News Corner

Covid – What Do We Know?
By Paul Agle

As Covid-19 continues to threaten us with unforeseen effects and after-effects, it is difficult, even for those with time-tested memory banks, to reach conclusions about the virus that will stand the test of time. Here are just a few of the facts:

1. We aren't going to eliminate or contain Covid, a virus with an estimated spread factor of 6. We can't even stop the flu with a spread factor of 1.3.  The spread factor has to be greater than 1 for a virus to even be contagious.
2. To date, there have been 73,973 Covid cases and 9 deaths in the 0-19 cohort (school kids) in Maryland.  The number of 0-19 Covid deaths in Maryland in 2020 was about the same as the number of 0-19 suicides in MoCo in 2020.  For comparison, there have been 15,956 cases in the 80+ group and 4,235 deaths.
3. Numerous studies, most of which tested 2019 blood samples, report that 20%-50% of the population has some level of preexisting immunity to Covid.
4. Masks cause “mask mouth” (some combination of dry mouth, bad breath, tooth decay, and  gum disease), maskne (mask-caused acne), Candida Overgrowth (a yeast infection in your mouth), etc. etc. Putting a warm moist cloth in front of your face creates a breeding ground for bacteria and is a bad idea unless absolutely necessary.
5. More fun with masks: a JAMA study showed that children wearing masks average 13,120 to 13,910 ppm of carbon dioxide in their inhaled air.  This is over six times the OSHA level.  The dead space in the mask accumulates CO2.  For perspective, global warmers claim a 100 PPM increase in CO2 (to 500 PPM) is dangerous.
6. A randomized study of cloth masks showed that they only filtered about 3% of viral particles. 
7. Santa Clara and Alameda County refined their approach to classifying Covid deaths and dropped the Covid death rate by 25% by removing people who tested positive but were asymptomatic.  Not counting suicides and accident victims who tested positive for Covid as Covid deaths is probably a good idea, but makes the number of non-Covid excess deaths that much higher.
8. China effectively dealt with the virus by nailing sick people in their homes and retrieving the bodies a week or two later.
9. Wearing masks and isolation has created an “immunity debt.”  Other respiratory viruses will come back to haunt us.
10. The U.S. has done studies to prove that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of myocarditis (a heart condition). What is scary is they actually had to check.
11. Having low Vitamin D and Zinc levels increases your risk from Covid over 100% (as does being obese).
12. Studies show that children under 10 are unlikely to spread the virus, while children 10-19 are more likely to acquire it at school than by staying home.  Given that common respiratory illnesses have typically killed more children annually than Covid 19, this is a weak rationale for masks or closing schools.

The vaccines for Covid are the most deadly vaccines that the U.S. has ever released to the general public, and the risk of permanent disability is 3 times the death rate.  The Covid vaccines are several times as deadly as all previous vaccines combined.  The heart and nervous (mostly Guillain-Barré Syndrome) system  problems that can be caused by the vaccines are pretty serious.  Furthermore, there is no benefit to vaccinating healthy people who have had the virus (50% or more of the population).

Should you get the vaccine... Qualified yes.  If you are over 65 or have co-morbidities, and haven't gotten Covid, swing away.  If you have gotten Covid, no.  If you are young and healthy, it is a personal decision.  There is risk from the vaccine (particularly of permanent disability) and there is risk from Covid. The risk from Covid seems greater, but you might be naturally immune.  If in doubt, flip a coin.  Giving the vaccine to kids (particularly under 10) serves no useful purpose. 

Quarantining healthy people kills more people than it saves. Taking China and the WHO's (and the CDC's) advice on a universal quarantine was unbelievably stupid.  There isn't any evidence that it saved people and lockdowns killed a large number of the under 60 crowd by driving them crazy and forcing them to live in fear and isolation (excess deaths were up to 50% of the Covid death rate for that group). 

Keeping people indoors caused more Covid deaths by lowering Vitamin D levels. Closing outdoor spaces was based on deluded thinking (no one has demonstrated that Covid can be spread effectively outdoors). If the CDC had concentrated on rapid rollout of mitigation/prevention measures (Vitamin D, Zinc, Ivermectin, etc.) we could have easily cut the death rate in half.  The vaccine or bust strategy was unwise. Furthermore, Sweden, which never locked down, currently has about one quarter of the daily case rate of the U.S. (per population) and isn’t reporting any deaths.  That is where the US could have been without a lockdown.  The CDC made so many decisions based on “don't help Trump” that it should be investigated to determine how many people they killed.

