April
1 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The low this morning was 50.9° but that happened in the early hours of the morning. It was in the lower 50s while we were doing our walk and I was overdressed. The 10 day forecast is perfect if it happens. The highs in the mid to upper 70s and the lows in the mid 40s.
Another psoriasis, or rash, flare started on 30 March. It seems to be mild so far and I have taken nothing least of all the prescriptions that were sent to me by Dermatology. I will not take those until I have talked it over with my Nurse Practitioner at the VA.
President Trump, and his administration, first tried to downplay Coronavirus®.They now seem to be trying to make it out to be the biggest killer of all time so when that does not happen he can claim victory. Good politics, bad relations with the 'little people'. Source
After taking the lives of 195,000 Americans in October 1918, the Spanish flu dissipated as quickly as it had arrived, although it had a brief resurgence after crowds flooded city streets to celebrate the November 11 announcement of the armistice...I'm doing some cooking today. The first thing in the pot this morning was hulled barley and oat groats for future breakfasts. Then I browned off an eggplant in the skillet before putting it in the now empty pot with some canned diced tomato and a little chili powder. Brought it to a boil and the into the Thermal Cooker for the rest of the day.
By the time it abated in 1920, the Spanish flu had killed 675,000 Americans... Source
Another prediction that there will not be a return to 'normal'.
No one should believe for one moment that once CV is gone we will experience a V shaped recovery. There will be no V, there will be no U and nor will we see a hockey stick recovery. What few people understand, including the so called experts, is that there will be no recovery at all. An extremely rapid decline of the world economy has just started and will be devastating in the next 6-12 months, whether CV ends soon or not. - Man Who Predicted The Global Collapse Says It Will Be Devastating In The Next 6-12 Months, Egon von Greyerz
2 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Went to town this morning for a blood draw appointment at the VA. They had people outside the VA Clinic checking for Coronavirus® symptoms although no temperature guns. Then in the lobby most of the chairs were stacked against the walls and I was the only patient there. Called for the blood draw almost immediately and was out of there 15 minutes before my appointment time.
Went to Fry's a day early since I was in town and had plenty of time before my UPS Store opened. I expected that I would have to go to Safeway also to get everything on my list. However, I got everything with a couple of substitutions.
Went to Safeway anyway to get a latte while waiting for my UPS Store to open. I did not ctuise their aisles but noticed there were gallon jugs of drinking water by the entrance door with no sign that said there was a limit. Fry's let me get two gallons but the shelves looked as fully stocked as they had in the past before the virus crisis.
There was not quite the crowd at Fry's as there has been the past couple of weeks. I did notice that more of the people there were wearing masks and that they were loading up their baskets more than what I have seen in the past. But even so the shelves were better stocked than they have been.
At the UPS Store I had five packages. From Amazon there was the second Gamma2 Vittles Vault Outback Airtight Pet Food Storage Container plus the B12 vitamins that had been missing from the previous order. Also received #12 of garbanzo beans from Amazon. That is something that Fry's does not have, and have not had, since the virus crisis started - beans and rice. I also noticed this morning that the flour shelves were bare. The other two packages were from Mulberry Lane Farms where I got #20 of hulled barley and #20 of oat groats.
A fourth case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Cochise County. The County's Health & Social Services Department received confirmation of a positive test on Sunday, March 29.
The individual is an adult female who is currently hospitalized at a medical facility outside of Cochise County. Due to the fact she has no recent travel history it is believed this is the first confirmed case of community spread in the county. Community spread refers to the spread of an illness for which the source of the infection is unknown. An investigation has been completed and all known contacts are self-isolating. Source
3 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 3, 1932
I was back in town again this morning for an appointment with the VA Audio Clinic. It was a waste of time and gas however because the appointment had been canceled.
It was originally made because I complained to Senator McSally about the VA policy of ONLY using telephones as a means of contact. Secure Messaging sometimes; as when the VA Audio Clinic was advised of my complaint to the Senator. They promptly made an appointment for me using Secure Messaging. But they could not use it to inform me that the appointment had been canceled due to Coronavirus®.
Just to get inside the Audio Clinic I had to be screened for the virus infection by the people outside the VA Clinic. This morning they asked the standard questions and also checked my temperature which they did not do yesterday.
But first I stopped at the Landmark and got a Spanish Omelet with homefries, a tortilla and coffee - to go, of course. A took it back to Desperado which remained parked nearby and ate it while sheltered-in-place.
On the way back to the Park I stopped at the Verizon Store not expecting them to be open but to see if they were ever open. Their new opening hours are now 11:00 am I didn't pay any attention to when they closed. I'll try to do what I want done online and if that fails I'll go to the store next week. Also stopped at Sunny D's to see what hours they are open for takeout orders. That will be my breakfast stop next week.
A good article that makes a very good case for not taking all the Coronavirus® numbers as being 'true' be they from China or from the United States.
At one point, Trump said the growth in the number of patients was the result of increased testing rather than increased spreading. That's true, but they crapped on him for saying it. The more you test, the more confirmed cases you find, the greater your numbers appear to become. The increase has nothing to do with more people having it or whatever, it's all about getting more numbers. Think of it this way. If you find an orange on the floor in the kitchen you know you have one orange. If you go look on the counter and find five more, the number in the kitchen hasn't increased, only the number known has. But the media is claiming that you have an orange pandemic because you found all six compared to your neighbor who didn't bother to look on the counter and claimed only to have one. That's what's happening here...
We don't know anything about the numbers, except.
We know that the death curve in the US has not been budged to any degree that would be statistically noticeable. - Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics, AndrewPrice
James Howard Kunstler has also put up a good post.
The Boomers should never have been allowed in those offices, especially the ones within ten miles of Wall Street. That’s where the cleverest among us came up with the signal innovations that have now wrecked the world. The corona virus is a very bad thing, for sure, but it’s really nothing compared to the deliberate wickedness that engineered the so-called financialized economy — a supernatural matrix of something-for-nothing swindles and frauds that purported to replace actual work that produced things of value. The great lesson of the age was lost: the virtual is not a substitute for the authentic. - Boomer Elegy, James Howard Kunstler
4 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I spent a lot of time yesterday looking for the way to remove a line/charge from Verizon. They want to make it VERY EASY to add lines or devices but VERY DIFFICULT to remove them. Tried to activate Chat but got no response, perhaps the staff in India are all sick. Then found a way to contact Support through Verizon Community | Private Messages. Received a reply this morning that said I needed to click on a long string of gibberish to Authenticate. I did that and now await further instructions.
