Study shows schoolchildren don't spread coronavirus

This is why your kids don't need to wear hazmat suits when school starts back up again (as if that media-backed idea was going to last past the end of August).

When the pandemic began hitting the U.S. hard in March, my first impulse would have been to close the schools. But school has got to come back sometime, and this story proves it needs to come back pretty much the same way it was before.

A new study out of France shows that schoolchildren do not spread the novel coronavirus to classmates or teachers. The scientists studied 510 students at 6 schools, and not only did the children show few or no symptoms, but also did not spread this virus.

Some countries have reopened schools just like before, and experienced no coronavirus outbreaks from it.

Other studies have backed up this study's findings.

Time to play outside!

When I was about 3, whenever my dog had to be let out, my mom said the dog was "playing outside." I didn't know yet that the dog was relieving himself instead of just playing.

As humans, we don't have to shit outdoors, but we really should be spending more time outside.

I regularly check the coronavirus numbers, and I've noticed something very interesting. The number of new cases in most states is cratering. But there's some notable exceptions in the South and Southwest.

Why?

I don't think there's any government statement on this, but there's some very clear evidence on what's going on. The states with the most new cases are ones with very hot weather right now where people are cooping up in air conditioned buildings. It's just like how the states with the most cases in April were the ones where people were congregating in buildings with heat.

Other people have noted this, and there's no way it's just a coincidence. I did see a study out of Japan that said coronavirus is 18.7 times as likely to spread indoors as outdoors, but there's very little government messaging built around this. In fact, many states are still suggesting that people stay at home (even though rigid orders to this effect have mostly withered).

Instead of "stay at home" orders, why not "stay outside" orders? The recent Black Lives Matter protests didn't spread coronavirus - and they were all outdoors.

Meanwhile, the number of new deaths is tumbling in every part of the country. Nationwide, the 7-day rolling average has fallen from 1,071 per day to 618 in only 20 days. Some governors have said that the new cases in their states are mostly young adults who gather at indoor bars. The fact that so few young adults die of coronavirus is borne out by the rapidly declining death numbers.

Our society needs some friendly messaging urging folks to be outside as much as possible. People need to have their fun, so why not have fun outdoors? If we're serious about stamping out coronavirus, this should be the clear message.

A person wore a 'Sesame Street' shirt

Earlier, I received an e-mail charging that on Thursday a grown woman was seen wearing a t-shirt with Big Bird and Elmo on it.

WHO findings on asymptomatic spread censored

The regimen of strict lockdowns is quickly fading in the United States, but some folks say that even when these orders were at full strength, you could still freely browse the Internet and devour all the information you dared.

Well, that's gone too.

On Monday, when the WHO reported its findings that asymptomatic spread of coronavirus was very rare, I posted a link to the CNBC article on my Facebook timeline. If it was some fringe group instead of the WHO, I wouldn't have trusted it. But it was the WHO, and the findings included the relevant science. I don't blindly trust any agency, and I trust news outlets far less. But when they provide credible proof - as the WHO did - it's as good as any other data.

I operate on facts and science. The WHO said its findings should lead to more focus on symptomatic patients. Those are facts, so I report on them. Period. Am I supposed to ignore science and make up stuff to fit a narrative? If reporting facts leads to fewer lockdowns and more lenient rules on individual behavior, that's life. The only people who would go to any length to argue against this data are people who actually want lockdowns to be ramped up.

So Facebook did exactly that.

This morning, I found that Facebook had flagged the link to this story as "partly false" - all because it didn't support lockdowns.

You read that right. Facebook is arguing with the WHO about coronavirus. And the article they flagged was from CNBC! The rest of the time, CNBC is doompanic central, so it's not like CNBC is out there trying to push loosened lockdowns. Yet Facebook actually flagged CNBC for not supporting lockdowns enough!

Who knows more about public health - the WHO, or some Facebook nerd who still lives in their parents' basement?

Of course, this is the same Facebook that won't flag the years-long litany of racist and classist posts by right-wingers.

