I think those words are the hardest for us - any of us - to say....
If I hear one more news "reporter" and the ones on the "F#$%@ and Friends " reporting network are not Reporters, they are entertainers. Do they not know that there is video of them saying that this is/was a Democrat Hoax - that its "like the FLU" that it was another Impeachment attempt on the President. Now they wanna say - that they never said it. Lies then and More Lies now - ok , not that I usually like him, but that Tucker Carlson took it serious from the beginning,,, the others - NOPE !
Look - Just say - "I was wrong" . this is much more serious than I originally thought, I did not take it serious enough,. Now - was that so hard !
AND and - If I hear one more person compare this to the Fucking Flu - I will probably SCREAM !
Yes,,, it' s the Flu,, A Flu like in that both are viruses. thats it.... the Data taht I hear quoted is insane. You cannot talk about data unless you do it per capita - a Percentage. NOT just flat numbers. and BTW - IF you want to argue about if the Fatality Rate is 1.5 -2 or .75 % THAT IS STILL HUGELY higher than the God Damn FLU !! the FLU has 22,000 deaths. over 36 million affected. ok, simple maths 22,000 divided by 36,000,000 then times 100 to get a Percentage ,,, thats .06111% so if the Covid is even .75 % thats 12 times HIGHER !!! so do me a favor and shut the hell up about the GD FLU !!
and ok - if you are confused about what to do ??? Follow this chart ! You're Welcome..
Let's Review... and people who say that it is just panic that is driving the Public actions,,, does not make the outcomes any less real ... Shortages at the Grocery Stores , stock market in the Toilet, Etc...
Workers - working from Home where possible
Near every state has declared a state of Emergency
The POTUS issued a National Emergency
A Travel ban on other than American Citizens coming into the US - BTW - when they did this at Chicago airport the other night - it was a disaster,.. I read 6 hours to get thru screening and then Customs while packed together in a terminal !
Schools closed
NBA suspends Season
NHL suspends Season
NCAA Cancels March Tournament
MLB ends Spring Training, and suspends start of season
Broadway goes dark
Every concert, Show, and any thing else that is scheduled has been postponed or cancels
Disney world and Disneyland Close the parks, then yesterday closed the Hotels and Disney Springs
Need an appointment to go to the DMV
and this list is just the Start ,,,, the CDC wants a total self Quarantine for 2 weeks, and they have asked no gathering of 50 or more for 8 weeks,,,
So if you are feeling apprehensive / Scared / Concerned ,,, you have every right,....
Maybe turn off the news for most of the day,,, check in once a day in the Evening to see what updates there are - as you need to stay informed . Don't Spread fear by going on and on about the Virus, and do not spread rumor. Stop Hoarding food and supplies,,, I do not think there is a supply problem, its only that no retail outlet is prepared for ALL the TP (or anything else ) to be purchased in one day.
Listen to new music, watch or rewatch a TV series that is being streamed, go out side and rake / Clean up the yard, Do that home project you have been hoping you could do. Go for a Walk, Bike Ride, ok - thats all .....
If Hater is the right word.... I doubt most of everything I hear and I think I judge too quickly ,, I am not sure if I am getting better at keeping my mouth shut about it or worse. while not having great examples of things - here are few you maybe can relate to as THEY are hot news lately.
Ok - so THEY the CDC the POTUS gives us advice on how not to act during this Pandemic .... then I watch a news conference where the POTUS has 20 people standing shoulder to shoulder behind him, CEO's of Companies, THE whole CDC group we have been seeing, the VP's TEAM (what ever the F that is) The POTUS speaks, and then shakes hands with nearly all of the people that come up to speak and the all speak into the same microphone. Only one guy brushes aside the hand shake and he give the POTUS his elbow - as they have been TELLING US !! so OK,,, THE POTUS is an asshole - we all know it and this Crisis shows how unfit for office he really is ! But that Aside - why do none of the CDC People Say anything !! Even the Guy that I think has given us the best info during this - and should be given a medal at the end of the Dr Anthony Fauci - Why did he say nothing - makes me wonder ,,,, Is this really real , someone needed to step out and say "wait - Stop" ! No Shaking hands and someone wipe down this Mic in between speakers,,, and everyone take 3 steps apart ! thats what they are telling us to do... WTF !?!?!?