The number of confirmed Coronavirus® has almost doubled since I last reported on 2 April 2020. I think the virus spread is now just getting started and there will be over 100 confirmed cases here in the county by the end of April. I think the reporting is going to start getting rather poor very quickly.
As of April 3, seven cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Cochise County. All cases are unrelated. The first three were attributed to international and domestic travel, while the fourth case, confirmed on March 29, has been attributed to community spread, according to Cochise County Health & Social Services.
On April 3, the Governor issued an Executive Order on Guidance on Essential Services. The order directs that, effective April 4, 2020, at 5:00 p.m., all barbers; cosmetology, hair styling, nail, aesthetic, and tanning salons shall cease operation. Also included are tattoo parlors, massage parlors, and spas. - Source
I have never seen so many people praying that others get sick as the media outrage that Sweden hasn't enforced social isolation. The media and their fellow travelers are practically begging God to smite those nasty Swedes. And the fact the Swedes aren't dropping in droves just p*sses our enlightened friends off. Why? I think the reason is obvious. If Sweden gets through this no worse than those cowering under their beds, then it will show that cowering under the bed was not the courageous and wise policy the herd wants to believe. That would be upsetting. We burned a lot of witches believing that we were righteous. What if we weren't? Die Swedes, die! - More Viral Thoughts..., Andrew Price
5 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I am going to go out on a limb and proclaim that Spring has begun here in Cochise County. The mesquite started to leaf out Friday morning along my walking route. Not very many but the pioneers were starting to show some green. You know that the pioneers were the ones that took the arrows and this could happen to these mesquites as well. But I don't think so, the 10 day forecast expects all the low temperatures to be in the 40s.
I think I have arrived at a hummus recipe that suits me. As I said before I am making it with a mortar and pestle so it is not very creamy. What I do is grind 4 tbsp of cooked garbanzos until there are no big pieces remaining. Then add one tbsp of lemon juice and one tbsp of almond milk and grind some more until it is reasonably smooth. That is served on my plate with whatever else I am having for 'linner' each day.
That is about all that is going on here. Thacking the Coronavirus® in Cochise County and in the county where my next camp will be. I picked up some erroneous information when I said there had been two cases, there have been none.
I like how this Andrew Price thinks and writes. I have quoted his closing paragraph and suggest that you read the article.
I really think what's going on here is that this thing is spreading through elite circles: rich people, actors, journalists, politicians and that is why they've brought the world to a halt. They need this thing stopped just like they needed AIDS stopped. If it was just the rest of us, they wouldn't care, but it's not the rest of us... it's them. - Is Coronavirus A Rich-Person's Disease?, Andrew Price
6 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
So far so good. This shelter-in-place way of life is mostly the same as the way I have lived my life for many years. The only big difference is the bare shelves at the grocery stores, no sit-down restaurants open and I can't get a haircut. Patches doesn't know that anything has changed!
I have some concern that the vet office I plan on going to next week for Patches to get her annual shots will be open. Sent a message this morning asking them if they will be open. Maybe I'll get a reply before the day that I plan on going or maybe not.
I have my annual VA check up tomorrow. The only thing that I want to get from it is how much do I weigh and what should I do with the drugs that Dermatology has sent me.
Today will be mostly spent in the recliner reading my latest book on Kindle Fire. I have Poe on the Paperwhite that will go with me to town tomorrow.
7 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I received this Secure Message from my Sierra Vista Clinic Team yesterday. No appointment today.
Unfortunately, the VA has mandated we stop all face to face appointments at this time. This means we are cancelling your appointment tomorrow. I understand that you do not have a phone, but if your computer has a camera and microphone, we can convert the appointment to a virtual one.
I'll be a lot of nothing today. Making some more progress on the Kindle Fire book will be about all that I have planned. Cochise County has now recorded its 9th Coronavirus® case and the Tucson VA Hospital has 4 patients.
Another writer that does not think there will be a return to 'normal'.
What follows will be a more hesitant, cautious world. Shocked economically, and at our root we will, I suspect, be much more careful in the future: credit cards will be cut in two; we will try to save more, and we will adapt 'downwards'. Will we go out and spend liberally? A pent-up 'jump in sentiment'? No. The experience for all has been chastening. Who now sees the future with any certainty? Every aspect of life is going to be changed. Some of the smaller businesses will open, but many will remain shut. Many of us will continue to work from home. Many of us won't work at all – and may never work again. - Eyes Wide Open: Will the ‘Masters of the Universe’ Notice No One Takes Them Seriously Anymore?, Alastair CrookeThe opening and closing to a good message sent to the Davos Crowd; Tom Luongo's name for the elites or The Establishment by any other name. Caitlin has also put up a good post
Consider this an open message to The Davos Crowd. I can see you using the pandemic of COVID-19 to run the table on holding onto power while your institutions fail...
This is what you won’t stop. We’re not going to pick up guns and give you a reason to kill us. We’re not even going to raise our voices. We’re simply going to stop bothering to listen to a thing you say. Consider yourself warned. - No, Mr. Boomer We’ve Run Out of God Pills, Tom Luongo
One thing I will put my weight behind right now is the prediction that those of us who are dedicated to truth are going to have to drastically revise our worldviews in the coming months. There are such large-scale shifts happening in such an unclear information environment that the only thing we should expect is the unexpected; this virus is shaking things up (and being used to shake things up) in ways we don’t really understand yet, and even before the virus the world’s dominant power structures were acting very weird. This means our ideas about what’s going on in the world will likely have to undergo some revising in the relatively near future; the bigger the revelations, the more revision will be necessary. Prepare To Have Your Worldview Obliterated, Caitlin Johnstone
8 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I will not be doing much today. Resting up for a big day in town tomorrow with a lot of running around and then take Patches to the vet for her vaccinations at 2:00 in the afternoon. I have another book on Kindle Fire that will keep me occupied while sheltering-in-place.
I downloaded this Roberts book from archive.org and when opening it there was a disclaimer before the title page. "The book pages were scanned and converted to EPUB format automatically. This process relies on optical character recognition, and is somewhat susceptible to errors. The book may not offer the correct reading sequence, and there may be weird characters, non-words, and incorrect guesses at structure." This book was not as bad as some, it was readable but there were some words I could not decipher. It is worth the effort, a good historical novel.
