Is It Time To Panic Yet?

Those people wheeling full grocery carts down the aisle last weekend don’t look so crazy now.

We’ll all be eating at home for awhile it seems.

California, Illinois and Ohio state officials on Sunday issued statewide orders to close all bars and restaurants through the end of March. In Ohio, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the state plans to provide unemployment benefits to people affected directly by COVID-19 as well by their employers closing their doors. – Nashville Post

Like it or not it looks like we’re headed for a full lockdown as a nation. Every bureaucrat has the potential of becoming a despot. Empowered by “a public health emergency” they are free to issue diktats at will with impunity. Businesses and other venues are facing forced closures in an effort to stem the spread of Wuhan Flu.

Maybe this abundance of caution is the wisest course of action, but to us older, independent types enforced actions like this are abhorrent. Especially when our overlords use our right of self-determination against us.

In Illinois. Gov. JB Pritzker said he made his decision partly in response to partiers who gathered en masse in Chicago Saturday to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

“I tried earlier this week to appeal to everyone’s good judgement to stay home, to avoid bars, not to congregate in crowds," Pritzker said, per WGN. "It’s unfortunate that many people didn’t take that seriously. The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. The time for action is here."

Let us hope that in retrospect this will end up as another case of government/public overreaction.  Trying to put the best face on it, it may prove to be an important, albeit expensive, dry run for when the world is faced with a pathogen – natural or manmade - with much greater mortality rates.

It may also serve as a teaching moment for the indoctrinated generations who are about to discover for real  that “free” is not free. Nor is freedom. SrDem, our inhouse sage, explains:

My adult grandchildren are frightened. They have never heard "no" in their social life. Free to go wherever they wanted, eat at whatever place they liked, and now...No, you can't. I'm serious, they are confused and scared. These same young people who think Bernie has the right idea with all his free stuff, now wonders who is going to give them this 'free' stuff if nobody's working. What good is "free" they say if you can't get it.

Look kids! It’s what you’ve always wanted: socialism.

Rush Limbaugh has always said he would tell us when it’s time to panic; unfortunately he’s off all week. Mark Steyn will be in for Rush today and tomorrow. He may not know whether it’s time to panic yet, but at least he’ll be entertaining. That’s the best I’ve got right now.

And Now A Message From the Mirror Of The United States

As Wuhan Flu™ has become an evolving and uncertain public health issue affecting people globally and here at home,

MOTUS’ bunker is in Summit County, where the first “community spread” case was confirmed yesterday

the team at MOTUS A.D. wants to reassure you, our valued guest, that your health, safety and well-being are of the utmost importance to us.

We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with state and local government and health officials to assess this evolving situation. MOTUS A.D., along with our parent company, Dewey From Detroit, are also closely monitoring Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidance for responding to Wuhan Flu™. So far they’ve not recommended anything useful but we will follow their mindless directions regardless.

Important Note! These Made-in-China lights are for indoor and outdoor use ONLY!

The evolving nature of this event requires us to be flexible in how we respond and provide service to you, our guests. Here are some of the ways we are taking action:

• Additional hand sanitization stations have been added in heavily trafficked Disqus locations, such as the comment section.

• Increased frequency of disinfection and cleaning of public areas of this site and high-touch areas, such as touch screen monitors, iPads, Disqus check-in widgets, and communal computer workstations

• And we’re asking employees who appear symptomatic to stay home

Little Mo recently had the sniffles and was confined to his lower bunker

• And we’ve been hoarding toilet paper, in the event we’re faced with a situation where we can use it as barter.

Just load those into the black Jeep

Updated Change/Cancellation Policy:

We also understand the difficulty our guests are experiencing in making advance posting decisions during these uncertain times and we wish to help you feel confident in  doing so. If you choose to post with us (does not include third party websites) between now and Sunday, May 10, 2020, all of your Disqus access and logins will be 100% returnable and refundable.

Our world-renowned blog remains committed to providing our guests and employees an enjoyable and safe innerToob experience. We hope the measures we’ve implemented will assist you in that endeavor.

Thank you again for your ongoing loyalty to my little blog.

Sincerely,

MOTUS (The Mirror Of The United States)

No Time To Explain, Just Get IN

Pro-tip: self reliance does not mean stocking up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Whoo-hoo, what a week! Hard to believe that the Mardi Gras wrapped up just 17 days ago. If we knew then what we know now the very public celebrations would have been cancelled…

and all those colorful masks would have been re-purposed for Wuhan Flu™ protection.

Instead we’ve been forced to face the fire-breathing Chinese dragon virus without the protection of the N95 respirator masks…

The racist Chinese Dragon spewing Wuhan Flu™ viruses all over the place

most of which are made in China.

This of course has led to great panic

and dire predictions.

In fact the panic has gotten so bad that Mexico is now considering closing THEIR border with the USA! Oh the irony.

But forget all that, it’s…Caturday! Jump in and embrace the flush.

Going Downhill, Fast

People’s sheeple mentality is so predictable. And nobody knows how to weaponize this built in glitch better than Democrats, as Roger Kimball reminds us:

The Wuhan Panic is a textbook case of the Rahm Emanuel principle that you never want a good crisis to go to waste. Emanuel helped Barack Obama weaponize the government against freedom in the aftermath of the financial meltdown of 2008. The Dems and their megaphones in the media are trying to do the same thing now in the face of the spread of the Wuhan Virus. In about three weeks, maybe four, it will all be over and many people will feel sheepish about their overreaction. In the meantime, everyone seems to be signing up to be an extra in The Seventh Seal.

