Sweden's Dangerous Play

The 60,000+ dead in the US is a gross undercount; experts know it.  “Whatever number is reported on a given day is going to be a gross underestimate,” said Tim Riffe, a demographer at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany. “In a lot of places the pandemic has been going on for long enough that there has been sufficient time for late death registrations to come in, giving us a more accurate picture of what the mortality really was.” Recently an analysis of seven states fatality reports shows 9,000 excess deaths attributable to the virus not previously counted. With limited testing and tracing in the US, a more accurate count cannot be easily determined except by counting the number of excess deaths over non-pandemic totals for a similar time period. In US Person's opinion, informed by scientific thinking on the subject, a more accurate current death estimate is around 75-80,000, At this rate, the death count will be closing in on 200,000 by election day, six months away; it could go even higher if early relaxation of partial quarantines now underway in nearly half the states contributes to a devastating second wave like that experienced during the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918.

Of course the mentally-ill man in the VWH denies such a horrendous death toll in the world's most powerful nation is possible--he thinks the virus will just go, as if by magic.* There are only two ways to defeat the SARS CoV-2 virus: 1) by developing, testing, and widely administering effective vaccine[s], or 2) develop natural "herd immunity" by exposing the general public to the risk of infection. Natural immunity requires about 60-70% of a population contract the virus. This is the controversial route taken by Sweden, in an effort to save its economy from serious damage. Officials deny this is an explicit strategy, but it is so in effect; its own scientists have called for Sweden to comply with WHO recommendations on quarantine.

Sweden already has more dead that its Scandinavian "nanny" neighbors which have engaged in widespread lockdowns, and its rate is rising faster.  If the ratio of confirmed deaths to confirmed cases is used as a metric, Sweden’s rate is more than twice as high as Denmark’s and more than five times higher than Norway’s. On a per capita basis, Sweden's death rate exceeds the United States, which has the world's most SARS CoV-2 deaths. (149.61/million vs. 117.55/million) The world is watching Sweden's experiment in epidemiology, which is erratically emulated by the United States on ideological grounds.

The kiss off--profit or die!

*Epidemiology experts think that completely exterminating SARS CoV-2 is unlikely.  No vaccine is 100% effective against a pathogen. (it never goes to "zero")  No one knows how long immunity to the novel corona virus lasts.  It is likely to become similar to the various flu viruses, which infect humanity seasonally and for which vaccines are less than completely effective.  SARS CoV-2 differs from SARS, which killed 800 worldwide but was eliminated, in that people can be infectious with only mild symptoms or none at all, and novel virus is more easily transmitted with a wider community spread.  New Zealand is the only nation that appears to have exterminated SARS CoV-2, an exceptional achievement even though it is geographically isolated.  Recently Total Douche said, "There has been so much unnecessary death in this country. It could have been stopped and stopped short, but somebody a long time ago it seems decided not to do it that way, and the whole world is suffering because of it."  He so much lacks self-awareness that he did not realize that "somebody" was himself.  Estimates are that 60,000 more citizens died because of his negligent or deliberate inaction during the early stages of the pandemic.,

Boarder Barrier Will Kill Endangered Species

Total Douche, perhaps realizing he will be a one-term president after his pandemic fiasco, is rushing to build sections of his often promised "wall" to seal off the Mexican border.  On February 13th 31 new border projects were announced amounting to 177 miles of new barriers in areas previously thought to be too rugged or remote. Many of these projects will replace existing barriers, but some new barriers will cross endangered species' habitat such as the San Bernandino Wildlife Refuge and Arizona's Peloncillo Mountains, designated critical jaguar habitat. Only 15,000 jaguars are thought to still exist in North America. In the bootheel of New Mexico, pedestrian fences will replace vehicle barriers, which animals like the Mexican grey wolf can evade, closing off vital resources and mates they need to survive. In Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta NWF, the endangered Sonoran pronghorn antelope will face extinction say wildlife experts.  A recovery effort by both the United States and Mexico has succeeded if restoring the population to 1,000, but a barrier impenetrable to antelope bisecting the range will make it impossible for them to survive and reproduce.

