According to the CDC “The 1968 pandemic was caused by an influenza A (H3N2) virus. It was first noted in the United States in September 1968” killing “1 million worldwide and about 100,000 in the U.S. The H3N2 virus continues to circulate worldwide as a seasonal... virus.” /2
My beloved @deadandcompany has canceled their summer tour, as has @phish and countless other bands. A cascade of jobs and livelihoods have been canceled as well because of these decisions, made, as Bob Weir puts it, “in an abundance of caution.” Don’t blame the bands at all. /3
I’m sad for lost music, lost joy and the postponing of lifes lived well. We won’t get these lost experiences back. So what’s so different today vs 1968? Have we really become this fragile? Should we hide from life, give up the pursuit of happiness that makes life worth living? /4
Should we keep living life, with all of the risks associated with it, or should we cower alone in sheltered fear? Each of us will have to answer these questions for our own selves. I choose freedom over fear. End.
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The counter-revolution is coming, based on common sense American principles: 1) We are all essential workers, free to work hard, to create value, to earn an honest living for our families. 1/4
2) We are all free to make our own health care choices, each of us with total ownership of our own body and complete autonomy over what we put in it. 2/4
3) We are all free to speak our mind, to doubt and question, to petition the government with grievances, even when our views run counter to the official narrative. 3/4
A police officer with special government immunity and the monopoly power of the state killed a black man. Justice for George Floyd requires more than a murder conviction. We need to break the system that creates and protects bad cops once and for all. 1/
We must get rid of qualified immunity and union privileges so that bad cops can be eliminated. Unfortunately, the violence instigated by Antifa punks —not the peaceful protestors—will make breaking the system that protects bad actors impossible. Violence begets violence. 2/
The police are escalating because of violence and looting. Instead of limiting the indiscriminate power of policing, we’re talking about expanded militarization of policing to restore order. The victims will be peaceful protestors, liberty and justice. Violence begets violence.
What is the goal of the lockdown? It was flattening the curve, to make sure hospitals could handle critical patients without being overwhelmed. Honest modelers acknowledged a flattened curve would lengthen the pandemic and possibly cause a second deadlier spike next winter. 1/
Now that the curve is flattened, government health experts and governors have moved the goal post. So what is the goal of the lockdown now, and is the goal achievable without more widespread economic devastation, new poverty that will also cause a spike in mortality? 2/
The policy goal that matters during this pandemic is minimizing human suffering and loss of life. When we debate the merits of sweeping lockdowns on human activity, we are not debating lives versus economic prosperity. We are debating total lives saved versus total lives lost. 3/
We debate as if there are only two paths: A total authoritarian lockdown, or one big college break beach party that tosses all precautions to the wind. No. We must #FreethePeople to get essential economic functions back up using common sense and human innovation to keep us safe.
We are told to defer to government bureaucrats and politicians who have failed, catastrophically, every step of the way. The #WHO lied at the behest of the Chinese government. The #CDC failed at testing. The #FDA blocked private alternatives to government tests....
#Fauci told us in late January that the risk was “very low.” Congress has incentivized essential workers to walk away, with new benefits totaling (with state payouts) $55,000. Small business loans are impossible to get, and corporate bailouts have empty planes to flying nowhere.