Thought this was a pretty cool statue at Baltimore Penn Station.
No people though on a Sunday or because of COVID-19.
I imagine this is what a ghost town looks like.
The statues stand tall but the remnants of the people are hiding in shelters.
End of times or a new beginning…we’ll see. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This was such a funny photo I found of me from 2017.
Holding a book called The End of The F*cking World.
Little did we know back then Coronavirus was coming our way.
One thing that is amazing to me is the incredible lack of responsibility when it comes to our fiscal (tax rates and spending) and monetary policy (interest rates and money supply).
For example, we’ve spent almost $3,000,000,000,000 (i.e. trillion) on Coronavirus Relief/Recovery.
And there is another package in the works to borrow and spend more money.
This on top of our already tens of trillions of dollars of national debt we already accumulated.
The crazy thing is that this is going on globally with Europe and Japan and others borrowing and spending without any sanity as well.
Now here is the BIG QUESTION for you all:
If everyone is borrowing and spending, who are they borrowing from???
Yep, this is called funny money!
Because it’s not possible for everyone to be borrowing and carrying a bottom line net debt at the same time.
The money has to come from somewhere doesn’t it?
The Federal Reserve is “injecting” trillions into the economy and their balance sheet of “loans” to us is going up towards $11 trillion dollars now.
These injections are short term medicine that may kill the patient down the road by overdose!
Have you ever heard of a Chair of the Federal Reserve that “urges policy makers to spend more“?
Simple economics tells us that this will yield at some point an unbelievable inflation.
We are injecting or “printing” more and more money (or electronic bytes of it), and that causes the money to devalue because there is so much of it (supply side economics) with nothing but hot air backing it up (we haven’t been on the gold standard since 1971).
There is a DAY OF RECKONING coming when:
– People’s savings and wallets will devalue and money will be worth close to squat after RUNWAY INFLATION.
– Also, what do you think will happen to the stock market and jobs too when people have only loads of valueless funny money and can’t buy anymore like they used too–can anyone say MARKET CRASH and UNEMPLOYMENT!
Folks, you heard it here first, the end of the f*cking world is coming–it’s called CONSEQUENCES, plain and simple. 😉
(Credit Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
So maybe I am the only one who doesn’t see how things are adding up.
But in the U.S. we have 4,000 dead from Coronavirus and 3/4 of the country (all the major population centers) are on lockdown.
Yet, the projections are still for deaths in the U.S. to pile up between 100,000 to 240,000.
How do you get from 4,000 to 240,000 with most people under lockdown?
The numbers of projected deaths were in the millions before the lockdown and social distancing, so yes the numbers are lower and better now.
Still the escalating death toll is frightening in its magnitude of what is yet to come DESPITE the lockdown.
Moreover, the estimated death in the U.S. from the Flu was only 34,000 (2018-2019) and that’s with everybody round and about doing their business.
My question is what happens after the (first) peak when they send people back to work and school?
There are still going to be people sick and contagious out there and the whole cycle STARTS AGAIN until we get the vaccine.
And even after the vaccine, it may become seasonal like the flu or mutate and become even more virulent.
It seems like there is plenty of reason to be cautious and concerned about what is yet to happen from here.
Then again we may be considered fortunate this time and actually beat this Coronavirus, but then again what happens when the NEXT really bad natural or man-made pathogen gets out? 😉
Note: There are approximately 16 countries with deadly biological weapons programs.
(Credit Photo: My wonderful so-in-law, Itzchak)
Who would’ve thought that going to Harris Teeter would be a war zone.
But this guy in the respirator mask is showing us how bad things can start to get.
As an avid fan of the show The Walking Dead, I think we are entering TWD territory with the people walking around with their face’s half covered and some looking sick with fear and worry or perhaps even with symptoms–who knows!
What is amazing is how things can go from boom to bust, and not just for our economy, but for life and civilization itself at the turn of a dime.
Yesterday, I read how the CFO of Jefferies Group Investment Bank (NYC) died at age 56 from Coronavirus.
Even as the Navy’s hospital ships Mercy and Comfort enter the ports of Los Angeles and New York City to lend a hand and about 1,000 hospital beds each, it seems like more and more of these deadly cases are hitting the papers and social media every day.
Where does this sickness stop?
What happens if the virus mutates again and become even more virulent?
How do we ever feel even remotely secure again?
Can we keep taxing our already overwhelmed healthcare system with more and more sick patients?
How long can we keep printing Monopoly bailout money (incredibly, there is talk of yet another multi-trillion Coronavirus stimulus bill even after we just passed this $2.2 trillion one last week)?
