Science, Col. James Clark, and social distancing

At the start of the ninth grade in 1967, I reported to Mr. Clark's classroom at Pierce Junior High for science class. Mr. Clark was a retired colonel from the USAF and the Army Air force in WW2. He wore a crew cut and drove a red 4-door 1962 Rambler. Of all the science teachers that I had in junior high and high school, Mr. Clark was my favorite. He had high hopes and expectations for all of us. If you weren't meeting those expectations, he was quick to let you know.

In the first week of class, Mr. Clark started teaching us the six steps of the scientific method and  about how to do experiments. We learned the importance of having a control group or situation. We learned about drug and medical experiments where the control group gets a placebo and the main group gets the real drug. I have always been fascinated by the fact that sometimes people in the control who are taking only the placebo actually do better than some of those taking the medication. Later in life, Dr. Hector Rivera would explain to me his belief "If you think that you are better, you are." It was always interesting.

For full disclosure, I once watched Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and hated it. He's an actor, he's not even an amateur scientist. At least we all knew that Captain Kangaroo wasn't a real captain.

Anyway, all of the recent publicity about the COVID-19 virus has re-stimulated my interest in science. What I found is that the "scientists" of today seem to be "made for television" scientists and not people concerned with factual outcomes.

The concept of "social distancing" has caused me the most distress by the impact it has had on my life and most people in America. I keep hearing experts telling us how we need to "social distance" to "flatten the curve". Even President Trump is advocating "social distancing". Mr. President, this is what happens when you get bad advice.

Now, we are told that the "curve is flattening" because of "social distancing". So I started looking for the data on the control group in this process. There is/was no control group in the United States. So while we can say the "curve is flattening", to attribute it to "social distancing" is simply false. There is absolutely no data from a control group that can demonstrate this. There can't be any data because there is no control group. You can't compare something to nothing and tell me that something worked better. Better than what? Folks, this is a simple research technique. The alleged scientists didn't do it right and now they are bullshitting us on the results.

As states stretch out "reopening" to accommodate "social distancing", we are destroying businesses,  human lives, and the nation's economy. These "made for television scientists"  are destroying our nation.

Over the next few months, we will see the cost of "social distancing" in human lives as the nation's suicide rate climbs. The highest rates of suicides in this country previously was in the Depression era. How long before we top it or do we have something to "flatten that curve"?

Anytime I am out, I tell people working in stores or restaurants, "There's not a scrap of quantifiable data to  show that social distancing works". They are all surprised. The same principle applies to masks, those plastic sheets between the cashier and the customers, and limiting the number of people in a store. There's just no data, folks!! It's all a guess!

In their struggle to remain relevant, we are bombarded by bad news from TV networks. The virus has been blown out of proportion. Media pressure in an election year is forcing political leaders into bad decisions to escape criticism and  attacks by the alleged "press". Deaths are tragic, but realistically in 1968, we lost more than 100,00 to the Hong Kong flu and no governor shut down the economy in their state. What's the magic in COVID-19? It's all about news ratings. The media is driving the bus and it is time for us to get off this bus.

In 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I attended Tinker Elementary on MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL.  MacDill was in the top three on the target lists for Russian missiles in Cuba. At school, we practiced nuclear attack drills. In the classroom, we had to get down under our desks. If we were out in the hall, we had to crouch down on the floor where the wall met the floor. If I had known then what I know now, I would have just sat at my desk and read. None of those exercises was going to protect me from a nuclear strike.

Today is no different. We hang sheets of plastic, paint marks on the floor six feet apart, and we wear masks that in many cases actually reduce our ability to breathe freely. We post occupancy limits on doors and ban church services of more than ten people while hundreds gather at Wal-Mart to pray for toilet paper. The government closes places to eat while leaving the pot stores and the liquor stores open. None of those things will protect us from the virus. Just like the government knew in 1962 that we could not survive a nuclear attack by hiding under our desks, the government today is also dealing in fantasies rather than facts. The difference  today is that those fantasies are destroying our lives and our nation. The "scientists" tell us that we are all in danger of dying if we don't follow their fantasies. Political opportunists are using this alleged science to gain power.

During this national panic, what can we do? Maybe Nancy Reagan said it best with her anti-drug campaign, "Just say no". Just say no to hype and hysteria and false information from the alleged "news" media. Just say "no" to more government control of our lives. Let's go live our lives!

In Ecclesiastes 3, we are told that there is a time for everything. "A time to be born, and a time to die."  I don't believe that today is checkout time for me.