Squirrel

Brian, we are talking past one another here. Of course this all takes time. That wasn’t what I meant. This focus on production needed to happen back in Jan-Feb. we knew what was coming, and now we’ve created even more urgency that is costing us way more because we didn’t do exactly that. It starts with the top. I’m not the one saying it needs to happen quickly, you were, and sconnie corrected that. But the planning and time it takes to shift gears should have been happening sooner, in my very humble, and by no means expertise, opinion. And for that to happen sooner, it needed to come from an executive order and didn’t. By the time an executive order came through, places like GM were already making the shift. And yes, don’t add unions into the equation. Unions are, generally, concerned with things like working conditions and pay and they aren’t a hindrance in this particular situation. You are correct, it was a generalized statement that didn’t belong and am glad you have now walked that statement back. But ... an urgency was created because there was downplayed focus on this from the beginning. Yes, we’re ramping up ... now, and over the last couple of weeks ... but this urgency was created by not acting swiftly and decisively from the beginning. There is no way to quantify the cost in lives and in the economy by such a delay. There is no way to know. But in my opinion, seeing the differences in how this virus has affected other countries, there is a correlation between immediate focus and delayed focus. That delay started at the top. That’s my point. And now we wait. Will there be enough to go around? Will workable solutions be found? Time. But time was wasted at the start of this. Time we won’t get back. But time we still must allow. And yes, I very much agree we need a QB. The one we have is fumbling the ball at every pass.

From the top, yes I am. This has nothing to do with unions or the work force. They have no say in what is produced. Governors couldn’t order production. Production at times like this takes executive order. Once everything is in motion, yep, they will produce, provided there is enough of a healthy workforce. And are now. That red tape you mentioned could have been cut a lot sooner. And wasn’t.

This isn’t a union issue. Unions are not standing in the way of this happening. Or a price issue, we’ll except for price gouging, which is a CEO thing. It’s an executive order issue. Always has been. Or private business doing so of their own volition, which some have done. But to ramp up production, to order it done, to get businesses such as GM to start making ventilators, that takes an executive order. Its called the Defense Production Act, which wasn’t invoked until recently. It’s not a union thing, it’s CEOs of companies asking the one who could use such powers, not to. Production didn’t start until late because this is what it took, and what it took didn’t happen back in January or February.

Yep. These things take time. Imo, the order could have been given for private business, such as GM, to start production a while ago. It’s frustrating to me that it wasn’t because we knew what was coming in January. There is no way to know for certain what difference that could have made for us, but when you compare the countries who took this seriously from the onset and those that didn’t, the numbers do tell a story. And now we are coming into huge rise of numbers and low on supplies. Yes, we need to bide our time for a lot of things, but as much as states individually have done or tried to do, they couldn’t do anything to order the ramp up of production. Only an executive order could have. Finally, we have some movement in that area, but it took too long for the order to be given in the first place, imo. But now we still need to bide our time for other things, too. It’s all just a waiting game at this point.

And I posted a DIY mask you can easily make at home that involves no sewing.

John Krasinski ... SGN (Some Good News) ... only saw this episode and don’t know how many he’s done, but worth the 15 minutes ... didn’t know where to put this, here, Music, Coronavirus ... but a reminder that the performing arts in our lives is important: https://youtube.com/watch?v=oilZ1hNZPRM&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3Yn0c0KM1UlRJOPRp0ORqEMz1e50GTphjlgB5rgro1pk6KGNSab_72b2Y

This article is a few days old now. We aren’t producing because leadership hasn’t invoked the Defense Production Act until recently when he ordered GM to make ventilators. And used the act to raid the home of someone who had a large storage of masks who was selling them on the black market for huge profits. Yes, it’s broken because leadership is broken. Your refrain has been my refrain from day 1 ... why wasn’t this done in January? Because CEOs lobbied for him not to do so and money talks. He said it’s only for a ‘break the glass’ moment, yet it has been used countless times for other purposes? Why? Don’t know. But it’s maddening. There is no telling what could have been mitigated if this had been done. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/politics/coronavirus-defense-production-act.html And then there’s Germany who sprang into action immediately compared to other countries. Their results show that early, preventative measures make a difference. Testing, testing, testing. https://apnews.com/03d48eb93fa6cb66262de6f7d57f27df?fbclid=IwAR3nEfYpXB7-qghLjw2ck7Px1ZWRVjY0Q-sS-4S_0Qf_XOUrjf26CYZno-Q

