
2020 Covid-19 “Sh*t Just Got Real”
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Salutations.
We don’t “broadcast” 24/7. For that you have MSM or mainstream media, radio, newspapers and news. And we wouldn’t want to. And we try not to get into the mix of politics. But we probably can all agree, right now the world is “at war” with a nameless, shapeless terror. And that’s Covid-19 which is a type of “coronavirus”. This is a group of viruses that can occur in animals and humans. Often they are seen in birds and mammals. Examples of coronaviruses are SARS and MERS. Symptoms vary depending on what animal or person has it. And often when an outbreak occurs there’s no no antidote, vaccine or cure. Many person are familiar with the “common cold” which is caused by a type of coronavirus. These type of viruses usually are spherical and are introduced to a host and attach to cells and replicate certain proteins.
The most common way of being introduced to a person is via coughing or sneezing. These groups of viruses have been around for centuries and may have been first transmitted via birds, bats and even cow or dog like ancestors. Severity of symptoms also depends on which type of coronavirus it is.
The most recent outbreak’s disease was called 2019-nCov or 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia and later was named COVID-19 officially by World Health Organization (WHO). The virus causing this was named SARS-Cov-2. Its most severe symptoms include shortness of breath and pneumonia although it can also cause organ failure and muscle pain and other flu-like symptoms and even cause death. Complications can also develop. The general current consensus has been that time of manifestation after initial exposure is from 2 to 14 days. It is especially dangerous for elderly such as those older than 70 or 80 years old. And it is also dangerous for kids and those with pre-existing conditions.
Currently there are ways to test for presence of virus in one’s system which includes swabbing the nose or throat and other various scans or blood tests which currently take from hours to a few days. At this time many places around the world are reporting shortages of kits.
Time to Live: This virus according to Wikipedia can live in the air sprays that come out of a human’s body for at least 3 hours and survive up to 3 days on hard surfaces.
Origins: Thought to have come from animals and spread to humans.
Main organs affected in body: Lungs
Earliest vaccine availability: Computed to be at least a year away or 2021
Key strategies advocated: Prevention.
Right now due to the highly contagious nature and delay before discovery people are advocating strategies found in previous outbreaks and other similar coronavirus-like historical incidents.
Those typically are:
- Handwashing
- Good hygiene
- Avoiding entry points to body such as eyes, nose, throat and face.
- Preventing aerosol projectiles from being emitted from the body that is – covering up when sneezing or coughing so it doesn’t get sprayed or coughed into other people or into their physical space
- Also distancing and isolation and barriers. This is know also as staying at home, self-quarantining and also social distancing meaning that everyone carries possibilities of germs and is a germ vector of transmission. So instead of being too close to someone you have to stand outside of the realm of another’s space whereby a cough or sneeze can transmit spit or water droplets to be sprayed onto you and end up in you eyes and nose and mouth or breathed in.
- Another advanced strategy has been to stop travel or stopping people from gathering in inadvertently spreading the germs to each other on a massive scale and also temporarily stopping normal business so that a person can recover and get better and stop the speed of transmission.
Medical impact:
A key term that you may have heard bantered about is “flattening the curve”. This is based on the fact that if you chart on a graph the time to infection rate you get a curve that basically doubles every few days till it’s out of control. The curve usually is plotted with time on the x axis or left to right and the number of cases or infection on a y axis or up and down. Thus the graph would look like a line that’s slanting to the right and going up but soon it’s going up faster and higher as it gets to the right more like a space ship going up faster and faster and faster in a sense. Thus experts say that at a certain point it would overload the healthcare system with physicians having to pick and choose who to treat as the system would be overwhelmed. So with everything they are trying to slow down the inevitable. They know it the transmission of the virus is coming and people WILL be infected but it needs to happen over a longer time so that there’s a fighting chance to treat it and prevent more cases.
That’s why there’s been so much in the news about quarantining, border crossing bans and also many schools closing and restaurants and churches and other public venues. Not because of overreacting, but also since it is necessary to stop the “fire” from spreading. You may have seen a row of matches on Twitter for instance or on the news where one match spreads the fire from one to the next and one match is not in the row… (off at a distance) and it stops the “Domino Effect” where transmission just goes from person to person. Except according to the news this is not a one to one transmission rate. According to one local news source it can be one person spreading it to 2.5 people.
