Coronavirus As A Social Experiment
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 9 months ago
Via Tamara Keel.
Handwaving Freakoutery@Freakoutery
The USA is currently running a fascinating experiment to determine if nationwide social media driven panic can be as an effective tool for virus control as an authoritarian communist dictatorship’s government mandated quarantines.
It might actually work.
Yea, these have been my thoughts lately. Actually, there is more.
So before we begin let’s get the obvious out of the way. Regular readers know that I haven’t jumped on the conspiracy bandwagon by saying that this was all planned. I do believe (based on what evidence is available to me) that this virus is weaponized. I also believe that it was most likely an accidental release from the Chinese bio-weapons facility.
But that doesn’t mean the FedGov (and all other levels of government, from city to state) hasn’t glommed on to see just how far this can be pushed. And you can rest assured that the JTTF Fusion Centers are watching very carefully.
Roger Kimball notes this.
It also, it is worth noting, plays right into the hands of power-hungry politicians who like nothing better than to forbid whatever it is they have neglected to make mandatory. These are the folks who stand to benefit by the ill wind of the Wuhan virus. Anyone who doubts this should ponder the case of Champaign, Illinois, whose city council just voted itself emergency powers to deal with the crisis, or “crisis.”
My friend David Horowitz likes to say “scratch a liberal and you’ll discover a totalitarian screaming to get out.” The evolution of the reaction and overreaction to the Wuhan flu is a textbook case illustrating the truth of that observation.
The Feds have shot their wad at the coming potential recession, and have no more ammunition. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois has declared a town emergency over the Wuhan coronavirus that includes a potential ban on the sale of firearms and ammunition. The mayor of Austin, Texas, has forbade gatherings of more than 100 people, placing in jeopardy the livelihoods of people who make their living doing just such things, like wedding planning, musicians, and so on. New Jersey communities have imposed mandatory curfews (so did the British Army in colonial America, one of the complaints by the colonists, of course ending with American independence after a long and bloody war).
Of course, this is all unconstitutional. The constitution doesn’t recognize “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” and right to freedom of association (recognized by the courts) .. except … uh oh, when the .gov declares it null and void because they are concerned about you or others you might happen to affect and can get a doctor to sign on to their plans. It doesn’t work that way.
Unless it does and the American people let them get away with it. I’m not suggesting of course that there aren’t benefits to remote work. I have worked remotely for the last seven months and have done just fine with it, being even more productive than I would have been driving to work and sitting in a stale office. I’m suggesting that no governor, no mayor, no president, and no legislator, has the authority to tell congregants that they are not to worship on Sunday or any other day. No one has the authority to tell free men when they will be outside their homes. And no mayor has the authority to tell gun owners that they can’t purchase more guns or ammunition.
On March 15, 2020 at 11:24 pm, George 1 said:
I am just an average guy at best. I have no idea how this will all end. But I do want to say I appreciate this site and the good articles and commentary here. I wish all of you well and God’s speed.
Take Care!!
On March 16, 2020 at 7:21 am, Nosmo said:
The twists and turns America takes over the next few months will be very interesting; I’d prefer to be a spectator rather than a participant, but one plays the hand dealt. I have no idea which way all this will break, but I am confident we are in the initial stages of a transformative event; highly significant changes are coming, and that we ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.
On March 16, 2020 at 8:27 am, X said:
The powers-that-be failed to create enough mass hysteria with the global warming hoax to be able to impose their agenda of total control.
The virus is tailor-made for massive government control, though. However this virus originated, it is the control freak’s wet dream: a few more weeks of this nonsense and the sheeple will be begging the government to do ANYTHING to re-stock the grocery shelves and put basketball back on the flat screen…
On March 16, 2020 at 9:04 am, Fred said:
Reasons that I go to the Church where I do:
We are having regular services.
If the government bans gathering together, we will still do it.
If the government bans the preaching of the blood of Christ Jesus on the cross, we will still do it.
If the government bans the King James Holy Bible (don’t laugh, it’s coming) we will never surrender them except we be dead.
If the government drags people out to be crucified we will not shut up, we will not sit down.
And one more time just so that we’re still very crystal clear: Dear government “Authorities” leave me alone, that’s all you have to do, just do nothing at all toward me and mine.
On March 16, 2020 at 10:05 am, Howard T. said:
“And you can rest assured that the JTTF Fusion Centers are watching very carefully.”
Is the Terrorism task forces the one imprisoning this guy?
https://www.the-sun.com/news/539494/coronavirus-kentucky-patient-self-isolate-armed-guard/
Kentucky Governor orders 24 hour armed guard for man who violated self-quarantine.
How long does this guy’s imprisonment last? Does he go free when other currently asymptomatic carriers are identified? Or do those people join him at a FEMA camp?
