Here are a few do's and don'ts to help people of ALL colors to avoid a fatal run in with the police. Unscientifically, I suggest these rules will be way more than 99% effective:
1. Don't be a criminal.
2. Especially don't be a career criminal.
3. Don't be known to the police as a violent and dangerous person. "Armed and dangerous".
4. Don't be involved in illegal activities.
5. Don't be a drug user.
6. Don't be a drug addict.
7. Don't be a drug dealer.
8. Don't associate with drug addicts and dealers socially.
9. Don't possess illegal weapons.
10. Don't shoot illegal firearms.
11. When police stop you and question you be courteous and polite.
12. Don't go full asshole cursing and berating a cop who has the audacity to stop you.
13. If you're being arrested, cooperate peaceably.
14. If you're being arrested, don't resist physically.
15. If being questioned or arrested, don't assault the police.
16. Don't brandish and threaten cops with weapons, be they knives, firearms, or other weapons.
17. Don't assault and steal or try to steal the cop's weapon.
18. When cornered on foot, don't make a run for it. Surrender peaceably.
19. If in an automobile, don't initiate a chase by making a run for it in your car.
20. Get a legitimate job.
21. Go to church or worship regularly in the faith of your choice.
22. Spend more time with your mother.
23. Be there with and for your kids and teach them to be good human beings.
24. Don't beat your spouse, girlfriend, lover, etc.
25. Don't bully and threaten people at the grocery, mall, schoolyard, etc., and make them call the police on you.
26. Don't bully and threaten your next door and across the street neighbors and make them call the cops on you, either.
27. Finish school: high school, college, trade school, whichever best improves your situation.
28. Improve your finances by learning additional job and computer skills.
29. Be nice to people.
30. Be home cooking and making family dinners and eating a family dinner together when the cops pass by.
31. Be home saying grace before dinner when the cops pass by.
32. Know your priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam by name and let them get to know you, too. Be on the phone or visiting your religious leader when the cops pass by.
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Saturday, September 5, 2020
9/5/2020 Race Relations in 2020 and Beyond - A Manifesto of Sorts
We're getting this all wrong. And by "all wrong" I mean mostly everything. Let me start with this, as I have written and said before, I believe that black lives matter. When I think of black lives matter, I think of a conversation I had with a wonderful black woman I worked with named Kim. I can't recall which race relations police controversy had flared up at the time, but her anguish as a mom who feared for her son if he ever were to get sideways with a police officer for some reason was sincere and I remember how moved I was to hear it articulated from her point of view: a mother scared for her children. She talked about how she's had "the talk" with her son, and felt he was grounded in his faith and unlikely to put himself in trouble's way, but knowing that things happen, and that sometimes signals get crossed and situations can take a life of their own, she was genuinely afraid.
There are legitimate reasons why a black woman would be concerned. Try as she might to raise the kid right, he still lives and studies and goes to work in a neighborhood that has higher crime, more violence, and a different atmosphere than the one I live in when the police arrive after a call for any of the things that the police might be called for: a domestic disturbance, a robbery, an automobile accident, on and on. The neighborhood treats the cops different than mine does, and vice versa. It's chicken or egg thing, and you will NEVER unravel who started it, but it's a fact. And the neighborhoods she and I talked about, on the west end of Louisville, have a lot more violent crime than my neighborhood did/does. So the cops, when they respond there, have to be bearing that in mind and it has to affect their reactions as things play out if there is resistance, a lack of cooperation, etc. I'm not fooling myself, nor will I concede that there is one but not the other. Cops and the community there treat each other differently.
We should be working together to unravel the whole ball of intertwined notions, neighborhood notions about police and police notions about neighborhoods. But as we do that, crime can't be simply ignored because we don't like the people paid to 'police' it. So, I believe there IS work to do, by both law enforcement AND the black community, and by that I especially mean predominantly black neighborhoods, to find and establish a baseline of trust. I don't have the answers, but as of this writing, my intention is to state plainly and clearly, there IS work to do. Period. Blaming, which seems to be the predominant method of debate today, is solving nothing and making matters worse. What matters? Black live's matters.
