Clichés for the age of the coronavirus

I'm getting sick, sore and tired -- aren't you -- of hearing Governor Cuomo preach to us about the horrors of the corona virus. (There are others of course, like the Prime Minister of Canuckistan, but Mr Cuomo annoys me most.) He spouts one cliché after another about how we're all in this "crisis" together, and about how he must have more money and power, all the while giving out the veriest bullshit about the imminent apocalypse.

I've got to the point of tuning out. I have developed self-control sufficient to prevent me from turning on the idiot's lantern at all. [With no hockey being played, why would you need to? Poor Len, filling in for Ed. who is self-isolating.] In case you, dear reader, can't resist tuning in to see if there's any other news [There isn't. Poor Len], let me list for you the clichés you will certainly hear, so you can "skim-listen", as it were. What follows is taken, with a few minor adaptations, from

The Myles na gCopaleen Catchism of Clichés

by Flann O'Brien

What, as to the quality of solidity, imperviousness, and firmness, are facts?
Hard.
And as to temperature?
Cold.
To what do hard facts belong?
The situation.
And to what does a cold fact belong?
The matter.
What should the cold, hard facts not be allowed to get in the way of?
A good story.
What, then, must we do to the hard facts of the situation?
Face up to them.
And what does a cold fact frequently still do?
Remain.
And what is notoriously useless as a means of altering the hard facts of the situation?
All the talk in the world.
If a thing is fraught, with what is it fraught?
The gravest consequences.
What downward cooking operation does it engage in when coming to the same thing?
It boils down.
When?
In the end.
What is that?
About the size of it.

VIDEO: About the corona virus, can we PLEASE calm down?

I haven't written much about the corona virus pandemic, because I suspect most of you are, if not sick with the disease itself, sick of reading about it. Yes, there is a pandemic that is sweeping the world. Yes, people are dying in the 1000s. This may indeed be the Great Chastisement which Our Lady of Fatima foretold, but let's not get all apocalyptic about it. We... well, our ancestors... have been through this before, 102 years ago and, more recently, in 2009.

For those who don't remember, the 1918 Spanish flu was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic. Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people -- about a quarter of the world's population at the time.

The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.

Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill the very young and the very old, with a higher survival rate for those in between, but the Spanish flu pandemic resulted in a higher than expected mortality rate for young adults.

A 2007 analysis of medical journals from the period found that the viral infection was no more aggressive than previous influenza strains. Instead, malnourishment, overcrowded medical camps and hospitals, and poor hygiene promoted bacterial superinfection. That would explain why the incidence of the corona virus is greater -- and more deadly -- in nursing homes and other facilities where large numbers of already sick people are crowded together.

The Spanish flu was the first of two pandemics caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. The second was the swine flu -- an influenza pandemic that lasted from January 2009 to August 2010. First described in April 2009, the virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1, which resulted from a previous triple reassortment of bird, swine, and human flu viruses further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus, thus the term "swine flu".

Some studies estimated that 11 to 21 percent of the global population at the time -- around 700 million to 1.4 billion people -- contracted the illness. This was more than the number of people infected by the Spanish flu pandemic, but only resulted in about 150,000 to 575,000 fatalities -- a lower death rate.  A follow-up study done in September 2010 showed that the risk of serious illness resulting from the 2009 H1N1 flu was no higher than that of the yearly seasonal flu. The WHO estimates that 250,000 to 500,000 people die of seasonal flu annually.

With all the hair-on-fire, we're-all-going-to-die coverage circulating, Still-President Trump's son, "Don Jr.", took to Twitter on Friday with a perfect video to set the record straight. "Every American needs to know this," he wrote. "You won't hear it on CNN. They are only playing bad news."
In the clip from Thursday's White House corona virus task force news briefing, response coordinator Dr Deborah Birx sets the record straight about the supposed shortage of hospital equipment. Check it out.



Dr Birx contradicted the fake news of dire shortages in New York state and explained that the country is nowhere near implementing drastic measures. "There are still ICU beds remaining and there's still significant -- over 1000 or 2000 -- ventilators that have not been utilized yet", she said.

She implored the media and others spreading falsehoods about hospitals being forced to issue "DNR" ("do not resuscitate") orders for patients due to a lack of equipment to cease and desist, saying, "There is no situation in the United States right now that warrants that kind of discussion. To make the implication that when they need a hospital bed, it's not going to be there, or when they need that ventilator, it's not going to be there -- we don't have evidence of that right now."

As the good doctor said, just because cities such as New York may be short on ventilators in reserve doesn't mean there won't be enough if and when the time comes. As she stated, "There are other parts of the states that have lots of ventilators and other parts of New York State that don't have any infections right now. So we can be creative. We can meet the need by being responsive."

Dr Birx is right. State leaders such as NY Governor Cuomo are responsible for figuring out how to shift resources already in their state to meet changing needs. The federal government is only there to provide the next level of assistance. And think about this... The states where the outbreak is most serious, whose governors are hollering loudest for federal government help -- NY, WA, CA, IL, MI -- are all run by Democrats. Think about it.

Further reading:
"Israeli doctor in Italy says new, innovative treatments 'flattening the curve'", Times of Israel, 29/3/20. You probably won't see this in the lamestream news. It defeats the planned hysteria. Thanks to Agent 35 for the link.
"Saint Corona - Patron against plague and epidemics", WWW 24/3/20.

VIDEO: Wuhan woman risks life to complain about Communists

Agent 35, bless her, has passed along an interesting video posted on social media (such as it is) in China but a woman from Wuhan -- the original focal point of the corona virus -- who is fed up with... well... everything in general and the Communist Party of China in particular. The woman has since disappeared!