On March 16, 2020 at 10:06 am, ROBERT SYKES said:
The quarantined cruise ships showed an infection rate of 20% after two weeks of close mingling. 20% means about 60 million total infected in the US. That’s about what the Swine Flu did a decade ago.
Yet merely to reduce the peak rate of infection, which will not reduce either the total number of infected nor the total number of deaths, we are artificially collapsing the economy and creating a Second Great Depression. We have already bankrupted the pension funds of every single retired person or person soon to retire, whether public or private. We have also stopped the wages of low income service workers in restaurants, bars, theme parks, theaters…
This is a formula for electing a full-blown Communist government in November. The Republicans will disappear for at least a generation, maybe forever.
On March 16, 2020 at 11:47 am, J J said:
Live free or die.
I would rather die from coronavirus than live under tyranny.
On March 16, 2020 at 12:09 pm, penses said:
H1N1, 25,000
Kungflu, 80
Pandemic?
A social experiment in terrorism.
Rest assured, most of the restrictions will stay in place [The Patriot Act] and renewed periodically for your own good. Once the government takes a piece of you they never let go without a fight. And right now we have a petty Dictator in Chief who is unconstitutionally shutting down whole industries. Jobs that will disappear forever because of a tyrant who never took any of the dire ramifications of his decisions into consideration. Families, communities and states demoralized by a government that only cares about its image. The people affected the worst will remember Mr. Rump in Nov as the reason. Herbert Hoover 2.0.
Just a taste of the holocaust of regulations to come, Rump is urging Japan to cancel the summer Olympics. That’s four months away. What more does he intend to do in the next four months. Maybe Dictator for Life.
And in the words of Mr. Sykes, Rump has laid out “…a formula for electing a full-blown Communist government in November…” God have mercy on America because the voters who have lost jobs, homes, and families won’t.
PS: JJ, dittos. If you don’t have anything worth dying for then what is the worth of living…zero.
On March 16, 2020 at 1:38 pm, Henry said:
Neither “public health” nor “public safety” are root passwords to the Constitution.
On March 16, 2020 at 1:40 pm, Lori G said:
Go to the Johns Hopkins web site:
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
And take the number of deaths, divide by (# deaths + # recovered). This would be death rate as defined by how many die divided by resolved cases. Then you will see why governments are doing what they are doing.
Example:
Italy: 2158 dead/ (2158 dead + 2749 recovered)= 43%
On March 16, 2020 at 2:18 pm, Drake said:
The petty totalitarians in charge of NY. NJ, and CT just shut their states down.
https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/03/nj-shuttering-casinos-movie-theaters-and-gyms-because-of-coronavirus.html
This afternoon as I’m at the gym for the last time, I’ll ask the owner (a friend of mine) if he’s still expected to pay rent and taxes as they deprive him of his livelihood for the an indeterminate amount of time.
On March 16, 2020 at 2:23 pm, Herschel Smith said:
@Lori,
I know about the web site. I’ve been there for more than a week now. I have the data compiled and curve fits already performed (with a high correlation coefficient). And I don’t entirely agree with your calculation for mortality rate. You’re biasing the mortality high, and until you know better, the mortality would best be computed deaths / confirmed cases, although that will bias it low. It will be somewhere in between (biasing, in my opinion, lower).
That has absolutely nothing to do with what the constitution says.
On March 16, 2020 at 3:03 pm, Fred said:
The death rate is 9%
78078 recovered. 7079 dead. Active unresolved cases, when added together are the remainder up to the total global cases of 179103. The remainder are neither recovered nor dead, they are active TBD and should not be used until resolved either way. The sample size, I would venture, is now large enough to call this thing. It appears to be the real deal. But we, at least here at TCJ, told you that this is how God operates and that it must come to this simply by casual observation of the text of the Holy Bible.
I myself told you to burn DC to the ground and see to it that everybody there be hanged from the neck until dead. The ground cries out with the blood of 70 million who never drew breath, killed for fun and profit.
Plagues. Famines. Pestilences. Wars.
You ain’t seen nothing yet. Enjoy the judgement, you deserve it.
And, those 70 million dead babies proves that the governments don’t care about your health at all. Everything they will do is about power and control. The notion that they wouldn’t want you to die of the flu is laughable on it’s face given the totality of evidences.
Not to mention the false balance of false currency in the form of the Federal Reserve, non-stop unjust warring for a century, the 19th Amendment, and the Nationalization of Churches.
Goodbye America, I never knew you. But, for all I know, His hand may be stretched out still.
On March 16, 2020 at 3:23 pm, Herschel Smith said:
No Fred. That is NOT how this is done. It is NOT. That is incorrect. Epidemiological studies are far more complex. We won’t know the true mortality rate, lead and lag times, until this thing is over. Your method will bias mortality EXTREMELY high versus real.
