Being out and about in the new COVID era: Some blunt advice from 'Doc Steve'

Last weekend, I wrote about behavioral psychology, and specifically what something like Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" has to say about reacting to COVID-19 concerns. Other psychologists agree.

A number have also talked about "accepting uncertainty," and we're going to start there, and there's going to be a number of four-letter words. If you don't like it, that's your fucking problem, because there's a gazillion of Merikans who need being slapped upside their fucking heads.

OK, first, that uncertainty itself?

To mash up the Serenity Prayer and the old 1970s and 1980s Fram commercials? You can either accept today's degree of uncertainty or else get force-fed a whole fucking bunch more of it later. There's nothing else you can do.

Second, to some more moderate comments.


Non-COVID respiratory issues

It's spring allergy season here in Tex-ass, and many other places in the southern tier of the U.S., and that will be moving north as spring does itself.

You don't need either to make yourself a mix of paranoiac and hypochondriac, or others paranoid, by not being FULLY prepared if you have ANY problem with seasonal allergies in your past life history.

Without hoarding, make sure you have a fully adequate supply of Claritin, Xirtec, or whatever your pill of choice is. Generics are fine. Ditto on Flonase or similar for the nostrils.

Ditto on Mucinex or generics for congestion. You don't need to be clearing your throat from nasal drainage and be misinterpreted.

Get plenty of cough drops, too. Hydrated regularly, but moderately, with water. Reduce caffeine, too, I think. Booze also dehydrates you, and too much of it, just like caffeine too late in the day, actually hurts your sleep.

Speaking of?

Sleep scientists have been telling Merika and the whole Western / "developed" world for years that too many of us don't get enough. If you're working from home, or not, restaurants may be closed in your area, grocery shopping limited (try not to overdo "store hopping" etc. and more on that below) and so, you've got more time on your hands. Get an extra  half an hour, or full hour, or even more, if needed, of shut-eye. Don't claim you get more than you actually do. (Don't lie about health and dietary issues in general, and more on that below too.)

Cleaning your home or apartment?

Do NOT overdo the use of chemicals, especially if you're older, allergenic or otherwise likely to have your nasal passages, throat or lungs irritated. And definitely don't do this 10 minutes before going out shopping. See above.


Shopping

OK, we're back to four-letter territory, and it's going to come in spades, because there's lots of selfish dum fuqs out there. I saw some of you.

First, make a fucking list before you leave home. Preferably ON PAPER, not on your smartphone. If you don't have a computer instead of a device, and / or don't have a printer? There's these two things called "pen" and "paper." Learn or re-learn the fuck how to use them.

Second, when you get in that store, don't dawdle. That starts by hanging up that fucking smartphone while you're shopping. You're there to get shit, get in, get out, and lessen possible contagion exposure, or if you've got COVID already and don't know it, lessen MY possible contagion exposure.

So, HANG THE FUCK UP.

Third? If the store is out of something? Make a quick but not panicky decision for the best reasonable alternative. Like bleach spray? If it's gone, but a gallon jug of plain old Clorox is available and you have a spray bottle already? Buy the Clorox, mix it with a little hand soap when you get home.

Third, part two? If it's a particular brand of pickles and a certain type? (Actually seen in a Denton Kroger.) THEY AIN'T FUCKING GOT IT, LADY. Move on. Ditto for any other food. Stop pestering stressed, overtaxed store employees. (Worse, she was over 60, if not over 65, and in one of those powercart shoppers — prime high-risk candidate.)

Fourth and an update? Best example I've read since I originally wrote this, and it's actually a bit of a riff on that. Pretend like every other person in that store is smoking a cig. Unless you're still a smoker yourself, you'll get your ass out and fast.

Fifth? Unless you have actual gluten sensitivity, celiac disorder, etc.? Stop buying the gluten-free food. Hint: If you CLAIM to have such sensitivity, but are still drinking "gluten juice" (beer), you're lying to yourself. And if you claim otherwise (as I've had a gluten froo-frooer or two do before) to me, you're lying to me.

Sixth? If you don't like this? Order groceries delivered to you until that's no longer a fucking option, at least as far as being picky about particular brands. Otherwise, get the hell out of the grocery store.

Seventh, and added? Getting an extra $20 at every store you shop, on cash back? If the US money supply really becomes THAT bad as you're imaging it, an extra $100 in your wallet won't help. Stop being a fucking idiot.