Agent 35 writes:
The woman's comment about TV holds true in our country too. When I was growing up, I used to hear TV referred to as the "idiot box" or "boob tube", which I thought was a comment on its frivolity. Today the two labels are still true, but more insidious is its new use as a propaganda source found throughout our homes in various rooms and even in our pockets.
This woman is imprisoned in the type of society the Left envisions as Utopia for us.

Saint Corona - Patron against plague and epidemics

It has been said, only partly in jest, that the Catholic Church has a saint for everything. There are many, however, who are little known... very little known... like the Patron against plagues and epidemics. Her name is Saint Corona, and no, that's not a joke. We are grateful to the fathers at Traditio.com for telling us the following....

The Coronavirus that is at the center of the current pandemic is named after the Latin corona, meaning a crown. The virus's appearance under an electron microscope resembles the spikes of a crown. The virus has nothing to do with the noted Mexican brand of beer, which also is apparently taken from the Latin word.

Saint Corona is considered the Patron Saint against Plague and Epidemics. Her relics have been preserved in the Basilica in the town of Feltre in Northern Italy since the ninth century. St. Corona was only fifteen when she professed her Christian Faith during the persecution of Marcus Aurelius around 165, an emperor who otherwise was one of Rome's most charitable.

Although the records differ in some points of detail, Corona seems to have been arrested in Syria and tied by her feet to the tops of two palm trees, which were then bent to the ground. When the palms were let loose, she was torn apart. Her feastday is May 14.

There is a traditional Catholic litany, the Litaniae in Tempore Pestis (Litany in Time of Plague), which ends with the following prayer, in which all Catholics around the world can join in our own time of plague:

Da nobis, quæsumus, Dómine, piæ petitiónis efféctum : et pestiléntiam mortalitatémque propitiátus avérte. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.
(Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the fulfillment of our pious prayer: and propitiously avert the pestilence and death. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.)

VIDEO: The Remnant's Michael Matt analyses the panic attack

Having heard... or read... Joan Swirsky's opinion that the pandemic (or dempanic!) isn't that big a deal, it's time to hear another voice saying that we shouldn't get our hair all on fire. [Not a problem for you! Ed.] Here's Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper.

As the death rate continues to flatten and decline, Mr Matt looks for the silver lining in perhaps the most bizarre global crisis in a hundred years. Is this a win for the globalists, or have they jumped the shark?

VIDEO: Musical advice for the PAN-DEMIC... or DEM-PANIC?

As long as you're sitting there with time on your hands, check out "Is This a PANDEMIC or a DEMPANIC?", below.

A big smile from behind the mask to Agent 9, who is not making public appearances for the duration.

Is This a PANDEMIC or a DEMPANIC?

Ed. here. We rarely repost anything very lengthy, but since you're likely sitting at home with not much to do (thank you, corona virus!), we take pleasure in submitting, for your edification, "Is This a PANDEMIC or a DEMPANIC?", by Joan Swirsky, which originally appeared on March 21st in The Post & Email. Read it and learn who's really responsible for everyone in the Excited States of America (except The Smartest Guy in the Room) having their hair on fire.

Now that we’re in a de facto Martial Law mode -- a shutdown of entire industries and small businesses, nighttime curfews, social isolation, a run on goods, huge sports events cancelled, a “shelter-in-place” mandate in California, releasing prisoners in New York (God forbid these miscreants get a flu!), Broadway gone dark, and a craven media inciting and delighting in the panic they’re causing, it is relevant to ask:

Are the powers-that-be withholding information about a deadly germ-warfare attack on the entire world, started by an aggrieved Chinese Communist nation that was perfectly happy with the Bush1 and Clinton1&2 and Bush1&2 and Obama1&2 regimes that kowtowed to their outrageous demands and unfair trade deals but is now existentially threatened because a Patriot President expects more equitable deals?

Isn't it both alarmist and immoral, as reported in American Thinker by Andrea Widburg, that the fake-news media have never told the American people that the scary statistics from Italy are the result of Italy's recent Silk Road Project agreement with China, which resulted in more than 300,000 Chinese workers entering Italy?

Is it just one of those strange coincidences that one of the four richest men in the world, the uber-leftist and population-control fetishist Bill Gates -- just weeks after the corona virus hit in January -- stepped down from the Microsoft giant he founded in 1975, and just weeks earlier, in December, sponsored a "fictional" simulation of such a corona virus catastrophic event which spread wildly and caused 65 million deaths worldwide? Just asking.

What are the powers-that-be not telling us? The worldwide population is nearing eight billion. America has between 330-370 million people (the last 40 mil being illegals). Every day in America, 130 Americans die from an opioid overdose, 102 people from car accidents, and 2500 from heart attacks. And yet, so far in America, 19,000 people have contracted the corona virus and 256 have died from it. Got that? Over 330-million people; 256 deaths. The swine flu of 10 years ago caused 60.8 million illnesses, and 12,469 deaths.

Or is this yet another hysterical, sky-is-falling anxiety attack by the hand-wringing left designed to convince the American public that either Communist Bernie Sanders or a clinically cognitively-diminished Joe Biden -- both inveterate tax-and-spend liberals -- would be just the man to help America recover from this traumatic event and revive the stock market they both revile?

