatic ones, thus supplying the correct fraction for calculating the case mortality rate. Controversy currently exists, however, over the sensitivity and specificity of the new antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2. A low specificity yields false positives of supposedly asymptomatic cases, a larger denominator and thus a falsely low case mortality rate.
Elderly people with pre-existing conditions are the high-risk group with Covid; but a growing number of studies show that its overall lethality is lower than initially thought, somewhere between 0.1% and 0.4%, in the seasonal flu range. Most healthy older adults without pre-existing conditions do well and have immune systems strong enough to handle the virus. The Vitamin D Revoluti... Soram Khalsa Best Price: $1.25 Buy New $10.69 (as of 08:00 UTC - Details)
The Diamond Princess finished a roundtrip 15-day tour of Southeast Asia from Japan on February 2, 2020. It had 3,711 passengers and crew—2,666 passengers (median age 69) and 1,045 crew (median age 36). Some passengers tested positive for Covid on the cruise, and Japanese authorities quarantined the ship when it docked back at Yokohama—its passengers for up to three weeks and crew, four weeks. Health workers tested almost everyone on board for Covid and found that 712 (19.2%) were infected—567 passengers (21.2%) and 145 crew members (13.8%). There were 14 deaths (0.4%), only in elderly passengers. Analyzing the data from this “ship laboratory,” researchers estimate that the mortality rate from Covid in China is around 0.5%, like in the first wave of the Spanish flu.
SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven coronaviruses. Several of them cause the common cold. Two other dangerous coronaviruses, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV (“Middle East Respiratory Syndrome”) kill people. The 2002 SARS epidemic caused 770 deaths and the 2015 MERS epidemic, 850 deaths. But they did not come in several waves. The current coronavirus may not come back in a second wave either.
Evidence shows SARS-CoV-2 is bioengineered. A Biosafety Level 4 laboratory in Wuhan, China released this new coronavirus, presumably by accident. Migrating water birds spread the Spanish flu virus to humans.
Lockdown
During the Spanish flu, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918 ended World War I, President Wilson kept the nation fixed on fighting and winning the war. He did not let a worsening influenza pandemic interfere. John Barry, in his The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, writes this about the state of American society in 1918:
“Wilson’s hard line threatened dissenters [against the war] with imprisonment. The federal government also took control over much of national life. The War Industries Board allocated raw materials to factories, guaranteed profits, and controlled production and prices of war material, and, with the National War Labor Board, it set wages as well. The Railroad Administration virtually nationalized the American railroad industry. The Fuel Administration controlled fuel distribution (and to save fuel it also instituted daylight savings time). The Food Administration—under Herbert Hoover—oversaw agricultural production, pricing, and distribution.”
How Not To Die With Tr... Henriques, Tiago Best Price: $18.23 Buy New $17.97 (as of 08:00 UTC - Details) Responding to the Covid pandemic, the nation has simply shut down, economically and personally. Computer models greatly overpredicted the deaths it would cause. They predicted that more than two million Americans would die from this infection (even factoring in mitigation), as compared with 30,000 seasonal flu deaths. This prompted government officials to shut down the economy and order people to stay home. Along with its predictions, however, Imperial College modelers did acknowledge this: “We do not consider the ethical or economic implications of either strategy [suppression or mitigation]” (emphasis added).
Adverse consequences from the lockdown on human health and behavior include domestic violence, child abuse, and the risk of suicide, followed by civil unrest and crime waves. These consequences are yet to fully appear and be measured but they will be substantial and likely overshadow Covid deaths. Hospitals have halted “elective” surgeries for people who suffer other diseases. Delaying them also carries risk.
A more unrestricted approach is better. While shielding vulnerable senior citizens, younger people who have a negligible Covid mortality risk should be able to go to work, to restaurants and bars (and church), like in Sweden. People there do go to work, cafes and restaurants are open, and its parks full. The country remains open for business.
Covid-infected people who have mild illness help establish widespread immunity against subsequent and possibly more virulent waves of the infection.
Treatment
There were no vaccines for the Spanish flu. But vaccine companies a century later are working nonstop to develop one for Covid. But human trials to confidently establish a vaccine’s efficacy and safety take time, 18 months or more. Of note, 93% of vaccine trials fail.
