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Rolla Peace News April 21, 2020 |
Dear Friends:Editor's note: Please send in your work. I think readers would love to see more variety in this newsletter.In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) November Intelligence: When Did the US First Learn About COVID-19? b) COVID-19 Pandemic: The United States and the Countries It Sanctions c) Nicaragua: How to Avoid Shutting a Country Down d) Ceasefire Everywhere 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 23, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until Peace is established). Please join us again this Thursday in saying NO WAR AGAINST IRAN or any other country. The temperature is predicted to be around 60. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. Note: Since there are so few of us, generally 2 or 3, no need to cancel; but let's maintain social distancing. 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) November Intelligence: When Did the US First Learn About COVID-19? b) COVID-19 Pandemic: The United States and the Countries It Sanctions c) Nicaragua: How to Avoid Shutting a Country Down d) Ceasefire Everywhere November Intelligence: When Did the US First Learn About COVID-19? It was reported first by ABC News and a week later by the Times of Israel that US intelligence became aware of the coronavirus epidemic in China back in November, perhaps as early as the second week of November, at least partially through intercepted Chinese messages. US intelligence reported this to the White House and shared with Israel and NATO. Apparently, nobody did a thing. This doesn't make a lot of sense. It wasn't until December 30 that Doctor Li Wenliang became aware of the existence of 7 cases of a SARS-like infection in Wuhan. But, lets assume the reports are true. It makes authorities in China, the United States, Israel and Europe all look bad — sitting on their duffs while pandemic disease spreads out of control. Now let's assume the report is only partially true. US Intelligence became aware of the spreading epidemic in China in November; but only because they were looking for it. Why? Could it be that they had brought the virus to Wuhan themselves? We could also assume that the whole report is simply “fake news” and ignore it. Take your choice; but as for me, whereas in the past I have stated: I now have to upgrade “there is a significant probability” to “it is quite likely.”“in my opinion there is a significant probability that the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered and released in China in an act of economic or political sabotage;” If you are part of the “blame it all on China” cabal, read this article from Moon of Alabama. Moon of Alabama opines: COVID-19 Pandemic: The United States and The Countries It Sanctions“China took extreme and drastic measures at high economic costs to prevent a larger outbreak. It did not do that to deceive anyone but because it saw the seriousness of the problem. It acted in the global interest and to defeat the virus. Let's look at how the United States, and countries under US sanctions are fairing amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic:  Perhaps, if the United States were more concerned with the health of its citizens; and less concerned with empire building, war making, pampering the rich and brutalizing the unfortunate, our numbers would look more like the other numbers in the table above. And here are the numbers for a few more selected countries. If I've omitted your favorite, check the worldometers.info site.  Data from worldometers.info as of 0:00hrs gmt April 21 (7pm cdt April 20). Note: All statistics are “as reported.” There is an excellent discussion of this on the worldometers.info website. Nicaragua: How to Avoid Shutting a Country Down While Sweden is often cited as a country that has remained open in spite of the COVID pandemic, Nicaragua is a far better example. There is actually no comparison. (See tables above.) Here's a description of how they are doing it from an Estadounidense who has lived in Nicaragua for over 20 years. And this is how NOT to avoid shutting a country down.“Yesterday I went to a Nicaraguan government office to take care of necessary paperwork. At the door I was politely asked to wash my hands in one of two outdoor sinks with soap. The nice man at the door then checked my temperature with an infrared thermometer and waved me in. Just inside the door was a disinfectant mat, I was asked to wipe my shoes and then my hands were sprayed with alcohol. At the check-in desk I was given a squirt of alcohol gel for my hands and my ID, which I handed over in exchange for a visitor's ID that had also been disinfected. And if you are of the opinion that COVID-19 is no different from the flu, read this article from Science. Ceasefire Everywhere While most countries are onboard with a ceasefire in all conflicts so humanity can unite to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States and Russia apparently think a global ceasefire should not pertain to them. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Tom yushasager (at) yahoo.com |