COVID's not the worst of our problems... by a long shot.

Hi Gang,

  With all the discussions COVID is producing...........such as do masks work (current day Europe would indicate they do not)......who came up with 6' as the correct spacing for social distancing.......so 5'11" is unsafe....but 6' is fine???  Have you seen those ridiculous face shields they're selling that are open on all sides???  If you smoke....inhale and put your mask on in front of a mirror.  Then exhale.  If you see any smoke you just proved wearing a mask is pointless.  But that's just one discussion.  There's lots of others......who did what and when.....was it enough....could they have done more.....who's fault is this or that.......bla, bla, bla,..........entertaining for sure, but everyone is missing the BIG picture.  And the BIG picture is what our enemies are paying attention to and learning from COVID.  They're watching us bicker, panic, hoard things, resist lockdowns, fight amongst ourselves........not educating our young......losing our livelihoods and businesses (that many have invested everything in).......and they're learning.  They're learning they don't need to get nukes to pulverize the United States/Canada/Great Britian or the EU.  They don't need to train troops, buy weapons, learn how to fly a jet into a building or even lift a finger.  All they need to do is buy a virus.  And on the black market such things are cheap.......at least cheap compared to a nuclear warhead......and so much easier to conceal and release. There are more than a couple of countries developing biological weapons that will now increase development in that arena exponentially.  And our enemies now know wars are pointless when there's such a simple, much more effective means to dominate.......and it comes in a test tube. Ask yourself this.........what good is a naval nuclear aircraft carrier task force.....that carries enough munitions to destroy the world seven times over........if its sailors, Marines and airmen are all sick or dead from a virus?  The term "firepower" has now been rendered obsolete, and the term "antidote" or "cure" has taken it's place.  What exactly would a large country do if it's population was afflicted by a deadly, quick acting virus and only their enemy (who unleased it) had the cure? Right now, this very second, the only reason our enemies won't release something worse is because they have no cure and would kill themselves as well.  But if they find a cure to a disease they've bought or cultivated......we're in very DEEP SHIT.  So the race is on.    

  The world as we know it is about to become a very dark, dangerous place.......and no one on our side seems to be paying much attention.  COVID is a "drop in the bucket" compared to what a purpose built virus can accomplish.  These were the things only some know about but never discussed before COVID.  Well.....lots of us better start talking about it now, and rather loudly.  As Lily said........hindsight IS 20/20.......but hindsight won't help with something the likes of which have never been seen before. The next virus unleased will make you wish it was ONLY as bad as COVID....but that's only if you survive, which the odds are strongly against.  I only bring this up to start a dialogue.  From here on out sticking your head in the sand will only get your ass blown off.  It's time to start paying attention to the "what if's" and the "how bad could it be's" and make sure our leaders have our backs (when they're not stuffing their pockets), and get out ahead of this nightmare.  COVID was a warning shot across the bow of humanity to see if anyone was paying attention.  I think few were.  The next round will be on target.  And it's gonna hurt.  So let's get talking..........

;0)

bob  

Hi, Bob~

You make some very good points, here, and I agree with many of them.

For myself, I say this:  When I'm worried about why I'm feeling like crap during a pandemic, and waiting for a test result that may end up reshaping my little-bubble-of-a-world, including my family, I'm not terribly focused on what some other entity may be cooking up in their biolab, in an attempt to take over the planet.  Oh, yeah...I'm terribly self-involved when it seems like my life may be about to flip upside-down, inside-out and backwards.

However, having come through the last 20 days - only mildly affected by a non-COVID virus, unlike so many souls - my eyes & mind are now ready to receive.  After my nap, though.  Forgive me, but I'm still not quite 100% myself.

Lily17~

  Hi Bob, 

You have some very real points here. It's all too easy to sit and ignore things going on around us. By having your focus preoccupied with being sick or striving hard not to get that way can consume lots of time.

You are right. That's exactly a prime way to infiltrate without being noticed. I'm sure there are many people keeping watch as we speak but you are absolutely correct. You can bet other nations are watching what happens as well. 

Thanks for putting that out there Bob! I know I appreciate it.  ..mountain. 

Hi Lily,
 

  Nap away dear girl......you earned it.  I'm not expecting folks to chime in with answers or even suggestions.  I merely wanted to plant the seed in people's minds to start thinking bigger than just yourself.  If we have to rely on our policy makers to protect us.......as is clearly evident.....it'll be too late.  We also can't be individually trouncing around the worlds' bio-labs smashing test tubes and causing a stir.  But we CAN start asking questions of those in charge........like who's going to prevent something like this from happening again......and how?  Can they at least tell us they have it covered covertly? 