Of course, neither one of these Big Government hacks would be capable of such a feat. Thank God for the cool, calm, collected and seasoned business mogul, President Donald J. Trump, who is guiding us through the corona virus scare with decisive action and great success -- with no less than 56 bold initiatives -- and who not only brought us the greatest economy and employment record in the 243-year history of our country, but will revive it when this virus scare passes into history -- shortly, I predict!

WHERE ARE WE NOW?
A crazed, out-of-ammunition Democrat Party,
A doddering presumptive Democrat presidential candidate,
A deranged leftist media, furious at their low and devolving ratings,
Socialist/Communist/Islamicized Europeans,
Huge investors in the Globalist economy,
Angry Chinese leadership,
Failed Trump saboteurs Michael Avenatti (now in jail), Michael Cohen (now in prison), Anthony Scaramucci (now in nowheresville),
The Russian-collusion hoaxers of Obama’s FBI, CIA, State, Homeland Security, et al.
The exposed liars in the Ukraine phone-call hoax,
The losers of the crashing failure known as the impeachment hoax,
The cringe-producing sore-loser Hillary Clinton, who "lost|" $6-billion dollars when she was Secretary of State, and presided over the tragic loss of American lives in the Benghazi catastrophe––and then lied about it!
These are just a few of the forces who have been working overtime for the past four years to sabotage, undermine, and ultimately destroy both candidate and then President Trump, the man who single-handedly exposed:

The Left’s seditious and I believe traitorous anti-American agenda and behavior,
The criminality they’ve engaged in for decades with absolute impunity,
The gouging of the United States’ economy for their own ideological and personal benefit, extorting billions that was laundered and stuffed into their own pockets,
Their devoted allegiance to colossal hoaxes like Global Warming,
Their abject neglect of blacks in education and where ignorance leads––ta da––prison,
Their seething contempt if not downright hatred of the United States of America.

And yet, with all their impressive advanced college degrees, fancy credentials, exalted titles, tenure-for-life government jobs, social-media collaboration with leftist Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et al, and the flagrant abuse-of-power they’ve gotten away with -- but not for long! -- such as illegal FISA warrants, lying witnesses, shadow-banning, rigging elections, the list goes on…they still could not bring down THE. SMARTEST. GUY.IN.THE.ROOM.

TEARING THEIR HAIR OUT
Now, almost eight months from a presidential election, all of these forces are desperate, anguished, just-about suicidal with frustration. What can we do, they are asking themselves, to stop President Trump from winning a second term and then crushing for all time the remaining malignant remnants of the leftist agenda?

While none of them are smart enough to have created the corona virus threat, they secretly celebrated the fact that this crisis would prevent the president from conducting his two or three rallies a week around the country, where upwards of 50,000-75,000 people line up for days on end to applaud and support their president.

Well, they got their wish. Now he is on TV every single day, showing the entire country (and world) what genuinely strong and effective leadership is all about -- which is why his approval ratings are skyrocketing!

Undaunted, the frantic left is spending untold billions, not to help the deserving people affected adversely by the corona virus, but, as Daniel Greenfield documents exhaustively, “to smear President Trump and undermine the administration. How patriotic of them.”

Greenfield cites the SuperPac which leftist billionaires  -- Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, financier George Soros, the list is long––are using to attack President Trump over the corona virus. Many if not all of them are more successful and savvy than most people in the world––but I repeat, none of them a match for THE. SMARTEST. GUY.IN.THE.ROOM!

WHERE ELSE THE OPPOSITION COMES FROM
Three years ago, I wrote an article called “The Hate-America Death Squads” in which I described the forces we are witnessing today, all of whom exult when America has trouble.

DEATH SQUAD #1 is the Cloward-Piven Strategy, begun in 1966 and flourishing to this day. In short, the founders of this plan, from Columbia Univ., loathed America and insisted that capitalism could be collapsed by overloading the government with financial demands that could not be met. They also formed voter-fraud schemes like Project Vote, ACORN, etc, still extant only with different names. And (surprise, surprise) ACORN’s lawyer was none other than Barack Obama. Birds of a feather, and all that.

DEATH SQUAD #2 Saul Alinsky, a community organizer from Chicago, wrote the bible for hate-America leftists: Rules for Radicals. Hillary Clinton wrote her Wellesley thesis about Alinsky and remained close friends with him years after she graduated, and Barack Obama became a community organizer in the Alinsky mode. Both of them shared Alinsky’s real goal -- to destroy capitalist America and turn it into the socialist-cum-communist regime they preferred.

DEATH SQUAD #3 is and was the leftwing media -- or what Dr. Drew Pinsky calls “the corrupt, uninformed, morally reprehensible American press -- notorious for skewing the “news” in a Marxist direction. Remember, most media anchors and news readers take their marching orders directly from bosses who are extremely invested in the global economy and not in President Trump’s economy, which has brought millions of jobs and manufacturing and profits back to the United States in order to Make America Great Again and Keep America Great!

DEATH SQUAD #4 is the Muslim Brotherhood which seeks the downfall of America, a phenomenon writer Linda Goudsmit explains in explicit and exquisite detail: “Islam is an expansionist socio-political movement with a religious wing created 1400 years ago.” Then and now, Islam “seeks world dominion  -- the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate ruled by Islamic sharia law,” which is incompatible and anathema to American law and the U.S. Constitution.

DEATH SQUAD #5 is comprised of leftwing billionaires, mentioned above, who fund the hate-America groups like Occupy Wall St., Antifa, et al, as well as the politicians who have brought us Sanctuary Cities, no-bail laws, and attempts to rob Americans of their First Amendment right of Free Speech, Second Amendment right to bear arms, the power of capitalism to lift all boats, and belief in God.