Northwest Passage is an historical novel by Kenneth Roberts, published in 1937. Told through the eyes of primary character Langdon Towne, much of the novel follows the exploits and character of Robert Rogers, the leader of Rogers' Rangers, who were a colonial force fighting with the British during the French and Indian War.Structurally, Northwest Passage is divided into halves. The first half is a carefully researched, day-by-day recreation of the raid by Rogers' Rangers on the Indian village at Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec (or Saint Francis, to the Americans troops), a settlement of the Abenakis, an American Indian tribe. The second half of the novel covers Rogers' later life in London, England, and Fort Michilimackinac, Michigan. Roberts' decision to cover the novel's material in two distinct halves followed the actual trajectory of Rogers' life. The book later served as the basis for a 1940 movie starring Spencer Tracy and a 1958-59 TV show on NBC starring Buddy Ebsen. - Wikipedia
Was RussiaGate and UkrainGate just simple coup d'état attempts that failed or are the new denouncements of president Trump the coup attempt that will succeed?
People are dying, it is now said, because Trump did not immediately become the autocrat that progressives were denouncing him for being during the impeachment hearings two months ago. Kissinger’s Call for a New World Order, Patrick J. Buchanan
9 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Iprobably get 2-3 emails every day from some business that is telling me how much they care and what they are doing to protect me from Coronavirus®. The stores that are still open have do not cross red lines all over the place and Wait Here squares where you must stand. Coronavirus® is a great justification but what I see is an all out push to make the plebs OBEY. I expect these nanny protections to remain long after the virus has passed.
Fry's has instituted a policy that they will let only 50% of the store capacity into the store at one time. When I went there this morning there was no line waiting to enter so I guess they had not reached the 50% level although I thought the store was crowded. Safeway has the same policy but with a 30% level, I saw no line outside there either.
I did not go into Safeway but had to sit in the parking lot for about a half hour waiting for my UPS Store to open. Their hours have changed again from 9-6 to 10-5. Within a month they will have shortened their hours to not open at all. I can only hope they will still forward my mail.
Stopped at C A L Ranch, the first time in that store, and made an inquiry at their dog grooming department. I may take Patches there next year for her bath. Then went to their gun department and inquired about a Mossberg shotgun that I would like to have. I did not expect them to have one in stock and maybe will get an email response about availability.
Then had a long wait for Verizon to open at 11:00. I have been trying to remove a line from my bill using Private Messages to Verizon Support at the Community Forum with no success. The Sierra Vista Verizon store refused to remove the line and told me to call an 800 #. I told them I could not call and they could care less.
Stopped at Apocalypse Arms on my way out of town and inquired about a Remington shotgun that is in competition with the Mossberg. It is the same situation with the Mossberg. Maybe I will get one or the other here in Sierra Vista but if not I'll try later in the summer when I am in Springerville - if I am in Springerville. With Cronavirus® that may not happen either.
Now sitting outside the ARK vet waiting for the 2:00 vaccination clinic to open. I'll get Patches her shots and then back to the Park after a long day.
10 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 10, 1932
I would have had a couple hours wait at ARK but they came out to Desperado at about 12:30 and told me that they would give Patches her vaccinations NOW. It was funny that when they brought her back to me one of the vet techs siad "She looks fine and for a dog her age her teeth are excellent". I said "they should be you cleaned them in December". A good place to take your dog or cat if you're close to Huachuca City.
The only things that I have on the agenda for today are cooking and possibly tank dumps. The cooking has been started and will be finished by 'linner' time. Another pot of pottage. This time I used a half cup each of hulled barley and oat groats, a large diced onion, a quarter of a very large red cabbage, a package of Italian Cut green beans brought to a boil in vegetable stock and then placed in my Thermal Cooker.
In my opinion there are going to be multiple vaccines for Coronavirus® on the market by the end of the year. I do not plan on buying any that are offered and certainly not any that are touted by the CDC and or Bill Gates.
"Bill Gates can't protect my computer from a virus, do you think I'm going to trust him with my body?" - Anonymous meme.
A recent military study shows military personnel evaluated who received the flu vaccine were at 36 percent increased risk for coronavirus with varied benefit in preventing some strains of the flu.
“Examining noninfluenza viruses specifically, the odds of both coronavirus and human metapneumovirus in vaccinated individuals were significantly higher when compared to unvaccinated individuals (OR = 1.36 and 1.51, respectively) (Table 5).” Source, scroll down
The flu vaccine studied demonstrated varied benefit in flu prevention – – some strains showed significant benefit while others did not.
Titled, Influenza vaccination and respiratory virus interference among Department of Defense personnel during the 2017–2018 influenza season, the report on the study addresses the phenomena of vaccine virus interference of the influenza vaccine. - Flu Vaccine Increases Coronavirus Risk 36% Says Military Study, Benjamin Krause
11 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Cochise County is reporting 11 cases of Coronavirus® and has done so for 2-3 days now. The county where my next camp is going to be, I hope, continues to report no cases.
I am starting to read the 2008 publication of Manufacturing Consent which was first published in 2002. Not a lot has changed with the "Propaganda model" since the first publication. However, the media is now charged with reporting 'fake' news or biased reporting. They should be charged with what they are doing - propagandizing. Coronavirus® is simply their latest and greatest efforts.
"Propaganda model", an analytical framework that attempts to explain the performance of the U.S. media in terms of the basic institutional structures and relationships within which they operate. It is our view that, among their other functions, the media serve, and propagandize on behalf of, the powerful societal interests that control and finance them. The representatives of these interests have important agendas and principles that they want to advance, and they are well positioned to shape and constrain media policy. This is normally not accomplished by crude intervention, but by the selection of right-thinking personnel and by the editors’ and working journalists’ internalization of priorities and definitions of newsworthiness that conform to the institution’s policy. - Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman, Noam ChomskyCoronavirus® is only the beginning of the problems that the United States will face in the coming years. Perhaps it was the smallest problem that through governmental bungling has only brought the bigger problems to the forefront.
Because the real risk on the table today is the risk of us no longer believing that funny money holds any value at all. When we’re sitting at home, out of work and destitute and prices for the things we need to stay alive rise above our ability to pay for them, that’s when things get real. - Risk? We Don’t Need No Stinking Risk!, Tom Luongo
If you like the TSA which was brought to us via the 9/11 azttack you're going to love what the politicians will give us in response to Coronavirus®.
...it’s an established fact that power structures will seize upon opportunities to roll out oppressive authoritarian agendas under the pretense of protecting ordinary people, when in reality they’d been working on advancing those agendas since long before the crisis being offered as the reason for them. It happened with 9/11, and we may be certain that it is happening now.I eagerly await my FREE money! Who will receive the Economic Impact Payment automatically without taking additional steps?