The WHO didn't backtrack on Monday's findings. In fact, yesterday it reinforced them - as much as some in the elitist media wish it hadn't.

With Facebook flagging WHO reports, not only do we have months-long house arrests of whole states and countries, but censorship now too. So not only has the right to peaceably assemble been violated, but also the right to free speech.

This virus didn't disappear following months of lockdowns - despite what was promised. It won't just disappear today. There could be a vaccine just a few months from now - but there's no guarantee we'll ever have one. Viruses are out there. I've known this for a long time, and I've had to live with it. Are we supposed to stay locked at home forever if a vaccine never comes?

Our elected officials need to rein in Facebook's censorship.

WHO calls asymptomatic coronavirus spread rare

We just spent the past several months walking on eggshells for nothing.

The World Health Organization has just announced that asymptomatic carriers of coronavirus are not behind the feared virus's spread. Some suspected this was so, but perhaps the biggest reason so many were afraid of this virus was asymptomatic transmission. But now the WHO says the amount of asymptomatic spread is very rare if not negligible, and that governments should focus on symptomatic cases instead.

Lockdowns and other limits on personal behavior have been ostensibly predicated on asymptomatic transmission. In April, the CDC issued a report that used it to try to justify social distancing measures that have now worn thin. But now we know asymptomatic spread was nothing to worry about.

This is likely the most positive development in this crisis so far.

The WHO came to the latest conclusion by looking at reports from many countries that have conducted contact tracing and have not found asymptomatic transmission.

The entire ordeal of lockdowns and other authoritarian measures has been guided by ideas that have now been debunked. By worrying about a phenomenon now known to be rare, we destroyed not just the economy but also our social institutions.

Will this change our overlords' behavior? They're stubborn - and we know there's some who want lockdowns to continue forever - but now it's harder to see what the excuse is to keep it up. They've planned for months in advance as if the pandemic is still where it was in March. A year from now, it will still be March 2020 to them. But I have every right to expect policies to be based on the new information - not on what we believed 3 months ago.

Meanwhile, the number of new cases in the U.S. is plummeting. The George Floyd protests have not increased the number of cases - even though many participants show up unmasked. (I went to one of these protests at Inwood Park, and not everyone wore masks.)

Have no fear, the June ish is here!

The June edition of The Last Word is pub like the amazing superpower it is! Aren't you glad?

This ish talks about paper towels clogging a gym toilet, chewing bubble gum at protests, backstabbing by fake liberal websites, flat Earth conspiracy theories, blowing bubbles with a bandana over your face, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/464529932/The-Last-Word-6-2020

If that doesn't work, poo on over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2006.pdf

Scam political sites must be prosecuted for fraud

Whether you're liberal, moderate, or conservative, most of you have probably been deceived by political websites that falsely claimed to represent your ideas.

Those on the left have been ripped off by unprincipled Red-baiters and authoritarians who had masqueraded as civil liberties champions. Those on the right have been robbed by sites that falsely claim to stand for limited government. Folks on the right and the left were generous donors to these sites, only to be stabbed in the back.

The states need to prosecute these deceitful sites for fraud. The sites profited off donors and didn't deliver. In fact, they did the opposite of what supporters paid for. That is the very definition of fraud.

I wasn't a big donor, but I was once a fan of some so-called liberal sites involved in this scam. I notice that certain individuals are involved in multiple sites. They know who they are. And I've caught them in some of their lies as they try to profit off panic.

Prediction: A few months from now - maybe even by August - sites that scam both the right and the left will be pretending they never got this bad. In some ways, they've already started positioning themselves as voices against authoritarianism. We know it's a lie. But since they truly can't sink any lower than where they are now, it'll sound like a big improvement.

Steve King loses primary

Even Republican primary voters have seen enough of the foolishness.

Over in Iowa, white supremacist Rep. Steve King is seeing his 9-term congressional career come to a stunning end. Yesterday, he lost the Republican primary for another term.

People are fed up.

A person bunkerooed at a roadmeet

Today was the long-awaited Cincinnati roadmeet that I hosted!

