News Weakly - 3/21/20

Is there any news but COVID-19? Seems hard to find.

No Atheists in COVID-19 Holes
From 500 to 50 to 10, the gathering size limit has been dropping ... fast. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. Public libraries are closed. Churches are closed. The government is asking us to close "bars, restaurants, food courts, gyms, and other indoor and outdoor venues where groups of people congregate." We have a new term -- "social distancing" -- to describe the prescribed distance we're supposed to keep between individuals. (Currently 6 feet, I believe.) For two weeks? No. President Trump says the expectation is "about July, August, something like that." On the other hand, the current guidelines are only for the next 15 days. Maybe ... just maybe ... we humans are not the lords of the universe that we think we are.

Under the same heading, I found it interesting this week when my wife and I went to the grocery store. Yes, the toilet paper and canned goods aisles were empty. There was no peanut butter to be found. The fresh meat and vegetables were surprisingly depleted. The chips and water were absent. The place was largely bare. There was one aisle that seemed almost untouched. It seems that, in a crisis, booze isn't the top priority. I thought that was interesting.

Interesting Sidenote
In other COVID-19 news, I recently got this inside information. The drugstore, Walgreens, sells masks. Well, usually. They've been out for awhile (obviously), but it turns out that they get their masked from China. Any guess as to where? Yep. They're manufactured in Wuhan, China. I guess we know one of the reasons they've been unable to get them.

Feel Bad Story
So, people are dying and we're all holed up in our little panic rooms trying to avoid the same and people are trying to send out things to make us feel better. My newsfeed is full of helpful things like exercises you can do at home and easy food to cook while you're hiding. So now actress Gal Gadot joins with a group of other stars to make us all feel better ... by singing John Lennon's Imagine. You know,

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today ...

Yes, I feel much better. Imagine that there is no hope for tomorrow, no "better place" or ultimate purpose in life, no real meaning or basis for human value. Yes! That's the kind of thing we need to feel better in a pandemic. Thanks!

Not a Feel-Good Story
California's governor has issued a "stay at home" order statewide. Predicting that more than half the state will get the virus in the next 8 weeks, he fears the numbers will overrun the state's hospital capability. Only critical infrastructure will continue. Illinois will do the same starting Saturday.

In other news, the EU has asked Netflix to slow its streaming to prevent the Internet from overloading ... while everyone is stuck at home. Now this is getting serious.

The Truth Will Out
Perhaps the most startling-and-yet-expected news on this whole crisis is the revelation that this whole mass hysteria was started by Trump in order to allow him to go on the rides at Disneyland without lines.

That, of course, is a Babylon Bee conspiracy report. Satire. The non-satire reports are just as ludicrous. Russia is trying to stir up distrust in Europe by claiming that Western countries have created and weaponized the virus. A Republican representative voiced the belief of many that it's a Chinese weapon that got out. Actor Idris Elba was diagnosed with the virus and is debunking the notion that black people are immune. One malicious group has advanced the idea that you can cure yourself of the virus if you drink bleach. A relative of mine loudly proclaimed that it's Trump's fault because the WHO offered to step in and solve the problem at the beginning and he refused. (Note: If the WHO had the solution at the beginning, has every country refused?)

I can't say if this is judgment from God. I'm not one that leaps to that conclusion. I can't say if this virus is the work of the devil. Again, I'm not going there, either. But I can say that the devil is the father of lies, so we know where these conspiracy theories come from, don't we?