Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Cryptic Phone Message is No April Fools
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida issued a stay-at-home order that will go into effect Friday night at midnight. Our roads and byways are already empty, except for grocery shoppers and local labor that is still on job sites (i.e., painters, carpenters, etc.). Restaurants are closed – take-out only if they can. So a few minutes ago, a solemn and serious message came over our landline from our local authorities stating the new order. They said our local sheriff’s office will be making more clarifications available and take questions and answers at a certain time tomorrow. We get messages like this when an impending hurricane is approaching, or other weather hazards like extreme heat, where we are asked to conserve energy. But nothing like this.
I watched on our local PBS station the story of the 1918 Flu — how it started, escalated, the tolls. It was appalling and I couldn’t finish watching it. I was trying to understand how worldwide epidemics begin and how they take the world by storm. It’s a different world since 1918. Even with SARS, Bird Flu, and Swine Flu, the swiftness of this terrible scourge across the world is nothing like we have ever experienced. I’m scared and still working. So is my husband.
More
I was a minor rock hound — a rock pup, if you will — in my youth. Nothing serious, a small collection, only a few spectacular finds of my own, the rest either dull or store-bought. I liked crystals. But not as “wellness” aids. The folklore surrounding minerals, including their medicinal use, is part of their history. Still, I found myself mildly disappointed by the degree to which even geology shops treated the folklore as true.
Almost every political discussion focuses at some point on the hysteria of the Left and the bias of the media. Most of us are tempted to throw up our hands and assume that we can do nothing to mitigate the impact of these groups, but I’m beginning to think we can. The solutions rest with understanding the nature of the Left’s catastrophic thinking, grappling with the media’s bias, and finally capitalizing on changes that are already beginning to occur.