A half-dozen people showed, coming from as far away as Missouri, Tennessee, and Illinois. As Roads Scholars, we drove about the roads of Cincinnati like the unassailable superpeople we are.

Someone said the meet would have drawn even more people, except that recent circumstances may have discouraged them.

Best all, as we gathered in a restaurant parking lot as we prepared to leave, I briefly detected the unmistakable bouquet of a silent-but-deadly bunker blast.

Why I stopped trusting so-called liberal websites

I think that by now, it's clear that I'm alt-left or pirate socialist - no longer actually liberal. In the past few months - through the early presidential primaries and the coronavirus crisis - I've lost almost every shred of trust I had in so-called liberal websites and in the Democratic Party.

The websites profit off panic and fear. There's never any good news to keep morale up. It's all negativity, all the time.

I don't have the sunniest personality, but there's only so much gloom you can take.

For over 2 months, these sites have backed authoritarian methods to fight the pandemic. To this day, even after most states and countries have lifted these practices, these sites support continuing them. They bash Democrats and Republicans alike who seem to support ending these policies.

These sites have used outright lies to back up their stances. All to exploit their readership for profit.

These sites have also become increasingly classist and conspiracist.

Since these are historically liberal sites, they do of course get some pushback in the comment section. But dissenters often find themselves hounded off.

The people in charge of these websites are backstabbers. People supported these sites for years - only to have these sites betray everything they stand for.

As folks on the left and the right have found enough common ground on sites like the "LockdownSkepticism" forum on Reddit that they've begun to respect each other, I've lost respect for ostensibly liberal sites that profit off panic and prolong the crisis.

They've gone clear off a cliff, and I refuse to go off the cliff with them.

Having a (bunker) blast at Sharon Woods!

Earlier, I was informed of something uproarious that occurred on the loop trail around the lake at Sharon Woods. A man walking around the lake released a loud-and-proud bunker blast that could be heard from 100 feet away.

Maybe he was practicing for a roadmeet!

Alaska to drop all coronavirus rules

Regulatory powers shouldn't be all or nothing in the fight against coronavirus. But responses that were too authoritarian should have been rejected out of hand for being doomed to fail.

Now Alaska is set to become the first U.S. state to lift all coronavirus restrictions. Certainly, local governments will be allowed to have regulations to strike a middle ground without imposing a police state. But statewide rules will be just a memory. Alaska was also one of few places in America able to block out-of-state visitors, because it does not border any other part of the U.S. Even that restriction is probably being lifted on June 2.

It's also interesting that states that repealed lockdowns the earliest - Montana is another example - now have some of the fewest cases of this virus per capita.

Nationwide, the prevalence of this virus is estimated to be less than one-fourth of what it was at its peak, based on the case count weighted with the number of tests given. But some act as if it's only getting worse, and blogs make money by whipping up this fear. If Alaska can drop all its rules, certainly the other states can drop enough of their rules that they can honestly claim to not be a command state. But don't hold your breath. Some folks don't want anything reopened until the case count is precisely zero - which may be futile even with the long-awaited vaccines or similar preventative antibody treatments coming, as even polio still has a handful of cases each year.

Panic has accomplished nothing. Only science will win - as new treatments or even vaccines will be rolled out soon.

Left and right united against lockdowns

At long last, the right and the left have found an issue they can agree on!

That issue is coronavirus-inspired lockdowns and other authoritarian responses to the pandemic. By and large, we agree with each other that the lockdowns are a failure. I never for once doubted this policy was doomed to fail, or that it was an unwarranted infringement on civil liberties - at least in regard to shutting down small private gatherings and severely limiting movement. Now there's a Reddit board against lockdowns, where the left and right stand together.

After all, does anyone really gain from these lockdowns? There's plenty of evidence proving how ineffective and harmful they are.

This anti-lockdown coalition primarily represents the rank-and-file of the right and left. It doesn't represent anti-freedom racists who have tried to exploit this issue to recruit followers, and it doesn't represent the so-called liberal blogosphere that has profited from the crisis using fear and panic. The real battle now is against elites who refuse to sacrifice but want to control or exploit everyone else.

