Why should God stop coronavirus?

When I saw what coronavirus would become, I also saw how people would react.

Part of that reaction was the inevitable calls for prayer and fasting to ask God to end the pandemic.

Here is something you ought to think about: Why should he?

One reason you don't get answers to your prayers is because you think God is like a nursing dog who caters to loudest whining puppy. He's not.

God has all power because he knows and submits to the laws that govern reality. These are encoded in his character.

You don't understand that God operates based on principle, and the way you invoke the powers of heaven is by making a case to him that what you are requesting is the fulfillment of his character. Now, you really ought to understand this by now. Even Satan gets it--look at how he interacts with God in the temptation of Job. He invokes God's justice, and he gets what he asks for. Even the angels in heaven understand this--though they do not understand enough to be gods. They constantly get what they ask for through invoking God's mercy and holiness (see Exodus 25 or Revelation 4). Even if you wouldn't learn this from the scriptures, I have told you plainly of how this process works (see the chapter "Leveraging God’s Character in Prayer" in "Seek Ye This Jesus").

Now, God's ways are not our ways. His typical response when we pray "in his name," or according to our best understanding of his character, is to show us why what he is doing is actually a better match to his character than what we are asking for.

But sometimes our faith in asking for what is a better match to his character than what is happening otherwise, results in a miracle.

Coronavirus is not one of those cases.

Why are you praying to him to stop the plague? "Because people are suffering." But is suffering always a bad thing? Doesn't a mother suffer when giving birth to her child? And yet, it is a good thing.

"But what good could come of this? People are DYING!" Dying is a part of living. It isn't bad, in and of itself.

What good has already come of coronavirus?

Many people are realizing that they need more tools for dealing with reality. They realize that what they thought they had--happiness, jobs, security, money--was not as permanent as they thought. Now they have more reason than ever to turn to God and receive what only he can give.

• Almost everyone who is dying from coronavirus has pre-existing conditions. This doesn't make their lives less valuable, but every one of them would already be dead, sometimes decades ago, in any other time in human history. They have already received a massive blessing of extended life. They have already received more mercy than they were due.
• Countless millions who had been fooled by society to think that working as a bartender or waitress was all they had to do to make it in life. God is assisting them in gaining resilience to deception. Now they can't deny that their previous path in life was insufficient to contend with reality, and they have the opportunity to do something about it in the future. They might suffer a bit right now, but if they are wise they will retain this lesson learned for the duration of their lives and teach it to their children, and that will be more than worth the price paid.
• Every parent has been given a perfect witness of how they do, in fact, have what it takes to homeschool their children. They have been given stronger evidence than ever that their children are worse off in public school than at home. 
• Many people are waking up to the farce of the global economy. They are realizing that the whole system is based on the governments of the world printing funny money. They are also seeing more than ever before how corrupt our system is, and how much wealth comes from ill-gotten relationships between those in power. 
• Many people are realizing that their government has no power to save them. They have a greater reason than ever before to grow in personal responsibility. 
• Everyone has been cut off from their churches. Even though they didn't have the honesty or sense to voluntarily stop going, now they have been placed in a position where they can clearly see just how much blindness they were being exposed to just by steeping themselves in the traditions of men for a few hours every Sunday. They are totally free to worship God according to the conscience. 

This virus isn't the end. It isn't even the beginning. It is just the next step in a path that God has ordained from before the foundation of the world to prepare the world for his coming.

Instead of complaining, why not recognize that leaves have to sprout on a fig tree before you get fruit.

False prophets and foolish priests and pastors will tell you to pray for the cessation of this pandemic. They will tell you that if you have faith, you should show it by praying for God to stop it.

I will tell you the opposite: 

God told you this would happen. Show your faith by trusting in him. Believe he knows what he is doing, that it is necessary, and that he only does things that benefit the world.

Instead of praying that he will stop this, pray that and others learn as much as you can from it!

Helping suffering people find something better

In the midst of my writing this morning, the Lord paused what he was teaching me and directed me to write this post.

He showed me that there are many people in your everyday life who do not have access to the tools that he has given you through the materials I've written. But you have the opportunity and the means to give them those tools.

Each of us have different resources and capabilities. You are like a chef, and these things are like raw bulk ingredients. Though they might be sufficient for you to make delicious fancy meals, others may not be able to do so.

In order to be an effective teacher, you have to put in the work to transmit these things in the kind of prepared format to make them accessible to others.

This work might be something as simple as putting into your own words what a certain book has meant to you as you write a review on Amazon or on social media with a link to that book.

It might be buying a copy of a certain book and giving it to a friend with a personalized invitation to read it.

It might be stopping as you are reading as God shows you a person who you have to share a certain paragraph with. Since the pdf format is available, you can easily cut and paste this into an email or text.

Whatever channel you use to freely give to others what God has freely given to you, one thing to remember is that people will never seek or value what they do not comprehend they need.

For example this weekend, many LDS people will be watching General Conference. I've seen all sorts of memes inviting people to watch General Conference. What you'll find is that all of these memes either invite people to "hear a living prophet" or suggesting that participating in LDS General Conference will bring them peace.

Any honest person will find that anything given in General Conference is woefully incapable of contended with the peace-sucking events of the modern world. Any honest person will find more revelation in tidbits you can provide them than they will in hours of garnishing the tombs of the prophets with cliches and stories.

What will you do to show your friends what they lack? How will you persuade them that there is an insatiable fountain of water of life available than just the putrid stagnant puddles they've been drinking from?

I see more than one pretended prophet proclaiming "peace! peace!" And yet, what tools are they giving to provide it? Jesus doesn't wave a magic wand to provide his people with peace. He doesn't take reality away from them or hide it from them. He reveals information, giving them the tools to contend with things as they really are. What have these pretended prophets revealed? Nothing.

The false prophets have said "Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul." (Jeremiah 4:10)

The people are full of vain (meaning ineffectual) beliefs that will not save them from the things that are upon them. "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" (Jeremiah 4:14)

"Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed." (Jeremiah 14:15)

The Lord is shaking everything that is not from him (see D&C 132:14). Go give your family and friends a more solid foundation by sharing what God has given you.

Show them that their current belief, while it may have provided them with benefit in the past, is insufficient to provide them with the promises from God that they need to endure what is upon is, and what is yet to come:

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2)

Give them the tools and teach them the truth. You can reach people that I can't, and it is you and not I who will be held accountable for what good you are capable of that you leave undone.

Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor. (D&C 88:81)

The destruction of the United States

Suppose for a moment you are God. You know all things from the beginning. You know the consequence of every action, every possible outcome, and every path to obtain them. You see the hearts of every individual.

Because of all of this, you see the present world in a very different way than most people do. This is because most people do not see things as they really are. They make excuses for themselves and others. They love the lie that tells them that what they see as valuable has lasting value, and what they choose is what is right, independent of reality.

You see the modern world as a trap that turns the majority of people--who are of middling intelligence and morality--into evil people while impeding the few people who will do good no matter to do what they would otherwise do for the benefit of the world.

You would see gross injustice, gross dishonesty, and terrible avoidable suffering. 

Having all power, but also knowing the constraints of reality and the limits of the hearts of men, what would you do to express you unlimited love while preserving your characteristic of justice?

I will tell you what you would do. You would unleash cascading calamity upon the earth in increasing severity while making truth more available than ever. This would have a triple effect. You would 1) give the righteous the tools they need to overcome the increasing tide of evil on the earth while obtaining and maintaining great joy and peace, 2) create the most likely situation for those out of alignment with you to turn to better ways, and 3) reveal the true hearts of the wicked to themselves and others.

Maybe you would send a slow-burning global plague to give people weeks and months to re-evaluate their dependence upon that which can't endure. Some few would be humbled and turn more fully to you. Most would become harder in their hearts, calling the event a hoax, minimizing the obvious carnage it unleashes, and mocking those who are realistic about it.

What would come next? Well, you would probably want to do something that targeted a specific country so as to provide more time and space for the rest of the world to repent. Which country would you target? Which would cause the greatest global repentance? The United States is the clear answer. No other country has been as blessed by God with prosperity, no other country is perceived as so invulnerable, and no other country exports so many things that would be so noticeable if "suddenly" removed.

How would you destroy that country? Again, you would want to choose a path that balances enough severity of suffering with enough time so as to maximize repentance. What would your tools be? Natural disasters are powerful, especially in a country that has been inexplicably spared from the normal pace of natural disasters, but they happen all of the sudden, and only provide the opportunity of repentance for those who survive. Then you have famine. Famine is useful because it is very slow. It takes about a month for a healthy person to be in danger of death by starvation, and potentially much longer for the obese. And no matter how hard-hearted they are, they will feel that hunger every minute of every day. Another benefit of famine is that you still have the ability for information to transfer because society doesn't stop. Then you have the removal of electricity. This can happen several ways, such as a cyberattack or EMP. Cutting off electricity would immediately sever most of what we consider to be normal life. The benefit is the severity of the situation, but one downside is the inevitable violence that would result. Still, there is more time to repent than if a natural disaster occurs. Then you have invasion. Most people in the USA think they are impervious to foreign invasion. Nothing is impossible with God, and breaking the USA would make a marvelous example to the rest of the world to testify that nothing is as solid as it seems. Invasion is a long-term condition. People who are killed have no more space to repent, but the working-age men (those captured and made slaves) as well as the raped women would have many reasons to reconsider their life choices and turn to God, but not much opportunity to make much of their lives after that.

This wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would present a marvelous opportunity for the rest of the world to wake up to the delusions they have intoxicated themselves with.

In what order would you send these things? Plague -> Famine -> Electric grid -> Natural disasters -> Invasion? Is there a more optimal chain of events to maximize the benefit to the world?

You are probably thinking to yourself, "oh, that will never happen." Well, you probably thought a global plague was just as unlikely three months ago.

Do not be surprised when these things happen. And do not fall for the trap of saying, "well, we are just unlucky. These things happen sometimes." This is God's judgment, and it is time to repent.

1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,

you who are named Israel—

though you stem from the lineage of Judah—

who take oaths in the name of Jehovah and invoke the God of Israel,

though not in truth or in righteousness, 2 who call yourselves of the holy city,

upheld by the God of Israel,

whose name is Jehovah of Hosts:

3 The prophecies of the events of the past

I made known long beforehand;

no sooner did they issue from my mouth,

than I caused them to be announced. Then, suddenly, I acted and they came about.

4 For I knew how stubborn you were—

your neck was an iron sinew, your brow brazen—

5 therefore I told you them beforehand;

I announced them to you before they transpired,

lest you should say, My idols did it;

my graven and wrought images caused it!

6 But you have heard the whole vision; how is it you do not proclaim it?

Yet as of now, I announce to you new things,

things withheld and unknown to you,

7 things now coming into being, not hitherto,

things you have not heard of before,

lest you should say, Indeed I knew them! 8 You have not heard them,

nor have you known them;

before this your ears have not been open to them. For I knew you would turn treacherous;

you were called a transgressor from the womb. (Isaiah 48, Gileadi Translation)

When the righteous cry for justice

There are people out there who do the right thing. They do it at great sacrifice. They consistently sacrifice the present for the sake of the future.

They work hard. They take calculated risks. They create jobs for others. They invest in themselves by increasing their skills. They get married and have kids. They buy homes and pay their mortgages faithfully. They pay taxes. They tell the truth, even when it costs them to do so. They do the right thing, even when they are persecuted for it.

Meanwhile, the first world system becomes more and more corrupt. The lazy are rewarded. The speculators are rewarded. They liars are rewarded. The delusional are rewarded. The consequences of people who refuse to align with reality are withheld. And who pays the price for all of this? The righteous do. The people stuck with the bag. The people who are living in accordance with reality and are being punished for doing so by those setting up, persisting, and even accelerating systems that warp cause and effect.

Fighting against Zion is not necessarily fighting against a church. It is fighting against what is right. Zion is a state of mind, and fighting against Zion is to possess and advocate for a different mindset.

There are only two churches. Every person can be separated into two groups: those who do what they understand to be right all the time, and those who do not. That's it. Which group are you in?

The honest are a group that are dwindling in numbers, and with good reason. Those who are resolute are already incurring great damage. Their money is worth less and less and wicked governments inflate away its value while cranking up the cost of all things through unnecessary regulation. Their businesses are squashed by the monopolies of bigger businesses with crony connections to corrupt politicians.

But the damage is just beginning. We are marching toward a time when the honest will be so radical in comparison to the rest of society that they will receive great persecution. They will be damaged so regularly and to such an extent that they will beg the Lord to bring judgment.

Some of us are already there. Some of us must conclude that there is nothing more that can be done for those who are so drunk on delusion that anything we imagine God doing would simply be ignored, just like everything that has already come has been.

