Of course, this is not medical or health advise, merely reporting news, but vitamin C is a favourite amongst people from our side of politics to fight bugs. The establishment say that vitamin C is of only limited use in dealing with flues and the common cold, but that does not phase me, as I shove down spoonful’s of it, probably too much for my ageing kidneys. However, the Chinese are investigating the role that C may play in tackling the corona bug.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8067189/Chinas-doctors-racing-Vitamin-C-beat-coronavirus.html

“In China, a study is under way to see if high doses of vitamin C can help fight off coronavirus (officially known as COVID-19). Scientists at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University are testing its effects on 120 patients who have the virus, giving them daily infusions of 24g of vitamin C for seven days. Results have not yet been published. The dosage being used in China is around 60 times as much as the NHS daily recommended amount and 24 times the amount trialled against colds in reviews by Cochrane. In tests, vitamin C has worked against every virus — if given in sufficient concentration, says Dr Levy. Dr Mike Skinner, a virologist at Imperial College London, says we won’t know vitamin C’s value against coronavirus for some time, and says the dose being tested is ‘massive’. ‘They’re doing the trial,’ says Dr Skinner ‘Let’s see if it has any benefit.’”

     I was in my friendly neighbourhood supermarket, where a guy older than me, probably from WWII, lost it, being upset by regulations. “Why did I fight for this country?” he lamented, not being able to get all of his goods, and having to pack stuff, and numerous other pointless things. I said to him that it was not the staff’s fault that this was happening and that we little people are all victims. And, down the track supermarkets will probably close, so people will face mass starvation. Maybe before then we will not be even able to pay for food:
  https://au.finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/supermarket-price-rises-003401768.html

“Shoppers have accused Coles and Woolworths of “price gouging” even as supermarket shelves are being emptied by shoppers panic-buying amid fears of a looming shutdown and tens of thousands of job losses. Disgruntled shoppers on the hunt for supermarket essentials took to social media in order to air their frustrations about high prices and missing specials. “Why are there no specials in your stores at the moment - normally aisles are full of special offers but nothing- is this not price gouging while people are struggling with making ends meet?” posted one user about Coles. Another posted a photo of broccoli advertised for $11.50 per kilo. Broccoli is typically priced around $5 per kilo. Some users said they paid $5 for half a head of cauliflower, and others said they saw lettuce going for up to $8 a head. Another also said Coles’ prices were not only high, but stock was low, and asked what supermarkets were doing to help the country. The lack of specials did not go unnoticed by shoppers, with one saying there was “not one special on the shelves” and accused Woolworths of “profiteering”. A spokesperson for Woolworths said that there were multiple factors behind the price rise of produce, such as the drought and bushfire seasons impacting supply. “Due to pressures throughout the horticultural supply chain caused by drought, unseasonal weather and an unprecedented spike in demand, we're currently seeing an impact on the availability of some fresh fruit and vegetable lines,” the spokesperson said. “This has led to higher wholesale costs for some fruit and vegetable lines across the market and we're working closely with our growers to help manage this as best we can. “We understand the uncertainty facing households right now and remain focused on offering quality Australian grown food to our customers at competitive prices.” A Coles spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that the drought had hit Australian producers hard. “We are seeing upward price pressures across many agricultural categories as a result of the sustained drought across many of our producing regions. “In the case of produce, much of what our hard-working supplier partners are harvesting now was planted during tough drought conditions,” the spokesperson said. This is particularly true of vegetables such as leafy greens, broccoli, beans and corn. Meanwhile, “extreme hot weather” during Christmas and January saw the volume of tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers impacted. “Our suppliers are enjoying more favourable growing conditions over recent weeks and we are confident that vegetable volumes will improve.”