Finally, per American Indians with research science degrees, stop peddling your fucking "ancient Indian cures."  And, unless you'd like to be a potential Darwin Award winner, stop using that stuff yourself.


Dining

Texas, like several states, has limited restaurants to take-out and delivery service at this time. A few notes and a few more F-bombs.

I think it's OK if you ask a fast-casual or sit-down restaurant that's doing takeout for a special order. Do NOT, in my opinion, though, drive your ass to McDonald's drive-through and ask for "double pickles, no onion" or shit like "hold the pickles, hold the lettuce."



"Special orders don't upset us"? The hell they won't. They'll upset people behind you in the drive-through, if nothing else. (That's even more with Dallas County having a shelter in place order now.)

Even more so, I'm sorry, but don't pull up at a hamburger joint asking for vegetarian food. Go to Subway, or else get tortillas and veggies and make you a wrap at home.

Speaking of? Per the "more time on our hands, so sleep more"? I respectfully suggest that, if the grocery stores don't run out of food entirely, many Americans learn or relearn how to cook, or cook better.

Finally, with all the additional restaurant drive-through and take-out traffic? Watch how you and others drive.


Back indoors and making healthy suggestions

Do NOT be like Trump touting old anti-malarial drugs, or Jim Bakker and Alex Jones with nanosilver or whatever. Do not promote homeopathy, New Ageism, reiki or whatever. I will almost certainly BOTH block your ass and report your posts. At a minimum, even if we're friends for other reasons or other needs, I'm going to mute you or otherwise do something.

Rather, it's the common sense things — sleep, exercise and stress reduction. Period.

One a JFK conspiracy theorist, always one?

Jefferson Morley, proprietor of the JFK Files, fits the bill to a T. Morley admitted, or claimed, a few years ago he was no longer a JFK conspiracy theorist, though he did use the word "reluctantly" or similar as part of the announcement.

Unfortunately, as with claiming that the Saudis hacked Bezos' phone and doubling down on a two-month old claim, indirectly, this week, EVEN THOUGH Bezos' girlfriend's brother has admitted he contacted the Enquirer's parent company and it has been stated without denial that was was paid in advance, no less, and by no less a personage than AMI President David Pecker himself, he doesn't seem immune from conspiracy theories himself. Or, if he truly is, he's way behind in news reading and therefore has lost credibility for  that reason.

But, back to the header.

In addition, for someone who claims he's no longer a JFK conspiracy theorist, it's "interesting" that he's touting a book about JFK that makes untruthful claims of the like that fuel conspiracy theories.

 That's not the first time he's done that, either. Not too long ago, he touted this older book which, per my review, is full of it going by the editorial blurb alone.

==

 Update, Nov. 27: He has a new eBook out, "Morley v CIA," which a former FB friend and friend of the late Leo Lincourt, and a Skeptics™ groupster four-starred. Unfortunately, because Jim Lippard never does reviews, only ratings, I don't know why he gave it that, unless Morley steers totally away from conspiracy thinking.

Update, Nov. 28: Per a piece on Counterpunch reviewing "JFK and Mary Meyer: A Love Story," he still spins Camelot bullshit myths, too. And, by way of "just saying," peddles more conspiracy theory bullshit, too. He's still a conspiracy theorist, no matter what he claims.

Elbow-throwing Berniecrat doesn't get why Greens aren't more welcoming to his blessed self

Via the not-worthy-of-snarky-names for this piece Brains, a 2016 Berniecrat, Carl Peterson, decided to re-identify as Green to run for the LA School Board.

His take is interesting. And, I'd half-agree. But not fully. And maybe not even half-agree.  Probably more one-quarter agree.

A number of Greens do see Dems as "equally evilism" rather than "lesser evilism." And aren't very accommodating. But others mean it when they say "lesser evilism." So, no

OTOH, many 2016 Berniecrats, as I know from experience in both multiple unofficial and one official GP Facebook groups, come in thinking that Bernie Sanders is god's greatest gift to American electoral politics since sliced bread.

He ain't, and he ain't even close.

Many Greens, like me, are Green in part due to foreign policy issues, and while 2020 Bernie is better than 2016 Bernie, he ain't that good. He still opposes BDS. Until very recently, he wouldn't call out Netanyahu, and he still won't call out Zionist-apartheid politicians and parties in Israel in general.

