Where did the national Stockpile of N95 Respirator Masks go?
“After the swine flu epidemic in 2009, a safety-equipment industry association and a federally sponsored task force both recommended that depleted supplies of N95 respirator masks […] be replenished by the stockpile.” The problem is that didn’t happen. According to Charles Johnson, president of the International Safety Equipment Association, about 100 million N95 respirator masks were used up during the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, but, he said was unaware of any “major effort to restore the stockpile to cover that drawdown.”
In short, even though the Obama administration was advised to replenish the national stockpile of the N95 respirator masks, they didn’t. Despite the fact the media traced the cause of the shortage back to 2009, they accuse Trump of poor planning and trying to deflect responsibility.
It’s Barack Obama’s Fault There’s a Shortage of N95 Respirator Masks
The Democrats left us “naked” in facing the virus, the Media knows it and puts the blame on Trump? If I was a very suspicious individual, i would have to say that certain segment of our political ensemble is willing to let people die and reap on the benefits while they are being protected by the “guardians of Truth” busy trying to cover for their master’s fuck ups or evil intentions.
An entire generation seems to have no idea how empathy works
A few definitions to start with:
First: Merriam-Webster defines empathy as
The action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner
Also : the capacity for this
Second: what makes a psychopath or sociopath a psychopath or sociopath is a lack of empathy.
Thrid: Generation Z is defined as being born between 1996 and 2012, making them 7 to 22 years old. I would be inclined to move the start point a little latter to incorporate people up to 25. Nevertheless, the point is today’s early 20-somethings are not millennials, which technically I am.
It is Generation Z and the younger millennials, the ones who had Facebook when they were in middle and high school, that drive so much of the internet activism we currently see.
A few days ago I wrote a post, intended to be humourous, about an Instagram influencer who licked an airplane toilet seat. I can’t think of anything more despicably Gen Z than someone being an “Instagram influencer.”
An Instagram influencer is just someone who gets paid to make other people feel bad about themselves for not living impossibly pampered lives in order to sell travel and visiting exotic lands as the newest form of conspicuous consumption.
When this Instagram influencer was asked about the blowback she received from her TikTok and Twitter post, her response showed just the depth of character that she has.
“So I licked a toilet seat on my sugar daddy’s private plane on my way down here to go viral because I fucking hate old people and it’s their fault that we can’t go to the beach and catch a fucking dick!” Ava Louise continued to explain to Marletta.
This is a young woman that has sex with an older man for access to his private plane and wealth, which she uses to travel and post photos online, which got her enough attention to get paid to advertise products in her photos.
She made an internet celebrity career out of having sex with an older man for money.
Also, she hates older people for some indiscernible reason.
She started a trend, the “Coronavirus challenge” which has other people in her age bracket licking airplane toilet seats.
This has resulted in the publishing of a headline that, I swear, was engineered to cause brain damage.
American gender-fluid sex worker shocks Twitter by filming themself licking an airplane toilet seat
The gender-fluid/non-binary movement really seems to be an outgrowth of identity politics and narcissism. It’s for people who want to be called “brave” for “coming out” but without the work or lifestyle change of being trans. The Left, Right, and even Boy George have said this. There is nothing so self-centered as “nobody can define how special I feel, and you must call me something unique because of it.”
This overlaps with my post about narcissistic trans people who are angry that Coronavirus victims, people with aggressive metastatic cancer, and people with serious heart conditions get priority in surgery over their having dicks cut off or fabricated out of some extra thigh skin.
Furthermore, this just adds more fuel to my fire against the normalization of sex work by the Left. In the modern, Western world, prostitution was a sign that an area had a tenuous grasp on civilization. Brothels existed in the dangerous port cities, logging camps, and frontier towns, not in places where families were raised. There is a reason “red light district” and “skid row” are synonymous with bad and seedy areas. Even in Europe, which is supposed to be so enlightened, the brothels are not adjacent to the cultural centers.
Prostitution also affirms narcissism. It allows a person to say “I can have an orgasm without having to worry about the feelings of the other individual.” It takes something that is a unique human connection and turns it into a commodity.