And then we Have the Diet folks - the Nutra System spokes people - Marie Osmond - but she is just the latest of a group of these folks... Let me tell you - that they are not the typical person that goes on these diets , eats this food. I believe what they did worked ! But let's remember who they are - people with means far beyond what most of have. Yup - they follow the "diet" that they are promoting,, however, and I am just HATING here. They have a CHEF and/or a Dietician that plans all their meals for them. They have a person that Shops for them. They have a person that cooks for them. A personal Trainer that works with them. Fitness Equipment in their own home (if not a fully Stocked Gym ) that they utilize when they want. What they do not have is a Job that they need to go to , a Family that they need to care for , Children to care for.That whole thing is FALSE Advertising ! But because we as a society see Weigh loss and Body Shape as a personal Triumph - they get away with it, and those poor bastards that do these Diets, get results for a while - then not , and they wonder why.
That's all - I need to go shop for few months of Toilet paper so I do not run out !!
So the news that I turn into is criticizing another news outlet for politicizing the COVID -19 Message. That they - that other station - needs to be giving people helpful information and not be taking shots at the other news source. And they say - she to be specific - says that the other news outlet has on several guests - and that they just use the Guests to Bash the Administration and the "other party" over the handling of the Crisis. AND THEN - that person - she - brings on 2 guests that all they do is just that !! Bashes the other network.
I try to watch a little of Fox news to see what the Messaging is over there.. But I cannot watch Laura Ingram and her guests,,, as she launches into a Tirade into criticism of CNN and bring son guests to do what she just said CNN should not be Doing !! The worst of the Fox "news" - it's not news its GOP / POTUS news ... not real news. but the Worst is that she - and her guests - suggest - and to be fair the Guest Stated it and she did not challenge them - that the Democrats were happy that this was happening in America, that they enjoy watching the country in crisis that they like sporting events cancelled, that they like the stock market to drop ,,, What type of Low life person suggests this !
I try - I honestly do - I just can't watch FOX and Keep down my dinner ..and no one should be surprised that there are Political rifts in Getting Americans the help and info that they need to handle the Virus - when all this POTUS does is separate the parties and the Country.
and let me say - I do not understand how you cannot read a teleprompter - and that the WH has to walk back MAJOR points in the address you made to the Nation, on Who can come to the US from Europe (US citizens can flay back home) , and that he Halted goods into the US also (nope) , that Great Britain is the only country that can travel to the US (nope), that Insurance companies shave agreed to pay for the COVID -19 treatment (nope - only for the testing) . I mean Jesus ! Can we get it right in a prewritten speech !?!?!
And - many many people pay attention to how the leader (HA HA) acts ,, does not matter of that person in the POTUS, a Business manager, a Mayor, a CEO, - how do they act ? Are they walking the WALK ?? are they still shaking hands with people, are they acting concerned about contacting the Virus ? As we can see - the Potus is not ! Not worried that he has been in direct Contact with people who have tested positive ...
I do have one question - how is it that the Utah Jazz Basketball team has all been tested , but Mayors and Governors across the country say they cannot get enough tests ?? and Ok we - the CDC wanted to develop it's own test and Not use the German version - but should not we be catching up to the Demand - even a little ??
So the latest news has moved me from - "Gee whats this all about - and It is happened to others not to me" and now I am more in the "WTF" category,,
NCAA having games with no fans ,,,, NBA cancelling suspending the Season, Soccer leagues playing with no fans, Can the NHL and MLB be far behind ?? And that is the Sports side,, what of the Stock Market, what of Business that are having Employees work from home ??
How long before this gets real and someone I know gets the Virus ?? can't be long.. What about those I know that are already in a battle for their health ?? It is certainly the unknown that puts the panic in people.
all right , I do not know what else to say right now,,,,,
how about this
Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount, But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts, And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn. Come in, she said I'll give ya shelter from the storm.
“THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS, NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER.”
Ok - I am going to discuss two things today, Totally if not completely unrelated.