The rank-and-file right is actually showing respect for our side, so our side gives them respect in return. Common ground is much more productive than the screeching doom and demagoguery practiced by the blogosphere that profits off the crisis. Frenzied warnings of inescapable doom now permeate self-described liberal and conservative websites alike. Reddit commenters on the left have called it an unprecedented betrayal of what the left purports to believe, and their wallets are now closed forever to websites they once supported. Those on the right have stopped supporting their former heroes as well.

What is even still right-wing about some on the right? What is liberal about those so-called liberal blogs? Today, none of us are liberal or conservative, but leftist. The botched response to the pandemic broke the country. Why wouldn't it create a political revolution too?

Ohio primary rigged and nobody does a damn thing about it

They're not even trying anymore.

Over 300 residents of Butler County, Ohio, won't have their votes counted in the recent primary election because the Postal Service delivered their ballots late. The ballots were postmarked on or before April 27 as required - but the board of elections didn't receive them until Monday, which was 3 days past the May 8 deadline to be delivered.

Why did it take 2 weeks for the Postal Service to deliver them?

I firmly support making voting easier, especially in these tough times. But when Oregon became the first state to allow voting by mail, I foresaw this very problem. By then, many government agencies had been beset by right-wing corruption. The Postal Service was certainly no exception. I started to see the Postal Service's leadership as just some political operative who holed themselves up in their room and made a pretend post office by cutting up paper grocery bags, writing fake addresses on them, and pasting them all over the bedpost.

What exactly is being done about these lost votes? So far it's just been breezily dismissed as part of life. We suffer immensely under a media and political culture that rejects science and facts like it's going out of style. Quite frankly, I think a significant number of public officials lately have no fucking idea what they're doing.

Have no fear, the May ish is here!

The May ish of The Last Word is late because of my cardiac episode and other reasons, but now it's here, so don't spill your beer!

This issue talks about people stealing from Circle K, using bubble gum to fight coronavirus, the ruinment of aircraft carrier toilets, USA Today's stupidity, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/460487980/The-Last-Word-5-2020

If that doesn't work, point it here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2005.pdf

Ludlow won't enforce social distancing in parks

As the U.S. is seeing far fewer new conservavirus cases, even mild social distancing measures are starting to wear on some.

The local city of Ludlow is reopening its parks, along with most park features such as basketball courts. And Ludlow police have put out a message on Twitter saying not to call the cops if people aren't following social distancing protocols. The post reads...

"Do not contact us because groups are congregating in the Parks.

"Ludlow Police WILL NOT be enforcing people's decisions to not social distance."

Yeah, it's over. Probably.

If this was April 8 - not May 8 - it might make sense to more rigidly police these rules. But I don't think it does any good now. How many weeks has it been since Kentucky has enforced these rules? There's "protests" at the Capitol all the time now. Ludlow's decision seems to run afoul of state rules, but it seems like the state rules just aren't being enforced anywhere anymore.

At this point, I think Sweden may have had the best approach all along.

Alabama! Pennsylvania! Game day bucket go boom!

Lockdowns are over - but only if you want it.

I think now we know how people - at least in America - react after being locked down for 7 weeks. They just stop caring about the lockdowns. After all, our public officials completely wasted most of these 7 weeks.

Today, walking around the neighborhood, I saw cars with Alabama and Pennsylvania license plates parked on the street. And this is in a neighborhood that doesn't get tourists even in normal times. So yes, people are going on roadtrips. I saw a news photo of Central Park from just a couple days ago, and photos of California beaches from the previous weekend, and it's obvious nobody cares about stay-at-home diktats anymore. Lockdowns wear on you. They're not just ineffective, but unsustainable.

I knew lockdowns would fail. I know that doesn't give anyone a license to do anything too stupid, but there's limits on what people can tolerate.

Conservavirus in the U.S. isn't spreading nearly as much as it was a month ago - because pandemics die. Viruses like this just don't stay prevalent for very long. They can't, and they won't. But I am convinced lockdowns delayed its decline. I've done my homework on this, and the experts were wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.

