Covid 19 thread

[Mackeyser]

I understand what your concern is, but my concern is the underhanded dismantling of public education. It’s happening right now as we speak. The powers that be are using this pandemic as a way to destroy whatever is left and to shift to privatization of education — in the future there will be no public schools. If you want to be an athlete you’ll have to Enroll in a private school that specializes in that particular sport — basketball is already there with these prep schools and guys like LaMelo Ball going to Europe. That’s the future. Kids will have to go to private schools or rely on homeschooling.

But back to my point - and I hope nobody thinks I’m trying to drag this into verboten territory because I’m only pointing out what is happening regardless of political affiliation — but the government is looking at schools opening for the day care aspect - not education. They want kids to go back to school so parents can go back to work and boost those employment numbers. That’s what I mean when I say it’s about the day care and not about the education. And when they fail to prevent the spread for a million obvious reasons the powers that be will use this failure to condemn public schools and defund them entirely — it’s a win win for those that want to privatize school.

Public Schools won’t get the funding they need to deal with the pandemic let alone deal with providing a quality education. They haven’t been since I heard my parents comolaining around the dinner table 35 years ago.

What they are doing to USPS they are doing to public schools.

They will use whatever is in their power to destroy public education.

Check out this tweet today from the leader of the Federal government - it’s has nothing to do with these notions of radical left or whatever garbage. It’s just a way to defund.

Yesterday the threat from the leader of the Federal government was to defund if public schools didn’t reopen - and now it’s this.

Believe me when i tell you. Public education is about to go extinct. Best make new plans and not depend on free schooling much longer

View attachment 37309

seconded

 

[bluecoconuts]

Yes
but the Fed and State governments are literally robbing money from state coffers meant for public schools to go to private institutions in the form of vouchers and other means - Florida as a huge example. Maybe I should have mentioned it's coming for public education from all angles.

I agree with you on the issues of getting back to school,
but I also firmly believe that those in power (federal and state) want to see the public school system fail miserably so they can promote their aims of privatization, hence the push and hence the lack of planning. cause you know as well as I do that it's all going to end up a disaster unless if we don't have a comprehensive and effective plan moving forward. Until then, a disaster is what these enemies of public education will look to pounce on in their efforts.

Yeah, definitely, the state and especially federal governments have been starving education for years now, and there has been a noticeable push towards privatization in the recent years, which doesn’t surprise me, afterall where you stand is often where you sit.

Some states are cutting education more than others, and obviously various states can add their own restrictions and budgetary wrinkles or lack there of based on their leadership. There are going to be states that push money from public to private, but to be honest, I think that eventual public backlash forcing them to reverse is far more likely than for enough states to go this route that it becomes the new standard, let alone totally replaces public education.

I understand where the logic comes from, it’s similar to the debate about funding organizations like NASA/JPL. I remember hearing it all from my father regarding the emergence of SpaceX when I got my first JPL research gig, but when I got there I found out that the DoD loved us. And as the very high ranking general overseeing that their project was being worked on told us “The ROI we get from the money we give you is what makes our military so advanced at lethal, SpaceX could never deliver results with even close comparisons.”

The same is true for public education actually. First, the government has a lot of control over what we research, they were able to have our medical research teams drop all research and jump into Covid research back in March for example. They can’t do that with a private school. They also get access to our labs and our Applied Physics Laboratory which has essentially turned into the Air Force and Navy’s crazy new toys building. Not to mention public universities make the GI Bill cheaper, tend to be the better option regarding training their future leaders. While privatization can do the same thing they do it at an insanely high cost with significantly less oversight.

Even lower education in terms of high schools give military recruiters their pool of potential recruits far more than private or home schooling. It’s not just a case of more kids go through the public school system, it’s part of the design, and recruiters have to be allowed on the campus vs private schools can turn them down.

It’s an incredibly complex and interwoven institution that can be heavily damaged over a single 4-8 or even 16 year period, but can’t really be drowned. There are far too many fingers in the pie that do have a lot of influence over the government.

Lack of planning on getting back to school this year, I think is more a case of not thinking ahead than something more insidious. Of course, like you, I expect them to pounce on it when there are hiccups, especially with no clear single point of leadership.