     At least there are some amusing symbolic, and totally pointless virtual signalling during these times of collective insanity, of the coronavirus plague, or whatever. Will changing symbols change behaviour? Are viruses listening, relaxed  in their microscopic safe spaces?
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8167067/McDonalds-Audi-Volkswagen-brands-creating-social-distancing-logos.html

“McDonald's, Audi, and Volkswagen are the among the brands to have created 'social distancing' versions of their iconic logos. The term has become popularised because of the rampant spread of coronavirus around the world. People are being advised by national governments to stand around 6 feet apart from each other to minimise the risk of catching the potentially deadly virus. Last week, McDonald's in Brazil pulled apart their iconic golden arches logo in a picture which was posted on their Facebook page. The tweaked logo led to criticism from Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. He responded by saying: '@McDonalds give your workers paid sick leave'. Car brand Audi released a video showing its logo with the four rings separated as they called on customers to keep their distance. Similarly, Volkswagen, whose parent company owns Audi, promoted a similar video where they separated the V and W in their logo. And Coca-Cola is currently running an advert in the now-deserted Times Square in New York showing space between each of the letters of its logo. It is accompanied by the slogan, 'Staying apart is the best way to stay connected.' And while sportswear brand Nike has not tweaked its logo it launched a social media campaign with a strapline which read, 'If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world.' McDonald's has been forced to close all its stores in the UK and the US in response to the coronavirus outbreak.” 

     Australia does not have the level of really mad libtards at the level of Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, so it will be instructive for Aussies to have a look at what she is up to. 
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/02/democrats-create-select-committee-to-investigate-trumps-coronavirus-response/  
  https://greatamericandaily.com/nancy-pelosi-accused-trump-of-this-major-crime-and-then-all-hell-broke-loose/
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/02/here-we-go-again-donald-trump-trashes-nancy-pelosi-coronavirus-witch-hunt/

“President Donald Trump ripped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday for creating a new select investigative committee to look into his handling of the coronavirus. “This is not the time for politics. Endless, partisan investigations, here we go again,” Trump said at the White House press briefing. Democrats announced Thursday that they would create a new select committee to investigate President Trump’s response efforts and his $2 trillion economic relief package. “Where there’s money, there’s also frequently mischief,” Pelosi said while announcing the creation of the committee. The president expressed disgust that Pelosi launched another “witch hunt” investigation during a crisis in the country. “It’s witch hunt after witch hunt after witch hunt. And in the end it’s people doing the witch hunt who are losing,” he said, calling the new committee a “big waste of vital resources, time, and attention.”

     It is the same kind of reasoning employed in a whole range of policies in the modern liberal state; something causes a problem, so ban it. Take firearms for example. The same causal principle lies behind the present social distancing measures: locate the cause, then ban it. And, in many cases that makes sense. But now consider this:
  https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-breathing-talking-enough-spread-airborne

“The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may spread through the air in tiny particles that infected people exhale during normal breathing and speech. Until now, experts have said that the virus, called SARS-CoV-2, doesn’t spread through the air in that way, but rather through relatively large droplets released when people cough or sneeze. Those droplets can contaminate surfaces or objects and infect people who touch the surface and then touch their faces. Large droplets are still a means of infection, but researchers now say that tiny airborne particles may also carry infectious virus. “Currently available research supports the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could be spread via bioaerosols generated directly by patients’ exhalation,” researchers from the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine wrote in an April 1 report to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. If the coronavirus is airborne, that could help explain why it is so contagious, and can spread before people have symptoms (SN: 3/13/20). As of April 2, more than 1 million people worldwide are confirmed to have COVID-19, with nearly a quarter of those cases in the United States, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University. More than 50,000 people have died worldwide, including more than 5,600 people in the United States. Wearing surgical masks can cut down on the amount of virus that infected people spread, the expert panel says, citing an unpublished study from the University of Hong Kong. The letter does not address whether wearing a mask will protect the person wearing the mask from catching the illness (SN: 3/27/20). How much virus a person must breathe in to get infected isn’t known. The report also notes that genetic material from the virus was detected more than two meters (six feet) away from patients’ hospital beds. That finding could indicate that physical distancing by at least two meters may not be enough to limit spread of the virus. Whether infectious virus could be carried that far or if the genetic material is from dead viruses isn’t yet known.”