Eventually, as we all know circumstances can indeed overwhelm the health and financial systems, and even our governments…thank G-d we aren’t there.
But what we are all beginning to see in the midst of crisis is that “there” isn’t really all that far away from “here.”
…That life hangs by a truly thin thread.
And because we can only do so much, this is where we really need to look up to the heavens and ask for G-d’s help and mercy. 😉
(Credit Photo: my wonderful son-in-law, Itzchak)
I don’t know about you but I have found the communication about the Coronavirus to be absolutely confusing.
And the actions demonstrating unpreparedness, disorganized response, general chaos, and panic do not match the few calming words we are getting.
No wonder everyone is panicking and the bottom is falling from the market.
On one hand:
– The officials tell everyone to remain calm, and there is no reason to panic.
– Help is on the way.
– People are overreacting.
– Most people that get Covid 19 won’t even know they had it or the symptoms will be mild (or maybe moderate)
– The death rate is “only” like 3 or 4% and it’s mostly older people or those with chronic ailments anyway (as if these people don’t matter).
– Younger children aren’t really getting it (although we don’t know exactly why or the impact on pregnant women).
– It’s less contagious and deadly than the flu (wait, it’s more contagious and deadly).
– There are plenty of tests available for everyone (no, there aren’t).
– It will be over in a few weeks when the seasons change and the temperature goes up.
– A vaccine will soon be ready for testing and then distribution after 12-18 months.
– The numbers of infected are going down in China–see they have it under control!
– Maybe we should allow investigative drugs to be used (or maybe not, the FDA thinks this is a bad idea).
– The impact to the economy will be over probably by August (or will it?).
– It’ll ALL be over soon.
On the other hand:
– We don’t know what we’re facing (people are routinely using the words apocalypse and armageddon).
– This could be the “big one!”
– Is this a punishment from G-d (and is the Messiah coming)?
– This has reached pandemic proportions.
– We are declaring a national emergency.
– This may have come out of a Chinese bioweapons lab.
– Also, China suppressed information and initial response on this making the outbreak worse.
– “China should be punished for these things” (or some version of this).
– Cases are raising around the world.
– The contagion is worse than initially thought (there are comparisons to the Spanish Flu of 1918 which killed around 50 million people)
– The death rate is higher than expected.
– We don’t know why or where certain people got Covid 19 from.
– The hospitals are already overwhelmed and are unprepared for a real surge of cases.
– We need to “flatten the curve” so our healthcare system isn’t brought to its knees.
– We are already triaging patients and our doctors and nurses are working extra long hours and are exhausted.
– We aren’t prepared for this–our healthcare system and government has “failed us”.
– We’re rolling out unprecedented economic assistance from the Fed, the Treasury…another trillion dollar deficit (no answer for how this gets paid, if ever…can anyone say runaway inflation in the future and lots of worthless dollars).
– Washing and “Social Distancing” are paramount.
– There is a run on toilet paper and disinfectants and these are either sold out or vendors are price gouging these items.
– We are shutting down the country (workplaces, fitness centers, eat-in restaurants, entertainment, travel, places of worship, and any significant gathering of people).
– The instructions to stay at home in “indefinite”!
– People are stuck in the house and worried about how long this will go on.
– Some places like New Rochelle, NY are under quarantine and the National Guard has been called out.
– There is talk of a curfew and further measures of quarantine to be enforced under penalty of imprisonment.
– The lines at the stores (Costco, Sam’s Club, Supermarkets, Groceries) are out the door and the shelves are empty.
– Amazon announces that they are running out on consumer stables!
– Businesses are suspending workers, moving them to part time, and laying them off.
– The stock market is down by 1/3 and we’re told that this could just be the beginning.
– A recession is looming and the economic impact and duration is unknown.
– Italy is on lockdown.
– Borders are being closed.
– People can’t get home from abroad.
– Cruise ships aren’t being allowed to port.
– Airlines are screaming for a financial bailout.
– Navy Hospital Ships with 1,000 beds each are being deployed to the east and west coast.
– We’re sending $1,000 checks (or something like this) to people below a certain income level (maybe $65,000).
– Taxes are supposedly being deferred (although not filing of returns or estimated taxes yet).
– People are wearing masks everywhere (but we are being told only the sick ones need to wear it and we see everyone in China wearing it and of course our first responders and medical professionals, so which is it).
– Primary voting is delayed in some states and there is question whether the November Presidential election will also be delayed.
Summary:
Does anyone know WTF is going on around here???
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
With Coronavirus media madness 24/7…
Who can think about anything but germs!
Or should I say killing germs.
Nobody wants to get sick.
And we don’t want to get others sick either.
– Wash your hands a lot!
