Virus thread, the political one.

[mjbabcock]

Someone here alredy said it...but it just got 'validated' by the NYT

"I am here to bear reluctant witness that Mr. Trump didn’t hijack the Republican Party. He is the logical conclusion of what the party became over the past 50 or so years, a natural product of the seeds of race-baiting, self-deception and anger that now dominate it. Hold Donald Trump up to a mirror and that bulging, scowling orange face is today’s Republican Party."

[jclay]

Someone here alredy said it...but it just got 'validated' by the NYT

"I am here to bear reluctant witness that Mr. Trump didn’t hijack the Republican Party. He is the logical conclusion of what the party became over the past 50 or so years, a natural product of the seeds of race-baiting, self-deception and anger that now dominate it. Hold Donald Trump up to a mirror and that bulging, scowling orange face is today’s Republican Party."

That is accurate. The problem is that there are some legitimate (and not so legitimate) reasons. Economic neoliberalism has failed a lot of people. Corporations have done, absent counter acting regulations, what they are designed to do, which is to seek the lowest opportunity cost locations for their operations irrespective of the harm that loss of jobs here causes; and it's caused plenty for the blue collar (and increasingly white collar) folks. Once headed in that direction, long standing but somewhat contained prejudices get uncorked and make a fruitful environment for employment by people like Donald Trump. Most voters aren't very well educated and fail to realize that both parties are complicit in terms of embracing neoliberalism; most don't know what economic neoliberalism is but they get angry as opportunities and jobs vanish and revert to base behavior; they pick the party with the myth and wedge issue stances they prefer and that's that.

Yesterday I saw that something like only 25% of the DNC folks support Medicare for All. That is dismal, and under the circumstances mind bogglingly stupid. And in the next breath you'll hear Trump supporters accuse the DP or BLM or whatever of wanting to make the USA a socialist (or communist) state. The level and dispersion of ignorance is astounding and frightening.

One could go on and on and on with this. I think I'll have some coffee instead.

[ides1056]

I expect I am not the only one here who has met the man with the hammer, gone off the back of a pack and marveled at how quickly the group disappeared up the road. One minute you are competitive and the next struggling to stay upright.

Our country has met the man with the hammer now. The world is riding away.

It cost Putin pennies.

I am again reminded of Thomas Hobbes: there is no man so big that a smaller man with a little bit of cunning can't bring down.

[jclay]

I expect I am not the only one here who has met the man with the hammer, gone off the back of a pack and marveled at how quickly the group disappeared up the road. One minute you are competitive and the next struggling to stay upright.

Our country has met the man with the hammer now. The world is riding away.

It cost Putin pennies.

I am again reminded of Thomas Hobbes: there is no man so big that a smaller man with a little bit of cunning can't bring down.

True fact, and Osama bin Laden couldn't have imagined the ROI of his plan.

[Sbti]

Herman Cain DEAD of COVID-19. Last seen in public at the super spreader event in Tulsa.

[72gmc]

Office turned into 85-bed Covid ward for India's poor after businessman falls ill | World news | The Guardian

Political, and still positive (in the good way).

[ides1056]

True fact, and Osama bin Laden couldn't have imagined the ROI of his plan.

The quotation from The Leviathan came to mind on September 11. ObL had real genius.

[vertical_doug]

Herman Cain DEAD of COVID-19. Last seen in public at the super spreader event in Tulsa.

No one should have to die from this thing.

This is one of those things that make me scratch my head and go- what were you thinking? He was an extremely high risk individual with health issues/post cancer recovery etc, and you go to a rally without a mask.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/07...3715013619.jpg

Did he really think it was a hoax? Did he believe Trump when he said it was under control? Did he not care? I did not agree with his politics, but I don't think he was stupid. It makes zero sense to me.

[beeatnik]

Does the timeline support infection at the rally? Not discounting the risk of a superspreader event, but based on case numbers (and anecdotal reports) he may have been at higher risk circulating through Atlanta.

[vertical_doug]

Does the timeline support infection at the rally? Not discounting the risk of a superspreader event, but based on case numbers (and anecdotal reports) he may have been at higher risk circulating through Atlanta.