The stock market is collapsing, paper products of all sort have virtually disappeared from store shelves along with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and face masks.

Well done, but don’t stop there!

This week administrative and elected leaders everywhere have discovered their inner autocrat and began closing or cancellation everything from school concerts to major league sports. If you don’t believe me check your email. I’ve received messages from every organization that has ever had my email address telling me what extraordinary measures they are taking to protect me, including closing venues and cancelling events. And of course every communique ends up by telling me to wash my hands. By the time this is over we will all be OCD.

Here in Utah the governor has called for the cancellation of all gatherings over 100 people. I don’t even think that’s constitutional but we’ve been conditioned to not question our overlords.

“Today we stopped making decisions based on the hope that things will get better,” Herbert said in announcing the voluntary guideline.

Senior centers, arts venues, the Utah State Prison and others are closing access or canceling events — adding to a snowball of announcements that began with the NBA suspending its season this week…” – SLT

I read that as “Today we stopped making decisions based on common sense and rational thinking.” 

I need a break from this sheeple mentality so we’re going skiing. Plenty of fresh air and sunshine - and you get to choose your own course down the mountain.

Love In the Time of COVID-19

I know it’s Throwback Thursday but first this breaking news of Love In the Time of COVID-19: Ilhan Omar announces that she married her campaign dude with whom she reportedly had an affair.

The tweet stream comments are hysterical, e.g. “Oh brother, where art thou?” Were I given to responding to random tweets, which I’m not, I probably would have tweeted this:

“Hi, I’m Larry,  this is my brother Daryll and this is my other brother Daryll.”

Which of course is a throwback to the old 1980s Newhart show – and what a great show it was.

So there you have it, I’ve officially done my job today. The rest is on you.

Rub a Dub Dub or Hey Diddle Diddle

I can’t really explain why, but the results of yesterday’s Democrat primaries reminded me of this animation from a 1979 Soviet/Russian animated film.

Faster! Higher! Stronger!

Maybe it’s because they both conjured thoughts of this nursery rhyme:

Hey, diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

    It’s a nonsense poem designed to please children with highly effective imaginary visuals.

But the poem for some reason reminded me of the old joke about a pilot returning from a mission but couldn’t locate his aircraft carrier. He circled the Naval formation below and because secure communication was required radioed “ Rub a dub dub, where’s my tub?” To which he received the following response: “Hey diddle diddle, it’s right in the middle.”

Rub a Dub Dub and Hey Diddle Diddle – I doubt either of them will make it over the moon

   

     I can’t explain any of this, I suspect it has something to do with Daylight Saving Time.

It’s Taco Tuesday: Everybody Chill

I know, I know: the sky is still falling, along with the Dow. The Coronavirus is still causing runs on hand sanitizer, toilet paper and sanity. Joey B is still threatening to get the old band back together and Bernie is still insisting that “democratic socialism” is way different than “authoritarian communism” – although they are notoriously known for cross-breeding.

I sent my absentee ballot in for Michigan’s primary several weeks ago and I always have at least a 2 week supply of paper products and food on hand. Therefore I’m suspending my deep concern for the future of the country, along with what I hope are my irrational fears of a market collapse and the coming plague. Instead I’m going to focus completely on Taco Tuesday.

This week I’m sharing some sage advice for the lovelorn.

And guys - some Taco Tuesday advice for you as well:

Of course long term relationships with another person are notoriously complicated, why not settle for a transitory but satisfying liaison with a good taco? Once you maneuver around the tricky “appropriation” allegation associated with Taco Tuesdays, tacos can be true Social Justice Warrior fare. They bridge the intersectionality of several key SJW concerns.

Race:

Black and white tacos – two ways!

Gender identity:

“Puffy” tacos

Gender-fluid tacos

Nationality:

Asian tacos banh mi style

And  in a pinch, you can even enjoy a good old American style taco, although they’ve fallen out of favor with the the  SJW crowd due to the aforementioned “appropriation” issue:

Naturally your Taco Tuesday relationship will be transitory, but that doesn’t mean it won’t also be both deeply rewarding and satisfying.

#Namaste

So take my advice: grab a taco and a Corona and chill.

Tequila optional

Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?

T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

It’s all but official, the media has determined COVID-19 to be the tragedy we have been waiting for (Trump’s Katrina!!). We are all doomed.

As James Lileks reflects, this could well mark the end of life as we know it…at least for a little while.

I suspect this will seem, in retrospect, as the last “normal” week. The one in which there was other news.

This doesn’t mean everything will be actually horrible. It means the news will be horrible, in that it gives a sense of a rapidly escalating catastrophe that produces mass unease and uncertainty.

A few weeks ago, I think, I mused about some previous pandemic about which I’d forgotten, except that I bought masks, and noted a run on rice at Costco, That was the Swine Flu pandemic, of course. It was declared by the WHO to be A Thing in June 2009. I decided to go back to the StarTribune archives to see how it played out. From what I recalled, there was concern, but nothing like we're seeing today. See if you recall any of this, or your local variant. (more)

So there it is, this is how it ends; the media, the second coming of the ruling class, has so declared it. Not by global warming after all but by another manmade disaster - a simple virus capable of spreading, mutating and replicating (alas, as do all viruses).

Greta Thunberg hardest hit.

“How dare you steal my global crisis!”

Wash your hands, sneeze into your sleeve, take cover, self isolate, and do not, repeat, NOT vote for Donald J. Trump!

Oh what the hell, go ahead. We’re all going to die anyway.