– No more handshakes.
– No more touching “suspect” surfaces.
– Keep good (“far”) social distancing.
– Quarantine yourself in the house for 2 weeks (actually it’s more like indefinitely).
What has become of our world.
Just one big GERM BOWL.
Can we really hide from the germs? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Fruits and Vegetables…
Bread….
Cereal…
Paper Towels and Toilet Paper…
(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal @Harris Teeter)
Saw the Movie E.M.P. over the weekend.
Everyone needs to see this!
The explosion of a nuke(s) in the atmosphere over the country causes an electromagnetic pulse that fries all our electronics.
Nothing would work!!!
Think cyberattack on steroids with everything out of commission and basically little to no chance of recovery.
Prognosis is for mass riots, starvation, and illness that wipes out most of the population.
Easy then for the enemy to swoop in and conquer the country with no resistance and the basic infrastructure still intact for them to build on.
Just having mutually assured destruction is not enough!
We need to genuinely be able to counter these threats and not just say: “You’ll die if we die.”
How stupid and immature is that thinking?
There are more than a share of radical nuts out there who don’t care if they die as long as they take us down.
These are the threats we need to pay attention to before…before…before…it’s too late. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So this is the latest food items in modern supermarkets.
It says:
“Eat Bugs”
Bugs are a source of high protein.
Crunchy too.
The ones above were Cheddar Cheese Crickets!
There was also Chile-Lime Crickets (with Pumpkin Seeds) and Dark Chocolate Crickets (with Amaranth Seeds).
Then came the BBQ and Honey Mustard Crickets
And to top it all of some Salt and Pepper Mealworms.
OMG folks, we have gone back to the Stone Ages eating this crap.
Or maybe this is all that will be left when Armageddon finally comes. 😉
(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
So there is a military doctrine that has been in place for decades.
– MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction
If you attack the USA with weapons of mass destruction, you’ll get an overwhelming responses that will totally destroy your country.
This was what supposedly held the USSR at bay during the cold war.
And even recently, President Trump threatened North Korea that they would be “totally destroyed” if they try anything on us.
The problem is that the MAD doctrine of deterrence assumes incorrectly that you are always dealing with rational actors and not with madmen.
Let’s face it, their are plenty of crazies out there, and some of whom may be willing to go down in a “blaze of glory” as long as they stand up to the United States and die a heroes death for their radicalized or “subjected” people.
Whether it’s Iran or North Korea or others–we may not know what we are really dealing with here until it’s too late.
Life is not everything to these people–remember many a terrorist has died a martyrs death with the promise of 72 virgins in heaven awaiting them.
To some, as Prime Minister Gold Meir stated:
“Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us!”
Hate by virtue of perceived injustice, required Jihad or “holy war,” brainwashing or threats and the desire for a “glorious death” standing up to the infidels or the “great Satan…any of all of these can contribute to ignoring the consequences.
Israel has tried to deter horrible homicide bombers/and other mad terrorists from performing their evil misdeeds on the civilian population by for example, demolishing the terrorist homes as a potent consequence that they know going into it, yet many terrorists still wear the explosive vests and detonate anyway.
Similarly, North Korea despite the President’s threat that they “will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” brushed it off and shot off more volleys of ICBMs and threatened to engulf Guam in fire.
– The point is that deterrence alone is not a strategy!
If our enemies can hit us with a devastating attack–whether WMD, cyber, EMP, or quantum attack— that can inflict immeasurable harm on us–they may actually choose to take their best shot, rather than wait for us to hit them or continue to feel disrespected, subjected, inferior, and hopeless.
To someone on the radical fringes or the mental edge, maybe–just maybe–they will do the unthinkable and surprise us.
What good will our fire and fury counterstrike do us, when our cities are in ruin and our people dead and dying en masse.
Revenge isn’t so sweet when your family, homeland, and virtually everything you know and held dear is gone.
The only real military strategy is to be able to defend ourselves and AVOID getting a homeland catastrophe!
We need massive investment and expertise in missile defense, bio defense, cyber defense, quantum computing, and expansive hardening of our critical infrastructure.
If one person falls from the high wire and smashes their head, what good is it that the other person falls and suffers similarly or worse.
The point is not to fall, not to get hurt, not to die, not to have our country and way of life destroyed.
Deterrence does not guarantee this security to the country–especially when dealing with no shortage of radicalized nuts out there.
Only a genuine defense that can STOP and counter the threats BEFORE a devastating attack happens and hits us is a strategy worth pursuing …and THEN you can punch the other person squarely in their devil’s face!
Without an adequate defensive strategy, get ready, because every high flying act eventually falls to the ground and hits their head hard. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)