So Blanche, it’s pretty hard to find good news these days. We wanted to start off on a positive note and will try, but it will be tinged with reality.
In Wuhan, ground zero of the virus, life is slowly coming back to normal. They are about 6 weeks ahead of the rest of the world. And here comes the but. But…they are still quarantining.
While stores are slowly reopening, this is not the case for schools or most places where people gather. The transportation system has started up again but people are wary to use it and one can leave by plane, but not enter. Given all of the above, people are extremely scared of this virus taking hold again. The reality is, no one can tell them otherwise.
Until they stop eating what the rest of the world gags from even thinking about, they have what to worry about. We are guessing that the education system in the thousands of small villages in rural China is weak at best. As is the economy. To get people to stop eating bats and rats when perhaps that is all they have to eat, is going to be a major challenge – and not just for China, but the rest of the world.
Perhaps it is time for the Chinese government to fess up and ask for help. They clearly do not have the infrastructure to educate the millions of masses.
And then there is President Trump. We just don’t know what to say except that he doesn’t sound comforting, when in reality that is his job. Comforter-in-chief. Leave the medical questions to the medics. Leave the money questions to the economists. Leave the statistic questions to the statisticians.
Why can’t he come out and just say we are doing the best we can, we pray for everyone, we love you all and G-d bless America. Why does he have to come out and ad lib about not wearing a mask when the medical advice is showing it is important to do so?
Why did he nix 3M masks coming to Canada? Why can’t he be a team player with the rest of the world?
We are a Trump supporter but he is making it more and more difficult. If we lived in the United States, we would never vote for someone like Biden or Bernie. But voting for Trump would now also be hard. We wonder about his base.
One more thing on this piece for all you Trumpsters out there – it’s ok to call him out when necessary.
Boris Johnson, aside from feeling simply awful from this virus, has to be saying to himself – I really dropped the ball.
Not only is Johnson very ill, his health minister tested positive as did a few other members of parliament. His bold statement a few weeks ago that he would continue to shake hands with everyone is now coming back to haunt not only him but many of those around him. We wish him well and hope that no one is saying we told you so.
Sweden’s prime minister is another one who will be regretting his decision to allow people to keep going to cafes and restaurants when the rest of the world stopped.
The Swedish government is in the process of drawing up “extraordinary” legislation to deal with the growing threat of the virus. Gone is the do as you please attitude. Why? Numbers don’t lie.
The death toll in Sweden is nearing 500 and is significantly higher than some of its Nordic neighbors who adopted a serious hands-on approach to fighting the virus. Norway has 19 deaths.
In Sweden 56% of the population fear getting the virus. In Norway, their neighbour? 10%. Erna Solberg, the current Prime Minister may not be in her office for long. If the virus explodes as people are fearing it will, she could be a footnote in history soon.
In the US, eight of 50 states — Arkansas, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming — still do not have any specific mandate or order to keep residents in their home. Instead, they are encouraging residents to practice physical distancing.
Are the governors of those states not seeing what is going on in the rest of the world? It appears not.
It no longer takes a rocket scientist to know that these eight genius governors are going to go begging to Trump for help in about a week or two. Blanche, don’t you sometimes wonder how people get jobs like leading a state when they have the brain of a gnat?
We finally found something funny. Actually, we think it’s just dumb, and wonder why the media takes anything ‘movie stars’ say seriously.
Roseanne Barr, who is not ageing gracefully (Blanche, that’s very catty – meow), said that the coronavirus is a ploy to kill off baby boomers. She thinks there are a lot of boomers – which there are – who just have money and don’t work. She’s really not bright as people with money who do not work are usually very good for the economy. Just saying.
One person who is coming out of this whole pandemic looking very good, responsible and yes, rational, is Bill Gates of Microsoft fame.
He called this pandemic years ago and now is backing – with money and lots of it – the second potential covid-19 vaccine as it enters human testing. Three cheers for him.
As Passover begins tomorrow night, there will no Blanche until Monday. Happy Passover and stay home.
We’ll talk…
Comments