Some states will definitely go further than others, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a higher percentage of students who go through the home/private system vs public.

Ultimately, I think public education’s connection the the government via the DoD are far too tight for total privatization. I actually expect some state and local governments to shift some funding away from police to education in the wake of all this, and I’m curious as to if that’ll end up being one of the National debates.

Either way, I know the Air Force guys I work with on some of our projects wouldn’t be able to do nearly as much as they can without us, and they know it to. If push came to shove, I think we would see the DoD pointing that out. The factories in the congressmen districts that produce our weapons and so often get special treatment during shutouts and recessions wouldn’t have anything to build without our partnership.

Privatizing education suddenly makes it so the federal government could have less control over the weapons they design and build than a foreign government who is pumping the right amount of money into the right schools. Thats a point that the Air Force made when discussing their relationship with our university at a dinner function last year actually, so they seem to value it.

The affect on heavier privatization in states like Florida (as you mentioned) will be really interesting to see long term. Likewise, I wonder if some states/cities will go with the inverse and begin to refund education more again as an almost counter to that increase.

I sort of hope that they do and there begins a war between the two opinions about who does it better, leading to the most educated and advanced generation to graduate in history, who immediately develop the perfect solution to mass education.

 

[Mackeyser]

You have absolutely nothing to back that up my man, that is your pneumonia claim, I mean nothing, c’mon now, set your politics aside or bring hard evidence

i was mistaken with the .05, turns out it’s just over 4% confirmed, not counting the CDC suspects our positive count x 10

factor that in son

( lol you’re 10 yrs my junior)

c'mon, man. Y'all know me better than to simply make up stuff. I don't do that.

I did the math for you on why it's nowhere near 0.05% and here's the article on the FL DOH fudging numbers.

Florida scientist says she was fired for refusing to change Covid-19 data 'to support reopen plan'

Dr Rebekah Jones says she was fired from Department of Health by the governor after protesting order to censor information

www.theguardian.com

As for the pneumonia claim, here's a reddit with the links, both for the higher numbers and lower numbers, but yeah, it's not made up.
If you go searching, just know that I don't remotely accept anything from the Tampa Bay Times or it's creation, Politifact. I won't go into why, but it's not a reputable source. May as well use infowars, if one were so inclined. Not saying you would, but in lots of discussions, I have to unpack their (Politifact's) nonsense and I just can't right now.

I will grant you that in many cases, it may not be as cut and dried as in FL (I don't subscribe that it's a Republican plot in red states for example), but more likely an issue with doctors improperly trained to recognize COVID or no one knew until recently. The recent discovery about micro-clotting would be an example of this...such that there are COVID related heart attacks that aren't included because we didn't know clotting was a COVID related issue. As well, in independent elderly patients, underlying issues or no, their attending may have just listed it as pneumonia because that's a common death for the elderly.

But COVID deaths are being undercounted for a host of reasons. And yeah, DeSantis has outright altered the numbers. Well respected scientists don't go whistleblower, lose their jobs and risk their careers to get the data wrong.


View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/gqypwx/kentucky_has_had_913_more_pneumonia_deaths_than/frvxvan/

 

[Mojo Ram]

Temps here have been averaging 105 for a month. Now we're in the 110's. This weekend we'll hit 117.

Can't speak for Florida or Texas but during Arizona summers, the population migrates indoors for any and all activities that don't involve water...and the water parks, river tubing etc are closed.

Science and common sense says that people hanging out in supermarkets, shopping malls, museums, restaurants, anywhere with four walls and a ceiling rather than outdoors will increase the spread.

Just something to think about.

 

[Mackeyser]

Well that is the issue, what "seems to be" is completely dependent on how the media has reported this. And negative, world is ending, fear based reporting always gets the most clicks/views/re-posts...
I dont think anyone thought realistically that we could stop the spread, flatten the curve yes.
From April 21st to June 21st we saw a continuous decrease of hospitalizations from a near high of 59,264 down to 27,948. A 53% reduction over 60 day period. Clearly we had an extended flattening of the curve.

Well, hold on there, hoss. There has been enough data on mask usage as well as simple observation in parts where the virus is spiking to let us know this wasn't all "the media".

