Sunday, May 31, 2020

bionic mosquito: Pentecost


NB: lots of Christian stuff in this post, but there will be a tie-in to the role that I see Christianity playing in moving toward liberty.  Trust me.

The Christian Stuff

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Sunday is the day of Pentecost; for the Eastern Orthodox, it is next Sunday.  While the Resurrection was necessary for salvation, Pentecost was necessary to change the disciples into fearless men.

For the most part, the Gospels offer a picture of confused disciples.  Confused about the role Jesus is playing in this drama.  The world in which they lived was certainly expecting a Messiah; he would be the one who would re-establish Israel’s kingdom on earth. There were revolts as recently as a century or two before, known as the Maccabean Revolt.  This was an uprising against the Greeks; Antiochus IV issued his decrees forbidding Jewish religious practice.

The prophets anticipated a Messiah, and many Jews understood him to be the leader of revolution.  Much of the disciples’ confusion can be better understood if read with this view.

Peter was warned that he would deny Jesus before the sunrise.  Peter was certain he would not.  Mentally, we immediately move forward in the story to the denial, but in between, Peter cuts off the ear of the guard coming to take Jesus captive.  Peter was ready for revolution, not sacrifice.

It was only when this revolutionary act by Peter didn’t result in revolution that he then became fearful – and denied knowing Jesus.

Let’s skip over the trial, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.  Now those who followed Jesus would be targets – they were also revolutionaries, associated with “The King of the Jews.”  Their leader, though they saw him again, wasn’t leading them the way they thought.  Then He was gone, in the clouds.  Alone, did they fear their fate?

Until Pentecost.  Immediately after, Peter preached the Resurrection without fear.  Three thousand were added to their number.

There is no salvation without the Resurrection.  There is no Christianity without Pentecost.

The Liberty Stuff

Ephesians 6: 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

I have written dozens of posts of debunking historical narratives.  One can label this as conspiracy thinking on my part.  So be it.  The history of the world is almost a continuous river of this reality.  Just since the beginning of the Progressive Era, we have:

·         A two-party system
·         Remember the Maine
·         Make the world safe for democracy
·         Central banks can smooth out the business cycle
·         We were minding our own business when the Japanese bombed us for no good reason
·         We had to drop those two bombs, else a million Americans would die
·         The single bullet
·         Gulf of Tonkin
·         Stabbing babies in incubators
·         Three building with two planes (and a dozen other problems with this story)
·         Weapons of Mass Destruction
·         Irrational exuberance
·         Pandemic

Take a look at the list.  Each one of these was used to diminish liberty; none of these were used to advance liberty.  These are the fruits of the rulers of the darkness of this world.  Call it a conspiracy theory.  It is bigger than most can imagine.  Could you have ever imagined the panic that took control over all of society a couple of months ago for fear of a bug?  Is this really all the doing of two-legged men?  Of Gates and Fauci?  Or does the never-ending list suggest something much deeper?

The apostles were only able to confront these rulers of the darkness after Pentecost – after receiving the Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

It is here where, institutionally, Christianity must fight.  Elsewhere in Ephesians, we are told to put on the armour of God.  The armour is of no use if we don’t understand that against which we are fighting.  Why put on armour if we aren’t to fight?

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

This understanding begins by recognizing those who perpetrate these acts designed to convince us to worship Baal.  This understanding begins by recognizing those who are the tools of the prince of the power of the air.  It begins by recognizing that the conspiracy runs much deeper and longer than humanly possible.  It begins by understanding that this conspiracy is designed to rob you of your liberty – in this life and (for those of us who believe such things) the next.

The apostles spoke truth to power after receiving the Holy Spirit.  Christians today must do no less.

Epilogue

The last couple of months have been tremendously disappointing, given how I see the path forward.  How quickly Christian leaders have succumbed.  From such as these I expect cultural revolution?

Well, this is what I have.  And, perhaps, out of this might come a smaller, yet more committed and more focused, body of Christ.


bionic mosquito: BU2B (Brought up to Believe) (This list is a course in HISTORY - revised! - CL)


I originally published a shorter version of this in August 2014.  The post attempts to identify the many fallacies that I (or many) generally were taught – mostly, but not totally, regarding history.  I have decided to create a standalone page on this theme; I continue to write a good amount along revisionist lines.  I will update this page accordingly.

All is for the best
Believe in what we’re told
Blind men in the market
Buying what we’re sold
                              Neil Peart


…history is a constant progression – onward and upward.