A) the Government response to the Coronavirus .. and what Misinformation means in our Society today,,, geez - who want to hear about this ,,,
Way Back in Late February,,,
- Trump said the current number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is “going very substantially down, not up.” But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said to expect more cases and has warned that it is highly unlikely that the virus will not spread to some degree within the U.S. The first case of community spread may have already occurred. How has this worked out so far... Cases down or UP ?? - The president said that the U.S. is “rapidly developing a vaccine” for COVID-19 and “will essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.” That’s misleading. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said a vaccine at best won’t be ready for “a year to a year-and-a-half” and won’t be available for the current epidemic. ummmm do I need to explain ? - Trump’s acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, falsely claimed this week that the influenza fatality rate was “right around 2% as well.” It’s not - In making a comparison to a past outbreak, the president correctly noted that Ebola is far more deadly than the novel coronavirus. But he neglected to mention that Ebola can only be transmitted via bodily fluid exchange and it's Significantly harder to catch. - Trump made some confusing remarks that wrongly suggested the flu fatality rate is “much higher” than the rate for COVID-19, the new coronavirus disease. The flu fatality rate is about 0.1%, while the fatality rate for COVID-19 has been about 2-3%.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, also got the facts wrong on this in a Feb. 25 Senate hearing. Wolf said the COVID-19 fatality rate was “under 2%” or “between 1.5 and 2%,” and then falsely said the influenza rate was “right around 2% as well.” I personally have been in several conversations this week where it was stated that lots more people die of the Flu - and while that is true - you cannot talk about that in absolute numbers - you MUST use percentage of those affected. in which even the best estimates state taht Coronavirus is 20 x higher....
All right - we need not go on,,,, although he suggests that keeping a Cruise ship off shore - with US citizens on it that may be infected was what he wanted to do because it would keep the numbers lower.....Jesus,... and there is a video circulating of a News person interviewing Mrs Mary Q Public that says she does not believe the Virus is real and that the Deaths are a Democratic hoax, I bet she ain't washing her hands ...
And - there is always the OLE Standby - Blame Obama - even if it's an outright LIE !
THE LIE !! Trump, March 4: I just want to add, if I might — and to go a little bit further — the Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing. And we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion. That was a decision we disagreed with. I don’t think we would have made it, but for some reason it was made. But we’ve undone that decision.
THE TRUTH ...It’s not true,” said Rachel Sachs, a Washington University in St. Louis law professor, The Obama administration did attempt to impose a risk-based system of regulation on laboratory developed tests, or LDTs, and introduced draft guidance in 2014. But that guidance was never finalized, and was withdrawn after Trump won the election in 2016. “It never went into effect,” Citing the withdrawn guidance document, Jeffrey Gibbs of the firm Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, who is an expert on FDA law, also told us that the president’s claim was “not accurate.”
When we need to let the Science talk ,,, and let the Facts matter - we have a president we cannot trust to tell the truth - about anything,,, and especially if he thinks it will hurt his chances at re- election.
Ok - Now - let's talk something important !! (ha) Disney's Rise of the Resistance. and debacle taht is Getting a Boarding Group so that you can experience that attraction. Disney at WDW and Disneyland have opened an extremely popular attraction called Rise of the Resistance- Disney World built an entire Star Wars land with a Life Size Millennium Falcon - that area encompasses about 20% of Disney Hollywood Studios. There is Galaxy Edge - where you can pilot the Falcon, and There’s a full array of food and beverages at five quick-service dining spots, including a Milk Stand serving the blue milk Luke Skywalker drank in Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope. However, the largest spot for dining within both lands is Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo, which serves dishes like the Yobshrimp Noodle Salad (marinated noodle salad with chilled shrimp) and the Smoked Kaadu Ribs (smoked country sticky pork ribs with blueberry corn muffin and cabbage slaw). and - yes - Ok now there is Rise of the resistance = the most technologically advanced attraction ever ! Disney decided that they were not going to build an area that could be used for a Que to the Ride. similar to what they have done at every other attraction. Compare that to say - Flights of Passage in Animal Kingdom. Where there is an extended Preshow area where you wind thru the Avatar based attraction ,,,, and there is an area that winds out of Avatar land toward Africa ,,, that can handle about 2 1/2 hours worth of guests that were unlucky enough to not get a fast pass,,, or just wanted to wait to see the attraction - we Did both.. Now - let me try to describe what Rise of the Resistance does -
Boarding groups are how you are scheduled to ride the ride - this is done via the My Disney Experiance (MDE) App on your phone .
1st - All boarding groups and most/all Backup groups are distributed when the Park opens at what was 7am ,,, now i believe they have moved that to 8am - Park opening time. and those Groups are distributed in a about 2 minutes !
SO - a few Caveats - all the people that you want to be in your Boarding must be checked into the Park before you can get in the QUE for a Boarding Group. - we will call it Que - although it is really just a lottery / Crap shoot.