While he voted against the Iraq War, he voted in favor of bombing Libya. While he's voted to end us supporting the war in Yemen, he still believes the bipartisan foreign policy establishment in claiming that Assad is behind all chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

And I haven't even talked about him lusting after F35s. To go with that old screengrab, more here from this post which sparked Brains' ire or whatever, about Bernie largely being part and parcel of the foreign policy establishment and the national security establishment.

And, even domestically, the Democrats' Green New Deal is both a pale imitation of and ripoff of the Green Party's original version, crafted in large part by presidential candidate Howie Hawkins.

Which makes this comment:

As the California primary approached, I carefully eyed the candidacies of Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, especially as the Greens neglected to put anyone forward that I viewed as capable to assume the presidency.

Laughable.

Presuming an attitude to accompany that comment has been on display, is it any wonder that many Greens would be unwelcoming? I may have tangled with Peterson myself AFAIK.

Frankly, if he DID stay inside the GP, he'd probably be an AccommoGreen who would want to make the party into a new version of overrated DSA Roses.

As for Brains' take on Howie preaching "New McCarthyism"? I don't know if he's been sniffing the Seth Rich conspiracy theory glue too much or what on Hillary's emails. Howie's position is closer to the ... speaking of ... bipartisan foreign party establishment than mine, and he knows about it via Twitter and FB.

That said, it's not exactly the same as the foreign policy establishment's.

My stance? Russia DID meddle, and the Mueller report et al shows that. It just didn't meddle exclusively in favor of Trump. Calling Russia out for that doesn't ignore U.S. meddling in Russia and elsewhere, and I know Howie agrees with that.

Otherwise, as far as "New McCarthyism"? No, I see that as a certain group of new activists inside the GP and have a blog post upcoming about that.

That said, in light of that, Brains is right, in my lesser experience, about some Green Party people being a problem.

I think it's kind of a vicious circle. The GP's decentralization has let many state parties become little fiefdoms (even more than happens in state duopoly parties). Once they get hold, if they're bad leaders, that anti-cream (scum?) will rise to the top. That personal dysfunctionality then affects the state parties involved. A fair degree of disorganization also comes into play.

Side note: For either new(ish) Greens or old time AccommoGreens who don't like this piece? Maybe you're part of the problem, not the solution.

Texas Progressives, Part 2: the rest of the story

For the second time in a month, this corner of the Texas Progressives decided to split the weekly Roundup into two parts.

I wanted to keep coronavirus postings separate from everything else. And so, they're in part 1.

With that, let's jump into the rest of what's happening.


Texas politics

David Bruce Collins reports from precinct-level Green Party conventioning in Houston that Dario Hunter was the presidential favorite. Now in California, eh? Is he carpetbagging? Dunno why he left the Rust Belt. And ... if they were using approval voting, as it sounds? Since DBC says Hunter had 10 approvals of 11 voters? Yes, that is near unanimous. That said, Howie Hawkins' 7 of 11 is a two-thirds.

DBC is still planning to run as the Green nominee for Senate. Thank doorknob I won't have to undervote in a race that would otherwise feature John Cornyn against either one-time Libertarian gun nut MJ Hegar or grifting Legiscritter Royce West.

Texas Observer interviews elections expert Richard Hasen about his new book and how it relates to recent Texas voting problems.

Stephen Young picks the worst candidates to emerge from primaries.

Off the Kuff welcomes our lady judge overlords. (Overladies?)


Texana

Texas is one of the states most at risk of more rural hospital closures.


Oil, etc

The Texas economy is probably fixing to implode, with the oil slump part of it likely to be at least as bad as 2014, if not coming halfway close to the end of the Great Recession in 2009-10. And, once again, the lack of an every-year Lege in the Banana Republic of Texas will exacerbate the problem.

Helltown (as usual) ain't ready for the latest oil bust. That said, Evan Mintz's piece still is in part an attempt to put a lipstick on a pig. He notes oil prices fell nearly by half in 2014. Problem? That was from over $110/bbl to $70. There was room to cut, painful as it was, at that price. There's no room to cut in the $30s. Meanwhile, scratch the surface, and the city looks more dysfunctional than Big D. Some oil companies are still halfway whistling in the dark. Others are going radio silent. And an alleged energy expert at the U wants an oil tariff, ignoring both that that's probably illegal under WTO rules, and that the light-ass half-condensate coming out of the the Permian needs to be mixed with heavier grades for best refining. (Hirs would let in other North American oil, which would surely violate WTO rules. Mexico probably doesn't have enough heavier-grade oil, and Canada's tar sands are a loss leader at $60, let alone $35.) If Annise Parker is right that Houston WILL pass Chicago in population, it likely will be a helluva dysfunctional place, maybe even more so than the Windy City itself.