And yes, we flattened the curve. The point was to do better than that so that we could get back to life and save a bunch of lives. Well, we didn't do good enough and we're gonna see much worse in the coming months.

I just got my botox and my PA said that they just had an epidemiologist talk to the staff at the VA and he said that at best we won't see the peak of this until September... and this was before schools announced that they were gonna fully reopen.

As for football, just wait until the NBA reopens with their deal in Orlando... That city isn't locked down...at all. None of central FL is unless there's a small enclave I don't know about. For all their efforts, I'd be shocked if they get through a couple of weeks without an outbreak, let alone their abbreviated tournament/season.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Latest numbers in AZ
116,892 cases
2,082 total deaths

We should have protected the high risk population and kept as much of our economy opened as possible, like many said months ago.

 

[Mackeyser]

Is the season over?
60 days of decrease followed by 10 day spike, totals still far below what were critical levels. And again, testing is also up by a major %, causing more positive results. 19 countries are reporting an uptick as well.
You can choose to follow whatever narrative you choose. Clearly you follow the sky is falling mantra.
I follow the numbers, and as the USA is concerned we are doing our best. Right now we have a couple hot spots, where we have other areas seemingly in control. Just have to keep moving the ball forward
In our 5th month of fighting this virus globally, and the experts still dont even understand how its transmitted. WHO says asymptomatic likely doesnt pass on virus, CDC says they do. And nobody knows how long someone can remain asymptomatic.

Well, I've been pretty clear that I'm a lefty, but I have to agree with many on the right who've criticized the WHO. I don't think we shoulda left, but they've been so damn busy trying to be the UN instead of a science based institution that it cost the world a lot of lives with all of their early equivocation. It cost everyone time. Only South Korea really had it nailed and everyone else had issues later.

If I had to choose, I'm going with the CDC. Not that there aren't wonderful scientists working at the WHO. Heck, they're probably more frustrated with their leadership than anyone. But we don't get to hear from them, so...

My worry is that this virus mutates AGAIN. Yes, it's already mutated once as what's going around now is different than the original Wuhan strain. I recall something about how it was deadlier, but becoming symptomatic quicker, iirc. I dunno, I was in a lot of pain and not retaining much. If I did recall correctly, that's good news. Not for those who catch it, obviously, but it means that the faster people become symptomatic, the less they can spread it asymptomatically and the easier it is to do contact tracing and isolate people.

That would explain some of the numbers a little better. And it would also give us hope that if we just mask up, wash our hands, keep our hands away from our face and social distance, we might knock this down faster...and before it can mutate potentially into something worse.

 

[Mojo Ram]

On a lighter note i finally got around to watching Contagion(2011) the other night. Interesting film to watch in retrospect.

 

[kurtfaulk]

I mean it’s classic to read Kurtfaulk talked shit about how Australia was so much better than the USA and saying we were fucked - then the next thing you know Melbourne is on massive lockdown. This is a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation.

yeah but everyone knew the second wave would happen. it's not like we didn't know it was coming.

it came back and they took measures to ensure it doesn't run rampant. and i wouldn't go by news reports to gauge what's happening down there. if you relied on the news media you'd think the world was coming to an end every day.

this is the way it's gonna be until the vaccine comes out. it gets going, restrictions come in, it gets better, restrictions get relaxed.

.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

c'mon, man. Y'all know me better than to simply make up stuff. I don't do that.

I did the math for you on why it's nowhere near 0.05% and here's the article on the FL DOH fudging numbers.

Florida scientist says she was fired for refusing to change Covid-19 data 'to support reopen plan'

Dr Rebekah Jones says she was fired from Department of Health by the governor after protesting order to censor information

www.theguardian.com

As for the pneumonia claim, here's a reddit with the links, both for the higher numbers and lower numbers, but yeah, it's not made up.
If you go searching, just know that I don't remotely accept anything from the Tampa Bay Times or it's creation, Politifact. I won't go into why, but it's not a reputable source. May as well use infowars, if one were so inclined. Not saying you would, but in lots of discussions, I have to unpack their (Politifact's) nonsense and I just can't right now.