When the volume of complaints reaches the required threshold, he will bring his judgment. He has to. His is compelled by his characteristic of justice.

The legislation currently being debated for coronavirus "relief" is an absolute affront to rule of law, property rights, and common sense. It is open mockery towards God, and shows just how far we have fallen as a country.

What these people (the government officials and all those that support such insanity) don't realize is that the very rule of law, contract rights, and property rights they are wantonly suspending are the very foundation that they themselves stand on.

Don't you understand what this means?

"And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood." (1 Nephi 22:13)

The same tool they are using to fight against the honest can't be wielded without hurting themselves. They are cutting themselves off with every slice against what is right.

Here is a dream I had last summer:

7/1/19
I was in my house looking out the back window, first thing in the morning. Overnight, someone had cut windy roads into the grass all over the yard and close to the house. There were workmen everywhere. Then people started crowding into my house by my sides. I said, "who are you? Get out of my house!" They said they were there to watch the work. The workers were converging on a house maybe 700 feet behind mine and up a hill (there is no house there in reality). The chief worker was right outside my window, so I opened and asked him what they were doing. He said they just discovered they could turn houses on their foundations, and that they were going to turn that house. I said "isn't that dangerous?" He said, "absolutely not. It's completely safe." Then they started rotating the house. Almost immediately, the foundation crumbled, and the house came sliding down the hill towards mine. The people watching started screaming in terror. As the cascading soil and structure subsumed my house, people were sucked into it. I pulled several children out of it as I escaped.
<end dream>

This is coming for you. It is going to hurt us all. Will you escape? Maybe. But you will lose so much in the process. This is a very big deal. We all ought to be extremely concerned.

PDF Edition of new book released

You can download the book "Men are that they might have joy: Obtaining happiness and peace through Jesus Christ" here.

NOTE: If you get a load error when trying to download the pdf, just hit refresh. Google drive has a throughput limit.

I'll be putting up kindle and print versions at a future date. Note that Amazon is over a month out on deliveries, and that is based on optimistic assumptions about coronavirus that will prove to be false.

I wouldn't wait to read it if I were you. You will need these tools to have peace and joy in the weeks and months to come.

Remember, God holds us accountable for not only what we have and know, but what we have the ability to have and know. The elect will not be overcome, but they are only the elect if they make use of the resources God gives them. In releasing this book, I have made the world accountable for what it contains.

-Rob

A broken reed can't be leaned on

8 This message my Lord sent to Jacob, and it shall befall Israel.
9 And the entire people—
Ephraim and those who dwell in Samaria—
shall know of it,
who say in pride and arrogance of heart,
10 The bricks have fallen down,
but we will rebuild with hewn stone;
the sycamores have been felled,
but we will replace them with cedars!
11 But Jehovah will strengthen
Rezin’s enemies against them when he stirs up their adversaries:
12 Aramaeans from the east
and Philistines from the west
will devour Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this his anger is not abated;
his hand is upraised still. (Isaiah 9, Gileadi Translation)

Modern humans have seen many signs that our systems, beliefs, and behaviors are inadequate to contend with reality. Instead of noticing these signs and making changes, we've doubled down on our delusion.

11 The ministers of Zoan are utter fools;
the wisest of Pharaoh’s advisers give absurd counsel.
How can you say to Pharaoh,
We ourselves are as wise as the first rulers?
12 Where are your wise men indeed?
Let them please tell you, if they can discern it,
what Jehovah of Hosts has in mind for Egypt!
13 The ministers of Zoan have been foolish, the officials of Noph deluded;
the heads of state have led Egypt astray.
14 Jehovah has permeated them with a spirit of confusion;
they have misled Egypt in all that it does,
causing it to stagger like a drunkard into his vomit.
15 And there shall be nothing the Egyptians can do about it,
neither head nor tail, palm top or reed. (Isaiah 19, Gileadi Translation)

1 Woe to the garlands of glory
of the drunkards of Ephraim!
Their crowning splendor has become as fading wreaths
on the heads of the opulent overcome with wine. (Isaiah 28, Gileadi Translation)

The world has, for decades, replaced what is real with what is not real; replaced what endures with what can't endure; replaced what is beneficial with what is harmful; replaced what is effective with what is ineffectual.

God will shake everything that is not enduring, beneficial, and real.

How much of your life is enduring, good, and real, and how much is fake, fleeting, not good, and ineffectual? You are about to find out.

24 As a blazing fire consumes stubble,
and as dry weeds wane before the flame,
so shall their roots decay away
and their blossoms fly up like dust.
For they have despised the law of Jehovah of Hosts and reviled the words of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5)

(Hopefully) last warning to the I-15 corridor

You'll note that I wrote only one blog post in December and none in January or February because I have been commanded to put all of my time into getting these books out.

Yesterday morning I could not work on any of my books because the Spirit of God kept telling me to write things in blog posts.

One post was an answer to two questions I had received on keys. The other three posts were about calamities and sacrifice; three warnings of current and future disaster; how God will shake all things not of him to show us the consequences of things as they really are; how God's many many warnings to people have gone mostly unheeded, and how people will receive what they have chosen.

Less than an hour later, the largest earthquake in decades hit Utah, epicenter close to Salt Lake City, and knocked the trumpet out of the angel Moroni statue on the Salt Lake Temple.

The Lord woke me up at 2am this morning. "...He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." (Isaiah 50:4)

He said the time is short for those on the I-15 corridor.

I have spent who knows how much time and how many prayers trying to help who knows how many people be persuaded that staying in cities and suburbs in general, and in the I-15 corridor specifically, will lead to severe suffering and in many cases death. I know of very few who have listened.

Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. (Helaman 12:6)

These warnings have been coming since at least 2014. You will find many posts here on the topic. I've talked to many of you face to face about it.

• I've covered what is going to happen.
• I've covered why it is going to happen.
• I've covered where you should go.
• I've covered when you should go.

(Note: Do not email me asking me any of these questions--I've already answered them, and given the time it takes to obtain these things and write them, the least you can do is search them. Most if not all are tagged).

If you had listened before, you would have had time to comfortably sell your house for a good price, carefully select a place to go, secure a new job before moving, and enjoy the road trip. Utah has experienced an unprecedented boom in housing. There would have been no better time to sell a house there.

Now, with coronavirus and the quake, good luck even selling for what you owe on your house, if it gets sold at all. But at least now you can still leave in a motorized vehicle.

When we delay our obedience to God, the cost of obedience will only increase. The easiest time to obey him is now.

