From Fascism to Pandemics, Mom Knew Best

 

For those too young to know, "V" was one of the most watched and discussed mini-series of the 1980s. Before Independence Day, this was the first time we witnessed giant mile-long spacecraft arriving over every major city simultaneously. However, instead of reigning death and destruction, they came as friends who needed our help. At least, that was how it seemed. 

In reality, the "Visitors" as they came to be called by the people of Earth, only appeared to be beautiful humanoids. They were, in fact, venom-spitting reptilian beings who saw us as a perfect food source. Not everyone knew this and many were willing to cooperate with what eventually became an allegory for Nazi Germany.

Characters we came to care about had their hearts broken by people they thought they could trust. An underclass comprised of Earth's scientists became the minority that needed to be controlled and censored lest they figure out the Visitors' secret. Soon there was even a youth group of makes in brown shirts acting as assistants to the orange-clad soldiers patrolling the streets. One such character even turns in his own grandfather, a concentration camp survivor.

During one of the times the mini-series was rerun on local TV, my mother and I got into a deep discussion about the people we knew and cared about and how we thought they would react in the same situation. It was a tough conversation because some of those people, individuals we loved, were also ones we knew would turn against us. Mom and I knew we wouldn't cooperate but we also knew we were related to people who would find their comfy lives more alluring than resistance. 

 I think about that conversation often. I wonder how she would have reacted to how COVID revealed so many true natures. I wonder if she would have been disappointed or if she would have just shaken her head in that knowing way she often employed when unpleasant things were confirmed.

It seems as if she was preparing me all those years ago for the moment when people would disappointment me on a level I'd never before experienced. I often think she prepared me too well, as it was nearly impossible for me to feel that way. Having observed the growing self-absorption in the U.S., almost nothing surprises me with the possible exception of lunatics calling medical workers "crisis actors." And that's the one thing "V" never addressed; how bone-chillingly stupid human beings can be.

So many people seem to have learned nothing as they continue coughing from their uncovered mouths into the air and clicking laughing emojis on scientifically vetted articles about viral spread. I think if COVID were an alien race, those of us who still mask up indoors would be targeted like the scientists in "V." If that day comes, I'm ready.

Thanks, Mom~

Dispatches from the Coronavirus Days #4

Look to the Skies: Like any major event, Covid-19 has its share of associated conspiracy theories but my favorite is the one I saw on a UFOs and aliens Facebook page. Who am I kidding? 90% of them came from that page, but this one is definitely the best: Apparently the powers-that-be don't want us outside looking up when the UFOs arrive and start landing! And if it fails under mild scrutiny because the theorist neglected to account for the fact that we've been told it's actually encouraged to go outside? Screw it! The theory kicks ass!

Spend Big Money at Menards: Wisconsin-based retailer Menards was recently sent a cease & desist letter by the Michigan Attorney State General for price gouging. Specifically they rasied prices on cleaning products and protective masks. A Facebook friend claimed they knew someone who paid seven dollars for a small bottle of Lysol airspray. They were given ten days to reply. Ten days. Imagine all the gouge they can still pull off in that time before deciding to comply. Hopefully, people will stop going there until this has been resolved.

Leave the Ghostlight On When you Tweet: Governor Whitmer's response to Covid-19 has been commendable. Only a fool would say otherwise. Enter President Donald Trump, whose weird, out-of-nowhere Tweet accused her of not doing enough and ended with him claiming he and his administration were basically lighting s fire under her ass. It was classic "The Donald," a bait and switch designed to absolve him of all wrongdoing due to his own lackluster response and paint the female Democrat as incompetent. It's doubtful anyone who wasn't already willing to believe him is fooled.

If You're Healthy and you know it, Risk Exposure: California Republican Senator Devin Nunes is currently facing a rather severe PR nightmare based on irresponsible comments he made regarding what people should be doing during the pandemic. Basically, he told people if they're healthy, they should frequent restaurants so as not to "hurt the working people" in 'Murica. That was, of course, prior to the mandatory shut-downs of all the eateries and just about every other damn thing. He later tried to, as they say these days, walk back his comments when talking to Sean Hannity, a.k.a. Trump's rectal thermometer. But even Trump was not saying this because for once, he gets it and this bug-eyed wackjob does not. It's pretty bad when CNN tries to save your hash and you still shoot yourself in the leg.