I will grant you that in many cases, it may not be as cut and dried as in FL (I don't subscribe that it's a Republican plot in red states for example), but more likely an issue with doctors improperly trained to recognize COVID or no one knew until recently. The recent discovery about micro-clotting would be an example of this...such that there are COVID related heart attacks that aren't included because we didn't know clotting was a COVID related issue. As well, in independent elderly patients, underlying issues or no, their attending may have just listed it as pneumonia because that's a common death for the elderly.

But COVID deaths are being undercounted for a host of reasons. And yeah, DeSantis has outright altered the numbers. Well respected scientists don't go whistleblower, lose their jobs and risk their careers to get the data wrong.


View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/gqypwx/kentucky_has_had_913_more_pneumonia_deaths_than/frvxvan/

Fair Enough Mack, but I do have 2 questions or thoughts some folks have been dodging or file it under thee ole “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” thingy

1) If indeed the CDC is correct in their assumption that 10 times the population has rona that those who tested positive to date...would that drastically affect the mortality rate % and dare I say it (only because to me the fatalities are losing steam) is not much different than a severe flu at this point (Just a theory of course)

2) About ”gun decking” the numbers (either way) on page 92 X posted a couple of tweets from a ER Doctor whom pretty much was parroting those two Drs from Bakersfield over a month ago, not sure why either of these guys would be motivated to risk their careers on a lie.

Curious on your whacko lefty (just kidding gawd dammit) takes on this, you could chime in too partner in crime whackster @XXXIVwin

All in fun yet constructive exchanges of different points of view is a good thing.

 

[Mackeyser]

I dont care what they charge for it as long as its not mandatory. There is no way a vaccine with very little testing for side effects will be safer than a virus with a 99% recovery rate.

It doesn't have a 99% recovery rate. All we can use is the data.

The data shows the mortality rate is 4.2%. However, what is missing from the black and white is that the data and studies are showing that for those that have recovered, there are significant percentages (that could be 5% or 50%, we need more studies with better data sets) that are seeing PERMANENT lung damage as well as other issues.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

www.bloomberg.com

Here is an extract:

Hong Kong’s hospital authority has been monitoring a group of Covid-19 patients for up to two months since they were released. They found about half of the 20 survivors had lung function below the normal range, said Owen Tsang, the medical director of the infectious disease center at Princess Margaret Hospital.

The diffusing capacity of their lungs -- how well oxygen and carbon dioxide transfers between the lungs and blood -- remained below healthy levels, Tsang observed.

A study of blood samples from 25 recovered patients in Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged, found that they had not fully recovered normal functioning regardless of the severity of their coronavirus symptoms, according to a paper published April 7.
***

Per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center as of July 10, 2020

Confirmed Cases: 3, 173,446

Deaths: 133,940

Death rate: 4.2206%

Recovered: 983,185

As much as I think I understand this number, I didn't see any specific guidance. It seems like it has to do with those who've been hospitalized, but as I can't be certain, I'll just leave the data without interpretation beyond this: we're looking at nearly a million people with potentially life-long issues from this.

The virus has to be free or many working class people won't be able to afford it. The longer it's actively in the wild, the greater chance it mutates into something worse than the mutation that is being reported out of Houston (there is difference if it's more deadly, but no differing opinions that it is more contagious)

If we try to YOLO through this, a lot of people are going to needlessly die, not because of nature, but from neglect.

I think we can take care of one another better than that.

 

[Mackeyser]

Yeah, living in FL and with all my kids going to a Charter school, the public school debate is a tough one. NONE of my kids did well in public school and flourished at an art school. NO jocks for me...which they tease me about constantly... I was an athlete and I had 4 arty kids...which is awesome for entirely different reasons.

But yeah, this public/private debate as well as public/charter debate is only going to get more contentious as the next few years go on.

I know as someone who had at least 4 pneumonias directly from my kids in elementary school (2 from my younger son who just didn't understand "stay away from Daddy" when he was young) that elementary school is the dirtiest place outside a sewage treatment plant... I'm thrilled that my granddaughter is gonna be homeschooled for Kindergarten.

I think this year is just gonna be a mess and every time a kid or teacher tests positive, fear will run amok and that's just not good for anyone.

 

[Mackeyser]

On a lighter note i finally got around to watching Contagion(2011) the other night. Interesting film to watch in retrospect.

They got so much right.

