And that is how much of my life has passed being isolated in my apartment here in Philadelphia. The last ten days have been the worst as I struggle each day to pass the time productively. I arduously clean my kitchen and bathroom every day to the point of overkill. All my clothes drawers are perfectly organized. My carpet is freshly vacuumed every day. I try to do 8-10 hours of work every day, even hijacking work I assigned to my minions just to have something to do. I should just stop looking at the clock but I am trying my best to keep regimented on real time although that seems rather moot lately.
The toughest aspect is my struggle with anxiety and depression, which has been pretty shitty the last 10 days. I haven’t had a haircut since February 25. I wake up every morning and shower, shave, and groom myself even though I haven’t had physical familiarity with any humans other than delivery people since March 12. At night to get exercise I walk around my loft at a brisk pace singing along to pop songs at the top of my lungs. Sometimes I have slept magnificently. Lately I’ve been struggling to get more than 2-3 hours sleep at a time. I may be reeling a bit.
Today I said fuck it, donned a mask, and walked for about 45 minutes. It felt great although I’m so paranoid about catching this fucking virus that I avoid people with an almost ridiculously fearful distance. Maintaining mental and physical health is tantamount to surviving this ordeal, and lately it’s been tough to keep focused. I shall do my best.
Trump has told a truckload of lies and piles upon piles of insanely and inanely stupid remarks as President, but the following exchange during his Coronavirus Press Conference on 23 April 2020 was the most insane thing a US President has ever said. Just watch this retarded asshole say something so profoundly insane it’s frightening that he’s our President.
He is advocating that people inject disinfectants to eradicate a COVID-19 infection. The man is a fucking lunatic. His insane lackey, Dr. Barbara Bix, MD, she who refuses to quit despite the fact she’s working for this fat fucking lunatic, has the most pained expression possible and actually tries to placate Trump while calmly explaining to him it is an utterly retarded idea.
This fucking idiot is President of the United States of America. This wasn’t an Onion parody, folks; we cannot make this up in these very dark, dangerous, and calamitous days. The worst human being in the world, this laughably ignorant and insane moron, this ridiculously stupid fuckwit, is the supposed leader of the free world.
What astonishes me most during this pandemic is that far too many people out there, even amid the massive evidence proving how devastating and dangerous this virus is to the human population, still refuse to accept, let alone heed to, the constant warnings of our medical scientists. There is something ridiculous about people who reject the tenets and tools of modernity like reason, logic, scientific method, and collective memory. Most do so because their kooky religions or political ideologies cannot accept anything that even remotely contradicts the fragile and often childish beliefs to which they cling as if these beliefs comprise a life vest and they are adrift in a sea satanic evil. Many other people are simply ignorant of science, logic, and reason, moreover they lack the common sense to fact check even the stupidest conspiracy theories that enflame their passions so recklessly. What guides both types, the fanatically religious and inherently stupid, is the misguided paranoia that everyone else is out to get them. They have lost the ability to be rationally and logically reasoned with by facts and evidence, instead relying on their “gut feelings” to determine what is reality and what is not.
Nitwits in North Carolina defying stay-at-home orders and social distancing to protest what, their right to suicide? You have liberty, and you are more than free to endanger yourself, morons. Just don’t endanger me. The only “tyranny” any of you face is the tyranny of your stupidity in the face of reason.
During this crisis, refusing to heed to the guidelines set forth by medical scientists can only lead to suffering and death. People are of course entitled to their own opinions, right or wrong, even the kookiest and most irrational ones, but being on the wrong side of reality today puts you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors in great peril. We don’t live on remote islands that separate us; we live in a collective society, and whether you love or hate your fellow human beings, just because your belief system makes you do self-destructive and even suicidally stupid things doesn’t give you the right to endanger your fellow citizens. Our government does have the right to impose strict guidelines, rules, and restrictions during a crisis, because the fundamental purpose of a government is to protect its people from danger and harm. Or just to protect each other from each other if necessary.
There are numerous examples emerging already of stupid and stubborn people clinging to self-destructive and suicidal beliefs that have imperiled them and their families and neighbors and fellow citizens horribly during this pandemic. I am always saddened to see people cling to ignorant and self-destructive beliefs with zero basis in reality, but I will draw the line when their behavior due to these beliefs could possibly imperil me or people I love. Yes, America is a free country, but not THAT free that you can endanger me by your selfishly insane refusal to accept reality and listen to reason in the face of a crisis of this magnitude. When you cannot grasp the scientific facts that not only protect you, but protect ME from you, then you are a danger to me. And if you die because you failed to heed to reason, logic, science, oh well, bon voyage, idiot.
