Snarky Tom's Rants, Raves and Ruminations

Hello, my friends. It's been awhile. This piece was a long time coming. I just wasn't sure how to begin and end it. I'm hoping this will be the last I speak of this year-and-a-half-long event. To recap, COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. It's a virus that is from nature but could be manufactured. This particular strain we don't know for sure.  Where we left off, POTUS 45 was being as useful and productive toward the fight against this malady as he had always been. He did nothing. He withheld information. He told lies. And he had no plan. It was believed that we wouldn't have a vaccine until Summer 2021. Gratefully, this was a very conservative estimate. We had the vaccine shortly after the November 2020 election where Americans came out in record numbers to vote for their president. People will say that the sitting President was cheated out of reelection. By 8 million votes?? I don't see that as even remotely plausible. He lost. He lost. ...

 It's almost Christmas. Possibly, some of us, will be able to receive a vaccine to protect, to some extent, from the Coronavirus. The medical community and the government believe that the vaccines will only be effective if at least 70-80% of the population receives it. As supply will not meet the criteria to accomplish this feat until Summer 2021, it's going to be a long winter and spring. However, people have demonstrated a reluctance in taking the "shot."  I have been vaccinated for everything you can be vaccinated for since childhood. And that was a very long time ago. I have received the flu vaccine for 20 years. And I have never been sick or got the flu. Knock on wood. I received every childhood vaccine to prevent childhood diseases. Recently, I took my first of two shots to protect me from Shingles, the adult version of Chicken Pox, which I had an extremely mild case as a child. I will receive my second shot in about two weeks. Happy Christmas to me! The questio...

 I took August off. I just needed a break and truthfully, I'm not sure too many people are following this BLOG. Anyway. I'm back. Let's talk about some misconceptions with numbers and statistics.  I've mentioned this before. Numbers and statistics can be molded to say whatever it is you want to say. You can ignore criteria or include it. You can fluff it up or downplay your data to suit your needs, desires or the message you want to present. For instance, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 election. She did if we only counted the votes and not played into that horrible, out-dated, misaligned Electoral College. Maybe. Will we have the same results this time? Maybe. Maybe not. As of today, Labor Day, Biden is ahead in the polls. But so was Clinton in 2016. Polls can be deceiving. It discounts certain demographics or makes assumptions on others. For instance, there were a lot of people who just said, "Fuck it! I'm staying home and not voting." That is a real fact t...

I hate to say that I hate it when I'm right (correct) but that would be a fib. I love being right. And I knew I would be right in regards to the too soon reopening of the country. Why do I think it was too soon? Simple answer: Americans are too fahken stupid to follow the suggested medical advice.  Wear masks Social distance six feet Don't congregate in large groups For the last several months, all of the above have been ignored, mostly by the younger, entitled millennial ignoramus. And from people who think Trump walks on water. I know some people who are soooo ultra conservative that they won't wear masks or social distance and who are in their seventies. [Karens] Yikes! Talk about rolling the dice and hoping it doesn't come up snake eyes. As the map below tells a lot of the story. This is from the New York Times today. There has been a rise in Corona case in more than half the states. 17 states have seen a rise surpassing their previous 7-day rolling highs at the hei...