Out & About w/ #RandomThoughts

I begin my weekly Random Thoughts this week with this as I am reading his classic, The Prophet.  Such beauty is indeed not in the Face, but in the heart.   If only some could remember that!!

It has been quite a challenging week in our World in many ways.    The Corona Virus rages on and the stories reviewed have been heart breaking.   I was admonished for a tweet I released earlier on potential preventive measures--the gentleman who did it was right now and I deleted it right away.  Any information must be either from the World Health Organization or the Centers For Disease Control--and I will embrace it and work with the Daily Outsider Team on this--it was also critical for me to note this here from the WHO website that is critical to underscore which was based on the information released to WHO Website: 

Beware of criminals pretending to be WHO

Criminals are disguising themselves as WHO to steal money or sensitive information.  If you are contacted by a person or organization that appears to be from WHO, verify their authenticity before responding.

The World Health Organization will:  

• never ask you to login to view safety information
• never email attachments you didn’t ask for
• never ask you to visit a link outside of www.who.int 
• never charge money to apply for a job, register for a conference, or reserve a hotel
• never conduct lotteries or offer prizes, grants, certificates or funding through email
• never ask you to donate directly to emergency response plans or funding appeals.

Beware that criminals use email, websites, phone calls, text messages, and even fax messages for their scams.

You can verify if communication is legit by contacting WHO directly.

• Contact WHO
• Report a scam 

I just finished reporting on it and released a link to my Twitter Feed to hopefully be supportive as our World continues to fight this epidemic.     The stories out of Iran is especially heart breaking as the virus continues to spread due to the incompetence and the absolute lack of regard the regime has for the people is beyond the pale--As I have been writing this, one of the residents of Rasht, a city in Northern Iran and the Capital of Gilan Province, has been providing guidance to the show Iran-E-Farda  on how truly horrible things are in the aftermath of the horrific decisions made to quarantine the epic center, Qum, by Security Officials close to the Supreme Leader.    

Rasht has a population of 1.2 Million and has 6 Hospitals with an estimated maximum capacity of 1000 beds.   Out of 10 families, 1 family has lost a loved one--the Number of Doctors and Nurses who have lost their lives is absolutely tragic.     I understood that some 35 Million Masks and Gloves were sent forth--yet it ended up in the black market which is absolutely devastating and the current regime is incapable of stopping it.     

I could not believe the nerve that the National Security Advisor, Shamkhani , told Iraqis how Iran could help Iraq--someone needs to tell him that if he had the nerve, he needs to fix Iran.   One of the persons talked about how he went to 20 Pharmacies and no one face mask or Alcohol was available.    One person was absolutely right when he noted that Iran has turned into Chernobyl.   As I worked away today, I could not help but agree with Iranian Analyst Amir Taheri as he noted how Iran has no Government--and 80 Million People Suffer in the process.

My heart is heavy tonight for Iran especially as Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, is coming up as I created my "Haft-Sin" to signify a sense of hope in spite of it all:

  

I pay homage to all the Doctors, Nurses and other healthcare workers who have been at the front lines of fighting the Corona Virus Epidemic (which is close to being a pandemic) as I hereby share a number of these angels here:

All I can say is this:  We Shall Overcome.