truth – Page 34 – Pat’s Answers Blog

Prayer for Saturday, February 29, 2020

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction

Exodus 18:21

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

A Republic is representative government ruled by law (the Constitution). A democracy is direct government ruled by the majority (mob rule). A Republic recognizes the inalienable rights of individuals while democracies are only concerned with group wants or needs (the public good).

This is an important distinction, one which modern Americans have failed to understand. While the nation began as a republic, there are glaring signs that the nation is veering away from its republic roots, favoring majority rule and the rejection of the Constitution on issues from granting amnesty to illegal aliens to imposing unconstitutional dictates to churches.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction

The barbarians at the gate

Serious moral conservatives can no longer live business-as-usual lives in America. We must develop creative solutions to help us hold onto our faith and our values in a world growing ever more hostile to them.

Western civilization has lost its moorings.

The time has come when men and women of virtue understand that full participation in mainstream society is no longer possible for those who want to live a life of traditional virtue.

The culture war that began with the sexual revolution of the 1960s has now produced a perhaps a mortal defeat for moral conservatives. The cultural left-which is to say, increasingly the American mainstream-has no intention of living in peace with conservatives. It is pressing forward with a harsh, relentless suppression of traditional morality. One that is aided by the cluelessness of mainstream churches who don’t seem to understand what’s happening.

It is time to wake up and to encourage our families friends and like-minded associates to strengthen themselves, while there is still time.

If we want to survive, we have to return to the roots of our faith and morality, both in thought and in practice. We must relearn habits of the heart forgotten by our society in a relentless quest for what is new, modern and inclusive.

It will not be easy.

There is no easier, softer way. We are going to have to change our lives, our expectations and our approach to life in radical ways.

In short, we must rededicate our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to the rebirth of the principles upon which our nation was founded, without compromise, no matter what the cost.

New acting director for national intellegence.

The Washington Post also buried the historic news, and then didn’t even get it right. “Grennell would be the first openly gay member of the Trump Cabinet.” Uh, that would make him the first openly gay member of ANY Cabinet.

FROM NPR: There has been another shakeup tonight with President Trump’s national security team. The president tweeted this evening that he’s replacing his acting director of national intelligence with another official who will also serve in an acting capacity. The man who’s been in the job since last August, Joseph Maguire, is out. And Richard Grenell, who’s been the U.S. ambassador to Germany, is in.

Richard Grenell has been the ambassador to Germany for the past couple years. Much of his career, he was an adviser to Republicans, Republican politicians or Republican operatives. His other diplomatic experience was – he served as a spokesman for the U.S. to the United Nations during a George W. Bush presidency. But he’s best known, really, as sort of this Trump loyalist and for being not the most diplomatic of diplomats. He very vociferously called for more NATO spending when he was in Europe, sort of angering some of the European partners. He’s been a critic of European countries who use the Chinese telecom Huawei, so he hasn’t shied away from sort of poking European countries when he served as an ambassador to Germany.

Here’s where the story gets interesting…

“Trump Names Richard Grenell as Acting Head of Intelligence,” said the New York Times.

The once-great newspaper had nothing good to say about Grennell in its fiercely biased piece.

President Trump on Wednesday named Richard Grenell, the ambassador to Germany who quickly antagonized the establishment after arriving in Berlin in 2018, to be the acting director of national intelligence overseeing the nation’s 17 spy agencies.
By choosing Mr. Grenell, who has little experience in intelligence or in running a large bureaucracy, the president signaled that he wants a trusted, aggressive leader atop an intelligence community that he has long viewed with suspicion and at times gone to war against.

Way down in the ninth paragraph, The Times wrote this: “Mr. Grenell, who has pushed to advance gay rights in his current post, is also thought to be the first openly gay cabinet member.”

“Thought to be”? Doesn’t the New York Times have any reporters anymore?

Grennell is the first openly gay Cabinet member, period. Fact. And not even a hard fact to confirm.

But Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies, was pleased with the appointment, noting its significance.