Be safe - but live a little.

Another electric rate increase rubber-stamped

Because this is a day ending in y, Duke Energy's latest rate increase request was of course rubber-stamped. So our already exorbitant electric rates are going up by another 10%.

I don't remember voting for this, do you?

Tuesday's cardiac incident

I knew it would come to this, but nobody listened. I'm just lucky I'm still around to tell about it.

On Tuesday morning, I suffered a cardiac incident and a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs) and had to go to the hospital. They said I was very close to either a heart attack or a stroke. I think it may have actually been a mild heart attack.

I have been very weak since then and have mostly just laid down in bed for days.

This had been building up for 6 weeks because of the ongoing crisis. It's been 6 weeks of sheer terror. My heart has been racing all the while. The hospital said I had a heart rate of 133.

In my Facebook post about this, I only made a brief mention of what caused this health scare, yet still someone was petulant enough to drop me from their friends list. Some people are not true friends. They're just lying, idiotic bullies.

When the pandemic is allowed to end, there should be a tickertape parade for the healthcare workers who put their lives in danger to save others' lives.

Nurses protest at White House

The response by many countries to the ongoing pandemic is among the worst failures in history, and America is no exception. In the United States, every level of government has completely failed.

Yesterday, a group of registered nurses held a protest outside the White House to call for mass production of medical equipment. The event was organized by National Nurses United, a nurses' union. Nurses came from as far away as California and Puerto Rico.

At the protest, the names of nurses who died from the virus were read. Protesters demanded the Trump regime use the Defense Production Act to order mass production of protective gear, test kits, ventilators, and other needs.

By all accounts, this protest had self-discipline and humility. If we're serious about any cause, that's how it has to be.

Another cause ruined by irresponsible idiots

The lockdowns have got to go. But you don't get to act like an ass about it.

Every time I join some worthwhile cause, it gets infiltrated. Every single time. Occupy is a good example.

I'm horrified at the current martial law policies. Frankly, I never even dreamed America would sink to these depths. I've actually had physical pain in my heart for over a month because of this terror. But the "protests" lately are counterproductive and idiotic, and are a scam. These events are being put together by interests that just want to exploit public sentiment instead of effectively fighting the lockdowns.

A real rally for freedom wouldn't look like the bar scene in Star Wars.

What I'm fighting against is primarily lockdowns. That's not the same as business closures or some other emergency government powers. Yes, our public officials have a responsibility to quantify and remedy economic loss from these closures. But you can't put a price tag on the horror of societal loss resulting from martial law.

The media won't cover my perspective, because they want to equate opposition to lockdowns with these "protests."

America is full of brave medical workers who don't need their work insulted by idiots who don't even give a damn about the cause they claim to support.

A person bubbled in 2 cities at the same time

Earlier, I walked around the neighborhood, and some woman bubbled in 2 cities at the same time!

As I was walking up O'Fallon Avenue - which runs on the line betwixt Bellevue and Dayton - some woman was walking across the street. She pursed her lips, and everyone knew just what was coming next. Why, she bubbled! Best all, she bubbled at the precise middle of the street - meaning she bubbled in both Bellevue and Dayton at the same time!

Gordon look-alike sighted

I've just received a very important e-mail about a celebrity look-alike. According to this bulletin, a man who strongly resembled Gordon of Sesame Street was seen at a local Meijer store. This was not the Gordon who took over in the mid-'70s, but an earlier actor.

In other comedy genius news, a man and his granddaughter were heard arguing about bunker blasts at a park.

Kentucky GOP passes unconstitutional vote suppression bill

Now is not the time to pass garbage like this - though with the bipartisan failures at fighting the current crisis, it might not make much difference.

Recently, Kentucky lawmakers passed an unconstitutional Republican bill to require a photo ID to vote. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed it. But now the legislature has overridden his veto.

Then how am I supposed to vote in the upcoming primary? Recently my ID was stolen. I can't replace it because the courthouse is closed indefinitely.