The religious rejection of science and government laws and rules during a medical crisis can kill far too many of members of your irrational religious cult. Last year these same stubborn and largely ignorant Hasidic Jews were ravaged by the measles, a disease we eradicated in the United Staes back when I was child through a mandated vaccination program that saved countless millions of lives from a host of traditionally lethal childhood illnesses like the measles, mumps, rubella, smallpox, whooping cough, polio, and so many more. Being against vaccinations in the Twenty-First Century is madness, pure and simple, moreover you imperil everyone around you by not allowing your children to get vaccinated. These very same idiots are dropping like flies because they refuse to heed to the social distancing rules set forth by their state and local governments.
There is no real scientific evidence proving that vaccinations do any harm to stop allowing your children to be vaccinated. The upside to vaccination has been that tens—hundreds—of millions of children worldwide today and since the advent of mass vaccination are alive and thrive who, even a century ago, would have been horribly afflicted, and even died, by so many of the diseases we now have largely forgotten existed.
When was the last time you saw a child ravaged by polio hobbling around on crutches with both legs in braces? My Mom was afflicted by polio as a child and luckily emerged unscathed, but lots of children from her generation were not so lucky. Not a single kid from my generation suffered this indignity because of Jonah Salk’s amazing vaccine. I had a third grade teacher in her mid-30s, Miss Meyers, who was ravaged by childhood polio and spent the rest of her life confined to leg braces and crutches to get around. It is still clear in my memory. People my age, born after the Salk vaccine, do any of your children or grandchildren have similar memories? No.
Anti-Vaxxers are idiots who lack any reason in their insane stance against this miracle of medical science that has made humanity thrive. My generation was the first to fully thrive because of these brilliant scientific discoveries. Hundreds of thousands of people my age were spared horrible afflictions and early death by diseases that, just in the childhood of my parents generation, destroyed so many lives of their peers. All successive generations don’t have the anecdotal stories of how horrible it used to be that my parents related to me. Because these horrors no longer existed. The most important lesson is we must never forget from where we came historically is that Natural Selection is a demon that thrives on humans forgetting how to survive when we’ve already figured out how to vanquish some of this demon’s most devastating tricks. Reason, logic, scientific method, and our ability to remember keep us thriving and alive. When we refuse these tools due to stubborn beliefs that defy these tools for irrational reasons, we do so at great peril.
So, people, be as stupid and stubborn and suicidal as you see fit, Just stay the fuck away from me and the ones I love. Luckily Natural Selection will weed out many of the really stupid ones. I lament this fact, but since many of these idiots brought it on themselves, I shall not lament with much effort.
Coronavirus Chronicles Day 40: 21 April 2020, 13:45 EST
This is how I protected myself to walk two blocks to the pharmacy, where I avoided all human contact except with my pharmacist who was masked and safely behind a plexiglass partition. I refuse to get infected by this motherfucking virus. Upon arriving home I did a full decontamination, throwing my clothes in hot water in my washing machine and fully showering in hot water with copious lathering of soap all over. This is what we’ve come to; in my opinion, any containment effort less than my insanely OCD prevention procedure is careless by anyone.
How weird has life become in this unprecedented pandemic crisis? How about the fact that it’s a joyous occasion to score anti-bacterial liquid hand soap, toilet paper, and paper towels given their abject scarcity these days. Yes, I was elated to find these items for sale online, both on Amazon and GoPuff, moreover their arrival was cause to celebrate. Big score!
I order groceries that my Instacart shopper gets for me at the local Acme Supermarket on Front and Girard streets in Philadelphia, then delivers to my door. Once I week I renew my supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat products, coffee and tea, and various dry goods. My freezer and pantry are well stocked and I could last forever even if the food shipments stopped, mainly because I have been a “prepper” for years so I have a large supply of emergency food rations like MREs, Mountain House freeze-dried meals, and other long-lasting emergency foodstuff.
Luckily I can work from home and my company is open and paying me, which keeps me sane and financially solvent, although, luckily, I have always been good with my money and I could survive even if I get furloughed at some point. I could live on credit cards for three years or borrow from my 401k if I truly get strapped for cash. I’m cool right now and into the foreseeable future. Lucky me.