Over the Counter prevention: Simply soap and water and washing away the contaminants from the skin may help prevent the disease from being contracted. It seems really simple and overstated but washing your hands may be a good way to maintain good hygine. If washing hands is not available they recommend a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Although many are advocating not to use facial masks we think it would have been good to have on hand. Perhaps they don’t want people hoarding these items so medical professionals can get access to them. Also N-95 respirators are highly effective or surgical masks at when for those that do require them. The general explanation for why the masks are not recommended:
- May make you cocky or overconfident that you won’t get it
- Your masks may become contaminated on the surface and you end up touching some other part of your body by accident.
Vaccines: Currently none.
Our take: (Opinion rant ahead)
While your community may not have been affected it has spread through many countries like wildfire and absolutely spread through the United States in less than a month almost 2.5 weeks to every single 50 state of the United States. The time to buckle down is now.
This is also a PSA or public service announcement of sorts and especially to millennials or skeptics. We know you’re skeptical, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. And you don’t want to be the one that gets the illness or even worse… the one that spreads it to someone else.
Over centuries many diseases have spread throughout the world including small pox and measles and Ebola and the Black Plague. We can learn a lot about our history and how not to repeat it by studying our past so that we can prevent future outbreaks as well as contain this one. For example the Black Plague involved fleas, rodents, and infections and hygiene. Syphilis was spread sexually and from mother to child. Many people had held obsolete notions of spontaneous generation and it wasn’t till scientists like Louis Pasteur that modern beginnings of germ theory began. We needed radical thinkers like Francesco Redi and Lazzaro Spallanzani.
Previous held theories had some precursors but weren’t quite right and refined over the ages such as:
Miasma theory – or bad air / poisonous vapors / foul vapors making one sick
Spores / bad seed theory by Thucydides
Contaminants theory
Worms theory
Tiny animal life theory
Thank goodness also for Joseph Lister for also helping to develop modern sanitation techniques. He is honored today and a modern day mouthwash, Listerine which was developed as a surgical antiseptic is name after him.
Though our site has many articles and posts tailored toward millennials and entrepreneurs, you do not have to be one of those to understand that this disease has spread across countries faster than it really should have and could have possibly been contained earlier.
First a definition explanation: Epidemic versus pandemic.
You may have heard of both and wonder what’s the difference.
According to Diffen.com an epidemic is more local. It affects a lot of people and grows faster than it was expected to grow. Let’s say there’s a breakout in London. The city thinks it’s going to only affect 2000 people. But it turns out to affect 6000. That would be considered an epidemic. Now when it spreads outside London and starts going to let’s say other cities and countries and then across continents it become a massive problem on a grand geographical scale. That sheer size is what makes it a pandemic. It has to be on nearly a continental or worldwide scale.
I was skeptical as a writer myself when first hearing about it. But when I saw border closings, economic fluctuations lasting longer than a week and even what now is agreed upon to be a recession and essentially Quantitative Easing and injection of money into the financial system (we’re already trillions in debt, yes, and printing money for liquidity for the banking system so it doesn’t freeze up) and many world leaders declaring this as a massive problem. And it’s hitting many regions and they are broadcasting individually outside of MSM or mainstream news then there is something to take notice. Tonight even watching local news there was a clip of young millennials playing outside and hanging out on the beach despite warnings to try to socially distance themselves. And while it’s understandable if you’re young and healthy and okay to be skeptical, you have to remember that this is bigger than yourself and it’s good to be careful. Don’t be skeptical to the point that you’re careless. Our site does not advocate that.
Here are some “alternate theories” of this pandemic found online currently. We don’t advocate or lean toward any of those or are in any way affiliated, but just presenting them in no particular order if you haven’t been researching on social media and the news yourself. If you yourself decide some of these items are interesting do your own research and find out what it’s about.
- Theory 1: Some say that this virus is a secret elite agenda and they believe this virus was generated for biological warfare purposes, but Wikipedia says that it’s naturally occurring. One place said the a certain rich billionaire and CEO of a charitable foundation created this thing. And another said it was a secret weapon gone wrong. Or that it’s a modified virus and we already have the cure somewhere.
