BruceVC

There is also a suggested link to countries with high levels of air pollution and smog, like parts of China, and people getting sick easier due to weaker or comprised respiratory systems which is the same as a heavy smoker

I was following this debate on numerous international news channels around why more men die or are adversely effected from the virus and even though the reasons you mentioned were raised I am not convinced its accurate or the real reason..basically the argument is lifestyle choices There are many men globally who have become sick and they are in perfect health and sadly some of them have died. Also the pregnancy argument makes sense but what if a women has never been pregnant would the boosted immune system still apply? I think the real reason for this concerning reality is still to be understood like many things we just dont know yet about the virus What about if the virus was created by man-hating radical feminists in an attempt to destroy us men and usurp the natural balance and around gender hierarchy ..... Im sure Volo has links to support this ?

I want to avoid the virus very badly but not at the price you are suggesting

This is an important discussion around Corona antibodies and what revealing them in the body would mean. This is not about being right but rather the facts as the world learns them and these can literally change on a daily basis in some cases From your understanding do you agree that if a person has never been exposed to Corona then there would be no trace of this specific virus in your body? If you agree with that then numerous tests can reveal if you have the virus and that would mean you could be a symptomatic person or asymptomatic person but you could also be a person who has recovered from the virus and then there would be forms of corona antibodies Is your point that is no accurate way of determining if you have corona antibodies because you cannot have corona antibodies if you have not had the virus? I just want to be clear on what you saying because for me what I dont know or what I am misunderstanding is important so I can update my knowledge

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/17/6-states-where-people-are-protesting-stay-at-home-orders/ Guys what do you think about this behavior we are seeing in some states, its boggles my mind that ostensibly small groups of people are openly both denying and rejecting the risk of how this virus spreads and how dangerous it can be It seems unfortunately to be a case of playing an appalling form of politicizing this virus and this really puts peoples lives at risk, and impacts the overall recovery of the USA from the virus and should be heavily condemned IMO

This debate may seem unnecessary but there is some relevance around it purely because of the virus and how this is a time where people are dying and we dealing with degrees of misinformation and these developments should be understood and hopefully not repeated. So Im not taking sides on this topic, the only side I care about is humanity and all of us surviving, but looking at the facts as objectively as possible Firstly I can understand how the young lady thought she had the virus and initially responded but then she went to hospital and was tested which came negative, now the counter argument to this in the article is how we can have false positive testing. But there is a test you can take if you have had the virus which absolutely will show you had the virus because there are real physical symptoms like corona antibodies that will be revealed https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-antibody-blood-test-covid-19-2020-3?IR=T But the family didnt insist on this test, and surly they would have if this was a real concern around false positive testing, and she continued to post on Instagram saying she had the virus. I cannot see how this is not grandstanding and attention seeking ? But then the police did seem to be a little heavy handed with the argument " she is spreading panic due to no recorded cases in the county " because of the virulent nature of the virus and how it can spread' But she not have continued to suggest she had the virus after the initial test came back false

I appreciate the clarification, its changes how I first viewed what you were saying and I can understand what you were meaning even if I dont necessarily agree with it all But just to touch on something you mentioned around comparing the effectiveness of police vs army in enforcing the law. In SA we have deployed the army to enforce the lock-down around round blocks and doing work in the townships. This has been criticized by many for basically the same reason you mentioned, people saying " the military arent good at enforcing the law" , We have also has 1 or 2 real incidents of the military being heavy handed and using excessive force but these are now criminal matters and not the norm In the USA you have the National Guard which can be deployed to address issues like domestic emergencies and disasters, such as those caused by hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, as well as civil disorder. I consider this pandemic both a global and domestic emergency so surly if the National Guard can be deployed why cant they perform similar duties to the police ? This point is more applicable to SA because I fear we may have some anarchy as the lock-down continues and quite simply we dont have enough police to ensure law and order. And when I raise this point on talk shows I want to get a balanced view of how this would work in other countries which is why the USA reality is important to how I want to frame this

I find it unusual that someone like you, a veteran who supports and understands the importance of the military would find the police to be ....contemptuous? The police put themselves and there lives on the line in many places everyday, they play a critical role in ensuring the rule of law and order....there would be no civilized society without institutions like the police. Its unhelpful to generalize about an entire profession when there are some examples of bad actors In SA there are surveys that tell us people think the police are the " most corrupt institution in the country " which is utter nonsense as they not. People love to malign the police but if there house is getting broken into by real criminals with the intent to rob\rape\kill the same people attacking the integrity of the police would be expecting, correctly, the police to save them

I have no issue with Wikileaks as anyone can use them as reference to do other research to confirm there veracity if a person has the interest in the actual information This does seem like an appalling story of financial greed and shows a real lack of integrity, I also notice at the end there were no criminal charges so that just adds to the general anger towards banks. The people directly involved in this should have been prosecuted All I can say in defense is I have many family members who are investment bankers and 2 work in a USA hedge fund but based out of the UK. Most of direct family in SA are in banking including my dad who is now retired and I can promise they would never intentionally be part of this kind of criminal and unethical conduct ( with the exception of 1 uncle who has been incarcerated in the USA for financial irregularities related to 2008) but I can understand your point and why banks in Oz have such a bad reputation based on this types of developments

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-toll-idUSKBN21Z052 China has "admitted " there initial reporting on the deaths Wuhen were incorrect , they now say there were about 4600 deaths......4600 total deaths from the epicenter of the virus, where the virus was its most virulent and where the Chinese and the world didnt understand the nature of the virus is a joke China should add a 0 to that number and even then I would not be convinced its the accurate number if you look at the deaths we are seeing throughout the world But I understand honest disclosure is new to China so this should be seen as a positive ....I suppose

