MORNING STEW #35

Information overwhelming. Coronavirus motivated directly and indirectly. Impossible to provide any semblance of order. Ergo, a Morning Stew!

I have made the decision to remain in as much as possible. The virus concerns me. Eighty four makes me susceptible, especially when tied in with my maladies.

My day yesterday would have been ok because of the Syracuse/Louisville game in the evening. The game was cancelled. The balance of the season cancelled.

Watched TV, read, and dozzed on and off all day.

Media and White House at odds as to what should be done re the virus. Better to rely on TV and the experts rather than the White House. Ineptness leads us in Washington.

Spent a bit of time reading my friend Dot Downs’ Her Soldier of the Queen. Interesting. A U.K./Ireland war tale. Much romance. I can’t wait to see Dot again. She is my age. I want to know where in her early life experiences (if correct) she picked up the love/sex scenes.

What goes around, comes around. Trump screwed China with the trade war. China reciprocated. China’s impact nowhere as harsh as Trump’s hit.

Prior to coronavirus, the U.S. imported most of the raw materials to make pharmaceuticals, especially vaccines, from China. It was reported in yesterday’s Party newspaper that China may cut or reduce their supply of raw meds to the U.S.

Are school administrators losing it?

Last friday, State Police were called to the Union School District in Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, after a “known” juvenile allegedly robbed the school cafeteria of a juice box valued at 80 cents.

Paid leave during the virus crisis under consideration. A good idea!

Problem is where the money is to come from.

Trump proposes a “payroll tax holiday.” He is wrong again. Such a holiday would hurt Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries. It would also inure to the benefit of the rich. It would provide them with more disposable income than the poor.

How long will it take to make up for the recent market losses. History the best indication.

The 1987 Black Monday crash was 508 points. Market lower back then. The 508 points was equal to 22 percent of the market.

Took 2 years to recover.

The Great Depression of 1929 took 20 years to recover. And then only because of World War II which created employment for everyone.

It will take a long time for this market to return.

The American people are afraid. Properly so. Especially when our leader does not seem to know what he is doing.

Our world is closing down around us. Sport seasons and big time frames have been instituted. Some extremely quick. The Big East Tournament an example. The League called an end to the season at the half time of the St. John/Creighton game yesterday.

Sport stadiums, Broadway, political rallies, etc. The lights have gone dark.

Some do not want to recognize the reality of the virus nor the ineptness of Trump. One of the comments to my blog recently read, “Why is everybody trying to hurt him when all he is trying to do is what’s best for the country, not for himself…..The more they try, the more ‘we real people’ can see what a Hoax it really is.”

Signed “Anonymous, ” of course.

Is Steve Bannon or his thinking still involved in U.S. governing? He has been out of the White House for at least 2 years. I recall back in 2017 when he was part of Trump’s staff saying the deconstruction of America was “a daily fight.”

Everytime Trump or one of his cohorts speak of “testing,” the American people are assured “soon.” We are still waiting. When? We will never get a handle on the problem in the U.S. till we know what the numbers are and where.

As the virus becomes more acute, the number needing medical attention rises. We do not have enough hospital beds nor ventilators. Few plans are being made as to what to do. A few areas are making plans to go to tents.

While all this nothing is going on, Trump this morning was attacking Obama via tweeting.

We are still sitting on our asses re testing. Not my fault or yours. Donald’s.

Tell me why New York’s Governor Cuomo has drive through testing going on in New Rochelle. Trump has not implemented the procedure anywhere in the U.S. Where did Cuomo get the test kits? He seems to know more than the President.

Yesterday, Tom Hanks and his wife tested positive for coronavirus. Today, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s wife Sophie.

Why is Donald not testing? We know he has had 2-3 contacts.

Perhaps he does not want to know. And, doesn’t care if he infects anyone.

Trump lied several times in his Oval Office report to the nation. The 2 most egregious included testing.

One his statement that all people coming in from Europe were being tested “Heavily tested.” In fact, there was and is no system set up to so test.

The other is that the testing is “going very smoothly.” Of course it is. There is no testing! How can there be any screw-ups?

Dr. Fauci reported yesterday that the system is “a failing…..admit it!”

