Virus thread, the political one.

[theflashunc]

But then why does the US have a health care system that is sooo expensive for the punters? Struggling to square that circle...

I'm not sure if the rest of the world has noticed, but there is a certain cognitive dissonance that comes with American ideals and values vs American reality.

It's why we have the free market champion/your bootstraps party currently seriously talking about Universal Basic Income payouts for everyone right now.

[Mabouya]

I think my head is about to explode:

Trump Considers Reopening Economy, Over Health Experts’ Objections - The New York Times

Trump Considers Reopening Economy, Over Health Experts’ Objections

The president is questioning whether stay-at-home orders have gone too far. But relaxing them could significantly increase the death toll from the coronavirus, health officials warn.

[Colinmclelland]

The total MORON that we have for a lieutenant Gov in Texas, Dan Patrick
is calling on the old people of the country, like me, (over 65) to just suck it up and die for the good of the economy.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spurns shelter-in-place, urges return to work, says grandparents should sacrifice

F U, Dan

"let's be smart about it". That is a cracking quote given the astounding stupidity of its context. Wow.


I nearly plagiarised First Dog earlier. "...The government isn't doing a great job, but so what, they never do...stay at home, plonker".

[NorTX-Dave]

The total MORON that we have for a lieutenant Gov in Texas, Dan Patrick
is calling on the old people of the country, like me, (over 65) to just suck it up and die for the good of the economy.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spurns shelter-in-place, urges return to work, says grandparents should sacrifice

F U, Dan

He's so repulsive.

[Blue Jays]

Looking forward to the first breathless post about the unfortunate story that recently broke,
"President Trump convinced the people to eat fish aquarium cleaner and now one of them is DEAD!"

[alexstar]

Looking forward to the first breathless post about the unfortunate story that recently broke,
"President Trump convinced the people to eat fish aquarium cleaner and now one of them is DEAD!"

Turns out... the first breathless post was you! Great job.

[Colinmclelland]

Trump'''s Coronavirus Calendar

[Blue Jays]

"...Great job..."

Touché. LOL.

[beeatnik]

I don't know, man. As a working class dude, seeing the numbers come out of Westchester Co (3000 cases, zero deaths), I may start to believe that DT is crazy as a fox.

Oh, and social distancing is not working in California. Is it working in Italy?

[vertical_doug]

Oh, and social distancing is not working in California. Is it working in Italy?

Yes it is working in Italy although now it is closer to a full lockdown.
The growth rate 25% per day for a long time, the reported growth rates have been declining for over a week. The rate is now <10%. Before Easter the rate will be close to 1%. It probably peaked March 20th in Italy.

Italy Coronavirus: 63,927 Cases and 6,77 Deaths - Worldometer

see the graphs.
Because of the number of people in critical care, mortality will most likely increase to 12,000 or so.

[beeatnik]

^So how "draconian" should California go? Other than people working from home, and avoiding each other on the street, not much has changed around here.

[vertical_doug]

^So how "draconian" should California go? Other than people working from home, and avoiding each other on the street, not much has changed around here.

If people will not voluntarily change behavior, you need to force some behavioral changes. It's like Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) being imprisoned on an island for repeatedly endangering people by working.

You have already closed facilities housing vulnerable populations (care facilities, assisted living) to outside visitors. I've done the same with my parents.

Heck, we can offer the young irresponsible a free trip to hang out at Catalina Island indefinitely and party until everyone is infected, died or recovered. (Hey, if they are invincible what have they got to lose). The survivors get to come back since they will now have antibodies and pose an ordinary risk of giving one another STDs. make a heck of a reality tv show. Beat the fake conflict reality TV shows. Real House Wives will be mundane. As will the Kardashians.

Just to get the Kardashians off TV, it may be worth it.

[jclay]

I don't know, man. As a working class dude, seeing the numbers come out of Westchester Co (3000 cases, zero deaths), I may start to believe that DT is crazy as a fox.

Oh, and social distancing is not working in California. Is it working in Italy?

From my brother in Modena, yesterday. My understanding is that Italy is in lockdown, as much as they seem to be able to achieve it. A two consecutive day active case reduction isn't much of a track record but with luck it will be the beginning of a reliable flattening of the curve. The efforts in S Korea and China make it clear that mandatory lockdown + aggressive testing/contact tracing and quarantining is necessary if you want to get a firm handle on the contagion, quickly and with less loss of life than would otherwise be the case.
**
Today's figures from the Protezione Civile (Civil Defense) show, for the 2nd consecutive day, a reduction in Italy's national number of active COVID-19 cases. In other words, the slope of the curve is decreasing slightly. This is the first time this has happened two successive days since the epidemic began in Italy, and may indicate that the lockdown is having its intended effect.

Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS

The site does not report the equivalent figures at the regional (Emilia-Romagna) or provincial (Modena) level, but based on the numbers of new cases, it appears that neither has seen this effect yet. In fact, today's cumulative identified case counts (8535 and 1155) increased (+980 and +145) by more than yesterday's (+850 and +104).

The story re. Parma (40 mi. away) cited here (and hinted at, but not confirmed, elsewhere) reminds us we need to be extremely careful!

[HorsCat]

Nancy really care bout you--

Pelosi 'Stimulus' Bill Imposes Nationwide 'Ballot Harvesting' Without 'Any Limit'

You should approach Breitbart with a more critical eye. Their MO is to play people for fools with a combination of scary words, outright lies, half truths and a near total lack of context. The article you cite is a classic example.

It draws you in with scary words - "ballot harvesting," "without 'any limit.'" It then quickly pivots to the extreme right's (really, is there any difference today between "right" and "extreme right"??) typical bogeymen - California, electoral fraud. Then, in a nice sleight of hand that lends a veneer of legitimacy to the article for people not accustomed to or capable of peeling back the proverbial onion, it quotes actual text from actual legislation proposed by the Democrats. Genius. And just like that, right wingnuts are up in arms.

If you bother to actually look through the full text of the bill (https://apps.npr.org/documents/docum...ted-House-Bill), you'll see that the provision cited by Breitbart is one clause in a 1,432 page piece of proposed legislation. The clause in question is part of Section 120002 of the bill, titled "Requirements for Federal Election Contingency Plans in Response to Natural Disasters and Emergencies." While the fuckbag in the White House and his fuckbag counterpart leading the Senate are concerned exclusively with their personal businesses and big money donors, Ms. Pelosi is making sure that the election scheduled for the fall can proceed. Radical idea, right?!?!?!?!?

Personally, I'm supportive of this effort. The USA is currently at war with two viruses, one that originated on foreign shores (COVID-19), and one that is home grown (TFIAD-16*). TFIAD-16 needs to be defeated at the ballot box.


* Trump Family Infecting America Disease 2016

[Too Tall]

Nancy really care bout you--

Pelosi 'Stimulus' Bill Imposes Nationwide 'Ballot Harvesting' Without 'Any Limit'

Exactly and why are stop signs forcing me to wear out my brakes when there are no cars coming? #sopissedaboutthat

[Saab2000]

That "news" source is not a valid news source any more than the National Enquirer or the late great Weekly World News could be trusted for legitimate information. A little critical thinking goes a long way. Ask if the source is valid then ask if the content raises your personal BS meter. If so, reject it. I once referenced a weak source on a college paper and the professor immediately rejected it and rightly so. It's a lesson that stuck with me. Don't go the easy way. Go the hard way. The result is better.

In all seriousness, I'd trust The Onion | America's Finest News Source. before I'd trust Breitbart. At least I know The Onion is satire and presumably requires some knowledge of a story's origins and reality to find the humor. There are famous stories of outsiders referencing The Onion to describe America's inner workings not knowing it is satire.

Considering the source is important in the term "Critical Thinking".

[Sbti]

Yeah, well remember, Obama had his "death panel" to deal with the "olds."

[thollandpe]

Looking forward to the first breathless post about the unfortunate story that recently broke,
"President Trump convinced the people to eat fish aquarium cleaner and now one of them is DEAD!"

No please, you go first. Let's hear a defense of the President of the United States riffing about potential Covid-19 cures on an official broadcast, as if he's in some psilocybin-fueled vision quest.

On using hydroxychloroquine to treat the virus, there has been "very, very encouraging results" and "we're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately."

Of course Dr. Fauci tried to put the genie back in the bottle, saying it was not an effective treatment. He's been benched.

But IMPOTUS persisted nevertheless, "I feel good about it. That's all it is, just a feeling, you know, smart guy. I feel good about it."

Later on the Twitter machine he doubled down and posted that taking the drug with a Z-Pak could be "one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine."
Twitter

Tell us how that is not grossly irresponsible. Or that it has not led to a shortage of the drug, which is needed for treating other things like lupus, for people already at high risk.
Lupus Patients Can’t Get Crucial Medication After President Trump Pushes Unproven Coronavirus Treatment — ProPublica

[Mark Walberg]

With Dan Patrick as Lt. Guv in Texas, who needs criminals.
I have to figure out what I can do to get this A$$HOLE out of my government.
Same goes for Rump. They both think we should all take it in the chin and die to save "their" economy.

[Sbti]

Time to get the MAGAt rallies back together again and hit the road! Get that economy going. Seniors only. Guest speaker Rand Paul!