Vaccines for flu viruses have a checkered history. Public health officials had to recall the one made for the 1976 Swine flu when it was found to cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome—immune system damage with slowly progressive paralysis ending in death. Vaccine officials promoted the vaccine Pandemix for the 2009 Swine flu and fast-tracked it without the requisite clinical trials. This vaccine caused narcolepsy—difficulty sleeping at night associated with night terrors, hallucination, and mental health problems. Vitamin D3, Zinc and M... Jeffers, Nancy Buy New $6.98 (as of 03:40 UTC - Details)
Lacking a vaccine or an effective antiviral drug against Covid, physicians search for any pharmaceutical agents that might be effective in treating it. The Trump-hating media, notably the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC chastised President Trump for promoting the antimalarial drug chloroquine (hydroxychloroquine) for Covid-19. Long used for treating malaria, hydroxychloroquine prevents single cell malarial parasites from invading red blood cells and eating their hemoglobin. Research shows that SARS-CoV-2 also attacks red blood cells, rendering its hemoglobin incapable of transporting oxygen to the body. An intensive-care physician describes how patients who become seriously ill from Covid suffer more from hypoxia—a lack of oxygen—than from viral/bacterial pneumonia. Covid is more like high altitude sickness (here). The way hydroxychloroquine shields red blood cells from malarial parasites can explain how this drug could also do the same thing against this coronavirus. (See Dr. Dave Janda’s interview with Karen Whitsett, Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives on her experience with hydroxychloroquine.) As one blogger sees it, “Covid-19 had us all fooled, but now we might have finally found its secret” (here).
Thirteen years ago I researched and wrote, “Avoid Flu Shots, Take Vitamin D Instead.” It remains relevant, as this March 2020 review of the subject confirms. In one study, 86% of all Covid patients with normal vitamin D levels (30 ng/ml or above) had a mild illness, while 73% of cases that became severe or critical had a vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/ml). Vitamin D switches on genes in immune-system macrophages that make antimicrobial peptides, antibiotics the body produces to attack and destroy invading bacteria and viruses.
Vitamin C given intravenously in high doses is proving to be an effective way to salvage critically ill Covid patients. Zinc, which suppresses virus activity, also helps; but one has to be careful with zinc.
For the Spanish flu some physicians advised patients to take Aspirin, up to 30 grams a day. A dose that high is toxic and can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs—pulmonary edema. Aspirin was a relatively new drug in 1918. (Physicians today consider 60 to 300 milligrams, 0.06 to 0.3 grams, to be the best dose for aspirin.)
Depression
Miller’s Review ... Miller, Neil Z. Best Price: $8.32 Buy New $14.48 (as of 04:45 UTC - Details) The Covid pandemic has pricked the debt-fueled Everything Bubble and precipitated a Greater Depression. Maintained with multi-trillion-dollar bailouts, it could persist for years, like the Great Depression did. Michael Pento sees it this way: “This [Greater Depression] is a global depression just like we had in the 1930s combined with a 2008 style credit crisis.” Doug Casey: “We’ve entered a downturn that is going to be longer, deeper, and different than the unpleasantness of 1929-1946.” And Jim Quinn: “When ATM machines stop spitting out twenties, food shelves are bare and gas stations are shuttered, social chaos will ensue.”
Zerohedge.com reports that for every Covid death 565 Americans have lost their jobs. And “Nearly one in three Americans have experienced a temporary layoff, permanent job loss, reduction in hours, or reduction of income as a result of the coronavirus situation. Eighteen percent have experienced more than one of these disruptions.” The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimates that the unemployment rate in the U.S. could reach 32.1% in the second quarter as 47 million workers are laid off, easily eclipsing the 25% rate during the Great Depression.
In 1918 Americans used gold and silver coins to buy things and pay debts. Paper dollars (Federal Reserve Notes) were redeemable in gold. Federal Reserve Notes today have become a fiat currency and have lost 98% of their original value. Since 1971 the dollar has also fallen 98% in real terms measured in gold. Government’s unlimited printing of dollars will accelerate as more companies and financial institutions default, courting hyperinflation.
The 1920-21 Depression followed the Spanish flu. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 47%, industrial production fell 32%, and corporate profits, 92%. The government did not provide any “fiscal stimulus” to cure this Depression. Tax rates were lowered, the national debt reduced by one-third, and the economy recovered quickly on its own. (See The Forgotten Depression, 1921: The Crash that Cured Itself by James Grant.)