map credit: BBC News

Before the Antichrist was installed in office by a rigged election system, there were 654 miles of barrier, 354 miles composed of pedestrian fencing and 300 miles of vehicle barriers.  It is a porous border for both wildlife and illegal immigrants, so it did not pose much of a threat to species survival.  That will change as he imposes his will to build a "tall, powerful, beautiful" barrier on the borderlands.  So far about $9.8 billion in funding has been channeled to his pet project. The money for the barrier has come from previous funding approved by Congress as well as extra cash he has been able to access since he declared a state of emergency. By 2020, Customs and Boarder Patrol expects to have completed 450 miles of a border barrier system, which includes steel-bollard barriers, all-weather roads, lighting, surveillance cameras and other technology.

graphic credit: High Country News

Conservationists and tribes have been fighting these projects without much success.  The building of this ineffective barrier will certainly be touted as an election year triumph of the will by Total Douche.  Obviously the building of even portions of a "wall" is a high level priority for the regime.  Construction has proceed without regard to environmental impacts, under waivers contained in the 2005 Real ID Act to relevant environmental protection laws. The little known "Roosevelt Reservation" established by a 1907 presidential proclamation is a sixty foot strip of federal land running along the border (except Texas), which makes it easier to trump private property rights that may affect barrier construction. Funding has been diverted from the Pentagon's budget under obscure appropriation provisions for military construction projects and counter-narcotics program. In the face of this bureaucratic steamroller, wildlife advocates are left scrambling to obtain base line data on border species before they are blocked from their usual migration and foraging routes.

The Tohono O'Odham nation, whose territory stretches into Mexico, expressed concern that construction may damage cultural and archeological sites.  A burial site lies in the path of the proposed wall.  Tribe representatives say their suggestions for alternatives were ignored by Congress.  A spokesperson from the Center for Biological Diversity told journalists that one of the organization's first demands after Total Douche is out of office is a comprehensive study of how the "wall" has adversely affected wildlife, water, and the land, "to identify which areas we should rip the walls out first.”  

COTW: Some Curves Flatter than Others

More: The US now has more COVID-19 cases than five of the largest European outbreaks combined. Even as states begin to relax the quarantine conditions, the country is stuck in a high plateau of new cases. In the last week the US has reported 24,000 to 41,000 new cases and between 1200 and 2600 deaths due to the disease. The virus appears to be spreading to rural states after slamming large urban centers like New York, which is typical behavior for an airborne pathogen following human networks.  Reported figures are undoubtedly undercounts of actual exposure and death. States still lag considerably behind the necessary testing capacity to safely resume normal activity according to several health institutions and experts.

This chart from Bloomberg.com compares the performance of developed countries in combating the virus spread. The US lags behind European nations and has been outperformed by Asian nations, including China, the epicenter of the outbreak.  A two month delay--after the outbreak was first reported to the world and the regime mired in delusional denial--was responsible for a skyrocketing death rate in the US.  So much for, "having it totally under control".  If Total Douche wants to put his name on something related to the pandemic, it should be a written apology to 'Mericans for making them expendable.  Glass of bleach anyone?

Endangered Nation

credit: Matt Wuerker, Politico 
Wackydoodle sez: it just did!

More: Don't let the relatively low death rate per capita figure fool you. The US has double the per capita deaths of Germany, Denmark and Portugal. Belgium's highest death per capita figure is due to regulatory rigor, not a broken health care system. At the pandemic peak in the country, 43% of this nation's intensive care beds were unoccupied. Belgium counts probable cases and deaths in nursing homes. If the US were to do that, its per capita figure would be closer to Belgium's.  Who needs testing when it would only reveal the true extent of the pandemic disaster in this country?  Certainly not Total Douche!

Latest: The storm of ridicule for his dangerously ignorant suggestions [below] finally was too much even for Narcissus bombastis. He cut his propaganda show, Brief the Nation, short and did not take questions from reporters, which he exploits as a free opportunity to promote himself, and engage in confrontational rhetoric. "NASTY!" Do you want to help your nation in this time of plague? Then turn the channel on the Chosen One, if he does not quit first.