- Theory 2: Some say that this is somehow political to make the U.S. prez look bad but really… who has that kind of power to manufacture a germ overseas and make it spread and cause it to look like the U.S. doesn’t know how to handle a crisis? And besides that would have to be state sponsored or someon to have a lot of money or military and that would have to be a major superpower.
- Theories about handwashing: That the sanitizers don’t actually affect viruses or only bacteria or that it makes your hand more permeable… Or that ibuprofen can make the symptoms worse. We have no opinion on this. Do your own research and find out the truth yourself. It doesn’t hurt to have clean hands either.
- I found a place on social media platforms saying in one case this panic was overblown and another saying the situation was mismanaged and people saying it was a hoax and then it’s not. The thing is that it’s causing wide market swings and bringing out the scammers as well as the helpful people that want to donate and help others. It has brought out the hoarders, the preppers, the doomsday people out of the woodwork. It has also brought out the people thinking that it’s all part of the “Plan” or some divine plan that the patriotic leader of the nations has this great plan. Others say that this was a kink in the Plan.
- There’s this theory about Patriots or a frog-memed group that believe that people aren’t self-quarantining but under house-arrest. This goes back to the “great cleansing” plan.
- Interesting to note is that Fed employees had a taste of the ascetic life in the U.S. when there was a National Emergency, border closing issue and people being out of work and scarcity. Could it be that U.S. federal employees were primed or able to be put in the mindset ahead of time to prepare for a disaster or worse case scenario with the 35 day shutdown they experienced? That would have to be some serious 3D chess strategy to able to think that far ahead to a recession / save up your money/ save up your cash type scenario. But this is interesting to note that national emergency declaration when we were “at peace” has likely some people that went through that to say “never again”. And how to prepare for scenarios like that so they never have anything like that happen to their family again. You see people saving up cash and being stronger now versus the 2008 financial crisis. And likely people are comparing this to the 1918 H1N1 Spanish flu epidemic returning from World War I. It was nicknamed such as Spain was allowed to report the epidemic while neighboring countries censored the information to increase morale. (Decentralized freely available open information is so important!) It made this appear to be centered mainly in Spanish countries and nicknamed that as a result. (H1N1 Spanish flu source info from Wikipedia). We must not allow this to happen again where we can control the spread of the virus with the information we have.
- Theory: That this virus will enable forced control and mass forced vaccinations – Unproven at this time.
- Theory: That this virus was caused by 5G wireless networks entering regions geographically and causing body harm and compromised immune systems – Unproven
- Theory: This virus is going to cause martial law and variations of the Biblical Rapture and prophecies and that arrests will be made or that it’s going to enable a massive change in the way things work. It is interesting to note regarding this theory that many “unprecedented” things have happened. You will note the MSM or mainstream media uses this word often as either it has never happened before or cause “that’s how it’s always been and operated”. But not everything that has been in the status quo is always good if it’s perpetuating some method or procedure that’s fundamentally faulty. Some may say corrupted or whatever their term is. Just this past week we have noted that as reported in the news and experience by some of us that “unlimited data” has been opened on most people’s cellphones. That people are getting a reprieve in paying bills and those “powers that be” that make the rules are bantering around injecting money and giving people extra checks, delaying tax deadlines, forgiving student debt, and opening up the gates to unlimited 5G and a universal internet utility which would then open up the gateway to a robotic workforce and always on Internet with self driving cars etc. As to what economic relief is actually given to small business owners, what trillion dollar stimulus or extensions to pay back loans etc, that is still left to be found out. Many people will use the word “uncertainty”. Are we any more or less certain that we have been in the last 3 or 4 years? It is interesting about the unlimited data and we are grateful we can stay connected socially in this time of social quarantine and isolation and not gonna complain about the extra data. (Noted we got a text from our service provider and found it interesting that NPR news mentioned that the “floodgates” had been opened which may mean that data as a utility will be an option soon one day as we no longer have any reason to throttle if it hasn’t overloaded our current wireless network infrastructure.)
Why are we providing you all this information? Because information over the years has been hoarded and reserved only for the elites and certain people. Thank goodness we have the internet to declassify and provide you free information that you can research and spread. Be careful what you take in your mind as some information are falsehoods and will also poison the way you think.
