Going on Record (and it ain't vinyl)

As I am writing this we are in the middle of our latest "end of the world" scenario. The disease Covid-19 (or officially the SARS-CoV-2 virus) is destroying our world.

My issue is, most of the destruction is being caused by the overreaction to the disease. There are about 7.7 Billion people alive at this moment on Earth. There are currently under 300,000 cases confirmed of Covid-19 world-wide. That number won't even calculate as a percentage without severe scientific notation (here it is for those of you interested - 3.896103896103896e-5) Even if this gets 100 times worse and we have 3,000,000 million cases it is STILL too small to show up on a calculator ( just drop the -5 to -4 in the scientific notation number - 3.896103896103896e-4‬). If it gets 1,000 time worse that will make it show up on a calculator. It will be 3.89% of the population. So 4% of the population would be infected IF this gets 1,000 times worse (and I will admit, it could). However, based on what the WHO and CDC is reporting, 80% of cases are to be compared with a cold. It can be a bad cold or a mild cold, but a cold. So that leaves us with well under 1% that needs/requests medical care (0.77% for those of you keeping score) Out of that number an even smaller percentage will face death.

Let me get something out here, I am not making light of the fact people are dying, or even getting sick. I am trying to put this in perspective. There are few things that we all share as humans. One of those is death. Around 60 Million humans die annually. Sadly a lot of those are preventable. My wife died of a statistically insignificant disease. Do you think the disease was insignificant to her, or me, or any of her family? NO, of course not. I am just trying for perspective by using mathematics and statistics.

Speaking of statistics, here are some causes of death around the world (these are worldwide numbers - FYI, heart disease is number 1 by a long shot, and cancers - combined - are number 2)

53,000 people die from exposure - extreme heat or cold
120,000 die by fire
126,000 hepatitis
500,000 malnutrition of some type (either a lack of specific nutrients or starvation)
295,000 people drown (these are annual figures folks!)
619,000 die from malaria (a disease we have a treatment for and know how to stop)
793,000 by suicide (all are horrible, but this is profoundly sad to me)
950,000 HIV/AIDS
1,180,000 Tuberculosis (which we have a vaccine for and treatments for)
1,240,000 vehicular injury (crash or being struck by a car)

This are just examples. Now for the "biggie": Influenza - the seasonal flu.
Flu kills 50 to 100 million EVERY YEAR!

My point is, we have tragically lost @12,000 humans to Covid-19. There is no argument that the number will grow, maybe by a lot. However statistically this disease, so far, is insignificant.

Why does it matter, you ask? At least here in the USA, a quasi-free country, we have given up our freedom of movement, of association, and other civil liberties. Our economy is being wrecked (if not already) by panicked people making irrational decisions. Entire industries are being ransacked, maybe never to recover. All over 12,000 deaths and a promise of more.

To quote a very bright old white guy: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin

Or to quote a pretty sharp old white woman: "If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are." Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

This is me going on record that I think the reaction and actions to this disease are ridiculously overblown. (we shall see in a year when the blog reminds me of this post, if not sooner)

Who's got gas?

Here is another thing that is bothering me - I am tired of people whining about gas prices. Gas was never free!! When people whine about "$40 to fill my tank" they forget that even at $2 a gallon it was $25 or so to fill it!! Here are some numbers: The average car in the U.S. is driven about 12,000 miles a year. If you get 20 MPG (hey if you are driving a Hummer, getting 10, I don't want to hear it!) That is 600 gallons of gas a year. Most people would be estatic if gas was at $2 a gallon again -SO, that is about $600 a year (for the extra $1 a gallon) or $11.54 a week. Now I know there are a LOT of folks that were struggling to pay the $2, but the average person I know was not. Here is another way to look at it. How many Starbuck's coffees or lattes have you had lately at $$37.33 a gallon? ($3.50 for a 12 oz one) How about a beer on an airplane at $53.33 a gallon? ($5 per) Then there is bottled water at $10.66 a gallon. ($1 a 12oz bottle -and it can be MUCH higher

Our Guv'ment

Section 8 - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises , to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and Post Roads ; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings a

Being Thankful

Here on the eve of Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate to be thankful. However there are many, many reasons to be thankful. We are thankful that we live in a country where fortunes can be made by lawsuits over the temperature of a beverage. We are thankful that we have cameras to record every movement of the latest pop tart exiting a limo. We are thankful that we have more lawyers than any other nation on earth - over one million. (I just read that 70% of the lawyers in the world are in the U.S.) We are thankful that we are innocent until proven guilty - unless the charges are of a nature as to be offensive to someone. We are thankful that we have hundreds of channels of television, still with nothing on worth watching most times. Along that theme, we are thankful to be able to watch exiting "sports" like spelling bees and baccarat. We are thankful to have devoted public servants and elected officials that look upon their job as a way to line their pockets. We ar

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