“We’re excited that @realDonaldTrump has appointed the first openly gay presidential cabinet member. @RichardGrenell is totally qualified and we’re exciting that he’ll be making history,” the group wrote on Twitter.

Just imagine the MSM’s swoon if Barack Obama had appointed the first openly gay Cabinet member.

But he didn’t. Trump did.

Is former President Obama nervous?

In 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges. Of course, he wanted a pardon from Obama, but never got one.

Ever since President Trump commuted the sentence of disgraced former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, I’ve been asking myself why he would do such a thing. I have a theory about what might have contributed to the decision, and if I’m right, Barack Obama should be concerned.

When Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008, it was then-Governor Blagojevich’s responsibility to appoint someone to fill the seat. But, Blagojevich didn’t just want to give it away, he wanted something for it. “A Senate seat is a f—ing golden thing. You don’t just give it away for nothing,” Blagojevich said at the time.

In 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges. Of course, he wanted a pardon from Obama, but never got one. That had to be tough for the disgraced governor, considering Obama granted clemency to terrorists and traitors, but couldn’t (or wouldn’t) give one to a former political ally.

This naturally should have people asking: Why?

In my opinion, it all comes back to Blagojevich’s attempt to sell Obama’s former Senate seat. Soon after Obama’s victory, negotiations began for Blagojevich to appoint an Obama-approved candidate to fill his seat. Obama even provided a list of suitable candidates. At the top of the list was Valerie Jarrett. But, as previously mentioned, Blagojevich didn’t just want to give away the seat to someone. He wanted something in return: a position in Obama’s cabinet. Unfortunately for him, at the time, he was politically unpopular and the target of a federal corruption probe, and being wiretapped by the FBI. The chances of him getting picked for a cabinet position were slim. Jarrett also eventually decided to follow Obama to the White House as an advisor.

When the Senate-seat-for-sale scandal broke, Obama denied having any contact with the governor about his Senate seat, and his transition team conducted an internal investigation, which obviously cleared him of violating any laws–because what other conclusion would the Obama transition team come to? However, the criminal complaint and sworn testimony during Blagojevich’s trial contradicted Obama’s statements, as did media reports at the time. Obama advisor David Axelrod also accidentally revealed that Obama spoke directly with Blagojevich about the Senate seat–though he later claimed he misspoke.

Blagojevich even wanted Obama subpoenaed to testify in his trial. One government witness in the trial testified that Obama sent intermediaries to negotiate on his behalf about who should be named to fill his former seat–directly contradicting Obama White House claims to the contrary.

Now that Blagojevich is a free man, slighted by Obama but ingratiated by Trump, it could mean that he’ll be willing to talk more freely about Obama’s illegal actions in the Senate-seat-for-sale scandal. I’d love to see that happen. That scandal was one of many that Obama was never held accountable for.

Natural medications

numerous “natural” plants and herbs that have been used over the centuries by folklore medicine men and women

NOTE: This post is for educational purposes only. It is NOT intended as medical advice. No health claims are to be construed or implied from the information herein.

With the “regular” flu season in full swing, not to mention the Wuhan Corona virus scare many folks are more than a bit nervous about staying healthy yet avoiding “Big Pharma”. There are, however, numerous “natural” plants and herbs that have been used over the centuries by folklore medicine men and women.

Here are a few examples;

Can you recall the last time you took antibiotics? You might have also felt a slew of side-effects like constant fatigue and digestive problems.

Granted, pharmaceutical antibiotics will destroy most kinds of bacteria, but the price you have to pay makes it completely not worth it – at least in my eyes. Pharmaceutical antibiotics kill all types of bacteria in the body – including the good ones in your gut.

When our gut gets attacked by antibiotics, we compromise our immunity big time. Our healthy gut microflora is actually how our immune system stays strong, and when antibiotics kill these bacteria, we become more prone to sickness and ill health. Not to mention, super-bugs have developed resistance to most antibacterials, making them practically useless in this day in age.