THE GOOD NEWS
Medications to treat the corona virus are now being discussed, as Scott Johnson from Powerline reports; among them is the anti-malaria drug, chloroquine. The Israeli pharmaceutical company Teva is donating six-million doses of the medication to U.S. hospitals starting March 31st, and by the end of April 10 million will be shipped.

President Trump has asked the Food and Drug Administration if it can expand the use of the drug as an experimental treatment for coronavirus patients. A related article in Gateway Pundit reported that a chloroquine study showed a 100% cure rate for patients infected with the corona virus.

And just as I’m writing this article, an explosive article is broadcast reporting that three international studies from China, Australia and France show that chloroquine with the antibiotic azithromycin shows 100% success in treating corona virus in six days!

The ridiculous ban on plastic grocery bags is being temporarily lifted because, as John Tierney reports, the reusable tote bags "that politicians and environmentalists have been so eager to impose on the public…can sustain the COVID-19 and flu viruses…[a fact] that was clearly demonstrated in a 2018 study published in the Journal of Environmental Health."

Nobel laureate Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist who teaches structural biology at Stanford University…offered the public reassurance during the peak of China’s coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. "Levitt did not discover a treatment or a cure…he crunched the numbers" and predicted that the spread of the virus would come to a halt." His forecasts turned out to be correct: the number of new cases reported each day started to fall as of February 7th. A week later, the mortality rate started falling as well."

All this is devastating to Democrats, but there is a solution. Simply plaster this poster in every newspaper and all over the Internet and watch how quickly the corona virus scare vanishes into thin air!

Thanks to Agent 6 for pointing us in the RIGHT direction!

VIDEO: Fight the virus! (parody of "Sounds of Silence")

Keep calm and carry on... but do take care!

Thanks and a tip of the hazmat hat to Agent 6 for letting us know about this one.

VIDEO: The mystery of Malaysian Airlines MH370 (simulation)

This month has been full of interruptions and distractions, which caused me to miss a couple of dates and events about which I wanted to say something. One such was the sixth anniversary of the disappearance and presumed crash, on 8 March 2014, of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. I have written about or referred to the mystery of what happened to MH370 in no fewer than 45 posts. Click here to see them all, in reverse chronological order.

Today, instead of repeating myself, I'm reposting a simulation video made by Allec Joshua Ibaya, a Filipino aviation buff, posted to YouTube on 8 April 2017. Mr Ibaya doesn't offer any theories about what happened to the ill-fated airliner, but does a good job of depicting what was known at the time he made the video. Nothing of any consequence has become known since.

WARNING: This video is an example of what some people call "disaster porn", and may be disturbing to some viewers. If you think might be one of the easily affected, you know what to do. Don't watch!

VIDEO: Trudeau closes US-Canada border, except for asylum seekers

This morning, Just In Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canuckistan, annouonced from his Ottawa residence -- he's "self-isolating", you know [virtue-signalling? Ed.] -- that he had agreed with Still-POTUS to close the World's Longest Undefended Border to residents of the Paranoid States of America, except for "essential" travel. No tourists, no holiday-makers, no cross-border shoppers. Right? Err, not quite. If you're a "refugee" or an asylum-seeker, you're welcome to cross at the hole in the fence [unofficial entry point, surely! Ed.] near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle QC.

Around 1000 people a month have been entering Canada for nearly three years, there at Roxham Road and at other informal border crossings in order to request refugee status here, crossing over farmers' fields or well-trod paths to get around the Safe Third Country Agreement with the USA. That deal doesn't allow people to request asylum at official land border points, but people can lodge claims once inside the country illegally. Go figure!

Following his speech this morning, Mr Socks entertained questions, and was asked if the border would be closed at Roxham Road as well as "official" points of entry. He replied that everyone was being screened for Covid-19, so don't worry about it. On Tuesday, Wild Bill Blair, the Minister for Public Security, said the same thing. But, he explained, rather than following the normal protocol of referring them to temporary shelter -- most often in Montreal -- "alternative accommodation" has been arranged to house the "asylum-seekers" during the "voluntary" isolation period.

Details on that were not immediately available. Shuttle buses marked "Queen Elizabeth Hotel" were not seen by the reporter for The Rebel who tells us in this video what he did see. Canadians will not be pleased....



Further reading: "Coronavirus travel limits have not stopped asylum-seekers walking into Canada at Roxham Road", National Post, 18/3/20.

Berned out! Sanders loses bigly in IL, FL, AZ primaries

So, farewell then, Bernie Sanders. Maybe that's a bit premature, but even Senator Sanders seems to be able to read the handwriting on the wall following losses in the Illionois, Florida and Arizona Democratic primaries.

Speaking to his supporters (Sid and Doris Bonkers) last night, Bernie didn't even mention the elections that were going on, but rather laid out what he said should be the proper government response to the coronavirus.

About 60% of voters in Florida, Illinois and Arizona yesterday voted for Old Joe Biden, against 40% for Senator Sanders. Last week the former Veep went five for six, and on Super Tuesday before that, he won 10 of 14 contests.

He now has more than 1100 delegates, of the 1991 needed to clinch the Democratic nomination, compared to just more than 800 for Senator Sanders. About 40% of delegates are yet to be allocated, but the commentariat agree that the race is effectively over.

Yes, there are still many states which have yet to hold primaries, but the Dumbocrats award delegates proportionally, making it extremely difficult for candidates to make up a lot of ground very quickly. There are also the "super-delegates" -- the Democratic establishment -- who some had thought would get behind Sleepy Joe if it looked like Bernie was leading. There's no way they will suddenly see the light and rally behind the "progressive" banner. They want to beat Trump, and they know that (as Walt said a couple of weeks ago) America just isn't ready for a Jewish president.

