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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, May 08, 2020

Boscola to Wolf: Please End the LV Lockdown

On Thursday, I told you that Dr. Luther Rhodes, an infectious disease expert at Lehigh Valley Health Network, stated unequivocally that the Lehigh Valley should no longer be in lockdown. But he noted that "fear is dictating" the state response, which also happens to be based on biased data. He made these statements at a WLVR radio show that included State Senator Lisa Boscola. This appears to have shaken her. Previously, she stood with Governor Tom Wolf and voted against a legislative measure that would allow businesses to reopen. But her confidence in a continued lockdown has been shaken by Dr. Rhodes as well as Dr. Jeffrewy Jahre, yet anopther infectious disease specialist from St. Luke's. So she's asked Wolf to end the Lehigh Valley Lockown.



72 comments:

Anonymous said...

So Lisa is covered either way.

Anonymous said...

So now it's Boscola sending this letter. Dauphin and Lebanon county commissioners saying they won't abide by Wolf's orders and state their county are ready for reopening. County Sheriffs from Cumberland and Perry County have made statements on FB that they will not cite businesses that operate in defiance of Wolf's orders. You move Governor Wolf, where are you sending the PSP first? Hopefully no where because enough is enough!@

Bernie O'Hare said...

Beaver County has voted to open, too.

Anonymous said...

I admire Lisa for representing the best interests of her constituents, and not just her party. May is a long month, and many small businesses cannot wait until June 4 for even a glimmer of hope to reopen.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Bernie you do a great service to the Lehigh Valley. don't always agree with you but you are fair minded IMO. Look at all this news going on, and I go on LVL and none of it is reported. Is Journalism dead??

Anonymous said...

Yeah, there are voices screaming to end the lockdown. Meanwhile, the case count continues going up up up. You'll see - mark these words - if we think we can just go back to normal, it will lead to disaster. Worse than what we have now. This blog has become a voice for tear it all down and open it up, and hey, the only problem is in nursing homes. That is not the case.

Anonymous said...

I, for one, appreciate Gov. Wolf protecting us from the Trump Virus.

Doc Rock said...

Wearing masks, social distancing, no concerts, no sporting events, no school. What idiot thinks this is going back to "normal?" Normal for whom?

"Yellow" is a baby step, not a big leap. If we don't get there soon, I'm catching the midnight train to Georgia. Along with hundreds of thousands of other Pennsylvanians who may never come back.

Ironic how a governor who drooled over the previous president has removed the word "hope" from the dictionary.

Will the last person leaving the Lehigh Valley please turn off the lights.

Anonymous said...

11:40 you are an idiot-Wolf is not protecting anyone-hi is killing and hurting many more people than he is helping and that is a fact.

Anonymous said...

A lot of businesses in the state are opening and that is good. screw Wolf he is listening to Pelosi who told the Governors to keep their states closed as long as possible . This will keep Trump from winning reelection. Does anybody expect any thing different from the bitch.

Anonymous said...

This is at least progress of a kind.

I appreciate Senator Boscola broadening her concern beyond restaurants, we're all in this together, lets get out together, now.

Fair disclosure: I voted for Lisa Boscola.

Anonymous said...

Businesses in pa. must open --do not listen to the liberal draft dodger--he is trying to destroy the economy so trump is not reelected Open your business or you will go down by listening to a left wing radical who could care less about your business--he is killing more people than he is trying to save.

Anonymous said...

About time she put down the schnapps and DID something. Where is the rest of Team Rehab?

Anonymous said...

Midnight Trian To Georgia? You mean Highway To Hell

https://nowhabersham.com/covid-19-in-georgia-updated-map-and-statistics/

Anonymous said...

Finally got some perspective on blind Wolf supporters in today's Mcall. Some genius wrote a letter to the editor saying we should be following Asimov's three rules for...robots. Yes, robots.

Glad we have at least one Democrat who sees the economic consequences of a "draconian" shutdown.

Speaking of the Call, they also seem to have discovered the economic consequences of the shutdowns. "African Americans and Latinos hit hardest."

Shocking!

Anonymous said...

Take a few minutes to read the SpotlightPA article listed at the left. Stunning evidence of incompetence throughout this Wolf administration. How many lives were lost due to Pennsylvania’s failed politicians? The article should makes all of us livid from the failure of our state government. Vote accordingly.