If you thought it was hard to listen to him when times were good compared to now, wait until they are even worse.

But I pray this is the last warning I am called to give to the I-15 corridor.

I have spent so much time and love trying to help people see the danger they are in; to share with them information they have not merited to help guide them to greater safety, peace, and joy. Almost everyone ignores almost everything I produce. I can't spend more time on these things, which are so basic and of which I have spoken so much already. Every minute I spend repeating myself is time taken away from what I have been sent to do. I have to minister to those who have lived worthy of and need more than the basics.

It hurts to keep doing this. I don't care so much about the incessant mocking. I feel sorry for those who are so blind:

7 ...Do not fear the reproach of men; be undaunted by their ridicule.
8 For the moth shall consume them like a garment; moths shall devour them like wool. (Isaiah 26)

It hurts because it takes spiritual resources to do this. It requires an outpouring of love to push back against judgment. It costs something to intercede. It takes the virtue out of you (see Luke 6:19 and Luke 8:46). It is exhausting. And I have other things that I need to do.

You need to understand something. God is bound in what he can do by the character he possesses, which is where his power comes from. There are things he simply can't do, or else he would cease to be God:

"What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God." (Mormon 9:19)

"And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles." (Mormon 9:19, see also Alma 42:13,22)

God withholds his judgment until there is nothing left that he can do. His answer to the question "when will destruction be poured out" is always "when nothing more can be done." When the most helpful, loving thing is to expose people to a greater share of the consequences they have merited, that is when the disasters start in earnest.

When the Lord told me this morning to warn you yet again, I failed to find words I have not already said on this blog. And that is a very bad thing for you.

There is a list of things he can do to warn you. Once he gets to the end of the list, you are officially "ripe for destruction." At that point, there is no more left he can do for you without ceasing to be God. At that point, you are fully turned over to the consequences of your choices.

If you are on the I-15 corridor, you have reached the "what good will mercy do" point. The time to leave without negative consequences has passed. You have greatly increased the cost of your move through your stiff-necked delays. That price will only get higher, and there will be a time when it is too late.

To those in the I-15 corridor, you have been left without excuse. If you ignore this warning, everything that comes to you will be exactly what you deserve. At this point, justice can no longer be withheld without God ceasing to be God.

10 Though favor be shown the wicked, they will not learn righteousness;
in a land of uprightness they remain perverse and see not the glory of Jehovah.
11 O Jehovah, your hand is lifted up, but they perceive it not.
Let them perceive with dismay your zeal for your people
when the fire prepared for your enemies consumes them. (Isaiah 26, Gileadi Translation)

Act now.

An eternal law: you can't keep what you aren't willing to give away

Throughout my books are scattered mysteries not revealed since the foundation of the world. I hardly ever dedicate more than just a passing reference to them, but they are there for those with eyes to see. To those who are searching and who are penitent in heart, the Lord will reveal more, according to his law of revelation.

There will come a time where I reveal these things in greater plainness, but that time is not yet. Still, as I think on current events, my heart breaks in pieces thinking of the unnecessary suffering of people. While these events have to happen, and will lead to greater happiness, fear is not necessary. I feel particularly bad because I'm aware of the lack of tools people have been given to overcome that fear through trust in God.

My book on joy will help with that. It is almost done.

In the meantime, as Jesus was with the Samaritan woman, I am moved with compassion to share something that may help you.

In the previous post, I mentioned how God will shake and destroy all things that are not according to his eternal law.

I would like to plainly teach a law that will give you power over fear of loss.

The Lord said: "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:39) He also said: “…Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:34-36)

In the upcoming book "Men are that they might have joy," I write:

"In other words, you can only retain eternally what you are willing to sacrifice first. In mortality Jesus had power over life because he was willing to die. He obtained all things by losing all things. Abraham retained Isaac only because he was willing to let him go.

"If you want to save your life, you have to first lose it. You can't permanently retain what you aren't willing to give away."

Know this secret: You will only have in the eternities what you were willing to give away in this life. You will not be with your family after this life if you are not willing to give them over to God here. You will not have riches in eternity if you were not willing to give them over to God here. You will not have pleasure if you were not willing to give it over to God here. Etc. Etc.

This is an eternal law, decreed by God before the foundation of the world, and it cannot be violated, worlds without end.

If you want to overcome the fear of death, you have to build your trust in God to the point that you are willing for him to kill you, and for you to consider it a blessing. If you want to overcome the fear of loss of your child(ren) or spouse, you have to build your trust in God to the point that you would interpret that as a blessing from God. If you want to overcome your fear of lack of food, you have to build your trust in God to the point that you are willing to starve and consider it a blessing.

Until you build perfect trust in God, you will be subject to fear. If you have perfect trust in him, you will know it, because you will fear nothing. You will rejoice just as much in pain as in pleasure, in sorrow as in joy.

If that seems impossible, well, there are more mysteries you need to give you the information you lack.

Confusion about keys and authority

I have to address a topic, and I have to do it very concisely for now. I apologize for the shortness of this. The topic requires more text to lay out. I will, in time, do this. For now, I have to spend my study time on the next book. The time is short, and I have to order things by priority.

But, having had multiple questions oriented toward this, and knowing of the danger of getting this wrong, I will quickly address the topics of keys and authority.

TLDR: Everything every church teaches about these topics is dead wrong, and if you believe what they teach, you will be permanently limited in how close you can draw to God.

One person asked if I could help them understand keys. Another said "you speak as one who has authority...and I think that is wrong." (That is one of those funny things that people say unknowingly fulfilling prophecy, as when Anthon said "I can't read a sealed book.") Another person asked, "[If the LDS church does not have keys] how does one go about finding our modern day equivalent to Alma in Mosiah 26:29 to confess our sins to?"

First, watch this video on keys.

Second, realize that this idea of priesthood/authority as a permission slip or a charge is rubbish. It is all about information: the gospel, salvation, priesthood, authority--everything.

A "church" in this context is not as all churches claim. They say "we have the truth. Listen to us." They are all wrong:

3 For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord—

4 And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.

5 And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;

6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.

7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

10 And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.

11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.

...

26 Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!

28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. (2 Nephi 28)

God is the source of all information. If you seek what is beneficial, you will always grow closer to God. If you follow everything your conscience says, you will always grow closer to God.

Jesus told us to test putative truth (see John 7:17). He said we will know whether it is effectual or not. He said it was like planting a seed to see what you get (see Alma 32).

