988

 You can now reach a suicide hotline by just dialing 988.

988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.

When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.

The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis.

I don't know if you're ever going to need to use that number, either for yourself or someone you care about  Hopefully you won't.  But if you do, there it is.  I know that most of my readers (all ten of you!) are vets or you are friends with vets.  This is near and dear to my heart; if you know someone who needs help, you can get them help.

The corona virus effects on shipping

PJ Media has a piece on it.  It's worth a read.  The bottom line is that you can expect a lot of prices to go up in the short term, possibly medium term.

As an aside, I've pushed my investments into purchasing more stock index funds.

Why?  Because I think the panic over this is just that:  a panic, but not really based on much other than the brainless hysteria of people who want to use this as an excuse to attack Trump and gain political power.


Lots more people are going to die in China.  China is a communist shithole where people starve to death while the political leaders eat well and don't care who dies.

It's in Iran.  Lots of Chinese going to Iran, and passing it to people who wipe their ass with their hands.  Sorry, but when a virus can be transmitted through fecal material, guess what?  Use toilet paper.

More people are going to die in countries that refuse to stop Chinese people from coming in.  Italy.  Lots of European countries.  South Korea.  If you allow plague rats to wander into your house, don't be surprised when you contract the plague.

It will eventually hit here.  We have a political establishment that refuses to close the border.  It'll come to Mexico, and it will then just walk across the border to the USA.  And then?  Well, who do you think a virus that is also transmitted through fecal matter is going to hit hardest?

People who don't wash their hands.  Who don't bother with sanitation or hygiene.  Who live outdoors with other people who publicly defecate.

If it gets a foothold in Lost Angeles, San FranShitShow, Seattle or Portland, you can expect to see significant numbers of homeless people die off.  Possibly some of the people around them.  But for people who wash their hands, who aren't smoking meth, who aren't shitting in public?  Low mortality rate.  Any real death counts coming from rural areas of America are going to be associated with the migrants and illegal aliens.

I don't think we're coming through this unscathed, but I don't think it's going to be as bad as people say it is.  As horrible as it sounds, this virus takes out people who cannot or do not have the faculties to take care of themselves, sanitation-wise.  Most other folks will catch a cold.  Which leaves most of America in a pretty good place.  So I'm not freaking out.  And I won't freak out.  Panic over a virus does nothing good.  Follow the advice of Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide.

Don't  Panic.

We survived H1N1 under Barry Obumblefuck, and that was a screw-up of massive proportions.  If you could have done something wrong, the Jug-Eared Fuckwit did it.  We at least have a President now who doesn't fuck around and calls a spade a spade.  He also accurately calls the news agencies currently running around with their hair on fire the "Fake News".  None of the Fake News bothered to do any research of what happened under Barry Obumblefuck (and it happened with their blessing, and full participation to cover up the negative effects, so they actually do know what happened but they won't tell you that).

Don't panic.  Wash your hands.  Stop touching your face.  Wash your hands again.  And don't panic.