Anonymous said...

6:41 AM

Any significance to your seemingly random cut and paste?

If you mean to show things are worse in Georgia than PA, wouldn't a comparison of statistics be more meaningful than a random headline?

You know, growth rate of cases, per capita data, "complicated" stuff like that.

Anonymous said...

I'm mid seventies, white male, overweight, heavy smoker, asthma, and hacking cough. Why hasn't the Wuhan Flu, ya know, the Chinese,err, Covid-19 virus, killed me yet? Asking for a friend....

Anonymous said...

Maybe he's a robot.

Anonymous said...

750. What year did you graduate from Trump U ?

Anonymous said...

Boscola must be drinking her regular dose of Clorox & Kool-Aid as she is an "R" in disguise pretty much all of her political life. She like Trump, needs an audience and in her case, a bar to belly up to...

Anonymous said...

8:04 AM

Probably the same year you graduated from Dupe U.

Anonymous said...

819. Actually I studied in Egypt and graduated with honors from Farouk Univ (good old FU)

Anonymous said...

Pa. voters voted this liberal left wing into office twice--this is what you get--a person who thinks he can control every aspect of your life. That is how these people think and act--now you have to live with it . maybe next time you vote nyou will take a very close look at how these left wing dems govern

Anonymous said...

A crisis really brings out the best in your radical left dems

Anonymous said...

Here is Dr. Rhodes speaking in March, seemingly questioning the severity of this illness:

““The flu and COVID are remarkably similar, but why the difference with COVID?” he said. “Why are we so afraid? Why are businesses on pause? Why is the economy hit so hard, because we didn’t have that influenza. We didn’t have that with MERS, Ebola or SARS.”

Seems like an agenda

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
11:40 you are an idiot-Wolf is not protecting anyone-hi is killing and hurting many more people than he is helping and that is a fact.
May 9, 2020 at 12:37 AM

Oh yeah? Show us your calculations.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
A lot of businesses in the state are opening and that is good. screw Wolf he is listening to Pelosi who told the Governors to keep their states closed as long as possible . This will keep Trump from winning reelection. Does anybody expect any thing different from the bitch.
May 9, 2020 at 1:00 AM

Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Businesses in pa. must open --do not listen to the liberal draft dodger--he is trying to destroy the economy so trump is not reelected Open your business or you will go down by listening to a left wing radical who could care less about your business--he is killing more people than he is trying to save.
May 9, 2020 at 2:42 AM

Numbers, please, we need numbers.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I'm mid seventies, white male, overweight, heavy smoker, asthma, and hacking cough. Why hasn't the Wuhan Flu, ya know, the Chinese,err, Covid-19 virus, killed me yet? Asking for a friend....
May 9, 2020 at 7:50 AM


Apparently he has yet to be infected. His first Trump rally should take care of that.

Anonymous said...

This is a fuller piece of that story about Dr. Rhodes at press conference in March doubting the seriousness of this pandemic:

““The flu and COVID are remarkably similar, but why the difference with COVID?” he said. “Why are we so afraid? Why are businesses on pause? Why is the economy hit so hard, because we didn’t have that influenza. We didn’t have that with MERS, Ebola or SARS.”

Rhodes believes the fact that this is a new virus with a catchy name, that everyone is aware and they’ve seen what is happening in other countries.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
819. Actually I studied in Egypt and graduated with honors from Farouk Univ (good old FU)
May 9, 2020 at 8:23 AM

They can't be any good because they don't have a football team.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Pa. voters voted this liberal left wing into office twice--this is what you get--a person who thinks he can control every aspect of your life. That is how these people think and act--now you have to live with it . maybe next time you vote nyou will take a very close look at how these left wing dems govern
May 9, 2020 at 8:23 AM

Sorry you can't handle democracy. Get used to disappointment, because a big slice of it is coming your way.

Anonymous said...

9:06 AM

"Seems like an agenda."

I'll say. People with agendas like to cut and paste with no links to the original context.