Another Governor taking the bull by the horns is California’s Newscom. He signed an order to take over California hotels for use of coronavirus patients. Solves the anticipated shortage of hospital beds problem.

New York’s Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency for the City yesterday.

Many universities are closing down. Going off line. Beside class room lectures, all activities canceled till April 6.

California finally finished its count. As anticipated, Sanders won. He took in 34 percent of the vote as opposed to Biden’s 27 percent.

Room was found this week for a bit of news re global warming.

Polar ice caps are melting 6 times faster than in the 1990’s. The loss in Greenland and Antarctica is accelerating.

Your cell phone is “dirty.” Possible carrier of the virus. A wipe with a product having 70 percent isopropyl alcohol recommended. Clorox suggested. Wipe easy.

I have been suggesting for 2 years another recession was going to hit. Thought it would last year. I was wrong.

My motivation was two-fold. The banks were playing the same games they did in 2008 and the banks were losing funds.

The Fed saw this happening. They began playing the Repo game. I first reported on Repos 2 months ago.

Banks sometimes do not have enough money. If all depositors wanted their money back at the same time, banks doors would close. There would not be sufficient funds.

The problem especially concerning smaller banks.

To avoid bank defaults, the Fed would lend money today to a bank and the bank would pay the money back tomorrow. Simple. Then the monies were probably reborrowed for another day on the tomorrow.

The amounts were relatively insignificant. In the millions. Then billions.

Beginning to day, in the trillions!

Bigger banks involved. Money needed for longer periods. Twenty four hour rule out the window. Now banks can “borrow” for up to a 3 month period before repaying.

What is happening is no less than a bank bailout. A bailout to Wall Street.

Who bails us out?

South Carolina’s James Clyburn turned the Democratic primary in Biden’s direction. He is an elderly black man. He was there with Martin Luther King Jr. Majority Leader today of the House of Representatives. One of the most respected men in Washington.

An Axios HBO show will be run this sunday at 6 pm.

In a portion of the show already released, Clyburn said, The U.S. “could very well go the way of Germany in the 1930’s.”

I have been saying it for 2 years.

Ian Welsh is a Canadian blogger who I frequently read. In a blog published 3/12 titled Coronavirus Bungling Is What We Voted For, Welsh wrote, “Donald Trump is a blittering idiot and incompetent at the actual mechanics of running a government. This is not to deny his other competencies at bullying and running a campaign, but he’s seriously mentally deficient. He is bungling the Coronavirus response. That’s going to lead to a lot of dead people, including a lot of old people who, forgive me, voted for him.”

Zeroing in on Keys coronavirus cases.  It must safely be assumed they are on the rise. However, not all the sick are being tested.  Actually few.

Bob Eadie is the Director of the Florida Keys Chapter of the Florida Health Department. A full time job. He has held it since 2007. One problem. He is not a doctor. He’s a lawyer.

The past few weeks he has been the politician…..Speaking as Washington and Tallahassee do. Not as a Dr. Fauci.

For example, he claims tests are available. All one has to do is go to a doctor. Then be directed to the Health Department for a test.

The Health Department cannot test everyone. Would result in an
“overload.” It would be a “wasting of resources.”

So some tests are being done. How many, we do not know.

The reason we do not know is Eadie cannot tell us till Tallahassee gives him permission.

So much for transparency.

Dana Milbank is the much respected Washington Post columnist. His most recent column was titled: “Got A Medical Question? Ask Dr. Trump!”

Cartoons were big time in my youth…..1930’s and 1940’s. Especially Walt Disney ones.

The Disney ones generally closed with Porky Pig saying: That’s all folks!

I sign off in a similar fashion today…..That’s all folks!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

34 comments on “MORNING STEW #35

  1. “Are school Administrators lousing it?” NO, It is the school Boards and school Lawyers who are calling the shoots.
    Just think of all the $$ spent on prom dresses and no prom to go to. This just like all the bucks spent on the TSA. All done at the advice of lawyers. We know they are never wrong. It is 3 months till Graduation and some schools have canceled that. At the advice of lawyers.

