{"id":34411,"date":"2020-03-23T10:51:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T17:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/?p=34411"},"modified":"2020-03-30T16:33:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T23:33:30","slug":"blinded-by-hate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketwisdominsights.com\/pwicolab\/pub\/third-party\/blinded-by-hate\/","title":{"rendered":"Blinded by Hate \u2013 Focused on Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Opening Insights: Focused on an Objective<\/h2>\n

We're a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela.
How did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.<\/em>
DONALD TRUMP<\/p>\n

The United States faces an event of historical proportions with the outbreak of the coronavirus<\/em> which causes the COVID-19 disease<\/a>. The U.S. is being destroyed, not by the virus itself, but from the inside, by those who would whip us all into a frenzy and watch as we tear each other apart. <\/p>\n

Nowadays many news media organizations pack their publishing with such vitriol and poo-pooing that they scar and rot their own credibility. Are they blinded by hate, or sharply focused on an objective?<\/p>\n

Rather than reporting on the facts and delivering the whole truth<\/em>, many in the news media publish opinionated propaganda with a central agenda. If these agendas were published as clearly as their opinions, many Americans would likely reject them, because most Americans believe in a strong and unified nation. Therefor, it is the ugly method of treachery that many in the news media employ to entangle our thoughts \u2013 for a purpose, their purpose.<\/p>\n

Take the following article for example. President Trump is carefully directing our nation through a crisis that will require all hands on deck<\/em> to resolve. It is unity, careful thinking<\/em> and long-run vision that will preserve us, not finger-pointing and knee-jerk reactions. <\/p>\n

To defeat a strong and unified opponent like the United States, you must Deceive (manipulation of information \u2013 eradication of trust) then Divide (break their unity \u2013 instigate infighting) in order to Conquer.<\/p>\n

Let no good crisis go to waste.<\/p>\n

Informational Insights: Defense Production Act<\/h2>\n

The following article was published by The New York Times, \"dedicated to helping people understand the world through on-the-ground, expert and deeply reported independent journalism.\" It was written by David E. Sanger<\/a>, <\/strong>Ana Swanson<\/a> and Maggie Haberman<\/a>, contributors for The New York Times.<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014 President Trump\u2019s refusal to invoke the Defense Production Act<\/a> to commandeer resources for the federal government is based on a bet that he can cajole the nation\u2019s biggest manufacturers and tech firms to come together in a market-driven, if chaotic, consortium that will deliver critical equipment \u2014 from masks to ventilators \u2014 in time to abate a national crisis.<\/p>\n

Over the past five days, after weeks of minimizing the virus and dismissing calls to organize a national response, administration officials have been pulling executives into the White House Situation Room, and connecting them by phone, in a desperate effort to unlock existing supplies and ramp up new production.<\/p>\n

Rear Adm. John Polowczyk has been plucked from the staff of the Joint Chiefs, where he is a senior officer for military logistics, to run the effort to build a supply chain. And Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, is also playing a leading role. The government has essentially thrown out its existing playbook for dealing with pandemics, seizing the issue from the Department of Health and Human Services and moving it to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.<\/p>\n

But it is far from clear that the effort to enlist companies like General Motors, Apple and Hanes, just a few of the firms that have promised to free up existing supplies of masks or repurpose 3-D printers to produce ventilator parts, constitutes an effective strategy.<\/p>\n

In interviews with participants in the process, from business executives to government officials, there is still widespread confusion about how much and what exactly each firm is supposed to produce. Corporate executives say they face a bewildering number of requests from dozens of nations around the world, along with governors and mayors around the country, for scarce supplies. The White House has not said who will set the priority list for deliveries. And it is not clear that any of it will arrive in time for the cities and states that are hit the hardest, including New York.<\/p>\n

Yet, in declining to actually make use of the Korean War-era production act that he invoked last week, Mr. Trump is also avoiding taking personal responsibility for how fast the acute shortages of personal protective gear and lifesaving equipment are addressed.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York made a public appeal for the federal government to take over the distribution of critical goods, arguing that Mr. Trump\u2019s insistence last week that states should find the medical equipment for themselves was turning into a senseless free-for-all.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get into this mad bidding war,\u201d Mr. Cuomo said, noting the federal reticence was resulting in huge price surges, hoarding and shortages in some of the hardest-hit locales, including New York City.<\/p>\n

Only the federal government can require private firms to shift their production, he said. \u201cIf I had the power, I would do it in New York,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet as that debate has played out in the White House Situation Room, Mr. Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has thrown out the established government plan for dealing with pandemics, after concluding it was insufficient because it never envisioned a pandemic of this breadth.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kushner and other aides concluded that only FEMA had what they internally called the \u201cbattle rhythm\u201d to be the lead agency. But although the agency has experience cleaning up after tornadoes and hauling in trailers for temporary housing, \u201cit likely won\u2019t know a thing about medical supply chains and devices,\u201d said Christopher Kirchhoff, who examined the capabilities of each government agency for the Obama administration and wrote a detailed report of its shortcomings in dealing with the H1N1 swine flu virus, and then Ebola.<\/p>\n

While FEMA knows how to issue contracts rapidly and move goods, it is important not to \u201cdivorce the expertise from the execution,\u201d Mr. Kirchhoff said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the FEMA administrator, Peter T. Gaynor, an experienced emergency manager, was unable to say how many face masks had been shipped from national stockpiles, or how many had been ordered. \u201cI can\u2019t give you a rough number; I can tell you it is happening every day,\u201d he said. That led Mr. Trump, in a late afternoon news conference, to begin to announce specific figures.<\/p>\n

