Formerly DT: COVID-19 - Featuring Lots of Politics, now CR because political talk not going away

[Brisketexan 105,457]

1 minute ago, Cheeseweasel said:

FWIW, as I've said many times in this thread, it's smart to wear masks even if it helps 1% of the time.

That being said, the smugness of some people in this thread is annoying. Maybe people would be more apt to follow instructions if it wasn't handed out by Karens.

 

Okay....I mean....the mask advice is being handed out by literally hundreds of public health officials and elected officials, national state and local, who are repeating that advice.  Set the Karens aside (and btw, my experience with Karen-activity is mostly on the other side -- see my posts above), it's the uniform advice from effectively everyone but a fringe of quacks.

[Foosters 17,889]

1 minute ago, Cheeseweasel said:

FWIW, as I've said many times in this thread, it's smart to wear masks even if it helps 1% of the time.

That being said, the smugness of some people in this thread is annoying. Maybe people would be more apt to follow instructions if it wasn't handed out by Karens.

 

Smugness? This is what I said:

"People choosing to disregard CDC advice on masks is also troubling."

Karens indeed.

 

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

2 minutes ago, Foosters said:

Smugness? This is what I said:

"People choosing to disregard CDC advice on masks is also troubling."

Karens indeed.

 

Sorry. Not directed at you. Again, I agree with wearing masks. 

[Cheeseweasel 26,438]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

and elected officials

Yeah...you had me until then.

[dcar00 14,381]

1 hour ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Yeah uh, if over 100k have died in the past 2.5 months with VERY strict lockdown and closures, i dont see how we keep deaths under 260k over the next 12-24 months with VERY LITTLE lockdown measures

we are aware that you are on team "Ballgame!"

[Bozo_Casanova 26,580]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Oh, she replied to me with more genius to share -- and by the way, dozens of her friends have joined in with variations of "right on!" and "AGREED!"

Again.....if I had all day, I wouldn't have the time to refute the layer cake of logical fallacies in there.

We are a stupid, stupid, stupid country.  And we wave it as a flag of pride.  Pride goeth before the fall.

I hung out with your wife and while I'm not surprised that she would have the patience and love to not cut off a friend who sees the world differently, I'm surprised that the friend hasn't cut off both of you. 

For crying out loud. She says she wont patronize a business that requires a mask. She has literally cut off HEB. So I assume she's going to Randalls? No fucking way, man. 

[Brisketexan 105,457]

1 minute ago, Cheeseweasel said:

Yeah...you had me until then.

Really?  I mean, I know it's cool to hate on all the government, all the time, but you do realize that most of your local officials -- county, city, etc. -- are just your friends and neighbors who are trying to do the right thing in a matter of a public health crisis, right?  The vast majority of them are listening to public health officials -- to the point that we call out the absurd instances when it's obvious that they AREN'T listening to them.

[dcar00 14,381]

12 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Really?  I mean, I know it's cool to hate on all the government, all the time, but you do realize that most of your local officials -- county, city, etc. -- are just your friends and neighbors who are trying to do the right thing in a matter of a public health crisis, right?  The vast majority of them are listening to public health officials -- to the point that we call out the absurd instances when it's obvious that they AREN'T listening to them.

I'm not sure what people are really arguing about.  if a private business says you must wear a mask you wear it or don't go in.  If a govt building/transportation says you must wear a mask you wear it or you don;t go in.  I wear a mask indoors if required and will do it if it makes others feel more comfortable.

If you are outside and someone is near you that isn't wearing a mask then move away.  this thing just isn't deadly enough to worry about if you are under 70 and dont live in NY/NJ/Conn/Mass or Michigan.

100K people died in 1968 when we had a total pop of 200M and we didn't close schools or anything near what has been done now.

I agreed with the 2-3week shutdown for a cycle of the virus and to prevent hospital overrun but what we are doing now isn't very smart given  the data.

[utee94 15,869]

33 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Okay....I mean....the mask advice is being handed out by literally hundreds of public health officials and elected officials, national state and local, who are repeating that advice.  Set the Karens aside (and btw, my experience with Karen-activity is mostly on the other side -- see my posts above), it's the uniform advice from effectively everyone but a fringe of quacks.