The reason for this is simple: the powerful are afraid of the public. They always have been. For as long as there has been government power, there has been the fear that the people will realize the power of their numbers and overthrow the government that is in power. And understandably so; it has happened many times throughout history...Journalist Jonathan Cook said it best when he wrote, "Our leaders are terrified. Not of the virus – of us." - They Are Rolling Out The Architecture Of Oppression Now Because They Fear The People, Caitlan Johnstone
Most eligible U.S. taxpayers will automatically receive their Economic Impact Payments including:
- Individuals who filed a federal income tax for 2018 or 2019
- Individuals who receive Social Security retirement, disability (SSDI), or survivor benefits
- Individuals who receive Railroad Retirement benefits
Source
12 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The low this morning was 34.5° but that happened very early in the morning. It was nearly 40 when we went for our walk and I was overdressed. The forecast was for a low of 39 so I expected it to be closer to 35 and dressed for that. The 10 day forecast now expects every morning to be in the 40s with a few mornings approaching 50.
I plan on doing nothing but the routine today. That includes cooking a pot of hulled barley and oat groats for future breakfast. The only difference being that I brought it to a boil and put in in the Thermal Cooker.
A fairly good mystery but the writing style of Santiago Roncagliolo is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. The bureaucracy that exists in the novel, and I presume that existed in Peru, reminded me so much of Bulgaria. You have to live it to understand it.A chilling political thriller set at the end of Peru's grim war between Shining Path terrorists and a morally bankrupt government counterinsurgency.
Associate District Prosecutor Felix Chacaltana Saldivar is a by-the-book prosecutor wading through life. Two of his greatest pleasures are writing mundane reports and speaking to his long-dead mother. Everything changes, however, when he is asked to investigate a bizarre and brutal murder: the body was found burnt beyond recognition and a cross branded into its forehead. Adhering to standard operating procedures, Chacaltana begins a meticulous investigation, but when everyone he speaks to meets with an unfortunate and untimely end, he realizes that his quarry may be much closer to home. With action rising in chorus to Peru’s Holy Week, Red April twists and turns racing toward a riveting conclusion. - Book promo @ Amazon
13 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The Establishment is giving president Trump hell about his handling of Coronavirus®. That is what Monday morning quarterbacks always do and it is always the coach's fault. However, he has left many of the decisions to be made in the lap of state Governors. They have made different decisions on how to curtail the virus that I think clearly show whatever Trump would have instituted on a national level would have been equally wrong in the eyes of The Establishment.
I'll remain sheltered-in-place with my Manufacturing Consent on Kindle Fire and see how closely the government and mainstream media comply with the Propaganda Model that is described in the book for the Coronavirus® crisis. In my opinion the aftermath of this crisis is going to be far worse than the crisis - just like 9/11 but worse. This time the economy will be ruptured in ways that it was not after 9/11.
Perhaps this is an obvious point, but the democratic postulate is that the media are independent and committed to discovering and reporting the truth, and that they do not merely reflect the world as powerful groups wish it to be perceived. Leaders of the media claim that their news choices rest on unbiased professional and objective criteria, and they have support for this contention in the intellectual community. If, however, the powerful are able to fix the premises of discourse, to decide what the general populace is allowed to see, hear, and think about, and to “manage” public opinion by regular propaganda campaigns, the standard view of how the system works is at serious odds with reality...
In sum, the dominant media firms are quite large businesses; they are controlled by very wealthy people or by managers who are subject to sharp constraints by owners and other market-profit–oriented forces; and they are closely interlocked, and have important common interests, with other major corporations, banks, and government. This is the first powerful filter that will affect news choices. - Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky
The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet increased to a record $6.13 trillion this week as the central bank used its nearly unlimited buying power to soak up assets and keep markets functioning smoothly, even as efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic cut deeply into employment and economic output.
In the four weeks since the Fed slashed interest rates to zero, restarted bond purchases and rolled out an unprecedented range of programs to limit the economic damage from the outbreak, the central bank’s balance sheet has jumped by about $1.7 trillion. Bond holdings surpassed $5 trillion for the first time.
In all, the portfolio is now the equivalent of more than a quarter of the size of the U.S. economy before the crisis struck, and will certainly grow larger in the weeks ahead as the Fed keeps piling on assets and the economy shrinks. - Reuters
14 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The manufacturing of consent for mandatory Coronavirus®vaccination has begun. This is only one of many articles that are now being written on the need for a vaccine and to get everyone vaccinated so America Can Get Back To Work.
There will be a lot of authoritarian policies implemented to go along with the vaccine you can bet on that. At a minimum there will be a requirement that you prove that you have been vaccinated before you can do what we took for granted pre-virus. It is going to be TSA many times over.
Even if you can imagine the herculean political, social, and economic changes necessary to manage our way through this crisis effectively, there is no normal for the foreseeable future. Until there’s a vaccine, the United States either needs economically ruinous levels of social distancing, a digital surveillance state of shocking size and scope, or a mass testing apparatus of even more shocking size and intrusiveness. - I’ve read the plans to reopen the economy. They’re scary, Ezra Klein
I will be doing nothing today. Resting up for a trip into town tomorrow to get groceries. Probably will hang out in town until my UPS store opens at their new time of 10:00.
The confirmed Coronavirus® cases in Cochise County are now up to 16. My next camp's county is still showing no confirmed cases. An example of the measures that will be taken per my comments above:
Gov. Herbert [Utah] has issued an Executive Order establishing a requirement for individuals entering Utah to complete a travel declaration form. The Utah Department of Transportation will collect this information in an electronic form individuals will receive via text message upon entering the state.
The order requires every individual 18 years of age or older who enters Utah, either as a final destination through the Salt Lake City International Airport, or on Utah roads, to complete a travel declaration form before entering the state. - Source
15 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
This morning I changed my routine just a bit. Went to Fry's first for groceries and then gas for Desperado. Fry's had as much water on their shelves as they ever did pre-virus but they are still limiting purchases at two gallons per household. So I got two. Everything else that I wanted was available. Did a tour down the toilet paper and paper towel aisle which was almost bare. I could have bought some toilet paper but it was in huge packages and was double ply so I gave it a miss.
I then went to the landmark restaurant and got a Spinach Omelet to go. That or thier Popeye is my new routine breakfast under the restaurant lockout. When I finished breakfast I drove to the parking lot where my UPS Store and Safeway are and went into Safeway to get more water. They had no limit on purchases and the shelves were almost bare. Did a tour of their toilet paper aisle and found one big package of one ply that I picked up. That should last me until late this year or into 2021. No hoarding - one package!