Here's the entire article.

https://m.standardspeaker.com/coronavirus/lvhn-specialist-we-will-come-through-1.2608616

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Here is Dr. Rhodes speaking in March, seemingly questioning the severity of this illness:

““The flu and COVID are remarkably similar, but why the difference with COVID?” he said. “Why are we so afraid? Why are businesses on pause? Why is the economy hit so hard, because we didn’t have that influenza. We didn’t have that with MERS, Ebola or SARS.”

Seems like an agenda
May 9, 2020 at 9:06 AM

Because the Trump Virus is different.

Anonymous said...

918 They do. You call it soccer,
Trump U has a group called A-holes r us.

Anonymous said...

9:26, this is "Murica, baby. Soccer isn't REAL football.

Trump U. has only one slogan: Closed Due to Fraud.

Anonymous said...

Thanks 9:20
I didn’t link as I thought you couldn’t here but I certainly linked the full article on FB.

Which doesn’t change the fact that he seemed to be downplaying it then so I have my doubts about his assessments now

Anonymous said...


Here is the AP article about the Trump admin hiding information from OUR scientists

https://apnews.com/9c4d5284ba4769d3b98aa05232201f88

Anonymous said...

business must open despite Wolf - some counties are now telling him to shove his policies up his ass--my business has been opened for the last3 weeks and no body tried to close me down. lets all get behind Lisa and open up.

Anonymous said...

Why would this be happening if agenda was not driving the rush to open.

Another whistleblower complaint, only this time we are the direct victims of an admin muzzling OUR doctors and scientists

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/watchdog-vaccine-chief-whistleblower-retaliated/story?id=70518358&fbclid=IwAR1EnmTzs-iY4oyaISErjGZMhLBYG8mpSTdITQq0ONoOhw0CQGYPD-1aYoA

Anonymous said...

My my, it does seem the morning for False-Flag comments by TDS sufferers, doesn't it.

Much better to argue with imagined "enemies" than the real thing.

Anonymous said...

Freedom Fighter for Ill-Considered Reopening here. Do you require my assistance speaking with illogical posters? I will always come to the aid of those afflicted with the Right Wing Delusion.

Bernie O'Hare said...

9:20, The agenda is infectious disease. You apparently think we should listen to a pediatrician but discount TWO specialists in that field to justify the draconian measures imposed by Wolf and his fellow elitists.

Anonymous said...



https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/09/pressure-mounts-pa-gov-tom-wolf-democrats-question-coronavirus-shutdown/#

Anonymous said...

I'm voting for Trump to get a Noble prize (candy coated popcorn peanuts and a prize) as he is the true leader in presiding over the most deadly pandemic in modern times, highest unemployment rate in history and 78,200 American deaths...!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
business must open despite Wolf - some counties are now telling him to shove his policies up his ass--my business has been opened for the last3 weeks and no body tried to close me down. lets all get behind Lisa and open up.
May 9, 2020 at 9:44 AM

Draconian Slayer here. I will be honoring the esteemed counties of Lebanon and Dauphin (both of which were named after my family, by the way) to honor their breakage of the law. I quite agree that no one should obey a law with which they disagree, such as driving on the right side of the road. I happen to be a lefty, so this is a happy day indeed.

I will be very happy to get out of town, as lately I've been decidedly under the weather lately. However, I plan to meet the people responsible for this and shake their hand.

Anonymous said...

Bernie O'Hare said...
9:20, The agenda is infectious disease. You apparently think we should listen to a pediatrician but discount TWO specialists in that field to justify the draconian measures imposed by Wolf and his fellow elitists.
May 9, 2020 at 10:06 AM


Please state your basis for your claim that Dr. Levine has not consulted a wide variety of medical experts, including experts in infectious diseases.

I mean, I can't IMAGINE that you'd just be making this up.

Anonymous said...

10:18 thank you sorry no caps

Anonymous said...

But now I can't take you seriously. I guess some people just don't know how to take a compliment.

Anonymous said...

9:06 and 9:36 AM

Hope you can find this in the sea of False-Flag comments.

Glad to be of help. You can't post "hot" links, but web addresses let people find what your talking about, in context.

My response was based on some who post here who think it's a game to force others to hunt down their factoids and quotes because they don't want others to see the context.

Having said that, I encourage everyone to read what the doctor said. Most of it (80-90%) is solidly mainstream. The rest of it is part of a continuum of opinions among infectious disease experts, especially as it existed in March.