I have regimented my days with strict guidelines where I exercise, work, and rest with very disciplined rules so I don’t end up wallowing in depression and misery, or worse, lose my mind with cabin fever. I’ve been eating much less than normal to get used to the idea I may have to ration food if the future gets bleak and restocking food is difficult. I have found I can fast for long stretches, eat very little, and yet I feel fine. I have lost an incredible 18 pounds since my journey began on March 12.
I rejoined Facebook briefly to check up on my friends and family, then deleted my account about ten days later. Only one close friend has caught COVID-19, and she’s doing well after a brief, tense hospitalization. Fortunately she’s recovering well. Facebook is still poisoned by phony news memes that seem to have gotten even more partisan and batshit crazy than when I quit a few years ago. It’s like wading through a sewer that is chest-deep with shit. I can’t believe how unenlightened, gullible. and angry so many people are out there. They cling to the stupidest and most divisive fake news imaginable. The batshit crazy conspiracy theorists are poisoning the well with great gusto, plus it looks like Facebook is largely allowing this madness to fester like a puss-filled ass abscess. I look and feel healthy and content, although the first two weeks were rough as my anxiety level was high due to the uncertainty of whether I caught the bug or not on my March 12 flight from Madrid to Philly. The weight loss has been a blessing and I am hoping to lose much more until it’s safe to emerge. The biggest challenge so far is to stay mentally acute and avoid any kind of depressive or morose thinking, but that’s tough when I am isolated and haven’t left my building since mid March. My lack of human contact over these past 36 days is the toughest aspect by far. Online chatting and video conferencing is no substitute.
When this is over I will try to make sense of it all, but while living it I am content to keep a distance from the bad news and depressing mortality and infection statistics that are published every day. Part of my mental survival is tantamount on not worrying too much about that which I cannot control. And all I can really control is staying home and away from other people, eating right, and exercising to keep relatively fit. I have no idea how much longer I will remain in the suspended state, but honestly I doubt I’ll be outside again until June.
Welcome to the new world in which we live. Adapt and survive, that is the human way to fight natural selection, which is running rampant across the globe and killing hundreds of thousands of souls. I am thriving so far after 36 days. The uncertainty is difficult, but I am strong and tough and built for survival mode. I will see you all on the other side of this pandemic. When that will be is a big mystery.
My 57th birthday is in 13 days. Sadly I will be locked away in my fortress of solitude for that occasion. Such is life in this pandemic.
The most dangerous pathogen infecting America is not the COVID-19 virus. It’s stupidity. There is a rampant, virulent, and complete disassociation with logic, reason, factual evidence, and scientific method. We have tens of millions of citizens in the USA who are just downright stupid and frighteningly ignorant of the simplest facts.
Just bear witness to these folks in Michigan. They are like children who don’t understand even the simplest concepts of rational thought, logic, science, or reason. Not a single one of these dopes can name one element on the Periodic Chart. I am sure calculus and algebra are like foreign languages to them. Somehow our education system failed these people, although I suspect they failed themselves mostly.
Remember that old “country” aphorism, “Well, I ain’t book smart, but I got me loads of common sense.” These idiots lack common sense along with zero book learning. And they are armed, angry, and lashing out at imaginary demons. This makes them incredibly dangerous. Moreover, they are threatening their own safety gathering in large numbers wile this virulent pathogen COVID-19 is raging like a wildfire.
Just watch.
I honestly have nothing else to say. This could get ugly.
There is only one sane, logical, and substantive choice now for President of the United States: Joe Biden.
Bernie: I love him and his ideas, grit, honesty, and passion. But Democrats have spoken.
Liz Warren: I love her, her warmth and compassion, brilliance, strong moral character, and superb leadership in the Senate. But Democrats have spoken.
Mayor Pete: What a great campaign this smart, cool, passionate, and absolutely lovable gentleman ran! But Democrats have spoken.
Democrats have chosen Joe Biden to beat Trump this coming November and I am perfectly comfortable with this decision. We need to rally every possible Democratic voter to not only vote for Joe Biden, but for every Democratic Senate and US Representative candidate in our states and Congressional districts. While we’re at it, Democrats need to take back their respective and state and local governments. It’s time for a clean sweep.
Trump is a much worse pathogen than the coronavirus. He’s poisonous, monumentally stupid, and a massively destructive megalomaniac. The man has to go before our democracy, our freedom, and our citizenry are flushed down his gilded toilet like his daily massive turds. The man is a gigantic wrecking ball that is crushing and dismantling everything we hold dear about the USA.