…the people of Central Asia played no meaningful role in history.

…the Dark Ages were…dark and technologically backward.

…the Middle Ages offered lawlessness and barbarity.

…the brutality of the Middle Ages was due to Catholicism.

…the Catholic Church ruined western civilization.

…the Reformation brought us religious liberty.

…the Renaissance was a renaissance.

…the Enlightenment was enlightened.

equality is the guiding star.

…King George was a tyrant.

…Americans fought for independence.

…Americans won their independence.

…the founding fathers were selfless.


…the United States was historically always open to all immigrants.


…the time during the Articles of Confederation was chaotic.

…a written constitution is a check on government expansion.

…the Constitution protects my rights.


…America was never about Empire.

…Lincoln saved the Union.


…Lincoln was honest.

…the West was wild.

…war was always hell.

…Japan’s aggression in Asia was a shock to the US government.

…it was the assassination of the Archduke that was the cause of the Great War


…the Great War was inevitable.


…democracy represents the best form of government.

…democracies are reluctant to go to war.

…laissez-faire capitalism caused the great depression.

…Hoover was a do-nothing president.

…the modern nation-state is the best protector of person and property.

…there was no famine in Ukraine.

…Stalin was not as bad as Hitler.

…Germany is solely to blame for World War II in Europe.


…Stalin was minding his own business when Hitler invaded.

…Stalin was a victim of Hitler’s aggression.

…National Socialism was contrary to all western values.

US sympathy for China was a major reason for entering the Pacific war.


…Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise.

…World War II ended the depression.

…World War II was the good war.

…World War II was fought by the greatest generation.

…the United States defeated Hitler.                                

D-Day turned the tide of the war in Europe.

...Germany was the only combatant to commit atrocities in Europe.

…the west never commits acts of terrorism.

…the atomic bombs ended the war.

…the atomic bombs saved one million lives.

…the Nuremberg Trials were the epitome of justice.

…Jews willingly immigrated to Palestine.

…Zionists peacefully acquired land from the Palestinian Arabs.

…history marks a continuous advance in civilization.

…the US government would stand against world government.

…the US military fights for my freedom.

…the US military fights for the freedom of other, less fortunate, people.

…the global presence of the US military is an unwanted burden.

…the United States is bringing peace and salvation to the world.

…wars are fought to bring democracy to the Middle East.

…wars are fought for oil.

…foreign wars are almost…romantic.

…they died so that we could be free.

…JFK was shot by a lone nut.

blowback started with 911…or maybe the Iran Hostage situation.

Muhammad Ali was not patriotic.

…by saving and working hard, you will retire into the American dream.

…money and banking must be managed by the state.

…central bankers are servants of the people.

…monetary policy can be neutral.

…the United States is an exceptional nation.

…the United States is a nation of laws, not men.


…there is a meaningful difference between democrats and republicans.

…a third party would provide the solution.

…CATO is a friend of liberty.

…Milton Friedman was a free-market economist.

…central banking is not central planning.

…central banks are necessary to regulate markets.


…nineteen men could bring down three towers with two planes.

…they hate us for our freedom.

…the modern west offers the pinnacle of culture and civilization.

…a police officer’s job is to protect and to serve.

…Christians are a peace-loving people.


…Christians are to obey their government.


…the US is fighting ISIS in Iraq.

…the Cold War ended in 1991, but Russia still wants war.

…the European Union is dedicated to peace.

…free speech is a black or white issue.

…libertarianism is sufficient for liberty.

…the separation of church and state isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

soccer is a boring sport.

…there would always be another RUSH concert….


