Tag Archives: Wutang Flu

03/17/20

Voices From The Real World I

So, dear reader, the Big Red Car shook the relationship tree of The Wisdom of the Campfire and communicated with some current and past CEO coaching and venture capitalists to get an idea of what is happening in their world, vis a vis the Wutang Flu.

From London in the commercial property world, we hear the voice of a CEO, entrepreneur who founded and runs a business that facilitates big commercial property transactions in the United Kingdom often marrying up institutions and world class, best of breed buyers. Smart, brilliant guy.

He says, since the 29 October 2019 UK general election, “It has been an interesting 6 months from a business perspective. . . . . . Business fell off a cliff. . . . . . in January (2020) everybody saw a post-election window and I had my busiest months on record for the first 2 months of the year.”

“The Covid-19 crisis started to hit economically 2 weeks ago. I have a friend in M&A. All his deals have been pulled over the past 2-3 weeks. Another friend is an executive coach working with corporate leadership teams. Her diary is now empty for the next few months.

“Yesterday things got serious. The government recommended people do not go to bars and restaurants and that everyone work from home if they can and go out as little as possible. Retail has had an awful 12/24 months and we have already had 3 or 4 high profile bankruptcies including Laura Ashley this week. Today they just announced £330B of loan guarantees for all size businesses. They are trying to replicate Mario Draghi’s upfront/whatever it takes action to save the Euro.

“I can see my business will now have a very quiet few months. After that who knows. Pension funds are forced to sell property if investors withdraw funds, so there will always be some volume. Separately, I’m trying to close a pre-seed round for an exciting new business. I followed up with interested investors yesterday to line up a final meeting to show our demo/close funds. 8 emails, 3 replies so far (all positive). I suspect I’ll lose more than a few. We shall see. . . . . . ”

That’s the insider view from London. What do you think?

car
03/15/20

Deborah L Birx, MD — Groupies

I am admitting that I am a Dr Deborah L Birx groupie. She is the tall, well-coiffed woman with the Hermes scarves on her shoulders who is Mike Pence’s right arm on the Wutang Flu Task Force.

She has the confident voice of a retired Army Colonel and an Ambassador who has been on the front lines of the fight against HIV/AIDS for more than three decades.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx shows how coronavirus testing will be streamlined at the press conference.

She is considered a legend in the international fight against HIV/AIDS.

Technically, she is Ambassador-at-Large, Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS and U.S. Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy.

But, you can just call her a badass public health warrior.

You want an example for a young woman to follow as a role model? Here she is.

There is an interesting anecdote about her.

She was having a baby and required a blood transfusion, but she had been working on HIV/AIDS and knew there was a risk that the blood might be contaminated.

She refused to take the transformation.

The blood was contaminated.

Keep an eye on this woman. She is the best of all of us and we are in good hands. Well played, Dr Deborah L Birx. I am glad you are on the team.

So, yeah, I’m a groupie. Who wants to make something of it?

car

 

 

03/13/20

Why Not To Panic For Dummies –Wutang Flu

Peggy Noonan wrote a column today that is the piece-de-resistance of the intellectual panic in America today. As I read it, I laughed at her hyperbole and silliness.

Peggy Noonan Column ‘Don’t Panic Is Rotten Advice’

I suspect having been in the Army and having seen some really crazy stuff has anesthetized me a bit, but this is not the time to even use the word P A N I C.

Continue reading →

03/13/20

China — The Danger of Medical Dependence

Back in December 2019, there was an article written around the findings of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission that focused on China’s efforts to become the world’s largest producer of pharmaceutical products. It was not given much play time.

Rosemary Gibson, an author and adviser on health care issues at the Hastings Center, was the co-author of a book: “China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine.”

In that book, she said three interesting things:

“Medicines can be used as a weapon of war against the United States.”

“Supplies can be withheld. Medicines can be made with lethal contaminants or sold without any real medicine in them, rendering them ineffective.”

“If China shut the door on exports of medicines and their key ingredients and raw material, US hospitals and military hospitals and clinics would case to function within months, if not days.”

Now, the United States finds itself in exactly the vulnerable position that both of these writings suggested might happen.

Continue reading →

03/2/20

Corona Virus Working Theory

I have taken to calling the Corona Virus the Wutang Flu and I have developed a working theory as to what has really happened because, of course, whatever the Chinese are telling us is a lie.

Here is the essence of the Wutang Flu Theory:

 1. The Chinese have been sitting on this mess for more than 3 months trying to dampen the information because it reflects poorly on the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to control …………………………………………………….. everything.

Sort of like the year long riots in Hong Kong.

Continue reading →