As I'm sure you know, everyone has an "agenda", just some are from folks you happen to disagree with.

Anonymous said...

Interesting to read the responses. Indeed some people are angry and hurting, but they’re alive. I’m sure Mrs. Boscola is sincere but I don’t have faith in either of the institutions that these Doctors represent. These hospitals are not social distancing. They are still asking hospital employees to use homemade masks rather than medical grade masks. Look at any dock or mailroom or housekeeping department and see how close these employees are to each other. Both institutions are in financial trouble now and have let go of a lot of people. While keeping essential workers on the front lines St. Luke’s has already let employees know that their 401k matches have been postponed. So much for thanking the health care workers. Hospitals have financial incentives to get back to business of expanding and constructing new buildings.

Anonymous said...

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Cases across the state are expected to increase at an exponential rate. Because of limited testing and other factors, experts believe the virus is far more widespread than case counts suggest.
Reported cases: 54,238
Deaths: 3,616

Anonymous said...

So Senator Boscola chose to listen to the Valleys two top infectious disease experts instead of Wolfs transgender pediatric psychologist who masquerades as an infectious disease specialist. Good for the Senator!

Anonymous said...

Anyone see the Spotlight PA story on Wolfs failure to protect the nursing homes? This, if true, is disgraceful!

I also saw a PennLIve editorial calling out Wolf for his lack of transparency. Even his cronies in the media are turning on him and his incompetent, heavy handed administration. About time!

Anonymous said...

9:06 AM and 9:36 AM

As a follow-up to my comment, and since you seem to be new here, you may not know that 10:49 AM continues to cut and paste an outdated and misleading quote regarding exponential growth. Worse, he and his minions actually want to try to argue about it rather than accept the obvious.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
9:06 AM and 9:36 AM

As a follow-up to my comment, and since you seem to be new here, you may not know that 10:49 AM continues to cut and paste an outdated and misleading quote regarding exponential growth. Worse, he and his minions actually want to try to argue about it rather than accept the obvious.
May 9, 2020 at 11:01 AM

Just quoting the newspaper. Why don't you ask it to explain what it's printed?

Anonymous said...

"Just quoting the newspaper. Why don't you ask it to explain what it's printed?"

You tried that once before. It's been pointed out to you that you are cutting and pasting a misleading quote. Once out of ignorance is excusable. Twice may be stubborn stupidity. Daily indicates a true intent to mislead.

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington

Anonymous said...

"Reputable Newspapers" get things wrong. I did find it after you wanted to play "cute" games and refused to post a direct link. Unfortunately for you, while looking for it I discovered elsewhere that the quote is from the middle of March and has never been updated.

As I said before, you can cut and paste but can't think.

Or maybe you have an agenda.

Anonymous said...

With today's new numbers, if my math is correct, the entire state of PA has had a downward trending 14 day moving average of daily new cases for three weeks. The average peaked on April 18.

Anonymous said...

Schuylkill County is defying Commissar Wolf! They want to open up. I'll drink to them with a Yuengling Lager!

Anonymous said...

Morning call reports Schukyll, Dauphin and lebanon counties going rogue and moving from red to yellow this week.

Good for them, the shutdown was to bend the curve and that is what they did. Hospitals are going back to doing elective surgeries. It is now time to allow people to go back to work and take care of their famlies

Patriot2 said...

Good for Lisa to step forward to get us back on track. They need to separate the Nursing Home deaths from the numbers & recognize that young people in the world of commerce are generally not dying from Chinese Virus.
Even the hospitals are employ & bleeding cash &!these are the institutions we supposedly preserved by shutting down. Politically motivated democrats are road blocking recovery in their last ditch effort to defeat Trump.

Anonymous said...

PA lost over 360 million in anticipated April sales tax collections. That will likely be the same for May and for now, part of June.

Revenue normally coming in for April individual income tax and quarterly tax estimates were pushed out til July. This was 2.2 billion less than anticipated. Although you may think this imbalance will rectify in July, 1099/self employed employees ESTIMATE their quarterly payments based on prior years taxes. Virtually all 1099's will now pay considerably less if any at all.