The one thing they got wrong... there's no way that idiot politicians would let the scientists run the response. NO. WAY. Essentially, the movie was too smart to be realistic. I also don't recall people calling the virus a hoax or doing the conspiracy theory thing.

But yeah, it was really well done.

 

[Mackeyser]

At the same time this thing is here to stay. Nobody is getting out of this thing scott free.

I mean it’s classic to read Kurtfaulk talked shit about how Australia was so much better than the USA and saying we were fucked - then the next thing you know Melbourne is on massive lockdown. This is a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation.

The fact is the United States should be leading the charge around the world as an example of how to win, it’s not — but with that said we are doing just the same if not better than anyone else in the world except for places like Greenland and shit. USA is a huge place with lots of different cultures and states. We aren’t like some dinky Norway or some desolate Mongolia.

With that said we are doing well considering

Well, we aren't South Korea. THEY were the undisputed Gold Standard...ESPECIALLY considering they share a border with China and they didn't lock down their border.

We're somewhere in the middle.

I recall a time when people would lose their shit if we were SECOND in something. When did "average" become okay???

Not trying to pick at ya, just sayin... And I agree that we SHOULD be leading. Should being the operative word.

 

[Mackeyser]

Temps here have been averaging 105 for a month. Now we're in the 110's. This weekend we'll hit 117.

Can't speak for Florida or Texas but during Arizona summers, the population migrates indoors for any and all activities that don't involve water...and the water parks, river tubing etc are closed.

Science and common sense says that people hanging out in supermarkets, shopping malls, museums, restaurants, anywhere with four walls and a ceiling rather than outdoors will increase the spread.

Just something to think about.

Temp when I got in my car to take my youngest to work was 98... in Florida a few miles from the Gulf... So yeah.

What scares me with all of this isn't right now.

It's late August when kids go back to school and October when the snowbirds come from all over the Northern US and Canada. Same with AZ and TX and to a lesser degree LA, MS, AL, GA, and SC.

Also, if we have even one big hurricane... oof...

 

[Ramhusker]

View attachment 37305

Lol. Meant with goodwill and all due respect.

But virtually NO ONE thinks that “more infections is a good thing.”
Not me and the “fear-mongering commies” (as OC likes to call us). Virtually no one on the other side, either, as far as i know.

I understand that my buddy @dieterbrock has different interpretations of the numbers. But let’s not play upside-down world and pretend that lots of infections is a GOOD thing.

Low death numbers? Good. Low infection numbers? Also good. Maximizes our chances of keeping our death numbers low.

More infections (and the inevitable deaths that follow)
WILL NOT get us anywhere meaningfully closer to herd immunity.

Please refer to my long-winded and rambling diatribe in response to Merlin, posted above.

Nothing personal at all, Ramhusker, I just get frustrated that it’s so hard for all of us to agree on common ground. Can’t we all AT LEAST agree that “more infections is a bad thing?”

[Again, I get the common sense impulse behind “wanting” more infections of young healthy people. But all the research out there suggests this would be a terrible, terrible way to go.]

Well, no, not really. Nobody wants more infections but nobody wants to grow older either but both are going to happen. So more infections with lower death rate is a good thing. That's not the same as saying more infections are a good thing. At the end of the day, all anybody can do is what they think is best for them. You can't control what others think or do so don't get lost in that losing battle. My closest co-worker tested positive today. He, his wife and son went to Destin, Florida for the weekend to get away. His son, a nurse, started running a fever and feeling a little wimpy. They came home, riding in the same car of course, and my buddy started running a fever last night. Good thing is his wife, also a nurse, is showing no symptoms. The kicker here is I ran into them in October at the doctor's office with both her and I suffering from the same dry cough that wouldn't go away. The kind you wish you could produce some phlegm but everything just seems to settle in the lungs. Along with the cough, we ran a brief fever, lost sense of taste and smell and generally felt weak as a floppy doll. The hope is we already had it but hard to tell without an antibodies test and I don't have any confidence in that yet. I feel pretty confident that she would test positive after riding four hours in a car twice and staying in a condo with someone positive for the weekend. Yet, if she had already had it in October, wouldn't her husband have gotten it living in the same house too? A lot of fuzzy stats with this Covid to say the least.

