Category Archives: COVID-19
Germs Build Immunity
Germs build immunity. That’s because your body remembers pathogens. And it hates them. So when your body sees a pathogen it recognizes, it gets very upset and kills it. At least that’s how Harvard professor of microbiology Michael N. Starnbach, PhD sees it.
And if you don’t believe Dr. Starnbach, just ask George Carlin.
But how’s your body going to meet new germs if it’s holed up behind a mask in your basement? Besides that, hiding out from germs could drive you crazy.
Issues and Insights reports on a study that claims there could be 75.000 or more deaths due to the Covid-19 shutdown. It blames depression and stress.
Blue State Pre-existing Condition
Blue states have a pre-existing condition that makes them more vulnerable to the Corona virus lockdown. And Nancy Pelosi has a plan for that. But Mitch McConnell pronounced her $3 trillion bailout cure dead on arrival. Instead, he prescribed bankruptcy.
But the U.S. Constitution might pronounce that idea is dead on arrival too.
The plan could be raised from dead though. Bloomberg Businessweek says red states need bailouts too.
Hydroxychloroquine, Moderna Vaccine and Trump
Hydroxychloroquine is President Trump’s drug of choice at the moment. It’s an anti-malarial drug that some think has an off-label use against Covid-19. On Monday Trump announced that he personally takes the drug. He told the press, “I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this.”
There are risks, its effectiveness against Covid-19 is unproven but he’s taking the drug under the supervision of his physician.
It’s not like he’s mainlining Lysol. Still, the expected media freak-out ensued.
Pelosi offers second opinion on Trump Hydroxychloroquine Therapy
The Speaker of the House recommended against the therapy and diagnosed Trump as morbidly obese. The president countered that she’s a sick woman with a lot of mental problems.
Earlier Monday, Moderna announced that phase one testing of its Covid-19 vaccine showed positive results. So positive that the Dow shot up 900 points. But then Trump stepped the good news.
Social Distancing Violators Confined
Social distancing violators are being arrested. And some are going to jail.
But Paul Manafort was sprung from prison last week. The NYT reports the release of more than 2,500 prisoners into home confinement due to the virus. Just like the rest of us.
Okay, so Manafort’s not Scarface. What did you expect from a cartoon?
Follow The Science of the Covid Pandemic
We’re often told told that truth is relative. That is except when it comes to “The Science.” Then it’s absolute. And we must follow the science.
But it’s kinda tough to pin down “The Science.” It’s always changing. Especially when it comes to Covid 19 models.
A piece by an economist named Brian Wesbury appeared in Real Clear Politics comparing the 2008 mortgage crisis to the current covid crisis. Lenders in 2008 were required to value their assets at market prices. It’s called marking to market. The idea was to “insist on the truth.” But the truth was that the mortgage market didn’t want the stuff. So the banks failed and the larger markets crashed.
Now Wesbury says pandemic authorities want us to mark to scientific models. But the models have never been accurate:
States and municipalities shut down their economies — based on models that predicted 2.2 million deaths in the United States. Hospitals, they said, would be overwhelmed, so we must flatten the curve. The result? They flattened the economy, risking even more lives in the process, and generated panic that made the markets illiquid!
Brian Wesbury – Real Clear Politics