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News Updates for Posterity

As I said in my previous blog post, I'm not sure there's really anything significantly new to say about this pandemic since it's been going on far longer than it should have. That said, I still want to keep this blog updated on a somewhat regular basis for future historical reference. In the absence of any new insights to share, I'm going to share and comment on some recent news.

This is pretty much the thing I've been preaching from the beginning because I respect the advice of educated experts. Still, it's nice to have the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (spelled out, capitalized, and bold in case you forgot that this pandemic is literally what the CDC was designed to help us with) slap the nation across the face with how badly we're messing up and how quickly we could be done with quarantining if everyone just wore their damn masks.

July 15: Trump Administration Orders Hospitals To Bypass CDC, Send COVID-19 Data To Washington
Speaking of the CDC being experts in what we're going through, it's really upsetting to keep reading news about Trump constantly trying to sideline them during an active pandemic. I know the Republican party holds a relatively recent hatred of higher education and expert advice, but this is just insane.

If it took you until reading that headline or article to realize that you should wear a mask any time you're around other people, congratulations: you're selfish. Everyone should already be wearing masks to protect the people around them, but I suppose for those that don't care about others it's great to finally be able to spread the news that you wearing a mask can reduce how much viral load you're exposed to, resulting in an asymptomatic or very mild infection. AKA, wearing a mask makes it more likely that your COVID-19 symptoms won't be as severe, long-lasting, or result in death. Wear your damn mask.

This is interesting. After months of downplaying the virus and ignoring just about every credible expert's advice in how to save the lives and health of the citizens he's meant to serve, Trump is finally telling folks the thing that I and so many others have been saying for months. Better late than never, and I suppose it's better than when he told people to poison themselves with disinfectants as a cure. So why is President Trump this slow to react to a worldwide crisis and 140,630 US deaths? Could it be that he got smarter and decided to listen to those who know more than him, or that he finally developed the ability to sympathize with the hurt and fear experienced by the over 3 million infected US citizens? Nah, most likely he's just continuing to be a selfish idiot who cares more about his approval numbers than anything else. After all, it must be hard to win a re-election when your support base is turning on you for promoting ideas that gets them and their loved ones infected and killed. I guess we'll see for sure in November.

And lastly, unrelated to COVID-19 but very relevant right now are the reports of several cases of Trump's "secret police" kidnapping peaceful protesters in Oregon and his threats to send them to other states as well. Remember when people compared Trump's time in office to Hitler's own early days for throwing illegal immigrants into detention centers, lying about what he said on record mere hours beforehand, discrediting and demonizing news and journalism, embracing extreme nationalism, attacking the democratic process, praising violent dictators, and on and on? Well now we can add "having secret police illegally kidnap dissenters" to that list. The next president has a very, very low bar to clear to be a huge step up in quality from Trump.

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Stay healthy and sane.
-Ryan
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