These facts alone have prompted people to turn to natural remedies that not only fight off infection, but heal the body too. Not to mention, natural antibiotics have been used for thousands of years, and have been tried and true for centuries.

With that being said, here are a few of the best time-tested antibiotics nature has to offer!

1. Garlic

Garlic contains an incredibly potent compound called allicin, which has been shown in studies to kill the super-bacteria MRSA. Garlic is also cancer-preventing, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic. Eating one clove of raw garlic 3 times a day should be enough to ward off bacteria and viruses.

2. Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver has been extensively studied in its ability to control antibiotic-resistant superbugs, such as in one study, where over 650 different disease-causing pathogens were destroyed in minutes after being exposed to a small drop of colloidal silver. Take 1-2 tsp. of colloidal silver per day, and hold it under the tongue for 30 seconds before swallowing.

3. Ginger

Ginger has not surprisingly been found to be more effective against staph infections than antibiotics (without adverse side effects). As an antibiotic, ginger out-performs commercial chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and tetracycline against pathogenic bacteria.

4. Olive Leaf Extract

Olive leaf is an incredible antioxidant, and can help metabolize blood sugar and moderate LDL cholesterol. It is great for ridding the body of candida and parasites, and can inhibit and kill harmful bacteria and viruses .

5. Turmeric

One of the most thoroughly researched plants in existence, turmeric has been proven to be as effective as 14 different drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, sulindac, phenylbutazone, naproxen, indomethacin, diclofenac, dexamethasone, celecoxib, and tamoxifen. It is especially great for reducing inflammation in the body, which is a major contributor to most chronic disease we see today. Try to get in at least a tablespoon of turmeric every day!

6. Oregano Oil

Oregano oil is one of the world’s greatest sources of the powerful phenol component thymol. It has been recently found to be significantly better than all of the 18 currently used antibiotics in the treatment of MRSA staph infections. When you buy oregano oil, make sure the oil is derived from the proper potent oregano plant, and that the carvacrol concentration is at least 70%. Adults can take up to 8 drops mixed in a glass of water, 3 times per day.

7. Echinacea

Echinacea is one of the most well-known herbs native to Eastern and Central North America. It is great for treating infections such as the cold and flu and other upper respiratory infections. The herb can be used against urinary tract infections, vaginal yeast infections, herpes, HIV/AIDS, HPV, tonsillitis, streptococcus infections, syphilis, typhoid, malaria, ear infections, warts and nose and throat infections. Do not take this herb for more than 2 weeks, otherwise, you may weaken your immune system.

8. Goldenseal

One of my favourites for fighting off a cold, goldenseal is an incredibly potent antibiotic. It contains the active component, berberine, which literally prevents bacteria from “sticking” to our cell walls. Goldenseal can be taken by mouth 3 times daily when trying to fight off infection – but don’t take for more than 2 weeks at a time.

9. Raw Honey

The best raw honey to consume locally produced. Honey works so well that it even comes in a “medical grade” for hospitals to be used for burn and wound treatment. It’s also used to kill Staphylococcus aureus and Heliobacter pylori (the bacteria that cause stomach ulcers). Honey can be eaten normally, and a couple teaspoons a day should suffice.

10. Onion

Onions are garlic’s cousin with many of the same phytochemical properties. It is best when eaten raw, and has been shown to be effective against various strains of pathogenic bacteria. It can help reduce fever, relieve nausea, clear ear infections and relieve respiratory ailments. Include some onion in your salad, sandwich, or other meal so that you can protect yourself and your body.

11. Pau D’Arco

Pau D’Arco contains two active chemicals called lapachol and beta-lapachone (otherwise known as naphthoquinones). These chemicals have the power to kill bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites. They also have shown anti-inflammatory properties, which can help with individuals dealing with osteoarthritis. Steep one tablespoon of Pau D’Arco bark in 2 cups of water and drink while warm.

12. Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) is highly antibacterial, and have been comparable to proven topical antibacterials for a wide range of gram-negative organisms and gram-positive organisms. It is also a great remedy against yeast and fungus, and can help rid the body of mold and parasites, too. A few drops in a glass of water is more than enough each day.

