The world is very old, and human beings are very young…. [So] imagine the 15-billion-year lifetime of the universe…[as] a single year…. [T]he earth does not [appear]…until early September; dinosaurs emerge on Christmas Eve; flowers arise on December 28th; and men and women originate at 10:30 PM on New Year’s…

It’s a Mel Brooks, “Springtime for Hitler,” production — autocrats and Trump — as politicians use the pandemic to undermine democracy, retain power and avoid accountability. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why getting the U.S. back to normal in the next couple months is a 'fantasy' As the novel coronavirus pandemic wears on, debate is brewing over how long the associated shutdowns should last. The…www.pbs.org

Even in the country’s darkest days slimy politicians — grifters, cronies and corruption — favor the wealthy over the rest of us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you drown the government in the bathtub, people die — “[After] 2001 terrorist attacks…came the tea party, the anti-government conservatism that infected the Republican Party…[fostered] a government that couldn’t produce a rudimentary test for coronavirus…contain the pandemic…produce…

The actions of certain politicians during this crisis constitute negligent homicide — delays ordering medical equipment — and are actively undermining elections — creating false choices — to retain power and avoid accountability. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Report: The Trump administration didn’t order ventilators or masks until mid-March — “[Trump] failed to place bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, ventilators, and other medical equipment…until mid-March…

The structure of our medieval political and economic systems — vote suppression, economic policy, healthcare and Internet — is being used against citizens and needs to be replaced. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trump admits voter suppression — “Trump went on Fox and Friends to talk about switching the 2020 election to mail-in, and said, that if you [did]…‘you’d…

Science and technology, not politicians — ignored virus warning, virtual democracy, geoengineering — is the future of civilization. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. intelligence reports from January and February warned about a likely pandemic — “Trump and lawmakers played down the threat and failed to take action that might have slowed the spread of the [virus]…until this month…. [HHS] had been alerted to the initial reports…

A collaborative guide to COVID-19 care Emerging Symptoms Notice if you suffer from any of the following first symptoms: · Fever · Fatigue · Sore throat · Dry (unproductive) cough · Coughing up slime · Joint / muscle pain · Shortness of breath · Lack of hunger Initial symptoms may also include headache, chills, dizziness, nasal congestion, abdominal…

That technology keeps improving — lasers, brain-hacking, tires and biology — while civilization continues to stagnate is a recipe for disaster. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Goodyear’s Concept Tire Regenerates Burned-Off Rubber — “250 million tires were scrapped in the US in 2017 [alone]…[so] Goodyear’s engineers designed…[one] that works a bit like a stick of lip balm. …

Increasingly appears that this year and this decade — U.S. decline, Putin’s game, voting, police and data — are likely to chronicle a change in the course of civilization for the worse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The case that America’s in decline — “Is Trump a symptom or a disease? And if he’s a symptom, what’s the underlying sickness? Decadence…[with]…