(On April 6, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson caught the Spanish flu in Paris during peace negotiations. He became quite ill, returned home, and four months later had a severe stroke. Without his tempering input, the punitive Treaty of Versailles set the stage for World War II.)
Brave New World
Curing the Incurable: ... Best Price: $12.95 Buy New $44.02 (as of 03:06 UTC - Details) Narrative managers would have Americans live obediently observing Covid shutdown orders. They do not want to see doctors present arguments for lifting the lockdown. After going viral with 5 million views, YouTube deleted the video of two California doctors who support the case that states should begin reopening their economies.
Today Americans are becoming increasingly compelled to live under an authoritarian technocracy, as Whitney Webb describes in “Techno-Tyranny: How the US National Security State is Using Coronavirus to Fulfill an Orwellian Vision.” In order to keep up with China in artificial intelligence, the Covid pandemic is enabling the Pentagon, intelligence community, and Silicon Valley to implement AI mass surveillance systems. They are removing obstacles that have prevented their implementation “under the guise of combating the coronavirus crisis.”
The U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, created by the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, cites three “legacy systems” holding back adoption of AI-driven technologies: cash and credit/debit card payments, individual car ownership, and receiving medical attention from a human doctor. In their place would come financial transactions done only with smart phones (and computers), ride-sharing driverless cars, and AI robotic medical care. Plus, authoritarian technocrats would have us stop shopping in stores (many of which are going bankrupt in the lockdown) and buy everything online, enabling them to more easily track our purchases.
The “Spanish” flu occurred in the spring of American imperialism, which started in 1898 with the Spanish-American War and Spain ceding its ownership and control of the Philippines and Guam to U.S. forces. World War I turned the United States into a full-fledged imperial power. Now, sparking the Greater Depression the Covid pandemic arrives in what is becoming winter of American imperialism.
For more on where the country is heading over the next six years, I recommend reading (or rereading) “World War Redux: The Fourth Turning Fourth Time Around.”
The Best of Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD


lewrockwell--2020-04-30--Attempting To Allay Covid-19 Fears Results in Claims of Conspiracy Theories, Proffering ‘Bulls_ _t,’

Attempting To Allay Covid-19 Fears Results in Claims of Conspiracy Theories, Proffering ‘Bulls_ _t,’ and Political Bias

Some Americans don ’ t want to hear that their country is lying to them .
To some Americans , this wreaks of proffering conspiracy theories or political bias , or just plain “ bull_ _t ” said one antagonist .
That is what I discovered when I sent an email to customers to allay fears over COVID-19 death numbers which are exaggerated to say the least .
I received emails asking which political party I belonged to , to not send any more conspiracy theories , and that I am “ bats_ _t c crazy.
” Some sent emails @ @ @ @ @ @ @ messages .
I described COVID-19 as an “ almost harmless virus ” and stated if we let it “ have its way , the infected develop natural antibodies without the need for a vaccine , and we go on living our lives.
” This statement is based upon reports showing most cases of COVID-19 coronavirus infection produce mild or no symptoms .
Machiavelli : The Art o ... Boucheron , Patrick Best Price : $ 6.19 Buy New $ 5.99 Being “ right ” about this is like rubbing salt in a wound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on the high side .
Don ’ t fall for the fake pandemic .
Some don ’ t want to hear this .
Do some want to live in fear ?
If some individuals want the deaths keep occurring so the current regime in Washington will be unseated .
As of 4/29/2020 there have been 58,964 reported deaths from COVID-19 coronavirus ( 4/29/2020 ) .
That is ~2 deaths per 10,000 in the U.S. , far higher than the deaths reported in Wuhan , China ( 3,212 deaths for a population in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5.5 in 100,000 ) .
So , what is causing all the horrid deaths where patients die gasping for breath , regardless of arguments over numbers ?
In fact , many of the deaths appear to be treatment related ( over-use of ventilators ) .
Doctors are now instilling oxygen by nasal route rather than forcing oxygen by pressure into the lung with better results .
A considerable number of Americans naively believe the death numbers issued by the Centers for Disease Control are real body counts .
