Uncategorized

I just got in an online argument with a group of people over this proposal:

There are about 40 million people in the workforce who are susceptible to COVID 19 by either being over 50 years old or having a preexisting medical condition. We should give each of them 1 million dollars to retire, subject to the following restrictions:
1 They can no longer work.
2 They must buy an American car
3 They must buy a house cash or pay the mortgage off for whatever house they already own.
This would fix everything by allowing people to return to work and simultaneously fix the labor force by eliminating debt and unemployment. 

My reply was that this was stupid, and anyone who endorsed it obviously didn’t understand basic mathematics or economics. First, it would cost 40 TRILLION dollars to pay those 40 million people a million each. Second, there are only 15 trillion dollars in existence, so this payment would be more money than actually exists.

I was laughed at and called ridiculous. The people who called me ridiculous fell into two camps:

1 Paying 40 million people a million dollars each would only cost 40 billion dollars, less than the cost of an aircraft carrier.

2 There is no limit to the number of dollars that exist. You just add it to bank accounts on the computer, it isn’t like they actually have to PRINT the money in today’s day and age.

Sigh. I left the discussion. I just don’t have time to explain the ways that they are wrong. 

Tonight, I spoke with my son while he was on the way to the first of his 3 night shifts. He is currently working 3 day shifts, then 3 night shifts, then one day off. They would like him to work seven days a week, but he has told them that is simply too much. As it is, he is working 72 hours a week.

The hospital continues to get fewer COVID patients, and the patients who are coming in seem to be more of what the ED is used to from before all of this madness. They are waiting for the next spike that will happen as the economy reopens, and are hoping that round two will not be as bad.

Tonight we discussed some of the things that are happening around the country, and the subject came around to the possible treatment option of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. He said that the hospital where he was had begun trying that treatment about two weeks ago, but it didn’t appear to be working very well. After a week they had to stop trying it because they were out of azithromycin.

Right now all they can do is support the patient as best they can while waiting for their immune system to either win or lose the fight.

I asked him what he thought about all of the rumors from the left and right about this being some sort of profit driven conspiracy, and that the disease was no worse than the flu. His reply was: “If you can point me to a strain of the flu that causes renal failure, coagulopathies, hepatic failure, and oxygen saturations of 75% in otherwise healthy 28 year olds, I would like to see it.” He went on to say how many friends he is willing to write off for thinking that he would ever kill someone because a hospital wanted to make some extra money. He has already stopped speaking to six or seven people for accusing him of that.

The rest of the conversation was personal stuff, how he was handling his first time in NYC, that sort of thing, then he was off to work. He still hasn’t decided whether or not he will be taking that 3 week extension to his contract. He expects to know by Wednesday.

The latest report from my son Harlem is that the COVID related cases are dropping. Yesterday, there were more “normal” ED cases than there were COVID for the first time since he arrived. The powers that be are concerned that there will be a second spike once businesses reopen, so they are contracting him for another three weeks.

John Derossett was just exonerated from the charges of shooting at three deputies and hitting one. He spent five years in jail waiting for trial. The facts are:

Deputies were investigating a case of prostitution against Derosset’s live in niece. The three arrived at the home in unmarked vehicles that they parked away from the home, and were in plain clothes. The deputies did not have a warrant. They knocked on the door and, when the niece opened it, they grabbed her and dragged her out the door, which caused her to scream for help. Derosset heard her screams and went to her aid with his firearm.

When deputies saw Derosset approaching with a firearm, they released the niece and scattered. Derosset saw the men in his yard and fired a warning shot. The deputies responded by shooting at him, striking both Derosset and his niece. Derosset returned fire, shooting one of the deputies in the abdomen.

When the shooting began, Derosett’s neighbor, who was a senior officer with the Sheriff’s office, arrived and took Derosett into custody. The neighbor would later testify that Derosett was confused as to why he was being arrested. At no point during the entire incident did any of the three deputies identify themselves as law enforcement officers.

That last sentence is the one that set Dorsett free. The only sad part is that an innocent man had to spend five years in jail because some deputies didn’t do their jobs. Here is the source material.

The medical personnel are working six 12 hour days per week. Yesterday was his day off. He told me that he walked around lower Manhattan and took the ferry past the Statue of Liberty. He got pictures of the Bull in front of the Stock Exchange, and walked by Ground Zero and the Trinity Church. Of course, they are all closed and fenced off, but at least he got to see them.

This morning he sent me a video of what the hospital does every time a COVID patient is taken off the ventilator and has their breathing tube removed. The view is blurry because the staff has to carry their phones inside of sealed specimen bags so that the phone doesn’t become contaminated.

Even though they are dealing with untold tragedy dozens of times each day, they take joy and comfort where they can find it. It will not surprise me to find out that we have a large number of medical professionals experiencing PTSD over the coming months. Even though they are used to death and tragedy, there are hospitals that are dealing with a career’s worth of death in just a few weeks. I once had a stretch of death that saw me lose 26 patients in less than six months, a

The Florida governor issued a 2 page executive order (pdf warning) that reads (in pertinent part):

Section 2. I hereby suspend and toll any statute providing for an eviction cause of action under Florida law solely as it relates to non-payment of rent by residential tenants due to the COVID-19 emergency for 45 days from the date of this Executive Order, including any extensions.

Section 3. Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed as relieving an individual from their obligation to make mortgage payments or rent payments. 

The counties are interpreting this order to mean that NO evictions are permitted and are refusing to even serve process on any eviction cases whatsoever.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings explained that the county is following that order.
“Evictions can’t be processed further by the clerk or served by the sheriff. What I’m saying to you is, there is no mechanism to evict people in the state of Florida. That won’t last forever, those property owners will be able to get their money,” Demings said.

So if I have a tenant that is destroying my property, I can’t even have them evicted, even though the governor’s order only prohibits evictions for nonpayment. So let’s say that this order gets extended for another 30 days, which is likely. Now landlords are going to potentially miss out on months of income. Once they evict their tenant, the landlord will likely never see the money that they are owed.

While it seems like a kind gesture, remember that landlords have expenses, too. As soon as the government requires that one person provide something to someone else without recompense, you have established slavery. This is, IMO, a violation of the 5th Amendment’s takings clause. You have deprived that land owner of the use of his own property for public use (controlling the pandemic) without reimbursement.

Demings, a Democrat, is married to US Representative Val Demings. She is most famous around these parts for losing her duty firearm in 2009 by leaving it in her unlocked patrol vehicle while serving as the Sheriff of Orange County. As the Sheriff, she punished herself by sending herself a strongly worded letter.

Democrats love three things:
1 Socialism
2 Gun Control
3 Exempting themselves from 1 and 2

What disappoints me is that the Governor is issuing these orders. I am fully upset with those who downplay  the threat posed by the Wuhan virus, but the threat of tyranny is far greater.

During the first week of March, my son told me that his hospital was requiring workers to show up to work, even though there was no PPE available. They were each issued one disposable N95 mask and told to make it last. My son was then sent to NYC, where he has all the PPE he needs. Some of it, the staff bought themselves, but at least they have it.

Without proper PPE, this is what happens to nurses in Florida:

“She always puts people first before her,” he said. “She showed up for work one day and they didn’t have a mask for her.” He explained that her symptoms slowly got worse, including coughing and fevers, but she put off going to the hospital. She began self-isolating in her family’s living room, where her husband found her lifeless body Thursday morning.