WHAT DOES THE LONE RANGER, BATMAN, BAZOOKA JOE & SPIDERMAN HAVE IN COMMON?

WHAT DOES THE LONE RANGER, BATMAN, BAZOOKA JOE & SPIDERMAN HAVE IN COMMON?

They have all been used as part of my personal marketing campaign to promote the BEST-SELLING ITEM in America aside from toilet paper, Purell and Baby Wipes.... That is, ELASTIC (used for home-made fabric masks to protect from coronavirus.

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YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN STUPID - Bill O’Reilly

from realclearpolitics.com

You Have the Right to Remain Stupid

By Bill O'Reilly

The vicious contagion presents perhaps the most significant personal opportunity for change in our lifetimes. That’s because the bustle has broken down. The pursuit of money, sex, power, and other magnets are all on hold. We are now apart from the daily machine that can grind us into unthinking, callous people. At least most of us are.

So, how about some introspection? Some inward evaluation. An honest appraisal of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Maybe we start with the country and then we’ll get to what’s really important- our own selves - as the country singers might say.

An essential question for me is: how did this country get so hateful? If you are following the contagion news, you know the blame game has kicked in. It’s the “Trump virus”, according to a New York Times columnist. Another far left writer in that liberal journal (it no longer meets the standards of a newspaper) says the virus is enabled by ultra-religious Christians who “deny science.” Of course, she ties that into the climate change debate as well as President Trump.

On the right, some loons accuse China of weaponizing the contagion without a shred of evidence to back up the claim.

With so much craziness available on the net, often disseminated by corporate media, the divisive atmosphere has fueled a unique kind of American loathing. Many of us actively despise those with whom we disagree.

Thus, in our newfound downtime, we might think about whether we are a part of the loathing movement and if we are, whether that is enhancing our individual lives.

And then there is “what your country can do for you.” President Kennedy rejected that sentiment but today the concept is warmly embraced by millions of Americans who firmly believe in the Bernie Sanders doctrine: that the government should provide. No need for self-reliance, that’s for fools. A vast central power structure will dictate what Americans can and cannot have. We the people are not the deciders. Bernie and his comrades would be.

It is simply incredible to me, a son of the Cold War, that socialism is on the rise in America. Perhaps during the contagion we can think hard about our individual freedoms which are under assault from the virus. Do you like being told how to live and where you can go? How about you, Democratic Party, are you embracing the restrictions we are seeing? They are obviously necessary. But they are also a vivid message. This is what can happen all the time when big government totalitarian rule.

On the social front, are you a due process denier? Do you condemn neighbors based on gossip? Are you supportive of the trend that all allegations are convictions? When Brett Kavanaugh was almost destroyed, it was an accusation, not hard facts, that brought him to the brink. One brave woman, Senator Susan Collins, saved him. Hundreds of our elected officials embraced the noose.

Finally, what about you? Do you fear the virus? Why? Are you afraid to die? Do you fear giving the contagion to people you love? Are strangers part of the equation? Do you feel for the suffering and dying? Do you pray for them? Do you pray at all?

All throughout history the world has suffered as it is suffering now. Those who see the big picture understand that dreadful plagues, wars, natural disasters, and human atrocities are all part of earthly existence.

People who accept that and learn from the viral calamity, are likely to prosper in the aftermath.

People who see themselves as victims and who lament the loss of individual pursuits, will stay in place. And, in America, we still have that right - to remain selfish and even more harshly - to remain stupid.

Bill O'Reilly is a former Fox News Channel host. His website is billoreilly.com.

APRIL CANCELED

from axios.com

America's grimmest month

by Caitlin Owens

President Trump asked Americans to continue social distancing until April 30, officials warned that tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans could die — and that's the least depressing scenario.

Why it matters: April is going to be very hard. But public health officials are in agreement that hunkering down — in our own homes — and weathering one of the darkest months in American history is the only way to prevent millions of American deaths.

The big picture: Because of early missteps by the Trump administration, the virus has already spread widely throughout the United States, undetected, and the number of cases in most major U.S. cities has skyrocketed.

• We now must wait for the virus to run its course among those who are already sick, or have recently been exposed and fall ill in the next few days.
• Even though the administration is urging adherence to its social distancing guidelines, many states still haven't shut down nonessential businesses or issued shelter-in-place orders, meaning the virus is still likely spreading in these areas.

By the numbers: Estimates now being echoed by the Trump administration have found that the U.S. coronavirus outbreak will peak in two weeks.

• Deborah Birx, who's coordinating the White House coronavirus response, mentioned by name a model by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that predicts the demand for hospital beds and supplies — including ventilators — will far exceed supply on April 14.
• On that day, 2,341 coronavirus deaths are expected in a single day. 
• The model predicts that 81,000 Americans will die over the next four months, and that's assuming strong adherence to social distancing measures.

The alternative is worse. Without social distancing, as many as 2.2 million Americans could die, Trump said yesterday — the number of deaths predicted by a report releasedearlier this month.

Between the lines: Even though the federal government and private companies are scrambling to manufacture more medical supplies, even under miraculous scenarios, it's too late to manufacture our way out of the shortages that are predicted over the next few weeks.

• But health care workers and the federal government are getting creative with ways to stretch a limited supply, through measures like sanitizing and reusing masks and finding ways to use a single ventilator for more than one patient.

The bottom line: We should all expect the same harrowing stories from hospitals in Italy and China to be replicated here. At the same time, we'll be wading into uncharted economic territory.