At the same time, unemployment claims are close to 1.8 Million. PA has an average income of $46,972. Weekly that works out to $903. When the system catches up and all on UI are paid, the half of that $903 UI provides, the Gubmint will be sending out $800,000,000 per week.

I think an optimist would project 90% would go right back in to their old jobs once we are "Green". A pessimist would say 70%.

Yes, death is sad, but choosing octogenarians with multiple comorbidities over the economic futures by shutting down the economy of the entire balance of the younger, healthier generations was not only overreach and un-American, but among the worst cost/benefit decisions ever made. Especially on this scale.

Anonymous said...

Message to those who promoted this lockdown and caused it to be extended from 14 days to 60 days. You have created a deficit for our government bodies (state/county/local) that runs into hundreds of billions of dollars lost from various treasuries.

You might think you will ‘win’ many seats back in the next elections, and you eagerly look forward to all the pleasure it will bring to you. But, you have brought on a self-inflicted loss of thousands and thousands of your OWN spendable dollars over the coming years.

Your taxes, your purchase prices, your license and other fees are about to skyrocket up as governing bodies attempt to recover. Those, higher than normal, extractions from your money will hang around for years!

The younger you are, no matter how boisterous and confident you speak, the greater amount of price in dollars you will pay over time. You might be a financial loser for the next 30-50 years. Others, who are older and better prepared for what’s ahead, will suffer far less than you.

Yes, you might get that ‘win’ you crave.

Really?

Anonymous said...

Why do people continue to put up with Boscola’s antics and believe that she is trying to open up our economy. If that’s the case why did she vote NO on Senate Bill 612 on April 15, which would have done just that. Instead she holds virtual meetings and then recently introduced a bill to reopen real estate offices knowing full well it is a non-starter. Just more window dressing and no one holds her accountable. The people just continue to drink the Kool Aid.

Anonymous said...

From an LTE writer to the MCall:

"I don’t usually write about government policy but this lockdown needs to stop sooner, rather than later. I keep hearing to save one life is worth the effort. I wonder if Gen. Dwight Eisenhower asked his team to guarantee no life would be lost before he said “let’s go” in the invasion of Normandy.

I’m an 87-year-old man, and this is the age that seems to claim a large percentage of lives. If this is a war then it’s just this end of the scale that is being asked to go, compared to the 18-year-olds we normally send off to die in a war without a second thought."

And

"Government policy cannot be based on an individual personal feeling but must be realistic for all its citizens."




Anonymous said...

Joshua Siegel wants the Lehigh valley locked down for the rest of the year

Anonymous said...

11.10
" I wonder if Gen. Dwight Eisenhower asked his team to guarantee no life would be lost before he said “let’s go” in the invasion of Normandy."
And i wonder how many would have boarded the landing craft if "ike" stated "thousands will die so Olive Garden turns a dividend for investors"

Anonymous said...

I am so very happy to see that Knucklehead Trump and his manservant Pence apparently get all of the tests they want while the rest of us can just go to hell.

Didn't we fight a revolution over this crap?

Anonymous said...

5:05 " I wonder if Gen. Dwight Eisenhower asked his team to guarantee no life would be lost before he said “let’s go” in the invasion of Normandy."
That quote was from an 87 year old in an LTE to the Morning Call in this am's paper.
Unlike you, that writer has not lived his whole life in academia and has acquired something called wisdom. That writer was a member of a generation that sacrificed over 400,000 18-40 yr olds for the freedom of Europe, Asia, and to guarantee the war would not reach our shores. His LTE should have weight, even for an ideologue like you. I come to this blog because it has become one of the last forums where a person can vent and voice opinions on a wide range of local and national topics. As an academic, you would think debate would be your forte, yet you never offer a counterpoint argument. You offer straw men and condescending retorts, both of which are trademarks of the left and so embarrassingly predictable.

Doc Rock said...

For those of you who believe that people who are retired, and living on pensions and Social Security are only thinking about themselves, think again. My wife and I both in that group. We are financially secure. However, none of our children or grandchildren are financially secure. We worry every day about their futures. As we also worry about our friends who are small business owners who have put their life savings into their businesses. We also worry about those who are alone, those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, and those who are in abusive relationships. If you think we only worry about ourselves, think again. Sounds like you are talking about yourself. Compassion for others seems to be something you do not possess.