Great Coronavirus Panic of 2020 -
Many of the various categories I’m following have now integrated effects from this pandemic, but I’m keeping them separate for clarity. Check numerous FR threads for more specific corona virus threads. On the good side, daily cases and deaths have clearly been decreasing since April 2, 2020. Better details here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3853245/posts
Mortality rate is approximately 1/3 of what it was at the peak on about April 19th.
We are entering uncharted waters as far as this pandemic goes. . . . . .
The riots have largely overwhelmed this category, with just a few items to note. There are some alleged spikes in reporting numbers and the Fauci group warning that the masses of rioters not practicing social distancing may cause a large increase in infections - karma? Surprisingly, NYC is allowing phase 1 opening with meetings of up to 100 - you think!
Brazil and other Latin American countries struggling with associated deaths and destruction of their economies.
A German report critical of the government response to the virus has been leaked to the street. Key passage is that the danger of the virus was overestimated and the threat posed did not go beyond the normal level.
CW2 -
Wow, what a week to be off. Violence has finally began to drop off over the weekend, though there are still (less violent) protests across the country. Still trying to get caught up and wrap my head around developments. My observations of the week and near future:
1. Antifa / BLM violence to me now appears to have been a recon in force to test just how far they could go before triggering a major push back (in this case, deployment of active duty forces). They tested command and control methods they’ve been working on for the past several years and in my view was a success in that they diverted so much of the protests into violence. An “iron fisted” response would aid the leftist cause..
2. Riots have forced local govts to give in to one of their major goals - defunding/elimination of police forces. Minnesota the leftist city council has a veto proof majority saying that they will not only defund but disband the police. New York, LA and other cities pledging to take huge chunks of police budget and shift it to ‘social causes’. The cities doing this had spineless leadership to begin with. BLM has announced it will be forming Black Panther style armed ‘patrols’ monitoring the behavior of officers on the streets. Initial response indicates that there are a lot of resignations/retirements in police departments that have been targeted for these actions - developing. By defunding/disbanding police forces, future riots will be easier initially for leftist elements to gain control of urban centers in a quick manner.
3. THIS IS THE SCARY PART - though well within his right/privilege to invoke the Insurrection Act, the President encountered near insurrection from the Pentagon in the form of Esper and retired (and probably some active) generals. Ret Gen Mattis even inferred that a ‘hard’ coup is justified to remove the President. The deep state has corrupted military leadership far more than I once thought. Note that violent protests did suddenly decline after the president mobilized the 82d into DC. The ‘military’ pushback probably gave antifa (and its ‘handlers’) an opportunity to disengage, accomplishing #1 above.
4. Leftist psyops had mixed effects with the threat to move violence into the suburbs and rural areas. Suburbs around violence impacted urban areas did show a degree of panic and some stores (like in my area) did board up and reduce hours. There were some probing, but nothing big. Antifa/BLM tried moving into rural red area, to encounter many patriots armed to the teeth sitting back and enjoying the protesters squirm.
5. Liberal literally on their knees and faces in surrender to the threats of Antifa/BLM, acquiescing to their demands and in essence pleading for peace. Optics that may come back to haunt the left.
Based on 1 - 4 above, I think this was a test run. I fully expect more riots occurring prior to the election day with the goal of being violent enough to hinder or even stop the voting - even to the point of generating martial law in places. Optics they think may sway support away from the President.
On the good side I think this also gave law enforcement (the real good guys, not the spineless corrupted elements) an excellent opportunity to see Antifa/BLM’s command and control. Those few uncorrupted elements now have time to pour over the data and see what’s what. Further, they have opportunity to disrupt Antifa/BLM planning for later protests by arresting key leadership.
Economy -
May’s job report was a shocker, analysts had anticipated a loss of 8 million jobs, but instead an increase of 2.5 million employed and a drop in the unemployment rate. Most of the gain was due to actions in red states and in sectors poised to rebound.
N Korea -
North Korea pulled out of the inter-Korean liaison office, located in the North Korean border city of Kaesong. The agency was set up to reduce tensions between the two nations - part of an agreement signed by leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un in 2018.
Syria -
Syrian currency collapsed has thrown an already weak and unstable economy into greater turmoil and complicated it’s military options and operations against the hold out region of Idlib.
China/India -
Both sides continue to build up forces on each side. Negotiations have been going no where, with India digging in with its demands that China depart from its territory.