    • It is astonishing to read where anyone would feel that a world wide pandemic, which is killing tens of thousands of people, causing a serious financial and economic crisis, with huge social disruptions, where medical and other experts, not just here but all around the world, are taking drastic actions to try to manage and control this problem from getting even worse. Yet YOU want to complain and make the rest of us believe it is nothing but an inconvenient ‘distraction’ less important that monies spent on prom dresses and school graduations? And that this is all somehow brought about by disingenuous lawyers, even though you do this without even so much as a hint of what you think lawyers would gain or even want by this. Or, for that matter why our government would go a long with any such action if it wasn’t in the best interests of say safety and well being?

      Either you are really looney, or have some serious comprehension problem. Maybe you are just trying to spin this in some political way. Either way you are just plain wrong.

  2. The reality is China started this virus and China does not want to give us the drugs. It is we who are living the dream.

  3. It is being reported that the chances businessman Jack Ma, through his Alibaba Foundation, is shipping 500,999 testing kits and 1 million masks to the U.S. in an effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

    The Chinese are apparently willing to help the American people when Trump won’t even try.

    • sure they do not want to be sued by our lawyers. And with out us they will have little business. If we stop buying the little toys they sell on Duvil St. their government will get payback.

      • You really have no clue do you Mr feet? You just rattle on with your mouth diarrhea and care nothing about the truth, even when it is a national emergency. No wonder you are dismissed as a fool.

          • And Ann what is incorrect about that statement? The National emergency is the folks in the swamp let us get in to this love fest with a China. Did we not see a citizen from China spy right here in KW taking photos of our bases.. Have you not noticed where the bug came from and then they are saying it was us who brought it to China. And go to that building on RT. One an ask them where the Fentanyl is coming from. China’s failure to let in our people to aid them at the start along with their lack of transparency. And who has not worked on their pollution of our air. I am not the fool with no clue.
            PS one of the signs is not diarrhea,

            • No, no, the diarrhea is what seems to be coming out of your mouth and on a regular basis ever since you began posting using the name sandy feet, or some other derivative.

    • Please tell me what steps has KW taken to shut down the money makers; the bars; the play houses; the restaurants; the tour trains and “ghost buses”; the movies; churches; schools? How many venatlors does the “hospital” Have?

  4. it is unfortunate that the COVID-19 virus emergency is occurring during an election year. We are already being bombarded with information and misinformation about the spread of the virus. When you add politics to the mix it becomes even more difficult to know the whole truth. Whatever your news source, be it the AP, MSNBC,Fox News, CNN, or even the BBC you are likely to receive a strong dose of political spin along with news about the virus and the economy. AS the country fights this outbreak at all levels, we can expect that any negative events will be blamed on Donald Trump. Likewise any positive events or progress will be reported as successes for the Trump administration. They can’t all be right. As for me, I will try to listen to the medical professionals and to as many media outlets as I can. Good luck to all of you in trying to sort it all out for yourselves.

    • You can repost your same old opinions on this issue as many times as you want, but you would still be wrong. Your opinion that the worldwide pandemic in this country is basically a political issue and a shame (unfortunate, as you put it) it is happening in an election year.

      May I remind you that world wide pandemics don’t wait for convenient (more fortunate) times – horror happens without consideration.

      Furthermore, criticism is not necessarily always political. The criticism for the way Trump has handled this issue is justified, in the same way as criticizing Stalin (or Hitler) was a butcher, was and is justified. Neither of those should be dismissed as political, that’s your spin and if you wish to remain credible, please don’t try and now say it is your opinion.

      Negative events mostly happen for reasons not political. If Trump is responsible for a negative event, criticism is justified and shouldn’t be shoved under the carpet as political and therefor somehow forgivable.

      News reporting is just that and opinion analysis an entirely different thing. Just because Fox doesn’t report on something, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and just because the MSM does report it, doesn’t make it political or opinion. When (if) Trump says 200 million people attended one of his rallies and that gets reported as news, so be it. To say MSM politicizes that by reporting it is both inaccurate and politicizing it itself.

      To try and capitalize on this pandemic by saying it’s being politicized by both sides, as your post is trying to do, is inaccurate and a spin you are attempting on everybody, as were your previous posts. You are either politically corrupt (OK, maybe biased), or you are oblivious (OK, intellectually challenged), no matter how many times you attempt to cleverly rewrite this pet argument of yours.