Meanwhile, Harris County and Houston city government's  possible overreaction on coronavirus is sure to finish pushing the city into recession.


Dallas

In one of his best takedown pieces in a long time, Jim Schutze kicks ass on Our Man Downtown, John Wiley Price, for his ultimate role in primary voting problems in Dallas County.

Developers are pocketing city money in TIFs that is supposed to be used to build affordable housing.


National

Socratic Gadfly saw the story about Hobby Lobby's supposed Dead Sea Scrolls being confirmed as fakes, and recognized a name from the past. He talks about his personal academic connection to this story.

The Gadfly offers one thought on the Dem Debate, via Twitter:

This. I thought this back in 2016 as well. The lack of a killer instinct in debates or whatever is a Bernie Sanders problem. https://t.co/wbTCNP1pAi

— American Exceptionalism, meet coronavirus 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) March 16, 2020

That's part of why Bernie lost 2016's nomination, conspiracy theories about the DNC aside, and it's part of why he'll likely lose again this year.

Well, no, I'll add one other thing. Our Revolution may not technically be a super PAC, per the letter of one Sanders response in the debate. But, it formed a PAC, and whether that's a "super PAC" or not, it takes dark money. Sanders Institute? Let me know if it's moved beyond being a hotbed of nepotism.

Brains said something stupid and so I didn't link to him. (Hey, Brains, if you drop by? Kuff is on my blogroll in part as a rectal irritant to you.)

World

Bibi is out in Israel, or so it seems.

Texas progressives talk coronavirus

As I did a couple of weeks ago, because the amount of political news running up to Super Tuesday was so heavy, this corner of the Texas Progressives is splitting the weekly Roundup into two parts this week. Part 2 is here.

(Update: For the March 23 week, the same split is in effect. More coronavirus news here. And ditto for the March 30 week; COVID news here. And for April 7 week, here. Week 5 is here. Ditto for Week 6. Here's Week 7, and Week 8.)

Part 1, per the header, is obvious. We're talking what's real, what's over-reacting and what's just  plain stupid. Remember, this is coming from Tex-ass. Sadly, we gots us some Democrat Dum Fuq overreacting as a major player this week.

MAIN POINT: CDC is still, as of yesterday, at 50 on recommendation for maximum public gathering size. But Panicky Don said 10, and hence the overreaction. Plus, the CDC recommendations specifically exempted businesses. (And schools.)

1. Here, the Gadfly offered up four pieces. The first was on how the coronavirus was the biggest puncturing of the eggshell of American exceptionalism since 9/11. The second was about how the coronavirus highlighted the need for science and math literacy, and among public health experts, the need for precise and detailed communication. The third was about what he totally agreed with, partially agreed with, and more disagreed with than agreed with on sports closures. The fourth was about the ugly nationalism and PR lies emanating from Beijing.

2. One of the nuttier parts of the coronavirus panic was/is the run on toilet paper. Folks, this is a flu-like virus, not Montezuma's revenge. (Or Corona-virus, in another world, if you will.)

Besides, we don't need no steenkin toilet paper!

WHAT #toiletpapercrisis or #ToiletPaperApocalypse or #ToiletPaperEmergency?

Here in Tex-ass, I use Dan Patrick's press releases. They're pre-shitted, after all.

— American Exceptionalism, meet coronavirus 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) March 13, 2020

That said, Dan Patrick's paper, like Dan Patrick himself, is pretty coarse.

3. #Schadenfreude is a bitch, and sometimes a bitch-slapper. Mexico wants to close the border because of all the dirty coronavirus infected Yanqui gringos. (Guatemala has already done so.)

4. Speaking of that? John Cornyn, a month behind the curve, made a "Corona" joke that was weak a month ago and is reprehensible now.

Be smart; don’t panic. We will get us through this #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/SyvOAWXItK

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) March 14, 2020

And, even as John Cornyn's pisswater swilling ass was joking and lazing around, the latest Trump clusterfuck? Not having DFW Airport and  others of the 13 airports officially permitted to receive returning US travelers ready for the massive onslaught.