     How far can anarcho-tyranny go? On the spot fines are nothing when the state can simply shoot you, on the spot!
  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/dead-duterte-warns-violating-lockdown-200401164531160.html

“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned he would order the country's police and military to shoot dead anyone "who creates trouble" during a month-long lockdown of the island of Luzon enforced to halt the spread of the coronavirus. "Let this be a warning to all. Follow the government at this time because it is critical that we have order," he said in a late-night televised national address on Wednesday. "And do not harm the health workers, the doctors ... because that is a serious crime. My orders to the police and the military, if anyone creates trouble, and their lives are in danger: shoot them dead." "Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose," he added in Filipino and English. Duterte's warning came after residents of a slum in Manila's Quezon City staged a protest along a highway near their shanty houses, claiming they had not received any food packs and other relief supplies since the lockdown began more than two weeks ago. Village security officers and police urged the residents to go back to their homes, but they refused, a police report said. Police broke up the protest and arrested 20 people, the report added.”

     The French word for “dead” is “mort,” and it is no surprise that our English word “mortgage” also has the connotations of death built into it. This is the field where we conspiracy theorists belong, not contesting biochemistry and things we failed at high school science. To my mind it does not matter what the causes of the present so-called pandemic pandemonium are, bioweapon, natural evolution of nasty bugs, 5 G or whatever. I am agnostic about the biology and causation. But not so the economic effects, which are real. For the US, a mortgage crisis is underway, and this alone could ring in another GFC, not KFC, apart from every other economic mystery and misery:
  https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/here-comes-next-crisis-30-all-mortgages-will-default-biggest-wave-delinquencies-history

“Unlike in the 2008 financial crisis when a glut of subprime debt, layered with trillions in CDOs and CDO squareds, sent home prices to stratospheric levels before everything crashed scarring an entire generation of homebuyers, this time the housing sector is facing a far more conventional problem: the sudden and unpredictable inability of mortgage borrowers to make their scheduled monthly payments as the entire economy grinds to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. And unfortunately this time the crisis will be far worse, because as Bloomberg reports mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. And unless the plan to buy time works - and as we reported earlier there is a distinct possibility the Treasury's plan to provide much needed liquidity to America's small businesses may be on the verge of collapse - an even worse crisis may be coming: mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem. Borrowers who lost income from the coronavirus, which is already a skyrocketing number as the 10 million new jobless claims in the past two weeks attests, can ask to skip payments for as many as 180 days at a time on federally backed mortgages, and avoid penalties and a hit to their credit scores. But as Bloomberg notes, it’s not a payment holiday and eventually homeowners they’ll have to make it all up. According to estimates by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, as many as 30% of Americans with home loans – about 15 million households – could stop paying if the U.S. economy remains closed through the summer or beyond.

     Here at ALOR.org, we are trying to cover all bases on the coronavirus pandemic, surely the most socially disruptive thing to impact upon normal social life. We have seen some of the absurd consequences of social distancing across the world, and have examined the coming economic impacts of a prolonged crisis. But there is little available from the outright “false flag” school, that conspiratorial theorists from the Dissent Right, know and love. You know, the type of argument that sees some shooting event as involving method actors, and then the proponent gets sued, goes bankrupt, then silent. However, we don’t have that in this area of debate, but there is still some level of scepticism out there.

     Here is sceptical material by David Crowe, which goes to the heart of the matter, attacking the RNA tests associated with Cov-19. The tests are allegedly inaccurate, and generate false positives, making the extent of the prevalence of the infection spread, greater than it should in reality be. The core of the problem is the failure to isolate the actual RNA of the alleged virus, Crowe believes:
  https://theinfectiousmyth.com/book/SARS.pdf
  https://theinfectiousmyth.com/book/CoronavirusPanic.pdf

     Everyone is practicing social distancing, the new “safe sex” of our age, for those who remember what things were like in the AIDS panic back in the 1980s. But, social distancing must be done, if not yet at the point of a bayonet, then at least for now, at the point of an on-the-spot-fine. That being so, is the present distance enough? Should it be over four times as much? Certainly, a light year, the distance light travels in a year, would do the trick, in principle, but, hey, this is a pandemic, and there is no room here for light-heartedness, pun intended.
  https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/is-6-feet-enough-for-social-distancing-an-mit-researcher-says-droplets-carrying-coronavirus-can-travel-up-to-27-feet/ar-BB11Ww71
  https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/1.19996!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/534024a.pdf?origin=ppub
  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852