 

[SWAdude]

On a lighter note i finally got around to watching Contagion(2011) the other night. Interesting film to watch in retrospect.

I too watched it for the first time about a week ago.

Was surprised how close it was minus all the Hollywood type stuff.

 

[Ramhusker]

It doesn't have a 99% recovery rate. All we can use is the data.

The data shows the mortality rate is 4.2%. However, what is missing from the black and white is that the data and studies are showing that for those that have recovered, there are significant percentages (that could be 5% or 50%, we need more studies with better data sets) that are seeing PERMANENT lung damage as well as other issues.

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

www.bloomberg.com

Here is an extract:

Hong Kong’s hospital authority has been monitoring a group of Covid-19 patients for up to two months since they were released. They found about half of the 20 survivors had lung function below the normal range, said Owen Tsang, the medical director of the infectious disease center at Princess Margaret Hospital.

The diffusing capacity of their lungs -- how well oxygen and carbon dioxide transfers between the lungs and blood -- remained below healthy levels, Tsang observed.

A study of blood samples from 25 recovered patients in Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged, found that they had not fully recovered normal functioning regardless of the severity of their coronavirus symptoms, according to a paper published April 7.
***

Per the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center as of July 10, 2020

Confirmed Cases: 3, 173,446

Deaths: 133,940

Death rate: 4.2206%

Recovered: 983,185

As much as I think I understand this number, I didn't see any specific guidance. It seems like it has to do with those who've been hospitalized, but as I can't be certain, I'll just leave the data without interpretation beyond this: we're looking at nearly a million people with potentially life-long issues from this.

The virus has to be free or many working class people won't be able to afford it. The longer it's actively in the wild, the greater chance it mutates into something worse than the mutation that is being reported out of Houston (there is difference if it's more deadly, but no differing opinions that it is more contagious)

If we try to YOLO through this, a lot of people are going to needlessly die, not because of nature, but from neglect.

I think we can take care of one another better than that.

Of course, those numbers don't count those that have had it, have it, and have recovered from it that were never tested or never went to the doctor. I know estimates can be all over the place but one popular one was more than 50% of people show no symptoms so our cases could easily be approaching 7 million right?

 

[Mackeyser]

Fair Enough Mack, but I do have 2 questions or thoughts some folks have been dodging or file it under thee ole “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest” thingy

1) If indeed the CDC is correct in their assumption that 10 times the population has rona that those who tested positive to date...would that drastically affect the mortality rate % and dare I say it (only because to me the fatalities are losing steam) is not much different than a severe flu at this point (Just a theory of course)

2) About ”gun decking” the numbers (either way) on page 92 X posted a couple of tweets from a ER Doctor whom pretty much was parroting those two Drs from Bakersfield over a month ago, not sure why either of these guys would be motivated to risk their careers on a lie.

Curious on your whacko lefty (just kidding gawd dammit) takes on this, you could chime in too partner in crime whackster @XXXIVwin

All in fun yet constructive exchanges of different points of view is a good thing.

No offense taken. I'm whacko and a lefty, so... I mean, I dunno if they go together, but I can't say you're exactly wrong...LOL

Influenza mortality in 2017 per the CDC is 2 per 100k or 0.002% of the population. The raw number of deaths was 6515. When lumping influenza together with pneumonia, the number is 55,672. But where the CDC published the numbers purely for influenza, it's 6515.

We're already at 133,940... so far... which is 0.04%... or TWENTY TIMES more deadly... and we don't know for how long we'll be stacking bodies. Sorry, that's crude.

So, no, even if we ended COVID today, and everyone was known to at least had contact with it so that they either were exposed and were immune, exposed and carrier, but no symptoms, exposed had mild symptoms, had significant symptoms, but no hospitalization, were hospitalized and recovered or died... we're still looking at a mortality rate of 20x over the flu for which we have complete data.

FastStats

FastStats is an official application from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and puts access to topic-specific statistics at your fingertips.

www.cdc.gov

I watched the vids and I'm not gonna jump into that rabbit hole.

Part of why he had the complaints were apparently he made a vid comparing COVID favorably with the flu? I dunno, I watched both vids and went to his twitter feed and he seems to be a pretty political person even as some of his points are reasonable.