I'm not in denial. There are white racists. Actually, there are racists of all colors, but here, in the context of discussing black lives matter, I am speaking to white racists. I condemn them. I condemn white racist hate groups. They have no place in my life, and play no role in shaping my opinions, actions, beliefs, or life. None. They're not me. Never were. Never will be. There are some bad cops. They are a SMALL minority, but they exist. And other cops have to step up when bad cops act out. There can't be a blue wall of silence.
Which brings me to Black Lives Matter (BLM), the political organization, which has instigated both protests and riots, voices demanding to be heard but with horrific collateral damage, not just to structures, but to people and people's lives, to black communities, and most concerning to me, damage to the possibility that we do get along better and find solutions. And Black Lives Matter, the organization, has roots, or at a minimum, some of it's leaders have ties to and belief in Marxism. Yeah, it does, they do. Black Lives Matter have aligned themselves so closely with Democrats and the political left, they leave literally no room for white conservatives to support the movement without supporting 100 things we don't support. Start with the fact that I refuse to accept blame, or guilt for the plight of the black man simply because of my own skin color. Follow that with the fact that I refuse to apologize for my own hard earned success, such that it is, on the basis of my skin color giving me some sort of advantage. And then work your way through the laundry list of demands specific to race and those of the political left with which they're aligned.
Because of Black Lives Matter's methods, goals, and political alignment I simply cannot and will not support them. And if some goddamned athlete, team, league, actor, television program, etc. wants me to support black lives matter, I am on board. But if they want me to support Black Lives Matter, they can fucking forget about it. It's never going to happen. Especially as BLM has aligned itself with anarchist, anti-American scumbag Antifa, and is fomenting violence, looting, arson, destruction, harassment of innocent passers-by, condemnation of all police, etc., I consider them an enemy of the USA and a force to be dealt with. Peaceful protesters? Sure. But when the violence and destruction starts, it's time for peaceful protesters to step up en masse and challenge such behavior. Those afraid or incapable of confronting it, fine. Then get the fuck out of there when the bad people start doing bad things. If you don't, then stand by to suffer the same consequences as the perpetrators. Because your presence facilitates the violence and destruction.
Let me sum things up this way: I condemn white supremacists, the KKK, ALL of the small-minded scumbags who have a core belief that their whiteness makes them somehow superior. And I support police and criminal justice reforms to make relations between blacks and black communities and their law enforcement as much better as possible. Easier said than done, I know. But I don't support riots, looting, violence, arson, removal of all monuments and commemorations of our past. I don't support critical race theory, reparations, and all the other nonsense going on now. I want liberty and justice for all. I want fairness, respect, and common decency for all. I want opportunity and prosperity for all. And believe it or not, black lives matter. I believe that. I hope you do, too.
There are legitimate reasons why a black woman would be concerned. Try as she might to raise the kid right, he still lives and studies and goes to work in a neighborhood that has higher crime, more violence, and a different atmosphere than the one I live in when the police arrive after a call for any of the things that the police might be called for: a domestic disturbance, a robbery, an automobile accident, on and on. The neighborhood treats the cops different than mine does, and vice versa. It's chicken or egg thing, and you will NEVER unravel who started it, but it's a fact. And the neighborhoods she and I talked about, on the west end of Louisville, have a lot more violent crime than my neighborhood did/does. So the cops, when they respond there, have to be bearing that in mind and it has to affect their reactions as things play out if there is resistance, a lack of cooperation, etc. I'm not fooling myself, nor will I concede that there is one but not the other. Cops and the community there treat each other differently.