On March 16, 2020 at 3:30 pm, Fred said:
You are correct because the growth in the number of cases will be exponential, but the interim working math is correct, I maintain. The number will smooth lower, I’m with you on that.
On March 16, 2020 at 4:27 pm, Herschel Smith said:
That’s not what I’m saying. I’ll do a post tonight on it. “Brief Primer On Interpreting Covid-19 Data.”
On March 16, 2020 at 4:56 pm, penses said:
In Venezuela they have one dictator. Here we have one emperor, 50 state tyrants, and thousands of home owner association wanabees in various elected and appointed capacities, and they are all racing to see how much power they can grab and keep before the sheeple wake up…if that is in fact possible.
There doesn’t seem to be much push back, and the god emperor, Rump, appears to be out to lunch, along with his RINO minions.
Some of the “options” states and municipalites have in their portfolios have been on the books for decades:
“order the discontinuance of selling, distributing, or giving away gasoline or other liquid flammable or combustible products in any container other than a gasoline tank properly affixed to a motor vehicle.”
“order the discontinuance of selling, distributing, dispensing or giving away of explosives or explosive agents, firearms or ammunition of any character whatsoever.”
“rationing, issuing quotas, fixing or freezing prices, allocating the use, sale or distribution of food, fuel, clothing and other commodities, materials, goods or services.”
“Order city employees or agents, on behalf of the city, to take possession of any real or personal property of any person, or to acquire full title or such lesser interest as may be necessary to deal with a disaster or emergency, and to take possession of and for a limited time, occupy and use any real estate to accomplish alleviation of the disaster.”
“suspend or limit the use of the water resources or other infrastructure.”
“We understand this is a challenging time but working collaboratively as a community is the best approach to combating this virus.”
“working collaboratively as a community”, no hearings, no debate, just marching orders issued. Stalin would be proud.
On March 16, 2020 at 6:47 pm, June J said:
City of Dallas, TX:
No sit down service at ALL restaurants. Only take out, drive thru, or delivery.
No gatherings of 50 or more
All theaters, entertainment venues, Gyms, health clubs, bars, taverns, microbreweries, CLOSED.
Tyrants everywhere have been emboldened to spread their wings and see what they can get away with.
Businesses need to start taking these tyrants to court.
On March 16, 2020 at 6:55 pm, penses said:
“Estimates have been made about the fatality rate of the coronavirus
Sometimes estimates are reasonable and sometimes they are off, way off
The current global coronavirus fatality rate is estimated at 3.4%
The same rate for the flu is 10% (but the media tells you it’s .1%)
Actual results for the coronavirus are lower than the flu
Current estimates between the flu and the coronavirus are not comparing ‘apples to apples’
Those most at risk from the coronavirus are the elderly (average age of death in 80) and the sick
“In summary, the coronavirus is not as deadly as is being portrayed in the lying liberal media. In fact it is not as deadly as the flu. The elderly and the sick should be protected. Everyone else has very little to worry about. Again, don’t believe what the media is telling you. They are lying again.” The Gateway Pundit
Eventually they will blame cell phones towers, computer cables and sound waves to keep the madness going. Of course the Orcs can move about at will, otherwise it would be racist.
A year from now no one will remember the virus. People will be to busy dumpster diving looking for food.
On March 16, 2020 at 7:33 pm, penses said:
Looks like millennials and gen Z have a much better grip on reality than our fascist politicians. First Nashville bars and food emporiums stay open and now this:
“Some spring breakers in Florida didn’t get the social distancing memo.
“Hundreds of people packed Clearwater Beach Thursday as President Trump urged Americans to avoid gatherings of 10 people during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Local reporter Sarah Hollenbeck, of WFTS-TV, captured the sunny scene with tight clusters of college-aged beach-goers scattered across the sand.”
I guess the local police will have to start shooting them to save the world. Just close the beach and bury them where they fall.
On March 16, 2020 at 9:42 pm, MN Steel said:
Penses:
I know made be hard, but have you ever heard of “The Rule of 70”?
Do you know how that would apply to a flu mortality rate of 10%?
Asking for a friend….
On March 17, 2020 at 4:23 am, penses said:
The Rule of 70
70 / % growth = doubling time
70 / doubling time = % growth
On March 17, 2020 at 4:41 am, penses said:
Rule of 70, part 2.
It’s important to remember that the rule of 70 is an estimate based on forecasted growth rates. If the rates of growth fluctuate, the original calculation may prove inaccurate. The population of the United States was estimated at 161 million in 1953, approximately doubling to 321 million in 2015. In 1953, the growth rate was listed as 1.66%. By the rule of 70, the population would have doubled by 1995. However, changes to the growth rate lowered the average rate, making the rule of 70 calculation inaccurate.