So what will Senator Sanders do now? Is it possible he's considering running as a "progressive independent"? That would make things interesting, but would all but guarantee the re-election of Still-President Trump, which looks like a pretty good bet anyway. (Lifetime pct .989.) So watch for the mainstream Democrats to cut some kind of deal with Mr Sanders and his socialists to paper over the huge crack in the party. Stay tuned.

The corona virus - aintcha sick of it?

Geddit? Ed.

Meme created by Turning Point USA, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote freedom. If you join, tell `em Walt sent ya!

VIDEO: Latest Tuba Skinny number - the band needs your help now!

Regular readers will know that Walt is a hyuge fan of Tuba Skinny, the best New Orleans jazz band extant. Today we have a new number, posted to YouTube just yesterday, "The Variety Stomp". But hear this! James Sterling, who puts up these videos, has added an

URGENT APPEAL! "Tuba Skinny and all New Orleans musicians are in a financial crisis and need your help. All concerts, clubs, and restaurants are now closed due to COVID-19. Go to tubaskinny.com and purchase music or tip the band. Links provided on the band's web page. These YouTube videos are free but the band has bills to pay so please help the band in their time of need."



Walt [and Ed.! Ed.] ask you to help out, if you can. And tell `em Walt sent ya!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Never ye mind about the corona virus and all that!
Walt, Ed. and Poor Len -- all of us Irish today -- wish all of yez
 Happy Saint Paddy's Day.



Erin go bragh!

VIDEO: Doing what you have to do in a crisis situation

Desperate times call for desperate actions, even in places like Fort Mudge.



Thanks to Agent 6 for sending this.

Greetings from the isolation ward

Regular readers will know that Walt works from his cabin in the pines, pretty much in self-quarantine or self-isolation or self-whatever 24/7. Mrs Walt thinks it's not enough that I don't go out. Now she thinks that people who might be carrying god-knows-what disease shouldn't come in! Like Ed., for instance, who usually sits at the same desk when we put this blog together. [Oh come on. Doesn't she know I'm sterile? Ed.]

It's a problem. We could call on Poor Len Canayen for some input, but since the National Hockey League just "paused" its 2019-20 season, he says he has nothing to write about.

The NHL isn't the only thing/activity that's been "paused". The Democratic primary campaigns have ground to a halt. And the Pope is stuck in his apartment (much like my goodself) so hasn't said anything foolish lately.

So here we are, with nothing to talk about besides the corona virus, and no chance of saying anything about that that you haven't already read. Don't be surprised if there aren't many new posts until next month. About all we can do, at least for today, is point you to good things that are being written by others, elsewhere. Like "Even in the midst of a health crisis, climate fanatics never miss an opportunity", by our old buddy Rex Murphy, in the National Post, 13/3/20.

Scraped this photo from the Babylon Bee. I don't understand the panic buying of toilet paper. There will be no shortage of the print editions of the New York Times and WaPo. [And, for Canucks, the Toronto Red Star. Ed.]

Where's Walt? Self-quarantined with ergophobia

Meme scraped from "Portland Has Come Up With Brilliant Idea to Stop Spread of Coronavirus", by Victoria Taft, on PJ Media, 9/3/20.

Walt is actually not self-quarantined. He has taken a job installing safety nets under stock brokers' office windows. Ed.

Poor Len gives up on Habs... for this season

Ed. here. Poor Len Canayen called me yesterday evening following the Montréal Canadiens 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, which puts the ABF nail in the coffin of their Stanley Cup playoff hopes. "Once you've finished crying in your Molson Canadian, write some advice to Marc Bergevin about what to during the summer to give fans a better team next year." Here's what he sent us.

Tank youse, Hed. Just to be clear, though, while I a happreciate evryting la famille Molson has done for Canada's team, I don't drink dat beer because it's just Coors in a can wit a maple leaf. I like Creemore Springs India Pale Ale. Look it up.

Hokay den, I'm not gonna rehash all the reasons/excuses for the Habs' poor performance, including two (2) 8-game winless streaks. I can't remember a season in which the team was so hard-hit by injuries, including two or three key players out at the same time.

Counting Charlie Lindgren, 8 of the players dressed for Thursday night's game vs Tampa Bay were from the AHL Laval Rocket. But there's more to the story than bad luck. If I could work out what's wrong, I'd be standing behind the bench instead of Claude Julien.

But I can't, and, since M Julien will be back next season, the most I can do is ask M Bergevin to ensure that Coach Claude has a bigger group of good players to work with. Here's my list of who to move and not move during the off-season which is fast approaching.

Players you keep, for sure: Carey Price and Shea Weber. Sure they're not getting any younger, but they're both playing well (allowing for the occasional off night) and are, with Brendan Gallagher, the glue that holds la Sainte Flannelle together. Besides, they both have hyuge contracts with years to run, and M Molson would have to eat part of their salaries if you trade them. And who would you get in return? Don't tell me about draft picks. You already have lots of picks; you just need to draft better prospects!

