Coronavirus hits us with the Governor of Idaho saying to stay at home for 21 days

On Wednesday, March 25th Governor Brad Little ordered Idahoans to stay home for the next 21 days (see this Tweet from 1:55 PM). There were newspaper articles in both the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press.

The previous day, March 24, there was a column by libertarian blowhard and lobbyist Wayne Hoffman (previously it was an article on March 20 at his Idaho Freedom Foundation web site) in the Idaho Press titled Legislature fails: Now it’s up to Little to lead with conservative solutions. Wayne whined:

“….Idaho need not do what New York and California are doing: ordering mass business closures, destroying lives and livelihoods. Little need not overreact, as Boise’s mayor has, by severely restricting economic activity.”

The governor instead took more sensible advice. Hoffman’s Idaho Freedom Foundation previously had sent the Governor an arrogant letter on March 17 that misquoted state law and said:

“Idaho Code 48-1001 provides you wide latitude to hold in abeyance those regulations and statutes that “prevent, hinder, or delay necessary action in coping with [an] emergency.” Thus, I write today to provide some suggestions to help Idahoans better cope with the COVID-19 crisis.”

But Title 48 is Monopolies and Trade Practices, and Chapter 10 is the Idaho Telephone Solicitation Act that begins with 48-1001. Perhaps he instead meant to reference Title 46 Militia and Military Affairs. Chapter 10 is the State Disaster Preparedness Act. Under 46-1008 The Governor and Disaster Emergencies it says:

“(5) In addition to any other powers conferred upon the governor by law he may:

(a) Suspend the provisions of any regulations prescribing the conduct of public business that would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay action in coping with the emergency:…”

On March 25th Mr. Hoffman sent the Governor another tinhorn letter with his criticisms of that stay-at-home order. This time he did not reference state code (which even would have permitted a 30-day order). The latest letter contains the following five points and bold text which ignore that the Governor is doing exactly what he can and should do:

"1]  Too sudden.

IFF suggests you postpone the enforcement of this order, so Idahoans have at least 48 hours to prepare. Ask Idahoans to help out in this emergency; don’t impose a mandate. Free people to make good decisions on their own.

2]  Too vague.

Rather than have the government decide what businesses or activities are ‘essential,’ treat all businesses and activities the same.

3]  Too sweeping.

Some jurisdictions recognize, though everyone is at risk, it makes no sense to limit the movement of all people, all ages, when some age brackets are at greater risk.

4]  No exit strategy.

IFF suggests you establish some criteria that businesses can meet to re-open, such as heightened cleanliness standards.

5]  It overrides local control during emergencies.

IFF suggests you give local officials the authority to control the situation on the ground and rescind your order on a case-by-case basis, so that businesses can reopen as local conditions warrant."

On March 26, 2020 there was an editorial in the Lewiston Tribune by Marty Trillhaase titled Little is overreacting to the coronavirus; good. I agree with Marty rather than Wayne.

I am retired and already had been limiting my activities except for grocery shopping trips. The last other trip I made was last Friday to get the oil in my car changed. So, I’m watching a lot of TV and Netflix. For me the biggest hardship is that the Ada Community Library is closed. Before it did,  I borrowed the six-hour Great Courses DVD set on Understanding Nonverbal Communication.  

The cartoon house was adapted from an image by TJFREE at Wikimedia Commons.

There Too – a heartfelt poem from cartoonist Dave Kellett

If you are sitting alone at home feeling down, then please go look at a long poem that Dave Kellett posted in his March 24, 2020 Sheldon cartoon, which includes the following lines:  

“…We feel what you’re feeling as you look in your phone.

Taking in waves of news, and feeling alone.

But I’m here to tell you that we’re all there too.

Every friend that you’ve had! Since you were age two!”

On July 12, 2019 I blogged about another of his cartoons in a post titled Chekhov’s Gun – speechwriting advice from a cartoon.

Phony coronavirus remedies

One response to the current coronavirus crisis is to make a quick buck by relabeling products that already were being sold. On March 9, 2020 there was a press release from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration titled Coronavirus Update: FDA and FTC warn seven companies selling fraudulent products that claim to treat or prevent COVID-19. One of those companies that got a warning letter and took down a web page was Herbal Amy LLC in Nampa, Idaho.

On March 12, 2020 there was another press release from the New York State titled Attorney General James orders Alex Jones to stop selling fake coronavirus treatments. Alex had been peddling toothpaste containing silver.

On March 13, 2020 at Respectful Insolence David Gorski (writing as Orac) had an article titled COVID-19 pandemic: an opportunity for quackery.

On March 17, 2020 there was an article by Keith J. Kelly at the New York Post titled National Enquirer blasted for coronavirus ‘cures’ fake news.

An 1821 etching at the Library of Congress titled Panorama of the Times was recaptioned.

Can Reiki reduce public speaking anxiety?

