Yep…I prefer a good ole American rye. 
And us.
But in this era of global interconnectedness and given how rapidly this virus seems to spread, travel bans aren’t as effective as you think they are.
As I have stated several times now, the genetic evidence points to a likely nine separate incursions of coronavirus into the US…from countries where we had a travel ban in place and where we did not have a travel ban in place.
Additionally, all the available evidence points to the fact that for six weeks, while we struggled to get any testing and diagnosis apparatus up and running, the virus spread pretty much unchecked through the United States.
That it is mild in 80% or so of the people who get it was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we weren’t overwhelmed right from the start. A curse because it has allowed the messaging “This is no big deal” to sink into a large part of the population.
Italy is where it is because two days before it took off there, people were still crowding into bars and trains and large events. “There’s not that many cases. Look…it’s not a big deal”.
In the exponential growth phase of a pandemic, you go from “It’s not a big deal” to “Holy ■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ in just a couple days.
If only Putin were in charge, everything would be perfect
Yup Gargle with 80 proof. 
(don’t forget to swallow)
Add a little bleach…for the taste.
The last one is…banning travel from China is completely ineffective without other measures put in place…and the ban itself was too late and also incomplete.
But at least you were bipartisan…”the flu is more dangerous” is a CEC line…
Good Gawds. I am so allergic to bleach.
I pulled up my wood floors today and there were cracks in the foundation with some type of plant growing. I considered bleach to kill it but I can’t be anywhere near bleach.
Yes, I think that the Russians have been much more vigilant in testing and chasing down contacts with infected persons. They also have reasonable travel restrictions.
A big problem is in the US is that the CDC refused to test patients who had travelled to China or other countries with outbreaks. Worst yet they refused to allow outside labs to start testing:
Inside Northwell Health’s year-old, $60-million US lab, located in an old military complex outside New York City, Dr. Dwayne Breining and his team are eager to start testing for COVID-19. But because of government missteps, they’re still in a holding pattern. Until this past week, local labs like this were essentially shut out of the testing process, which was initially centralized at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Fortunately the Trump administration has finally changed this stupid policy.
Russia must not have had the same problems.
Fortunately they did.
Better late than never I suppose.
Don’t hold your breath thinking testing and tracking is going to take off like a rocket. It won’t.
And Trump is at least partially responsible for that because his focus was on saying this was no big deal for the first couple of months.
Non fidarti mai di un Russo.
Trump was bitterly criticized for ignoring the advice of experts at WHO and the CDC when he instituted the ban on travel from China:
Now many of the same people are saying it is his fault that he did not override the CDC experts earlier to expedite testing.
Russia has apparently not had the same problems with getting testing done.
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Throughout my life, the Russians have never reported bad news quickly or accurately, if at all. And they probably are not testing.
Adam Higginbotham’s “Midnight in Chernobyl” not only documents all the efforts to cover up the disaster in Chernobyl but a slew of prior nuclear accidents… some fatal… that were never reported.
On a light note, years ago, I heard of an American woman whose purse was snatched on the Moscow subway. When she tried to report it to the police, they refused to accept her report, insisting she had lost her purse because there is no purse snatching on the Moscow subway system.
If he would have banned all travel, all cruise ships, had every test kit in the world, start quarantining people he would have been compared to this guy.
They were already calling him racist for bringing up the travel ban in China when this first started. In this hyper partisan political environment we live in this has been a God send for many who have wanted the president out from the beginning and what is saying “Never let a crisis go to waste”?
Sad I use to read The Atlantic before Trump was elected since they have become an organization of which almost ever writer is a never Trumper. This article hit the other day from Peter Wehner who was behind such unbiased articles like in 2016 NYT’s “Why I Will Never Vote for Donald Trump”. Now released this one.
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I’m sorry. But Czar Putin’s Russia is capable of minimizing reports of coronavirus.
Why did he not include the UK and Ireland in the travel ban?
Don’t trust all Italians either:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1223620740689338369
The video is from the mayor of Florence, Italy. A few days after the video the lockdown came through and you are supposed to state at least one or two meters from everyone, even people from China.
Here is a rough translation of the text above the video:
. . .we follow the indications of the health authorities and use caution, but no psychological terrorism and above all enough with the usual jackals who could not wait to use this excuse to hate and insult. United in this common battle!
But what if the common battle requires avoiding contact with other people?
He has now.
He’s still not including Americans and green card holders but will funnel them through certain airports and then ask them to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days.
Which is fine but they will have to interact with people between the airport and home.
My problem with the travel ban wasn’t that he did it.
My problem with the travel ban was it was both incomplete and too late…by the time he did it…a friggin’ month (2 months if you believe the latest reports coming out about how this actually started in China in November) after the whole thing began.
Once the virus is already in the country…travel bans do nothing.
Incomplete travel bans followed by inaction to do anything about the spread in country are WORSE…they give a false sense of security.
So people should stop comparing me to or lumping me in with what others said about it. I have stated over and over why I thought the travel ban didn’t work and I’m not going to praise him for it.
I’m studying the genetic data near real time. I KNOW the travel ban didn’t work. I also know why, scientifically and statistically, it never had a prayer of working.
I believe alcoholic bears contract the flu.
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No it wasn’t.
Do tell.