We should be working together to unravel the whole ball of intertwined notions, neighborhood notions about police and police notions about neighborhoods. But as we do that, crime can't be simply ignored because we don't like the people paid to 'police' it. So, I believe there IS work to do, by both law enforcement AND the black community, and by that I especially mean predominantly black neighborhoods, to find and establish a baseline of trust. I don't have the answers, but as of this writing, my intention is to state plainly and clearly, there IS work to do. Period. Blaming, which seems to be the predominant method of debate today, is solving nothing and making matters worse. What matters? Black live's matters.
I'm not in denial. There are white racists. Actually, there are racists of all colors, but here, in the context of discussing black lives matter, I am speaking to white racists. I condemn them. I condemn white racist hate groups. They have no place in my life, and play no role in shaping my opinions, actions, beliefs, or life. None. They're not me. Never were. Never will be. There are some bad cops. They are a SMALL minority, but they exist. And other cops have to step up when bad cops act out. There can't be a blue wall of silence.
Which brings me to Black Lives Matter (BLM), the political organization, which has instigated both protests and riots, voices demanding to be heard but with horrific collateral damage, not just to structures, but to people and people's lives, to black communities, and most concerning to me, damage to the possibility that we do get along better and find solutions. And Black Lives Matter, the organization, has roots, or at a minimum, some of it's leaders have ties to and belief in Marxism. Yeah, it does, they do. Black Lives Matter have aligned themselves so closely with Democrats and the political left, they leave literally no room for white conservatives to support the movement without supporting 100 things we don't support. Start with the fact that I refuse to accept blame, or guilt for the plight of the black man simply because of my own skin color. Follow that with the fact that I refuse to apologize for my own hard earned success, such that it is, on the basis of my skin color giving me some sort of advantage. And then work your way through the laundry list of demands specific to race and those of the political left with which they're aligned.
Because of Black Lives Matter's methods, goals, and political alignment I simply cannot and will not support them. And if some goddamned athlete, team, league, actor, television program, etc. wants me to support black lives matter, I am on board. But if they want me to support Black Lives Matter, they can fucking forget about it. It's never going to happen. Especially as BLM has aligned itself with anarchist, anti-American scumbag Antifa, and is fomenting violence, looting, arson, destruction, harassment of innocent passers-by, condemnation of all police, etc., I consider them an enemy of the USA and a force to be dealt with. Peaceful protesters? Sure. But when the violence and destruction starts, it's time for peaceful protesters to step up en masse and challenge such behavior. Those afraid or incapable of confronting it, fine. Then get the fuck out of there when the bad people start doing bad things. If you don't, then stand by to suffer the same consequences as the perpetrators. Because your presence facilitates the violence and destruction.
Let me sum things up this way: I condemn white supremacists, the KKK, ALL of the small-minded scumbags who have a core belief that their whiteness makes them somehow superior. And I support police and criminal justice reforms to make relations between blacks and black communities and their law enforcement as much better as possible. Easier said than done, I know. But I don't support riots, looting, violence, arson, removal of all monuments and commemorations of our past. I don't support critical race theory, reparations, and all the other nonsense going on now. I want liberty and justice for all. I want fairness, respect, and common decency for all. I want opportunity and prosperity for all. And believe it or not, black lives matter. I believe that. I hope you do, too.
Thursday, September 3, 2020
9/3/2020 NTSB-LIke Police Shooting Investigations
Yesterday in a Facebook post or comment my buddy Rich referred to a suggestion that when there are police shootings, that they be investigated using a methodology like the one used by the NTSB to investigate aviation accidents. I've long held the belief that this should be the case. I'm not sure what the threshold should be to trigger (no pun intended) these investigations. Whether it's the 'controversial' ones, shootings where the victim was unarmed, all shootings, or what. But for shootings like the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Jacob Blake, I would think this method could and should be applied.