That chick's not Karen.  She might be a vigilante or a freedom fighter, but she's not a Karen.

Karen was the 5th grade student hall monitor at your elementary school.  Karen is the self-appointed HOA-violation-reporter.  She's not about defying The Man, she's about knuckling under and taking everyone else with her.

I'd say you've encountered the internet Barbara.

 

[JBJ 3,668]

 

55 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

the data-based conclusion that wearing a mask reduces the risk of transmission BY THE WEARER,

Data-based conjectures are hypotheses.  I realize that many studies only exist to form hypotheses and therefore conclude with hypotheses, but this wording triggers me. 

More importantly, this one doesn't exist.

Edited May 26, 2020 by JBJ

[Brisketexan 105,457]

2 minutes ago, JBJ said:

 

Data-based conjectures are hypotheses.  I realize that many studies only exist to form hypotheses and therefore conclude with hypotheses, but this wording triggers me. 

More importantly, this one doesn't exist.

Fair point on the verbiage.....but are you saying that the data we have does NOT support a conclusion that reasonably proper mask wearing reduces the projection of infection-carrying droplets?

[Hugo Stiglitz 23,367]

We’ve been wearing masks for hundreds of years during virus outbreaks.  Just tell the mouth breathers a mask is part of their “Christian heritage.” 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Hugo Stiglitz

[Scary Stranger 1,715]

2 hours ago, orange dream said:

The I'm an American by God crowd and their "why do you hate the constitution?" retort is more than I can handle.  Outside of them being a pain in the ass, I really don't see why anyone would choose to not wear a mask in the current environment.  No one is mandating it until the end of time. To me it really boils down to we can sit around the house for several months and continue to watch the economy die or we can wear a mask, practice some measure of social distancing and protection of the most vulnerable while resuming as much of our normal routines as possible.  Yes, some of the early doomsday predictions were way off base, and now it's unknowable what the outcome of things would have been if the lockdown had not occurred so we find ourselves in this place of people who think the whole thing is a hoax or powergrab (by whom?) and others who think no one should leave their house until there is a vaccine.  As someone said earlier the extremists on both ends are not helpful to the ultimate cause of people making sensible informed decisions and complying with the necessary guidelines when there are actual hotspots in the future.

Well, it certainly sounds like you hate the Constitution. Probably also hate puppies. 

[Surly Bevo 25,216]

6 minutes ago, Scary Stranger said:

Probably also hate puppies. 

orange dream is......Bob Stoops?

[Dahobbs 17,701]

16 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Fair point on the verbiage.....but are you saying that the data we have does NOT support a conclusion that reasonably proper mask wearing reduces the projection of infection-carrying droplets?

I think it depends on your perspective and terminology. As you say, we have evidence that wearing masks reduces infection carrying droplets. That provide a plausible mechanism by which wearing masks could reduce risk of transmission, which is an important criterion for epidemiologists in determining causation.  It is evidence consistent with the hypothesis that wearing masks does reduces the risk of transmission, and does in that sense support it, but by itself that research is insufficient to make the causal connection. 

[dcar00 14,381]

per 1point3 the case growth rate and death growth rate have dropped to 1%.  It was a 2% for a long time.  caveat is that they were rounding up to 2% if at 1.5% or above, so it might not be exactly 1% yet.

[Brisketexan 105,457]

3 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

per 1point3 the case growth rate and death growth rate have dropped to 1%.  It was a 2% for a long time.  caveat is that they were rounding up to 2% if at 1.5% or above, so it might not be exactly 1% yet.

[MAUFRAIS 6,642]

The name nordberg is hilarious

[MAUFRAIS 6,642]

His wife saying it over and over was really funny

[Js1 85,614]

Jesus

 

[JBJ 3,668]

Just now, Brisketexan said:

Fair point on the verbiage.....but are you saying that the data we have does NOT support a conclusion that reasonably proper mask wearing reduces the projection of infection-carrying droplets?

The only study handling nCov19 and masks goes against mask wearing as a significant protection.  It also wasn't very robust (4 patients coughed on a petri dish with various masks and without).  There was a non-impactful reduction.  And there was no virus load on the inside of the mask itself - which likely means any infection stopped by the mask escaped out the sides to avoid the petridish but was not contained.

