Dereliction of Duty

"I take it you don't care about the part you had in breaking one of the best men you'll ever know. As air exec you were in command here the moment Colonel Davenport left. You met that responsibility exactly how you met his need. You ran out on it."
--General Frank Savage (Twelve O'clock High)

I don't understand it, either. Why aren't state legislatures meeting to debate and decide what to do? Further, why aren't courts blocking authoritarian rule in each state?

Where are the state legislators demanding their seat at the table so we can debate pros/ cons of further restrictions? I will never understand how we made it so far down this road w/single executives driving the narrative. #txlege #ChecksAndBalances #SeparationOfPowers #RuleOfLaw https://t.co/vis2IVJ8sb

— Tara Ross (@TaraRoss) July 31, 2020

Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees that each state a republican form of government (a.k.a. 'the Guarantee Clause'). Currently, states are being ruled by dictators. And legislative and judicial branches have abdicated their responsibilities.

If legislatures do not meet and courts do not rule, then why isn't the federal government justified in intervening in state affairs such that representative government is re-established? Otherwise, the federal government is not upholding its constitutional mandate set forth by the Guarantee Clause.

Thus far it's been dereliction of duty all around.

School Daze

We don't need to education
We don't need no thought control
--Pink Floyd

Yes, socialists are trying to destabilize the system. But some of their tactics are downright headscratching. One is the effort to defund police. Socialists need strong armed agents to enforce their agenda. They need to buy, not sell, police force.

The other is the effort to shut down schools--particularly public schools. Socialists seem to be focusing on the disruption that shutting schools will create chaos for children who need socialization with their peers as well as for working parents who depend on schools as a day care service.

National Poll: 40% of Families More Likely to Homeschool After Lockdowns Endhttps://t.co/YWAT2r5mxM#coronavirus

— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 30, 2020

What socialists don't seem to be factoring in is the possibility that many people will seek education alternatives. Homeschooling plus innovative perhaps tech driven ed alternatives might rise to meet demand and render the public school model obsolete.

If this were to happen, then socialists would lose a primary channel for indoctrinating young minds.

Corona Quiz

Nathan Algren: I have questions.
Katsumoto: Questions come later.
--The Last Samurai

I've been dreaming of drawing up a ten question quiz on the CV19 situation. Infection and mortality rates, what studies currently say about how virus is transmitted, efficacy of PPE such as masks, etc. My sense is that the average score would be low, and that mistakes would be skewed toward answers that suggest people believe that the situation is worse than it is.

The results of the below survey confirm my suspicions. A thousand people surveyed across five countries were asked what percentage of their country's population had contracted the virus and how had died from it.

This survey explains so much about the public’s response to #Covid. 1,000 people in several countries were asked what percentage of their nation’s population had died of the virus. Answers ranged from 3% in Germany to 9% (30M people!)in the US. Congrats panic porners. You’ve won. pic.twitter.com/abvYeTgBGF

— Alex Berenson (@AlexBerenson) July 28, 2020

Results indicate that people are wildly overestimating number of infections by about 30x the official case counts in their countries. Deaths? 150x higher.

US respondents indicated that 20% (over 60 million) of the citizenry has been infected. That's 20x the CDC case count. To be fair, if we took results of the scattered seroprevalence studies into account, then these survey responses might not look so high.

Death estimates are a different story. US respondents estimate that 9% (nearly 30 million) of the population has died from CV19. That's 225x more than the surely  inflated CDC death count. For reference, the deadliest epidemic is US history associated with the 1918 Spanish flu sported a population fatality rate of less than 1%.

The above Tweet doesn't tell us much about the survey or the nature of the sample. But I wouldn't be surprised if my 10 question quiz, if ever administered, revealed similar levels of hysteria.

Unsettled Masking

As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony
But she blinded me with science
And failed me in biology
--Thomas Dolby

Very nice review of current state of mask research done in response to the tiresome claim that "the science is settled." The reasoning mind knows otherwise. Science is never settled.

When authorities trot out experts who claim that the 'science' about a particular topic is settled, the only thing that is truly certain is this: those authorities are preparing to take freedom by force.