“Lydia Bourouiba, an associate professor at MIT, has researched the dynamics of exhalations (coughs and sneezes, for instance) for years at The Fluid Dynamics of Disease Transmission Laboratory and found exhalations cause gaseous clouds that can travel up to 27 feet. Her research could have implications for the global COVID-19 pandemic, though measures called for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization call for six and three feet of space, respectively.  “There’s an urgency in revising the guidelines currently being given by the WHO and the CDC on the needs for protective equipment, particularly for the frontline health care workers,” Bourouiba told USA TODAY. Bourouiba’s research calls for better measures to protect health care workers and, potentially, more distance from infected people who are coughing or sneezing. She said current guidelines are based on “large droplets” as the method of transmission for the virus and the idea that those large droplets can only go a certain distance. In a Journal of the American Medical Association article published last week, Bourouiba said peak exhalation speeds can reach 33 to 100 feet per second and "currently used surgical and N95 masks are not tested for these potential characteristics of respiratory emissions." The idea that droplets "hit a virtual wall and stop there and after that we are safe," is not based on evidence found in her research, Bourouiba said, and also not based on "evidence that we have about COVID transmission."

     Great news! Petrol prices are way down, dirt cheap, 50 cents a litre in some places, due to geo-politics and the coronavirus, which is an unexpected positive. Now to go on a long road trip. Wait, we are imprisoned in our homes under self-arrest. So, it is all for nothing. At least I can fill up the tank of the old Holden, one, and hope that no roaming gangs milk my tank. No, petrol is too cheap. 
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8175715/Sydney-service-station-lowers-petrol-price-50-CENTS-litre.html?ito=push-notification&ci=12026&si=1326534

     And speaking of homes, house prices are a-crashing.
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8174539/Australian-house-prices-tipped-plunge-40-cent-coronavirus-hits-economy.html?ito=push-notification&ci=12014&si=1326534

     You can be sure that if a collapse of the world was at hand, then the last act of the system would be to disarm we the people. I recall my father telling me that during World War II, whether this was law or not, when it looked like the Japanese were set to invade Australia, the local cops went about to collect guns from every one who had them. The guns were put in holding cells, because there was a concern that people might fight back. I see no reason to disbelieve the old guy, so I was not surprised to read that in the present day, as more citizens are wanting guns, the authorities just close it all down:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8170307/Australians-banned-buying-GUNS-huge-surge-people-trying-hold-firearms.html

“Victorians have been banned from purchasing guns after permit applications increased amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic. Police Minister Lisa Neville said at a press conference on Tuesday the number of people attempting to access firearms and ammunition had doubled. The minister and the National Cabinet decided to pause the sales of firearms and ammunition for sporting or recreational purposes. They fear an increased amount of weapons on the street would be dangerous as tensions rise and firearms may be stockpiled or accessed by criminals. We're responding to an increase in demand for firearms and ammunition across the country by doing what we can to protect licensed firearm owners and dealers as well as the broader community,' she said. 'We sincerely hope that Victoria Police does not have to issue one of these on the spot fines, and people do the right thing. 'But for those that don't, they will be dealt with.' The minister said the fear of domestic violence figures increasing as the state shuts down was another factor behind the pause of firearm sales. The ban will exclude farmers, rural landholders, professional vermin control staff and armed guards as their jobs are considered essential and require them to have access to firearms. The Queensland Government have banned firearms dealers from remaining open as they have been declared 'non-essential services.' In Western Australia, a similar regulation has been implemented but primary producers, professional pest shooters and Indigenous people practising native title rights to hunt are allowed to access firearms and ammunition.” 