If you find that someone has more correct / more beneficial information than you have, you should extract everything you can get from them.

Popes/prophets/priests/apostles/etc/etc are not earthly kings. They do not hold their authority by arbitrary right. They have what they have (more information than you) because they obeyed and searched more than you.

You may find that you reach the limit of what they have and you are still hungry for more. If you obey and search more than them, you will surpass them in information. Nephi surpassed his father Lehi. Jesus surpassed John the Baptist.

You may find that they continue to learn faster than you can. This happened with Jesus, Moses, Elijah, Enoch, and others where no other living person was able to surpass the information they possessed while living.

Jesus said he was the true vine. Every person who obeys him without reservation is a living branch off of the true vine. You can attach yourself to that vine through a living branch, and you can swing to another branch, or become your own branch, just as fast as you are willing to trust in God completely, obey him perfectly, and seek him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.

It is the opposite of learning more/better information. You can't stay in the same amount of information. As quickly as you obey what you already have, you will be given more (this is why the vine is living), and in the instant you disobey, you will cut yourself off from the vine. Apostasy means to do anything that contradicts the information you already possess as an individual or a group.

Again, I apologize for brevity. There is a lot to say on this topic, and I will say it all eventually.

God's purposes in calamities

As parents, our task is to maximize their understanding of principles for success in life by the time they reach 18. While we have the duty to protect them from the vicissitudes of life on their own until they are ready to handle them, preparing them requires us to incrementally expose them to more. We attempt, through patient persuasion, to teach them principles of success at increasing levels of complexity. We hope they listen to us based on their faith alone in us, but also know the day will come when they will learn, whether through precept or sad experience, that what we teach them is the path of greatest happiness and minimal sorrow.

So it is with God.

He is showing us what aspects of our society, economy, and culture can't withstand reality--things that happen on this earth. He is shaking and destroying the things that don't endure (D&C 132:14). This doesn't happen all at once. It has aspects that seem momentarily extreme, but this is a slow-burn process. The current coronavirus crisis is not the first, and it won't be the last.

In a moment, he has taken away churches, sports, public school, Walmart, Amazon, grocery stores, many jobs, government power, and modern healthcare. He has shown in a moment he has shown why he said not to live in cities (see Isaiah 5:8), not to rely on the government to save you (Isaiah 31:1 and Matthew 22:19-21 ), or to lean on man-made systems (2 Nephi 4:34 and Isaiah 42:3).

When things get bad, people become religious. Though they think they believe in Jesus, their activities are closer to pagan religion than Christianity. You see, what distinguishes pagan gods from the God of Abraham is that while pagans win their gods' favor through sacrifices and pleading, the God of Abraham is the same from eternity to all eternity, with no shadow of turning, being no respector of persons. In other words, the God of Abraham operates through cause and effect. He operates through law. He is not arbitrary. He does not respond to sacrifice, but rather obedience:

"...Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
a listening ear than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22, Modern English Version)

God's purpose in sending calamities is not to cause people to cower to him, but rather to show them why his laws are given, and how they direct us to the greatest possible happiness given how things really are. Just as a child living in a house is not experiencing things how they really are, the USA living in the hollow of his hand was not experiencing things as they really are. Now he is exposing us to how things are, and he is not nearly done.

God has sent messages of warning, but you didn't listen to him when he did. You were instructed on what will happen in our day. http://latterdaydestruction.blogspot.com/ You were warned in concise, practical terms how to prepare yourself temporally (for example, here and here).

When you ignore what God says, then--while still in willful disobedience to him--plead for him to help, you openly mock him and deserve exactly what you get:

"'What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?'
Says the Lord.
'I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of well‐fed cattle [without your obedience];
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].'" (Isaiah 1:11, Amplified Version)

He warned you before you could see it coming, and you ignored him. Now that exactly what he said would happen is happening, you go to him asking for him to spare you of exactly what you chose.

For generations, the first world (and American in particular) has been blessed with greater temporal wealth than any other group of people in the history of the world. By a longshot. What did you do with those extra resources? Did you spend your unprecedented discretionary time and money to seek God, study his word, and help others? Did you help the poor more than previous generations? Did you responsibly sacrifice the future to get ahead in order to have more resources to help others? Did you even bother to crack open your scriptures?

Did you not think you would be held accountable for what God gave you? Where much is given, much is expected. Did you think God was giving you unprecedented blessings because you had earned them more than previous generations?

1 And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.
2 Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.
4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!
5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!
6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.
7 O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.
...
23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.
24 And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works.
25 And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the great and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord;
26 Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation. And thus it is. Amen. (Helaman 12)

You wasted great opportunity. Now it is time to do the best you can to repent and return to God.

For some, that will mean walking in sackcloth and ashes until they die. The best you can do is face death with perfect trust in him. Others will be granted a longer lease of life before they return to God. Hopefully you will turn your heart to the welfare of others and make the most of what time remains for you. Still others will live long enough to see God's marvelous work and wonder unfold. Still others will live to see Christ return.

No matter God's plan for you, trust him completely. Obey him perfectly. Seek all he will give you.

His judgments upon this country are underway. They will continue to roll in like a tide that continuously rises. What you are experiencing is not the end nor is it the beginning. There WILL be more disease. There WILL be famine. There WILL be invasion by a foreign power, and many survivors will be taken captive. God will shake this country until all who remain obey all of his commandments. God has spoken it, and it will not be turned away until he has made a full consumption of this country.

Coronavirus update

Americans are about to find out how sensitive our food system is. There is no national stockpile of food. We are far more tied to last year's production than you think.

Inventory your food supplies. Think about how you could make what you have in your house right now stretch for one, two, or three months.

If you don't have enough, contact family and friends to see if they will share. Consider getting cash and buying food or the means to make it now instead of later, when cash may not be available, travel may not be possible, and food may not be available at any reasonable price. Get creative (consider buying a hen already laying from that neighbor with the chickens).

If you are an adult, consider skipping one meal per day now instead of going without food completely later. Every pound of fat on your body is one day you can safely go without food. You will actually get healthier by dropping the fat, especially if you alternate fasting days with eating days. Also consider what you need to do to make sure you can spare you children (if you have them) of that for as long as possible.

Start incorporating whatever food storage you have into your normal meals now to ease the psychological burden of eating long-term food storage exclusively.

If you do what you don't have to do now, you (and they) will be much better off later.

