Aug 24, 2020
I’m on an island. The only land border was closed on March 6. The airport closed then as well. Basically, we’ve been shut-off from the outside world. If there is any place where the virus should have been easy to get under control, it’s here. Yet the number of active cases hovers around 3000 or so. The airport re-opened eventually with limited flights, but entry to foreigners was restricted, passengers could transit onwards only. Arrivals have not been the steady source of new infections.
It should be easy to get the Sickness under control here. In China they had a rigorously enforced lockdown for six weeks or so and since May everything has returned to normal. At least on this island we could be past this—but people don’t and won’t behave.
Politicizing everything doesn’t help either.
The virus is wildly inconsistent in its effects on people For most people, they don’t even know that they have it. I have a friend in New York–mild headaches, loss of taste and smell. Went to the doctor, told him don’t worry. A few days later, headaches gone, senses returning. If it were me, I would have figured, OK, I have headaches today, part of life. Sense of taste/smell, must have been something I ate. Nothing here to go to the doctor about.
Three years ago I had the “regular” flu, despite getting a shot. I was sick for a week, and I mean, “maybe I should make a will sick.” Fever, fatigue, even unexplained bleeding from the mouth. After a week started to come out of it, though I missed the big boss’ annual party and I think this contributed to my losing a job.
There is no question that the virus kills mostly only those over 80. But even there it is inconsistent. My aunt lives in Clifton, Illinois, in a home in the middle of a cornfield, one hour from the nearest town. She came down with the Sickness and was taken to the hospital as a precaution. A few days later she was released. She is 95 years old.
On the other hand, there are many reports of younger people not making it. No one knows why. I think we should have gone the Sweden route, used common sense and not locked down. We still have not. It is not easy to leave this island because so many countries have stopped issuing visitor visas. Lockdowns are a fact. I’m not happy with that, but they exist. I only hope this will be all over soon. But everyone says, “two months.”
On another island, at Mallory Square in Key West people gather to watch the sun go down. It’s a party atmosphere that has been a Key West tradition for longer than anyone can remember. There are mimes and street performers including a lion tamer TBA who puts house cats, rather than big cats, through their paces. There is a popcorn vendor who sells freshly popped popcorn. There is a sign on his stand which says, “Free Popcorn Tomorrow.” Except that the sign never changes.
Our sign could read, “Two More Months.” Except that like the popcorn sign, the Covid-19 sign never changes.
Aug 21, 2020
The arrest was made by US Postal Inspectors, one of the most professional of all federal law enforcement agencies. If you look, you will see that while the FBI has had rogue agents, rogue directors and has gone rogue itself (see, COINTELPRO) the Postal Inspection Service has not suffered such political blows.
Bannon is charged with mail fraud; one of the easiest federal crimes to prove. In practice,
Are the two elements of the crime. Bannon has a lot to worry about.
Aug 20, 2020
The Laotian hazmat squad shows up to take away the coffin carrying the infected body.
Aug 20, 2020
Average age of Covid-19 death is 82 years.
Aug 20, 2020
kielbasa rump short ribs buffalo. Ribeye t-bone chuck chicken burgdoggen tail prosciutto pastrami turducken pork belly pancetta alcatra. Jowl prosciutto pancetta, venison meatball pork belly capicola frankfurter. Shank bacon short loin chicken picanha chislic, filet mignon biltong tri-tip shankle kielbasa leberkas.
Boudin drumstick tongue pork, pig shoulder chicken. Pig buffalo jerky, picanha bacon salami brisket ham hock turkey sausage pancetta hamburger short ribs drumstick. Pastrami picanha meatloaf drumstick pork belly biltong jerky pork loin shoulder ball tip ham hock t-bone. Fatback capicola cow leberkas flank spare ribs corned beef tenderloin biltong meatball chuck meatloaf sausage. Tenderloin strip steak kevin turducken rump, cow boudin shank kielbasa chicken salami. Andouille strip steak chislic turkey bresaola picanha shank porchetta cupim.