If you don't know much about how the NTSB goes about an investigation, for a high level overview, 1) the investigative team would include various stakeholders: the NTSB itself, the FAA, the aircraft manufacturer, the airline, the airline's pilot union, etc. The investigation looks into 2) the crewmembers involved, the airline's training and procedures, manuals, equipment, dispatch, ground operations, cabin operations, support functions, air trafic control, and anything and everything that touches or affects a flight. They'll talk to airline people, airport people, the crewmember's trainers, ground personnel, inflight managers, ATC people, the local FAA office, weather people, you name it. And then they issue a report that 3) details every contributing factor, no matter how minute, human factors (yes, the pilot's and cabin crew's attitude, behavior, reputation for adherence to SOPs, etc). And fiinally, the 4) make recommendations on how to operate more safely,
One important aspect of this that would have to be addressed is liability. If in the course of the events under investigation crimes were committed, this would NOT be a get out of jail free deal. But to the extent possible, in order to have the kind of cooperative, open dialogue needed to identify all the contributing factors, some kind of protection from liability would have to be established.
1) In a police shooting, the investigative team might/should be led by a US Dept. of Justice entity, potentially falling under the Office of Inspector General. The team should include community advocates, behavioral experts to analyze situational behavior issues (with the cop AND the person who was shot, as well as ALL other involved parties), the police union, someone from the city or local government, probably a DA and a public defender, and possible another major stakeholder I'm not thinking of as I type. The investigative team members HAVE to be willing to work in a spirit of cooperation and teamwork with the other members of the team. While having all the stakeholders would allow a thorough examination of all aspects, those members of the team itself simply can't be agenda driven activists. They have to be investigators with enough knowledge and expertise to contribute to the investigation, participate knowledgeably in interviews, help come up with findings of fact as they pertain to causal factors, and lastly, to make reasonable and realistic recommendations. If a stakeholder is found to be more interested in protecting the area they represent, the head of the team from DOJ should correct it, and if it can't be corrected, find a replacement for that activist advocate on the team. Let the activists and advocates lobby the city government for changes once they have a 360º view report in hand, not to actively shape the report to suit their selfish interests.
2) The team should interview any eyewitnesses, community representatives to evaluate the community's hostility or good relations with the police in depth, the Police Chief, Mayor, Precinct Captain, partner of and the cop who did the shooting him or herself. Nothing is sacred. If the community is hostile and assaults or physically, verbally, or in other ways creates an extreme adversarial climate toward the police that hinders peaceful accomplishment of duties, it should be addressed. The police's attitude toward the community, the cop's training, local police and civilian culture toward the police, everything on the table. The victim: was he or she a criminal, in the act of committing a crime, armed, resisting, cooperating, threatening? What was known to the cop(s) who responded, "little old lady needs help crossing the street", or "armed man, extremely dangerous, history of violent crime and attempted murder."
3) They will issue a report that lists ALL the contributing factors, from the cop, the training, equipment, the community, the victim's behavior and history, nothing sacred. The report should be thorough and extremely comprehensive.
4) And finally, they should make recommendations: to the municipality or local entity, to the mayor, police chief, police dept, to the union, etc. The recommendations might be about hiring, training, equipment, procedures, policy, staffing, you name it. And to future 'customers' of the police, whether the person who called the cops, the person whose behavior or actions prompted that call, etc.
And then people need to take it to heart. Everybody.
Never happen? Probably not. Nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking now and then.
If you don't know much about how the NTSB goes about an investigation, for a high level overview, 1) the investigative team would include various stakeholders: the NTSB itself, the FAA, the aircraft manufacturer, the airline, the airline's pilot union, etc. The investigation looks into 2) the crewmembers involved, the airline's training and procedures, manuals, equipment, dispatch, ground operations, cabin operations, support functions, air trafic control, and anything and everything that touches or affects a flight. They'll talk to airline people, airport people, the crewmember's trainers, ground personnel, inflight managers, ATC people, the local FAA office, weather people, you name it. And then they issue a report that 3) details every contributing factor, no matter how minute, human factors (yes, the pilot's and cabin crew's attitude, behavior, reputation for adherence to SOPs, etc). And fiinally, the 4) make recommendations on how to operate more safely,
One important aspect of this that would have to be addressed is liability. If in the course of the events under investigation crimes were committed, this would NOT be a get out of jail free deal. But to the extent possible, in order to have the kind of cooperative, open dialogue needed to identify all the contributing factors, some kind of protection from liability would have to be established.
