War

During the Last Dance, David Falk (Jordan’s agent) was coming up with a few different plans for what MJ was going to say to the press about his 18 month lay off from basketball and his baseball stint. Michael declined his suggestions and went with “I’m Back”. It’s extremely powerful to sum up a major response in as few words as possible. This is a valuable lesson in advertising and has nothing to do with this post,

Band of Brothers

Where was I when this series came out in 2001? It aligned right with the Sopranos and I’m thinking that these mini-series hadn’t quite caught on yet. Boy am I glad I found it in 2020.

“Ronald Spiers: The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it.”

Band of Brothers is a terrific display of realism. The bonds formed between these men can be short lived and you feel that intensely. The show helps me see war with a human touch to gain perspective.

Could you shoot another man? Could you sit in 0 degree weather for a month holding the line? Could you be a medic and run into the battlefield and attempt to save the wounded without dying yourself? 405,000 American gave their lives in WW2 for our freedom.

The Invisible Enemy

Leaders like Dick Winters are who I want to follow into battle. Unfortunately, America has gotten soft and stupid. We are worried about elections, personal vendettas, and people’s feelings instead of doing the right thing. Here is what I see.

750 deaths yesterday. It’s improving. I don’t trust the numbers anyway. The game is absurd that one side actually wants the deaths to be as high as possible. I’d call this crowd the CDC, WHO, CNN and Washington Post side. The longer you fear the virus, the more control they have on your thoughts.

Then you have this other side with a press conference like this.

What a guy! I’d bet that reporter was Asian too. She’s taking it too personally though which makes her soft in my opinion. Donald Trump makes you hate him which is one of the more unusual traits of a President.

If you think he’s out there, let’s look state wide at the Pennsylvania secretary of health.

Top comment on a YouTube video with Rachel Levine is along the lines of “allowing someone of poor mental health to be in charge of a health department is typical USA”. I’ll come out and say that a health representative should probably not have their penis cut off. Let this be clear that she wasn’t in charge of any platoons in WW2. I’ll throw one more out there that this is the minister of health in Belgium. Known for their chocolate I hear.

Watching the handling of this virus and the mess of the country that will be unraveled in the next few months, it’s going to get real bad. 33 million unemployed is unacceptable. 25 trillion in national debt is unbearable. 80k miscounted deaths is going to be a drop in this ocean of mutiny. Here is how Covid 19 reports are “decided” from cdc.gov (full PDF) for some representation of #’s –

Ideally, testing for COVID–19 should be conducted, but it is acceptable to report COVID–19 on a death certificate without this confirmation if the circumstances are compelling within a reasonable degree of certainty.

In the case of death due to a COVID–19 infection, the manner of death will almost always be natural.

So any natural death, can be a COVID-19 death.

Plus did anyone read the article in the WSJ saying that ventilators do more harm than other breathing methods?

Micro Chipping is Next

Have you read what happens in South Korea? I did my best so that you read up to down without jumping Tweets.

1) Upon arrival, they take your temperature at the airport and ask if you’ve experienced any symptoms. If you have, they move you to a separate area and give you a coronavirus test. If you haven’t, they take you to another area and interview you. They also install ankle bracelets

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

During this time, you are not allowed to leave the quarantine dormitory or your home if you’ve chosen to self-isolate at home. You cannot take public transportation or taxi, and you cannot self-isolate in a hotel or Airbnb. If you don’t have a home, you must use the dorm.

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

During this self-isolation, you cannot have contact with anyone during this time. They give you special trash bags to throw away your trash in, and people in hazmat suits come and collect your trash upon request.

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

3) If there’s a new coronavirus case in your general area (same city or district), you get a Public Safety Alert on your phone that tell you about the person (age, male/female, city) and provides updates as they receive them.

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

We were required to get a COVID-19 test within 3 days of arriving, which is the only activity that’s allowed to break quarantine. You have to do this in coordination with the case worker. As a family of 4, we were done testing in about 10 minutes. Test results came in 7 hours.

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

There’s absolutely no protests or demonstrations about the anti-freedom measures or invasion of privacy. I’m not an expert in Korean politics but it seems like everyone accepts these measures as required to address this pandemic.

— Michael Kim (@michaelvkim) May 9, 2020

The thought behind what is coming is that every human is going to be micro-chipped. You’ll be told it’s in your best interest and it will protect you from the virus. Think Demolition Man which has been amazingly accurate. What seems to be your boggle?

I would have handled this like Sweden did.