13. Horseradish

This spicy root is used to clear sinuses, increase circulation and expel mucus from the upper respiratory tract. It is typically used against colds, influenza and lung congestion. You don’t need a lot of this root to feel the effects – a quarter teaspoon mixed with a tablespoon of honey will have to expelling mucus in no time.

14. Myrrh

Used since time immemorial, myrrh has been traditionally used to treat indigestion, ulcers, colds, cough, asthma, lung congestion, arthritis pain, cancer, leprosy, spasms and syphilis. It is most commonly recommended for bacterial oral infections (such as mouth sores), bronchitis and sore throat. It shouldn’t be taken for longer than 2 weeks at a time.

With respect to CoVid-19 specifically;

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.105…=featured_home

At first, this particular case seems encouraging because the guy survived. Glad he did, but there are some things to read between the lines.

He was young and seemed healthy enough at the onset, except for some mild symptoms that could be easily mistaken for allergies or some mild upper respiratory issues, or something equally NOT SERIOUS.

If he was not already alert to the fact that he needed to be watchful for the possibility of coming down with the dreaded CiVid-19, no one would think he had anything of serious consequence until day 9 kicked in and things started getting real…

The full import of this virus scares the crap out of me.

It is cold and flu season right now, and the spring allergy season is right around the corner… People who are infected with this virus will think they have just a cold or an allergy, nothing to worry about, right? The symptoms are not that bad. Meanwhile, they are spreading germs everywhere they go…

So, yes. I hope I can beat it in the beginning stages with elderberry syrup. And I will be watchful for worsening symptoms, in which case I will immediately discontinue the elderberry.

Hopefully, this nasty virus won’t take too long to burn out of the population (and won’t mutate like the common cold)! Meanwhile, if you get what you think is just a cold, flu, or allergies, PLEASE wear masks and do what you can to stay away from as many people as you can (self-quarantine).

The Soldier’s Son

It is a gripping, yet terrifying look into a world that could soon very well be ours.

I am re-reading a story written by a friend of mine who goes by the nom-de-plume of D.C. Bourone. The title of the book is “The Soldier’s Son”. It is a gripping, yet terrifying look into a world that could soon very well be ours.

A quote from that book is an illustration; ““To destroy a great people, and a great nation, to destroy this once great torch of liberty, you first must destroy that people’s history. And to destroy their history, you must destroy their common language. To destroy their common language, you must destroy all physical borders and all moral boundaries.”
It can be purchased on Amazon.
Bourone, DC. A Post-Apocalyptic Story of Shattering Violence and Exquisite Revenge…: The Soldier’s Son, Books 1 & 2 . Kindle Edition.
https://www.amazon.com/Post-Apocalyptic-Shatt…/…/ref=sr_1_1…

Buy it!

Prayer for Saturday, February 22, 2020

James 4:1-3

(1) Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? (2) You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. (3) You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Education or Propaganda?

It’s worth briefly noting that the National Education Association is the largest union in the country and wields an enormous amount of power when it comes to education policy in the United States.

The state’s mechanism for school takeovers is already in place – the Department of Education (DoE), created in a fairly transparent quid pro quo between then Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Walter Mondale and the National Education Association (NEA), the largest labor union in the United States. This was the first endorsement it had ever given for a presidential candidate, support that they renewed in 1980, when Carter ran for re-election against anti-DoE candidate and future President Ronald Reagan.

One of Ronald Reagan’s most public and high-profile failures was his inability to destroy the DoE. There was very little enthusiasm for the creation of the Department of Education. However, there was virtually none – other than Reagan and his Secretary of Education appointee Terrel H. Bell – whose sole mission was to dismantle the Department and replace it with something more like the National Science Foundation.

Roughly 35 years later, the budget for the entire Department of Education stood at $70.7 billion in 2016. This did not include an additional $75 billion in pre-K education over the course of 10 years.