9 days after the rally. So was he infected at the rally? Can't say. But if your behavior at the rally which by definition is a high risk event is any indication, you probably were not wearing a mask or practicing social distance during your normal activities either and you'd ask the same questions. Do you think it a hoax? It is only the flu?

My daughter had a conversation with a woman who said the whole thing was a hoax, yet the woman knows people who have died from it. I do not know how someone can have two contradictory thoughts and think both are true. Doublethink, cognitive dissonance, I just don't get it.

[gregl]

My daughter had a conversation with a woman who said the whole thing was a hoax, yet the woman knows people who have died from it. I do not know how someone can have two contradictory thoughts and think both are true. Doublethink, cognitive dissonance, I just don't get it.

I think a major factor that plays into the mindsets of COVID deniers is fear. I see it in several members of my wife’s family. They are fearful of medical issues in general. Denial of science and embracing conspiracy theories gives them security and confidence. Reinforce their beliefs with the moronic Presidential proclamations on Twitter and Fox News and you have a recipe for COVID denial.

Greg

[Mark Kelly]

I do not know how someone can have two contradictory thoughts and think both are true. Doublethink, cognitive dissonance, I just don't get it.

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast

- The Red Queen, Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

For a mathematician and logician, he's starting to look like a clairvoyant.

[Sbti]

Tя☭mp says that are are major "flare ups" all over Europe.
Average daily deaths over last week:
US: 1,204
Italy: 6
France: 10
Spain: 2

Oh, and a couple weeks ago he promised a health care plan would be signed by today. I guess he's been finishing up things while in the golf cart this weekend and I'm sure things will be wrapped up by midnight.

[beeatnik]

Tя☭mp says that are are major "flare ups" all over Europe.
Average daily deaths over last week:
US: 1,204
Italy: 6
France: 10
Spain: 2

Oh, and a couple weeks ago he promised a health care plan would be signed by today. I guess he's been finishing up things while in the golf cart this weekend and I'm sure things will be wrapped up by midnight.

Cases will surge in Europe again. It could be in the fall, it could be in the winter. But if you believe that they've found the magic bullet then you're just spreading propaganda. Most of Europe continues to be an open society inhabited by the same individuals who will not fundamentally change their way of life just because they made it through Lockdown 1.0. See Germans in Majorca for evidence.

[Sbti]

Cases will surge in Europe again. It could be in the fall, it could be in the winter. But if you believe that they've found the magic bullet then you're just spreading propaganda. Most of Europe continues to be an open society inhabited by the same individuals who will not fundamentally change their way of life just because they made it through Lockdown 1.0. See Germans in Majorca for evidence.

No, I don't believe they've found the magic bullet. Sorry you thought it was propaganda. It's just a snapshot of last week, not including the Germans. Tя☭mp believes WE have found the magic bullet, I guess, hyroxy, demon DNA, whatever, Florida is doing "very well" he said Friday. It's just all that testing that cause all these cases. If Herman Cain never got tested, he would still be alive,

[thollandpe]

[Sphincter says there] are are major "flare ups" all over Europe.
Average daily deaths over last week:
US: 1,204
Italy: 6
France: 10
Spain: 2

Cases will surge in Europe again. It could be in the fall, it could be in the winter. But if you believe that they've found the magic bullet then you're just spreading propaganda. Most of Europe continues to be an open society inhabited by the same individuals who will not fundamentally change their way of life just because they made it through Lockdown 1.0. See Germans in Majorca for evidence.

Do you think the Europe is doing a better job than US?

[beeatnik]

Do you think the Europe is doing a better job than US?

I don't know. At some point, the most impacted states will follow the trends in New York and New Jersey. Then we can compare the numbers with the UK, Spain, France, and Italy. I think my friend who is an epidemiologist in the Bay Area makes a lot of sense:

My opinion now is the best way we can dig ourselves out (not just LA but lots of other places) is if the government steps in and provides wage supports for everyone including those who work outside the formal sector. That obviously isn't going to happen. I think we have to improve testing to include surveillance testing. We have to provide support for those who have it to isolate. I don't know how this happens given that we're so far down this hole.

[vertical_doug]

But the nasdaq is awesome.

[Mark Kelly]

Tя☭mp

Genius.

[ides1056]

This may require its own thread, but I am wondering who will do 45's officious portrait?

I expect it will be in Sharpie and protected under a thick layer of plexiglass.