We know previously that masks do nothing to rhinoviruses.  They can filter flu viruses to a degree, but not enough to prevent infection at reasonable distances.

[orange dream 1,256]

19 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

orange dream is......Bob Stoops?

No, I'm good with both puppies and Jesus. 

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,823]

This world needs more naked gun memes..no matter the topic

[ABSR 5,325]

8 hours ago, Cheeseweasel said:

They are smaller in stature and therefore harder to sneeze on?

This will go right over the head of some Surlyites....who are Japanese.

[Homercles 10,206]

32 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

This world needs more naked gun memes..no matter the topic

[Captainant 27,851]

42 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Jesus

 

Mattress Mack's daughter runs that restaurant, surprised to see her business acting so belligerently and in defiance of the local community. Not a great look for a business with ties to the university

[washparkhorn 9,939]

41 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Jesus

 

JFC. My guess is they aren't getting A's on food safety inspections either. 

[Brisketexan 105,457]

Oh, and as a follow up on that gal I quoted earlier, her last reply to me was that this was all cooked up after impeachment failed to crash the economy to cost Trump the election because Biden doesn't have two brain cells to rub together (and after that, I can't remember, because she decided to block me).  So, yes, the entire global reaction to COVID, including numerous countries that enacted similar measures as we did, is just a plot to unseat Trump.  No, I'm not going CR here -- take that for what you will, that's just literally the way that a lot of people out there think.

So, I'm firmly back to "we're fucked."  If a sizable chunk of us think that a fucking deadly disease, its effects, and all responses to it, are "fake" because the entire planet is fixated on how much they hate Trump, and who cares about what it does at home......we're fucked.

[clapclapclap 9,000]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8356751/How-COVID-19s-unique-structure-means-man-made.html

No known animal host and 'almost perfect' human adaption: Top Australian vaccine scientist reveals how COVID-19's unique structure means it's either man-made - or a 'complete fluke' of nature

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said virus was better at attaching itself to human cells than to any other animal

It is so 'perfectly adapted' to infect humans that the possibility it was made in a Chinese lab can't be ignored

Wuhan Institute of Virology studied bat coronaviruses and is theorised to have accidentally leaked COVID-19

Virus could have been formed naturally by mixing bat and pangolin versions, but this is statistically unlikely

Professor Petrovsky said the inquiry into virus origins needed urgently and should have started months ago

Spoiler

Coronavirus is so 'perfectly adapted' to infect humans that the possibility it was made in a Chinese lab can't be ignored, Australian vaccine researchers conclude.

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said the virus was better at attaching itself to human cells than to any other animal, explaining why it has infected five million people.

The vaccine expert warned the investigation into where COVID-19 started, as proposed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was as a result urgently needed and should have begun months ago.

The startling results of his research were first revealed by the Mail on Sunday on the weekend - and on Wednesday his team gave Daily Mail Australia fresh details about why it must be considered a possibility the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan.

The team at Flinders University in Adelaide and Latrobe University in Melbourne studied how well SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infected different animals.

 

Coronavirus binds itself to the ACE2 receptor molecule in lung cells using a spike protein - the tighter it can attach itself, the less likely it is to be washed away and the sicker it makes its host.

Professor Petrovsky expected to find an animal that was most susceptible to this, such as bats, and was likely the original source of the virus - but was shocked when humans came out on top.

Furthermore, viruses tend to get better at infecting new species as they adapt over time, but COVID-19 started 'completely optimised from day one without the need to evolve'.

'This is a new virus that has never been in humans before, but it has an extraordinarily high binding to human receptors, which is very surprising,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 

'It is almost perfectly human adapted, it couldn't do any better.

'We have to ask how that happened. Was it a complete fluke? It can be as nature has many shots at goal and you only see the ones that land.

'Another possibility which still cannot be excluded is that SARS-CoV-2 was created by a recombination event that occurred inadvertently or consciously in a laboratory handling coronaviruses, with the new virus then accidentally released into the local human population.'