1) In a police shooting, the investigative team might/should be led by a US Dept. of Justice entity, potentially falling under the Office of Inspector General. The team should include community advocates, behavioral experts to analyze situational behavior issues (with the cop AND the person who was shot, as well as ALL other involved parties), the police union, someone from the city or local government, probably a DA and a public defender, and possible another major stakeholder I'm not thinking of as I type. The investigative team members HAVE to be willing to work in a spirit of cooperation and teamwork with the other members of the team. While having all the stakeholders would allow a thorough examination of all aspects, those members of the team itself simply can't be agenda driven activists. They have to be investigators with enough knowledge and expertise to contribute to the investigation, participate knowledgeably in interviews, help come up with findings of fact as they pertain to causal factors, and lastly, to make reasonable and realistic recommendations. If a stakeholder is found to be more interested in protecting the area they represent, the head of the team from DOJ should correct it, and if it can't be corrected, find a replacement for that activist advocate on the team. Let the activists and advocates lobby the city government for changes once they have a 360º view report in hand, not to actively shape the report to suit their selfish interests.
2) The team should interview any eyewitnesses, community representatives to evaluate the community's hostility or good relations with the police in depth, the Police Chief, Mayor, Precinct Captain, partner of and the cop who did the shooting him or herself. Nothing is sacred. If the community is hostile and assaults or physically, verbally, or in other ways creates an extreme adversarial climate toward the police that hinders peaceful accomplishment of duties, it should be addressed. The police's attitude toward the community, the cop's training, local police and civilian culture toward the police, everything on the table. The victim: was he or she a criminal, in the act of committing a crime, armed, resisting, cooperating, threatening? What was known to the cop(s) who responded, "little old lady needs help crossing the street", or "armed man, extremely dangerous, history of violent crime and attempted murder."
3) They will issue a report that lists ALL the contributing factors, from the cop, the training, equipment, the community, the victim's behavior and history, nothing sacred. The report should be thorough and extremely comprehensive.
4) And finally, they should make recommendations: to the municipality or local entity, to the mayor, police chief, police dept, to the union, etc. The recommendations might be about hiring, training, equipment, procedures, policy, staffing, you name it. And to future 'customers' of the police, whether the person who called the cops, the person whose behavior or actions prompted that call, etc.
And then people need to take it to heart. Everybody.
Never happen? Probably not. Nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking now and then.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
9/1/2020 The Pivot
When the riots started in the end of May, then through June, July, and most of August, and while the Antifa and BLM riots destroyed businesses and cities, toppled monuments, threatened, harassed and bullied city workers and urban dwellers in the streets, Democrats and the media were all on the same page: "What violence? These are peaceful protests.", "Mostly peaceful protests." "Peaceful." Tortured logic reigned supreme. Police who confronted the rioters were spit on, cursed at, pushed, shoved, and bombarded with everything from bricks and glass to urine and fecal matter. "Defund the police!" "Reallocate police funding to social programs!" Offers to send in federal officers to help restore order were mostly rejected out of hand by liberal city mayors fearful of alienating their constituencies. When federal law enforcement went in to protect federal courthouses and other federal buildings and facilities in Portland, OR, those operations were criticized and rejected as provocative, even as they were only embarked upon because of the violence and destruction that was occurring. Democratic politicians, among them notably Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala (pronounced "comma la", lest you be criticized as a bigot because you didn't know how to pronounce it) Harris intimated it would and should continue.