A Musician’s Take on America’s Culture - By Anthony J. DeBlasi


Criticism of today’s pop culture has been received by some as evidence of being “negative.” But how, I must ask, can anyone be “positive” in the midst of a subculture that drops reality, truth, and beauty from minds and hearts and gives even love a cheap spin?
They who accept cheapness in whatever package will forever support the market for it, while those who don’t go along with the crowd will forever stray from the mainstream highway – not out of something “wrong with them” but because they see something wrong with the direction the crowd has taken.
Since I am a musician, allow me to use music as my platform for explanation. I begin by pointing out that the kind of music one prefers is strongly influenced by what one hears in childhood. As children grow they may become aware that there is “other music out there.” Among those receptive to what is “different” are individuals who enjoy exploring things – in this case, the wider musical landscape that actually exists. Curiosity may lead such explorers to other treasure to add to their chest of musical delights, an act that may alter their “taste” in music.
In the last century, Leonard Bernstein used to give televised children’s concerts that introduced kids to some of that “other music out there.” These concerts came shortly after Van Cliburn won the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1958 and became an instant American hero – a “musical Olympic medalist,” as it were. This all revealed a side of American culture that reached out beyond what is just popular.
I was part of the effort to deliver good music to young ears when I played string bass for a children’s Christmas concert at the Brooklyn Museum (1949). At one such concert, actor Walter Abel narrated the stories for Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals” and Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.” Concerts like these formed part of children’s life experience at an age when music engages their developing minds most fully. The idea behind them was that young minds should not be deprived of music worth listening to, regardless of origin or time-frame. In line with this understanding, Music Appreciation classes were part of public school education, an appropriate adjunct to school bands and orchestras.
Those less inclined to tune into what is different sadly allow themselves to get locked into what is just familiar. This cuts off possibilities of musical enjoyment that they may never have. While such a stand may help bond a group or a subculture it also limits participation in the wider emotional and cultural life of the community.
With music, fortunately, this self-imposed restriction is not a serious drawback compared to the effects of such “tunnel vision” on more serious life issues. Those who stray from the fold, who are “different” by nature or choice, often find themselves alone or in small company. The fear of being “different” keeps many in line. But is it not true that such actual “being negative” can dull the appreciation of quality and originality, without which music and its audience lose out in large measure?
“Taste” is frequently cited to justify one’s preferences. We’ve heard phrases like “I know what I like,” as though that’s all there is to it. This is an attitude that closes ears and minds. I have wondered how free, even some musical greats have been, of the hindrance of “taste.” Many a celebrated popular and classic musician or composer has at one time railed against the output of another musician or composer. As for me, I enjoy the music of composers from the medieval Guillaume de Machaut to the modern Duke Ellington . . . a span of over seven centuries of music. There is no matching Machaut to Bach, yet I enjoy the music of both. There is no affinity between Liszt and Stravinsky, yet the music of both thrills me absolutely. There is no comparing Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to Puccini's Manon Lescaut, yet I thoroughly enjoy both operas. I could go on, citing examples of music that originates from the hearts and minds of musically gifted souls, in whatever period, in whatever style. Regardless of what “taste” means in this context, I keep it from interfering with my explorations and discoveries of musical treasure.  
And may I remind that taste is subject to change. (“The things I used to like, I don’t like anymore” goes the song “It Might As Well Be Spring” in the Rodgers & Hammerstein State Fair). Taste changes for reasons that conventional wisdom fails to explain. The old saw that “there is no arguing about taste” (de gustibus non est disputandum) is regularly challenged by evidence that tastes, like minds,do change. Whatever one’s take on taste, it should be obvious that it is not thecause of preference and choice but the effect of influence and exposure.
To shake all this down to a bottom line, if some music sticks in the craw after honest listening with open mind and unclogged ears, then one makes a valuable discovery about oneself as much as about the music he or she has listened to.
Regarding the broader issue of culture, of which music forms an essential part, I believe that one’s likes and dislikes are influenced by a conscious or unconscious adoption of one of two opposing views of reality. There are those who believe that there is an objective reality in which conflicts arising from differences of opinion (including “taste”) can be minimized through discovery, which involves a sincere effort to explore, reflecting a true liberal attitude. And there are those who believe that there is no objective reality and that differences of opinion must be compatible with the ruling politics of the day. And this reflects a serious distortion of liberalism.
In short, there is a choice between openness to reality or giving in to prevailing pressure regarding how to think, how to behave and, even what we should like and dislike.
Like so many who are out of step with a mainstream dominated by fake “liberals” whose understanding of that word approaches zero, I cannot abide the sleaze infecting the mainstream and hardly anybody saying enough!

Anthony J. DeBlasi studied music at Brooklyn College and is a life-long defender of Western Culture.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Battle Hymn of the Gesundheitsfuhrers: Sickness Is the Health of the State! - By David Stockman (Text only - Coronavirus Con-Mongering? - CL)


A hundred years ago in response to the horror of WWI, the great Randolph Bourne famously pronounced the truth that “War is the Health of the State.” Said Bourne,
War is the health of the State.
It automatically sets in motion throughout society those irresistible forces for uniformity, for passionate cooperation with the Government in coercing into obedience the minority groups and individuals which lack the larger herd sense. The machinery of government sets and enforces the drastic penalties, the minorities are either intimidated into silence or brought slowly around by a subtle process of persuasion which may seem to them to really converting them……
Other values such artistic creation, knowledge, reason, beauty, the enhancement of life, are instantly and almost unanimously sacrificed and the significant classes who have constituted themselves the amateur agents of the State are engaged not only in sacrificing these values for themselves but in coercing all other persons into sacrificing them.