Jeff Petry. That guy's a horse. He can play 20-25-30 minutes per game without breaking a sweat. Sure he sometimes pinches too deep, but he's got a shot from the point second only to Weber's, and you need him on the power play. He's the only D-man you've got, besides Weber, who could even be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy.,

This year the Habs have had just one (1) solid forward line: Philip Danault, Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher. I wish we have a dozen Gallaghers, the kind of players who punch over their weight and never give up, no matter what. Danault is one of the most under-rated centres in the NHL, and he's consistent. I haven't heard any talk about trading those two, but in the run-up to the trade deadline, Tatar's name was mentioned more than once. Why?! "Tuna" was a great pick-up, for cheap, and was having a great year until he got injured last week. Why would you even think about trading him?

Players should probably keep, unless you get somebody who is really good, not just a prospect, in return: Max Domi, Paul Byron, and Nick Suzuki. All three have speed and skill. The trick is getting them on the right lines. Suzuki impressed the hell out of me in the first half of the season, but seems to have hit a wall in his rookie year. He needs some stability -- being on the same line with more experienced players -- to develop. Domi needs to keep it simple and shoot more. Byron's never going to be a 20-goal scorer but he's invaluable on the PK, good for a couple of shorties every year. Joel Armia's worth keeping, just needs to have more confidence in himself.

Back on defence, you should probably keep Ben Chariot, who's been steady if unspectacular throughout the year. Of those who came up from the Rocket, I like Xavier Ouellet, also steady and not trying to do too much. Down on the farm, there's also Cale Fleury, who had a good start with the big team before being sent down for seasoning. [How come he doesn't speak French? Ed.] And behind him, in goal, rookie Cayden Primeau looks like being capable of taking the back-up role next year.

Guys you should get rid of: Charles Hudon, who's had more than enough chances. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, ruined by being poorly managed in his rookie year last year. Arturi Lehkonen, Mr Choke. Charlie Lindgren, who makes the guys in front of him nervous.

So there you go, mon cher Marc. I gave you 13 guys who I'd like to see on next season's edition of the Bleu-Blanc-et-Rouge. Shop everybody else around and see if you can get another 10 or 12 to round out the roster. Bonne chance! À la prochaine!

Government minister cuts ribbon to open new public toilet

We've all heard stories of politicians so hungry for voters' approval (and votes) that they would open a two-hole shithouse, if asked. In our western democracies, these stories are exaggerations, of course. Not so in Zimbabwe -- the land of bambazonke -- from whence Walt still receives reports from an agent who wishes to be not just unnamed but unnumbered.

Today he passes along a report that Apolonia Munzverengwi, the Minister of State for Mashonaland East Province, recently commissioned new maintenance equipment at Chikomba Rural District Council offices, and, in the highlight of the ceremonies, cut the ribbon to open a new pay toilet.

Mrs Munzverengwi, who was the guest of honour at the event, urged local authorities to consider the needs of the residents before utilising government devolution funds. She told the assembled throng, "President Mnangagwa initiated the devolution programme to enhance a bottom-up communication process [sic] which ensures that the real problems faced by the people are addressed at local level."

The Chikomba RDC used revenue from ratepayers to construct the pay toilet and purchased a grader and a refuse truck using a government devolution grant. Praising them, the Minister said, "It is important that before utilising the devolution grants from the government, authorities should inquire from the residents how they want the fund to be used. I am happy that Chikomba RDC managed to purchase a refuse truck and a grader, equipment key for efficient service delivery.

"I also applaud the council for being business-minded and construct a pay toilet which will serve the community at the same time generating more revenue for the local authority."

After commissioning the toilet and equipment, Mrs Munzverengwi also toured the various projects being carried out by the council which include construction of schools and clinics. She also had an "interface" [meeting? Ed.] with councillors, heads of government departments and business people. Where the interface took place was not reported.

When it comes to such commissioning ceremonies (read: photo-ops), Zimbabwean politicians, of the ZANU-PF party which has ruled the African shithole since independence from the evil white settlers in 1980, have form. In 2018, since-disgraced Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa made headlines when he was caught on camera commissioning a garbage bin (read: dumpster) in Rusape. Sadly, no pictures of the event have survived.

Please don't pass corona virus to your pet doggy!

Covid-19, the corona virus, is said to have originated, in China's Hubei province, because of the unfortunate Chinese tendency to eat anything and everything, including wild animals. (Both Agents 78 and 88, who should know, acknowledge that this is a fact of life in China.) The virus has always been present, researchers say, in bats found in caves in the Wuhan area, and was likely transmitted to humans who ate them. Or maybe it was pangolins, but no matter; the route or transmission was animal to human.

Then came human-to-human transmission, which spread the virus from Hubei to other parts of China, and onward to such hotspots as South Korea, Italy and of course Iran, where faithfulness to the teachings of the Prophet failed to confer immunity. (I'm pretty sure the Qu'ran forbids eating bats, but my Arabic isn't that good so who knows.) And let us not forget Washington, not DC but the state, where human-to-human transmission has led to dozens of cases and ten deaths, so far.

The question arises whether humans can give Covid-19 back to animals. The answer, coming today from... wait for it... Hong Kong, seems to be YES. The puppet government of the Chinese "Special Administrative Region" are warning people to avoid kissing their pets, after a dog repeatedly tested "weak positive" for coronavirus. The HKG Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said experts unanimously agreed the results suggested the dog had "a low-level of infection and it is likely to be a case of human-to-animal transmission."

The dog in question is a Pomeranian, much cuter than the pug pictured here. Its owner was infected with Covid-19 but the dog itself was not showing symptoms, authorities said. They warned pet owners in the city, where 103 people have been infected with Covid-19 and thousands are in self-quarantine, not to panic. "Pet owners are reminded to adopt good hygiene practices (including hand washing before and after being around or handling animals, their food, or supplies, as well as avoiding kissing them) and to maintain a clean and hygienic household environment," they said. "People who are sick should restrict contacting animals. If there are any changes in the health condition of the pets, advice from a veterinarian should be sought as soon as possible.”