     China is working hard to deny any responsibility for the present coronavirus pandemic.  Of course, the politically correct thought police here in the West are working hard too, to make it “racist” and hence beyond the pale to speak of the “Chinese virus.” Anyway, China misled through release of incomplete and misleading data early in the piece:
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/03/31/dr-deborah-birx-incomplete-chinese-data-misled-experts-on-seriousness-of-coronavirus/

“Dr. Deborah Birx on Tuesday said that medical experts failed to understand the seriousness of the coronavirus because of incomplete data coming out of China. “I think the medical community interpreted the Chinese data as that this was serious but smaller than anyone expected,” she said. “Because I think probably we were missing a significant amount of the data.” Birx spoke about the experts’ relationship with the data during a White House press briefing on Tuesday evening. She acknowledged frankly that when she saw early data from China reporting only 50,000 cases of the virus among the 20 million people in Wuhan, China, and the 80 million in Hubei province, she felt that the threat was similar to that of SARS, which had 8,098 cases globally and 774 deaths. The devastation hitting countries like Italy and Spain and South Korea gave the experts much more complete data, helping them draw models that were far more alarming. “Let’s see if we can do much better than that,” President Donald Trump said during the briefing, pointing to the models predicting 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the United States. Trump noted that the virus was also more contagious than expected. “I think the one thing that nobody really knew about this virus was how contagious it was,” he said. “It’s so incredibly contagious, and nobody knew that.”

      What is Trump up to activating one million of the military reserve? It is hard to see why this is needed unless something utterly terrible is about to unfold, such as social breakdown, and/or World War III. Just imagine what Joe Dementia will do if he gets in, and he will not even be conscious of what he is doing, operating on instinct, not reason, like some sort of programmed insect.
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2020-03-29-prepare-for-war-trump-activates-one-million-military-reservists-coronavirus.html

“On Friday, with little fanfare, President Trump signed a new executive order that activates one million military reservists, bringing them back to active duty. This “national security & defense” executive order is entitled, “EO to Order the Selected Reserve and Certain Members of the Individual Ready Reserve of the Armed Forces to Active Duty.” It begins by citing the coronavirus pandemic and the state of emergency which has already been declared: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.),  and in furtherance of Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 (Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak), which declared a national emergency by reason of the threat that the novel (new) coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 poses to our Nation’s healthcare systems, I hereby order as follows: It goes on to describe how the, “Army, Navy, and Air Force, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard” are authorized to activate one million reservists, calling them back to active duty. Ponder for a moment what events are taking place that would require the President of the United States to activate one million military reservists. For starters, this executive order obliterates any last shred of the narrative that, “this is just the flu.” No flu has resulted in a million soldiers being called to active duty. The real reason for this call-up is that Trump and the Pentagon know the coronavirus is just the opening salvo in a new world war that was initiated by China to crush America and achieve world domination. The one million reservists are being activated because the Pentagon expects battlefield casualties on a large scale. Because that’s what happens when your nation gets invaded by a foreign power. And in case you didn’t think things were serious enough already, the Pentagon just ordered high-level staffers into a deep underground military bunker in Colorado, something that never happens from “just the flu.” You need to listen to JR Nyquist, because he knows what’s about to happen. If communist China carries out the very plans its military leaders have openly bragged about for decades, America may soon be invaded by communist Chinese troops, likely aided by UN troops who are seeking to overthrow Trump and occupy America.”

     The argument that the coronavirus is just a flu, or is instead much deadlier, would be decided by death rates. There is some evidence that many thousands died at Wuhan:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8165717/Locals-Wuhan-believe-42-000-people-died-coronavirus.html?ito=native_share_article-masthead

“Wuhan locals claim coronavirus has killed 42,000 people in the city alone, more than ten times the national figure claimed by Chinese authorities. The killer bug, which originated in Wuhan in China's Hubei Province has claimed the lives of 3,300 people and infected more than 81,000. Of those, 3,182 deaths were reported in Hubei Province. But residents in Wuhan claim 500 urns have been handed out to grieving families every day from seven separate funeral homes all serving the city. This means the ashes of 3,500 people are distributed every 24 hours. The homes - in Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang - have told grieving families that they will receive the ashes before April 5, the date of Qing Ming festival where people tend the graves of their ancestors. This means that 42,000 urns could be distributed in that 12-day period. Earlier reports stated that the Hankou premises received two shipments of 5,000 urns in just two days, according to local media. It comes as the province relaxed its two-month lockdown of 50million people.”

