Warning.....Go to DEFCON 3, Go to DEFCON 3,
Definition of DEFCON - click here
The world and specifically the US, has (obviously) taken a lot of measures lately in order to ensure our survival, allegedly. I say allegedly because there is a subset of folks for whom what has happened with COVID-19 so far has been a huge government overreach and there is another subset of folks whom for what we've done has been nowhere near enough. The main problem with all of them is that unless you are specifically schooled in extreme ideologies or are a member of the various and numerous fringe splinter political groups, our everyday life doesn't give us the understanding that allows us to make sense of the statements of these folks and they just get labeled as "whackos" or extremists.
Frequently, Libertarians are lumped into this category shoved right up next to extremist label along with conspiracy theorists, free market theorists and surprisingly enough even progressive liberals are all smashed together in a search for words to define how these ideals are presented. One large group of usually misunderstood such groups for example are the Tea Party Conservatives. A few crazy extremists came into the party as members of the Tea Party movement and then because they got all the headlines as extremists, thats who defined them. No one remembers that Rand Paul was an inaugural member of the tea party caucus in 2011. That's what happens to non-mainstream ideals. Usually they get co-opted by the crazy few and the central themes get dispersed and diluted until you couldn't remember what they stood for in the first place.
Lots of things have changed, I suppose some of them were for the better however I'm not the best judge of the individual items. Should we have a list of essential businesses labeled by the government? The answer it seems, depends entirely upon whom you ask. If you were to ask that question of a Liberal they will tell you that it is 100% necessary in order to protect society from themselves. Non-Essential businesses had to close to prevent the spread of the disease. Then some idiot labels the WWE wrestling business as an essential business and that whole ideology is subverted by one self serving politician looking to ingratiate himself with our current President and the Libertarians went nuts. Can't say as I blame them, as the explanation that "Entertainment is important to keep the population engaged" smacks of something you would have heard in the Roman Coliseum or quite possible at the Thunderdome said by Tina Turner.
I know one thing. Nothing will go back entirely to the way it "was". The world of 2019 is gone forever and we now live forever in a COVID-19 world. Gloves were already standard with interactions with cops and social workers. My guess is that masks may have earned a place in every squad car now as well. Design standards will have to change as will the state/county/city design and building codes that drive them. I'll bet big money that salad bars, buffet meals, open air food displays and things like them will all go away in favor of social distanced and designed serving facilities. Our children's' children will never know why there was a sneeze blocking screen above the fried chicken at a Shoney's restaurant. Oh well. Things always change I guess. Otherwise we would still be eating food from the root cellar at Grandmas that she "put up" last spring.
The only thing I don't truly understand yet is why meat packing plants specifically are being identified as COVID-19 hotspots. I really can't think of a single reason as to why them and why not spaghetti factories or Tennis shoe manufacturers or some other such place.
Frequently, Libertarians are lumped into this category shoved right up next to extremist label along with conspiracy theorists, free market theorists and surprisingly enough even progressive liberals are all smashed together in a search for words to define how these ideals are presented. One large group of usually misunderstood such groups for example are the Tea Party Conservatives. A few crazy extremists came into the party as members of the Tea Party movement and then because they got all the headlines as extremists, thats who defined them. No one remembers that Rand Paul was an inaugural member of the tea party caucus in 2011. That's what happens to non-mainstream ideals. Usually they get co-opted by the crazy few and the central themes get dispersed and diluted until you couldn't remember what they stood for in the first place.
Lots of things have changed, I suppose some of them were for the better however I'm not the best judge of the individual items. Should we have a list of essential businesses labeled by the government? The answer it seems, depends entirely upon whom you ask. If you were to ask that question of a Liberal they will tell you that it is 100% necessary in order to protect society from themselves. Non-Essential businesses had to close to prevent the spread of the disease. Then some idiot labels the WWE wrestling business as an essential business and that whole ideology is subverted by one self serving politician looking to ingratiate himself with our current President and the Libertarians went nuts. Can't say as I blame them, as the explanation that "Entertainment is important to keep the population engaged" smacks of something you would have heard in the Roman Coliseum or quite possible at the Thunderdome said by Tina Turner.