Sure. However ... we could have started stockpiling in the middle of January instead of the middle-end of March. What was there is almost depleted. We could have kept the pandemic team together. We could have done a whole lot more two months ago that could have put us in a better position today as we are seeing a dramatic rise in cases now without adequate supplies. I wasn’t suggesting we should have stockpiled years ago, but months ago ... and weren’t. I think large amounts of supplies should have and could have been organized and coordinated with the federal government. Because actions ... swift and definitive ... weren’t done immediately, I think that the human and economic tolls will be a whole lot worse. Of course, there’s no way to know that, either, and that is my opinion, however, the medical professionals I do know are close to be without proper protective gear and we are seeing hospitals already reaching capacity. Again, no way to know if some of that could have been stemmed if only, but based on everything I’ve read, I think so. And I think it begins with the lack of leadership at the top.

We were woefully unprepared, and didn’t need to be. Under the guise of it being a hoax or was nothing and between campaign rallies and golfing trips, the President just simply did not do anything. The lack of leadership and timely response will cost lives ... how many, we simply cannot quantify. But the WH knew in January and did nothing. The handling of this was just bad from the get go from testing to early quarantines to stockpiling supplies ... all the shoulda, woulda, couldas does no good now, but it still makes me angry. https://apnews.com/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bc?fbclid=IwAR310iiIo9xirHkEpXcl-gKVLDbtWhj6xoPOHpow0VdiyVpOHqomoE3arUw

Those of us with allergies need to be very cautious .... wear something across our faces when we have to be out in public. I’m waiting for the day I sneeze, covered, and am told to leave a store.

Ooou ... I so needed that! Thanks!

DIY non-sew face masks https://topdrawershop.com/pages/perfect-for-diy-masks-in-90-secs

Use only one space, instead of two, after sentence ending punctuation, and it will show correctly. It's how the site is programmed, or something like that, so we 'olders' have to get used to the single space that we learned back in typewriter days.

Welcome! Game threads are fun here ... game talk and just about everything else. Let’s hope we have some this year! Sad reality is we may not Okay, log rolling? I could see how that might be ... interesting.

Singing and music overcome quite a lot. It affects the brain in specific ways. A lot of memory care patients, for instance, respond better with music. They may not remember things, but music they do.

Good questions with no real answers. And then we could look back and say 'if only we had ...' Who's to say what would have, could have been a better course? But given the response made by other countries and the lack of response by other countries should have served as a good example to paths to take that may have produced better results and maybe both lives and economy would have been better off. In my opinion, I think we would have had swifter, serious and definitive action been taken in January, but who's to say ... too much would've could've should've in a lot of this. And now we are where we are. What I've been saying in the last couple of weeks, we are at a point where we just need to bide time, both to alleviate the stress on our medical system, to allow for production of needed and necessary supplies, and to hopefully find solutions and cures. The Mayo Clinic is an example of what time buys. And we may see other things as well ... hoping that blood infusions will help, which is being done in Dallas? other places? ... hoping a drug to ease symptoms will help. We have to remember, this is a new virus, completely new ... no one had immunity, none ... and it is highly, highly contagious and spread quickly. Maybe if we had shut down completely in February, we'd already be on the path to recovery? Who's to say. We are where we are now. My industry, the performance industry, which affects many, not just the performers themselves but all the crews who work behind the scenes, and entire organizations built to promote, sell and create. yeah ... we are going to be down for a while and I have no idea what I will come back to or when. But I see no alternative at this point in time ... except for biding time ... allowing our scientific and medical communities a chance to do what they can do.

Sad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CICIOJqEb5c

It’s something ... and what time buys us. Continue to stay home. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/04/01/mayo-clinic-expects-covid19-antibody-test-to-be-ready-monday?fbclid=IwAR2uzj1XiulebuL8PSBoXSDT22hmkfMqk2fX8IVKtWGn9y3KhM5h-ou_Z88

Ellis Marsalis passed away the other day from the Coronavirus. He was 85 and the jazz patriarch of the Marsalis family.

I’ve been saying this for several days now ... the governors need to buy direct from China. China ramped up production immediately and kept producing ... something we did not. And they have the supplies. 1.2 million? Wonder if they will share some with New York? And I’d like to see more of this kind of coordination between private business and state officials and just bypass the federal government whose handling continues along the lines of ... not leading coordination efforts as they should.

I thought this was going to be your special rendition of supercalifragisticexpialidocious ... and I spelled that on one try!

A friend of my Mom’s sent her a Beatles playlist, consisting of: Nowhere Man Here comes the Sun Help! If I Needed Someone Oh-La-Di, Ob-La-Da With a Little Hell from my Friends

Awww ...

What are you listening to these days?

That was a very long read.