I then had almost an hour wait for the UPS Store to open. That gave me time to get this post started and maybe even put it online.
Business corporations and trade groups are also regular and credible purveyors of stories deemed newsworthy. These bureaucracies turn out a large volume of material that meets the demands of news organizations for reliable, scheduled flows. Mark Fishman calls this “the principle of bureaucratic affinity: only other bureaucracies can satisfy the input needs of a news bureaucracy.”I was a part of the Organization of American States occupation of the Dominican Republic. On July 1, 1966 elections were held with Joaquín Balaguer elected into the presidential seat. I returned to Fort Devens, MA in September 1966.
Government and corporate sources also have the great merit of being recognizable and credible by their status and prestige. This is important to the mass media. As Fishman notes, news workers are predisposed to treat bureaucratic accounts as factual because news personnel participate in upholding a normative order of authorized knowers in the society. Reporters operate with the attitude that officials ought to know what it is their job to know . . . In particular, a new worker will recognize an official’s claim to knowledge not merely as a claim but as a credible, competent piece of knowledge. This amounts to a moral division of labor: officials have and give the facts; reporters merely get them. - Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky
Balaguer was President for three non-consecutive terms for that office from 1960 to 1962, 1966 to 1978, and 1986 to 1996. His enigmatic, secretive personality inherited from the Trujillo era, as well as his desire to perpetuate himself in power through dubious elections and state terrorism, earned him the nickname of caudillo. His regime of terror damaged 11,000 victims who were either tortured or forcibly disappeared and killed. The same kind of president that the United States supported in El Salvador and Guatemala.
I am not proud that I was part of the United States intervention but when you are in the Army you go where they send you.
Thus, in the Dominican Republic in 1966, and periodically thereafter, the United States organized what have been called “demonstration elections” in its client states, defined as those whose primary function is to convince the home population that the intervention is well intentioned, that the populace of the invaded and occupied country welcomes the intrusion, and that they are being given a democratic choice. - Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky
16 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The only activity of note that is happening here is a pot of chili beans have been brought to a boil with tomato puree, cayenne powder and a couple of Baker's chocolate squares. That is now in the Thermal Cooker which should have it ready by 'linner' time.
Manufacturing Consent was published in 1988 but everything in the propaganda model that they describe is alive and well today. Caitlin Johnstone writes many blog postings that say the same things about what she calls the 'matrix', just another name for propaganda/manufacturing consent.
Can a nation that will accept a depression that destroys the livelihoods of millions of its citizens be credible when it warns another great power that it is willing to fight a nuclear war — in which millions would die — over who rules the Baltic states or who controls the South China Sea?
Would a nation so unwilling to accept 60,000 dead in a pandemic it would induce a depression to cut the casualties, engage in a nuclear exchange with Russia over Estonia? - What Price Victory — in the Coronavirus War?, Patrick J. Buchanan
17 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 17, 1932
I have nothing but News items to post today. Even the weather for the past week has become boring, with the high temperatures in the 70s and the lows in the 40s. Maybe something exciting will happen this weekend?
If you want a good Coronavirus® laugh read "Pretty Much Why the Media is Useless in the Age of the Chinese Coronavirus".
James Hamblin does not say what year he had the conversation with Robert Gallo but the book was published in 2016. I thing Mr. Gallo could claim to be as psychic as was Sylvia Browne.
Robert Gallo, one of the microbiologists who discovered HIV, told me at a virology conference in Granada that the most threatening infectious disease may very well be the flu. He and many of his colleagues believe the odds are good that in the not-distant future there will be another outbreak of influenza that will rival the 1918 pandemic, which killed around fifty million people. Even now the disease caused by the flu virus is perennially among the leading causes of death in many countries. - If Our Bodies Could Talk, James Hamblin
The best argument that I have seen against Bill Gates and his push for vaccinations. Dr. Lee Hieb is an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery and past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
2. Medical ethics are clear: No one should be forced to undergo a medical treatment without informed consent and without their agreement to the treatment. We condemn the forced sterilization of the '20s and '30s, the Tuskegee medical experiments infecting black inmates and the Nazi medicine that included involuntary "Euthanasia," experimentation and sterilization. How can we force vaccination without consent? Vaccination is a medical treatment with risks including death. It is totally antithetical to all ethics in medicine to mandate that risk to others...
5. If you think the government has the right to forcibly vaccinate people – for the good of society – what is to prevent them from forcibly sterilizing people, or forcibly euthanizing people, or forcibly implanting a tracking device – for the good of society? You make[sic] think those examples are extreme (although two-thirds have happened), but the principle is the same. You are allowing government to have ultimate authority over your body. - How vaccine hysteria could spark totalitarian nightmare, Dr. Lee Hieb
18 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I'll be preparing next month's Will Rogers weekly articles today and maybe tomorrow. That is about all that I have on my agenda for today. There are the three nonfiction books that I have on Kindle Fire that I keep reading by switching back and forth; that will keep me busy.
Will we ever get a vaccine?
We don't yet have vaccines against any coronaviruses in humans, in part due to the challenges of developing vaccines for viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract.
There are a lot of vaccine experiments going on around the world at the moment trying to change that though, including some in human trials.
While this gives us the best possible chance of getting a successful vaccine, it also highlights that there isn't an obvious winner yet, said Professor Frazer.
"I think it would be fair to say even if we get something which looked quite encouraging in animals, the safety trials in humans will have to be fairly extensive before we would think about vaccinating a group of people who have not yet been exposed to the virus.
"They might hope to get protection but certainly wouldn't be keen to accept a possibility of really serious side effects if they actually caught the virus." We've never made a successful vaccine for a coronavirus before. This is why it's so difficult, Jo Khan
This notion of being "anti-American" is quite an interesting one ̶ it's actually a totalitarian notion ̶ it isn't used in free societies...In totalitarian states the notion is used. In the old Soviet Union, dissidents were called "anti-Soviet" ̶ that was the worst condemnation. In the Brazilian military dictatorship they were called "anti-Brazilian." But these concepts only arise in a culture where the state is identified with the society, the culture, the people, and so on. So if you criticize state power ̶ and by state I mean generally not just government but state corporate power ̶ if you criticize concentrated power, you're against the society, you're against the people. It's quite striking that this is used in the United States, and in fact as far as I know, we are the only democratic society where the concept isn't just ridiculed. And it's a sign of elements of the elite culture that are quite ugly. - Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power, Noam Chomsky
Most [gun store owners] estimate around 75% of gun sales in March 2020 were first time buyers. That would constitute 2.8 million people, almost 1% of the total US population buying their first gun...