Among those who could not believe their eyes were The Good Place-actress Jameela Jamil, who simply commented: ‘What…is…this…?’
‘Grimiestt’ responded to the British actress themself, writing: ‘a sex worker, working’.
If a sex worker, working is a person licking a toilet seat, then this is a ringing endorsement to make sex work a capital offense.
This narcissist desire for internet fame from an obscene internet challenge has turned her into a grotesque vector for infection. particularly, since I assume she will go back to sex work where she will let men put their penises into the same mouth she just touched to a toilet seat.
The Instagram influencer’s quote also overlaps with another trend that I’ve been seeing.
Morbid ‘boomer remover’ coronavirus meme only makes millennials seem more awful
Spawned in the underbelly of Reddit, the nihilistic catchphrase has gained traction on all social media platforms, especially among savvy millennials who picked up on the fact that the COVID-19 virus seems to take aim at baby boomers, or those aged between 55 and 75.
Hence, “boomer remover” is now officially a trending meme.
Point of order, it is NOT millennials (at least older millennials) who are trending boomer remover. It is Gen Z and the under 30’s that don’t have kids.
The popularity of Boomer Remover stems from the worst of Leftist politics.
Boomer Remover has since become a battleground for generational warfare on social media, frequently couched as a natural consequence of how the Baby Boomer generation has treated the planet or approached politics—either an unfortunate outgrowth of the more conservative brand of politics suggested by Baby Boomer voting demographics relative to Millennials and Generation Z, or a deserved comeuppance for damage done to the environment and/or social fabric.
Boomers are also more likely, or perceived to be more likely, to be Trump voters.
That Boomers support Trump, are not inclined to hand the world over the Socialism justified by panic over climate change, and good old fashioned envy, are justifications for the young Leftists’ hatred of Boomers.
The fact is that Generation Z has lived, by and large, the easiest life of any human beings that have ever lived since the Homo Sapien evolved as a species.
While I will not deny that every generation has its problems, and I have spent much time (especially recently) calling out the problems created by the McKinseying of the American economy, by and large, these young people know lower crime and more prosperity than any previous generation.
For literally their entire adult lives, they have had access to the entire knowledge base of humanity as their fingertips and they could have ordered just about whatever they wanted and had it delivered in 2 days or less.
Not to mention that most of the young people making this trend are from the more privileged class of young people.
This is little more than “me, me, me” narcissism. The kids given everything are mad that their whims and unrealistic ideas are not kowtowed to so they want their parents and/or grandparents to die.
I don’t agree with my mother or mother-in-law on everything but I most desperately do not want to deprive my children of the time they spend with their boomer grandmothers, who they love.
It is as though a generation of young people, raised on social media and given everything their hearts’ desire, have ended up without functional empathy.
They lick toilet seats for fame, bully other people online over their desire to have special pronouns, demand that the medical community serve their feelings over the actual life-threatening medical conditions of others, have their political whims waited on hand and foot, and wish death on everyone who dares to disagree with them.
In some ways, the Coronavirus has brought out the best in people.
In other ways, it’s brought out the worst.
Among the under 25 age bracket, it only seems to be the worst.
I fear for the future of this nation when it falls into the hands of a generation of narcissistic sociopaths.
Rossi Recall ordeal is over. In a way.
Finally in my hands!. I lustily opened the box and there it was!
Huh? What is that? Oh hell! You have to be effing kidding me!
I have an uncircumcised snub nose revolver!
After double checking with the Facebook Brain Hive, we came to an agreement that since on its sides states that this device was manufactured in Brazil, it was imported with a 3 inch barrel to comply with the regulations of GCA 68.
Already sent a message to Taurus with a picture attached to it, but I guess everybody went home to quarantine because of the Wuhan Virus.
I don’t like the grip. It does not feel right in my hand no matter how I mess with it, so I am gonna sell it and use the money for ammo or reloading components when they are back in the shelves.
And no, Rabbi J. Kb. is not gonna do a Bris on that thing.