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In a nation at war, every citizen identifies himself with the whole, and feels immensely strengthened in that identification. The purpose and desire of the collective community live in each person who throws himself whole-heartedly into the cause of war. The impeding distinction between society and the individual is almost blotted out.
A century later it appears that Randolph Bourne needs an update: Apparently, Sickness is the Health of the State, as well.
During the past 10 weeks, state control of economic and social life in America has erupted like never before. The stay-at-home and lockdown orders decreed by mayors and governors intrude into every nook and cranny of daily life, essentially subjecting tens of millions of Americans to house arrest and/or entombment in six-foot cylinders of social control.
The historic quasi-regimentation and suppression of dissent that occurred domestically during both world wars, for instance, pales by comparison.
The pretext, of course, has been that the coronavirus presents a dire threat to the very life and limb of the American public, and that exigent and invasive controls on individual action and daily commerce are necessary to stop its spread.
But that’s a gargantuan lie. The risk of death to an average healthy person under 60 years of age is no greater than that entailed in commuting 50 miles per day by car to work and back.
And besides, once a highly contagious virus gets loose among the general population – which the coronavirus had done long before Lockdown Nation was launched on March 13 – its spread cannot be stopped, anyway.

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In fact, it shouldn’t be stopped. When the virus is already out the barn-door and is relatively benign among 95% of the population which contracts it, the right course of action is to let freedom reign. That is, enable its natural spread among the healthy population and thereby foster the herd immunities that the human organism and social community have been deploying to combat such diseases for millennia.
Stated differently, the very high threshold of across-the-board threat to the health and life of the citizenry that would be required to suspend their liberties and pursuit of economic livelihood has not been remotely reached by the Covid. So what has and is still happening in Lockdown Nation is a case of grotesque and malign disproportion.
That’s evident enough in any random sample of the social controls and “nonessential business lockdowns” that have been hastily stood up coast to coast. But these excerpts from the lawsuit of an Illinois businessman capture the intrusive absurdity being foisted on the public as well as any:
I won’t get COVID if I get an abortion but I will get COVID if I get a colonoscopy.
Selling pot is essential but selling goods and services at a family- owned business is not. Pot wasn’t even legal and pot dispensaries didn’t even exist in this state until five months ago and, in that five months, they have become essential but a family-owned business in existence for five generations is not.
A family of six can pile in their car and drive to Carlyle Lake without contracting COVID but, if they all get in the same boat, they will.

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We are told that kids rarely contract the virus and sunlight kills it, but summer youth programs, sports programs are canceled.
Four people can drive to the golf course and not get COVID but, if they play in a foursome, they will.
If I go to Walmart, I won’t get COVID but, if I go to church, I will.
Murderers are released from custody while small business owners are threatened with arrest if they have the audacity to attempt to feed their families.
These are just a few examples of rules, regulations and consequences that are arbitrary, capricious and completely devoid of anything even remotely approaching common sense. But this kind of arbitrary state invasion of economic and personal life is what happens when officialdom and politicians are green-lighted by an overpowering Big Lie.
In the case of Illinois, the state has its own bully-boy, Donald Trump wanna-be master of the universe in the state house. Governor J. B. Pritzker is the entitled scion of a brass knuckled family of Chicago business speculators who is used to getting his way, and has decided that it is his job to quash the coronavirus – the rights of the state’s citizens and needs of the economy be damned.
But it is worth noting that the WITH Covid mortality rate in Illinois as of May 27 was just 40 per 100,000, which is only slightly above the US average and far below the level in hard hit states, where the apparent mortality rates are far higher.
It’s also about the same as Sweden, which hasn’t closed its schools, businesses and places of social congregation; and it is well above a variety of other US states and countries including Japan and South Korea, which have not employed anything remotely resembling the sweeping Lockdowns imposed by the state of Illinois:

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WITH Covid Mortality Rates Per 100,000 (as of May 28)
  • New York: 153;
  • New Jersey: 128;
  • Connecticut: 107;
  • Massachusetts: 95;
  • Rhode Island: 64;
  • Sweden: 42;
  • Illinois: 40;
  • Georgia: 18;
  • Florida: 11;
  • Germany: 10;
  • Texas: 6;
  • Switzerland: 4;
  • Russia: 3;
  • Belarus: 2;
  • Japan: 0.7;
  • South Korea: 0.5