Page 107 of a 2019 book titled The Healing Power of Reiki claims that: 

“Reiki is a practical remedy for calming your fears and reducing anxiety. Even if you are not ordinarily the anxious type, using Reiki as a calming agent is a good idea. With the help of Reiki, you may be able to overcome certain phobias, such as the fear of public speaking, death, flying, hospitals, darkness, water, heights, poverty, thunderstorms, or riding in elevators.”

But a web page at the Rational Wiki says:

“Reiki is a pseudoscientific energy therapy that claims a long and venerable tradition, although it was invented from whole cloth in 1922. It is based on the following beliefs:

There is a universal and inexhaustible spiritual energy which can be used for healing purposes.

Through an attunement process carried out by a Reiki Master, any person can gain access to this energy.

This energy will flow through the Reiki Master’s hands when they place their hands near the patient.

As the energy has human-like intelligence, there is no need for diagnosis – the energy will automatically judge the disease and heal the patient.”

Similarly, the Wikipedia page about Reiki dismissively says:

“Reiki is a pseudoscience.”

An article by Stephen Barrett at Quackwatch on August 22, 2015 is titled Reiki is nonsense. A recent article by Jonathan Jarry at the McGill Office of Science and Society on February 19, 2020 titled Should we take Reiki seriously? concluded we should not, so it likely doesn’t reduce anxiety.

Cartoon about how filler words when finishing a presentation sound more impressive in Latin

A recent Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoon had the following captions:

“HOW YOU PLAN TO END TALKS: ‘And thus the conclusion is self-evident.’

HOW YOU ALWAYS END TALKS: ‘Uh. So. Yeah.’

SOLUTION - CONVERT IT TO LATIN: ‘Vah. Sic. Etiam.’ “

Similarly, an article by Betsy Russell in the Idaho Press on March 20, 2020 about the Idaho legislature concluding their session was titled House adjourns sine die, at 9:18 a.m. The impressive-sounding Latin phrase ‘sine die’ just means indefinitely, or as the Merriam-Webster dictionary says less tersely:

“without any future date being designated (as for resumption).”

What are Americans doing about coronavirus, and who do they trust for information?

At USA Today on March 12, 2020 there is an article by Susan Page and Joel Shannon titled Exclusive poll: Americans are more worried about finances than their health amid coronavirus outbreak. It discusses results from Ipsos described in detail here. They surveyed 1005 adults -  408 Republicans, 420 Democrats, and 109 Independents. As is shown above, 47% thought there was a threat to both the global economy and stock market, 34% thought there was a threat to the United States, but only 15% thought there was a threat to them personally.

 The poll asked about nine things and None of the Above that people had already done or had plans to do about coronavirus. As shown above in a pair of charts, the answers for done (or planned were very similar for the top five. 54% had (and 59% planned) washing hands frequently. 35% did (and 30% planned) none of the above. 18% decided (and 25% planned) to stop attending social events. 13% shifted shopping to online (and 18% planned to). 11% canceled a personal trip (and 17% planned to).  

Who do people trust as information providers? As shown above in a chart 79% trust the Centers for Disease Control (almost 4 out of 5) and 71% trust the World Health Organization. 53% trust their state governor. Just 39% trust the news media or Vice President Pence, 38% trust President Trump, and only 35% trust the U. S. Congress.  

Democrats and Republicans have large differences in rankings for who they trust. Two charts are shown above. Both have a high trust in the Centers for Disease Control – 86% for Democrats and 79% for Republicans. 86% of Democrats also trust the World Health Organization, but only 64% of Republicans do. 57% of Democrats trust their state governor, as do 54% of Republicans.  Only 16% of Democrats trust the Vice President and only 14% trust the President.  But 72% of Republicans trust the President and  71% trust the Vice President. 56% of Democrats trust the news media, but only 23% of Republicans do. Only 39% of Democrats and 35% of Republicans trust the U.S. Congress.   

Another chart shows rankings for the much smaller group of Independents. 68% trust the Centers for Disease Control and 63% trust the World Health Organization

Fear of a pandemic is more common in the U.S. than a fear of public speaking

Some coaches keep on trying to tell us that speaking in public is the number one fear, although a recent U. S. series of four annual surveys says otherwise. For example, on June 6, 2019 at ThriveGlobal an article by Michelle Tillis Lederman titled Overcome Your Public Speaking Fear opened by asking:

“Did you know that the #1 fear across society is public speaking? Death and snakes round out the top 3.”

Right now that alleged fear is not at the top of our minds. A pandemic virus is. On March 11, 2020 an article at CNBC proclaimed that the World Health Organization declares the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. As shown above via a table, in the 2018 Chapman Survey of American Fears six pandemic-related fears had higher percentages than the fear of public speaking.

What about earlier surveys? As shown above in a graph, from 2015 through 2018 a pandemic or a major epidemic also was feared by a higher percentage than public speaking was (and had a lower ranking). Back in 2014 a different more future-related question was asked – “How worried are you that a pandemic or a major epidemic could occur in the United Sates over the next 25 years?” But the 33.6% for worried fortuitously was very close to the 34.3% for feared in 2015.