People are starting to panic

2/23/2020

Yesterday was a bit rough. covid-19 is ripping through Italy, Iran and S. Korea. It's starting to get real for some people. I saw this morning that panic buying is starting all over Europe. I was afraid of that. I have been trying to get people to get supplies over the last several weeks and to do it with a plan in mind, not just panic and stockpile whatever they can find. I had a guy last night that I had to block. One of the most toxic people I have ever seen. He kept saying how "I am gonna get mine!" "Why ration and live off scraps if you can buy everything now and live like a king!" UGH! Boy did he hate my calm rational answers. You need certain things more than others, the right amount of protein per day and certain medical supplies. If you start buying up everything on the shelves you can create local panic and violence, that can get YOU hurt. It's not my job to force people to listen. I am not doing all this for my own benefit here. I am trying to help and I don't have time to fight with people who call me names and just want to shout over me.

There was also a stupid fight last night in the "academic" community online. PhD's and MD's and anyone with a degree, fighting over who had the "qualifications" to talk about all this when 95% of it is common sense. They HATE this one epidemiologist who doesn't sugar coat things and has been showing "emotion" about the facts he is reading. He has been one of the most honest in all this. They fight and pick over any mistake he has made, while admitting that they themselves can't properly answer the questions because there isn't enough data! I would laugh at how stupid it is if it wasn't so serious of an issue.

People are looking for answers and help. They want guidance and assurances that these people have their best interest in mind. What they get is smoke screens and deception and no useful information! I have never been so glad to have gotten into this project before last night. When I started I figured that I was just giving an early warning and info until the media and "authorities" took over. It seems they can't be bothered. They are too busy calling each other wrong over info they can't prove either! Your average person doesn't care about specific R0 values and what name you should call the situation. They want to know if they are at risk, and what steps they should take to reduce that risk.

I hate to do it but I am having to get quick with the block button. As more and more people start waking up about this I have more and more questions and work to do. I can't waste time on people who don't want help or who will be abusive and suggest dangerous things. I have less than 600 followers but these people trust me to give them info they can use and give accurate advice. I won't let them down on that. In this situation it's people who matter. Not pride, not being right, nothing except people's safety.

I'm not special in any way. I don't have a degree in any related fields to the situation. I'm just a person who had to learn to be quick and survive on my own at a very young age. I can gather large amounts of data quickly and figure out how to extract useful information. That's it. When I am wrong I make a public correction. Simple, fast and done. I don't have an ego or reputation I have to worry about. I just want to help people stay safe.

It isn't easy to keep my emotions in check in all this. In a given day I feel anger, sadness, hope, defeat and a hundred other things. But I can't be reactionary in this. I need to stay calm and focus on the goal. This journal really helps put my head together so that I can do that. Time to see what awaits us all today...