The makeup of COVID-19 America now constitutes the following classes:
- The COVID-19 Boogaloo Opus
- Previously armed previous preppers
- Previously armed new preppers
- Newly armed new preppers
- Unarmed new preppers, lovingly referred to as "targets." Bless their heart.
19 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I think today will be another one that is much the same as those in the past have been. I don't even have the Will Rogers weekly article prep to do, got that done yesterday. Maybe fire up the pixel art that I left unfinished many months ago. There is also the preparation for my move at the beginning of next month.
I did some research for that yesterday. Found out that the restaurant that I wanted to stop at along the way was closed due to Coronavirus®. They may never open again or maybe so but not in time for when I drive by.
I also checked the website for my next camp and found that they are open. The closest grocery store has a 20% of total capacity customer limit at any one time. I have no idea how strictly they enforce that, the stores in Sierra Vista do not seem to enforce their limits.
20 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The Arizona Department Of Health Services put up a map that showed Coronavitus® cases by county in the early days of the pandemic. They have now brought one up that shows the cases by ZIP Code but they do not show an exact count, just a range. All of the cases in Cochise County, now at 24, are in the two ZIP Codes for Sierra Vista, the one for Douglas and the one for Willcox.
The ZIP Code where I am now living has none and the Zip Codes where I plan to be this summer have none. So for now I'll be leaving an area with no confirmed cases with the intent of moving to two camps that also have none for now. So far, so good!
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media is a 1988 [republished in 2002] book by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, in which the authors propose that the mass communication media of the U.S. "are effective and powerful ideological institutions that carry out a system-supportive propaganda function, by reliance on market forces, internalized assumptions, and self-censorship, and without overt coercion", by means of the propaganda model of communication. - Edited WikipediaIt's not a coincidence that the two nations the US political/media class has been shrieking the loudest about lately are the two strongest nations which have refused to be absorbed into the US empire. It's never been about "collusion" or a virus, it's about stopping multipolarism. This has been obvious for years, but partisan narrative control masks it. More than two years ago I was writing about how Russiagate isn't about Trump or even really just about Russia, but about hamstringing the Russia-China tandem to stop China's rise.
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of neoconservatism, the prevailing orthodoxy in the US-centralized power alliance has been to preserve the unipolar world order at any cost. All US foreign policy has been a direct or indirect result of this agenda ever since. - MSM China Hysteria Gets Way Crazier And Dumber, Caitlin Johnstone
The other pretty obvious scheme, seemingly underway now, is to fix up Mr. Biden with a running-mate who can take over his duties twenty-three minutes after the inauguration ceremony. Stacey Abrams, the self-proclaimed "real governor of Georgia" who, in fact, lost that election but has made out nicely hustling her delusions, is campaigning arduously for the VP appointment. Wouldn't that make a heck of an appealing ticket?
Apparently, that’s one more memo the Democratic Party did not get: America no longer has time for identity politics. There are more important things to attend to, like whether large numbers of people go to bed hungry, get cast out of their homes, live or die. Things like that. For the moment, the USA doesn't have an economy. Nor does much of the rest of the world. Believe me, that's a problem. And unlike Mr. Biden's dementia, there's no pretense about not noticing it. The Placeholder, James Howard Kunstler
21 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
A lot of time in town today. Most of it was while at a friend's house visiting. But being a multitasker I did my laundry while I was there - at his invitation. I also got to meet the latest addition to his family; a very cute English Bulldog pup that took a great liking to Patches. Patches was pretty good but did express some displeasure with the pups attentions.
Before going to visit I stopped at Fry's with a short list that the store could not fill. No imitation vanilla, no almond milk yogurt (I got some soy that I'll try), no unsalted peanuts in the shell and no diet cranberry/blackberry juice (the 2nd week that this has been missing). If the governor were to say that Arizona was off lockdown Fry's is not ready. Safeway is not any better, they are not ready now either.
Cochise County is not ready. The confirmed case count is now up to 30. Still in the same ZIP Codes that I reported before but the number of cases are increasing rapidly. Probably because they are doing more testing. The more they test the more cases they will find. I don't see Arizona opening for business until the middle of May at the earliest.
That is all I have to say for today!
22 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
On 23 March 2020 I got a Secure Message from Robert, the Team 2 nurse that said Dermatology had prescribed Ranitidine and it was on the way. I replied that same day:
"Thank you - maybe.
Ranitidine, sold under the trade name Zantac among others, is a medication which decreases stomach acid production. It is commonly used in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Zollinger–Ellison syndrome. There is also tentative evidence of benefit for hives.
Tentative evidence for hives. Dermatology is throwing pills at me, the guinea pig? They think this is simply a rash or hives from the pictures?
This also concerns me."
The FDA has added at least three additional items to its growing roster of heartburn drug recalls.Ed
The onslaught of new recalls were announced between Jan. 6 and Jan. 8, three months after the FDA first warned consumers of potential carcinogens in over-the-counter heartburn medications. By Sept. 18, Zantac drugmaker Novartis had halted all distribution of generic Zantac—ranitidine—and by Sept. 30 CVS had pulled all Zantac and generic-brand ranitidine from its shelves.
I then got this Message from Mz. Soto:
Mr. Frey,I in turn replied "We can talk about it at my 7 April appointment. IF I receive the drugs before then I will not start taking them."
I believe the manufacturer that the VA Pharmacy is contracted with does not have the Ranitidine that has been recalled. Unfortunately, I do not know what to say in regard to Dermatology. The trial of medications are for 4 weeks. Do you think you can try them and then follow-up with Robert if your skin does not get better?
Anne-Jeanette Soto, FNP-BC
PACT Team 2 Provider
Yesterday I received a snail mail letter from the Pharmacy in Tucson that said the following along with a warning and how to dispose of the unused meds
If you are still taking Ranitidine tablets, stop taking it and notify us by requesting your next refill immediately.What James Hamblin says here is so true. Health care in the United States is all about pills and procedures both costing a lot of money. If there is a FREE cure for anything the health care system will do everything in their power to suppress it.
If you have not been taking this medication regularly, ask your provider at your next visit about whether you still need it.
