MORNING STEW #45

It’s Morning Stew time once again! Many topics. Order difficult. Simplest way is to lay out information as it appears in my notes.

First item involves coronavirus in schools.

A particular word has been heard repeatedly the past few days involving the subject. Positivity. Means percentage of students becoming infected with coronavirus during a particular time period. Generally, one week.

First heard this week in New York City. Mayor de Blasio announced friday that if the average positivity rate in the public schools hit 3 percent, the schools would be shut down. Governor Cuomo concurred.

The positivity rate had been holding between 1-2 percent since the schools opened. Now pushing 3 percent. At the same time that coronavirus has been on the upswing in New York City.

Mayor de Blasio said, “We’re going to be very cautions to not let there be a resurgence. By setting this 3 percent goal we’re sending a message: Health and safety first.”

New Yorkers want the schools to remain open.

I was watching the national news last night. Wisconsin and the virus were being discussed.

The school positivity rate was over 40 percent. Would you believe! The schools remain open. There is little public clamor to close them. One reason, there are some who distrust the numbers.

When the Wisconsin decision was made in August to reopen the schools, the positivity rate was 6.5 percent. Repeating, now over 40 percent. Proof Covid-19 moves rapidly. Further proof that children do contact the virus.

The blind cannot see.

Now comes Key West.

I find it strange there has been little reported in the Key West Citizen re coronavirus in Key West schools. I was surprised when I checked the numbers.

As of November 12, total students afflicted 37. Of that number, 28 represented students, 4 teachers, and 5 staff.

Not bad.

Key West High School has 9 cases. Seven students and 2 staff. Horace O’Bryant 5 and Gerald Adams 3. The other schools make up the rest.

The numbers are insignificant compared to new cases elsewhere. There is no reason to close Key West schools based on the numbers. However, the Citizen and School District need to be more diligent in reporting them.

I do not have to worry about Syracuse football today. The team drew a bye. Three games left. Can’t wait for the season to end. As the Brooklyn Dodgers of old used to say: Wait till next year!

Trump’s win/loss record in the courts in recent weeks has been dismal. Not one victory through thursday. Record 0-8.

Yesterday, Trump lost 6 more cases in Pennsylvania. New record 0-14.

It appears all attorneys representing Trump in the election cases have withdrawn. Sources reported last night Rudy Giuliani was taking over the legal election fight on behalf of Trump.

God help Trump and Giuliani’s pocketbook!

Trump is reminding me more and more of Rodney Dangerfield. Neither could get any respect!

One difference, however. Dangerfield was honest.

There is a cry among many that Trump should acknowledge defeat and do what is expected of him between now and January 20. He has not and does not seem willing to do so.

A New York Times Opinion piece yesterday basically said to Trump…..Get out!

The writer Roger Cohen.The title: Mr. President, Pack Your Bags And Be Gone. Its thrust that Trump wants to “preserve, protect and defend only himself.” His country forgotten.

Cohen wrote, “The ruler broods, alone with his rage and shame, undone by rejection, his mind like Macbeth’s, ‘full of scorpions,’ plotting to overturn facts and destroy American democracy. His lackeys, and only they remain, try to humor the master in his labyrinth.”

Cohen further wrote, “His only vow is to preserve, protect and defend himself. He has never been able to see beyond that orange face in the mirror. No Bible offers consolation to this man, no creed, no truth, no sense of decency, not even FOX News now, nothing.”

Another comment this morning in the Citizens’ Voice re Key West government’s failure to handle the coronavirus problem properly: “Our Covid-19 positivity percentage is at dangerous levels. Our officials haven’t done a single thing to improve our situation. This is a blatant dereliction of duty.”

The comment befits the facts. In 2 days this week, nearly 100 new cases were confirmed in Monroe County. Fifty eight of those cases were in Key West.

Thus far, Key West has suffered 1,313 cases. The next 2 Florida Keys communities number wise are Key Largo and Marathon. Key Largo 500 cases and Marathon 250.

Presently, 5 coronavirus cases are being cared for the the Lower Keys Hospital Center.

Most if not all consider Key West having the much higher number because it is “a major entertainment district.”

No argument. However recognizing Key West as such, local officials should do something about it besides succumb to the cries and protests of the bar and restaurant owners and their employees.

New York City is now closing its bars and restaurants at 10 pm. For Key West, that would not be enough. Key West bars and restaurants have to close for a period of time. Tourists don’t come to Key West to visit you and me. They come to party in the bars and restaurants.

Enjoy your day!

 

22 comments on “MORNING STEW #45

  1. Lou with all due respect to all who are fearful of the virus, all this news is “hype”. Even Faucci admits that PCR test with more than 35 cycles is bogus. Florida and Sweden are open and they are having the same fatality rates as every on else (i.e., the old and sick are at risk). The “Great Barrington Declaration” says protect them and send every pne else about their normal activities. The Democratic establishment (Big Media, the Deep State, politicians and bureaucrats) have defeated the evil “bad orange man” by killing the economy and hyping a cold virus into the Spanish flu. Take your vitamin D and be careful. This is all hype. BTW children who are not immunocompromised appear to be safe. Cases and “positivity rates” are being used to scare “We, The Sheeple” and it’s working. IMHO

  2. None of what you say is factually true and your opinions seem more political mimicking, than informed discussion.

    More Americans have died of just this flue n less that one single year, then all the Americans killed in ALL wars since WW II.

    Why anyone would try and spin or minimize any of this, for ANY reason, is either foolish or an idiot.

    Or maybe you are just trolling?