If you live in a situation where it is plausible, GO BUY SEEDS AND PLANT THEM. They are still at the stores, but they will disappear soon enough. Garden vegetables will not provide sufficient calories quickly enough to prevent you from losing weight. But they can provide sufficient nutrition to keep you from being malnourished, which is a big problem especially if you have young children. Here is all you need, all of which are still available at lowe's / home depot: A shovel, a pick axe (if you have particularly hard soil). If you have deer, you will also need >= 6 ft fencing (if you have deer) + t-posts + something to drive them with (5lb hammer is sufficient, sledge is better, post driver is even better). Recommended plants: 1) Kale (can be planted as soon as the soil is thawed enough to dig in, grows easily, pick leaves from bottom, very nutritious, very compact @ 2' x 2', lacinato and black magic taste the best, but all varieties will work, can throw some leaves into a bean soup or steam or make a salad), 2) zucchini (productive, quick, compact @ 3' x 3', can eat steamed, fried, baked, or in bread), 3) peas (can be planted as soon as the soil is thawed, provides lots of carbs, can be used in soup or steamed, can be dried for indefinite storage, will produce all season if picked, needs a trellis/fence). I wouldn't waste time with single-harvest / lower nutrition plants such as carrots, onions, lettuce, etc. If you want to hedge for a longer time period, you could consider winter squash (I recommend butternut and blue hubbard) and/or planting dried beans you might have in your food storage. Those will take the rest of the season before you can harvest them, can't be planted until after the last frost (but can be started inside 3 weeks before then) and won't grow if you live in a particularly northern climate, but will keep (dried beans keep indefinitely, winter squash will store for ~6 months in a cool dry place).

Realize that, as people start getting sick and/or dying and/or mandated by the government to stay home, normal things will experience disruption. Beyond the food supply, this could include gas stations (who is going to work there / they don't work when the power is out), power (plants can't run without workers or supplies), and internet. I'm not saying all gas will cease, or the power will go out and not come back. I'm saying that temporary to medium-term outages are very possible in the near future. It's not a bad idea to have a few fuel cans filled on hand just in case. It's not a bad idea to save whatever milk jugs or lid containers you have and fill them with water, just in case (when the power goes out, the water will eventually stop flowing).

As a reminder: this virus will permanently change things in the USA and around the world. But it is not the end of the world (which won't happen until many other things worse than this happen), or even the beginning of the end (which already happened).

Trust in God, even if his path includes going without food, losing your job, seeing your loved ones suffer, or losing your life. Seek what he is trying to teach you. See past affliction and into purpose.

The elders, notables, teachers, and leaders are "cut off"

13 But the people do not turn back to him who smites them,
nor will they inquire of Jehovah of Hosts. 14 Therefore Jehovah will cut off from Israel
head and tail, palm top and reed, in a single day; 15 the elders or notables are the head,
the prophets who teach falsehoods, the tail. 16 The leaders of these people have misled them,
and those who are led are confused.
17 My Lord is not pleased with their young men,
nor does he pity their fatherless and widows, because all alike are godless malefactors,
and every mouth utters profanities. Yet for all this his anger is not abated;
his hand is upraised still. (Isaiah 9, Gileadi Translation)

Q: Who are the "head and tail" of our society? Who are the elders? Who are the notables? Who are the prophets who teach falsehoods? Who are the leaders?
A: Are they not political and religious leaders, local and national? Are they not professors and university administrators? Are they not movie stars and talking heads? Are they not political pundits and news casters?

Q: What does the Lord mean when he says "Jehovah will cut off from Israel" these people?

Q: What does the mean when he says "in a single day"?

Q: How will he do this?

Coronavirus

Since January, I've been posting a lot about coronavirus on my facebook page. I've pasted a digest of those posts at the bottom of this page as well as some of the responses.

So much of what we consider to be normal life relies on situations that do not endure. It’s as if we go out of our way to get to a point of complacency.

Coronavirus will cause greater political, economic, and social fallout than the 2008 crash. Voting demographics will abruptly change, world views will shift, government powers and budgets will change, very many people will lose their jobs, many will lose their homes, businesses and in some cases entire industries will go defunct, and some social habits with which we strongly identify will cease.

I hope that the majority of people—who opted not to prepare for these things before they came—view these changes as a blessing; A time to help them conform their lives more closely to reality and away from the status quo.

Coronavirus is not the beginning nor the end. There will be food shortages, violence, and natural disasters that cause a rising tide that reveals what we lack: in character, in wisdom, in power, and in joy. It may seem like the time to prepare is over. It isn’t. This is only the beginning. The time is now to prepare and improve.

Many will fallback on religious traditions to generate hope in times of fear. God does provide hope, but not in exchange for wishes. He is not a genie.

He gives instructions for how to live so as to have hope. He isn’t a pagan god who grants arbitrary favor to those who say they believe in him the loudest. Rather, he teaches principles and grants information to those who submit their actions and desires to him. He imparts the very information he uses to be who he is and do what he does.

A sin is merely any deviation from the path of greatest, enduring joy. "And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins..." (Helaman 14:13) If you believe in God, you ought to seek him in order to learn how to live in order to obtain joy that can't be taken by anything that happens or can happen here.

Do not fear as these things roll out. They have been designed and described since before the foundation of the world. They are exactly what is needed.

Paul said: "Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is." (1 Corinthians 3:13) Coronavirus is just one piece of the fire. It isn't the first, and it won't be the last.

Times like these will show you how empty your religious traditions are because they will be obviously inadequate to help you through them. I hope you react by seeking God—actually seeking him.

Obey what you know to be right and, *after that*, asking him for more. He will lead you away from the broken and ineffectual traditions you inherited into a flood of truth—practical, useful, and powerful tools to have peace and joy no matter what you encounter on this earth.

Many of these tools are laid out in my forthcoming book Men are that they might have joy: Obtaining happiness and peace through Jesus Christ.

I will post a link on the blog once it is out.

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January 24, 2020:
Following the Wuhan coronavirus?

This virus is very contagious--twice as contagious as the common flu. It has the same spread capacity as the Spanish Flu, the last big epidemic, which managed to kill 3-6% of the earth's population at the close of WWI.

The reported fatality rate of Wuhan coronavirus is around 4% if you believe the Chinese.

The Chinese have blatantly lied about the severity and spread of the disease for more than a month. Official cases are around 800, but Chinese social media posts make it clear that these reported numbers are far from the truth. Videos leaking out (before they are quickly removed from Chinese social media) show hundreds packed in standing-room-only hospitals seeking treatment and people literally collapsing in the streets.The Chinese equivalent of 911 will not respond to calls reporting symptoms of the virus. Hospitals are literally overflowed, and thousands of patients presenting symptoms are being turned away without being tested for the virus. I speculate the actual number of infections is probably around 100x what is being reported.