I don't think you can use a Dr who's also a politician who's focusing on VERY political things like redistricting as a bellwether for Drs with dispassionate issues on how a state DoH or the CDC is handling this or dealing with the guidance which did change after we knew more (the mask issue is front and center).

I've been vocal about how poorly the data has been handled all around, so that's not even a partisan issue for me...and even if it were, I'm not a part of either party at issue, so...I'm happy to freely criticize both.

Here's the bottom line for me. And I'm being a bit serious, here.

Outside of all the medical stuff, if WE the PEOPLE had simply taken up the mantle of "SAVING AMERICA" and took this seriously, made mask wearing a patriotic thing from the beginning (and yes, we had data from places with early success...I'll say it again... South Korea), we'd be cautiously starting the NBA, MLB and the NHL back up and the NFL would be in camp.

Oh and tens of thousands of people would be alive that aren't.

Why didn't we do that? Why did we YOLO this? I mean besides the political stuff calling it a hoax and the nonsense that it's spread by 5G?

I dunno. As much as I take serious issue with much in this country (as we all do, it seems... just about different things, I guess), I always when we got down to brass tacks thought that we loved one another in a real way, not just in when Lee Greenwood sings, "Proud to be an American" and that every American life was precious.

It's sad and frustrating to be so clearly set straight that for many Americans, they couldn't give a single SHIT about anyone, forget Americans. I dunno how to deal with that.

I was a kid watching guys walk on the moon. I still cry when I see the Miracle on Ice. I joined with no other purpose than to serve.

I mean, when all is said and done... we're gonna have to rethink some things because the social contract we THOUGHT we had... we clearly don't. CLEARLY don't.

I don't expect us to agree always...or even at all on most things. But caring for one another during a disaster or a pandemic? That used to be sacrosanct. It's not anymore. Hell, there was an idiot (older person) who was so incensed about the whole mask thing that she COUGHED ON A BABY!!! WTF are we doing???

San Jose Woman Purposely Coughs on Baby, Wanted by Cops

A white woman coughs on 1-year-old baby boy ... all on camera.

www.tmz.com

And for all the joking, that's really sad to me. I dunno if we can fix that foundation or even if enough want to. I mean for all the various divides...racial, political, economic...whatever... if I told you last June that over 100k Americans would die in less than a year because of a global pandemic and the answer from a LOT of Americans would be "YOLO, it's nature, some gotta die, yo" would you have thought "welp, that's normal" or had a different reaction?

I dunno.

Hey, the good news is that our local library was open and I was able to get Philip K Dick's The Man in the High Castle as well as a new bit of fiction, The Network by LC Shaw. Looks interesting. Had to do something... My youngest introduced me to tiktok (they've shown me dozens of them, but I'd never installed it to see a linked tiktok she shared with me... that damn thing is so addictive, it makes twitter seem like CNN... So I just had to find something to spark that reading urge. I mean, I have two full paper grocery bags plus...filled with books from the last two book drives from the library... I always give them back to resell, but still... something had to give.

so yeah...reading... I mean it's an alternate history where the Nazis and Imperial Japanese win WW2, but it's a start...

Also been binging the series on Amazon and it's been really good...so far...no spoilers. I'm in Season 3 I think. I dunno how to describe where I am without giving spoilers. Well... the Man in the High Castle just moved...

EDIT: Corrected a word

 

[dieterbrock]

You can paint me as chicken little yelling the sky is falling and I tend to look at you as having your head in the sand.

I have my head in the sand? That’s classic.
I live in the epicenter of the virus, know 10 to 15 people personally who have survived it. Also am close with many people who have lost loved ones due to Covid. I’ve also seen At the drop of a hat people close their business over night with no idea how they were going to feed their families. My sister in law was transferred to a hospital where she has been working as an orderly, taking care of Infected prisoners from a nearby prison. I’ve seen sacrifice after sacrifice and people doing what they can. So frankly, it disgusts me to see relentless spewing as if arguing over a football game.
I have never claimed victory, shame on you for suggesting I did.
As I’ve repeatedly said, I detest the broadbrush opinion of the USA, painting a picture that we aren’t taking it serious enough. It’s bullshit and media drivel.
So congrats, I’m done with you and this thread