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, a short trip from the city's wet markets, is the lab known to study several bat coronaviruses and is theorised to be where it was actually created.

Most scientists believe COVID-19 started naturally in an exotic animal market in Wuhan and was not man-made, and the WIV has rubbished claims it caused the outbreak.

However, Professor Petrovsky said no one had properly disproved the lab theory and his research showed it was plausible and there was just as little evidence for it to have naturally occurred.

The closest disease to COVID-19 is BatCoV RaTG1, found in bats, that is 96 per cent similar to the strain rampaging around the world in humans.

However, its spike protein is considerably less effective than COVID-19's and would need significant adaptation to become something that would easily infect humans.

The next most susceptible animal to humans were pangolins, a small scaly animal found in many Chinese wet markets, but a coronavirus that affects its specials is only 90 per cent similar to SARS-CoV-2.

Professor Petrovsky said while it was possible the wrong bat met the wrong pangolin 'thereby conferring the bat CoV with high binding for both pangolin and human ACE2' - this was statistically improbable. 

'The probability of one pangolin creating the virus and that then comes into close contact with a human to infect them is ridiculously low,' he said.

'We would expect it would have to be in lots of infected pangolins and we've not found any.'

Such pangolins would be an 'intermediate host' - a species that caught it from the originators of the virus and gave it to humans.

An example of this is Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that began with bats who infected camels who then pass it on to humans by spitting on them  

Not only have researchers not found an intermediate host for COVID-19, they haven't even found the disease rife in any animal species - not even the leading suspected culprit, in bats.

Professor Petrovsky said animals didn't move between communities as much as humans so it was possible we just haven't 'found the right bat cave' yet. Until that happens, the Wuhan lab theory had to be considered, he said.

'Viruses don't come out of nowhere, so we have to look harder to find the natural source, or we need to investigate further to find the unnatural source,' he said.

Richard Ebright, one of the world's top biosecurity experts, told the Mail on Sunday that the odds of COVID-19 containing such unusual features and occurring naturally were 'possible – but improbable'.

The professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, said scientists at the WIV were creating chimeric coronaviruses (new hybrid micro-organisms) and seeking funding to test their ability to infect human cells while using procedures that leave no sign of human manipulation. 

China has stubbornly resisted calls for an inquiry as it is accused of covering up the severity of the epidemic, and only agreed to a watered-down version of Mr Morrison's proposal last week.

Professor Petrovsky argued the investigation should have begun months ago to give it the best chance of gathering evidence that may now be lost for good.

He said his research added to a body of 'circumstantial evidence' and coincidences, but was nowhere near proving the that the WIV had anything to do with the pandemic.

'There's no smoking gun inside the virus as they evolve and pick up genetic material from everywhere, just studying the virus itself won't tell us anything further,' he said.

'I don't think we'll have definitive proof either way, so we have to investigate to determine what is more probable.

'No one can say a laboratory leak is not a possibility.' 

Professor Petrovsky claimed scientists were reluctant to discuss the possibility of botched lab experiments or leaks since any backlash could lead to research restrictions and threaten crucial research. 

 

 

CHINA'S COVID-19 'COVER-UP'

• China's President Xi Jinping knew about the coronavirus on January 7 yet China only shut down the epicentre of the outbreak, Hubei province, on January 23, after 5million people had left to travel through China and the world

• China has since admitted destroying early samples of coronavirus in January, but claims it was acting in the interests of public health and denies stonewalling sample requests from other countries

• The US has accused China of concealing the severity of the virus, and hoarding medical supplies while the world was still unaware of the threat 

• China is also accused of silencing doctors, making whistleblowers 'disappear', hiding the true death toll, suppressing information and censoring news reports during the early stages of the outbreak, and pressuring the World Health Organisation to delay public warnings and downplay the risks of the epidemic

• A German intelligence report claims President Xi personally asked WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to hold back information about human-to-human transmission and delay a pandemic warning

• The report claims China's information policy cost the world four to six weeks of vital time needed to fight the virus 

• China filed a patent for the drug Remdesivir, seen as one of the best potential weapons against COVID-19, the day after it finally confirmed human transmission of the disease. The application was made by Wuhan Institute of Virology, the top-secret bio-laboratory at the centre of concerns about a possible leak of the disease from its research on bats, and the country’s Military Medicine Institute