The people who hate Cheeto Hitler want him to act more like Hitler
Holy shit, Democrats stupid and ignorant.
I know, I know, that’s nothing new. But the level of stupidity and ignorance that has come out because of the Coronavirus is blowing my mind.
First, from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The favorite Cuomo son. Although after this Tweet, Don Lemon’s fluffer might take the lead.
I’m calling on the Federal Government to nationalize the medical supply chain.
The Federal Government should immediately use the Defense Production Act to order companies to make gowns, masks and gloves.
Currently, states are competing against other states for supplies.
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 22, 2020
The Defense Production Act does NOT nationalize any industry in the United States.
According to the Military Times:
The Act gives the federal government broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense.
The act authorizes the president to require companies to prioritize government contracts and orders seen as necessary for the national defense, with the goal of ensuring that the private sector is producing enough goods needed to meet a war effort or other national emergency.
It also authorizes the president to use loans, direct purchases and other incentives to boost the production of critical goods and essential materials.
Other provisions authorize the federal government to establish voluntary agreements with private industry and to block foreign mergers and acquisitions seen as harmful to national security.
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica:
It is historically a more recent development than, and differs in motive and degree from, expropriation, or eminent domain, which is the right of government to take property, sometimes without compensation, for particular public purposes (such as the construction of roads, reservoirs, or hospitals).
Nationalization has accompanied the implementation of communist or socialist theories of government, as was the case in the transfer of industrial, banking, and insurance enterprises to the state in Russia after 1918, the nationalization of the oil industries in Mexico in 1938 and in Iran in 1951, and the nationalization of foreign businesses in Cuba in 1960.
Under the DPA, Trump could mandate companies that make medical supplies necessary to fight the Coronavirus sign contracts for the production of said supplies and prioritize their delivery over other products to other customers.
That is nothing like Trump seizing a privately owned or publically traded company and making it a public asset and having some bureaucrat run it. Under the US Constitution, the only way Trump could remotely do that is to buy the company, at its current valuation under eminent domain.
Andrew Cuomo went to law school and passed the NY bar exam. He was the Attorney General of New York. He should know this.
He’s not the only one.
Yes. The inefficiency in forcing states, hospitals and feds to bid against each other is totally unnecessary. It’s time to nationalize the critical medical supply chain. @brianschatz and I are drafting legislation to require this. Stay tuned. https://t.co/N3Z18TNKU0
— Chris Murphy ? (@ChrisMurphyCT) March 22, 2020
Chirs Murphy is a sitting United States Senator and a graduate of the University of Connecticut law school and is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association. He too should know better.
Also, there is no bidding against one another for medical supplies. 3M announced that it was prioritizing shipping 500,000 respirators to the areas hardest hit by Coronavirus. They’ve also announced round-the-clock increased production and are set to make 35 Million respirators per month in the United States.
So that inefficiency that Senator Murphy was talking about is just a bullshit straw man.
But wait, there’s more.
Bill DeBlasio, perhaps the single most universally hated politician in America, wants to send in the military to nationalize our industry and CNN’s talking potato, Brian Stelter, is amplifying this message.
"Where is the military?" pic.twitter.com/EGg40cIb5D
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 20, 2020
Stelter isn’t even good enough to fluff Don Lemon’s fluffer. Surpinsgly he is younger than me even though he looks to be in his mid 40’s.
How in the fuck is that supposed to work exactly?
Like I’ve said, I was a production engineer for five years. Assembly of items takes skill. New hires are slow, experienced workers are faster.
Is the plan to put soldiers on the assembly line? Who will train them? What will be the fallout rate when they as new hires make mistakes? Will they fix machines or perform preventative maintenance?
Maybe the military will just ship the products in the backs of military transport trucks driving the private trucking industry out of business?
Maybe they will just do what the Soviets and Chinese did and point guns at workers threatening to shoot those who don’t work quickly enough?
As a production engineer, I figure the best way for Trump to guarantee peak production is to tell the manufacturers “we will pay for all the overtime you have to pay to keep production up.” Let 3M employees cash out on huge overtime and production bonuses. I’ve seen what happens in a factory when you do that. People bust their asses.
