From Medium.  Don’t forget what is happening. It is important.

Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting

Although I don’t seem to be hearing complaints, promises of COVID-19 testing still seems to be missing.  In spite of promises that everyone who wants a test will get a test, this still doesn’t seem to be the case.  It also looks like many people are dying, often in their homes, often without being tested.  There were also spikes in pneumonia deaths reported in nursing homes in the early days of the pandemic.  I one article (sorry, lost the cite) that the current overall death rate (all causes) in NYC is 8x the death rate last year at this time.

I do understand these things are hard to count, but lack of testing and possibilities of an order of magnitude undercount don’t seem acceptable for so many reasons.

Official Counts Understate the U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll:

Update:. Watching the BBC news and the lead story was about mass graves in NYC. Saw this new article that indicates about 3x the normal death rate in NYC.

Deaths in New York City Are More Than Double the Usual Total

From just the last few days, either heart attacks have completely disappeared, or are 20x more common in New York City?  Sounds like people are having more heart attacks and they are all dying.

First, from Salon:

First responders suspect “crazy increase in cardiac deaths” in NYC is linked to COVID-19

Emergency responders say the poor are dying of COVID-19 in their homes, and appear to be missed in pandemic tallies

And from the New York Times:

Where Have All the Heart Attacks Gone?

From CNN:

Czech nudists told to wear face masks by police

I knew about this because they were able to recently block a bi-partisan bill trying to stop “surprise” Emergency Room billing  (funny, autocorrect changed this, perhaps appropriately, to “bilking”).

What Wall Street doesn’t want you to know about hospital emergency rooms

Two physician staffing companies are owned by Wall Street investment firms

I’m with the author on this.  I consider myself way ahead of the curve (I like to panic early and get it over with) but I never thought Mardi Gras would be a problem at the time.  I do remember St Patrick’s Day parade gatherings (the parades were cancelled) looking like a bad idea, but that was individuals.  But hey, we still have people in my neighborhood who clearly don’t understand Social Distancing, even today.

New Orleans’ Vibe Mid-Coronavirus, Post Mardi Gras

I met Asimov when I was an undergraduate.  The thing I remember most about him was his crazy sideburns and his trying (unsuccessfully) to make off with my girlfriend.  Maybe because of that unfortunate encounter I never read any of his books.  I keep thinking of one of his quotes today.  Didn’t realize it was his but I will give credit where credit is due.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

Isaac Asimov

This turned up in my feed a few days ago and I ignored it.  I don’t click on click bait articles (well,  I try not to) and lately I ignore articles with my sort of prediction for the future.  This one felt very ignorable.  But out of boredom I gave it a click.  A good read. Taught me a lot about the French Revolution, something that has always interested me but that seemed too complicated to get a grip on without reading one of those thick history tomes. Hmm. Maybe my next book will be a history book on the French Revolution.

The Revolution Is Under Way Already

Far from making Americans crave stability, the pandemic underscores how everything is up for grabs.