COVID: More U.S. Deaths than in WWII

I’ve been following the COVID epidemic watching as the death toll rose from zero in January to over 290,000 today. For perspective these are the U.S. deaths in WWII.

Deaths in WWII–Combat deaths, Other Deaths, Total deaths

Medicynical note: While Republican political hacks have been minimalizing and denying the impact of covid, the deaths have inexorably risen. Today they will exceed the U.S. battle deaths in WWII (291,557). This was an unbelievable (till now) failure of government. The focus of Trump was almost solely on money, not citizens. Billionaires have done well while wage earners were exposed to the virus and many have died.

Trump denied, obstructed, provided misinformation and largely ignored the deaths and suffering. He’s soon to be gone while the aftereffects of his gross incompetence will linger on.

More deaths than in WWII, unF#@kingbelievable.

Coming Soon: COVID Vaccine/ Medical Info Requirement to Travel

Ahead of a vaccine, ensuring customers understand the latest testing requirements to travel is vital to building consumer confidence and the CommonPass solution is an important step towards offering a common international standard,” Corneel Koster, chief customer and operating officer of Virgin Atlantic, said in a statement.”


“We expect governments to move with urgency towards aligned testing standards and in parallel, to implement a robust pre-departure testing regime that supports international travel, safely replaces quarantine as soon as possible and enables the skies to reopen at scale.”

Medicynical note: We used to carry a yellow proof of vaccination booklet when traveling, particularly in places where infectious diseases were rampant. As our knowledge of vaccinations and treatments improved that requirement slowly disappeared except for yellow fever vaccination for travel between endemic countries.

The yellow fever requirement is based on WHO recommendations:

“To prevent the international spread of the disease by protecting countries from the risk of importing or spreading the yellow fever virus. These are requirements established by the country.
The countries that require proof of
vaccination are those where the disease may or may not occur and where the mosquito vector and potential non-human primate hosts of yellow fever are present. Any importation of the virus into such countries by infected travellers could result in its propagation and establishment, leading to a permanent risk of infection for the human population. Proof of vaccination is often required for travellers arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and sometimes for travellers in transit through such countries.”


“Countries requiring yellow fever vaccination for entry do so in accordance with the International Health Regulations. Country requirements are subject to change at any time. Updates can be found at: http://www.who.int/ith.”

Without doubt proof of vaccination and/ immunity to COVID will soon be required for travel.

Listen to Science….or

The midwest states followed Trump’s lead and doubted the seriousness of the COVID pandemic. They are now facing the consequences of their ignorance. This is a terrifying graphic.

Yesterday over 1900 people died of the COVID infection……that’s the equivalent of six 747’s crashing with no survivors. And Trump continus his denial, his lies and his misinformation.

Click on the graph to follow the changes since June.

Medicynical Note: Trump and Pence mismanaged the response to the pandemic. It didn’t go away like magic. It wasn’t under control in February, March, April, May or anytime. It didn’t stop during the warm months. The strategy of “herd immunity” is killing people.

Thousands of American Citizen deaths are a direct result of republican leaders, at every level of government, ignoring science. It’s the worst civilian disaster in modern U.S. history. Nothing else compares.

The Uniquely Trumpian Response to COVID– Stupidity

Mad magazine could not have satirized libertarian/Republican hypocrisy better. Its just American Exceptionalism….again and again. Approaching 250,000 dead and these people wants more.

Medicynical note: Ignoring common sense, a politically corrupt Dr. Mengele clone arrives on the scene.

And the so-called Hoover Institution……..awaiting this guy’s dismissal.

In America Overcharging Rules

“Ms. Sussman, 51, took her whole family to get tested, and the results came back negative.”

“Then the paperwork came: $6,816 had been charged to insurance for four coronavirus tests. Ms. Sussman’s fees alone were $1,944.”

Medicynical note: a once honorable profession.

A Rotted Hulk

McCarrick, 90, was defrocked by Francis last year after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of allegations that the globe-trotting envoy and successful church fundraiser had sexually molested adults as well as children. The Vatican had reports from authoritative figures dating back to 1999 that McCarrick’s behavior was problematic, yet he continued to rise to become an influential cardinal, kingmaker and emissary of the Holy See’s “soft diplomacy.””

Medicynical note: Yes, I know we’re supposed to defer to religiosity no matter how flawed. But The Catholic Church is a special case. Yes the ritual can be view as timeless and moving but the church itself is a rotting hulk. After all, for centuries, apparently even our current one, it has condoned and hidden abusive behavior of clergy towards women and children on every continent even elevating deniers and abusers to “sainthood.” In the U.S. it wields absurd power considering that five Supreme Court justices (a majority of the court) and the attorney general are conservative true believer members of this archaic relic of the Middle Ages.

Russia’s Candidate

Supporting their candidate to the bitter end.

Medicynical note: Loyalty goes both ways

Vaccines are coming…..but it won’t be easy

Remember as well that the efficacy levels we’re seeing this morning are after the second dose. If everyone magically got the vaccine this morning, we still wouldn’t all be able to breath easy for nearly a month. And we are not all getting it this morning, for sure. It’s obvious that the pandemic is ripping through a long list of countries right now – cases are rising steeply, hospitalizations right behind, and although we’re better at treating the patients than we were, deaths are inevitably going up as well. This is all going to get worse before it gets better – but the good news here is that it really is going to get better. Keeping your head down, wearing masks and keeping your distance is more valuable than ever, because there’s an actual finish line in sight that you have to reach. Hang on for the vaccine – for the vaccines – because they really are coming.”

But

“The Pfizer/BioNTech candidate, last we heard, needs -80C storage, and that is not available down at your local pharmacy. Pfizer has been rounding up as many ultracold freezers (and as much dry ice production) as they can, but there seems little doubt that this is going to be a tough one. I know that the press release talks about getting 1.3 billion doses of this vaccine during 2021, but actually getting 1.3 billion doses out there is going to take an extraordinary effort, because you’re getting into some regions where such relatively high-tech storage and handling becomes far more difficult.”

25th Amendment Time– long overdue

The simple fact is this election is far from over,” the president said, “Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”

“Mr. Trump’s advisers said the president has refused to acknowledge that he has lost, maintaining his baseless accusation that Democrats had stolen the election.”

Medicynical note: Delusions of grandeur, paranoid ideation, unaccepting reality, uncontrolled emotional reactions. 25 th Amendment time. For the sake of the nation let numb nuts novocaine Mike handle the next three months.

Latinos Close the Door

While Democrats aggressively pushed to turn Texas blue this election cycle, they were banking on help from people like Barbara Ocañas, a highly educated, 37-year-old Latina voter from the Rio Grande valley.”

“But, after Donald Trump faced backlash for using the word “coyote” to describe human smugglers, Ocañas was turned off by liberals focused more on semantics than the actual realities of the migrant crisis affecting her home. As the daughter of a Mexican émigré, she believes that undocumented immigrants are “just people, like you and me”.”

“However, when it comes to earning US citizenship, “there is a right way and a wrong way to do it”, she said.”

Medicynical note: An interesting phenomenon among Latinos in southern Texas. Despite all the invectives and hate about Latino refuges from Trump and many of his supporters, a significant number of S.Texas Latinos voted for Trump. Driven by slowly declining petroleum industry jobs, abortion and perhaps simple contrariness they abandoned the plight of Latino refuges, separated immigrant children, asylum seekers and even DACA beneficiaries. They join others who have shut the door behind their own good fortune (most notable example Clarence Thomas) to oppose progressive policies. Sad, but it’s really happening.