  True story.........I have a close friend who lives in Upstate NY, a mile or two from the resevoirs that provide all NYC's drinking water.  After 9-11 I told him to show me these resevoirs....with me thinking they were in some way guarded, patrolled and protected.  Uhhh....nope.  They're just scenic big bodies of water that anyone could pull their car over, jump out and toss an open test tube of something into.  And within days millions in NYC would be dead.  Worse yet a few well placed vials in a few key underground water sheds would decimate the entire country in days.  It only takes one nut job with the right connections and signing up to be the first man on Mars starts to sound pretty promising.  At some point in the future just waiting for what's next will be the worst thing we can do.  Just saying......

Sweet dreams Lil'........sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.  

regards,

bob

Well Bob,

Quick reply, of which I will surely get naysayers or don'tmentioners. It's that dratted elephant in the room again.  I could not resist posting Banksy's recent art work "Achoo" here and also to gently mention that your current leader rescinded the Clean Air and Water Act amongst other things.  I have former colleagues in the states who worked hard to protect those precious resources. It is imperative that all his followers donate to his "defense fund" as he needs that money to keep up his lavish lifestyle. Think 270 million will do it?

We are in a fineable lockdown now in Alberta - about time, as our health resources cannot be stretched endlessly plus our health workers are tired. Got to dip those "it's a hoax" believers' fingers in ink to identify who should be treated if necessary. A story is only a strong as the cool aide drinkers believe it to be. I have no words for what is happening stateside, just a hope for the better and that we will eventually learn the definition of the word "lie."

Stay as safe as you can be .. and that goes for all the ostomates, as it looks like the next few months will be "the likes of which no one has ever seen before."  Just saying... K.

Hello Bob.

I do agree with many/most of the points you make about viruses and water contamination as the latter senario has already played out once here in the UK.  I also have every confidence that most nations have been developing their own bioweapons for many years. 

Few people have cottoned-on to the fact that nuclear weapons testing and output from nuclear power staions has been polluting the world's atmosphere for decades and it has coincided with the exponential rise in various cases of cancer. However, there are now a growing number of people who are predicting that all these things pale into insignificance when compared with the possibility of global warming.

This phenomenon is, of course, being caused /fed by human greed and selfishness, rather than their animosity towards each other.

Long-term history informs us that when the world gets overpopulated with a particular species, then it becomes highly likely that some event or circumstance will occur to wipe out all, or the majority of that species to make way for a 'new-dawn'.  It doesn't take a genius or 20/20 vision, to conceptualise that the rest of the world's living creatures would be so much better off without the destructive forces that the human race has imposed upon the planet.

Best wishes

Bill

America's achilles heel, perhaps? I read a JHU report stating no more elderly have died compared to previous years. The deaths are simply being reclassifiedfied as covid-related. The JHU report has since been removed from the JHU website.  Interesting times, indeed. But don't forget...when in Rome do as the Romans. 

Mark..........I think that only applied until Nero and the fire.  From that point on I think they started paying more attention.  

;0)

bob

So well put my friend, I'd like to second everything you just said.  I would also like to add that perhaps some enemies of the U.S. are working away in their labs to develop bio-weapons, there are others who have already,  quite successfully, been applying the old tried and true method of "divide and conquer".  Some may be actors who would not surprise us, Russia or China for example.  Unfortunately others are residents and citizens of the country itself, including the current Commander-in-Chief.  I truely hope the new administration can turn things around, as a country where no one trusts anyone, no one trusts anything they hear or read, and everything, and I mean everything is politicized, is a country at war with itself.  It doesn't need any enemies.

Terry

Hi Terry,

I hope you are adjusting well to your new appliance. I just finished talking to my kids in Victoria; it looks like the virus is spiking there now as well. There are still stateside, affluent tourists coming to the island who are now, not being well received. Stop those airplanes please; I wish everyone would just stay home and “try “and cooperate. Those dratted rites of passage:(

There will be no travelling across provinces to see them this Christmas, but I am looking forward to playing/zooming CodeWords (a new quite cerebral board game) with them for hours. The answers morph in different ways when supplemented with wine. Did that for my birthday - what a hoot!

Take care, my friend...Just, K.

Hi, K!

Just an aside:  MANY things morph when supplemented with wine!  ;)  Hope you had a wonderful Birthday~

Lily17~

Hi Lily - thanks and all birthdays are wonderful - another year on this side of the grass, thanks.

Hey Bob - we got this social distance measuring thing down pat up here in the north. All joking aside, cause in this world now, there is ugly overflow, masks and social distancing are all about respect.  Just, K.

Hi K,  I figured you, being the responsible person you are, wouldn't be making a trip out here for Christmas.  I have a friend in Parksville who tells me their RV parks and motels are filled with RVs and cars with plates from eastern provinces.  They have been there for months and they are most often the ones not bothering to mask up or physical distance when in public places.  The zoom thing sounds fun, I haven't tried it yet, but with a game to play and wine, sign me up!  Have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Cheers,

Terry

Hi,

It is sort of like that analogy, "Imagine if in London during the Blitz there'd been a whole bunch of people going "I'LL TURN ON MY LIGHTS IF I FEEL LIKE IT" Nobody wants to be told what to do (or asked to do something) in a free country even if it means peoples' lives are at risk. Entitlement can be a curse.