So if you are a die hard Trump believer and are infected with COVID-19, you should follow your supreme leader's suggestion, zombie-like, and inject yourself with alcohol or bleach, to clean out your lungs.  If Total Douche says do it, then it must be true and the nay-saying nabobs are just punk commie America- haters. No doctor in their right mind will flush you, so you have take your life into your own hands, which should not be a problem for a rugged individualist like yourself. Report your results, if you are still alive after the treatment.

The fact that this floundering apprentice of a president stands in front of a sign that says in large capital letters "The White House" for the world to see, while he spews his mendacious nonsense, is one of the saddest spectacles in this nation's history, and there have been a few.  Totale Trumpillini is so desperate to feed his mental illness that he will say just about anything to get camera coverage*. US COVID-19 Deaths (est.): 50,000+

credit M. Wuerker. Politico
BC Idonwanna sez: No worry, last of breed!

*This relevant quote from Hanah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism: The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.  The fascist beast, in the guise of the evangelical extreme right, has returned in our times. The UK's Guardian reports that one of these crazies wrote to Total Douche this week about the miracles of industrial bleach against COVID-19. Mark Grenon, the head of a fringe group known as "Genesis II", which poses as a religious organization, wrote Total Douche that chloride dioxide, an industrial cleaning solvent, "can rid the body of COVID-19." Since the start of the pandemic, Genesis II has been marketing MMS (Mineral Miracle Solution, its name for bleach) as a cure for corona virus. It advises users, including children, to mix three to six drops of bleach in water and drink it.  This dangerously irresponsible quackery has been repeated by Alan Keyes, a former political advisor to Ronald Regan, on a web based TV program.

2 New York Cats Test Positive

Two pet cats living in New York state have tested positive for SARS Cov-2 (novel corona virus).  The cats were brought to private veterinarians because they were suffering from a respiratory infection.  The cats were tested positive for COVID-19.  These results were confirmed by a national veterinarian lab. This is the first confirmed case of pet infection in the United States.

The CDC emphasizes that pet guardians should be not fear being infected by their animals, but should take precautions if the guardians are infected or are showing symptoms.  Chinese researchers determined that cats are susceptible to infection in the laboratory, but showed only mild symptoms. The researchers think dogs are less affected by the disease. The COVID-19 is believed to have originated in so-called 'wet markets' in Wuhan that trade in wildlife.  As of yet there is no evidence that the virus can be transmitted to humans by dogs or cats.  Pathology researchers at Cambridge University say the SARS Cov-2 virus is very similar to corona viruses found in bats.

The big cats at the Bronx zoo who have COVID-19 are doing well according to zoo officials.  They are eating normally and their coughing is greatly reduced.  The cats were probably infected by an asymptomatic staff person.

In other pandemic news, Dr. William Bright (how appropriate) told reporters he was abruptly dismissed from his post at the Department of Health and Human Services where he headed the agency's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority after advocating for rigorous testing of hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug touted by the right-wing circus as a "miracle cure" for COVID-19.  Dr. Bright, who earned his PhD at Emory University, said in his statement that he was pressured to direct funds towards hydroxychloroquine, which he labeled “potentially dangerous drug[s] promoted by those with political connections”  He added, “While I am prepared to look at all options and to think ‘outside the box’ for effective treatments, I rightly resisted efforts to provide an unproven drug on demand to the American public.”

'Totale' Trumpillini has political allies with interests in pharmaceutical companies that distribute a brand name version of the drug.  Bright was not fired, but kicked up stairs to a desk at the National Institutes of Health.  King Trumpillini told reporters when asked of Bright's removal, “I never heard of him, You just mentioned the name, I never heard of him. When did this happen? I never heard of him".*  Bright has retained attorneys specializing in government whistle blower cases who said they intend to ask for an investigation of the dismissal they characterize as unlawful retaliation.

