When Hitler decided the war was lost and the German people had deserted him, he told the military to destroy everything as they retreated. He was telling his army to destroy Germany’s infrastructure and factories as punishment for not following him to the death.

            Today America is facing a scorched earth policy of a viral kind. Trump is not only not allowing the incoming Biden team access to intelligence briefs and the usual coordination, but he has refused to allow the incoming viral team to work with his outgoing team. He walked away from his own team in May when the polls showed he was far behind. This lack of transition coordination means the Biden team must put in their own plans and hope they don’t conflict too much with outgoing plans. Such conflict will result in delays on getting the Covid 19 vaccine to the people.

            Trump has said it is up to the states now to decide what they want to do with the virus. He has completely walked away from it and left it up to governors of each state instead of co-ordinating a policy. He knows he hailed and doesn’t care.

            His punishment for deserting him is sickness and death. What is interesting is his followers are the ones without masks and social distancing. They will be the ones suffering the most just as Hitler demanded of his army and people. Dying for one’s leader’s is stupid.

I remember a few decades ago when people who had AIDS were arrested, tried and convicted of infecting others when they knew they were infected. This was before medicine was found to prolong life and it became less lethal.

Why not use the same reasoning to Covid 19 because it is lethal much more quickly. It also has an after effect for many people leaving them much less healthy than before. Is not wearing a mask the same as spreading AIDS?

People used to say they are homosexuals (other words were more often used) and it doesn’t matter. Their beliefs changed when AIDS went heterosexual and their chances went up and people got nervous. Why don’t people feel they need to wear a mask for protecting themselves and others? It’s more than inconsiderate because not doing so can kill people. Flare-ups have an economic impact when fighting it requires businesses to close.

I am convinced wearing a mask is patriotic and not wearing one is at the least unpatriotic and dangerous. Wearing a mask may be uncomfortable but may be the cause of you or someone else inhaling fluids from Covid 19. Maybe locking up those who don’t wear a mask will change minds.

I think people who don’t vaccinate their kids or themselves are just plain nuts. Grant me this. Every day thousands more of us depend on science to manage our lives – not me – by controlling our homes and cars. Tens of millions don’t think they can live without a smart phone. So why is it they believe some whackos saying vaccines that have been used most of my life are dangerous.  The measles, mumps, rubella vaccine does not cause autism. Just because parents start to notice their child may have something wrong about the same age as shots are given is totally coincidental. Unvaccinated kids get autism at the same rate as those vaccinated. However, they are blinded, maimed, and made infertile when they get those diseases.

So why may I temporarily join their ranks?  The Covid 19 vaccines are being pushed without proper testing. My pick was the Oxford/AstraZeneca serum, because it has t-cells. That should make it permanent and not every few months. It was held up because one woman got sick. I want a vaccine which was challenge-tested. Challenge-tested means giving the people a whiff of the virus instead of seeing if they caught it by accident. I can wait.

One poll shows I am not alone: 53% of Republicans, 41% non-whites, 35% of big city, 33% of whites, 30% of seniors, 24% of 18-29 year olds, and 19% of Democrats won’t get the shot.

The first polio vaccine was rushed and the orphans it was tested on got polio. After that debacle more rigorous testing was required before it went into human testing. All the seniors I know have said they will wait for a time to see if any really work without complications.

My niece lives in Hamilton County, Southern Illinois which had very little Covid 19 until recently. Hamilton is located next to White County, one of the hot spots the state just identified. Most businesses have signs telling people to wear a mask but few require it. Religious groups are being adamant in numbers allowed in buildings during any activity or service. Fans blow air through open windows. Most church’s video or telecast services or social distance them outside. Her church requires a reservation for a designated social distanced seat.

Now a person would think the county would have a few if any sick people! Wrong! As she was putting her mask on to enter a grocery store a friend in her 40s was going in without a mask. When my niece asked why, the lady said masks are stupid and don’t make any difference. I’m surprised the lady didn’t need dental surgery with that answer to my niece.

Another couple from her church wanted to get married in the church but the priest limited attendance to seventy-five. They wanted more so they asked about the dining hall and got the same limit. The Fraternal Halls in town had the same restriction so they went into White County and was able to have two-hundred people. Most didn’t wear masks or practice social distancing

Some fools found a judge to say Pritzker has no authority to require masks or lock Illinois up to save our lives. Most of the Southern Illinois counties have a high percentage of retirees so they need younger people to wear masks and practice social distance. With over 155,000 deaths and increasing at a thousand per day, why does stupidity seem to be the rule? The answer down there is hoax, flu, drugs, and don’t know any sick people. They all support the huckster-in-chief and he doesn’t wear one, so why should they? Stupidity rules!

I am afraid this may be a gloom and doom letter because I am writing what many of my friends here and abroad have told me. They are beginning to wonder if this virus is going to be like the plague during the Middle-Ages, killing off over a third of the population in Europe. My usual response is the current death projections are only 1% of the births for this year.

This stuff is very scary and if the leaders of our country and a few others emulating him don’t start trying to stop its spread, millions WILL DIE. But it won’t even be a tiny dent in the world population.

The Australian government has just placed army units on the roads leading out of Melbourne and keeping its almost five million people in forced isolation. The Australian government is considering closing off the entire state of Victoria to stop the spread to other parts of the country according to a friend in Victoria.

Some of us noted the Chinese said they had found a worse virus spreading – Pneumonic plague which is spread by breathing and not fleas. Another issue is the anti-virus vaccine being manufactured after being tested on thirty healthy young Americans is based on creating antibodies. A six-month test with a wide range of people is next. Currently we know antibody counts in those who have had Covid 19 falls off in a few months. Does that mean we will need a shot three or four times a year?

Sorry for opening your eyes and increasing your fears. Maybe we wouldn’t be concerned if we had responsible scientists saying what needs to be done but then denied and subverted by the White House and many governors! We may not like Pritzker but Illinois is safer than 46 other states!

The next several months will be agonizing for a particular anti-science group. These wackos are against vaccines because of some harebrained studies touted on the internet or tweeted by Trump. Always a mistake!

Why will it be a problem? Well, they will have to decide whether or not to get a shot for Covid 19. Will they depend on the rest of us to get the shot to protect them? A good example is measles. Measles is making a comeback, crippling and killing kids who can’t have shots because of health conditions. When their kids get it, many say it is God’s will or simply I didn’t think it was good for my child.

With people flying around the world in a matter of a few hours, diseases from other continents can be here before the infected person shows symptoms. Covid 19 is just the latest example. At least three countries still have polio and several more have measles. So far we have missed the hemorrhagic diseases although several less dangerous ones are now part of American life.

We have vaccines for polio, measles, and other childhood diseases now which are safe and vaccines for several of the really nasty diseases which don’t need to be given until necessary. Until everyone gets a shot and puts Covid 19 into an extinct category like small pox, it will keep coming back killing tens of thousands every year. It’s very possible shots will have to be taken every year or less to get immunity.