So? I kicked Cornyn's ass:

John Cornyn? .@JohnCornyn

Get off your fucking Corona-swilling ass and get your feudal master Trump to fix the real coronavirus problem at DFW Airport. https://t.co/srE6YJPHPz

— American Exceptionalism, meet coronavirus 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) March 15, 2020

5. Ted Cruz seemed better when he self-quarantined, responsibly. Unfortunately, he wingnutted from there.

6. Speaking of, if there's a Typhoid Mary in all of this, it may be Trump himself.

7. Also on the more serious side? Not panic, but yes, IMO overreaction, and from the CDC. I think its call to ban gatherings of 50 or more, and for eight weeks, is overkill. Fauci's indication that he would, beyond that, favor a 14-day national shutdown? Ridiculous. China didn't do that. But now, Dum Fuq leaders in Texas are actually doing a local version of this.

8. Gov. Strangeabbott (haven't used that one in a while) proclaimed a state-level state of emergency and talked about drive-through testing in San Antonio. Too bad he didn't mention that one wasn't open to the general public.

That said, as of now, Abbott is less panicky than Harris County and the City of Dallas, both run by Democrats.

Bullshit. Even the CDC's latest recommendation was no crowds bigger than 50. Houston and Dallas are fucking panicking.

AND ... don't even fucking go there. I'm not a Rethuglican of ANY sort.

— American Exceptionalism, meet coronavirus 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) March 17, 2020

And, I will mute or block Dems who can't read.

9. Too bad in 2015 wingnuts in the Lege killed a bill to stockpile emergency medical supplies. Also too bad that nobody brought it back in 2017 or 2019 and that Strangeabbott and Danny Goeb didn't make it a priority.

10. Speaking of wingnuts, Gohmert Pyle remains stupider than Strangeabbott on a daily basis, and on a House coronavirus bill.

11. The closure of more and more rural hospitals (including one 30 or so miles southwest of my current newspaper locale) could make treating coronavirus in Texas even harder. OTOH, in my opinion, this article is an overreaction and we're not going to have 500 cases of coronavirus in Texas counties under 30,000 and west of I-35 (that paramenter excluding most rural folks who went to the Houston Livestock Show cookoff).

12. Alex Jones is hawking nanosilver toothpaste as an alleged coronavirus fighter. NY State's AG has already filed a cease and desist order, and Missouri's AG sued Jim Bakker for similar grifting. Kenny Boy Paxton? AWOL, as usual.

13. On the more serious side? If you actually want some science? Here's how these zoonotic viruses are causing epidemics and pandemics, and why they're more likely to happen in the future. (If the link isn't loading, it's a Nautilus issue, not a bad link or your computer. The gist is population growth, increasing affluence in some parts of the developing world and ultimately, from this and more, an increasingly dense urban-wildland interface. A second Nautilus piece, near the end, also talks about disturbed ecosystems.) After reading the article? I'm surprised that something like the white nose disease among bats here in the USofA hasn't made the "necesssary" mutations to jump. Fortunately, it's fungal, not viral.

14. Terese Odell talked about the effect coronavirus was having on TV production.

15. Paradise in Hell translates Trump's coronavirus speech.

Coronavirus and ugly Chinese nationalism

It's not just Donald Trump acting like an idiotic, petulant barbarian over COVID-19.

Flying under the radar of many Americans, both Trumpian and other wingnuts on the right, and liberals and leftists on the left encouraging Merika to not be racist about Chinese restaurants, etc., not to mention so-called leftists like the People's Republic of Humboldt Bay or the alleged outside the box stenos in left-liberal and leftist media who claim the West is lying about Hong Kong protests, Uyghur detention camps and more ....

Chinese president Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are actually engaging in ugly nationalism.

Let's start with the main point, and that is that China, for more than 10 days now, per Foreign Policy, has been blaming the US for the virus. Yep, the man and the party who have been bloodily squelching Hong Kong protests that originated outside of Western control, and who have put Uyghurs in re-education camps (given the history of Communist China, that is the best phrase for it!), and may be putting them to forced labor now ...

Is blaming the US for the coronavirus.