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Indeed, the sweeping range of mortality rates among these jurisdictions tell you that intrusive lockdowns designed to stop the virus’ spread don’t have much to do at all with actual outcomes. Public health measures in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Japan, Belarus and South Korea, for example, were not a fraction as intrusive and comprehensive as those in the state of Illinois.
Even then, fully 50% of the WITH Covid deaths in Illinois have been in nursing and other long-term care facilities – places outside the reach of the general public lockdowns, anyway.
So if you set aside the long-term care deaths, the general population mortality rate in Illinois is actually about 20 Covid deaths per 100,000. That’s only slightly higher than the year-in and year-out suicide rate of 15 per 100,000 and not even 3% of Illinois’ annual mortality rate from all causes of about 875 per 100,000.
So you have the worst of both worlds: The Illinois lockdowns do not account for its moderate mortality rates because if plenary lockdowns were efficacious, the mortality figures for New York and New Jersey would be drastically lower.
At the same time, destroying an economy and personal liberties and livelihoods on account of a 3% share of the state’s normal mortality rate gives the idea of overkill and disproportion an altogether new meaning.
To take another example, the WITH Covid mortality rate of 15.7 per 100,000 in Virginia is only a tad above its annual suicide rate of 13.9 per 100,000.
But that hasn’t stopped its power-grabbing governor, Ralph Northam, from imposing a sweeping lockdown on the state’s residents, including an edict that after Friday all Virginians over 10 years of age will wear the Mask pretty much everywhere. As one acerbic critic rightly noted,
Or else! Gesundheitsfuhrers – health police – will do the enforcing, handing out misdemeanor fines and presumably Hut! Hut! Huts! to the non-compliant.
Needless to say, even as the state balloons with its puffed up health police, the private sector has literally imploded. With today’s weekly report on initial unemployment claims, we have now reached a milestone which was not attained even during the darkest moments of the Great Depression.
To wit, during the past ten weeks 40.7 million workers have filed for state unemployment benefits, a figure which is nine times greater than the worst 10 months of the Great Recession; and when you add in the 4.5 million workers newly eligible under PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), the total is close to 45 million.
The total employed work force on the eve of Lockdown Nation in February 2020, however, was just 158.7 million.
So, actually, 28.3% of employed workers in what was alleged to be the Greatest Economy Ever have now received pink slips, and in a ten-week flash of the eye.

Still, this needless calamity gets us to another avenue by which sickness have become the Health of the State.
After the Donald’s camarilla of malpracticing doctors green-lighted the Governors and Mayors to lockdown their economies in Mid-March and conducted daily coronavirus task force briefings which became the fodder for the MSM to generate hysteria among the general public, the Washington politicians experienced their own version of fear contagion. That is, they passed sight unseen a $3 trillion Everything Bailout which has literally eviscerated the public finances of the nation.
Consequently, and unlike even the worst period of the Great Recession, lockdown starved US Treasury receipts of $3 trillion in FY 2020 will amount to only 40% of Bailout bloated outlays, which will exceed $7 trillion. That’s not even worthy of banana republic style finance.