To understand how the heart's electrical system can be repaired and revived is to understand the incentives of the most expensive health care system in the world (the United States'), which has every financial incentive to keep us alive, but little or no financial incentive to keep us well. - If Our Bodies Could Talk, James Hamblin"Social Security and other benefits recipients who haven’t filed taxes in the last two years will receive their automatic payment at the end of April." - Source
I spent some of mine yesterday when I ordered a Megahome Water Distiller. It looks just like what I was issued by the Peace Corps while living in Bulgaria. If it works as well as the one I had there I'll be pleased. I have considered getting one in the past but they are a little pricey and getting drinking water at the grocery store has been easier. That is no longer true since Coronavirus® has come on the scene and the stores are rationing water as well as paper products. I don't think that is going to improve anytime soon so it was time for a distiller.
23 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I think today is going to be another very slow one. I'll finish reading a second book by Noam Chomsky and get started on another nonfiction book. After I finish that one it will be time to get back to some fiction. All this 'real' stuff is getting to be to depressing.
I did some cooking yesterday so don't even have that to do today. Not much News, other than the same o' same o'. Cochise County holding at 30 confirmed cases of Coronavirus® which is good News - I guess. Sent an email to what I think is the email address of the RV Park where I want to stay starting in June. I have a reservation there, I think, but with the virus crisis I don't know. The May Park has not replied so I may not have a reservation there.
24 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Read Will Rogers column 88 years ago: April 24, 1932
I have a pot of garbonzos on the stove this morning. They will be used for my daily serving of the hummus that I have been making. It is Oil-Free, Tahini-Free Low-Fat Hummus as described by Jolinda Hackett but with some modifications and using a mortar and pestle versus a blender. I think I'll try adding some more 'stuff' to the mix and see how that turns out.
Started reading the last nonfiction book, for now, and have downloaded a fiction book for my next read. I may get another Chomsky book but not now. I also want to read some more Shiller but not now.
There have been people arrested for being outside their homes in the sunlight. This entire Coronavirus
"Our most striking observation to date is the powerful effect that solar light appears to have on killing the virus, both surfaces and in the air. We've seen a similar effect with both temperature and humidity as well, where increasing the temperature and humidity or both is generally less favorable to the virus," Bryan said." - Source William Bryan is the acting head of the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security
Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power (2017) is Chomsky's analysis of the concentration of wealth from the 1970s to now. Chomsky analyzes the way in which power relations shifted from the late 1940s to today, in the name of "plutocratic interests". This shift in power relations ends up being an assault "on lower- and middle-class people, which has escalated in recent decades during the ascendancy of what is known as 'neoliberalism' – with fiscal austerity for the poor and tax cuts and other subsidies for the wealthy minority." Chomsky is most interested in how the rise of financialization, which "is a process whereby financial markets, financial institutions, and financial elites gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes," and how it affects and shapes public life in America, leading to a concentration of wealth and power to elite persons and institutions. This has been shown to lead to phenomena like the richest people in the world having as much wealth as the bottom half of the world. - Edited WikipediaThis Dewey quote is from Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power, Noam Chomsky
It would be ludicrous, were it not tragic, to believe that an appeal to the unregulated activities of those who have got us into the present crisis will get us out of it, provided they are relieved from the incubus of political action. The magic of eating a hair of the dog which bit you in order to cure hydrophobia is as nothing to the magic involved in the belief that those who have privilege and power will remedy the breakdown they have created. - The Later Works: 1925–1953, Volume 6: 1931–1932, John Dewey, 1985Kunstler has put up another good post. I have quoted the paragraph where he says what he has been saying for years but I think now may be the time that he is right.
The old system is permanently broken now. We're having a hard time recognizing that, plague or no plague. Many activities have flunked the scale challenge and will not come back to running the way they used to, generally anything organized at the giant scale: global supply chains, global corporations that depend on them, fracking for shale oil, big institutions like colleges and even public school systems, commercial aviation and tourism, the auto industry, show business (including the Disney empire and things like it), suburbia as a general proposition, skyscrapers and megastructures, shopping malls, pension funds, insurance companies, mega-banks, and, of course, medical conglomerates. We're deceived by Amazon.com, which appears to be successful at the moment because it is filling a vacuum that Amazon will also eventually fall into. Amazon's business model is a joke. The model is: every item purchased makes a separate journey by truck to the customer. That's a "sell" signal to me. - Turning and Churning, James Howard Kunstler
25 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I have tanks to dump and water to add this morning before it gets too hot. The high yesterday was 88° with an expected 91 today. It is already 74 at 7:45 so the high might exceed expectations. My next camp - maybe - is forecasting cooler temperatures than here and the June camp - maybe - is much cooler as well.
The number of confirmed cases in Cochise County jumped up by 6 to 36 from the 23rd to the 24th. I suspect that there will be another relatively large increase when the numbers are released for today.
Gov. Doug Ducey has issued an executive order stating that elective surgeries can resume on May 1. SourceThis also included dentist offices. So I might get a rescheduled cleaning appointment from my dentist in Sierra Vista but will not be here. I'll see if I can get my appointment in August moved up to June if I am in Springerville. Everything is an unknown at this point. The Gov. did not open other businesses that are on lockdown such as barbers. Is there a greater chance of infection at a barber shop than in a hospital? I think not but that is just me.
Data suggests the vast majority of the population in Sweden have taken to voluntary social distancing although there has been no governmental lock down. This has slowed the spread of the virus by as much or more than all the governmental lockdowns. However, the government in Sweden does not have CONTROL, that is what most governmental bodies want more than slowing the spread of the virus.
...it is inevitable that most of the population will eventually become infected. You can "flatten the curve" and delay the inevitable with lockdowns, but that also prolongs the pandemic. In the end, roughly the same number of people will get sick and roughly the same number of people will die no matter how the pandemic is “managed”. - The Facts That Prove That Almost Everyone Is Wrong About This Coronavirus Pandemic, Michael Snyder
Ever since Adam Smith, the central teaching of economics has been that free markets provide us with material well-being, as if by an invisible hand. In Phishing for Phools, Nobel Prize–winning economists George Akerlof and Robert Shiller deliver a fundamental challenge to this insight, arguing that markets harm as well as help us. As long as there is profit to be made, sellers will systematically exploit our psychological weaknesses and our ignorance through manipulation and deception. Rather than being essentially benign and always creating the greater good, markets are inherently filled with tricks and traps and will "phish" us as "phools."Phishing for Phools therefore strikes a radically new direction in economics, based on the intuitive idea that markets both give and take away. Akerlof and Shiller bring this idea to life through dozens of stories that show how phishing affects everyone, in almost every walk of life. We spend our money up to the limit, and then worry about how to pay the next month's bills. The financial system soars, then crashes. We are attracted, more than we know, by advertising. Our political system is distorted by money. We pay too much for gym memberships, cars, houses, and credit cards. Drug companies ingeniously market pharmaceuticals that do us little good, and sometimes are downright dangerous.