This is mostly spent on pushing a far-left agenda. The Mises Institute has thoroughly documented the 35 years of leftist bias at the DoE. Much of the civics curriculum is dedicated to a denunciation of America’s Founding Fathers, and a focus on slavery, racism and colonialism. The United States Constitution is not a core part of the curriculum. Great works of American literature are routinely barred in the public schools, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, and The Great Gatsby.

It’s worth briefly noting that the National Education Association is the largest union in the country and wields an enormous amount of power when it comes to education policy in the United States. After all, they got a cabinet-level department created. They have been effectively able to prevent merit pay for teachers – credentials count more than performance when calculating pay. In many states, union membership is effectively mandatory, in as much as teachers are bound by collective bargaining agreements.

Between 2004 and 2016, political donations by teachers unions grew from $4.3 million to $32 million. 94 percent of all contributions, going back to 1990, went to Democrats.

As you might expect, the entire process for allocating funds to schools is Byzantine and difficult to understand. All told, states and local schools aren’t really relying on federal funds to get kids educated – most of the money for public schools comes from pernicious property taxes, whereby the government effectively requires you to pay rent on property that you already own. Approximately 10 percent of state education budgets come from the federal government.

Funds aren’t allocated in any systematic way. They’re allocated on the basis of State Education Agencies (SEAs) filing what are basically grant requests from the federal government, based on anticipated “needs.” Some income formulas are used in this process, but they do not represent the whole of how funds are allocated. The SEAs allocate their funds largely on the basis of income, to what are called Local Education Agencies (LEAs). These agencies then allocate funds using no less than four different formulas based on income and census reports.

The final result is that money is allocated for schools in a manner that favors the least well performing. This is very much in keeping with the radical, left-wing, redistributionist agenda of the teachers unions. In the American public education system, there is simply no mechanism in place that encourages excellence. There is only a system which rewards mediocrity – the ability to pass a standardized test that, it’s assumed, “everyone,” from the smallest town in rural Mississippi to the ritziest neighborhood in Manhattan, ought to be able to pass at the same rates.

Some states allocate need based on a “per-pupil cost.” Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, the highest figure can be found in our nation’s capital: the District of Columbia gets $19,000 a head for its public school students. Some businesses exist to help school districts navigate this difficult process to get the biggest share of federal funds possible.

This is now the prerequisite to getting into college – passing the standardized test. It’s worth noting that the largest expenditure of federal funds on education is the Pell Grant, which has devalued a college education significantly while driving soaring tuition fees.

It is worth noting that homeschoolers typically exceed their government school counterparts in virtually all respects. In fourth and eighth grade reading and math, Catholic schools significantly outperformed public schools for both proficient and advanced students. A Cato Institute report stated that private schools out-performed public schools with regard to graduation rates, college matriculation, future income and parent satisfaction. This is not surprising, as homeschooled children and privately educated children exist in a bonafide marketplace of ideas. The publicly funded government schools show barely any divergence in terms of what they teach. This is increasingly true thanks to programs like “No Child Left Behind” and Common Core, both of which mandate a very narrow set of ideas and concepts to be taught in public schools.

Whether or not to educate one’s children in the government school monopoly is a choice every family must make. But, as with any important decision, parents should take into account the totality of the facts. The history of public education in the United States is one of coercion, extortion, and indoctrination.

Beyond such ideological objections to the government school monopoly, private schools tend to be safer, less violent, and better performing than their government alternatives. After all, who is going to choose to spend money on a school where their children are subject to violence, poor education standards, and constant grooming for the police state in the form of what are now ubiquitous active shooter drills. As the Cato Institute points out, there are 30 years of consistent evidence that private schools, beyond simply providing a better learning environment through safety and greater alignment with parent values, also provide a higher quality of education.

Even though not every family can afford a private education, private schools and homeschooling should be considered as a serious alternative. Evaluate the cost and benefits of homeschooling from the perspective of a loss of income. Find private grants and scholarships, in addition to the vouchers you might be eligible for. The point is to think flexibly about it and see if this is indeed an option for your family.