America's Wang Still Doin' it's Thang: It turns out Homer Simpson was right after all; Florida really is America's wang! For proof of that wang status, look no further than this link. Invincible idiots who don't seem to care about being carriers for the virus decided to party their asses off thanks to a bar that defied the statewide order to shut the hell down. Technically, they were supposed to reduce capacity to 50% up until 11:00 pm but the pics clearly show they didn't allow a bunch of silly medical precautions to diminish their drunken good time.

All Hail the Plastic Pastor!: Do you have a moment for me to tell you about the Good News? We no longer need to fear the ramifications of the idiots in Florida congregating in large numbers because Donald Trump's "spiritual advisor" has a fix-it. Asking her followers to send "seed money" to her for protection against plague and pestilence, Pastor Paula White is billing her ministry as a hospital to the sick. Apparently the hospitals to healthy people weren't included. Adherents to the Prosperity Gospel will likely find her entreaties appealing since they view faith as an investment that comes with a return. It's a religion that deserves to be renamed "Americanism" and she is currently one of its major figures. No wonder a shameless self-promoter like Trump likes her so much. Well, that and her blond hair, adoration of him and unmoving plastic face.

All the World's a (Viral) Stage: As mentioned above, conspiracy theories abound in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and people we know in real life are not immune (see what I did there?) to their odd allure. One in particular comes from "Author Unknown," and ain't that always the case? Unknown goes into great detail about how a very real viral outbreak is no big deal, how the media is causing mass panic and how this is all just a test run for socialism. He also draws ludicrous parrallels to cancer and car accidents to demonstrate how other things kill more people. This is in spite of a president who basically poops capitalism every time he walks taking it all very seriously and ordering the closing of establishments and all the rest of the normal responses to an untreatable virus. Someone I know posted this particular theory on their Facebook page. Objectively speaking, it is an effective piece of writing. It pushes all the right buttons, gets its point across and details exactly what it sets out to. It's also incredibly irresponsible because it can inspire others of a similar mentality to not take proper precautions. Pointing that out resulted in me being "melodramatic" because a post isn't going to kill anyone.

But Maybe a Post Can Save People: This one should speak for itself so I'll not editorialize.

More to Come~

Read Dispatch #3 Here!

Dispatches from the Corona Virus Days #3

Everything Must Go...at a 300% Mark-up: In my first Dispatch, I wrote about price gouging and whether or not it was going to become something to be prosecuted for. Well, now this has happened. Of course, this won't prevent the more subtle acts of gouging such as what's happening at Aldi where things are just slightly higher than normal, but it will hopefully stop the unscrupulous who view things such as this as an investment opportunity.

Who Was That Masked Man?: Have you noticed that while the CDC has told us wearing masks is unecessary, people in and from other countries are wearing them? In Asia, it's considered the right thing to do for anyone who might be sick to wear them. Unfortunately, since we're discouraged from doing it in the U.S., it makes us think the person is a walking petrie dish. I hear this has resulted in a few misunderstandings around the country and even I'll admit to a knee-jerk reaction when first seeing someone masked from the corner of my eye. That didn't stop me from wearing one yesterday when I went to the grocery store. Most people looked away quickly. A few smirked. Nobody recoiled in horror.

The 24-Hour News Cycle Plays in Hell: Ever since the early 1990s, news has become as prevalent in our lives as breathing. The so-called "Desert Storm" campaign was covered 24/7 by cable news and the broadcast news stations. Those days seem quaint now. People actually had to turn on their televisions to find out what was being reported. Handheld devices and social networking are connecting us in ways both wondrous and dangerous. Unsubstantiated rumors abound, changing from minute to minute, and there is no filter preventing them from reaching the masses. If ever there was an argument for professional journalism, this is it? Unfortunately, this current president and hundreds of other politicians have poisoned the ill-informed against all forms of media. How do we know? Because they don't even see the irony of using media to complain about it!

There's no Art of the Deal for Incompetence: In his press conference held yesterday, Donald Trump sounded more reasonable and sober than he has since this entire situation began, but what does that really mean? Less word salad? Less boasting about his "accomplishments?" More accepting of personal responsibility? Ultimately, it's up to the individual to decide, but his constant reference to the "tremendous job" officials are doing and how "a lot of progress has been made" are certainly questionable. Despite Trump's constant assertions that we as a nation were prepared for this, we moved too slowly considering what was happening in China and we are paying for the lackadaisacal response.