      • Interesting. My observations about media political spin in reporting what should otherwise be straight news always seems to draw criticism and personal insults. I don’t call out any particular media outlet or reporter, because I don’t care which “side” they are on. Yet I am accused of supporting some political party or personality. Again, I don’t care. My objection to contemporary “news” reporting is the frequent overlap of hard news and partisan commentary. And the commentary portion is never identified as such. If this is a defect in my thinking, then I accept it as such, and you can criticize me for it (as I know you will). In my defense, I grew up admiring real journalists, such as Murrow, Cronkite and Severeid. They cannot be resting at peace in their graves knowing what has become of their profession.

        • Frankly Mr. Galt (or whoever you are), I think you are way too impressed with yourself to be in any way self aware enough to realize how pompous you come across. Similar I might say, to that late FOX news analyst Charles Krauthammer, a man often described as what a dumb person thinks is a smart person. Growing up with what you felt were real journalists, is not an excuse for misrepresenting your own interpretations of news as facts, rather than just what they are, your own opinions, does not make you any better than those you criticize.

          • Thank you, Tim, for yet another response of vitriol, insults and name calling. I must say you are very good at it. While I would love to continue this discussion here on Lou’s blog, I must now be off on my daily mission of turning over rocks and looking for “journalists”.

            • Criticisms are actually different from insults and name calling, something you apparently are unable to understand, acknowledge or accept. So be it, not my loss. Ever wonder why your posts are, by your own admission. “always seems to draw criticism and personal insults?” Maybe you should take a moment to review what you say, instead of always thinking it is the other person who is always wrong.

              BTW – I too was around during the time of Murrow, Cronkite and Severeid, and I remember THEY were often frequently overlapping hard news with partisan commentary. Murrow in particular didn’t have a lot good to say about the blacklisting and Joe McCarthy and Cronkite criticism of the VietNam War, the politicians and generals involved, is considered legendary and a turning point of that fiasco. So don’t try and change history to try and fit your false narrative.

  5. so far 41 American have died this time around. After 6 months 1000 deaths were from the scars Chinese vires of 10 years ago before the then president of the USA called for a state of emergency. What took so long for Trump said the press. Have they shut down the ferry from KW to SW Florida yet Ann?

  6. How many persons have died this time around? How do you know it is just 41, that information is cl@ssified and only reported by a government which is notorious with false or misleading numbers. Please remember that there was a cruise ship with confirmed caronavirus people aboard, not allowed to dock because according to Trump, “would drive the numbers up and we don’t want to do that.”

    By the way, president Obama called for a state of emergency in April 2009, before there were any deaths from that crisis, regardless of what you think you are hearing from FOX news. Trump would probably not have called for any state of emergency if there wasn’t such an uproar from just about every expert and concerned citizen.

  7. 1. The Donald called it a hoax. He didn’t believe it… didn’t and still doesn’t believe the scientists and doctors. Way to go Donnie.
    2. It’s too late. The genie is out of the bottle. The Donald took too long to act.
    3. Shutting down the evrything in the US is happening after it has spread everywhere. This is only going to slow the spread but it is not and is unlikely to be contained till it burns itself out.
    4. Yes Donnie boy… it is your fault. It’s your incompetence. Or… perhaps you still believe it’s a hoax. Yeah… I suspect you do.

    Enough

  8. Lou, Porky Pig was a Warners Bros cartoon, not Disney. As was Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, etc.
    Warner Bros cartoons may have been what you meant. They were far better than Disney Cartoons, IMO.

    • Thanks for clearing that up, a real help and game changer.

      Especially useful to hear your HO (is that humble opinion?) as to how you personally rate your old cartoons.

      Is your mommie home today? Do you think she’ll let you use the crayons later?

      • F*ck off. You waste of space. I brought info to Lou’s attention. If you don’t like it, ignore it, it wasn’t for you.

        • Bull S*it, your post was nothing but a trivial, unnecessary and disrespectful response to Lou, on his own blog. It brought nothing to the table except proof of your pompous arrogance.

  9. What a shame to be so jaded as an adult that you can no longer appreciate the wonderful cartoons that delighted so many of us as children. The Warner Brothers cartoon characters were works of art. And they still bring a smile to those of us who remember and appreciate them.

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