Pork kielbasa ball tip ribeye buffalo t-bone. Kielbasa tri-tip meatball jerky tongue. Swine filet mignon ribeye jowl turkey pancetta strip steak. Doner burgdoggen capicola salami tongue tail ribeye pork belly t-bone prosciutto fatback pork bacon. Tri-tip filet mignon ribeye flank venison ground round prosciutto doner frankfurter pork pig rump pork belly.
Aug 15, 2020
The WSJ claims that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia puts pressure on Saudi Arabia to do the same. The WSJ clearly does not understand Saudi Arabia.
#ksa #saudiarabia #uae2020 #israel
Aug 14, 2020
Bacon ipsum dolor amet filet mignon boudin swine porchetta rump turkey, t-bone beef ribs. Pork loin pancetta andouille brisket turkey ham. Salami meatloaf shoulder cow sirloin turducken picanha tongue boudin tail pork loin cupim frankfurter. Tenderloin salami drumstick ham hock leberkas doner, boudin pastrami ribeye alcatra chuck pancetta pig cupim. Tongue alcatra salami tri-tip corned beef turkey pig buffalo prosciutto ribeye.
Boudin brisket salami, biltong turducken pancetta porchetta buffalo tongue flank. Cow pastrami porchetta biltong, picanha short loin short ribs cupim bresaola landjaeger. Pork meatloaf tongue burgdoggen turducken tenderloin. Capicola jerky t-bone corned beef, swine chislic shank. Turducken pastrami meatloaf fatback filet mignon picanha pork andouille. Ground round chislic fatback hamburger shankle tail boudin jowl. Turducken t-bone andouille ham hock, chuck hamburger shankle capicola beef frankfurter pancetta flank beef ribs sausage picanha.
Picanha venison porchetta, meatloaf pork chop landjaeger beef ribs. Pork belly short ribs ham hamburger frankfurter, sausage pork loin rump leberkas filet mignon ground round. Ribeye meatloaf burgdoggen spare ribs sausage. Landjaeger drumstick tri-tip meatball picanha, chuck meatloaf jerky. Jerky porchetta salami tri-tip pancetta beef.
Aug 13, 2020
When the M/V Rhosus sailed into Lebanese waters in 2013 to pick up new cargo, the owners already had exhausted their funds and had no money to pay for the vessel’s voyage to Mozambique. Their plan was that the already-laden vessel would pick up new cargo that would pay the tolls for the Suez Canal and bunkers for the journey down the African coast. When the explosive cargo was finally delivered to the purchasers in Mozambique, the owners of the vessel would finally be paid and there would be money for the vessel’s debts.
Unfortunately, the Lebanese authorities did not let the Rhosus leave, beginning a chain of events that led to the terrible explosion on August 4th in Beirut. Who was responsible for the explosion? In a very real sense, all the lawyers involved, the Lebanese judicial system and the Rule of Law™ itself.
During the seven years the cargo has been in Beirut, no less than six lawsuits were filed by various parties in an effort to secure the cargo, obtain control over the cargo or sell the cargo. Every single one of these efforts was unsuccessful. As a result, the cargo sat rotting in the port. All that was needed was a source of ignition and eventually, one was found when nearby-stored fireworks ignited. The conflicting lawsuits and bankruptcies made it impossible for the authorities to take any decisive action. The Lebanese legal system was simply not up to the task.
In 2001, a container of Chinese fireworks stored in the open at the port of Dammam in Saudi Arabia caught fire during the summer heat. Fireworks are explosives, but people treat them as if they were toys. The fire quickly spread, but no other explosives were nearby. The authorities in Beirut failed to learn this lesson. When the Beirut fireworks caught fire, the fuse for the greater explosive charge was lit.
Now there will be more lawsuits. The vessel owner will escape liability: he has already declared bankruptcy and storage of the explosives for the past seven years has been at the direction of the Lebanese port authorities. It was a bad idea to attempt to carry this cargo on this ship, but there was no international authority preventing him from doing so and the customary laws of the sea are silent.
Finally, there is one aspect of this tragedy that has escaped notice: given that the bomb was 1/10th the blast of a Hiroshima device and on the whole, Beirut was not utterly destroyed, this incident will be used as an argument in favor of small, tactical nuclear weapons. After Hiroshima, such an idea was unthinkable. Now it is unthinkable no longer.