The CDC that issues these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deaths caused by infectious diseases in order to scare the public into getting vaccinated , or in this instance , to self-quarantine .
The Culture Of Fear : W ... Glassner , Barry Best Price : $ 1.92 Buy New $ 25.00 I asked some parties to provide me with contrary evidence and was sent some spotty news reports that were largely predictions , not body counts , that claimed millions of Americans would die from COVID-19 coronavirus .
These scary predictive models have been abandoned .
Shall we hold on to unfounded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The point of my communication was to allay people ’ s fears , not to engage in politics or conspiracies .
I ’ m going to reveal an example of the mortality numbers the CDC issues , but that isn ’ t the point .
It ’ s not about being right , it is about being politically correct .
This is about what people want to hear , even if it is a life-and-death issue .
We see one political party contriving up a so-called study to show chloroquine , the “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rescue veterans with severe cases of COVID-19 lung pathology .
But the drug was employed too late to make any difference .
Independent investigators outside the political arena say chloroquine works wonders if used early in the treatment regimen .
The authors of the study were not chest doctors ( ophthalmologists ) , the paper was not peer-reviewed or even published , and it was a literature review , not a clinical study .
There was no comparison group .
Fear Itself : The Cause ... Gordon , Ann Best Price : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prompted esteemed French virologist Dr. Didier Raoult to prematurely release a study of 1061 patients given chloroquine + an antibiotic that claimed 91 % effectiveness with zero side effects .
Dr. Raoult alleged scientific misconduct in the Veteran ’ s study .
But his critics dismissed his study because it was pre-press , not peer-reviewed or published yet .
One can see how lives can be lost in the delay of medical review .
Chloroquine is widely used , does have some side effects , but has been safely used for decades to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the current rhetoric its critics want it yanked by the FDA .
The political polarization over this drug is seen in obviously biased news reports and commentaries that characterize Dr. Raoult as a “ barking-mad witch doctor , ” leader of the “ hydroxychloroquine cult , ” who is promoting chloroquine “ mania.
” But no slack is being given for researchers like Dr. Raoult who are attempting to fast-track their clinical data in hopes of saving lives .
However , we live an in era where everyone wants to create their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too far – – like it did for this woman .
Let ’ s get back to those death numbers .
The following chart from the CDC shows a red vertical line to the far-right indicative of a steep rise in COVID-19 deaths .
But looking at another CDC chart that only presents deaths due to pneumonia and influenza and no COVID-19 data , we see that same steep upward line showing a sharp increase in deaths .
So , we must conclude COVID-19 is not causing as many deaths reported .
Here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All Cos ... Strassel , Kimberley Best Price : $ 21.36 Buy New $ 12.04 Everybody is welcome to their opinion .
But everybody is not welcome to change the facts .
I ’ m relying on CDC data .
We are now treating the fear , not the disease .
Some apparently want to live in fear for fear of what would happen if it is abandoned , if you can figure that one out ?
Others want an epidemic to end up achieving a political regime change .
Most of us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ view but now we have a growing practice of not doing business with anybody who doesn ’ t .
I wonder if this is going to be the deciding point on whether consumers even buy breakfast cereal ?
At this point , political correctness predominates over product quality , service or price .
The problem is being apolitical .
That is not good enough either , even if the stakes are life-and-death .

Some Americans don’t want to hear that their country is lying to them. To some Americans, this wreaks of proffering conspiracy theories or political bias, or just plain “bull_ _t” said one antagonist.
That is what I discovered when I sent an email to customers to allay fears over COVID-19 death numbers which are exaggerated to say the least.
I received emails asking which political party I belonged to, to not send any more conspiracy theories, and that I am “bats_ _t c crazy.” Some sent emails that just asked not to receive politically-charged messages.
I described COVID-19 as an “almost harmless virus” and stated if we let it “have its way, the infected develop natural antibodies without the need for a vaccine, and we go on living our lives.” This statement is based upon reports showing most cases of COVID-19 coronavirus infection produce mild or no symptoms. Machiavelli: The Art o... Boucheron, Patrick Best Price: $6.19 Buy New $5.99 (as of 03:30 UTC - Details)
Being “right” about this is like rubbing salt in a wound. Yes, mortality numbers are inaccurate, on the high side. Don’t fall for the fake pandemic. Some don’t want to hear this. Do some want to live in fear? If some individuals want the deaths keep occurring so the current regime in Washington will be unseated.