• China has strenuously denied accusations of a cover up, insisting it has always shared information with the WHO and other countries in a timely manner

 

[burntorangebongos 10,752]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Jesus

 

 

[Brisketexan 105,457]

1 minute ago, clapclapclap said:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8356751/How-COVID-19s-unique-structure-means-man-made.html

No known animal host and 'almost perfect' human adaption: Top Australian vaccine scientist reveals how COVID-19's unique structure means it's either man-made - or a 'complete fluke' of nature

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said virus was better at attaching itself to human cells than to any other animal

It is so 'perfectly adapted' to infect humans that the possibility it was made in a Chinese lab can't be ignored

Wuhan Institute of Virology studied bat coronaviruses and is theorised to have accidentally leaked COVID-19

Virus could have been formed naturally by mixing bat and pangolin versions, but this is statistically unlikely

Professor Petrovsky said the inquiry into virus origins needed urgently and should have started months ago

  Reveal hidden contents

Coronavirus is so 'perfectly adapted' to infect humans that the possibility it was made in a Chinese lab can't be ignored, Australian vaccine researchers conclude.

Professor Nikolai Petrovsky said the virus was better at attaching itself to human cells than to any other animal, explaining why it has infected five million people.

The vaccine expert warned the investigation into where COVID-19 started, as proposed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was as a result urgently needed and should have begun months ago.

The startling results of his research were first revealed by the Mail on Sunday on the weekend - and on Wednesday his team gave Daily Mail Australia fresh details about why it must be considered a possibility the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan.

The team at Flinders University in Adelaide and Latrobe University in Melbourne studied how well SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, infected different animals.

 

Coronavirus binds itself to the ACE2 receptor molecule in lung cells using a spike protein - the tighter it can attach itself, the less likely it is to be washed away and the sicker it makes its host.

Professor Petrovsky expected to find an animal that was most susceptible to this, such as bats, and was likely the original source of the virus - but was shocked when humans came out on top.

Furthermore, viruses tend to get better at infecting new species as they adapt over time, but COVID-19 started 'completely optimised from day one without the need to evolve'.

'This is a new virus that has never been in humans before, but it has an extraordinarily high binding to human receptors, which is very surprising,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 

'It is almost perfectly human adapted, it couldn't do any better.

'We have to ask how that happened. Was it a complete fluke? It can be as nature has many shots at goal and you only see the ones that land.

'Another possibility which still cannot be excluded is that SARS-CoV-2 was created by a recombination event that occurred inadvertently or consciously in a laboratory handling coronaviruses, with the new virus then accidentally released into the local human population.'

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, a short trip from the city's wet markets, is the lab known to study several bat coronaviruses and is theorised to be where it was actually created.

Most scientists believe COVID-19 started naturally in an exotic animal market in Wuhan and was not man-made, and the WIV has rubbished claims it caused the outbreak.

However, Professor Petrovsky said no one had properly disproved the lab theory and his research showed it was plausible and there was just as little evidence for it to have naturally occurred.

The closest disease to COVID-19 is BatCoV RaTG1, found in bats, that is 96 per cent similar to the strain rampaging around the world in humans.

However, its spike protein is considerably less effective than COVID-19's and would need significant adaptation to become something that would easily infect humans.

The next most susceptible animal to humans were pangolins, a small scaly animal found in many Chinese wet markets, but a coronavirus that affects its specials is only 90 per cent similar to SARS-CoV-2.

Professor Petrovsky said while it was possible the wrong bat met the wrong pangolin 'thereby conferring the bat CoV with high binding for both pangolin and human ACE2' - this was statistically improbable. 

'The probability of one pangolin creating the virus and that then comes into close contact with a human to infect them is ridiculously low,' he said.

'We would expect it would have to be in lots of infected pangolins and we've not found any.'

Such pangolins would be an 'intermediate host' - a species that caught it from the originators of the virus and gave it to humans.

An example of this is Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that began with bats who infected camels who then pass it on to humans by spitting on them  

Not only have researchers not found an intermediate host for COVID-19, they haven't even found the disease rife in any animal species - not even the leading suspected culprit, in bats.