     I have been waiting each day for the political class to move at banning sex in some way, as it seems the next “just have to do it” thing to do as part of the present crisis:
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8174285/Coronavirus-visit-BOYFRIEND.html?ito=push-notification&ci=11992&si=1326534

“Victoria has banned couples who do not live together from seeing each other to slow the spread of coronavirus. The state imposed a 'stay at home' order from midnight on 30 March until midnight on 13 April, with a few exceptions such as shopping or exercising. One resident asked on Twitter if she was allowed to visit her partner at his home. Police Minister Lisa Neville replied: 'You cannot visit your partner for social reasons.' Asked if a social visit was allowed, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said in a press conference: 'That's not work, that's not care-giving, that's not medical care, that's not shopping for the things you need when you need them, and it does not comply with the rules. People should not do that.' The strict rule also means that single people who connect on dating apps have no way to meet each other. The rules are different in New South Wales where couples are allowed to visit each other at home. NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said visiting a partner counts as 'care' because it is vital for mental health. He said: 'I would put that under care, absolutely, mental health, that's under care… we need to look after each other.' The Victorian government website reads: 'Every interaction with another person carries the risk of transmission and should be avoided.'

Not to worry those who might need an abortion over the lock down; at least in the UK, and probably coming soon to Australia, is do it yourself abortion kits:
  https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/03/31/uk-diy-home-abortion-allowed-during-coronavirus-crisis/

“The UK government has bypassed parliament to enact emergency measures that will allow women to perform abortions at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, has approved a “temporary” change to the nation’s abortion laws, allowing women who are within the first ten weeks of their pregnancy to take abortion pills at home. Under the previous law, women were required to have an in-person consultation with a doctor before being allowed to terminate a pregnancy. The updated law will allow doctors to send women two pregnancy terminating pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, following online or telephone consultation. The law will last for up to two years, or until the end of the crisis. “We are updating our guidance so women who need an abortion up to ten weeks and can’t access a clinic can use abortion pills at home,” said a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman per The Sun. “This will be on a temporary basis and must follow a telephone or e-consultation with a doctor,” the spokesman added. The update to the law was celebrated by one of the country’s leading provider of abortion services, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which wrote: “This service will not only support the thousands of women that would usually attend one of our clinics, it will also protect our staff and the many other people these women could come into contact with.”

     I was wondering if in these terrible crazy times, if there could be a silver lining, namely that people may move away from materialism, back to God? I have in mind the Black Death, which certainly got people praying, and in times of severe crisis, when science and technology are not delivering their magic, the churches tend to fill:
  http://archive.vn/kXYyr

“Americans, chastened by the horrors of war, turned to faith in search of truth and meaning. In the late 1940s, Gallup surveys showed more than three-quarters of Americans were members of a house of worship, compared with about half today. Congress added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. Some would later call this a Third Great Awakening. Today the world faces another moment of cataclysm. Though less devastating than World War II, the pandemic has remade everyday life and wrecked the global economy in a way that feels apocalyptic. The experience is new and disorienting. Life had been deceptively easy until now. Our ancestors’ lives, by contrast, were guaranteed to be short and painful. The lucky ones survived birth. The luckier ones made it past childhood. Only in the past 200 years has humanity truly taken off. We now float through an anomalous world of air conditioning, 911 call centers, acetaminophen and pocket-size computers containing nearly the sum of human knowledge. We reduced nature to “the shackled form of a conquered monster,” as Joseph Conrad once put it, and took control of our fate. God became irrelevant. Who will save us now that the monster has broken free? “Men may live to a great age in days of comparative quietness and peaceful progress, without ever having come to grips with the universe, without ever vividly realising the problems and the paradoxes with which human history so often confronts us,” Butterfield wrote. “We of the twentieth century have been particularly spoiled; for the men of the Old Testament, the ancient Greeks and all our ancestors down to the seventeenth century betray in their philosophy and their outlook a terrible awareness of the chanciness of human life, and the precarious nature of man’s existence in this risky universe.”