People are hoarding, stock piling, running out to get cash. Social media has people talking about how gold is the store of value or that crypto will be the next hot thing as we are getting close to its preplanned halving. And people are running out to get food, cans, bottled water and even talking about bullets and “end of the world” type stuff just in case. It goes to show how much fear is currently going on. Some people say don’t worry like a certain former antivirus CEO and to use your head. But even then you have to be prepared and the only way you are aware is if you know what is around you and that’s why it’s presented on this site here. You can’t make an informed decision if you’re flying blindly.
On that end you may want to be diversified. Cash is definitely needed. Hopefully you’ve been doing your absolute best to save since the 2008 financial crisis and if you endured the 35 day shutdown you saved cash and various other assets so that “never again” really was the last time you were unprepared. As a parent you need to have money ready to protect your family and kids and weather this crisis and can’t rely on any particular thing to guarantee your next income so you need to be able to turn on a dime. It might be good to have some extra skills at this time. Millennials know also that having the ability to take up various gigs is useful. You might need to take up delivery gigs as Amazon and Kroger and other places are hiring and needing delivery drivers. Uber Eats and Lyft might be hot right now as no one wants to go out and you can’t dine in a restaurant and have to do drive throughs. There are curfews now. There are reduced hours. Your local library or YMCA or student activities are cancelled. Going to the bar to enjoy a cold one with friends is no longer an option. And Sunday church is likely cancelled. Only the bare essentials and minimal traveling is advised in many countries. Basically your normal way of coping and relaxing is not available. You can’t go to movies or theaters or enjoy a musical and go see comedy shows. All you have is TV or radio or print. And people are so afraid of things they aren’t taking the bus or other public transportation or they are afraid to touch and shake hands due to admonitions by public officials. And they even are afraid to press elevator buttons or open doors.
Our site is not to fear monger as this is already out there in your neighborhood by now as this has been already in the news for roughly 3 months but now just experiencing it in your city. And even Italians have created tweets or self-notes on Twitter and videos warning of things they would have done had they know of this virus ahead of time 10 days ago. Basically, there’s “uncertainty” and “fear” more than the usual fear. And more than the usual political banter that created “artificial uncertainty”, because people realize if they can’t got to work or travel or go to hotels or get haircuts and all that then businesses are going to have a hard time staying profitable and making profit and making rent. And that’s why the economy is tanking also. At this point it really has factored into the economy.
Stack your assets. Leave some for others that need it. Be frugal but eat healthy and well so you have strength to get up and fight another day. Stay fit and exercise and keep a daily routine and be healthy. This will not last forever. We leave you tonight with food for thought: To everything there is a season. There is time for harvest, there is a time for spring. Right now feels like winter but the cycle will soon be over and come around again like it always does. If you are smart you will prepare ahead so when the time comes you can survive with flying colors.
And lastly, to the gov officials or people that are bosses or managers or leaders, this is your “Ghostbusters” moment folks. I’ve seen people on Twitter implore those that have a say, to actually lead. At this time more than ever we want our leaders to lead and make those hard decisions that we can’t or aren’t willing or able to make for ourselves. Many leaders aren’t sure if it’s the right or correct thing to shut down the city or their office for fear of looking like a fool or being excessive. There’s a quote that millions are starving for someone to lead and we will naturally follow a true leader. If you remember in “The Ghostbusters” the movie, Peter Venkman and the Ghostbusters are trying to convince the mayor to fight the ghostly threat facing New York. The mayor asks what’s going to happen. And we get that picture that it’s mass hysteria, apocalyptic stuff of biblical proportions, fire and brimstone stuff. And the mayor pauses and says “Enough, I get the point!” but “what if you’re wrong?” To which Venkman says, “If we’re wrong, then nothing happens! We got to jail… but if we’re right, and we can stop this thing… you… will have saved the lives of millions (of registered voters).” Make the tough decision and keep your folks and people safe, even if it’s never been done before and inconvenient now, it may stop the spread of the virus and help contain this and save lives.
Be safe out there.
Have a weird theory or tips to get through this “difficult time”? Comment below.