Archive for the Universities Category

Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  The Personal Lockdown Calculus (May 11, 2020)

Posted in Academia, Covid / Coronavirus, Health Care, Public Health, Universities on May 11, 2020 by e-commentary.org

[Google continues to block access to https://e-commentary.org/ with no justification or recourse.]

. . .

K          “We are in the halcyon days of the Plague.”

J          “That is what I fear.”

. . .

K          “A very close friend lost a very close friend in late February, but not a very close friend of mine.  And then another very close friend lost a very close friend in March, but not a very close friend of mine.  And then another very close friend lost a very close friend in April, but not a very close friend of mine.  But I have not or have not to date lost a very close friend or a close friend or a friend.  In time.”

J          “‘Have not to date’ is true.  It is still distant and foreign and academic and theoretical.  New York is far away and distant and foreign for most people.  Someone must first lose a neighbor, then a second cousin, then a nephew, and then a parent, spouse, child.  Then it gets real.  Then there may be some passing collective interest in wearing a mask properly.”

. . .

J          “If we want to reduce traffic injuries and death, we could outlaw left turns.”

K          “Or cap the speed limit at 25 mph.  Everything in life is a trade-off.  I get it.”

. . . 

J          “So many of the individuals who support the lockdown can afford to be locked down and benefit from others being locked down.  And so many of the individuals who oppose the lockdown cannot afford to be locked down and believe that they do not benefit from others being locked down.”

K          “The dispute is not just another ‘blue state’ versus ‘red state’ divide but rather is a ‘green state’ divide in the populace.  The ‘green state’ divide is real.”

. . .

J          “This ‘Covid Conversation’ stuff even with video denies us the chance to observe and gauge the speaking and revealing we do with our body.  And to sense the pheromones.”

K          “A fortnight ago, I observed that I feel for the first time in my life like a reluctant prisoner in my own private fort with no defined sentence or clear terms of parole.”

. . .

K          “Do you open the universities this Fall?  The decision needs to be made now.  No, the universities cannot open this Fall.  Opening a university creates more problems of all kinds and also would lead to financial ruin via a different path.  When kids from all over descend on shared bed rooms and communal bathrooms, all viral hell breaks out.  The entire fragile and unsustainable economic model for today’s University, Inc. is built on the foreign students in particular all the Chinese students paying full freight.  There will be bloodbaths of red ink.”

J          “I know of many hospitals low on or out of cash.  The hospitals affiliated with state universities are not receiving enough funds from the state legislatures that are not receiving enough tax dollars from the citizens to fund the operations because the citizens are not able to work.  What is also bewildering is that individuals are not presenting with the medical problems that one would expect based on accurate historical records.  There will be bankruptcies.”

. . .

J          “I maintain that you will get it NOW or you will get it in NOV.  Wear a mask properly.  Work to delay it for you and for others and for the system as long as possible.  There may be more resources and should be refined protocols in NOVember than NOW.  Unless the system is overwhelmed and/or the Virus is more virulent.”

K          “I have spent the last few months doing for others even when they didn’t want to do for themselves or did not know what to do.  I am doing right now what I would do when it is too late to do something.  The drum beat is getting louder and the march is getting closer.”

J          “NOVember is just around the corner.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary on the Plague over the last few months.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Things are worse than they seem

“In a very toxic world, a healthcare system that can’t or won’t talk about detoxification, nutrition, and vitamin deficiencies/supplements, but only likely more toxic pharmaceuticals and possibly toxic vaccines (flu vaccines that still have mercury in them, for instance) is a healthcare system that no one needs.”  Attributed to _______________?

When can you tell that a government virologist is lying?  When he/she is moving his/her lips.

Dad attended Brown; Mom attended Smith; I onlined Dartmouth