I took my senior class to the former Soviet Union – twice – way back in my younger days and even though I taught history, I really did not understand and appreciate the freedom we had until I saw it forcibly taken away from hard-working people. Their lack of access to proper education simply meant that they were easier to convince and control. 

I would suggest watching or reading Animal Farm at least once in a lifetime. It truly is food for thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxfedMNOIS4 (animated) or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGzRf0Ow1qU (1.5 hours)

It is just too bad we can't all co-operate when we are struggling with a crisis and then - see if that strategy works. Instead, the cool thing seems to be to buck the system or process. Too many people in this world now with different ways of thinking!

I think my next major move will be out to the island. If my son buys a small farm, maybe I move a trailer out there and grow my own food. Definitely check out CodeNames as it is a game that changes according to the people playing it. So fun! Just, K.

Hi K,  I might give Animal Farm another read, it's been decades.  Your retirement plans sound idyllic.  I wish I could convince my partner to move out of the metro Vancouver area to somewhere more rural on the coast or the island.  Unfortunately he's still too tied to the city.  I'm not giving up though and will continue to work on him.  Covid certainly hasn't hurt my campaign.  Living in the city right now with our high numbers and covidiots running amok....makes the boonies seem very attractive. 

T

T - I love city centers especially Vancouver; it is my Canadian favorite - jealous here.

I could live on English Bay in or near the Sylvia Hotel. I used to make an annual trek there before, for at least a decade and stay in the Sylvia, eat out at neat Bistros, do a bit of crazy, useless shopping, take the ferry over to Granville Island for some famer's market's and to visit a friend in False Creek - then either take the ferry over to Swartz Bay or if I flew or trained it to Vancouver, take the float plane over to Nanaimo. My favorite ride is the Flight over Canada at the Expo building on the waterfront. I am really a big city gal so I can be close to live theatre and symphonies etc. but a small farm on the Island near Victoria is almost equal to some acreages here in Edmonton. Every region, urban or rural, has its pluses and minuses.

Boy this thread is morphing from masks, social distancing, theories on polluted water to … a walk down memory lane. Focus Karen😊 I must be driving Bob bonkers.

Won’t it be nice when we can do all those neat things again; I am looking forward to the vaccine however the priorities will and should be our essential workers and people in care. Now that I am a senior, I may not be at the bottom of the list anymore.

One can dream … my promise to myself and my family, and my New Year’s resolution is to never take ANYTHING for granted again. The world has proven that situations can change in a heartbeat. No more would-haves, should-haves, and could-haves, as long as my faculties are still around. Continue to NOT collect stuff and resume ONLY doing stuff. Collect memories, not things our kids don’t want – ever.  A born-again minimalist  - I say. Just, K.

Hi Sis,

  No, you're not driving your brother Bob bonkers.  Nothing drives me bonkers anymore, except maybe dealing with Verizon.....but that's a different story.  No, my resolution the New Year is to TRULY, FOR REAL, not sweat the small stuff.  Like dealing with stupid people.........which you, of course, are definitely NOT one of.  Life is really too short to concern myself with any of that small nonesense......and at 56 I feel like I'm cresting the hill and can start to see the downside.  Which also means there's a real bottom.....so the clock is a tickin'.  So no, neither you or anyone else on here will drive me bonkers no matter what's said.  It's all small potatoes and I just grin. Life is what you make of it........and I'm making mine less stressful and more enjoyable. So carry on dear Sis.......

You're Lil' Bro Bob 

Hi K,  I love Vancouver too, and have never taken it for granted.  I do think I would re-kindle my appreciation of it though, if I lived just a Ferry ride away and could come and enjoy it as a tourist whenever the fancy struck me.  

T

The best thing to do is avoid as much contact outside of your own household. I noticed that some countries in Europe have opened and people in the shops and restaurants weren't wearing masks or distancing and now look what's happened.

Hey Bob---Not for nothing but the water does NOT go from that big open lake of a resevoir directly into your home.  My dad spent many years working for the North Jersey Water Commision.  His job, as he put it, was to "wash the water".    Unfortunately, there is also nothing on this earth that will quell crazy conspiracy notions with no substance.  Don't forget your space suit. ;0)  Personally, I'm more inclined to believe in the prophesies of Nostradamus and the nut in the blue turban punching that nuclear button.  All ya gotta do to buy that one is look to the middle east.

PEACE

Dadnabbit

 Hi Dad,

  I have oversimplified, but the threat is real.  Just looking at what's been documented, so it's not a leap of faith by any measure.  Try this one, but there's a ton of others, just Google "Terrorism, water supply";

https://www.waterworld.com/water-utility-management/article/16219980/terrorism-vulnerabilities-to-the-water-supply-and-the-role-of-the-consumer-a-water-security-white-paper

These days being a little more cautious than not just might save your life. 

regards,

bob