Imagine this - that you get your Family up early in the Morning - get early transport over to the Studios - they let people into the "front" of the Park starting about 6:30 - 7AM - no there are no other rides open till the 8am Park open time, no food carts , no coffee, no restaurants. the Front of the Park is the Area from the Turnstiles / Security Check down Hollywood Blvd and the Left down towards Star Wars land. The Area becomes packed with people hoping to get a Boarding Group.
- you check in that everyone is in the Park. you add those people to your Group, and you wait will 8am.. at time your fast fingers (and Thousands of others) work thru a few screens and you wait a few minutes to see of you get a Bounce back that shows you that it was successful !! And it shows you what Group you got and what time you need to go to the Attraction to Ride - there is a one hour post the Time window - so this says return by 10:13 - you have till 11:13 to get there....
Now - you can get a group and time that is anytime across the Day - from 8am till park closing - 8PM /maybe later - 10pm... OR you could get a back up group .. NO commitment that you will get to ride,, and if you don;t they will not get you in tomorrow or the next day if you are in aBack up group or worse yet - all are assigned and you get NOTHING !!
NOW what !?!?!? You can then - experience other attractions in the Park - go to another park if you have a hopper pass.. IF not you are stuck in that park... and what then - you get everyone up early again tomorrow and the next day and the next day for another CHANCE at getting a Boarding group... This MUST change - and i am not the 1st to think so ,,,,
I have read several alternatives.... I think this is really quite simple - say at 5PM the evening before the QUE to get a Boarding Group opens. it stays open for - let's say 1 - 2 hours. so you get all your family/Friends into your Group - if you want to ride and Apply for Boarding Group. At that time whenever - say 7pm- Disney folks run the Program that selects the Groups. You are then notified by 8PM the night before as to what time you need to be there to ride, and what Back up groups (dependent on the up time of the ride - just like now) will be assigned later the next day - Back up groups are NOT committed by Disney - and You can Opt out of the Back up group. NOW - to protect the process, IF you ARE assigned a Boarding Group and associated Reporting time, and you do not show up - and any person in the Boarding group that is a no show is Blocked from the Process for - pick a time 48 , 72 hours, so 2 or 3 days ! And if you get boarding group and you show up and ride - you are not eligible to enter the Que again for the same amount of time - in this way everyone gets chance to ride - and others can't ride several times while others are blocked out...
Moving the Process to the Night before - let's you plan IF you are going to the Studios or NOT and at what time - no sense going at 8am if you have a boarding group at 5pm (unless you wish to) - especially important if you DO NOT have a park hopper pass - aka you burn a days ticket on a 2nd or 3rd day in the Studios - where you just visited the Day before. and If you are assigned a Boarding group - you know you will get to experience the attraction. From Disney Side - it should even out the Crowds across the 4 Parks, let them assign Transportation resources better, and have an appropriate number of Cast Members & Security to deal with the incoming guests, and not subject guests to the Crush of Humanity that must be occurring now in the mornings.
Disney has to do something !! There are several you tube videos out there and Web Pages describing ways to increase your chance of successfully getting a Boarding group .... but it remains not a 1st come / 1st Served and not even a Hey I will wait in line for 2-3 hours to ride - its a Lottery - Crap shoot and that should not be.....
and to tie these two subjects together - you might not want to be in that crowd with NON hand Washers !!!
With Apologies on the what are maybe the worst 3 photos ever taken - we saw Don McLean last night at the Sugar Loaf Performing Arts center in Chester NY. I guess the last time we saw him was at the Bardavon - just a few years ago - in 1978 !! His voice has faltered a bit since then,,,, but he still did what thought was an excellent show - 2 hours of a mix of Tunes from across 50 years of Music,,, While I don't have the whole set list - he did (in no particular order) Headroom, Tapestry, Castles in the Air, Homeless Brother, Lotta Lovin, Crosswords, Winer wood, Everyday & Not Fade Away (Buddy Holly) , Cryin ( Roy Orbison) , And I love you so (our Wedding song) , Vincent, Botanical Garden, Lucky Guy, snippets of Drinkin Again, It's a Wonderful Life, Sleepwalk with Band introductions, and Ended of Course with American Pie. All in all a great show - the Venue was very nice - Small (which is great) could have used a little more heat in the building.. Parking was great - we got right in and out - they had police there directing traffic at the end of the Show - very nice !
And of Course - with no fault of the Performer or the Venue there is always that asshole that think we came to hear them sing ! and those that need to f-ing WHOOO HOOO at the end of nearly every song/comment by a performer - and still the one in the Balcony that wants to talk to the singer in between songs - thankfully Don did not engage them !
