Frank M. Weeks: Hater better check what acronym COVID really stands for

To The Daily Sun,

Thought I'd stay away from dealing with the world that exists in Zombie Land, but...

The Duke of Earl is telling his world that, "...the PC police are telling us that describing it as the China flue is "racist." According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, a "flue" is "a pipe that leads from a fire or heater to the outside of a building taking smoke, gases, or hot air away." I would volunteer that his statement is hot air and should be vented by his flue.

As to the "China flue" (which does not exist), the real culprit is a member of the viral family Coronaviridae, while the influenza is a viral member of the family Orthomyxviridae. Elucidation is available in the "Annual Review of Virology" (2016): Vol 3:237-261, the article "Structure, Function, and Evolution of Corona Spike Proteins": Fang Li(University of Minnesota). Yes, a Chinese investigator with his PhD from Yale University. Side note: my brother was a professor there for 12 years before he took a new position at the University of Pennsylvania.

As for the word, "Chinese virus," which our sympathetic leader has recanted on, racist innuendos have been used ("Never let a fact get in the way of a good smearing") for decades to debase other cultural groups. In 1830, there was the Irish disease, officially cholera; in 1890, the Jewish disease: tuberculosis; in 1916, the Italian disease: polio; and in 1918, the yellow peril disease/ Spanish flu: influenza. Interestingly, due to the 1918 flu, a German immigrant family received a $100 million life insurance policy pay-out, which was invested in property in New York City. Today, immigrants are allegedly incubating every possible disease north of the Rio Grande.("Pale Rider": Laura Spinney[Jonathan Cape, 2017]).

The Duke further persists: "COVID-19 is the only acceptable term now, only problem? C= China O= originated V= viral I= infectious D= disease." Hmm, to be gentle, this is a down-right malodorous lie, reeking of delusional deceitfulness and deception; and comparable to, "An extremely credible source... told me that Barack Obama's birth certificate is a fraud." Only a "non-critical thinker" would fall for that statement! Officially, according to the CDC and NIH, COVID-19 is the official acronym for CO= CORONA, VI= VIRAL; D= DISEASE ; and 19= 2019. It is heinous to profess deceptive misinformation.

And to further nit-pick: "Trump haters wanted open boarders..." Hmm, according to the dictionary, a "boarder(s)" is a "person who pays to stay and receive meals at someone else's house". Sounds good to me, I recommend airbnb in Paris. Actually I think a homophone was intended... Time for spell check/proof reading.

In a more liberal mode, let's fantasize that we all come out of this COVID-19 with empathy and tolerance for all people on this planet. "Imagine"(John Lennon).

Frank M. Weeks

Gilmanton Iron Works