While it is not a precise estimate, the rule of 70 formula does help provide guidance when dealing with issues of compounding interest and exponential growth. This can be applied to any instrument where steady growth is expected over the long term, such as with population growth over time. However, the rule is not well applied in instances where the growth rate is anticipated to vary dramatically.
I wouldn’t put any reliance on it as far as the Corona because there are too many variables and not enough reliable info. Personally I think the CDC and most of the medical community are lying. Trust is a scarce commodity in government agents. Today it is nonexistent, which makes Trumps decisions based on biased CDC data so scary. The people working at the CDC, like most leftists, have a political agent which takes priority over the truth.
On March 17, 2020 at 11:12 am, penses said:
As The Gateway Pundit reported earlier today the controversial Ethiopian politician and Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, claimed in a press conference in early March that the fatality rate for the coronavirus was many multiples that of the fatality rate of the common flu.
This egregiously false premise has led to the greatest panic in world history.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on March 3rd: About 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.
This inaccurate statement by the WHO director started the global panic.
The Daily Death Toll of Coronavirus–
The global number of deaths of coronavirus continues to escalate.
There were globally 686 coronavirus deaths recorded on Sunday.
There were globally 641 coronavirus deaths recorded on Monday.
The total deaths globally is 7,510 deaths.
SO FAR the worst number of daily coronavirus deaths (686) is still lower than: Flu, Swine Flu, Malaria, AIDS, Pneumonia, Hepatitis, Tuberculosis
President Trump was right when he said the WHO’s coronavirus fatality rate was much too high.
Evidence proves the coronavirus is not as deadly as what was reported by the WHO and is continually repeated in the media.
In fact, current data shows it is not as deadly as the flu. The elderly and the sick should be concerned and protected. Everyone else has little to worry about.
On March 18, 2020 at 6:01 am, MN Steel said:
Penses:
You go on, rock out to Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, and whatever other political/social media commentary you take your higher math/health advice from, and practice what you preach.
I would be honest enough to become a regular reader if they are 90% right, this is just the flu bro, and the Democrats invented this hoax because impeaching the God Emperor, Donald John Trump be his name is not working.
I am also honest enough that if it those same authors are 90% wrong and have led even tens of thousands to be ill-prepared, or just ill, you won’t have to worry about reading any of their, or anybody else’s articles again.
On March 18, 2020 at 10:09 pm, penses said:
The Kungflu began its spread in China sometime in late 2019. China is not being specific about the date. The actual numbers could be hugely skewed by people who had the virus and were never diagnosed. In Europe and the US testing was started late due to China’s deliberate act of creating fake data that made it difficult to understand the real situation. They don’t call it the Hidden Kingdom for nothing.
The test kits being used in the West are giving false positives and false negatives. The tests kits are not uniform, nor have any basic standards been introduced leaving each country to test based on different criteria. Since the virus can mimic the flu or the cold, thousands of people simply stayed home, went through a bout of fever and cough and returned to everyday life.
The spike in cases, is really a direct correlation of testing. If you have no testing… you have no cases.
People are infected with a virus that is virulent. But the statistics are only as good as the historical knowledge and laboratory claims.
If you missed the headline, the CDC wasn’t producing enough test kits and the test kits prior to February 28 were…not factual. And if the CDC is deserving of an additional 2billion over and above its already bloated 2.57billion budget, why would we believe that they are capable of anything of real benefit to the general population.
But the new and improved test kits provided by Bill Gates are. How is it that he could produce a test that is factual when the CDC could not.
Bill Gates, the worlds number one advocate of population reduction hypes vaccines and now a coronavirus kit. And it just so happens that the Pirbright Institute which studies all sorts of viruses, and is sponsored quite actively by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are currently looking for someone to model some sort of…Mucosal immunity. Pirbright patented a genetic modification of Coronavirus back in 2015. Don’t bother going to their website. The patent has been taken down. It just gets curiouser and curiouser.
The same Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations sponsored Event 201 via the John Hopkins Centre for Health Security which was a clever name for “the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic tabletop prediction/exercise/test run/model” whatever. How could Gates feel that his version of a coronavirus test kit would benefit the population. The fox guarding the chicken coop.
Amazon’s Bezos, a diehard capitalist who supports socialist agendas for thee not me, is onboard with Gates.
The kit costs anywhere from 1300 to 3000. A nice tally for a virus that has infected .03% of the US population.
Ponzi scheme.
It appears that the Corona thingy could be just plan ole fraud and corruption cooked up by the 1% who have been advocating for Armageddon since the first Masonic Lodge came to order.
So, who is playing 4D chess now.