China--which takes extreme measures to control public perceptions--has finally quarantined 7 cities and over 20 million people. Let's hope they manage to keep it within their borders and that the cases that are showing up all around the world now remain isolated.
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January 25, 2020:

It could be that a miracle happens and the coronavirus is contained before local, untraced new infections occur in a major non-Chinese city.

Here's why I believe that is unlikely.

This disease has a high R0 rate. The data coming out of China suggests the number of new infections per sick patient could be as high as 14. The common flu has an R0 of 2-4. If you are old enough to have had chicken pox, you probably remember how sure you were to get it from even slight contact with someone who has it. Chicken pox has an R0 of 10.

The disease has a long (2 week) incubation period, and tends to be asymptomatic. This means that thermometers and checks for coughing will not be effective for screening. The virus is now widespread across China, which has who knows how many flights going to other countries every day. In Wuhan alone (the epicenter), there were 30,000 outgoing flight passengers *per day* before flights were shut down, and it is likely that many were sick.

The Chinese government has vastly underreported the disease. Hospitals are not testing patients with symptoms. The government is deleting social media posts of reports on the ground from doctors and videos from patients within the hospitals. There are reports that suggest that both the rate of infection and the death rate are much higher than what is being officially reported.

While 16 Chinese cities have been quarantined, the virus is already outside of those areas, and it will take 2 weeks to tell just how far it has spread. Meanwhile, flights from China are still being allowed globally.

The way epidemics are "controlled" is to first wait for someone to present symptoms, then gov't employees trace down all the contacts of that person during the incubation period and watch them to see if they have symptoms.

In order for this to work, they have to actually find and track everyone. Even with just a few new patients per day, they can be quickly overwhelmed, and if they miss just one transmission, the virus can get out of their control.

In the US alone, there are more than 60 potential cases as we speak, and it seems the number is doubling daily. One of the 3 confirmed cases--in Chicago--is of a woman who was here a full week before she realized she had the virus.

Because the R0 is so high, the incubation time so long, and the disease at least sometimes asymptomatic, you can pretty much guarantee that this will be a global epidemic if it gets past the tracking efforts.

When you see new patients who are not traceable to someone who has recently been to China, you know it will go global and be the worse disaster of your lifetime (models suggest at least 60 million dead globally, I predict more).

Good luck.

What gives some hope is the possibility that the Chinese-reported numbers are truthful. This is unfortunately HIGHLY unlikely. We really won't know until the disease penetrates a first-world country with honest reporting.
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January 26, 2020
Analysis of early coronavirus victims published in prestigious medical journal "Lancet" suggests a) 15% fatality rate and b) 83% infection rate among those exposed.
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January 26, 2020
I predict that within a month we will see worldwide travel bans from coronavirus. I hope I'm wrong.
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January 26, 2020
Mayor of Wuhan says 5 million people fled city prior to quarantine.
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January 27, 2020
One of the confirmed US coronavirus patients was discovered because they chose to self-report after receiving an information card on a flight that listed symptoms.

If the difference between quarantine and infecting 100 people rests on self-awareness, intelligence, or benevolence, you can guarantee this virus is going global.
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January 28, 2020

Be prepared for the violent snap from willful ignorance to hysteria:

1) flights into us from China will be banned.
2) people in USA will get coronavirus from people who haven’t been to China.
2.5) hysteria will ensue and people will clear grocery stores for months.
3) people in USA will die with exponential increase.
4) schools and events will be closed for months.
5) hospitals will be full; govt will tell people to stay home.
6) Forced quarantines mean no one is allowed on the streets. Riots pop up. Those on meds will be in trouble.

The dead will disproportionately be old or sick. Eventually, everyone will be exposed and either recovered or dead. Unless some miracle happens.

It is very unlikely a vaccine will be developed in time. It is very likely that tens of thousands of untracked sick people are already spread across every country around the world right now.

By the end of the week, expect new local cases popping up in several countries, with non Chinese deaths on their heels.
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January 29, 2020
I saw a promising update on the status of some of the outside-of-China patients. Reports say they are at least stable. If this is true, perhaps the lethality of the virus in China is related to some condition that doesn't apply globally.

Other possibilities include small sample error, intentional non-report of the other cases, which might be worse, etc.

I am sincerely hoping that the canceled flights and quarantines will somehow make a difference in spite of the vast export of traveling Chinese over the last two months since the first case.

The number of new outside-China cases and number of potential eventual deaths of those patients will provide those answers.
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January 30, 2020
A new research paper suggests current coronavirus may be 3x more likely to infect men than women, 5x more likely to infect asians than whites or blacks.

This is a really big deal, as it suggests that this outbreak, like SARS, will be far less harmful globally than it will be in Asian countries. It isn't good news for Asians, but in terms of absolute numbers, the worst case will be far better than expected!!

If it holds true, this genetic-specific hypothesis would explain why there are so few outbreaks being kicked off by the Chinese visitors to various countries.
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February 11, 2020
(Headline) Hong Kong Coronavirus expert warns outbreak could infect between 60-80% of humanity, causing 51 million deaths.
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February 11, 2020
Coronavirus wreaking havoc on global supply chains with no end in sight. Markets up day after day. Thanks central banks for preserving stocks at all costs at the expense of normal people.
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February 27, 2020
(Headline) Everyone will get the virus.
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February 28, 2020
Humans are poor assessors of risk.

It's as if they live their lives like a game of Russian roulette, and when the trigger clicks without a bang, they assume that guns therefore can't be lethal.

It doesn't surprise me how ignorant we all start out, but it does continue to shock me how willfully blind we continue to be when very obvious signs that we are wrong about almost everything in life continuously slap us in the face.

Wake up people!
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February 28, 2020
South Korea and Italy are not harder hit by coronavirus than other places. They are just testing more people.

The Spanish Flu was called the Spanish Flu because at the time, the public thought that far more Spanish people had the flu than anyone else.

In fact, Spain was just the only country not lying about the true number of cases.

South Korea and Italy are actually testing people who show up with symptoms. The US is only testing people who have been to China or have had direct contact with those who are confirmed cases. The UK *just* started testing random subsets of people showing up to hospitals without Chinese visits.