Beijing has also — shades of wingers only, on this one — been pushing various conspiracy theories over the virus. And, promoting other angles of ugly nationalism. Per that link, Beijing has been open about wanting to fund an alternative to the World Health Organization. WHO has halfway kowtowed to Beijing on COVID stats, but not fully, and less so as time went on. But, that hasn't been enough for Xi and the CCP.

Also per the second link, the first piece in the previous paragraph, and contra some US health experts praising China? South Korea, the country most hit outside of China, has used largely voluntary methods, with largely very good results, to contain viral spread. So, if an Anthony Fauci or anybody else says we should imitate China? Fuck 'em.

Actually, Fauci has gone BEYOND that. He's said he's OK with a national 14-day lockdown if needed. Even China didn't do anything like a full lockdown outside Hubei province.

Related to that? Speaking of China vs South Korea? Many of the new controls on social media use, internet use, and general societal control, are likely to stay in place, at least in modified form, after the coronavirus threat is gone.

Next? The world of economic reality, Beijing style Chinese provincial officials have apparently been the key drivers behind reopening factories, and running largely zombie machines with just a minimum of workers to oversee them, to fake the appearance of a return to near-normalcy.

Now, the People's Republic of Humboldt Bay (that comes from someone I followed on Twitter last year, who lives there, and given stereotypes about it, is almost certainly a student at Humboldt State, wasting parental tuition assistance) and the OTB stenos, will say "But this is all from Foreign Policy."

Well, Americans of the bipartisan foreign policy establishment who claim American foreign policy is almost always right? They're really not much worse than or different from the Humboldt Bay stanners or the anti-nationalism left who claim America is almost always wrong and are willing to promote Chinese propaganda as part of that.

Beyond that, Nautilus, which covers science and philosophy issues, notes that Chinese doctors lied to the government from the early days of the virus. Also per that piece, as more Chinese have more money, you're going to see urban-wildland interface crowding far beyond, say, California.

===

Update: Per a Facebook discussion which I just exited, this is part of why it's not totally fair to compare "the West" to "Asia." The person is, for now, still a FB friend but he's been moved to "acquaintances."

As far as Asian countries controlling it well? China's been lying since the start and I wouldn't trust its numbers. Singapore and Hong Kong are city states, one still semi-authoritarian and the other under the thumb of Beijing. South Korea is, it seems, doing a good job, but it's the size of Indiana with 50 million people. Taiwan is the size of Maryland. So, that alone isn't fair. (Said person also ignored the Chinese lies; this blog post was put as a link in one of my comments.)

Nor is looking at only the US and Italy and saying that's "the West." As I told said person before exiting the conversation, that ignores countries like Germany that are handling it well.

And, an additional note to this person. In the past, with less in the way of any country being proactive? As the "Spanish" American flu of a century ago shows, it's often pure dumb luck in part on death rates.

So, if you really believe the above is a bunch of lies?

Go fuck yourselves with a boatload of Xi Jinping Thought.

Newer updates: Xi lies are squaring off against Trump lies. Does this portend a new Cold War?

And, the ugly nationalism now has spread to China attacking Taiwan, including with fake Twitter bot statements, it seems.

My take on coronavirus and sports shutdowns

As everybody is aware right now, there's a vast dead zone on parts of your teevee, and a website often known in these parts as Red Satan is scrambling for filler items.

That's because all sorts of sporting events have either been postponed or cancelled.

In some cases I agree almost totally. In some cases, I agree in part. In some cases I disagree.

So, as part of a series, following on posts about coronavirus and American exceptionalism, then coronavirus and science and math literacy, I offer this up.

The NBA and NHL postponements? I agree in part. I would have preferred doing the "play without fans" first. But, when we found out Rudy Gobert had it, and then discovered he'd apparently infected Donovan Mitchell, that wasn't a live option for the Association any more. Pistons center Christian Wood has tested positive now, too. (The Pistons played the Jazz in the game before the Jazz played the Raptors, and contra some Pistons-stanners, we don't know which way the infection vector went; it could have been Wood first.) I do know that Adam Silver will talk to top players, like LeBron and Chris Paul, as well as owners, before lifting the postponements.

For the NHL? They probably could have toughed it out. Since the Jazz were able to test all players quickly after word first broke, why not do the same for the icemen? Anyway, I'm not a big hockey fan, so that's that.

OK, next, on national sports, we go to MLB. Disagree entirely with cancelling spring training. OK with postponing the start of the regular season IF COVID-related rescheduling is done as part of that.

