Exponential Growth

Mates, yer Captain sincerely apologizes fer the long delay since the last post.

We’ve been busy here on the Banana Winds printing up fake ballots to smuggle into the counting houses in Pennsylvania and Georgia and Wisconsin.

And cashing our checks from George Soros.

And we’ve been watching the numbers related to the COVID-19 virus that is sweeping the land.

Early in the pandemic, the epidemiologists understood it enough to know how it would progress if nothing was done. Thus, the Governor ordered everyone in the Commonwealth to shut down – “to flatten the curve”. This would only to delay the spread until the virus was better understood and protective gear could be procured. But exponential growth was the expectation.

Not being schooled in “exponents”, many in our part of the land did not understand what was coming our way.

While the number of positive cases rose around us, those of us in our community held out until about August. It was then folks apparently decided that the daily one or two positive cases were acceptable. Up until then, only about four people had died related to the virus.

Some insisted those died from other causes.

As one mate asked me, “How many died due to old age?”

Captain’s Note: Mates, people don’t die from old age. They die from age-related illnesses, but not simply from old age. That said, the number of older adults dying from the usual causes is pretty much on average.

So many returned to their previous habits, and in September school children went back to the classrooms…

From there the number of positive cases jumped quickly from 60 in August to 100 in September to 200 in October to over 500 in November.

That, dear mateys, is what is meant by “exponential growth”.

There were more COVID-19 related deaths in November than in the previous eight months.

Our hospitals are filling up; hospital visitation has once again been halted – meaning if you are sick or dying, you’ll be alone while you do it; and elective surgeries have been postponed.

And yet, people still say it is “a hoax”.

“No big deal.”

“The flu is worse.”

Lean in here, mateys, so you can clear hear what the Captain is about to tell you.

The Captain personally knows several who have had the virus: one died after three long weeks of suffering, one is on a ventilator going on his fourth month, one is in the last stages of life in a nursing home. Several other friends and associates have tested positive and recovered, but not without serious disruptions to their lives.

The Commonwealth is now seeing a surge of infections, so the Governor recently asked certain categories of businesses – known contributors to the spread of the virus – to close again through December 13^th – to see what impact careless Thanksgiving gatherings will have.

These closures – and more – may continue into the New Year if the numbers continue to grow.

Merry Christmas!

Mates, you may not care that others are getting sick and dying. But here’s one way it likely affects you: In yesterday’s NFL game – the Saints vs. the Broncos – all four of the Broncos’ quarterbacks were quarantined; the league said it was because someone stepped “outside the team bubble” at Thanksgiving. The Broncos asked to be able to use an offensive team coach but the league wouldn’t allow it. So, while the Saints played with a second-string quarterback (Drew Brees is on the injured list again), the Broncos had a wide receiver from their practice squad behind the center. The final score was 31-3.

Many find it unacceptable that the Captain has put into place the recommended precautions from the CDC, the Governor, and our Bishop. I put a stop to in-person worship three Sundays ago. But as Christmas approaches, the pressure will only grow to re-open the churches.

“It’s not Christmas unless we can sing the entire catalogue of Christmas carols in the hymnal!”

…and “Here Comes Santa Claus”…

What they don’t seem to understand is that it takes only one asymptomatic person to enter the room to infect everyone else… most of which are over the age of 70.

“Life is risky”, they tell me.

Indeed, it is.

There be times to load the canon and hoist the Black.

And there be times to turn the bow and live to fight a more favorable day.

 

Raise the Black!

The national election is over, although the votes are still being counted.

As of this writing, no winner has been declared yet.

That, in itself, is cause for concern.

This election was a national referendum on the kind of country we want to be.

The incumbent President – a lying, cheating, vulgar narcissist who has fulfilled very few of his 2016 campaign promises:

“We will build a wall across our southern border, a big, beautiful wall, and we will make Mexico pay for it.”

That wall has turned out to be an over-priced bollard fence, and while some 300 miles of previous border fencing has been replaced, Trumpf has only built 9 miles of new fencing.

And that has been shown to be easily scalable and has already been cut through on several occasions with a simple reciprocating saw.

“We will repeal and replace Obamacare with something better.”

Obamacare has been crippled, but not yet repealed.

And there is no evidence that the Trumpf administration has a “better” plan ready to go.

Captain’s Note: And mateys, if you contracted the COVID-19 virus – like 9.5 million of your fellow citizens have – you now have a “pre-existing condition”. Good luck with that.

Trumpf has still not shown us his tax returns, he has not “drained the swamp”, he has not returned manufacturing to the U.S., he has not saved the coal industry, he has not brought “law & order” to our streets, and he has not made America great again.

Frankly, the Captain thought America was pretty great before 2016.

Trumpf has not worked as hard or as constantly as promised; in fact, he has already golfed more than President Obama did in his full eight years in office. He has funneled our tax dollars to his high-priced resorts and has received other graft money from corporations and foreign nations through those same resorts. And his adult children travel around the globe on personal business, but at our expense and with U.S. Secret Service protection.

Trumpf has engaged China in a trade war that is costing U.S. citizens through tariffs, he has emboldened the worst elements of our society, he has curtailed the rights of the LBGTQ community and has tromped on the rights of people of color. He has turned his back on the growing global environmental crisis and has opened public lands to mining and timber interests. He has downplayed a pandemic that to date has killed 230,000 American citizens.

And that vaccine he promised “by election day” – still not here.

Not even close.

He has brought out the worst in us as a nation, intentionally working to widen the divide between Republicans and Democrats.

While calling his Democrat opponents “Socialists”, the word most often used to describe his administration is “Fascist”.

And apparently a large number of voting U.S. citizens are okay with that.  

And most important, the rest of the world no longer respects the leadership of the United States. Trumpf has alienated our most important allies and embraced our long-held enemies.

And has gained nothing for the U.S. in doing so.

The challenger, Vice President Joe Biden: though not perfect, he is everything Trumpf is not. He is a humble man, a family man, a faithful Catholic, a statesman, who cares about people and cares about our nation. His lengthy political record can be reviewed – and it is not without flaws – but his performance as President is still a matter of hope.

Hope that he can bring order and decency back to our nation.

It will be an up-hill battle from day one.

Trumpf’s chief enablers (McConnell & Graham) have been re-elected, although the Senate majority is still a toss-up.

McConnell, who as Senate Majority Leader was the major stumbling block for President Obama’s agenda, has worked diligently the past four years to fill the federal courts with Trump supporters. If Trumpf wins, there will be even less accountability in Washington than there is now. If Biden wins, it is likely that very little will be accomplished.

Furthermore, the racists, white supremacists, and militias have been emboldened by Trumpf’s own racist pronouncements; they will not go quietly if Biden wins.

Some have openly called for a violent response to a Biden win.

Captain’s Note: The cries of “Lock her up!” directed toward Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign have now turned to cries for public executions of Trumpf’s opponents.

That is NOT the American way!

And it will take years to repair the damage done to the U.S. on the international stage.

Honestly, mates, how could this race be so close?

Win or lose, the Captain has lost faith in my fellow citizens.

Yes, most of them are good, decent people. Church members. Even family.

How is it we see our nation so differently today?