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Needless to say, the Covid-fighters on Capitol Hill held no hearings, took no expert testimony, had the benefit of no professional analysis or even a cursory reading of the bills.
So they apparently didn’t bother to find out, for instance, that there were 71 million American workers last year whose paychecks averaged less than the new combined Federal/state benefit of $1,000 per week; and that there were 17 million workers in the hospitality and leisure sector as of February 2020, who averaged less than 25 hours per week on the clock and got paychecks of less than $350.
So now the state’s Virus Patrols are confronted with a new variety of ailment that may be afflicting millions of workers. To wit, the discovery that it pays big time to get furloughed.
As one widely circulated commentary on the social media put it: Thank Heavens for the Covid!
Before COVID I was miserable.
I had a job working $14.75/hr and hated waking up most days. I’ve since been laid off (obviously) but am one of those who is making much more by NOT working.
I used to make $550-600 per week depending on my hours but since COVID began, I’m clearing just over $1000/week. My gf is in the same situation and she’s also clearing just over $1000.
Today we plan to do some hiking since it’s going to be so nice out and I’ll be using my new grill to cook up some steak tonight. The gf is kind of a wine snob so she likes to splurge on really nice reds (which I’ll definitely be having later as well).
I really don’t understand people who say they’re more stressed or are fighting with their gf/wife more than before. It makes absolutely no sense to me. These have been the best 2 months I’ve had in a while. I can’t imagine going back to my old life and way of doing things. NOT HAPPENING!
The only thing that isn’t ideal right now is not being able to travel normally but I only vacationed once or twice a year before due to work/money issues. Now I’m able to save $800-1000/month with COVID stimulus and bonus so we’ll definitely be taking a nice vacation at some point this summer.
So the question recurs: Why the Lockdowns?
House arrest and the 6-foot cylinder of social control that have been stood up to thwart the spread of the virus are inherently unmatched to the task, which is illicit in the first place. But they will inherently clobber the economy and the livelihoods of millions – notwithstanding a lot of brave talk about the “new normal”.
As the Wall Street Journal detailed in a story about the travails of the restaurant industry, the so-called reopening will only be a short bridge to oblivion for large segments of the industry:
Across the U.S., dining rooms are reopening and some customers are returning, industry data shows. But restaurants say they expect months of sales losses ahead due to capacity constraints imposed to contain the new coronavirus. They are also buying plexiglass walls to separate tables, hiring cleaning staff and turning fewer tables to give booths deeper scrub downs between customers, expenses that draw on a shallower pool of revenue.
Of the 30 states that have allowed restaurants statewide to resume serving customers indoors, 15 have limited capacity to 25% or 50%, according to market-research firm Gordon Haskett. The rest are mandating social distancing that have the effect of reducing capacity, or have yet to release guidance. Restaurant executives expect the limits to last at least through the summer.
Independent restaurants face even greater challenges than sit-down chains because they tend to have less room to cordon off customers and fewer seats to remove. A survey of 250 Colorado restaurant operators earlier this month found that nearly half expected to permanently close in less than three months at the 50% capacity cap that the state set on Wednesday. A study of 483 New York City venues found that 61% couldn’t make it with occupancy limits below 70%.
For a typical 75-seat sit-down restaurant in New York, an occupancy cap of 50% would allow for just 20 diners after accounting for employees, said James Mallios, a New York City restaurateur and attorney.
He said the number drops to around five diners at a 25% capacity limit. New York City hasn’t yet eased stay-at-home orders or set final capacity guidelines for restaurants.
Then again, there are 275 million Americans 64 years and under who face virtually no risk of death or serious illness. As of May 16, the CDC’s own data show that the WITH-Covid mortality rate for this massive share of the population was just 4.9 per 100,000 – about in line with the annual toll of traffic and other accidents.
By contrasts, the serious illnesses and deaths are occurring mainly where the Lockdowns aren’t. Persons 65 and older account for 16% of the population but 81% of the WITH-Covid deaths; and 32% of deaths have been among those 85 and older, which account for just 2.0% of the population – most of whom are in long-term care homes, and do not frequent restaurants.
The reason for high mortality and low public socializing, of course, is that the 22,543 persons 85 and older who died WITH Covid were pretty sick already. To wit, among them were –
  • 8,267 cases of influenza and pneumonia;
  • 11,250 cases of chronic lower respiratory and other pulmonary illnesses;
  • 4,075 cases of high blood pressure;
  • 4,000 cases of cardiac arrest and arterial arrhythmia;
  • 5,800 cases of other circulatory diseases;
  • 1,870 cases of diabetes and obesity;
  • 3,650 cases of dementia;
  • 1,700 cases of sepis and cancer;
  • 1,025 cases of Alzheimer;
  • 1,175 cases of renal failure; and
  • 8,000 cases of other serious ailments including accidents and poisonings.
In all, the deceased over the age of 84 years had 50,800 of cases of classifiable diseases, most of them life-threatening. That’s an average of 2.25 each.
Needless to day, sickness is a condition of life – especially of advanced age; and it needs to be fought with medical care and personal health practices, not society-wide social engineering.
But when it becomes the Health of the State, as during the current Covid Hysteria, it is now apparent that the State becomes a greater mortal threat to liberty and prosperity than even during times of military war.
And we are quite sure that Randolph Bourne would heartily agree.
Reprinted with permission from David Stockman’s Contra Corner.
Former Congressman David A. Stockman was Reagan's OMB director, which he wrote about in his best-selling book, The Triumph of Politics. His latest books are The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America and Peak Trump: The Undrainable Swamp And The Fantasy Of MAGA. He's the editor and publisher of the new David Stockman's Contra Corner. He was an original partner in the Blackstone Group, and reads LRC the first thing every morning.
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