WuFlu Cognitive Impairment

I can't remember where I picked up this particular label, but the acronym is WuFCI, and is pronounced wuff-see.  I'm blatantly using it without permission, but it's always better to seek forgiveness rather than ask permission.  In most cases, anyway.  So my sincere thanks to the designer or originator of this label.  It's a good one, and if you're reading this, know that you nailed the situation cleanly.



I wanted to give the current WuFCI situation a pass, for any number of reasons.  Mainly because everyone else is writing about it, and most are saying the same thing, only more better better than I'm able to articulate it.

Before repeating what everyone else has said, I think some recent history is in order.  About a week ago, the CDC summarized our current situation with this blurb:  Situation Summary as of March 12, 2020
From the article:

This is a new coronavirus.  The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019”, which is abbreviated as “COVID-19”.

On January 31, 2020, United States Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19.  On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization publicly characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic.

Which I would compare to the morning rush hour traffic report in Columbus, Ohio.  The commercial media broadcast a variant of the same stories every morning, which summarize one or more accidents on I-70, I-71 and I-270 (the beltway).  Every accident comes down to the same thing: some ding-a-ling using his cellphone crosses paths with a rabid chipmunk who's tired of tailgating him.  Seeing an opportunity, the chipmunk opens it up, simultaneously passing both gas and ding-a-ling, then cuts him off by way of revenge.  Sadly, the ding-a-ling noticed the chipmunk overtaking him in the passing lane, and lizard brain kicked in.  By reflex, the ding-a-ling accelerated.  Two pieces of matter cannot occupy the same space at the same time, so the tires howl, horns blow, fenders get bent, and the airbags go off.  A few milliseconds later everyone who saw this happen is dialing nine-one-one - while they're driving and avoiding the rubber necking dildos who are slowing down and not watching the road, and who are trying to drive, see the blood, and dial nine-one-one all at the same time.  Every so often a dump truck gets involved and people go to the ER - or the morgue.

Four hours later the news of this wreck hits the commercial airwaves.  It's old news.

This is exactly what's happening with WuFCI.  We're late to the party, and no amount of playing catch-up is going to help.

The epicenter of this outbreak of WuFlu is in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.  This would concern everyone a whole lot less than it does except that China built a few factories near Wuhan, and the Chinese government refuses to talk about just what it is those factories might be making.  All we know for sure is that shipments of lab animals go in one end and Popsicles® come out the other, and that Wuhan is where the shit hit the fan.  So the factories are probably making yo-yos, or cuckoo clocks, or maybe D-cell flashlight batteries.

But maybe not.

Here is Columbus, Ohio, we are so very fortunate to have the Columbus Board of Health, who wasted no time in hitching their float to the WuFCI parade.  Check the link as it amuses you to do so.

Coronavirus: Columbus Board of Health Declares Emergency

From the article:

The city of Columbus’ five-member Board of Health voted Friday to declare a citywide health emergency related to the coronavirus that under state laws will give city Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts sweeping powers to fight the outbreak.

Local health departments have extensive power in emergencies to quarantine people, use police and deputize "quarantine guards" with police power to enforce their efforts if people don’t cooperate, force people to undergo examinations, and other powers designed "for the prevention of contagious or infectious disease," Ohio law says.

To Roberts’ knowledge, this has never been done in Columbus history, she said at a briefing today with Mayor Andrew J. Ginther. She emphasized that the department has no current plans to use these powers, "but we will do whatever it takes," Roberts said.

And from Our Fearless Buckeye Leader, Mike DeWine:

Gov. DeWine Gives Update on Coronavirus in Ohio

"We are not flying blindly," ODH (Ohio Department of Health) Director Amy Acton said. "We have science behind us; we have pandemic plans."

DeWine and Acton have issued multiple restrictions on residents in the past week, notably a ban on most gatherings of more than 100 people and a closure of all K-12 schools for three weeks.

They're not flying blind?  The hell they aren't.  DeWine and Acton effectively shut the city of Columbus down with only three confirmed cases of WuFlu known.  No gatherings of over 100 people, bars and restaurants closed until further notice, and the idiot hoi polloi stocking up on groceries that they'll never eat as if we're got a case of the New Black Death confirmed and several thousand more suspected.

Okay, I'm being a racist.  The New White Death confirmed... what is wrong with me, anyway?  I don't live right.

Seriously, from the Leftists at the CDC, there's a Situation Summary and some of it might be taken too seriously.

The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully known.  Reported illnesses have ranged from very mild (including some with no reported symptoms) to severe, including illness resulting in death.  While information so far suggests that most COVID-19 illness is mild, a report out of China suggests serious illness occurs in 16% of cases.  Older people and people of all ages with severe underlying health conditions — like heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, for example — seem to be at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 illness.

So the Chinese either don't know or aren't saying - take your pick.

And now, for all of you who skipped to the bottom (I don't blame you.  I'm a bit verbose here.), here's my own two cents.

If we, the great unwashed of the United States, actually have an epidemic among us, just how serious is the disease?  Is it a virus that mimics the Bubonic Plague, or is it someplace at the other end of the spectrum?  In this case, it's like getting a bad cold, and like the common cold, it's easy to spread the good news.

Hindsight being 20/20, if the government were going to do something to prevent COVID-19 from becoming a problem, they should have started last December.  The things to close first are borders (President Trump has been trying to do just that, but the Moonbats objected.  Until lately, that is.), schools in grades zero through 9, because by the time they get to high school they can be taught to behave themselves.  We hope.  Child care services get closed down, along with any buffet style restaurant.  So long Golden Corral; we'll miss you.

Tell the people how to behave and what to do.  Explain that there is no cure, but that we can treat the symptoms (pneumonia), and that the old and the infirm will be the first to go.  So you might want to postpone that family reunion which will joyfully reunite the little crotch goblins with their grandparents.

The government should also warn the people not to go nuts and start buying everything in sight off the grocery shelves or stockpiling ammunition.  The whole thing isn't like that.

Seriously?  Wash your hands like you have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and stay away from anyone who looks like they have a cold, or has small children with them.

Me, I'm wondering if this is a test case for government restrictions that could be reactivated later on for completely different reasons.  I'm reminded about the house to house confiscation of guns in NOLA after the Katrina mess.  That could never happen because we have civil rights and all.


I'm also waiting for the city of Columbus to declare martial law.


Here's one writer that's particularly good.  Check out  The Russian Concern by LL.  He writes well and he knows a lot about economics and finances.  I think he's worth a read.

Look!  It's 4:30 - but the bar is closed.