In The Shadow Of Mt Hollywood

So we've had two of the most respectable blue politicians, Gov Cuomo and Mayor Lightfoot, announce that lockdowns don't work and economies must reopen. There are headlines of a "narrative shift" with the appearance in Newsweek , which nobody has read for decades, of a respectablke study that says lockdowns don't work . So, where is the groundswell of opinion that says, "What came over us? Of course lockdowns don't work. We're destroying the economy! I hereby decree that schools immediately return to in-person classes, sports resume, restaurants and bars reopn!" Er, no. Not happeing. Gov Cuomo, in whose power it is to say those very words, has been silent. He may as well decree that the rain stop, or start, as the case may be. The lockdown is a force of nature over which he has no control, it would appear. I more or less expected this, though I'm not sure what the reasons for it are. One might be that Cuomo and Lightfoot are holding...

An unintended consequence of the 2020 electoral cycle is that it's put full responsibility for handling the COVID crisis in the hands of Democrats. This is another parallel I see with 1976, where Democrats took over in the face of worsening inflatoin and a fuel crisis and were incapable of handling them, which led to a Reagan landslide in 1980. This morning's headline is that Chicago Mayor Lightfoot is "seeking to reopen Chicago’s bars and restaurants for indoor service as soon as possible". The public rationale is that alllowing indoor drinking and dining will provide a "safer outlet" for people who will otherwise, apparently, make their hookups elsewhere. I assume that's what's meant by "cut down on underground parties where attendees do not social distance or wear masks". I suspect the real reason is that the city can't tax underground parties. I think Gov Cuomo was slightly more ingenuous when he said, “we are looking at mo...

The photo above is from a January 4 anti-mask protest at the Westfield Century City mall, where protesters caused disturbances in variouis stores at the upscale venue in the Beverly Hils-West Los Angeles area. Videos of the event went viral, although it doesn't appear that large numbers were involved. Nevertheless, just yesterday the Hollywood Reporter belatedly covered it: Amid the last gasps and bellows of the Trump presidency, it seems no place is immune to recent spikes in outgoing MAGA madness — not even deeply blue Los Angeles County. Over the past few weeks, numerous sites across the city have been converted into ideological battlegrounds pitting maskless, Trump-supporting agitators against, well, everyone else, even as more than 7,000 people are hospitalized for COVID-19 around the L.A. area and ambulances are being told not to bring in patients unlikely to survive. . . . But the ugliest event has to be the action that occurred at Westfield Century City on Jan. 4. As ...

In another update to the story of how much worse the COVID hysteria is outside the US, the video above from Montreal YouTuber David Freiheit of the Viva Frei channel outlines arrests and fines being imposed on Quebec citizens for violating an 8 PM - 5 AM COVID curfew. What interests me is that, as in the UK, local law enforcement is doing this. In the US, both police unions and police command structures have been near unanimous in announcing they enforce legislatively enacted statutes, not temporary executive orders or health regulations. As a result, governors have had to call on resurces under their direct control, such as state highway patrols, and health departments have had to rely on food inspectors, to do enforcement of COVID orders, which limits their reach. The next question is one that I don't see asked seriouisly very often. which is what effect a curfew is intended to have on the pandemic. The germs presumably spread 24/7, and people are less active at night anyhow,...

There were lots of headlines yesterday over an Andrew Cuomo tweet, which incorporated remarks in his New York State of the State address. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the economy to reopen following strict lockdowns in New York that crippled businesses. “We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open. We must reopen the economy, but we must do it smartly and safely,” he tweeted Monday morning. Even so, left, right, and center, these are the news writers who brought us the kraken. The report in the link above says Cuomo "laid out a plan to stop the spread of the coronavirus while addressing the financial struggles in the state". Er, where? Based on my reading, the speech was nothing but a series of bromides aiming to make the right noises, but I saw absolutely no specifics. Remember, all the lawsuits are plaintiff v Cuomo. As is the case with nearly every lockdown in nearly every state,...

Just so as not to obsess over the idea of impeaching a US president after he's left office (when it seems to me the mature adult reaction would be more or less to say "good riddance, let's go on with life"), I draw your attention to the video above frm a UK YouTuber who discusses a case of UK police who've imposed a £200 fine on two ladies who took a walk and bought coffee while socially distanced. The exact circumstances aren't clear, largely because I can't understand the accents of those speaking on the video, but it appears that a central issue is that the ladies are allowed to leave their homes only once a day for exercise, but the police had been watching them and appear to have detected that this is the second walk they've taken today. In the US, thank a merciful Providence, law enforcement has made it clear that it does not see this type of activity within its responsibility, and generally US civil authorities haven't specified how ofte...

I had another e-mail from the visitor who commented on crowded emergency facilities a week or so ago, this time referring in particular to a CNN story that covered a hospital in Apple Valley, CA Rural hospital staff devastated by Covid-19 patients: A couple things about this piece: Apple Valley is hardly rural; we are one of three large-sized cities in the high desert. We have three hospitals of varying sizes. It's interesting that some people are arriving by foot -- there is a bus stop right by the ER. (Not to belittle their symptoms, but those sick must not be at death's door.) In the "good ole days" the ER at St Mary's was overrun. I dislocated my shoulder 20+ years ago & had to wait three hours to be seen. (I speculate that is why St Mary's has instituted a new policy for pregnant women that come into the er. They are immediately whisked up to the OB ward to be seen instead of sitting amongst the er-ers. In fa...