Professor Petrovsky said animals didn't move between communities as much as humans so it was possible we just haven't 'found the right bat cave' yet. Until that happens, the Wuhan lab theory had to be considered, he said.

'Viruses don't come out of nowhere, so we have to look harder to find the natural source, or we need to investigate further to find the unnatural source,' he said.

Richard Ebright, one of the world's top biosecurity experts, told the Mail on Sunday that the odds of COVID-19 containing such unusual features and occurring naturally were 'possible – but improbable'.

The professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, said scientists at the WIV were creating chimeric coronaviruses (new hybrid micro-organisms) and seeking funding to test their ability to infect human cells while using procedures that leave no sign of human manipulation. 

China has stubbornly resisted calls for an inquiry as it is accused of covering up the severity of the epidemic, and only agreed to a watered-down version of Mr Morrison's proposal last week.

Professor Petrovsky argued the investigation should have begun months ago to give it the best chance of gathering evidence that may now be lost for good.

He said his research added to a body of 'circumstantial evidence' and coincidences, but was nowhere near proving the that the WIV had anything to do with the pandemic.

'There's no smoking gun inside the virus as they evolve and pick up genetic material from everywhere, just studying the virus itself won't tell us anything further,' he said.

'I don't think we'll have definitive proof either way, so we have to investigate to determine what is more probable.

'No one can say a laboratory leak is not a possibility.' 

Professor Petrovsky claimed scientists were reluctant to discuss the possibility of botched lab experiments or leaks since any backlash could lead to research restrictions and threaten crucial research. 

 

 

CHINA'S COVID-19 'COVER-UP'

• China's President Xi Jinping knew about the coronavirus on January 7 yet China only shut down the epicentre of the outbreak, Hubei province, on January 23, after 5million people had left to travel through China and the world

• China has since admitted destroying early samples of coronavirus in January, but claims it was acting in the interests of public health and denies stonewalling sample requests from other countries

• The US has accused China of concealing the severity of the virus, and hoarding medical supplies while the world was still unaware of the threat 

• China is also accused of silencing doctors, making whistleblowers 'disappear', hiding the true death toll, suppressing information and censoring news reports during the early stages of the outbreak, and pressuring the World Health Organisation to delay public warnings and downplay the risks of the epidemic

• A German intelligence report claims President Xi personally asked WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to hold back information about human-to-human transmission and delay a pandemic warning

• The report claims China's information policy cost the world four to six weeks of vital time needed to fight the virus 

• China filed a patent for the drug Remdesivir, seen as one of the best potential weapons against COVID-19, the day after it finally confirmed human transmission of the disease. The application was made by Wuhan Institute of Virology, the top-secret bio-laboratory at the centre of concerns about a possible leak of the disease from its research on bats, and the country’s Military Medicine Institute

• China has strenuously denied accusations of a cover up, insisting it has always shared information with the WHO and other countries in a timely manner

 

[Eastwood 4,394]

This whole situation over the past couple of months has really set the stage for various people to show their ass. Friendships torn, respect lost, fracturing of families, and businesses who will no longer get my money.

[atomheartbevo 89,844]

1 hour ago, Js1 said:

Jesus

 

So what was it?  It was deleted.

[atomheartbevo 89,844]

3 hours ago, gmr548 said:

4 hours ago, Hate said:

Because we will keep it out of retirement homes as well as isolate old people and others at risk?

Great in theory. Unfortunately not going to happen in this country. Even if there was total agreement on the seriousness and appropriate response, people find ways to make excuses for themselves. As it were, a significant chunk of this country will not even bother to do that.

Yeah, unless you are quarantining the staff of those retirement homes, some of them are going to come home, handle stuff their snot-encrusted kids did, bang their spouse who may work with the public in some capacity, hang out with their friends watching the ballgame in a living room filled to capacity, etc., etc.  And if they are having to do lots of sanitizing at work, you can bet some of them don't want to do that shit at home.

 

[atomheartbevo 89,844]

7 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

This whole situation over the past couple of months has really set the stage for various people to show their ass. Friendships torn, respect lost, fracturing of families, and businesses who will no longer get my money.