Phishing for Phools explores the central role of manipulation and deception in fascinating detail in each of these areas and many more. It thereby explains a paradox: why, at a time when we are better off than ever before in history, all too many of us are leading lives of quiet desperation. At the same time, the book tells stories of individuals who have stood against economic trickery—and how it can be reduced through greater knowledge, reform, and regulation. - Book promo @ Princeton University Press
26 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
The only thing that I have on my To Do List for today is to get some of the next month's computer stuff prepared. That will also include making a 3x5 card for my route to the next hoped-for camp. I have a couple of alternatives in mind if the one that will not reply to my emails, where I have a reservation, is not open.
The high temperature yesterday was almost right on the expected forecast at 91.2°. The weather guessers think it will be 94 today and 91 tomorrow then move on up to 98 on Thursday. It is certainly time to leave here. The next camp is cooler but only 3-5°.
I received a reply to the email that I sent to the RV Park hosts last year. This is also my reserved camp for this June. They are going to be hosting there again which is very good. I like them and they do a good job. They said that they sent a text message to the Park owner saying that I had tried to contact her but still no reply from the owner. It is a good thing she has the hosts that she does, they are making her Park what it is becoming versus what it was.
"I can't go out because of the virus" sounds weak, whiny and boring.
Try instead: "I've sworn an oath of solitude until the pestilence is purged from the lands"
That sounds more Valiant and Heroic.
27 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
A good shopping experience today at Fry's. I wasn't looking for any paper products or beans or flour but found everything that I had on my list. I did notice that the fellow in front of me at the checkout had scored a 4 roll package of toilet paper. I scored big by getting 5 large containers of Silk plain soy yogurt. They were still rationing water although the shelves were full.
I then went to Tractor Supply where I found three big bags of Earthborn Meadow Feast on the shelf but only needed one. Where were they when I needed three? It was then that my luck for the day ran out. I was hoping that I could get Desperado washed today but the car wash was booked up. Need to go back into town on Wednesday, the time of my appointment. I also wanted to get propane and have the A/C vents cleaned plus put in a new filter at RV City. I got the propane but after waiting an hour I gave up on the A/C and took Desperado back to the Park.
The quote is from an article that is just one of many that are now starting to appear in the alt-News. It will not be long before the mainstream media will catch on that the party is over.
This isn't just about President Trump. It encompasses the whole two-party charade that is a rubber-stamp for big business and militarism. Democrat contender Joe Biden will offer nothing better than the Republican buffoon. Because US capitalism is rotten to the core from its corporate cronyism and warmongering habits to feed the system.
Like past empires that imploded, the US ruling elite doesn’t see what’s coming because they and their media class are mired in their own echo chamber of vanity-propaganda and petty squabbling.
But the virus pandemic serves as a moment of empirical evidence showing that the US is a colossus with feet of clay. - US a Washed-up Empire, Finian Cunningham
28 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Verizon is not letting the virus crisis go to waste. They are staying in touch about once a week. This week they are proving a lot of 'freebies', good marketing, among them "Automatically adding an additional 15GB of 4G LTE data for you to use from May 1st through May 31st to learn, work or keep connected during this challenging time". That will not really help me but it is the thought that counts.
I'll be doing interior house cleaning today. Then tomorrow I will go to town and have the car wash give Desperado an exterior bath. With any luck the distiller that I ordered will be delivered to my UPS Store before I leave town. If not I'll be going in again on Thursday to pick it up - expected delivery is tomorrow by the end of the day.
In the decade before 1963 when a vaccine became available, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years of age. It is estimated 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year. Also each year, among reported cases, an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and 1,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain) from measles. - SourceI never had the measles or vaccinated to prevent having them but think I was exposed and developed antibodies without showing any symptoms. There was also never a panic or crisis during all the years before vaccinations were started. Why now, why no panic with SARS? There is more about Coronavirus® unknown than known in my opinion.
If the R0 is less than 1, an outbreak dies; if the average is greater than one, it spreads.
Highly infectious viruses, such as measles, have a rating of 10 -20. The 2003 SARS outbreak had an R0 of around 3.
Currently, there is evidence that this figure is higher for COVID-19 - about 5.7. According to the World Health Organization, this signifies that it will be very difficult to completely stop the epidemic without a vaccine. - Source
29 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
Today is going to be another hot one. The forecast is expecting a high of 93° but it was already 78 at 8:00. I think it is going to exceed expectations. Tomorrow is forecast to be 96 which means there is a good chance that it will be 100. My next camp will be just slightly cooler, maybe 2-3°.
Confirmed Coronavirus® cases in Cochise County as of yesterday were 38. THe Zip Code where I am now at still is reporting none with the three major towns continuing to account for all 38 cases. My next two camps are also still reporting no cases.
Went into town for Desperado's bath and wax. That is about all I had planned for today.
Tracking claimed that my distiller had arrived in Sierra Vista this morning at 7:44 am so I checked again after leaving the car wash and found that it was out for delivery. Went to my UPS store at 11:30 and it had not been delivered and they said deliveries were made between 11:00 and 2:00. Didn't want to wait for 2 1/2 hours so went back to the Park and found that it had been delivered at 11:53. So back to town tomorrow to get it.
I need to get some cooking done today and tomorrow. With that done I'll be ready to leave on Friday.
30 April
Quail Ridge
Huachuca City, AZ
I'm ready to get out of here. It is 81 ° at 8:00 am and expected to reach 95. That is one degree less than what was the forecast yesterday which I thought was too low. I still think the high today will be very close to 100. The forecast at my next camp tomorrow is 90 which is still hotter than I like it but will be better than here.
I got all my cooking done yesterday. Enough hulled barley and oat groats for breakfast for a week. A pottage that does not look very appetizing but my pottages never do. This time I used a cup of split yellow peas, a quarter head of red cabbage, a package of french cut green beans in a large can of tomato puree and a half can of water. I threw in a little dark chocolate just because I had it.
That was brought to a boil and then into the Thermal Cooker overnight. There is enough of that to last me more than a week for 'linner'.
I will be going into town to get my distiller at the UPS Store. Maybe stop at Wanderlust Kaffee for the last latte that I will get for weeks maybe a month.