    • I’m not sure that the number of US military deaths has any merit here. Why not compare virus deaths to virus deaths. Coronavirus has, so far, taken 244 thousand American lives. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 – 1919 took 675 thousand. The US was unprepared in each case and did not handle the situation well.

      Jasper John is saying that our handling of the virus has been worse than the disease itself. He references the “Great Barrington Declaration”, created and signed by noted scholars from Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and many others. The Declaration makes a lot of sense. Perhaps you should read it.

  3. Trump will run again in 2024 and probably win because the problems that Biden faces are basically unsolvable in a free society.

    • I agree that’s possible, but not for those reasons.

      Biden will be challenged possibly by Trump, and certainly by others, because of the relentless by opponents for things true and untrue, that are mostly unsolvable in a free society, principally truth, as in Obama wasn’t born in America, and Hilary pizzagate, etc., etc.

      • Maybe we’ll get lucky and trump will die between now and 2024. Then again there are six different court cases moving against the Orange Buffoon. He and his kids might be in jail and ruined by 2024.

  4. Lou, to your repeated questions about how Americans can constantly ignore and act irresponsibly about the problems with this covid pandemic crisis, you need only look at your own blog responses from people like your friend Jasper John and his dismissal and denial routine he has been touting since the pandemic began last spring.

    As long as you have people willing to hype the same old political garbage, dismiss and misquote experts, dispute any facts into total distortions, put out there by the White House and Tucker Carlson, some people are going to think drinking bleach and not accepting personal responsibilities are OK, especially if they are your friends.

    Disinformation can be a powerful tool when used even on your own blog Lou.

    • If our COVID death count is 244 thousand and climbing, then our national approach to containing the virus is flawed. It’s not about disinformation. Americans have by now more than enough factual information about the virus to make personal choices and decisions about their own risk of infection. They are actually well-informed. So if “Americans can constantly ignore and act irresponsibly about the problem”, it’s because they choose to. They evaluate their risk according to age group and act accordingly.

      The Great Barrington Declaration referenced by Jasper John advocates an alternative approach, called “focused Protection”. It promotes protecting the vulnerable among us, while easing restrictions that damage the economy, cause national healthcare neglect and deteriorating mental health. There is no disinformation in the declaration. It was created and signed by epidemiologists, immunologists, health economists and psychologists from the world’s most respected institutions. None of them is a politician or media broadcaster.

      • The 244,000 figure alone is VERY flawed. It was higher than that back in August and even then Trump was openly suppressing those numbers. Many states, especially here in Florida were specifically ignoring deaths based on type, etc. But that’s not even the biggest part of your disinformation garbage.

        The whole bleach thing, the whole vaccine thing, all through the summer, the “it’ll be gone by spring” thing, then summer thing, then fall thing. All PROVE that Americans are NOT well informed.

        Your entire push for ‘focused Protection’ is based on Americans being informed and that is CLEARLY things you are wrong about. Your whole argument is based on a false and incorrect premise. You’re pushing for something that Lou is saying (and is clearly obvious to the rest of us) that apparently you and ONLY you don’t see, or are lying about to try and make a point.

        You and Jasper John, are PUSHING something that is NOT workable and based on data and ideas that are false, flawed and purely political. A house of cards, and even foolish and dangerous. The issues itself (CoronaVirus infections and deaths) is being reported by all experts, as an all time HIGH, right NOW!

        • Do you even read your own stuff?
          “…….(CoronaVirus infections and deaths) is being reported by all experts, as an all time HIGH, right NOW!”
          Okay. Most of us can agree with that. So our approach to contain and eliminate the disease is not working well. Right? And yet a suggested alternative approach has to be “false, flawed and purely political” because…….. well, just because? So let’s continue with the approach that has not reduced the death rate. Because more of the same is acceptable to you.

      • The Great Barrington Declaration was drafted by three public health scientists from prestigious universities while hosted by the American Institute for Economic Research, a libertarian think tank in the town of Great Barrington, Mazzachusetts. It is very much a libertarian detective, now widely criticized as being flawed, unworkable and arrogant.

        Libertarian ideas, often popularized on Lou’s blog by John Galt (and other names he often uses) have long been lofty ideas, that draw criticism for being unworkable in real life situations, often leading to serious (usually avoidable) consequences.

        • Is it really necessary to inject politics into this discussion? Who really cares where the concept of Focused Protection came from. What is it that Libertarians have to gain in any of this? Libertarians are relatively few in number, had no significant role in the recent election and won nothing. Why do you find them influential at all?

          If the concept of Focused Protection is viable, then why should anyone care whether it originated in a Libertarian think tank or a Buddhist monastery?

          • This was a Libertarian created plan, nurtured and funded by the Koch Brothers Heritage Foundation, as political as much as if the RNC or DNC had done it, about a VERY political issue.

            It was then stuffed onto Lou’s bog in VERY political way, then defended with clever attempted left hand defense.

            No way Krauthammer, you ain’t that clever or that smart.

            • And By the Way, The concept of “Focused Protectio” in NOT viable, in this case, and that is the WHOLE POINT. And the fact that it is libertarian inspired (and funded) should not be disconnected.

              • Facts are Facts, the Koch’s fund the American Institute for Economic Research, in Great Barrington, Mazzachussetts is located, along with the Heritage Foundation. Americans for Prosperity, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato institute and the Manhattan Institute.

              • It is a lousy conspiracy theory, because it is a fact.

                Not all things YOU don’t know about or look up are conspiracy theories. A factual statement is not a theory, let alone a conspiracy theory.

                Please work on your comprehension issues PH.

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