1234.  I've gotten in multiple arguments with friends and relatives over stupid shit arising from this as well.  Called them out on posting Alex Jones-level shit, on the fact that they don't have their parents anymore, so of course they don't give a shit if the old folks get fucked over by this, etc.  I know they were always plenty of selfish people out there and you would get glimpses of it here and there, but it was mostly out-of-sight, out-of-mind, so you could tolerate it.  

But you see people who 2 weeks prior were bitching about the cleanliness of a gas station restroom and posting pictures they took of it, and bitching about having to go 10 miles down the road to another and saying they'd never use that gas station again, and then they were just losing their mind over a piece of fucking fabric on their face.

And for fuck's sake, the rules about masks were fast-and-loose - you could get a loose, thin, t-shirt or bandana/handkerchief and have it loosely around your face, and nobody would bitch.

 

[Incredulity 11,683]

14 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

This whole situation over the past couple of months has really set the stage for various people to show their ass. Friendships torn, respect lost, fracturing of families, and businesses who will no longer get my money.

Funny thing is that it’s just more of the same.  Maybe turned up to eleven, or actually just 10.5.  I’m sure it will get worse.

[SHOOTER12 8,836]

OK update time. Let it be known known ahead of time that this crap is starting to grate on my last nerve and I'm starting to freak the fuck out 

Last Friday, employee we'll call "C" tested positive after testing negative the preceding Friday.  He was held out of work for a week to be re-tested due to rooming with original employee who I'll refer to as "E", and being cousins and going to big Mother's Day celebration with tons of family and friends. Due to C re-testing positive, we all had to go back for another test this past Friday.  All negative.  In the meantime last week, C was off work and had D replace him running the crane.  Nice machine, air conditioning, sound proofing, enclosed cab.  This morning found out that D got sick over the weekend, high fever, sore throat, headache and... shitting blood.  I know, not a usual symptom but there it is.  This afternoon, one of my crew T, found out his daughter tested positive today.  He rode in with 2 fellow employees (E and C) today from Houston crammed into a single cab pickup.  All 3 were immediately sent back to Houston to be tested again and more than likely will take at least a week off to verify their status and protect other employees (ME).

So what do you guys make of this?  Faulty tests?  Poor habits at home and around family?  I mean this is starting to get old and I wonder how many damned bullets I can dodge?  Or does the medical field really not know as much about this thing as they think they do?

Sorry so long...

[utee94 15,869]

34 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Oh, and as a follow up on that gal I quoted earlier, her last reply to me was that this was all cooked up after impeachment failed to crash the economy to cost Trump the election because Biden doesn't have two brain cells to rub together (and after that, I can't remember, because she decided to block me).  So, yes, the entire global reaction to COVID, including numerous countries that enacted similar measures as we did, is just a plot to unseat Trump.  No, I'm not going CR here -- take that for what you will, that's just literally the way that a lot of people out there think.

 

Yes.  Yes, you are.

 

Quote

So, I'm firmly back to "we're fucked."  If a sizable chunk of us think that a fucking deadly disease, its effects, and all responses to it, are "fake" because the entire planet is fixated on how much they hate Trump, and who cares about what it does at home......we're fucked.

Of course you are.  It would seem weird if you were any other way.  

Edited May 27, 2020 by utee94

[Js1 85,614]

37 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

So what was it?  It was deleted.

Lance Armstrong flipping the bird with: 

“When @MayorAdler tries to override @GregAbbott_TX and extend stay at home orders and preventing us from being able to provide for our staff and families“

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,821]

57 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

So what was it?  It was deleted.

Another chapter in the saga of UT sucking at QB choices and UT QBs sucking at life choices.  

Edit, I don’t think Vince had anything to do with that tweet.  

Edited May 27, 2020 by Judge Roybeanbag

[JBJ 3,668]

The best way to handle this is on a local level.  There are going to be differing levels of infection and medical access in a state as big as Texas.

Local policy needs to be responsive to local conditions.

[Guest Lobo]

What I envisioned happening at the store today:

Guy in A&M gear, "Why you wearing a mask?  You're nothing but a sheep man!" 