 |
| As recently as this past Sunday, CNN was still arguing the violence and destruction weren't "riots". |
In August all the Democrats' internal (and everyone else's) polling said: "The American people are more concerned with the violence, arson, and anarchists destroying our cities than anything else." It reached an apex when a 17 year old kid armed with an AR-15 went to Kenosha to help defend a used car lot was attacked and responded by shooting three men, killing two of them. A caravan of citizens in Portland, OR, brazenly drove into Portland to signify to the rioters who've bullied the city of Portland their rejection of Antifa and BLM occupying and destroying the city. A Trump supporter was murdered in cold blood for having the audacity to be a Trump supporter and to be there. But he's the fascist? My ass he is! Rest in Peace.
"All at once, PIVOT!" September 1st is here and Biden, Democrats, and the media all pivot in unison and in perfect three part harmony, and they sing: "All of the violence is Donald Trump's fault, Trump's fault, Trump's fault! All of the violence is Donald Trump's fault, Trump's fault, Trump's fault! Until he goes away!" The Democratic Party's Presidential
Nominee's statement on it yesterday reminded me of a mafia thug shaking
down a pizza joint in Jersey: "You need protection. If you don't elect
Joe Biden, this stuff's gonna get worse!" If we don't elect Biden, it
surely will get worse! What is more disappointing than the predictable pivot in the face of a groundswell of public opinion vehemently objecting to the violence and destruction, is that many who get their news only from CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and or The Washington Post will not only buy into the blatantly dishonest narrative, no, worse than that. Nope. The dishonest or stupid lefties will join in the singing: "All of the violence is Donald Trump's fault, Trump's fault, Trump's fault! All of the violence is Donald Trump's fault, Trump's fault, Trump's fault! Until he goes away!"
One last tangentially related point: This past weekend, President Trump said he was going to Kenosha to see the situation firsthand. The Wisconsin Governor urged him not to. I'm glad he's going for two reasons: first, to show the victims of the destruction, looting, and violence that he is in support and solidarity with them and against the liberal authorities who rejected federal assistance to deal with it and second, in going there the President will force networks to show the devastation that's taken place in Kenosha, which the media has largely hidden from view as best they can to avoid being exposed for the dishonest "mostly peaceful" narrative they've pushed all summer.
Friday, August 28, 2020
8/28/2020 Twitter Screenshots of Biden Supporters Harrassing Trump RNC Guests Last Night
Following are some screen captures. There's a LOT more than this out there. This is more than enought to give you a
Thursday, August 27, 2020
8/27/2020 Kenosha Thoughts
Unless I had my own business to protect, I don't believe I'd be one to strap on a gun and head down to confront violent, arsonist rioters. At least short of a militia being formed up because authorities had tried and were failing and needed armed support. My home or my own business? That's a different story. But to take up arms and go confront the lawless mob, like the naïve 17 year-old kid did in Kenosha, is a tragedy waiting to happen. He'll pay a price for the rest of his life for trying to take on the destructive mob.
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| Violent sex offender who was killed in Kenosha |
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| Skateboard smash and armed pursuer. |
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| Skateboard smash |
 |
| The gun was described by some as a cellphone. |
 |
| Cellphone my ass! |
The shooting victims? They are/were criminals involved in criminal activities. I have very little sympathy for them. The rioters, looters, arsonists, and violent assaulters are the bad guys here.
 |
| Kenosha businesses burn |
 |
| Kenosha burning |
 |
| Fire crew fighting Kenosha fire |
The Mayor of Kenosha and Governor of Wisconsin have primary responsibility for how this tragic violent mess evolved, in my opinion. They allowed things to escalate. I do recognize that if they took forcible action to quell the uprising early on that things might have escalated even more. Yes, that's possible. It really could have been worse. But to allow the destruction and violence and have the use of police and National Guard waiting in the wings on standby while destruction and violence go on unabated is tantamount to asking citizens to take action themselves.
