20200718 - Corona Virus Part 18 - Black Lives Matter Part 7

Howdy and welcome back to our little tin can by the sea, where Wendy and I try to stay healthy amid the corona virus pandemic. As you can see by the above chart, our picturesque state of Florida isn't doing so well with the number of COVID-19 cases. In fact, we are the model for what-not-to-do, perhaps only surpassed by Georgia, but I'll get to that in a bit. The two of us are healthy, and staying at home. We both communicate with the outside world via email, texts, and video meetings. I see many of my family up north circulating with pictures shopping and outdoors with no masks or social distancing. I wish that I could do that. Unfortunately, I have a plethora of ailments that put me in the upper percentiles of bad outcomes from COVID-19 respiratory distress. Luckily, my employer is very onboard with working from home, so I continue to do so. I haven't gone out except to grab a pizza for dinner yesterday. Weather is changing into our typical "summer" pattern - beautiful in the morning, rains begin at 3. This is the setup for the hurricanes in August. My thoughts and prayers go out to the sailors onboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), who have relentlessly fought an intense shipboard fire while docked at San Diego, CA 32nd street. Thanks for saving her, but I'm sure that each of the sailors lost something in that blaze, since their personal effects were still onboard when they evacuated. I spent three years in San Diego while on the USS Mount Vernon (LSD 39), and fire is the biggest nemesis onboard any ship.

Cases	Deaths

Scope	Cases	% Inc.	Deaths	% Inc.
Worldwide	14,230,773	12.3	600,304	6.5
United States	3,771,101	14.5	142,080	3.9
Florida	327,241	34.0	4,805	17.1
Pinellas County	12,714	20.0	300	31.0

Git yer numbas here! Numbers! Fresh, hot numbas! Just take a look to the left. This is bad and it is going to get worse, because our leaders aren't doing any thing about it. Suddenly, the governor of Georgia has elected to take an active Libertarian position on masks, to the point of signing an executive order preventing counties and cities from requiring masks to be worn. That's freakin' nuts! On the other side of the coin, the governor of Maryland is exaggerating the extents that his state went to in order to provide ventilators. Yet another grand-stander (YAG-S). The big topic for the week has been opening schools in the coming weeks. The guidance provided by the CDC has been denounced by the white house as too expensive. The CDC is now being bypassed for reporting, which is going to cook the books - the numbers won't be accurate. I read a report stating that the governor of Georgia cooked his numbers so his state could open early. I felt this was happening back in April. There was also a case of espionage where the Russian government was trying to gain information on corona virus vaccines from Canada, the UK, and the US by hacking. 

On the Black Lives Matter front - this just in - secret police from the department of homeland security are arresting peaceful protesters in Portland, Oregon. No poop. Federal officers in fatigues with no insignia or markings arrested peacefully protesting civilians. The federal officers were not there at the request of the governor or mayor; instead, an unidentified spokeswoman for the group said that they were there to protect the statues. 

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

- Amendment X, The Constitution of the United States

So, unless the state specifically gives the federal government the right,the federal government does not have the right. This is the concept of state sovereignty. The white house is trying criminal threats to impress their wishes on the states. The problem here is what is done has been done. Now, the fear of retribution by federal forces is planted. Even if the ACLU and the governor of Oregon sue and win, it will not change the fact that at least for one day, the constitution, and state sovereignty, were discarded by uninvited federal forces. I think that we have become the thing that we hate. I do wonder if the police lobbyists had a hand, because earlier in the week Oregon posted the names of officers that were decertified in that state back to 1971. The hope was to make the first move in creating a national database of officers that should not wear the badge. To those humans in the camo fatigues - it is highly unlikely that your leaders will pay for this disdain of the law; however, it is highly likely that you will.

On to the economy - gas is selling for $1.99/gal at the local 7/11 today. Over the week, the DJIA has been up, starting Monday morning at 26225 and ending Friday afternoon at 26686. The treasury secretary has suggested that all of the PPP loans under $50,000 should be forgiven - shoot, I didn't get my request in, dern it. This further demonstrates the need for oversight in everything this administration does. Those are my taxes being peed away, mister secretary.

That brings me to the section on politics. My least favorite of all things to discuss. The following definition should suffice:

Plausible deniability is the ability to deny any involvement in illegal or unethical activities, because there is no clear evidence to prove involvement. The lack of evidence makes the denial credible, or plausible. The use of the tactic implies forethought, such as intentionally setting up the conditions to plausibly avoid responsibility for one’s future actions.

- Political Dictionary

It used to be easy to understand the two primary political parties in the US. The whigs were for Britain, and the democrats were for France. Early republicans were states rights, where early democrats preferred federal authority. What I see now is concerning. Many approaches are from the far corners of leftism (socialism) and rightism (fascism). They are missing the middle, which is where I am. I don't want cops shooting citizens everyday. I also want my heart to swell with pride when I read the plaque at the Statue of Liberty. There needs to be mediation to the centralized vs. federated debate. Guidance should always be centralized. Enforcement should always be federated. That's exactly how our judicial system is set up. Here's a question: why do the police, teachers, and other public workers have unions? Is it because of fear that power will be abused, or is it to aim the abuse of that power? 

'Til next week - Ex20:13, and thanks to Patrick Semansky/AP for the pic.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

- Paul Simon, Sounds of silence, Sounds of Silence, 1966