by Johnnie Does
William put me on assignment last night to watch cable news reaction to all things coronavirus, so I pirated a neighbors signal and binge watched. It quickly became clear to me after about 10 minutes why we, as a people, are so riled up by this virus. Notable to me was the rant by Tucker Carlson.
Tucker was on a tear about how the government is lying to us, this is going to get way worse, and China is cutting off all pharmaceutical drugs and surgical masks to the USA. I switched over to CNN and basically got the same thing, but with the caveat that it was all Trump’s fault. MSNBC? The same. Americans are perishing left and right. They sounded like they were live streaming the invasion of the body snatchers redux. The cable channels all had a “running ticker” showing all the sports leagues and colleges who had cancelled games or classes.
I switched to the local news, and one could argue that was worse. The big news was a “ninety year old” woman that died in our hometown….check that, the person was 97, with a myriad of health issues. Also a student at an elementary school had tested positive for this virus, in a sense validating the decision days earlier to cancel school this week. Literally the corona virus was wall to wall coverage on each network. This morning (Thursday), the stock market dropped 10%. Yet these same folks are shocked? In the last 24 hours, we went from sports only being allowed to play in an empty gym, to tournaments and professional leagues suspending or cancelling play. Again….stock market drops….and these same folks are questioning why the panic?
So being a real journalist, I went out and asked a few people I interact with in the medical field what their thoughts were on this.
First a paramedic:
He had this to say, If you are under 70, and have no health issues, there is a very good chance you won’t even know you had it. You would chalk it up to a regular cold/flu bout. He added, just take a day or two off work, drink lots of vitamin C, and in a couple days you will be fine. The media influenced this freak out, and it’s been devastating to watch.
Emergency (1972 – 1979)
Second, an ER nurse:
She had this to say: Crisis overblown, by epic proportions. She told me they get about 200 folks a day walking into her ER saying they think they have corona virus because they coughed a few times. As such, none under the age of 60 get tested, for obvious reasons. Like she says, now every jabroni comes in here looking for a free test, and after about 5 hours of waiting they leave. Because we have limited test kits and quite frankly we have to ration them for the most likely to test positive. Overall she said it’s not a big deal unless you are older, and have a bunch of health issues.
Emergency (1972 – 1979)
Now contrast that to events that took place in our hometown last 5 days. School cancelled on a Saturday for this week. Oh, but you can come by and grab your students free meal program…I’m not sure how this is any different from holding class as far as exposure goes. Then the district cancelled athletics, leaving perennial power Sheldon High out of the NorCal basketball finals. Then there was a change of heart on Tuesday, the game was played, on the road, Sheldon winning. Fast forward to Thursday, CIF State Executive of High School Athletics Ron Nocetti decided to be the white knight and cancel all basketball playoffs. Yeah, what a blunder. The only thing that changed over 48 hours was the NBA cancelling their season.
I know Nocetti. He was AD at Jesuit when I went there. This is very typical for an empty suit like him. He doesn’t want to be wrong, so he just jumped on the pile, following the lead of his other “peers.” It’s a total disaster, and yet those same people don’t get why the stocks are down?
Folks let me tell you what this is really about, it’s not about the kids, or healthcare, or politics. It’s about media ratings and lawsuits. This story keeps your eyes glued to the cable news shows, who turn around and sell ad time based on your eyeballs. Ratings drive the news, that’s why its stock losses, shootings, and corona virus. Secondly, these cancellations (Disney just announced by the way) are all about not being sued. Imagine they keep the park open, you take the family and someone gets this disease, and happen to visit grandma in the nursing home…grandma expires, and coronavirus is to blame…lawsuit. NO one wants that…look the NCAA forfeiting 100’s of millions cancelling March Madness, look at Disney, High School Athletics, what about all the pro sports leagues….again….lawsuits, the deep pockets are playing CYA. Why else would they be so quick to cancel? A bunch of colleges have kicked the students out of the dorms until further notice…essentially saying you can grab a couple items….then GIT!
Think about this for a minute, you cancel classes for the kid’s, the adults didn’t have work cancelled, so junior went to hang out with all his school buddies….likely transferring this virus! A college who cancelled classes, the students had a drunken modern Woodstock on frat row…again likely a good place to transfer this virus….so may I ask, why are we cancelling class and these games again? Folks we live in an era where social media tells us get out and go out with friends….not stay at home and avoid this thing, the virus is going to keep spreading.
I’m not scared, and I’m not changing my lifestyle. I am in perfect shape and am very active. I also work a public facing job. I practice good hygiene, and eat a balanced diet consisting of mostly meat, fruit and veggies. You only live once and why should I change my life to fit a narrative being parroted by the media?
Also, regarding the stock market, while you were panic selling these last 10 days, I’ve been scooping the shares up at a discount. I believe Buffett and his ilk are doing the same, laughing all the way to the bank and counting their earnings. The economy is strong, still chugging along, it’s a sell induced panic that’s all, try to remember that. Big blue chip companies don’t go out of business, you know who does during these times? Elon Musk, and weak tech companies like Facebook.
Johnnie Does
PS The same people who call the millennials a bunch of snowflakes are the ones who are pretty woke right now…just saying… Most of us aren’t worried about this virus. The flu this calendar year alone has killed 18,000 people…this virus….41.