SOOOOOOOO.......

    ......where do things now stand? In a word or two, things stand in a bad, no...terrible, situation. The world has begun to cut itself off into separate paranoid pieces of territorry and we, the USA, have followed right along. The sad thing about this is that all this supposed isolation is useless, even worse, for it will give some people a false sense of security even as the virus runs  rampant through civilization.
     The virus is here. It is everywhere, doing as most new viruses or strains of one, do and is spreading into people who have no antibodies against it. Some die. In this case, the death rate is 3.4%. Is it rising? We will not know until more time passes. But we should recognize that all our desperate and hamster running the wheel kind of tactics will do nothing other than increase the tension and worry.
    It is here. There is no way to contain it at this point. What needs to be done is to recognize the truth and take steps to handle the crisis, the same one that Trump has poo pooed from the beginning, always several steps behind.
      We should have had a plan in place. We did not. We should have had a stockpile of N95 masks, gloves, gowns, beds, isolation facilities, wards awaiting patients, but we did not. We knew about this virus years ago according to scientists but funding was cut and I bet you cannot imagine by whom. We should be speaking the truth about this damned thing, but we are not. Hence the confusion and the angst that it gives rise to and the stupid steps taken to address the problem.
     Contrary to Trump calling this a foreign virus, that is ridiculous. It is not a nefarious plot by some vague enemy of ours.  They, too, are suffering. It is not a revenge attack by former or mistreated and angry allies. They, too, are suffering. It is what it is. It is a virus, one of the many now threatening to overwhelm humanity as we crunch the world of animals and humans together, far closer than it should be, and as a rsult - COVID-19 and other viruses that have hit us. There have been before this and there will be more after this. The point is that we should prepare, could have prepared, but as Trump cut the science funding, we truly began to deepen the slit in our own throats, the one we self inflicted. And still, even as Dr. Fauci spreads and speaks the truth, Trump continues on his blundering and ineffective path. 
     In a game of international dominoes, they are beginning to fall, toppling one against the other. Saudi Arabia has a demented power crazed Prince who has thrown yet another right hook into the chin of humanity. An oil war? Now? When demand is shrinking as the economy shrinks? As layoffs are beginning to spread, including right here in the USA? We knew this was coming and all the tantrums Trump throws, roaring that Mnuchin should basically bury Epstein and the Federal Reserve Board will not help as there are simply no jobs, no work for these people to do and down they go. And all the other related jobs, the stores, the restaurants, the car dealerships, the amusement centers- all these will go to as people will not have the funds for it. Collateral damage will be terrible. 
     Worried about a bear market? Worried about a Recession, even a Great one? Feh! We are beyond that, and I worry about a Depression. I remember the stories my parents told me of the hunger, the less than bare necessities that people had - or did not. They spoke of the depressed state of the people, the hopelessness, the fear,and truly, the only reason that economic depression ended was WWII. Do we need another war? Dang, but I hope not! But with this dude in office who the hell knows what the future holds for us.
     I believe that I am past the frightened for myself stage. I will do the best I can to stay safe but I truly believe that is a hopeless task for unless one has a bubble suit and knows how to eat only uncontaminated foods and use safe items, well, here we all are in the same soup bowl. Ain't no one getting out of it safely, avoiding that spoon coming to get us. What needs to be done is to change the ones at the helm of the ship of state. We need to get this man out and replace him with some thinking people who can find other things to do rather than play golf on a day the whole mess goes spiral here in the country.
     We need help. Period. From whence does that help come? From ourselves, from our own initiative. From our scientists. And as the verse goes, when we look for that help in a time of distress, as we raise our eyes, look up, we know that G-d will play a role here - in our belief, in our behavior, in our survival and it does not matter by what name we call G-d, for it is the same entity.
    So my friends out there, be safe, be wise, be calm, try to get home and be with and treasure family, and support our scientists in this crisis and in others that will follow. Choose wiser leaders. If we plan better for the next one there will be no need to panic, to carve the world up into pieces, no threat of turning into a Mad Max world. Be of courage. Have spirit and hope. And wash those hands!