     In these crazy times, here is where censorship over the coronavirus has gone, with Facebook removing a post by the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2020/03/31/coronavirus-facebook-removes-post-by-brazilian-president-jair-bolsonaro/

“Shortly after Twitter removed a post about the coronavirus pandemic by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Facebook followed suit also removing the president’s post from its platform as well. TechCrunch reports that Facebook has appeared to stray from its general policy of not fact-checking politicians and removed a post by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro relating to the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, Bolsonaro shared a post stating that “hydroxychloroquine is working in all places,” to treat the coronavirus, Facebook removed the post to prevent the spread of “misinformation that could lead to physical harm.” The company said in a statement to TechCrunch: “We remove content on Facebook and Instagram that violates our Community Standards, which do not allow misinformation that could lead to physical harm.” Facebook says it specifically prohibits false claims relating to cures, treatments, the availability of essential services and outbreak locations. The removal of the post was first reported by BBC News Brazil. In the video which was removed Bolsonaro had been speaking to a street vendor and stated that “They want to work.” Bolsonaro also added that “medicine there, hydroxychloroquine, is working in all places.”

    An important counter to the idea made by Natural News.com. and accepted by our James Reed, is that the coronavirus is a bioweapon. Those holding that line usually go the next step and see the present pandemic as a sample of what is to come, as biological weapons are used in World War III. Here is a summary of the debate:
  https://thebulletin.org/2020/03/experts-know-the-new-coronavirus-is-not-a-bioweapon-they-disagree-on-whether-it-could-have-leaked-from-a-research-lab/

“Experts seem to agree it wasn’t the product of human engineering. Much research has been focused on the hypothesis that bats passed a virus to some intermediate host—perhaps pangolins, scaly ant-eating mammals—which subsequently passed it to humans. But the pangolin theory has not been conclusively proven. Some experts wonder whether a virus under study at a lab could have been accidentally released, something that’s happened in the past. Among the latest entrants to the debate about the provenance of SARS-CoV-2 are the authors of a March 17 Nature Medicine piece that takes a look at the virus’s characteristics—including the sites on the virus that allow it to bind to human cells. They looked at whether the virus was engineered by humans and present what appears to be convincing evidence it was not. They also considered the possibility that the outbreak could have resulted from an inadvertent lab release of a virus under study but concluded “we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”

     Face masks still coming from China? Have a look at this and think about whether or not this is a good idea:
  https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3907216
  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/29/china-coronavirus-anti-foreigner-feeling-imported-cases

“Over the past few weeks, as Chinese health officials reported new “imported” coronavirus cases almost every day, foreigners living in the country have noticed a change. They have been turned away from restaurants, shops, gyms and hotels, subjected to further screening, yelled at by locals and avoided in public spaces. “I’m walking past someone, then they see my blue eyes and jump a foot back,” said Andrew Hoban, 33, who is originally from Ireland and lives in Shanghai. Experiences range from socially awkward to xenophobic. An American walking with a group of foreigners in a park in Beijing saw a woman grab her child and run the other way. Others have described being called “foreign trash”. A recent online article, under an image of ship stacked with refuse being pushed away from China’s coast, was headlined: “Beware of a second outbreak started by foreign garbage.” As China moves towards getting back to normal after months of paralysis, authorities are focused on avoiding a second wave of infections from overseas. In the last seven days, China has reported only six locally transmitted cases but dozens arriving from abroad. By last Thursday, officials had reported a total of 595 imported cases since the outbreak began, the main source being the UK. Observers say the focus on imported cases has led to an increase in anti-foreign sentiment, which according to some has been on the rise for years. “There is an effect when state media are reporting this is a foreign virus,” said Jeremiah Jenne, an American historian living in Beijing. “It is a new variation of a familiar theme: don’t trust foreigners. If there is another flare-up in China, the blame will fall on people coming from outside.” Last Saturday, the country temporarily closed its borders to all foreign arrivals. Officials have also ordered local airlines to maintain only one route per country per week. Some say the focus on foreigners – surprising given that 90% of imported cases were Chinese passport holders, according to the country’s foreign ministry – is the leadership’s attempt to shore up its image. “If there is an opportunity to make themselves look strong, competent and legitimate by capitalising on public anxiety, they’ll take it,” said Mike Gow, a lecturer at Coventry University’s School of Strategy and Leadership. “If that happens to stoke xenophobia, so be it.”