• And yet, we've never all had such an important role to play, as individuals, in mitigating a national crisis: staying home, and stopping the spread.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

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CHEAP TVS, EXPENSIVE FLU by ANN COULTER

CHEAP TVS, EXPENSIVE FLU

March 18, 2020

Here's a thought: While self-quarantining with their families in multimillion-dollar Manhattan co-ops, Wall Street wives ought to have a chat with their Master of the Universe husbands about China, globalism and political correctness. Those are the vectors of their robber-baron wealth.

Thanks to “globalism” -- i.e., cheap goods from China -- we’ve gotten many wondrous things, for example:

-- Toothpaste on American shelves made with a poison found in antifreeze.

-- Toxic Chinese drywall installed in about 100,000 U.S. homes, emitting noxious fumes that destroyed electrical wiring and metal fixtures and sickened homeowners. Replacement of the drywall, pipes and wiring cost Americans billions of dollars.

-- Hundreds, possibly thousands, of American dogs killed by melamine-laced Chinese dog food in 2007.

-- The loss of about 200,000 beautiful maple trees lining the streets of small New England towns, eaten by Asian long-horned beetles that arrived on Chinese cargo ships in 1996. The U.S. taxpayer spends hundreds of millions of dollars to eradicate the repeated outbreaks that continue to this day, despite promises from the Chinese to do better.

-- Viral pandemics -- H1N1 (from China), bird flu (from China), SARS (from China) and now the Wuhan virus (from China).

Is it really worth paying $3 for a T-shirt at Walmart, rather than $9? The precise reason Chinese goods are so cheap is that they skip the crucial quality-control step.

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The media’s reaction to this latest pandemic out of China is to say ... 

LET’S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT: THE CHINESE HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS! 

Well, like most animal-to-human viruses, this one did originate in China and then spread across the globe when Chinese tourists infected people in other countries. 

As described by Melinda Liu in Smithsonian Magazine, the Chinese wet markets, “often poorly ventilated, with multiple species jammed together -- create ideal conditions for spreading disease through shared water utensils or airborne droplets of blood and other secretions.” 

This 2017 article was titled: “Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?” 

When the pandemic arrived, at least the World Health Organization leapt to action. First step: Find a cure? Develop a vaccine? Demand protections for the elderly? 

NO! 

WHO officials got together and worked on coming up with a new name for the “Wuhan virus” that sounded less Asian. 

Next, the WHO put out a “Fact Sheet” to ensure that those with Kung Flu would not be stigmatized. It instructed: 

"DO -- talk about people 'acquiring' or 'contracting' #COVID-19. 

“DON'T -- talk about people 'transmitting COVID-19,' 'infecting others' or “spreading the virus' as it implies intentional transmission & assigns blame.” 

As fear of the Chinese virus spread, Gloria Allred brought a lawsuit against a Los Angeles school for sending an Asian student to the school nurse after he coughed in class. 

Americans are cowering in their homes. Airlines, restaurants, beaches, ski resorts, professional sports, colleges and stores have been shut down. But we must never violate the fundamental civil right of an Asian to cough in class and refuse to see the nurse! 

The New York Times has also been on the racism beat, with these pressing stories: 


As Chinese Grapple With a New Illness, an Old Stigma Is Revived

An Outbreak of Racist Sentiment as Coronavirus Reaches Australia

As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Anti-Chinese Sentiment 

And there’s more! 

Virus Fuels Anti-Chinese Sentiment Overseas

Coronavirus Outbreak Risks Reviving Stigma for China 

Wait – here’s another: 

For a Chinese Traveler, Even Paradise Comes With Prejudice 

A few weeks ago -- before a trillion dollars in wealth was destroyed by the coronavirus panic and we learned the real disease was racism -- everyone, including the Times, admitted that the virus was brought to Italy by two Chinese tourists. 

“[T]here had not yet been any confirmed cases in Italy," the Times reported, until Jan. 30, “when the government announced the first two cases.” The scientific director of an infectious diseases hospital in Rome identified them: “two Chinese tourists visiting Rome.” 

The Times buried this fact in an article perversely titled: “Cruise Passengers Are Held at Italian Port in False Alarm Over Coronavirus.” On one hand, a bunch of cruise passengers were inconvenienced for 12 hours; on the other hand, a viral pandemic that could kill millions was introduced to Italy. You write the headline. 

Lombardy is the Italian region most devastated by the Wuhan virus. As far back as 2003, a Library of Congress report cited Lombardy as having the highest concentration of Chinese immigrants in Italy. Our media refuses to tell us this fact today -- or any day. 

No hard feelings, but why not relieve people’s minds? West Virginians who have no contact with anyone visiting from China can rest easy! No need to stockpile toilet paper. 

While we’re at it, when will the media and the “medical community” get around to informing Americans that this latest Chinese pandemic poses little danger to anyone under 70 without certain chronic medical conditions? 

Italy has been ravaged by the Wuhan virus, but the average age of the dead is 81. 

According to the dire estimates of the Imperial College of London -- whose assessment we are following -- excepting those with underlying medical conditions, the new coronavirus is far less deadly than the seasonal flu to anyone under 60 years old. It’s no worse than the 2017-18 flu season for those in their 60s. 

But it's five to 10 times more deadly than the regular flu for those in their 70s and 80s, respectively. 

We ought to surround old folks homes with the National Guard and call it a day. It would probably save more lives and wouldn’t destroy the economy. 

But there’s no time to think about saving lives. The important thing is to stamp out the idea that a virus that originated in China has anything to do with China.  

COPYRIGHT 2020 ANN COULTER 

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