The Society for the Protection of Animals in Hong Kong said being infected was not the same as being infectious, and capable of spreading the virus. And dog lovers [Ed., what happened to that story from Zimbabwe we posted a few days ago?] criticized those who say that kissing their pets is unnatural as "speciesist".

Walt's advice to President Trump re the ballot question for November

As I predicted (lifetime pct .992), it's come down (already) to a fight between Old Joe and the old Jew. The once and future Vice-President Joe Biden scored victories from Texas to Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, revitalizing a presidential bid that was teetering on the edge of disaster. But (((Bernie Sanders))) seized the biggest prize with a win in California, ensuring that the self-styled democratic socialist will make the running in the Democrats' nomination fight for the foreseeable future.

The dust hasn't entirely settled yet, but as I write it looks like Mr Biden won Virginia (99 delegates), North Carolina (110), Alabama (52), Tennessee (64), Arkansas (31), Minnesota (75), Oklahoma (37), Massachusetts (91), Maine (24) and Texas (228). Mr Sanders won Vermont (16), Colorado (67), and Utah (29), and is leading in California (415). (((Michael Bloomberg))) spent half a billion dollars to win American Samoa (6). It should be remembered though that mail-in ballots are yet to be counted in CA, and some states, notably TX, don't follow the winner-take-all rule, but divide the delegates along regional or other lines.

Still, it's going to come down to a latter-day Messiah -- wasn't Jesus a socialist Jew? -- versus the would-be successor to the last Democratic emperor. If I had been in Jerusalem around A.D. 33, I'd have bet on the emperor. If I were in Washington today, I'd bet on Old Joe, because I know the DNC are going to pull out all the stops to keep the anti-establishment candidate from winning.

The contours of the Biden vs Sanders fight were made clear last night as the contenders trash-talked each other in victory speeches delivered from opposite ends of the country. "You cannot beat Trump with the same-old, same-old kind of politics," said Senator Sanders, ticking off a list of past policy differences with Mr Biden on issues such as Social Security, trade and military force. "This will become a contrast in ideas," he said.

For his part, Mr Biden promised, last night and in campaign speeches in the days preceding, that he would turn back the clock, and make America what it was during what is now referred to as "the Obama-Biden administration". No new ideas, just what Mr Sanders correctly refers to as "the same-old, same-old kind of politics." I don't call it SOSO - Same-Old Same-Old -- but SSDD -- Same Shit Different Day!

Therein lies the key to four more years for Still-President Trump. If Old Joe secures the Dumbocratic nomination, as seems likely, there will be those advising him who will recommend dredging up the Bidens' (père et fils) nefarious dealings in the Ukraine. That would be bad. The American public long since tired of hearing about that, and raking the muck yet again would bring back the Pelosi-Schiff charges that President Trump acted improperly in trying to get the Bidens investigated. Don't go there!

The real ballot question, in November, should issue directly from Mr Biden's promises to uphold the Obama legacy and continue with the inaction, indecisiveness and stagnation that marked the eight years of the Prez's administration. In 2016 American voters rejected the failed policies of the Democratic administration, and voted to Make America Great Again. What Donald Trump should be asking voters, from now until election day, is: Do you really, really want to go back to the way things were before? I believe the response will be a massive "NO"! (Lifetime pct. still .992)

UPDATE ADDED at 0755: (((Michael Bloomberg))) dropped out of the race this morning, after failing to convert his massive wealth into sufficient delegates in his first test at the ballot box. In a statement and social media posts, Mayor Mike said he would endorse Joe Biden.

Cardinal Zen decries/Vatican defends sell-out of Chinese Catholics

Even before the beginning of WWW, I've been writing about the Vatican's perfidious sell-out of the Chinese Catholic "underground Church" -- the 1000s of Catholics who remained loyal to Rome and refused to join the schismatic Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association created by the Communists when they took power in 1949. Ever since, the bishops, priests and laity of the underground Church have endured persecution, imprisonment and even martyrdom, while their church buildings and holy sites have been taken over by the Communists, with many being closed and destroyed.

In 2018, an agreement was signed between the Vatican and the Communist Chinese government in which the bishops appointed by Rome -- some of whom had been imprisoned for years -- were effectively fired, to be replaced by stooges of the CPCA. The "official" Catholic churches are now required to pledge allegiance to the Communist Party and worship the false gods of Communism, replacing hymns with patriotic songs. See "Vatican bends the knee to Chinese commies in secret accord", WWW 23/9/18.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, has from the beginning been an outspoken opponent of the 2018 agreement, which the Vatican insisted was simply intended to "normalize relations" between the Holy See and Communist China. See "Cardinal Zen denounces Vatican's capitulation to Chinese Communists", WWW 13/2/18.

Even though he is now retired, Cardinal Zen has persisted in his criticism of the sell-out of millions of faithful Catholics. See "Vatican-China agreement 'terrible, terrible, terrible': Cardinal Zen", WWW 4/12/19. Now the prelate has been publicly scolded by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the incoming dean of the College of Cardinals.

In a letter sent to cardinals last week, Cardinal Re says Cardinal Zen "did not properly understand the agreement", and insisted that a draft of the deal had the approval of Pope Benedict XVI. He claims that the China-Vatican deal represents the minds of Popes John Paul II and of Benedict XVI, and that Cardinal Zen is mistaken in his opposition to the deal.