To Mr. Trump\u2019s critics, the core problem is not the effort now underway, but the failure to address the issue over the past three years, after government-run simulations<\/a>, including one code-named Crimson Contagion, revealed some of the huge vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s likely opponent in the coming presidential election, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., said the administration\u2019s effort was coming too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow a tragic and inescapable truth is clear: Even though the senior-most medical and intelligence experts in the United States government were sounding the alarm about coronavirus for months, President Trump neglected, minimized and lied about this virus,\u201d Mr. Biden said in a statement. \u201cHe failed to expeditiously get us enough tests, respirators, ventilators and other vital equipment when his peers in other countries did their duty and stood up for their people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Administration officials, asked why they have been reluctant to use the full force of the Defense Production Act to press industry into action, say the country is not in such dire straits. There is plenty of volunteer cooperation, they say, and there is always the implicit threat of ordering mandatory measures if they do not. Mr. Trump, at a White House news briefing on Sunday night, suggested an ideological concern as well. \u201cWe\u2019re a country not based on nationalizing our business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the briefing, Mr. Navarro said, \u201cWe\u2019re getting what we need without putting the heavy hand of government down.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview, Mr. Navarro said the administration would not hesitate to use its powers in certain situations. For example, he said, some brokers had been hoarding supplies of masks in warehouses and trying to sell them at exorbitant prices. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a Defense Production Act action waiting to happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIf anybody thinks they\u2019re going to sit on urgently needed supplies and profiteer from this crisis, they\u2019re going to answer to the full force of the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the heads of major corporations have lobbied the administration against using the act. They say the move could prove counterproductive, imposing red tape on companies precisely when they need flexibility to deal with closed borders and shuttered factories.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump and the director of his national economic council, Larry Kudlow, as well as Mr. Kushner, were persuaded by those arguments, administration officials said.<\/p>\n

Mr. Navarro has been coordinating with companies including FedEx, Hanes, Pernod Ricard and Honeywell to try to alleviate bottlenecks in the supply chain. Last week, he sent a cargo aircraft to Italy<\/a> to fetch 800,000 nasal swabs for coronavirus testing, and pieced together a coalition<\/a> of fabric companies to manufacture face masks out of underwear material.<\/p>\n

Anderson Warlick, the chief executive of textile company Parkdale Mills, said Mr. Navarro had called him early last week to ask what the company could make. By Saturday, Parkdale Mills joined Hanes, Fruit of the Loom and other companies in announcing a coalition to produce masks.<\/p>\n

But they are not the kind hospitals most need. The new masks will be made of a three-ply underwear fabric, and do not provide the level of protection given by the N95 masks that health care workers need for intubation and other procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something you\u2019re going to wear in the operating room,\u201d Mr. Warlick said of the companies\u2019 mask. \u201cBut you\u2019ve got people out there today \u2014 it\u2019s kind of pitiful \u2014 wearing bandannas and everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the corporate announcements, like Apple\u2019s move to donate millions of masks, may have generated some positive headlines for the Trump administration, critics say the ad hoc approach is falling far short of the challenge.<\/p>\n

Industry executives say companies are reluctant to crank up production lines without purchasing guarantees from the government. With the economy in free-fall and factories shuttering around the country, few manufacturers are eager to invest in new machinery or venture into new products.<\/p>\n

American companies that manufacture face masks, medical wipes and other supplies are already operating around the clock to meet elevated demand.<\/p>\n

Among them, 3M has said it will increase its global production capacity by a third in the next year, but that falls far short of the current need. Honeywell is adding production for N95 masks globally, and General Electric said it was hiring more workers and adding shifts to produce more ventilators.<\/p>\n

Factories that make diapers, wipes and similar products have also switched over to manufacture the raw material that goes into N95 masks.<\/p>\n

For the raw material for N95 masks, industry executives said, it would most likely take three to five months to obtain and install the necessary equipment and begin production.<\/p>\n

Similar questions loom about ventilator production. The White House has highlighted promises by Ford, General Motors and Tesla to make the machines, but analysts said it could take many months for companies to create a product that would be approved as safe by regulators.<\/p>\n

\u201cFord, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST!\u201d the president tweeted Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Both General Motors and Ford have declined to say how quickly they might produce ventilators; they have never done it before. A spokeswoman for Ford said the company was still assessing the possibility of producing ventilators.<\/p>\n

General Motors said in a statement that it was working with Ventec Life Systems, which already makes ventilators, to help it rapidly scale up its production, using GM\u2019s logistics, purchasing and manufacturing expertise.<\/p>\n

Carla Bailo, the president of the Center for Automotive Research, said the auto companies could use their 3-D printing capabilities to produce some parts of a ventilator fairly quickly, and then turn to their extensive network of automotive suppliers for other components, like electronics and hoses.<\/p>\n

Ms. Bailo estimated that such cooperation might yield a product in as little as three to six weeks, though it would still need regulatory approval.<\/p>\n

David E. Sanger and Ana Swanson reported from Washington, and Maggie Haberman from New York. Chris Cameron contributed reporting from Washington. <\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/03\/22\/us\/politics\/coronavirus-trump-defense-production-act.html<\/a><\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This article originally appeared on March 22, 2020 on THE NEW YORK TIMES:<\/em> Trump Bets Business Will Answer Call to Fight Virus, but Strategy Bewilders Firms<\/a><\/p>\n

Possibilities for Consideration: Up is Down<\/h2>\n

Are we living in backwards-world<\/em>, where up is down and left is right and black is white. The information presented in this article points to careful and responsible action taken by our president to:<\/p>\n