Even where the cost is great, the trade-off for removing your child from the government school monopoly might be well worth it.

Tin foil hat virus-another possibility

by the way, having men be more vulnerable to the Coronavirus at a rate of 5 to one is about right, when communists do cullings via methods other than starvation they kill LOTS MORE MEN because women are easier to force their will on.

This post COULD be classified as a synopsis for a science-fiction novel OR it could be a possible alternative answer to the CoronaVirus situation.

Consider the following; up until a few weeks ago the demonstrations in China against the regime were gaining both traction and international support. Suddenly, as if from nowhere the Wuhan CoronaVirus appears. It triggers first concern, then the quarantine of hundreds of thousands of Chinese, cessation of businesses, sequestration and virtual incarceration of foreign nationals and martial law. Suddenly, no more protests, no more demonstrations and international concern has shifted to the possibility of an extermination level event.

In case there is something about this “virus” that has not been proven out yet, I still encourage people to take at least basic steps to prepare. However, it really looks like this virus is going to land on: COMMUNIST CULLING.

As of last Thursday, the Chinese government has requested approximately 7 million body bags.

China cannot produce them in sufficient quantities, so orders are being placed in foreign countries. So I’d like to ask this question: “If they are being honest about a virus that has “only killed about a thousand”, WHY do they need so FREAKING MANY body bags?

Also, WHY are they insisting on incineration when there is no virus that would get through the decomposition stage in a mass grave? Obvious answer: Destruction of evidence.

If the so called enormous number of flu killed bodies is outpacing what the crematoriums can handle by SO MUCH, why are they even bothering with burning the bodies at all? Surely they would be justified in using mass graves, no one would fault them for it, yet they are not. Why?

The Chinese government has, in it’s history, an record of 80, 000, 000 executions and “disappearances”. They have used culling before, and things were getting out of hand with the protester and demonstrators. Deaths so few they cannot be discerned against statistical chatter outside of China strongly points to this.

We know through two business sources that there are now a number of textile-related factories in China that no longer do general business and are doing other special orders.

The head of one of the Chinese textile companies revealed that they had been instructed by the government to make only body bags.

Another overseas business owner also said that their partners in China are not taking orders because they “have to rush to make a million bags”.

One million body bags, and that’s a pretty staggering number (to have ordered from one manufacturer)

In fact, as early as February 1, the signature “Han Lianchao” on Twitter posted a “Wuhan body bag urgent” poster, and message “Wuhan epidemic continues to develop, the funeral industry to the whole country for assistance, the urgent need to transport body bags and other items, it seems that the death toll of Wuhan pneumonia far exceeds the official figures published.”

WHAT IF the Chinese government is insisting on body bags and cremations to hide gunshot wounds to the head or proof of death not by virus? The best way they could possibly handle this is to simply throw everyone in a deep deep trench and bury, but they’re not doing that. Why? Destruction of evidence? Evidence hidden inside a “do not open” body bag that goes straight into the fire?

WHY are they insisting on incineration? Once buried, the virus will be gone especially after the rot sets in. Bacteria will simply eat the virus.

The clock is ticking on the Communists in China, who have a history of mass cullings and there is nothing happening outside of china in the way of deaths AT ALL.

There’s a claim of one American death a couple weeks ago and one in the Philippines but that sure does not meet the profile it should, if the virus was actually a real killer there should be more deaths in the U.S. by now. Maybe we’ll get the bad news in a couple weeks and we’ll actually be doomed but at this point stuff is not adding up.

Seven figure deaths in China and the rest of the world combined is single digit?

It actually means NO DEATHS outside of china, because deaths are so few, so low you can’t hear enough to make sense of anything at all. There’s no way they can prove anyone “died of Corona” outside of China because the minimum statistical requirements to support that notion have not even approached being met. It could just be aneurysms and random crap. Seriously, something is not adding up!

A cruise ship may be the litmus test.