This is America. If you want Americans to work faster and do a good job of it, just throw bonus money at them.
But the most amazing thing about this is that it is the same people who have spent the last three years telling us that Bad Orange Man was Cheeto Hitler and a tyrant and a despot, now want him to do what Hitler and Lennin did and nationalize the medical supply industry and send the military into private companies to force them to do the governments bidding.
I just think that because they are panicked over the Coronavirus, they are letting their inner tyrant out, not really caring about who the President is. It’s a crisis and they want to take control. When they get freaked out, they only want to do that more.
Wired backs me up, a follow up to my factory experience
Let it never be said that when it comes to engineering, I do not know what I am talking about.
On the same day that I wrote my post Am I the only one who as ever worked in a factory? Wired published this article:
How does a car company make a ventilator?
The government wants an army of manufacturers to assemble thousands of ventilators in the war against the coronavirus. But you can’t just swap cars for medical devices
The answer to their titular question is: they can’t, not easily at least.
Designing and manufacturing a ventilator is in no way a simple process, and some ventilator manufacturers are sceptical that car manufacturers will be able to make them at all. Jens Hallek, CEO at leading ventilator manufacturer Hamilton Medical, explains that the materials and the components needed to build a ventilator are “highly specific” and require “specialised know-how.”
“These are extremely sensitive machines with not only a lot of hardware, but also a lot of software. If one of the components does not work correctly, the whole machine shuts down and cannot be used anymore,” Hallek adds.
“I think the idea of automotive manufacturers or indeed any manufacturer that is not well-versed in the production of medical devices somehow quickly retooling and making an alternative product is very naïve,” says Nick Oliver, automotive industry expert and management professor at the University of Edinburgh.
“There is no product that I can think of in the automotive industry that has to move air and oxygen around in a similar way to a ventilator.”
It typically takes around three years to develop and launch a ventilator. After it’s been tested, the ventilator then needs to be signed off by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Non-medical device manufacturers won’t already have a license to engineer a ventilator currently, so they would be focusing on existing designs.
“It could not be something that a manufacturer who was not a specialist in the area could look after right away,” says Connolly. “The way that this could be done is if a current manufacturer in the UK who has the proper certification for their device was to subcontract to another production line, then that manufacturer could take responsibility for the production of the device.”
This article quoted a manufacturer in the UK, but the same principles apply here. Even if the FDA fast-tracked the approval process, testing still needs to be done.
As I said, the fastest way a car company could help is to make parts and be part of the supply chain.
Wired has another article that cover this:
Ventilator Makers Race to Prevent a Possible Shortage
Manufacturers are producing as many as they can to care for Covid-19 patients with breathing problems. Now the federal government is asking for even more.
Retooling a complex supply chain to build more machines quickly will be difficult. Airon relies on suppliers across the Midwest to make the valves and tubing, while another supplier in Washington makes each machine’s casing. A few parts come from China. Gjerde’s looking into whether he can get the circuit boards he needs produced locally.
If Ford or Tesla has in-house circuit board production, that would probably be the best approach to attack the ventilator shortage.
There is no reason to jump in and interrupt functioning supply chains.
If the circuit boards are the bottleneck, it’s not Ford or Tesla that will be the most help, but Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and the rest of our defense agencies. The circuit boards that go into our nuclear subs and laser-guided missiles are not made in China. Those are protected technologies.
I bet Lockheed could get a bunch of dumbed-down circuit boards out to an American ventilator supplier faster than Tesla could retool for another one of Musk’s ego-driven pipe dreams.
One to watch: Amazon’s ZeroZeroZero.
The missus and yours truly finished watching the mini series last night and I give it 4.75 stars just because some crappy gun mistakes. Besides that, it is done with great production values, great acting and great script.
The story revolves about a major shipment of cocaine from Mexico to Italy and the internal strifes that the players are having. There are no good guys here and there is a trail of bodies left behind. Not an action series but there is plenty of it so be aware.
So, very well done and you will enjoy the heck out of it.