Hong Kong -
Pro-democracy members who control 17 district councils across Hong Kong have unanimously voted in favour of a motion calling for the withdrawal of the upcoming national security legislation. The HK government has refused to recognise the legitimacy of the motion, saying that the issue of national security law doesn’t fall within the scope of the councils and has nothing to do with district work.
Iran -
There are unsubstantiated information that Iran is repositioning Iranian and Hezbollah forces in Syria in preparation to more aggressively respond to Israeli airstrikes on its warehouse and supply depots. Part of this involves stationing of forces within Syrian elements, generally avoided by Israeli targeting in the past. They are counting on Syria to respond for them and the threat of open war with Syria to be a deterrent to further Israeli strikes. Additionally, unconfirmed reports of thousands of pro-Iranian militias have been integrated into the Syrian army, with many stationed on the border with Israel.
Libya-
Monitoring the arrival of Egyptian M1 tanks to the Libyan border area as a possible counter to Turkish delivered M60A3 tanks for the GNA.
Great Coronavirus Panic of 2020 -
Many of the various categories I’m following have now integrated effects from this pandemic, but I’m keeping them separate for clarity. Check numerous FR threads for more specific corona virus threads. On the good side, daily cases and deaths have clearly been decreasing since April 2, 2020. Better details here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3853625/posts
We are entering uncharted waters as far as this pandemic goes. . . . . .
Some are looking at satellite photos of hospital parking lots in Wuhan and note a significant increase in the number of vehicles in the parking lot. This increase is noted beginning in October, and are interpreting it as representing when the virus started to cause a spike in hospital activity. Antidotal evidence, but could explain some of the early infections that hit the US.
The WHO reports that asymptomatic corona infectees are not a risk to spread the virus. This was one of the key panic points early on.
Fauci continues to say the riots are a ‘perfect setup’ for corona virus to spread. Time will tell given the 10-14 day incubation period and the start of riots.
European countries are continuing to roll back restrictions as infection and death rates continue to fall. Much to the fear of liberals, Trump rallies may resume later this month.
CW2 -
Remarkable to note that rioting and violence has suddenly dropped of the chart. There still are protests with all the signs and chatter, but the burning and looting has practically ceased.
Just 16% of Americans support cutting funding for police departments, according to a YouGov poll. Advocates have no clue as to what they are going to replace their police forces with. Congress critters and their cultural misappropriated kneeling yesterday is getting slammed by . . . . liberals.
The radical left does have their replacement for police. Hawk Newsome, chairman of BLM’s Greater New York chapter, said the organization has military Special Forces officers training and advising members who will “patrol” black communities and challenge law enforcement. “We pattern ourselves after the Black Panthers, after the Nation of Islam, we believe that we need an arm to defend ourselves. We will build and train peace officers to keep the peace in our communities, to defend our communities, to keep our communities safe.”” One can see the writing on the wall if allowed to go forward - civil war.
MY OBSERVATIONS: The political left has largely kowtowed to BLM and associated rioters for their demand to defund/disband police forces. This shift has happened at about the same time rioting/looting ceased to be key. If the anti-law enforcement movement continues to its qualified logical conclusion, the conditions will be very ripe for future actual race-based civil war that the marxists actually want. Armed militias roaming inner cities with a grudge towards whites and other non-blacks will have little to hold them back from periodic ‘enforcement’ actions of surrounding areas. This will also bring rise to Muslim patrols enforcing Islamic law in concentrated areas - which may bring conflict with the BLM enforcers. This will not end well
There have been over 45 federal level arrests of individuals associated with the instigation of rioting/looting. IMHO, these are the low lying fruits with little connection to the real organizers across the country. Even leftist Austin TX protesters and police recognize that leftists from outside were instrumental to initiating violence in city protests. Again, I think the marxist/antifas related core elements got what they wanted - a test of just how hard they can push and at what point things would start breaking bad for them. Now monitor the political effort to neuter law enforcement that will create conditions that will permit them to go further next time.
Economy -
The S&P 500 erased the corona virus losses and now has gone green for the year. Significant economic impacts for riot torn cities as many businesses are not able to rebuild or are planning on moving to more stable areas.
N Korea -
Concerns about NK discontinuing its end of the ‘hot line’ connections with the south. It was this line that helped prevent the May 3d incident on the DMZ from escalating.