Recession Aid

You know what would drive down recession unemployment numbers?  Expedited deportations of illegal aliens as part of emergency federal action to spur recovery.

Nah.  Never happen.  The Dems would squeal SO much.  The president wouldn't want his opposition to loudly defend something unpopular with a majority of voters in an election year, even is nothing of  substance occurs.  Would he?

But if you want to give stimulus to illegal aliens, kicking them out of here and sending them to their homes would be stimulation, wouldn't it, Governor Newsom?

What do you mean 'not ready'?

We've flattened the curve.  The 'worst week ever' wasn't that bad.  The curve is WAY flattened even with the over pessimistic modeled.

Why NOT get things up and going now, and certainly by May 1st.  They are snowing us.  Keep treating the precautions seriously, keep isolating the vulnerable, wash your hands, avoid crowds, but GET THE ECONOMY RESTARTED.  Now.

That settles it

Now I know the whole push for vote by mail is a fraud.  Hillary and Fauxcahontas are for it, that means it's for cheating.  It's for making it so Republicans can't win ever again.  Republicans are flawed, but they are the only creatures with any help keeping this system as much like a Republic as possible.  I wish they were better at it.

I'm of the stripe that there should be no absentee ballots or early voting.  You vote in person on election day and that's it.  If you are sick or deployed of homebound, well, you don't get it.  You can vote when you are ashore, Sailor.  Or when you have a DD214.  It's ok.  I dont care if you make it a holiday.

(P.S.  Also Barry the dog eater.  So you really know it is a bad idea.)

Go back to work Monday

Spend your money.

If you run into a Communist, take all their food.  They want you to starve to death anyway, might as well.

Better to die there than to die huddled in your home after the epidemic peaked.  The economy IS life and death.

There is no longer enough red light camera money to pay you welfare.  Your money is gonna stop sooner than you expect. 

The Democrats had a choice

Between a senile credibly accused rapist dunce with pedo tendencies, and a Communist.  And they chose the pedophile as the lesser of two evils.

Based on the Commies' record that might have been the more moral choice. 

Starting to hear of people

I'm starting of hear of people... REAL people I've run into in the elevator in the past 3 years... that were positive, got sick, are feeling better now, and didn't need a hospital, and will be back to work after they get cleared in a week or two.  

So, sick, but mild.

No one I KNOW-know has come up with the Sino Sinus Syphilis yet.

Mom sent a mask.  I made other masks out of a tshirt sleeve I cut off.  (Double layer.)  I look like an ass, but it may well protect other folk, so...  Good.  

I feel fine, as of right now.

Making my own snacks out of chex cereal.  Not need to swing somewhere to get a bag of tater chip.  

Speaking of which, I have lots of taters.  

All of the above is good for personal morale, so far.

Submit to Authority!

Also, wear a mask.  Secondary effect:  When you don't submit, Authority has a harder time figuring out who to come after later.

Death Experts

My state's death prediction for August 1st went from 1766 10 days ago to over 2000 this past weekend to 1094 today.  https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/maryland

Which is good, but...  Faith in expertise takes a hit.  Remember this when they throw models and predictions about (the more complicated subject of) global climate at you that extends four decades into the future instead of four months.

It's been a long while since experts really covered themselves in glory.  The moon landings, maybe?  Also the zenith of US Gummint competency. 

Crazy Busy

Yet parking at the office gets better every day.  These two things might be related.

Because I am concentrated on work tasks, I have no mental cycles to think about blog fodder.

Because things are peaking between now and Easter, I'm not even going to look at the grocery.  Or beer store.  Or gun range.  The gas station tomorrow, I have to go to that.  That's it.

They are restricting grocery stores.  But if I had to guess, restriction will start getting lifted starting Monday.  Just a guess.  It's post peak, the models are all recognized as over-pessimistic, this is a thing to take seriously, but so is economic existence.  And that's where the signals are pointing.

GLORIOUS weather yesterday.  I went for a walk around our parking lot.  Smells like tree pollen tho...

---

One thing I'd like to get at the grocery are the 3 ingredients for this. 

Bupkis

Hunkered down.  No stores.  The only people I see are the folks at work.  Still lots of meeting but they are 100% video style, even when the other person is 2 cubes away.  Busier than a one-armed paper hanger.

Still plenty of provisions.  Still surrounded by existential dread, and low on blog fodder.

The masks I ordered should arrive in June.  Late June.

You dang gun nuts

"You are like that show Tiger King."

Lady, I have guns to PROTECT myself from the kinds of people you see on Tiger King.

Of course not.

"Stand-your-ground laws aren't racist"

Of course they aren't.  Pro gun laws that apply to everyone are really bad if your intent is to racially discriminate.  Now, gun CONTROL laws, those are racist.  Almost universally.  Ask anyone.  Well, not race mongers.  They were disappointed.

"When the Commission undertook this project, the plan was for the Commission to conduct empirical research on “Stand Your Ground” laws and to produce a report containing both that research and a discussion of “Stand Your Ground” laws based in part on the testimony produced at the briefing but also on the Commission staff’s independent research. Alas, when the empirical research did not support the preconceived view of the Commission’s majority that “Stand Your Ground” laws harm African Americans, the project was shelved."

From where I sit

The problem isn't the guns that are in the Amerian people's hands.

It's how do we get a few hundred million guns into the Chinese people's hands?

Regular, ordinary, Chinese people.

