We are Missing the Point

 

 

Jim McKinney is a retired US Army Foreign Area Officer, small Business Owner and defense consultant. He serves on the boards of Saturna Capital, The Healthy Youth Coalition and WBA’s Youth Engagement Initiative.

Jim McKinney, Sep 10th, 2020

Quarantine – Isolating the sick.

Tyranny – Isolating the healthy.

We are missing courage; we are missing hope.  Don’t let fear ruin your life.  Don’t give up, or give in to propaganda and politics. Officials initially operated on the worst-case scenario.  As more science and data has come in, some politicians are ignoring it to the detriment of our society.  We need to move on, and get back to living.  The COVID-19 pandemic is not what was once thought.  But some politicians don’t care, and we are missing the point.

 

Remember 14 Days to slow the spread?  We are months into an unprecedented lock-down. You can go to casino, but you can’t go to church?  Why are small businesses, the driver of our economy, being devastated while big corporations like Home Depot and Amazon are open and thriving?  Why are millions of people still out of work?  Why are our children are being denied a decent education – to protect union teachers while they go shopping at the local Costco or Target?  How does any of this make sense?

 

This has become a media and politically fabricated crisis – with the goals of undermining faith in the Trump administration, creating fear, and intimidating people who question big government decisions and the so called “experts”.  Political operatives are exploiting COVID at the expense of our citizens.

 

The number of positive cases, not the number of deaths, is driving media hysteria – it is political propaganda.  Deaths have been going down significantly, but positive tests are going up. Why? Because the US has done over 70 million tests.  But the tests are too sensitive to accurately predict symptoms and spread.  According to a recent New York Times article, there is an estimated a 90% inaccuracy rate that makes testing questionable (1.)

 

Media misinformation is creating panic and social pressure is keeping cloth diapers on our faces.  Mask effectiveness is speculative.  They have limited ability to stop a 125 nanometer virus, increase our Co2 intake, and isolate us from one another (2.) Major studies identified that simple cloth masks had limited ability to stop a virus prior to the latest recommendations (3.)

 

The negative consequences of wearing masks are known, and the reason why the CDC did not recommend people wear them initially.  Only after media pressure, and government efforts to show they were “doing something”, did “mask” shaming become popular.  And by the way, these recommendations didn’t come until after the peak of the virus.

 

Hospitalizations are down significantly.  Treatments are working for many. The COIVD spread, or “R nought” appears to be around 2 to 2.5 per infected person, not the 5 or 6 “experts” thought in Feb/Mar (4.) Original estimates were based on bogus WHO and Chinese Communist Party numbers.   Every serology study shows the virus is significantly more widespread than originally thought – therefor far less deadly.

 

As of the latest numbers, COVID has about .055% mortality relative to the U.S. population, with some minor rise expected by the end of the year.  There was an estimated .05% mortality to population for Hong Kong Flu in late 60’s, about the same as previous major flu outbreak in 50’s (5.)  The median age of death for COVID 19 is over 80 years, life expectancy in the US is 78.  94% of deaths were people with “significant” additional health concerns, mostly for those over 60.  Less than 10,000 deaths were reported as COVID with no additional health issues.

 

If you are under 50, you are more likely to die in a car accident driving to work than from COVID.  If you are under 18, you are more likely to die from choking on a hotdog or suicide than from COVID.  But our schools are closed?  Our most vulnerable families suffer – the poorest children are isolated at home, with limited (if any) internet, no support or with parents who are losing their jobs.  According to CDC statistics, domestic abuse is increasing, suicide is up, especially among our young (6.)  1 in 4 18-25 year old’s surveyed considered the ultimate escape from fear and pain.  How can local leaders allow the shut-downs to continue with these facts?

 

Panic is rampant, hate is exploding on our streets, especially in states and cities governed by progressive politicians using this crisis to keep power.  Most conservative led states are open, or have been much more effective in protecting the vulnerable.  Idaho’s legislature has voted to end all COVID related restrictions.  Next door, Washington is still in modified phase 2.  Why? WA meets 3 of 4 criteria the governor stated for phase 4 open. The one element not met is testing – the State says WA needs under 25 positive tests per 100,000; WA is at 29 per 100K – but evidence shows the testing is flawed. So why are we still locked down?  Simple. It’s politics.  Governors like Jay Inslee are keeping the healthy under tyranny, and allowing hate to flourish in the streets.

 

The Point – The media, political opportunists and unelected health officials are creating unbelievable economic harm and intolerable life in America over the questionable argument of more positive cases – this must be stopped.  Politicians and administrators must be held accountable. It will not end until enough people stand up and tell those who are using this crisis as a political weapon ENOUGH!

 

For those at risk, it is wise to take personal responsibility as you would with any disease.  Don’t wait for a vaccine – it probably won’t work – no vaccine has ever eradicated a corona virus, they mutate.  But shutting down healthy peoples’ lives makes no rational sense. Life is full of risk, there are no guarantees – we must live our lives.  This entire episode is chocked full of ignorance, deceit, propaganda, and it is dividing America.   Courage over fear, hope over hate.  Elect leaders who support freedom over oppression.

 

 

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html
  2. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/04/commentary-masks-all-covid-19-not-based-sound-data
    1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20088690/
    2. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/2/08-1167_article
    3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tarahaelle/2020/02/29/no-you-do-not-need-face-masks-for-coronavirus-they-might-increase-your-infection-risk/#35e1a8a4676c
  4. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article
  5. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-08-06/revisiting-how-covid-19-ranks-with-seasonal-flu-and-1918-pandemic
  6. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0282_article