So how can I vote? Does Kentucky like being sued?

Sweden fights conservavirus without martial law

Wow, someone on Daily Kos has actually posted something intelligent about conservavirus instead of attacking people who disagree with them...

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/13/1936788/-The-facts-about-how-Sweden-is-battling-the-corona-virus-pandemic

As of that writing, Sweden has not imposed a lockdown but has seen considerable success fighting the pandemic. Some of the Daily Kos groupthinkers sided with Trump when he mischaracterized the Swedish response to the virus. I don't expect the facts to change their minds though.

Swedish authorities have warned that if people don't follow commonsense sanitation measures, they'll crack down. But - like people I see around here - folks in Sweden are heeding the advice.

Another suicide caused by lockdowns

This is the latest suicide caused by lockdowns, this time a 15-year-old girl in Stockton, California:

https://fox40.com/news/local-news/stockton-mother-reminds-parents-to-reach-out-to-their-children-after-daughters-suicide

Educators in the area say at least 2 other teen suicides may have resulted from the lockdown.

Welcome to the new materialistic world where life means nothing.

Oregon county suspends habeas corpus over conservavirus

Boom...

https://www.opb.org/news/article/umatilla-county-oregon-suspends-habeas-corpus-hearings-coronavirus

Are the people who said the government wasn't going to use conservavirus as an excuse to gut constitutional liberties happy now?

Umatilla County, Oregon - a 62% Trump county, not surprisingly - has done what the "centrist" thought police claimed would never happen. The county is using the virus as a pretext for suspending habeas corpus.

The county - which has 2 large state prisons - has canceled all habeas corpus hearings for the next 2 months. About 12 cases were canceled. Many of the inmates have severe medical conditions.

There's no reason to cancel it over the fear the virus might be spread, because in that county, these hearings are almost always by remote video or phone - not in person.

ICE protesters defy lockdown, except they really didn't

How does it defy social distancing guidelines to travel by car?

As the patchwork of martial law continues to grip America, a coalition of civil rights groups organized a protest against ICE in Newark, New Jersey. The thing about this protest is that it was by car. It wasn't on foot where people might break social distancing rules. The protest consisted of a motorcade of about 20 cars that circled 2 local ICE hotspots.

Guess what? Participants were ticketed even though they were clearly more than 6 feet apart, as they were in cars.

How is it even constitutional to ticket someone when they weren't even violating the guidelines?

ICE detaining so many people in crowded conditions is what really spreads viruses.

Airlines want to repeal refund rule

Aw, the airlines aren't making as much money as usual, the poor things.

Many flights have been canceled lately - not because the airlines feared the spread of viruses but because passengers have canceled their plans. Passengers who haven't canceled are being crammed onto more crowded flights - at a time when this is least desired. It would be better and safer to just run mostly empty flights.

Now the airline racket is begging government regulators to repeal rules that require airlines to refund customers over canceled flights. Airlines have already circumvented these rules by giving passengers credit for future travel - which expires before the end of the year - instead of refunds. Formal complaints have been already been made against airlines for this practice.

Some nobody with the airline industry said issuing refunds "is almost unbearable."

One, two, three. Aaaaaaaaaawwwwwwww!

Grow up, airlines!

Colorado man cuffed for being in public

It's as predictable as the day is long. Our right-wing overlords love a crisis, because it gives them an excuse to take our rights away.

Some folks said that nobody in any Western country would be arrested or handcuffed for violating the lockdowns unless their behavior is too egregious for the circumstances at hand. That was a lie. I knew it was a lie.

In Brighton, Colorado, a 33-year-old man was handcuffed by police at a park just for playing softball there with his family. He was cuffed and shoved into a police car in full view of his 6-year-old daughter.

The man had refused to provide identification - probably because America isn't supposed to be a right-wing police state. Well, guess what? It is now, unfortunately.

Who really violated social distancing guidelines? Small private gatherings are constitutionally protected. End of story. The police violated the guidelines by cuffing the man.

Is there any stretch of the imagination where this is even remotely acceptable?