The Park Is Closed

Some of you read my other blog and know I've been training for a half-marathon since Sept. When my state did the "stay at home" thing I had (and still have) no intention of not going for my regular runs. The one thing that changed was that a lot more people were out running, jogging and walking. Many I presume were people who usually do treadmills and now couldn't. The parks have been packed though.

Now on the face of it that could be seen as a bad thing if you are the paranoid, believe what the media is telling you, type of person. But generally, people were around people they clearly knew or lived with and generally stayed out of each others way. However; now that America has devolved into a country where half the people are either communists, communist sympathizers, or just the panicky type that likes to impose themselves on other people, I had a feeling this park situation wouldn't last

Ta-daaaaa

Yesterday, road blocks and signs abound: Closed until further notice. Of course I ran right by the signs. Did my six and went home. Today there was a police officer driving around the park. Probably was there yesterday as well but today's my first sighting. He didn't say anything to me. I said nothing to him and we each went about our business. So long as it stays that way I don't have a problem with it. Well I do, but that's not really what I wanted to post about.

I see a lot of people talking about how things need to be shut down for months.

I see some people on that "I'm getting paid to stay home. *snicker*, *snicker*" thing. Some of these people work for the state and think that the state is somehow a bottomless pit of paychecks. Well I know better.

The states ability to pay its employees is dependent in large part on tax revenue. With businesses being closed that means no tax revenue for the state. No gas tax cause nobody is driving. No sales tax 'cause nobody is in the stores buying (except toilet paper). And when mass unemployment happens lower income taxes for those states that have it. Now I have been through previous state mandated furloughs caused by economic problems. 7 days off without pay. A LOT of my co-workers were, shall we say, fucked. Do you think that when that 2021 budget comes around with the big ZERO where March and April revenues were supposed to be, that layoffs won't happen? That pay cuts won't happen. Yeah, you keep snickering and chuckling about the "paid to stay home".

Oh and for those who were working a second job to stay afloat or get ahead, Well, I hope it's a business the state decided was essential.

*Where Are The Recoveries?*

Now I've previously posted that recoveries are a [way] trailing indicator. Still is. I'm getting concerned that it's still trailing because it's been nearly 4 weeks. At this point we should be getting reports either way. We're getting the "x amount of new cases" and "y numbers of deaths" but not "z numbers recovered". This is bothering me. I've been reading a number of articles, which I won't link to because the claims can't be verified, where large numbers of people have been treated with the anti-malarial drugs and yet there is NO comment whatsoever about how many recovered. Why not? Why is this information being withheld? Other reports, from other countries have made claims to the extent of 99% recoveries with a combination of zinc, and anti-viral and the malaria drug. I have seen none of these reports on so called mainstream media. But, as I said, I see x new cases and y new deaths.

Is there a [good] reason for why recoveries are not being reported to the public?

Part of the reason I ask about this is because some people are talking about lock downs being in place until a vaccine in found?

Hell no.

Vaccines take a long time to develop. Unless you have something on the level of Ebola, you don't shut down society until a vaccine is found. We as a species have lived with viruses and bacteria to which we had and have no vaccines for since we have been on the planet. We have always gone about our business when these things happen. This is not "new". Lets assume that the current apparent treatment is in fact effective (I think it is and I think that some of the silence around recoveries is to protect the supply). If that is the case then these lock downs need to end. Those found to be infected should be given a regimen and not hospitalized (assuming no need for a ventilator). Some people aren't going to make it. That's a part of life. Deal with it. Hell it may be me. I accept that risk.

*Survival of The Fittest*

Reports are showing that cardio vascular disease and diabetes has surpassed hypertension as the leading pre-existing condition leading to severe Wuhan virus symptoms. I was wondering why CVD would be up top. Well it turns out that since this virus attacks the lungs pretty aggressively making the patient essentially suffocate, those with high aerobic capacities would be better positioned to survive. This would also explain why there is a relatively large cohort of non-elderly who get severe symptoms (but usually don't die). I started doing MAF training in December. MAF training is a way to increase one's aerobic capacity for endurance events. That is, the faster I can run at a heart rate that is at my maximum aerobic capacity, then the faster I can run without burning limited sugar stores. In essence, I can do more with less oxygen use. I was shocked to find out that I wasn't as aerobically fit as I thought I was. Now I'm much more fit and even my regular walks require less cardio-vascular effort than it used to. This means that if I suffer an illness that reduces my oxygen intake, I have more wiggle room before I require external help.

Most Americans are obese. As I wrote earlier, a very large proportion of African-Americans are obese and are very aerobically unfit. This includes a large proportion of young people who are winded by going up a single flight of stairs. If you can't currently go up a flight of stairs without heavy breathing you may want to seriously consider wearing a mask in public. Just saying.