First, health experts have generally said they think, though admitting they don't know for sure, that COVID-19, like other respiratory viruses, will diminish with the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, especially with temps 75 degrees and above. Well, Florida and Arizona spring training sites are at those temps on a regular basis as we speak. Plus, although they're crowd-related, they are also outdoors. Close off spring training games at a minimum? Sure. Limit activities to intrasquad scrimmages as a next step? OK. Cancel? No.

Yes, Mike Trout has to be protected. (Maybe we could force George Springer, Jose Altuve and all other 2017 #CheatingAstros into scrimmaging against each other.) Or, speaking of Springer:

$100,000 from George Springer IS nice. But ... that's less than a 2017 World Series share for a #CheatingAstros player. So, there you go. 2017 Astros? Donate ALL your World Series money to sports workers affected by the #coronavirus. https://t.co/Q024uCrq57

— American Exceptionalism, meet coronavirus 🚩🌻 (@AFCC_Esq) March 14, 2020

Extend spring training a week or two. Then, per what I said about weather and respiratory viruses? Scramble the schedule so no games are played north of, say, the old Mason-Dixon Line before May 1.

And, yes, I'd be OK with waiting until May 1 to see Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Jack Flaherty, Yadier Molina and other Birds on Bats in home unis at Busch Stadium. That said, due to Mo's lack of offseason activity, I'm kind of meh about the Cardinals anyway.

I am kind of sad about how this will possibly affect Albert Pujols' chase of some career milestones and records. On the other hand, maybe the extra rest will have him in the BSOHL for post-35 years. (Or post-40, if he's shaved a year or two off his true age, as I believe is possible.)

OK, weather and outdoors? We're at golf next.

Tail end of the Florida swing, then the Texas events before The Masters, get cancelled. Then The Masters postpones.

First, see above re MLB.

Second, I thought Augusta National would stand firm.

Third, with its independence, will it try to bigfoot the PGA whenever it decides it's ready to play?

Fourth, I thought one of those pimento cheese sammiches would kill about anything.

Fifth, with the postponement, enjoy A Tradition of Bullshit Unlike Any Other.

So, disagree with most the tournament cancellations. Definitely disagree with postponing The Masters.

OK, collegiate sports.

For the relative lack of disruption, I would have preferred the NCAA carry on with a fans-free March Madness rather than postpone. These disruptions have economic impact, after all. And for many people who are sports vendors and such, the lack of income, despite pledges by athletes to help out, that may only go so far. Oh, speaking of? Notice how, other than Mavs owner Mark Cuban, the ownership class is pretty silent on offering such help? That said, athletes have guaranteed contracts; owners don't have guaranteed ticket revenue. So, Cuban gets an extra salute.

I don't know how, speaking of Red Satan, broadcast contracts are structured for eventualities like this, but, per the Wall Street Journal, it appears that broadcasters are required to keep making payments to the sports leagues with whom they have broadcast contracts. And, I would think it's highly unlikely that any of the networks have insurance, or even that such insurance exists. CNBC notes that this could also accelerate cable cord-cutting.

The NC-DoubleA reportedly considered a 16-team tournament. Top 16 teams, meaning not all conference winners get in. But after Gobert and the Jazz, it punted.

And overreacted. Already now killing college baseball and softball title tournaments? Ridiculous, IMO.

Again, as I said on my second post, about science and math literacy, this is not Trumpism (if you're a regular reader, you know that) or other denialism. Rather, it's my educated layperson's realism.

High school sports? Here in Texas, the UIL has delayed, but not killed, the boys basketball tournament, and scrubbed regular baseball and softball games, along with UIL academic competitions, until March 29. I think that's "just right."

High school kids aren't paid, or even compensated with scholarships. At the same time, high school sports in general is drawing lower attendance than collegiate, let alone professional sports. And baseball and softball are (see above) outdoors. Unless there is good reason otherwise, I think the suspensions should be lifted when they run out.

Speaking of academics? A number of Texas school districts are petitioning Greg Abbott and TEA Commish Mike Morath to kill the STAAR for this year.

Ain't.Gonna.Happen. MIGHT be delayed a week or something, but killed?

Ain't.Gonna.Happen.

OK, so I was wrong! (I thought a postponement was quite possible, but didn't expect a cancellation.)