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.