Me, "Well if anybody would know what a sheep would wear in a panic, it's an Aggie." 

What really happened: 

Me, "You in line sir?"

Guy in A&M gear (looking at my mask), "Yeah, what's it to you faggot?"  

Again, I go back to this not being political, it's about education and income.  Aggies typically have mediocre levels of both.  

 

[Neonmoon 38,130]

49 minutes ago, SHOOTER12 said:

OK update time. Let it be known known ahead of time that this crap is starting to grate on my last nerve and I'm starting to freak the fuck out 

Last Friday, employee we'll call "C" tested positive after testing negative the preceding Friday.  He was held out of work for a week to be re-tested due to rooming with original employee who I'll refer to as "E", and being cousins and going to big Mother's Day celebration with tons of family and friends. Due to C re-testing positive, we all had to go back for another test this past Friday.  All negative.  In the meantime last week, C was off work and had D replace him running the crane.  Nice machine, air conditioning, sound proofing, enclosed cab.  This morning found out that D got sick over the weekend, high fever, sore throat, headache and... shitting blood.  I know, not a usual symptom but there it is.  This afternoon, one of my crew T, found out his daughter tested positive today.  He rode in with 2 fellow employees (E and C) today from Houston crammed into a single cab pickup.  All 3 were immediately sent back to Houston to be tested again and more than likely will take at least a week off to verify their status and protect other employees (ME).

So what do you guys make of this?  Faulty tests?  Poor habits at home and around family?  I mean this is starting to get old and I wonder how many damned bullets I can dodge?  Or does the medical field really not know as much about this thing as they think they do?

Sorry so long...

I don’t remember the shitting blood part in this SAT question. But I’m guessing B

[Js1 85,614]

1 hour ago, burntorangebongos said:

 

 

[ChickenSandwich 9,856]

22 minutes ago, JBJ said:

The best way to handle this is on a local level.  There are going to be differing levels of infection and medical access in a state as big as Texas.

Local policy needs to be responsive to local conditions.

1000%. And include nursing homes and extended care. 10% Of the states have nearly 60% of the deaths. The left over percentage have near half of those deaths in nursing homes. We have the data that continues to show this. It has to be local. It’s not one size fits all

[Dahobbs 17,701]

37 minutes ago, JBJ said:

The best way to handle this is on a local level.  There are going to be differing levels of infection and medical access in a state as big as Texas.

Local policy needs to be responsive to local conditions.

How local do we go? States? Counties? Cities? 

[RDCanecutter 26,476]

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

 

But you see people who 2 weeks prior were bitching about the cleanliness of a gas station restroom and posting pictures they took of it, and bitching about having to go 10 miles down the road to another and saying they'd never use that gas station again, and then they were just losing their mind over a piece of fucking fabric on their face.

 

Maybe they're just bitches.

[RDCanecutter 26,476]

35 minutes ago, Lobo said:

What I envisioned happening at the store today:

Guy in A&M gear, "Why you wearing a mask?  You're nothing but a sheep man!" 

Me, "Well if anybody would know what a sheep would wear in a panic, it's an Aggie." 

What really happened: 

Me, "You in line sir?"

Guy in A&M gear (looking at my mask), "Yeah, what's it to you faggot?"  

Again, I go back to this not being political, it's about education and income.  Aggies typically have mediocre levels of both.  

 

That guy would be calling me MR. Faggot by the time I got through with him.

Go back down to that store everyday until you see him again, and whoop his Aggy ass.

[SHOOTER12 8,836]

36 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

I don’t remember the shitting blood part in this SAT question. But I’m guessing B

I've never seen it either, but with is going on?  We've got people testing positive left and right after testing negative just a few days before.

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, RDCanecutter said:

That guy would be calling me MR. Faggot by the time I got through with him.

Go back down to that store everyday until you see him again, and whoop his Aggy ass.

I'd like to back to use the Sheep in panic line, but I feel like Costanza, "Yeah, we'll the Jerk School called, and they're running out of Aggies!"  

Plus, I actually think I may have fucked the guy's wife.  She looked awfully familiar in a drunken stupor 90's kinda way.  My god, those guys like to marry average.