This is everywhere already, and you will see massive spikes in numbers of cases all around the world in a month or less. That is, unless they give up on the tests (they cost over $1,000 each in the US) once they realize it is all over the place.

(Also posted fatalities by age graph)
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February 29, 2020
The primary danger from coronavirus is not medical, it is economic. Yes, ~14% of those over 80 will die, with %s tapering down to ~50 years, and unhealthy people affected the most. That will definitely have effects, but what you really need to be thinking about are the effects to the system, not just peoples' health.

Companies are going to have a really, really hard time. The Federal Reserve has no interest-cutting ammo left.

Look for:
-Companies going out of business (what happens to revenue when you can't make your product because of lack of labor and components shortages?).
-Mass layoffs (you can't keep your people when you can't sell product).
-Mass mortgage defaults
-Housing market collapse
-Food shortages

Be prepared.

In the next two weeks it is highly likely you will see dozens of new cases of coronavirus in the US per day, and it will double at a regular interval.

Also look for restaurants to permanently go out of business left and right. National ones as well as mom and pops.
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March 2, 2020
We are at the point where tests, isolation, and travel bans will do absolutely no good. For every detected case there are hundreds if not more undetected. Everyone will get it.
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March 8, 2020
The rush on toilet paper and water is an example of what is called the tragedy of the commons.

"The tragedy of the commons is a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling the shared resource through their collective action."

Which of the following is the wisest response?

a) Make fun of people who are buying toilet paper and water.
b) Try to change human nature through posting memes.
c) Extrapolate this into the next phase of response so you can be better prepared. It won't be funny anymore when you can't buy your groceries, your gas, pull cash out of the ATM, etc.

Realize that, in addition to people expanding the list of what they clean out, you will see rolling shortages of random stuff as the supply chain shortages cascade through products.

For example, imagine going to walmart to get a DVD player or plastic pitcher only to find that section of shelving totally empty. That is going to rattle the normies and cause them to clean out things that you'd never expect to be cleaned out.

We live in the most complex system ever created by humans. It depends on almost everything going almost exactly perfectly almost all the time. Small deviations from these assumptions have outsized effects that can cascade exponentially. Prepare accordingly.
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March 9, 2020
They are turning away elderly patients in Italy because they are out of oxygen/ventilators. Coming soon to your local hospital:

“To say that you do not die from the coronavirus is a lie that fills me with bitterness,” said Dr. Christian Salaroli, an anaesthetist, in an interview with the Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera on Monday.

Salaroli said that the emergency is so big in Italy that he and his colleagues must now select the patients who will or will not be able to access mechanical resuscitation (by intubation) from among the most seriously ill. Patients with viral pneumonia, and are in acute respiratory failure, are first placed on non-invasive ventilation (NIV), using an oxygen mask.

“It’s a first step, but after a few days, we have to choose. Since there is, unfortunately, a disproportion between hospital resources, resuscitation beds and critically ill patients, not everyone can be intubated,” Salaroli said. “We decide based on age and state of health,” he added.

“If a person between 80 and 95 years old has severe respiratory failure, it’s likely we will not go ahead. If they have multi-organ failure, with more than two or three vital organs, it means that their mortality rate is 100%,” he added.
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March 11, 2020
In the past few days, government officials have (finally) started saying things that align with what we've known for a while about coronavirus. I'll break this down for you.

1. There is absolutely nothing the US government can do to stop the spread of this disease. It would require 100% absolute house quarantine for 3 months. That isn't going to happen.

2. There are things the US government can do to SLOW the spread of the disease. This *will not* change how many people get it. *It just stretches out how long it takes.*

Why do those in the know want to stretch out how long it takes?

1) To reduce panic. Our system is extraordinary fragile, and anything people do that is out of the norm (buy more groceries, go to work less, go to school less) can cause outsized negative effects.

2) Because if everyone gets it all at once, those who will require hospitalization (~20%) will all need it at once, and there aren't nearly enough beds for that. If the beds get filled, the hospitals will send some people home to die because they will not be able to put them on ventilators, and far more than 2% of those who get it will die.

It is highly likely that between those in the know and those too stupid to understand the futility of such actions -->extreme government interference in your life is coming soon<--.

The end game for this virus, from which there is no escape at this point, is that (at least) 2% of the global population will die (mostly older people), and that this virus will always be around thereafter, killing off a smaller percentage on a regular basis (those most susceptible will already be dead).

Expect > 7 million dead in the USA over the next year from this.

At this point, the only thing you can do is prepare yourself and your families to deal with the decisions of ignorant and inept people.

You will see grocery stores being cleaned out of all sorts of things. Stock up now.

Things will be permanently different because of this virus. Here's a sample of what you can expect:
-The housing market will crash.
-The construction market will crash.
-The stock market will continue to fall.
-At least some airlines will go out of business over this. Plane manufacturers will struggle.
-Some hospitals will go out of business and not be replaced.
-The "everyone goes to college" trend will end. Of those who do go, many more will do online programs. Many colleges and universities will be significantly cut, many others will permanently close.
-The "everything is always available for purchase" idea will end. You will see regular shortages of random things at random times.

It could be much more extensive, but this is a best-case scenario.

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RESPONSES:
"Dude, you gotta stop. Your outrageous predictions are simply... preposterous."
"This is the gong show on rollerskates."
"This is complete and utter bullshit."
"people will realize they were fooled by this one"
"This is just like Ebola. Don't get worried yet."
"...one foolish man's opinion. This is my problem with your statements. You speak as though as you have authority and I think you're very wrong for doing so."
"Here we go again, H1N1, Swine Flu, Ebola etc. all predicted to be the next pandemic that’s going to wipe out 6 to 10% of the world’s population. Never happen then, hopefully won’t happen now."
"...we all need to be VERY careful in what we say publicly given that this situation is dynamic....I’d hate to remember you as the one who induced a panic related stampede"
"Can we save this and laugh at you when this goes the same route as Ebola, mad cow, Africanized bees, swine flu etc etc etc."
" I've heard you make dramatic predictions [before] that didn't happen. So, I suppose I’m just wondering when a warning crosses the line into fear-mongering. Our Lord wasn’t a fear-monger."
"So just like other viruses"
"when we all are dead, and I was right, I get to walk right up to you on the cloudy golden streets of heaven and kick you right square in the jewels"
"this is complete fear mongering. You said the exact same things about Ebola virus. There’s nothing rational to respond to in your diatribe that promotes fear and panic."
"you are about to be blocked. You are not helping the situation"