Any mask law that allows cloth masks is pure virtue signaling.  Children should not be forced to wear masks, period. With the advent of vaccines, there is no reason for a mask law. There are four groups of people: Those who have had Covid, fearful people who have been vaccinated, people who are naturally immune, and people who don't care.  There is no one to protect anymore.

We need to remove the power of the government to order the quarantine of healthy people.

God bless everyone and God bless America.     

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Is Zoning a Promise?

By Patricia Fenati

Over a century ago, growth of communities was helter-skelter.  There was no assurance when building a home in a quiet place that the following year a factory would not be built beside your home, thus making the property almost worthless. But America came up with a solution to this problem starting in Los Angeles in 1908. The solution is called zoning. Zoning establishes guidelines which guide urban growth and development.

Webster’s dictionary defines zoning as: municipal or county regulation of land use effected through the creation and enforcement of zones under local law https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zoning?src=search-dict-hed

The according to Wikipedia, the definition of zoning is:

Zoning is a method of planning where land is divided into areas called zones, each of which regulates any new development in that zone. Zones are designated for specific use (e.g. commercial, industrial, residential, single family, multi-family, etc.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning

Both definitions express that a promise is made by a municipality (or laws governing the area) of how land will be used. Thus, a buyer who purchases a piece of property is guaranteed that new neighboring properties will follow the same zoning regulations.

Because the use of land can change over time, there is a way of changing zoning regulations for a parcel of land. It is called re-zoning. This process involves petitioning for a re-zoning hearing, advertise the hearing by signs and other notifications in a public way to notify those in the area that a property is under consideration for re-zoning. There then are public hearings in which the owners of neighboring properties can have their voices heard. If there is good reason and there is no large rejection, the re-zoning can be allowed.

Montgomery County Maryland is considering turning zoning on its head.

In one of the most beautiful counties in the nation, zoning is no longer going to be considered. (Zoning, Shmoning!) This change will move us back to the 1800’s in assurances for the property where we live. In a move that can completely devalue all property in any community, the county government is considering a plan called Thrive Montgomery 2050. Under this plan any single home in the county can be replaced with duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes. This can be done without notification, without hearings without any input from neighboring properties whatsoever. The plan is to eliminate single family housing in the county. This will turn communities upside down.

This plan also tells us that a bunch of hypocrites make up our County Council!

We are constantly lectured about global warming. The County Council requires recycling, they charge for plastic bags. When removing trees on our own property if more than 5,000 square feet of canopy or soil is disturbed, we have to have a permit to remove the tree. We are saving the planet!

Many of the neighborhoods in Montgomery County have large green spaces. We are told that more green space is needed to save the planet … the same planet where our county council is planning to turn green spaces into buildings and parking lots. This plan will destroy those green spaces, including large CO₂ eating trees. Black macadam which generates heat and cooks the air above it will be substituted for grass where parking is needed for these new dwelling units. 

I assume that now the planet can be saved elsewhere just not in our county. 

According to the Montgomery County Planning Board, we're running out of space to provide housing for the 200,000 people that the Planning Board has projected will be moving here over the next 30 years. This plan to eradicate single family homes should not be called Thrive Montgomery 2050. It should be called Projects Montgomery 2050. As the character of more and more neighborhoods dramatically change, we will probably attract more than 200,000 people who need cheap housing. We will have to build larger soviet style apartment buildings. Wait! … We already did that in this country.  We called the buildings Projects. How did that work for this country, Montgomery Council?

Montgomery Council, you are breaking a promise to the people of this county.

Breaking this promise will destroy neighborhoods, destroy the value of homes, and destroy peoples dreams, dreams which often take the better part of a lifetime to achieve.

What are your plans for the infrastructure in this county to accommodate 200.000 more commuters? Our roads are already overwhelmed by stop and go traffic and you are fighting improvement of our roads. By the way you clueless environmentalists … you know that if a car is standing for an extra half hour in a traffic jam it is spewing CO₂ into the atmosphere all that time. 

The voters of this county need to act! A group has been formed called Empowering People in Communities of MoCo (EPIC of MoCo).  Please Like and follow EPIC of MoCo on FB and Twitter.  Let’s fight this plan. Together we can make a difference.

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Patricia Fenati is a Member of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee and Chair of its District 14 Committee.