I have never Fallout 1 & 2 and your honest review has put me off playing these games ....you bad person you

I have been playing RDR2 Online during the lock-down and for those that loved the single player game I highly recommend it The Online game basically enhances and expands the game world and provides dozens of new things to do like the various roles you can adopt like Bounty Hunter, Collector and Trader and there are literally dozens of new " free roaming " missions . You also really start appreciating crafting and collecting plants to make items that cost money which is always in correct short supply unless you use RL money to buy the default currency of gold bars. I used RL money only in the beginning so my character survives in the online economy through normal quests and gaining legitimate wealth by trading And then finally the online community is great, there are generally only a small number of people active when I logon. Normally about 20-35 and of those a few people who sometimes attack you for no reason but I dont think its malicious So in summary RDR2 is an excellent online choice for those that enjoy these types of things

QFT

You raise some valid criticism that we have seen in many sectors before the virus in the last 100 years where economic data has been recorded , yes there are examples where the private sector has been involved in price hiking and general bad business practice but this isnt a rule, normal or acceptable But the majority of private sector companies have to make a profit so the real question is what is reasonable margin? In the financial sector and IT services industry where I work its generally 10-15 % but government tenders you make less like 3-5 % because of the size of the tenders and length of the tender which is anything from 3-5 years before tender renewal So there isnt a general rule that everyone follows and also remember the more margin or profit a company makes the more taxes they should pay which benefits society and all citizens But as far as the virus is concerned it is completely unacceptable to hike prices in this time of crisis, in South Africa our National Consumer Commission has identified and prosecuted several businesses who have hiked prices so I assume in your country a similar government institution needs to do the same ...so no argument from me around this appalling greed we may see https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-03-26-butchery-owner-arrested-for-price-hiking-during-covid-19-outbreak/

End of the day old school socialism, like Cuba and Venezuela tried to do, ( no point even discussing if Communism is viable) doesn't lead to any real way to address economic equality apart from the other egregious flaws the numerous government decisions these countries made The Scandinavian countries as mentioned are not " old school socialism " because you have a vibrant private sector that contributes primarily to GDP and has to be profitable but you have very strong public institutions that offer services like healthcare and education for free. And generally people are very happy in these counties and its a good system but it requires a high tax rate, high employment but more important the average citizen has to buy into the system and support government in the sense you can absolutely take advantage of all the great, " free " government stuff but then you will work and contribute towards the tax base and support others who will utilize those public services who come after you Most countries citizens just dont really have that mindset of " lets support government " once we have benefited from effective public sector institutions that make our lives better South Africa is a classic example of this, many citizens ( and especially our dysfunctional unions ) keep expecting government to pay for everything, provide all solutions but arent really prepared to contribute back to the system. Many of these people would rather attack and malign the private sector and especially the financial sector and accuse them of " being greedy and only interested in profit at the cost of everything else "

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-russia-cases-idUSKCN21X0TE I see Russia has also horrendously mishandled the virus and its impact, I did find it strange they were sending doctors to Italy when they should have been addressing the virus in there own country The crisis in Russia is going to be exacerbated as it looks like they have only in the last 10 days acknowledged or realized how it has impacted there own country...and we know with this virus 1 days of lackluster response is like ignoring spread for a week. I hope they are able to address this quickly or effectively in the interests of there own well being. I dont like or respect Putin but this is not about our political views but rather our own humanity and how all countries will emerge from this pandemic

For example China was telling the W.H.O and the world in early January there was no evidence the virus could transfer from human to human...yeah great world superpower China https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/who-haunted-by-january-tweet-saying-china-found-no-human-transmission-of-coronavirus/ar-BB11nU34 https://dailycaller.com/2020/03/18/flashback-who-china-coronavirus-contagious/

Why would anyone want China to be the worlds only superpower? This virus has revealed many things to us....key amongst them is how far China is from ever being the worlds most influential and effective superpower

We having an HBO special on our local DSTV channel and Im watching Banshee again, its such a brutal but brilliant series ...one of my all time favorite

https://bhekisisa.org/opinion/2020-04-10-coronavirus-covid19-lockdown-south-africa-mental-health-why-you-feel-tired/ Guys here is an excellent article explaining why despite having less to do while in lockdown you may be feeling more fatigued than normal

Trump is seriously considering opening the USA on the 1 May....as much as I wish this was realistic I cannot see how this would be prudent If you look at how China has addressed this spread effectively you will see how much hard work they have had to do and they still arent open for business. Of course no country has the approach that China has due to numerous factors including how badly the virus impacted China and how China has not shared the true nature of the virus impact but you can see still the overall strategy For example they are using hundreds of thousands, I just watched this on CNN, of newly appointed people to purely track contact tracing....." hundreds of thousands of people " just for effective contract tracing. That number of people just for contact tracing boggles my mind and I have to hope this is due to the population size and how many potential people are effected Has anyone considered what would be effective strategy once your country decides to end its quarantine? I know we all just trying to currently ensure we end new infections and people survive but the whole " country coming back online " strategy is at the back of my mind and what that practically means?

Yes I would assume that as well, you guys are talking about normal formal jobs and informal jobs would offer little healthcare options

Thanks for sharing guys, the reason is my brother thinks everyone retrenched now has no access to healthcare but this will differ from person to person as some people may have access through different plans. Last question, if most of these jobs lost would be informal sector like restaurants would informal sector people normally pay for additional healthcare and would a restaurant even offer medical aid ? So I assume it would depend on the persons wages\salaries ?

Okay interesting, so if you lose your job due to the virus like now what happens to your healthcare savings and what happens if you need to use a hospital ?

Oh, I have a question for USA members. One of my bothers told me that the majority of medical aid options are provided for people from the company the person works for so if the person leaves the company he loses the medical aid options ?