We probably are not going to need to wait until March 2 for an answer on Coronavirus. The Diamond Princess – which is quarantined in Japan will likely give us an answer. Over 200 people are now “Confirmed to have Coronavirus” and that’s a large enough pool of people to get a very good idea of whether or not a virus is killing people or if a regime is.

And by the way, having men be more vulnerable to the Coronavirus at a rate of 5 to one is about right, when communists do cullings via methods other than starvation they kill LOTS MORE MEN because women are easier to force their will on.

Think about that one for a while.

More viral musings

growing evidence that the Chinese government knew there were cases of this virus going back to early December, if not late November, and what that could potentially mean for the current situation and efforts at containment

More questions than answers regarding the corona virus;

1) The WHO is hardcore towing the line that China is reacting exactly as they should to this virus. No comments that I saw about whether or not they are actually welding shut the doors on apartment buildings, forcefully imprisoning even long-shot possible cases, or housing people under quarantine in crowded conditions without sufficient space or division between beds to prevent transfer of pathogens or infection from bed to bed.

2) No address of the question whether China is purposefully under reporting the numbers of infected and dead. Several independent epidemiologists have published papers showing that roughly 80-90% of the cases are going unreported in “official” numbers. Also, and this is important, no direct answer about the question of China’s changing how they are recording “confirmed” cases of the virus. The recent announcement that China is no longer counting asymptomatic, but lab-confirmed infections as “confirmed” cases since they are not displaying symptoms of the disease (at this time). The WHO spokespeople somehow tried to spin that as “casting a finer net” and that it will result in MORE, not FEWER cases. This seems blatantly false, especially since China acknowledges that some of these asymptomatic cases may develop full-blown disease later, at which time they will magically go from “not a case” to a “confirmed case” of the virus.

This change of reporting procedure is very important as it’s unclear how much of the “drop” in confirmed case count in China is due to this change in recording standards. This drop in case numbers, however, IS being treated as if it’s indicative of a reduction in actual infections. Given the change in recording, that is questionable at best.

3) WHO is pushing “solidarity” over criticism of the CCP. This is cause for concern for those of us in other nations where the virus is already beginning to show signs of person-person transmission. What it really says, to me anyway, is that even IF the reports coming out about Chinese authorities imprisoning those trying to spread the word about real numbers, forcefully detaining even potentially exposed people for quarantine, enforced isolation via doors welded shut (and the fire/safety hazard that presents) and other measures are fully endorsed by the WHO.

4) In spite of mounting evidence that containment is NOT working, the WHO is still presenting this as a viable and currently successful strategy for combating the virus. With a confirmed possible incubation period of up to 24 days, VERY easy person-person transmission, and a very extended period of illness (20+ days in ICU in many cases) this confidence is containment would appear misplaced. The issue of containment becomes more pressing given the recent change in China’s reporting standards given that there is a strong possibility that asymptomatic cases may develop symptoms days, or even weeks after the confirmed presence of the virus via laboratory results. It’s also questionable given the fact that the extreme quarantine measures in place in Wuhan are still very new. There’s a good chance given the density of the population in the quarantine centers, and the lack of effective barrier protection in the lower levels of quarantine, and the real chance that these centers could serve to amplify the virus in those conditions.

5) There was no mention that I saw of growing evidence that the Chinese government knew there were cases of this virus going back to early December, if not late November, and what that could potentially mean for the current situation and efforts at containment. No mention of the problem of potentially hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Wuhan citizens who left the city prior to the lockdown.

Another HUGE red flag that the CCP is not being totally forthcoming with the situation on the ground. They still have not requested CDC assistance. Given the size and scope of the outbreak you would think they would at least want help with the epidemiological nightmare of contact tracing the movements of +45k confirmed cases. The fact that they have had a very “closed doors” approach to this virus when it comes to both international assistance and internal voices disseminating information should be a cause for concern.

The WHO seems to be working very hard to convince the world that China is in control of the situation. China seems to be working very hard to convince the world that they are in control of the situation. In my experience, the only real reason to work very hard to convince someone you’re in control is when you’re NOT really in control.