While the global warming activists are taking a time-out with their predictions of the end of the world as we know it, the media has sought out those “I told you so” people who say they predicted this pandemic. Here’s my brief review.
THEY’RE COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK – I’m referring to those who are now coming out to say they predicted the coronavirus outbreak.
There’s even speculation that Nostradamus, the famous 16th century physician, astrologer, and seer, in 1555 predicted a “plague” similar to what we are seeing with the coronavirus, notes Hillary Hoffower in Business Insider.
While some people avidly believe Nostradamus correctly predicted events in the past, “The straight fact is that nobody has ever used Nostradamus’ writings to predict a future even in specific terms which later became true,” renowned skeptic Brian Dunning believes.
On the other hand, a tape of remarks by Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and global philanthropist, during his 2015 appearance on TED Talk surfaced and the media is playing it for all its worth. “The next outbreak? We’re not ready,” was the title of his presentation. Gates was a guest of Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.
While Gates did not specifically call out the coronavirus in his 2015 talk, he did predict the impact of a potential epidemic and laid out a path for preparing for it.
He pointed out a need for advancements in the number of medical facilities and testing procedures, more research and development, and better infrastructure in the area of underdeveloped regions of the world, where such a pathogen would likely break out.
The latter part of his assessment was incorrect. The coronavirus did not break out in an underdeveloped region of the world, although I question a population that eats bats and wild animals. Wuhan, a city of 11 million people is a major manufacturing hub
In addition to the revelation of Gates “prediction,” there were others who have gone on record in predicting an epidemic. Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, writing in Foreign Affairs magazine in 2005 said, “This is a critical point in our history. Time is running out to prepare for the next pandemic. We must act now with decisiveness and purpose.” In a book he wrote in 2017, he said the U.S. isn’t properly prepared for a pandemic.
In her 2008 book, “End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About to End the World,” self-proclaimed psychic Sylvia Browne wrote, “In around 2020, a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.”
The U.S. Intelligence Team, in its 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment, warned that a “novel strain of a virulent microbe that is easily transmissible between humans continues to be a major threat.”
Of particularly interest to me, was George W. Bush’s concern over the possibility of a pandemic in 2005, revealed in a piece by Mathew Mosk for ABC News, “George W. Bush in 2005: ‘If we wait for pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare.’”
After reading an advance copy of book to be published about the 1918 flu pandemic, he became obsessed with the thought of an outbreak that would kill more people than any others in human history.
When Bush told his aides he wanted to focus on the potential of global pandemic, many of them harbored doubts, according to Mosk.
Mosk relates, however, how the Bush administration developed a comprehensive pandemic plan that included diagrams for global early warning system, funding to develop new, rapid vaccine technology, and a robust national stockpile of critical supplies, such as masks and ventilators.
In November 2005, in a speech at the National Institutes of Health, Bush laid out proposals in granular detail – describing with stunning prescience how a pandemic in the United States would unfold, what would be needed in the way of supplies and medical expertise. Ironically, among those in his audience was Dr. Anthony Fauci, a current member of President Trump’s task force on the virus.
Bush set out to spend $7 billion to develop his plan, and his cabinet secretaries urged their staffs to take preparations seriously.
The effort was intense over the ensuing three years, including exercises and responses, but it wasn’t sustained. As time passed, it became difficult to justify the continuing funding, staffing and attention, according to Tom Bossert, a White House aide.
They understood that a pandemic scenario was possible. It was no more far fetched than the thought of planes flying into buildings, but the reaction was ‘I’m buried … I’m dealing with counterterrorism … Hurricane season … Wildfires.’
Consider this, too, environmental activists had their own predictions of global warming, predicting the end of the world as we know it. Though silenced for now, you can expect they’re waiting to return at the appropriate time.
If we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare. And one day many lives could be needlessly lost because we failed.” – George W. Bush, 2005
In previous editions of my blog, I wrote how President Obama was caught off guard with the H1N1 Swine flu epidemic, with 1,000 U.S. deaths before he declared an emergency.
In addition, I have written how President Trump has faced the outbreak in my “SPECIAL: Thank goodness for our business man president.” President Trump acted quickly, while learning that his predecessor left him with a near empty stockpile.
Kramerontheright predicts that much of the United States will return to business as usual on May 1, 2020, enabled by Americans strictly adhering to the virus prevention guidelines over the next three weeks. The health of our economy is too important to ignore.
May God bless the United States of America.
