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Balancing Risk and Reward For the Wuhan Virus and Virus-Mitigation Measures
I found reading Monday’s (August 3) Wall Street Journal depressing. The parent companies of Lord & Taylor and of Men’s Wearhouse and Joseph A. Bank filing for bankruptcy, adding to the recent bankruptcies of J.C. Penney, Brooks Brothers, Ann Taylor, Neiman-Marcus, J. Crew, and probably others I’m forgetting. Oil companies as well, because of the sudden evaporation of demand for gasoline, aviation fuel, and diesel. Maybe some or all of these companies were destined for trouble because of changes to the underlying business activities, but absent the Wuhan virus that trouble would have been spread over years, allowing time to adjust, not all concentrated in a few weeks.
Then I turned to the article on how Detroit’s experience with in-person summer school might be a glimpse into other in-person schools in the fall (article might be behind the paywall). I was horrified by what I read. Although everybody was saying positive words, the actions being taken in the name of mitigating the risk posed by the Wuhan virus struck me as almost certain to instill in children an attitude of perpetual fear, a feeling that contact with other people is nothing but a risk-laden experience. The (non-verbal) messages being conveyed to students: “Stay away from everyone.” “Cover-up.” “Hide.” “Isolate yourself from everyone.”
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Thursday was different as First Lady Melania Trump was prominently featured separately from President Trump, who closed the day out with what is becoming a daily presidential press briefing. Thursday offered a rare view of First Lady Melania Trump leading a meeting, a meeting linking her Be Best initiative and the latest pandemic.
It was a twofer Tuesday at the White House. Early in the day, Kayleigh McEnany delivered her usual elegant evisceration of the press pool jackals. President Trump then tagged and rolled in with a solo performance in a tight and disciplined 26 minutes. Off-camera, he took consequential action with his pen, signing an executive order on the Census. I extensively annotated and selectively bolded the official transcripts, presented below for your consideration. Tuesday’s performance by the president was markedly better, tighter, more disciplined, than many in the past. Or that is my view. I especially welcome feedback from those who have been supportive of his policies but off-put by his presentation manner in press conferences.
trashed by rioters, characterize federal law enforcement in cities as the actions of a dictator, and one of the latest insults came from Nancy Pelosi calling COVID-19 the “Trump Virus.” I guess I should have seen that one coming; we’ll probably hear the media saying it’s only right to name it after Trump, since he appears to be regularly calling the virus the “Chinese Virus.” You know, tit-for-tat.
Countless Americans have found themselves suddenly jobless and counting on unemployment insurance payments, but massive fraud has been revealed across multiple states, totaling millions, if not billions of taxpayer dollars. Gov. Hogan of Maryland noticed a massive influx of “out-of-state” claims during the pandemic. In an effort to get relief to the citizens of his state, claims were being processed and expedited at a rapid rate, but there was clearly something wrong. They discovered $501 million dollars in fraudulent claims along with growing evidence that the sophisticated efforts involved stealing the personal information of citizens and could possibly be national and even international in origin.