Long Haul Hysterics

'Cause you gotta blame someone
For your own confusion
We're on guard this time
Against your final solution
--Red Rider

Where do the CV19 hysterics go next? We've had narratives of massive death, flatten the curve, wait for vaccine...

None of those are working. Deaths are obviously not spiking despite 'hot spot' spikes in cases that have obviously been inflated.

My bet is on the 'long haul' proposition: "We don't know the long term effects of CV19. Maybe people can get re-infected. Maybe there are side effects. Because there is so much we don't know, every must stay locked down."

Long haul hysterics focus on claims that can't be falsified--i.e., "You can't prove that people can't get re-infected down the road!"

Psychosis knows no bounds.

Compelling Analysis

It happened one summer
It happened one time
It happened forever
For a short time
--The Motels

More analysis of seasonality pertaining to CV19.  Worldwide:

Seasonal pattern of Covid-19 deaths compared to embedded chart of 1964-75 flu outbreak by four seasons. Countries & states split into 35+ N. Lat, 0-35 N, 0-30 S and 30+ S. Flu is the same except 0-30 and 30+ North. This is a striking similarity. Match this with left half of Flu. pic.twitter.com/Zc4IiyG1Wu

— Kyle Lamb (@kylamb8) July 24, 2020

And US:

Nice job on mapping USA regions to Hope-Simpson's influenza dynamics graphs - helluva match...

Story here in 2 mins: https://t.co/1e06imGMfx https://t.co/QeUCTrbnAI

— Ivor Cummins (@FatEmperor) July 25, 2020

Very compelling.

Disorderly High

We'll be fighting in the streets

With our children at our feet

And the morals that they worship

Will be gone

--The Who

Spot gold closed at an all time high yesterday at $1901/oz, exceeding the previous record set in 2011.

Hard to imagine a record close attracting less fanfare. Guess folks are distracted by all of the disorder around them.

Exactly.

position in gold

Playing The Plague

Confusion that never stops
Closing walls and ticking clocks
--Coldplay

Part of the cognitive dissonance associated with Trump Derangement Syndrome is to believe that everything that is bad in the world since the 2016 election is due to the president and his administration. However, if everything is not bad in the world and people with TDS syndrome aren't experiencing it personally, then that creates another condition of cognitive dissonance that the mind must cope with.

This has driven many to equate the CV19 situation to The Plague. And then, in order to convince their minds that it is true, they are acting out what they would do in a Plague script. They shut themselves in. They watch infection and death counts. They wear themselves down physically and mentally.

To persuade their psyches that their dream is real, they play The Plague.

Lockstep Lockdowns

General Bratchenko: What is a 'wolverine?'
Col Ernesto Bella: A small animal, like a badger, but terribly ferocious. It is also the name of the local sports collective.
--Red Dawn

A common goal of modern socialist movements, particularly those of Marxist strains, is to eliminate norms, customs, practices, laws, symbols, etc associated with freedom and liberty.

I increasingly sense that this is what is driving coordinated lockdown phenomena worldwide. Various socialist factions sense opportunity to advance their agendas by using 'public health and safety' as an excuse for dialing back institutions of a free society.

Because people are letting it happen, the socialists are emboldened to do more. In lockstep.

Adding Factions

"Ah, smoking is not good for you, and it's been deemed that anything not good for you is bad. Hence, illegal. Alcohol, caffeine, contact sports, meat..."
--Lenina Huxley (Demolition Man)

Events over the past few months have revealed just how pervasive socialism has become. In the US, socialism has made great inroads via socialized medicine ("we need to flatten the curve to preserve health system capacity") and indoctrination of young minds via the education system.

Cultural Marxism. Watermelon socialism. Fascism. ESG. Degrowth.

And now, it seems, a new strain grounded in public health and wellness.

A great member of what I like to call the Flack Pack, Garet Garrett, once wrote a chapter entitled 'The Revolution Was,' suggesting that American Revolution had been replaced by a socialist revolution and that liberty, as originally conceived by our founding ancestors, was dead.

That was 65 years ago.

While I don't think it is dead, liberty is certainly under attack. And the attacking army keeps adding factions.