Total Douche's promoted the sixty-five year-old antimicrobial medicine as a "game changer" during propaganda appearances. His sales pitch was repeated by the Fox News echo chamber, notably by fan-girl Laura Ingraham.  The drugs efficacy and safety is disputed by government health officials including Dr. Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert. Nevertheless Dr. Voodoo advised citizens to "Take it."  Since his initial dangerously erroneous bombast, experimental use of the drug has produced no verifiable, positive results and serious side effects in those patients treated with it, including patients at a Veterans Affairs medical facility.  Hydroxychloroquine is approved to treat autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus as well as malaria, but has known serious side effects, such as blurred vision, seizures, and heart arrhythmia.  After more public warnings about the untested use of the drug, Fox News talking heads ceased talking about hydroxychloroquine, but not trade advisor Peter Navarro, who relentlessly bangs his drum for the drug within the regime.  Meanwhile comprehensive, controlled testing of hydroychloroquine for use on COVID-19 patients continues, which is something Dr. Bright wanted at the start.

*When asked again about Bight, The Chosen One (CO) had this bizarre exchange with the NBC reporter: 
CO: Why do you say he has great gifts? Do you know him? Have you reviewed him? Have you studied him?
Reporter: He worked his entire career developing vaccines
CO: That doesn’t mean he has gifts. I know a lot of people who play baseball who can’t hit 150. 
Silly reporter, she should have known only Total Douche has great baseball knowledge and gifts.

New Survey Shows Indochinese Tigers Breeding In Thailand

A new survey conducted by biologists in Thailand's Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest shows tigers are breeding there.  This is good news as the Indochinese subspecies (P.t. corbetti) in on the brink, and comes after a decade of protection efforts by the DPKY Tiger Recovery Project. The estimated size of the population is 14-33 individuals.  Study results are encouraging that Thailand may be able to meet its goal of increasing the number of tigers 50% by 2026.  This population is globally important since tigers have vanished from Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

A recent genomics study confirmed the existence of six distinct subspecies of tiger. (Panthera tigris) Three other subspecies described in the 30's are thought to be extinct.  Fossil evidence indicates that the tiger emerged 2 million years ago in Asia.  The modern tiger subspecies separated from a common ancestor about 110,000 years ago likely in southern China and Southeast Asia.  Sumatran tigers, which live only on the island of Sumatra and are characterized by a smaller body size, diverged first.  Researchers emphasize that saving tigers from extinction also involves preserving their genetic diversity that has evolved over the millennia.  Some of the current populations outside of India and Russia may be too small to prevent them from succumbing to increasing extinction pressures.

mother and cub in DPKY, credit Freeland Foundation

India has the most tigers still wild, while the United States has the world's largest captive tiger population.  Today, there are about 3,900 wild tigers remaining from a century ago when there were an estimated 100,000. Failure to contain the illegal trade in wildlife will result in the tiger's extinction in the wild. Remote monitoring of a population seems to be the most effective way of protecting tigers from human predation.  The study in DPKY used computer simulations to investigate how different camera trap placements and study duration affected population estimates.   Tigers' preferred mature, dense forest habitat and few numbers make human tracking of this superb natural hunter difficult, if not impossible.

The End Is Here: Oil Prices Go Negative

It has to be the end because the unthinkable has happened: the price for WTI oil went negative!  An industry accustom to extracting riches from nations is now facing a glut of oil, and the capitalist regime with its hands in the peoples' pocket has promised to bail out the oil companies.  On Monday WTI oil futures crashed to a historic $-40.32. Monday's price busted the previous low of $10 a barrel set in 1986, ending a decade long oil boom.  There is no excess storage capacity for landlocked crude like WTI, so sellers were paying buyers to take excess oil off their hands. The regime is allowing companies to lease storage capacity from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but private production is adding 2 million barrels a day to private storage.  Even the government's buy of 75 million barrels to top off the Reserve will provide little immediate relief.  Brent crude, the international price standard, has not gone negative because excess production can be stored in tankers.

Oil market analysts think the historic price drop is primarily a function of market oversupply caused by a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, both countries that rely heavily on oil production to finance their national budgets. The drop in demand due to pandemic lock downs only exacerbates the negative market conditions. Future prices for June contracts are still positive. OPEC has agreed to a production cut that will not take effect until May 1at.