Higher mortality rate than Wuhan
As of 4/29/2020 there have been 58,964 reported deaths from COVID-19 coronavirus (4/29/2020). That is ~2 deaths per 10,000 in the U.S., far higher than the deaths reported in Wuhan, China (3,212 deaths for a population in Hubei Province of 58.5 million, or 5.5 in 100,000).
So, what is causing all the horrid deaths where patients die gasping for breath, regardless of arguments over numbers?
In fact, many of the deaths appear to be treatment related (over-use of ventilators). Doctors are now instilling oxygen by nasal route rather than forcing oxygen by pressure into the lung with better results.
Never question government
A considerable number of Americans naively believe the death numbers issued by the Centers for Disease Control are real body counts. The CDC that issues these mortality numbers has a history of over-stating deaths caused by infectious diseases in order to scare the public into getting vaccinated, or in this instance, to self-quarantine. The Culture Of Fear: W... Glassner, Barry Best Price: $1.92 Buy New $25.00 (as of 04:07 UTC - Details)
I asked some parties to provide me with contrary evidence and was sent some spotty news reports that were largely predictions, not body counts, that claimed millions of Americans would die from COVID-19 coronavirus. These scary predictive models have been abandoned.
Shall we hold on to unfounded fears to achieve a political end?
The point of my communication was to allay people’s fears, not to engage in politics or conspiracies.
I’m going to reveal an example of the mortality numbers the CDC issues, but that isn’t the point. It’s not about being right, it is about being politically correct. This is about what people want to hear, even if it is a life-and-death issue.
We see one political party contriving up a so-called study to show chloroquine, the “President’s drug,” failed to rescue veterans with severe cases of COVID-19 lung pathology. But the drug was employed too late to make any difference.
Independent investigators outside the political arena say chloroquine works wonders if used early in the treatment regimen. The authors of the study were not chest doctors (ophthalmologists), the paper was not peer-reviewed or even published, and it was a literature review, not a clinical study. There was no comparison group. Fear Itself: The Cause... Gordon, Ann Best Price: $23.69 Buy New $16.90 (as of 04:13 UTC - Details)
This prompted esteemed French virologist Dr. Didier Raoult to prematurely release a study of 1061 patients given chloroquine + an antibiotic that claimed 91% effectiveness with zero side effects. Dr. Raoult alleged scientific misconduct in the Veteran’s study.
But his critics dismissed his study because it was pre-press, not peer-reviewed or published yet. One can see how lives can be lost in the delay of medical review. Chloroquine is widely used, does have some side effects, but has been safely used for decades to treat malaria. One would think by the current rhetoric its critics want it yanked by the FDA.
The political polarization over this drug is seen in obviously biased news reports and commentaries that characterize Dr. Raoult as a “barking-mad witch doctor,” leader of the “hydroxychloroquine cult,” who is promoting chloroquine “mania.” But no slack is being given for researchers like Dr. Raoult who are attempting to fast-track their clinical data in hopes of saving lives. However, we live an in era where everyone wants to create their own reality. The anti-chloroquine campaign can go too far – – like it did for this woman.
Let’s get back to those death numbers. The following chart from the CDC shows a red vertical line to the far-right indicative of a steep rise in COVID-19 deaths. But looking at another CDC chart that only presents deaths due to pneumonia and influenza and no COVID-19 data, we see that same steep upward line showing a sharp increase in deaths. So, we must conclude COVID-19 is not causing as many deaths reported. Here are the charts:
Resistance (At All Cos... Strassel, Kimberley Best Price: $21.36 Buy New $12.04 (as of 04:39 UTC - Details) Everybody is welcome to their opinion. But everybody is not welcome to change the facts. I’m relying on CDC data.
We are now treating the fear, not the disease. Some apparently want to live in fear for fear of what would happen if it is abandoned, if you can figure that one out? Others want an epidemic to end up achieving a political regime change. Most of us want to convince others of our world view but now we have a growing practice of not doing business with anybody who doesn’t. I wonder if this is going to be the deciding point on whether consumers even buy breakfast cereal? At this point, political correctness predominates over product quality, service or price. The problem is being apolitical. That is not good enough either, even if the stakes are life-and-death.