"I desire first of all," Cardinal Re writes, "to emphasize that, in their approach to the situation of the Catholic Church in China, there is a profound symphony of the thought and of the action of the last three Pontificates, which -- out of respect for the truth -- have favored dialogue between the two parties and not contrariety.... Cardinal Zen has affirmed several times that it would be better to have no Accord than than a 'bad Accord'. The three last Popes did not share this position and supported and accompanied the drafting of the Accord that, at the present moment, seemed to be the only one possible."

Imagine if Saints Peter, Stephen, Paul and the rest had made a deal with the Romans because "that was the best we could do. It was better than dying..."

Cardinal Zen accused the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin (aka "Petrus Romanus")  of passing incorrect translations of Chinese terms to the Vatican in his effort to push through the deal and neglect criticisms.

In a letter released on Sunday, Cardinal Zen wrote, "I have evidence that Parolin manipulates the Holy Father, who always shows me so much affection but does not answer my questions,"  He charged that Cardinal Parolin "manipulates the Holy Father."

To Cardinal Re’s claim that Pope Benedict XVI had approved an early draft of the Vatican-Beijing agreement, Cardinal Zen responded, "Why was it not signed then?", insisting that the former Pontiff had rejected the deal.

To Cardinal Re, the prelate said, in the letter published in his blog, "I admire your courage in venturing into matters which you also recognize as complex, jeopardizing the prestige of your newly inaugurated honorable office." A very back-handed compliment, well deserved.

Further reading: "Re Against Zen. Divided By a Wall of China", by Sandro Magister, Settimo Cielo, 3/3/20.

UPDATED: Stop Sanders Stampede is ON!

I didn't post anything yesterday on the result of the South Carolina Democratic primary because I thought it better to wait until the dust settled. I was rewarded for my patience last night when Mayor Pete announced that he was bowing out of the contest to be The One Who Loses to Trump. (Lifetime pct .991) I congratulate him on bowing to the inevitable and getting out before being humiliated.

And who might the inevitable be? From this corner of the woods it looks like Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Or former Vice-President Joe Biden. [Note from Ed.: Can someone tell me whether it should be "Vice-President" or "Vice President"? We prefer the former, because the latter sounds like the President in charge of Vice". Which is politically correct?! But we digress...] Old Joe whupped the old Jew (and everybody else) in Saturday's SC primary, garnering not just a plurality in the large field, but a majority. Whoda thunk it? His blowout victory, combined with the exit of Mr Buttigieg, leaves him as the only one with a plausible chance of catching the Senator from Brooklyn.

The questions tomorrow, Super Tuesday, are does Mr Biden have the fuel to catch up? And what will be the effect of the presence (for the first time) on the ballot of another old rich New York Jew? Will the hundreds of millions of dollars (of his own money) spent on nationwide TV advertising -- including a video endorsement by Judge Judy -- win him enough delegates to be a real contender? Didn't work for Tom Steyer.

Super Tuesday is the biggest on the primary calendar: 14 states along with American Samoa will determine one-third of the pledged delegates – 1,344 out of the 1,991 needed to win – to the Democratic convention in Milwaukee. A dominant performance by Senator Sanders could make it nearly impossible for rivals to eclipse his delegate count. But a strong second-place showing by Sleepy Joe could position him as the moderate alternative who might, might be more acceptable to voters in November.

That's how Mayor Mike wants to be seen, but has he entered the field too late? And are Americans really ready to elect a Jewish president, regardless of whether he's a capitalist or a socialist? My political antennae tell me no. Lifetime pct .991. [You already said that today. Ed.]

It will also be interesting to see what happens when Fauxcahontas and Senator Amy Klobuchar drop out, as seems likely before the week ends. [Don't say it again! Ed.] The ladies are likely to win, or at least have a respectable result, in their home states (as will Bernie, in Vermont), but who will their delegates go to in the event of a brokered convention?

Time reports that a rally for Senator Klobuchar was cancelled last night as several dozen protesters took the stage, chanting "Black Lives Matter" [Is that still a thing? Ed.], "Klobuchar has got to go" and "Free Myon", apparently referring to the case of a black teenager convicted of murder after an allegedly flawed police investigation. A campaign spokesthingy told the meeja, "The campaign offered a meeting with the Senator if they (protesters) would leave the stage after being on stage for more than an hour. After the group initially agreed, they backed out of the agreement and we are cancelling the event."

Meanwhile, the Clinton News Network reports that Barack Hussein Obama has told his former Veep that he (the Prez) won't endorse anybody yet. He did manage to call Old Joe to offer his congratulations on the SC win, but his words of praise for Biden's commanding finish in the contest did not change the fact that the Prez still plans to stay on the sidelines and not insert himself into the primary fight as it intensifies. "A person close to Obama" told CNN, "We are skeptical that an endorsement coming from us could truly change the political winds right now," adding that, there is "a very real chance [an endorsement] backfires."

Further reading: "Why Biden's South Carolina Victory Increases the Odds of a Brokered Convention", by Matt Margolis on PJMedia, 1/3/20.

UPDATE ADDED at (almost) high noon: The Stop Sanders Stampede is ON! AP reports that Senator Klobuchar has announced the end of her campaign for the presidensity, and plans to endorse... wait for it... Sleepy Joe, whose rally in Dallas she will attend tonight. The withdrawal comes too late (I would think) to take her name off the Democratic primary ballot tomorrow, so I'm not how they allocate the delegates which she may win in her home state. The chances of her winning delegates in other state were slim and none.