I know one thing. Nothing will go back entirely to the way it "was". The world of 2019 is gone forever and we now live forever in a COVID-19 world. Gloves were already standard with interactions with cops and social workers. My guess is that masks may have earned a place in every squad car now as well. Design standards will have to change as will the state/county/city design and building codes that drive them. I'll bet big money that salad bars, buffet meals, open air food displays and things like them will all go away in favor of social distanced and designed serving facilities. Our children's' children will never know why there was a sneeze blocking screen above the fried chicken at a Shoney's restaurant. Oh well. Things always change I guess. Otherwise we would still be eating food from the root cellar at Grandmas that she "put up" last spring.
The only thing I don't truly understand yet is why meat packing plants specifically are being identified as COVID-19 hotspots. I really can't think of a single reason as to why them and why not spaghetti factories or Tennis shoe manufacturers or some other such place.
The minister of Draconian measures will see you now.
- I shaved off a layer of homeless yesterday. The barber shops have been closed long enough that my beard was starting to look like I was related to Tom Hanks and his buddy Wilson. It is amazing just how quick it can get out of control. I can get a haircut twice a month in regular times my hair grows so fast. Back when in was about 35 or so, I realistically could have went to the barber every 10 days , if I wanted to maintain a professional appearance. It was even worse in high school. During my freshman year we still had a dress code where I went to school and men were required to shave everyday. My beard grew so fast that occasionally I would be accused of not shaving in thee afternoon because by 2 o'clock I already have a 5 o'clock shadow. I used to drop by the deans office sometimes in the morning before my homeroom class to show him my face in case it came up. Thankx Dad, appreciate the fur coat.
- I saw a 60 Minutes broadcast on CBS the other day and they were doing some kind of expose` or another about the so called wet markets in China. It was cultural shock to see a shopkeeper skinning and chopping up a dog leg and ribs with several more in cages behind him for a customer's orders. Supposedly the authorities have ordered all of these markets closed as well as those which sell exotic meats like monkey and animals not usually shown to be sold for consumption like various reptiles and rodents. I'm not sure I believe they really closed any of them as it was a pretty huge market place and there are a billion chinese. Gotta feed em somehow, but Geez! and Yuk!
It reminds me of the PETA billboard ad that shows a line of all the animals starting with pigs and cows and chickens all the way through horses and giraffes and has a tagline that says something like "Where do you draw the line", as in which ones are ok to eat. Of course some smartass took a red can of spray paint and drew a big line between horses and cows and said "Usually right about here", someone else took another can and included the horses and said "Unless it's the Apocalypse, then right here". - You haven't lived properly until you marry a nurse. Full disclosure, My wife has been a Nurse (an RN) for about 40 years or so. One of my friends I know has married one also and can probably totally relate to this statement. Don't get me wrong, It's usually pretty awesome to be able to ask questions about blood and gore during dinner time and have the answer be straight on and factual. Usually.
Sometimes you get the stories from the Dark side as Nurses have a wicked dark sense of humor. They only expose it to other medical people and I'm sure the spouses hear it all the time too, but if you only knew. Man! It's pretty amazing the stuff they go through. Did you know that a frozen stiff homeless person brought into the ER by a compassionate policeman in order to be thawed out, is called a "Bumcicle"? Hysterical.
They also have pretty cool immune systems usually. If one of their family members even hints at being sick they just step outside the front door and project their immune system aura out about 150 feet and kill all the germs in a 150 foot circle. Infected squirrels? Dead by that afternoon. You also don't get much normal sympathy from a nurse/spouse even though you may feel like you deserve it. Oh you have a cut on your finger? Go wash it out and put a bandaid on it you sissy. There isn't a bone sticking out, you'll live. You don't need stitches for that, you barely need a bandaid you crybaby. Get over it. You're not going to die, quit crying. You don't get Ninja Turtle band aids either. You definItely adjust your definition of a serious injury much higher. On the other hand, I hurt my knee pretty well one time, twisted it pretty badly and had no clue what to do. My lovely bride took one look, went into the freezer and because I didn't have any ice, she took a string of frozen Icee popsicles and wrapped them on my knee and brought the swelling down. She's a superhero I'm telling you, and I'm probably going to get killed for writing this. - The navy has spent $500 Million dollars developing a weapon of the future called a railgun. It is to the point now where it works reliably and is effective. Guess what? It threatens a few traditional manufacturers of weapons in a few states and politicians have killed its funding and effectively killed it. This is the sort of thing that drives me nuts.
- They say the most dangerous place in the world 100 million year ago according to the fossil record anyway was the Sahara. They say there was so many predators that if you lived there, you were going to die there. I said "Hell it is pretty damn dangerous there now!!
Paleontology is old news by the way,
BigMike
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