 |
| Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian |
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| Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers |
And as for the police shooting Jacob Blake, the riots and violence are a very premature response. I imagine a western movie. A guy comes into the bar, looking beat up and bloody. "That durned cattle rustler come in and raped Mrs. Smith and looks like he stoled one of their horses, too!" Next thing a vigilante posse is hot on the trail, a hangin' sure to follow. Except Mrs. Smith was having an affair with the cattle rustler and when Mr. Smith got there there was a scuffle, the rustler got the better of him, and Mrs. Smith put the cattle rustler on a horse so he could make his getaway. The mob chasing him will hang him no matter what. Do you think they'd ask questions? Do you think they'd believe him if he told them? The mob may feel their intentions are noble, but they don't have the facts, don't know the whole story. Sounds familiar.
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| Jacob Blake. What's that in his hand? Why isn't he cooperating? |
Maybe Jacob Blake shouldn't have been shot. Only time and an unbiased, thorough investigation will tell that tale. But he's no good guy. Facts be damned! It was a cop. He's black. Case closed.
 |
| Karambit (?) Knife |
And my parting thought: The communist Chinese are neck deep in the propaganda campaign to divide and weaken us. They're opportunistically fanning flames of racial discord. And we're so fucking gullible, like lemmings we're going over the racial divide cliff.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
8/25/2020 Lies, Damned lies, and Statistics
I have seen seemingly reasonable numbers posted on social media, but that was a couple of days ago and I can't find the post I saw them on to verify them from their source. Internet searches aren't helping me track the numbers down, either, so I'll just say I'm not sure the numbers are right, but I think the rest of my concern is, regardless. What I saw posted stated that the average age of all the persons in the US who have died from CCP Virus is 78, and that the average life expectancy of all persons in the US is also 78.
First of all, I don't know for sure the numbers in either case are correct. But presuming they are, as they're not crazy at first glance, they're just one of those things that make me go... "Hmmmm?"
On their face those numbers DO NOT mean that CCP Virus is NOT deadly. But those numbers do say it's no more or LESS deadly than the net sum of all the other deadly things we encounter in the world, which would include influenza, cancer, accidents, and the interesting euphemism we often call 'natural causes' or 'old age', etc.
Does that mean that I think we should be ignoring the virus? No. We shouldn't ignore it, just as we should be reducing accidental deaths where and how we can, and working to find cures for cancer, heart disease, etc. But in the context of comparison, of all the other communicable diseases that contribute to an average age of death of 78 years old, why is it that CCP Virus is the only one that requires indefinite shutdowns, decimation of small businesses, the travel industry, working from home, etc? I don't think there's a good answer to that question. And by 'good answer', I don't mean an acceptable answer, I mean an accurate answer. The reason why is that I don't think the numbers we have been provided are worth their weight in shit. They're inaccurate as hell.
Why are the numbers so inaccurate? Because in the first part of the pandemic, in order to support healthcare providers, well-intentioned federal money was allocated to finance healthcare for CCP Virus patients on a per case basis. And that federal money incentivized healthcare providers to make the virus part of, in many cases even presumed to have been a part of as many diagnoses as possible. "Flu-like symptoms?" "Yes." "Add him to the Covid List. RIP." Cha-Ching! $$$$$ Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching! Again and again. If you ask me, cha-ching $$$$$ is the reason our numbers aren't worth their weight in shit.
We can't have an honest discussion or disagreement about this damned virus because we do not have accurate numbers. It's real, it kills people, it has to be taken seriously. But when it's time to say "Enough is enough" as it pertains to small business closures, church closures, school closures, sporting and political event closures (except riots, which are an exempted activity), how in the hell can we have intelligent dialogue about how to proceed without accurate facts, info, and data? Spoiler alert: we can't. Until we know the real numbers, we can't.
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