Shoot, this article is from New Years.  When Hong Kong's struggle to resist Winnie's tyranny was still top of the news.  Different Chinese propaganda flavor then compared to what we get fed now.  But at least they know it is propaganda then:

"The Communist Party of China-sponsored tabloid painted the U.S. as a lawless society with no answers for citizens seeking redress from a gun violence epidemic."

What about Chinese citizens like Uighurs and the people of Hong Kong seeking redress from your Government Violence epidemic?  Or the world seeking redress from your epidemic epidemic?

This data model

That I mentioned before seems to going further and further from on-the-ground numbers.  https://covid19.healthdata.org/projections

It's not jibing with New York, for example.

The @IHME_UW model vs reality for New York State, April 5. The model is less accurate than ever. 69K beds projected, 16.5K actually needed; 12,346 ICU beds projected, 4376 needed. Even better (tho not for the model), overall bed count rose less than 600 statewide - less than 4%. pic.twitter.com/TfjtOQNUtq

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) April 5, 2020

And that's a good thing, as that model is more pessimistic. 

It means Maryland, which now has two dozen deaths, might not get to the projected 1,766 in August, too.  Let's hope. 

Maryland is Weird

Sure it has bad control, but also lots of gun control laws that are feckless and poorly written. When there is a push, they enact bad laws, but the rest of the time it is mostly just benign neglect that the pols don't pay too much attention to.

Everytown musta got to their Democrat cat's paws and whinged.

"Republican Governor Hogan!  Close the gun stores!"

Yeah, I bet he don't.   Not if he has designs on the big chair in 2024.

Plus it is too late for the most part.  The gun stores have had plenty of time to sell sell sell.  Even in Maryland.   Barn doors closing weeks after the horses have left.  So this is all on orders from the Dem's higher ups, doing their bidding, to bring the issue to the people's attention, I guess.  Totally symbolism, no substance. 

Lays of Ancient Wheaton

Then out spake brave Horatius, 

The Captain of the Gate: 

"To every man upon this earth 

Death cometh soon or late. 

And how can man die better 

Than facing fearful odds, 

For the ashes of his fathers, 

And the temples of his Gods." 

Haul down the bridge, Sir Consul, 

With all the speed ye may; 

I, with two more to help me, 

Will hold the foe in play. 

In yon strait path a thousand 

May well be stopped by three. 

Now who will stand on either hand, 

And keep the bridge with me?

So, how YOU doin?

How's house arrest treating you?  You still alright?  I hope if you get it, it's the mild version.

I kinda wish I'd get exposed to a known carrier, but not get it.  Just be forced to stay home for 14 days.  Being essential has nice parts (I get paid) and bad parts (I DON'T WANNA GIT SICK AND DIE!)  At this point I need a rest.

I am reading this book right now.  The Good Shepherd.  C. S. Forester.  Re-reading it, actually.  Tom Hanks is in the movie of it coming out soon.  I may have mentioned it.  This is my third time, at least, reading this book over the past 30 years.  I am 10 years older than the protagonist and was an naval officer but it is only now that I have the life experience to properly follow it, I think.  To keep the ship's movements to mind while also evaluating leadership and ability of the people around me as we complete complicated tasks, some vitally important.

"Are you like him, T-Bolt, with your essential job, battling a dreaded foe.  Facing fearful odds?"

Nooooooooo, not exactly.  He in command.

"Oh so you are more like the Gunnery officer, spitting hot death at the enemy, the tip of the spear."

No.

"You help the guy spit hot death?"

More like I help one of the guys in the engine room keep things running down there.  The 'fun' stuff is all topside.  So to speak.  Like the guy that keeps the plumbing working at the Pentagon?  Try to run a war when that building has to all use portapotties.  CAN'T BE DONE!  Important work.  Not sexy.

---

Have you noticed that Blooger took away our spellcheck?  How does THAT save them money?

Anyway, time to make the donuts.

Statistics

Yeah, I'd be more comforted with all the Wuhan Coronavirus graphs and charts if the numbers at least somewhat gibed with each other.  But they don't.  That's the thing with statistics and computer modelling.  Is it garbage in, garbage out?  Who knows!

I disagree

"First time gun buyers should not be allowed to buy."

I think that during an emergency the first time buyers should be forced to buy TWO guns.  Punishment for waiting too long.  Like a stupid tax.  Kinda like price gouging, raising the cost of entry, but not permanent, because they can sell the spare gun after everything is over.  And the flush of post panic guns coming back to the market will much more quickly bring the prices down to pre panic levels or lower.

In fact if a state of the federal gumminst declares a national emergency the background check system should be suspended for affected locales.  Cut through some of the dang regulations.

"But then felons could buy guns, T-bolt, whenever a hurricane came along!"

That'd be illegal, fair reader.  Felons are not allowed to buy guns.  But you know what... an ex-con has a right to defend himself, too, ya know.

Masks

Now the word here, and other places, is masks are good.  We should have masked up in the beginning. 

The reason 'they' told us not to mask up so that there would be masks available for emergency workers.  (Fair enough.  I begrudge that less, now.) 

But there were no masks to buy even back in January.  I imagine word got out in China and the ordinary people bought em up.  Even with a CHICOM information crackdown, folks hear.  But that's just my guess.

I have 2 dozen masks.  I am saving them for if I get sick, or exposed.  I'll wear it going to the doc or the store or whatever.