Trump supporters, please go away from my blog, you are not welcome, moreover any comments you put here won’t make it beyond the review queue. I am sick and tired of listening to you; hell, I am sick of looking at you, you deluded morons. It’s like you are suicidal and want our country to fail and fall into a totalitarian state run by vicious and greedy strongmen who usurp all Constitutional power and strip you of your freedoms. Vladimir Putin loves you because you are his useful idiots supporting his campaign of chaos and anti-democratic destruction. Your inability to accept science, reason, logic, and factual evidence is proof of your deformed intellectual abilities. What the fuck is wrong with you people?
In which today I play the part of the soothsayer where I’ll postulate how this pandemic will reshape the political, social, and economic order in the USA.
1. The world economy is completely decimated. It will take a long time to recover, moreover this recovery will never return us to where we were on February 20, 2020. Those happy days are in the past, folks. Get used to diminished economic performance for many years to come. Some industries may never recover, such as leisure travel, restaurants, live sports and entertainment events, and any other businesses where great numbers of people gather together.
2. The very fragile United States of America union could split as the coastal states (New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, et al. in the east; California, Oregon, and Washington in the West) will simply ignore Trump and his flaccid and incompetent Federal Executive Branch. It’s increasingly clear Trump is insane, incompetent, and incapable of leadership. This we knew before the crisis began, but it has been amplified 1000 times greater in the last month. The man is a half-witted, delusional, utterly self-absorbed megalomaniac with zero empathy and very few skills that matter in this crisis.
3. I have grave doubts there will even be a 2020 Presidential election, which of course will only further split the union. Trump and the crazy, power-mad Republicans care only for preserving the wealth of the mega-rich and for little else, therefore they will greedily and illegally try to hold onto power through nefarious means. Plus the tens of millions of deluded nut jobs who blindly follow these people are also heavily-armed, fanatical, and extremely stupid. It could get ugly. There could actually be a secession crisis in the next decade. The USA is on very thin ice that ice is melting fast.
4. Until there is a vaccine (if that is even possible) or some kind of medial therapy that lessens the deadliest effects of the COVID-19 virus, the world cannot return to any kind of “normalcy” and social interaction between people. It could be a year or even two years before this crisis fully subsides. The pandemic will rise and fall and rise again in waves until, as I said, there’s a vaccine or efficacious medical therapies that greatly lessen its mortality rate.
5. The immense suffering has just begun, first from the virus itself, and soon it will come from the economic collapse. Untold tens of millions of people are going to be left poorer, hungrier, and more desperate with each passing month. I have no idea how even the most astute economists can predict what will happen next—this is unprecedented, and furthermore we have no idea how long the medical crisis itself will last before the economic problems can even be rightly addressed.
Is there any good news? Sure. People are essentially good and just and strong. Especially we American people. The good that will come from this is that we will all have to grow up and become much healthier, less consumption-crazed, and more empathetic to the plight of others. This virus is unleashing the dark forces of natural selection and humanity will of course learn to adapt and change to survive. This will come at a great price and with immense suffering. The worst darkness has yet to come before we will see much light. But we will see light again. We will prevail. It won’t come quickly and without casualties. In the end we’ll survive and thrive.
That is all the hope I need. I may not make it, but humanity will. Maybe it will make humanity better.
I was only on Facebook for a couple of weeks to reconnect with people to ensure everyone was safe and well during this insane pandemic gripping the world.
Mission accomplished.
This is my only social media contact with the outside world.
Hello.
There are a few things about me and my blog you should understand. Firstly, I am a free thinker and radical believer in my right to free speech. If you don’t like what I write, so be it, just go away in peace. I’m not interested in what you think of me, nor am I interested in your point of view. Go write your own blog if you want to express yourself. This is my forum. I screen all comments because I am not interested in promoting attacks against me. I respect those who attack my ideas; just lay off me personally.
Secondly, and most importantly, I am not attacking YOU personally in any of my essays—except if you are a public figure or celebrity. When you read my essays, just remember I am not trying to attack you personally in any specific manner. If I attack an idea or ideology or religion you may embrace, this doesn’t mean I am personally attacking you. No idea, ideology, or belief is above reproach. If your belief system is so fragile that you are personally offended by any general or even specific criticism of any aspect of your belief system, I am not your problem, nor does my criticism have anything to do with you. If you cannot understand this, I advise you to just go away freely right now. I have a low tolerance for a person with poor reading comprehension skills where he or she thinks any criticism of their beliefs is about him or her personally. Unless I call you by name, it is NOT about you.