Briefings are for Underwear: Everyone except his staunchest apologists knows Donald Trump ain't got no time for no in-depth conversations. There are reports that this was also true of the briefings about the Coronavirus. This does track when one reflects on his ridiculous comment during yesterday's briefing where he stated, "a month ago, nobody thought about this." Naturally, it's preferrable to think he was using over-simplified language and wasn't being literal. I'm willing to accept that to an extent. However, that doesn't account for his early dismissals of the eventuality of Covid-19 reaching American shores.

Words of Wisdom from Randos:

• "This is what 'deconstructing government' looks like. This what shutting down our pandemic response agency looks like. This is what putting an amateur reality show host as leader of the free world looks like."
• "Our leader did not lead. He left us wide open for this. He called it a hoax. He called it fake news. He did not do his job!"

The City That Never Slept: I've been to Manhattan twice. It does sleep from about 4:00 am until 5:30 am. This link, however, tells a different story.

More to Come~




Previous Disptaches:
#1
#2

Dispatches From the Corona virus Days #1

Arrival: It finally reached Michigan this week, the dreaded corona virus recently dubbed "Covid-19." Predictably because we're Americans, people have either reacted with extreme panic or as if it "t'aint no big deal." Meanwhile, the reported cases continue to mount and the eventual deaths loom buzzard-like just out of our collective periphery.

Wiping for the Apocalypse: Much like the rest of the Western world, hectic runs on toilet paper have resulted in empty shelves in grocery stories and big box retailers all over the state. There haven't been any reports of fights breaking out over it yet, but there are a few profiteers already selling it online for inflated prices. Whether or not this will become a prosecutable crime is impossible to know at this point. But apparently whenever the End Times come, people really think they're going to need to wipe themselves. It does cause one to wonder what these people were doing before...

Hollywood Lied to Us: Perhaps that's a bit harsh; maybe Hollywood is just ignorant of the everyday realities of everyday people. Whatever the case, all those epidemic and disaster movies that told us everybody would start stealing and physically assaulting each other might have been correct in the worst case scenario sense, but...

Storm the Libraries!: The truth is, when people freak out about an impending terrible situation, they run to their library. I work for two (three, if you want to be technical) so I know whereof I speak. Apparently people feel the need to stock up on things to read, watch and listen to when they're quarantined. But since most people incorrectly believe nobody goes to libraries anymore, movies don't reflect that particular reality. Ironically, library borrowing accounts for a lot of the movie watching.

Speaking of Movies: Walk into any grocery or retail store right now and it feels as if one is entering a slow-motion sequence filled with stunned people with hollowed eyes and screaming children wearing surgical masks being pushed in grocery carts. Empty shelves where toilet paper and water once filled them. Items that would normally still be on the shelves are gone. Thermometers. Over-the-counter allergy medications. Rubber gloves. Isopropryl alcohol. Yet somehow there's plenty of beer and wine to be found.

Misplaced Libertarian Activism: Every workplace has at least one person admonishing the rest of us for being scared, as if that isn't an appropriate reaction to sickness, resource scarcity, lack of appropriate medications, and death. Various straw-man commentaries using the flu's higher death rate are used, completely ignoring or ignorant of the fact that Covid-19 is the new kid on the block. There is no herd immunity, no vaccine as of yet and humanity has literally never encountered it before. The potential for disaster is greater because it moves faster than the flu and has less easily recognized symptoms.  None of this kept some idiot at the laundromat from intentionally coughing with his mouth uncovered until he was threatened with having the police called. It also didn't stop someone on Facebook from boasting that he went and saw a movie and didn't catch a virus. How he knows that considering its incubation period is anybody's guess.

Closures: Governor Gretchen Whitmer has ordered the closure of all Michigan schools by Monday, March 16th. Many libraries have already closed or are planning to do so on the day the schools do. AMC the movie company sent out an email saying they are only allowing 50% seating capacity in their theaters. One of my employers has closed. The other has not yet but will remain in operation but closed to the public.

Losing Friends: People on Facebook are reporting the loss of friends over disagreements about how the virus has been (mis)handled by the Trump administration. I am not immune, as a lost two Thursday, both sisters and both vehement Trump supporters. Despite this, I was always rather fond of them and felt we had a pretty good former co-worker connection. Clearly I was wrong as  were many others.

End of Dispatch. More to Come.