Coronavirus: Triple Edition

[Malcador]

On 9/9/2020 at 3:25 PM, Bartimaeus said:

Link contains audio recordings of Trump saying that he knew it was airborne, that he knew that it could actually be deadly for even young people, that it was much more deadly than the flu, and that he was deliberately "playing it down" in public, etc. all back in February and March. I don't know what possessed him to give this candid interview to Bob Woodward of all people, but I don't think it was a good idea...for him, that is.

Bold strategy.

[Gromnir]

On 9/9/2020 at 10:48 PM, BruceVC said:

 

Anyway in summary I just want to say I wish some  people and some media houses  in the USA would stop being surprised with Trumps lack of knowledge around the virus or constantly focusing and being " shocked "  on what he says about the virus when the scientific data is globally available around certain things we should already know 

individuals in the media and public are, for the most part, not surprised by trump's brobdingnagian ignorance and willful obtuseness. how could anybody be surprised at this point? individual examples do continue to shock, but the ignorance and corruption is not surprise worthy. is misplaced faith in human nature which propels journalists forward to continue doing their job in spite o' daily proof such doesn't matter. there is also a duty to current and future generations to speak truth to power. media keeps presenting such stories because is their job to do so and 'cause there is a collective and a mistaken belief that trump supporters, and other shiboleth wielding troglodytes, are people capable o' reason.  surely this new story is impossible to ignore.

HA!

and again, please recognize how truth which is so elusive in 2020 will be far less blurry in 2030. journalists is not speaking only to bruce today but to older and wiser bruce decades remote. 

in the past we were told trump lies weren't lies w/o documents and witnesses and tapes to support such claims. got witnesses? well, they is all liars.

this time you got trump on tape, but now the narrative is a kinda perverse denial which simultaneous claims there were no lies while also insisting that the lies, which didn't happen, were examples o' real leadership in a crisis. at a time when the most reasonable means o' combating covid-19 were a communitywide dedication to social distancing and mask wearing in situations where social distance were impractical, we had a President not making a concerted effort to stockpile and produce ppe while encouraging business and states to remain open... daily examples o' denigrating mask wearing behaviours and undercutting social distancing messaging. leadership indeed. trump will scare you with apocalyptic visions o' blm protesters, radical democrats, illegal immigrants and terrorist muslims, but covid-19 is different. trump knows how, unlike the people o' germany or south korea, americans can't handle the truth 'bout covid-19. 

of course this will be the story which finally breaks trumper resolve. 

of course not. trump has radicalized his base using the language and means o' those same groups he were telling us to fear in 2015. the trump loyalists is immune to whatever is the revelation o' this story or the next. doesn't mean the press should stop reporting. 

is gonna be an accounting in the years to come. as a nation we are gonna need reflect on just how much were excused, ignored and sacrificed in the name o' existential fear and nationalist pride. each report by responsible media adds to the ledger and those who supported or simple went along with trump will not be able to pretend they never knew. 

is imperative each new violation o' law and decency be reported. all too often futility is the excuse for staying silent and impotent as mere witnesses to wrongdoing. as much as trump's failures and misdeeds is being recorded, so too is those witnesses who cheered him forward, or remained mute 'cause their fear o' immigrants, democrats and muslims were even greater than their fear o' covid-19 or crumbling democracy.

alternative to bruce admonishment: keep reporting the futile as if the next terrible reveal will be the one which changes hearts and minds. to do otherwise would be irresponsible.

bob woodward were not elected POTUS. bob woodward didn't take an oath to defend nation and the Constitution.

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Gromnir

[teknoman2]

i was in the hospital yesterday because my brother had a pain in his arm (doc said he pulled a tendon) and while the doctor was checking on his arm i went to grab something to drink and saw a couple of doctors who were on break and were not wearing masks despite them being obligatory. so i went over and asked them about it. they said that most of the staff in the hospital wears a mask because they must, not because they think it offers any relevant protection (only surgical masks offer worthwhile protection) and the medical community at large is not in agreement with the government sponsored doctors who go on tv to inform people.

also, one of them mentioned that any protective measure taken will only slow down the spread but cannot stop it. at best you can delay mass infections to keep the health system from bottlenecking and hope that some medication will become available to mitigate some of the damage the virus does and reduce the number of people who will have to be hospitalized but sooner or later we all will get it.

[Bartimaeus]

[rjshae]

11 hours ago, teknoman2 said:

also, one of them mentioned that any protective measure taken will only slow down the spread but cannot stop it. at best you can delay mass infections to keep the health system from bottlenecking and hope that some medication will become available to mitigate some of the damage the virus does and reduce the number of people who will have to be hospitalized but sooner or later we all will get it.

Perhaps, but the later you get it, the higher your odds of surviving it. They've already reduce the risk of severe symptoms quite significantly. If you manage to avoid it for a year, then a vaccine may further improve your odds.

[Gfted1]

Anti-Maskers Forced to Dig Graves for Covid-19 Victims in Indonesia.

Good ole slavery.

[Hurlshort]

 

Yeet this virus. 

[Bartimaeus]

Trump claims his coronavirus containment efforts saved two, maybe two and a half lives.

Quote

“Could you have done more to stop it?” ABC News host George Stephanopoulos asked.
“I don’t think so,” Trump replied. “I think what I did by closing up the country, I think I saved two, maybe two and a half, maybe more than that lives. I really don’t think so. I think we did a very good job.”

Well...he might not be wrong there, but not exactly setting the bar very high, . Also blamed Biden and the Democrats for not creating a national mask mandate. Biden, who is not president, and to my knowledge, who currently holds no federal position at all.

Quote

“They said at the Democrat convention they’re going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they’ve checked out and they didn’t do it. And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden ― they said we’re going to do a national mandate on masks.”

Interesting stuff from the president.

Edited September 16, 2020 by Bartimaeus

[Gromnir]

US boasts ~5% of world population and 20% o' the covid-19 deaths... coupled with the fact we had some warning to prepare unlike italy and germany and south korea or taiwan. 

in february our President were not interested in preparing the nation for the inevitable and since that time he has active, beyond all reason, discouraged social distancing and mask wearing behaviours.

who are the people falling for the gaslighting?

inexplicable, the trump base is far more concerned 'bout the inevitable future tyranny o' "sleepy joe," (*chuckle*) and the threat o' blm protesters taking over akron than they is 'bout current widespread government corruption and 200k dead from covid... with a significant % o' those hundreds o' thousands o' corpses being unnecessary and avoidable. 

is important to empathize with the trump base 'cause they is Americans citizens who feels marginalized... and 'cause they vote. nevertheless, the willingness to overlook trump's inept covid-19 response makes extreme difficult to empathize much less sympathize. 

those folks is nuts.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Gorth]

What would the world do without great statesmen like this?...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54172311

 

Ok, I was being sarcastic

 

Coronavirus: Trump denies downplaying severity of virus

At a televised event with voters, Mr Trump said he had "up-played" it.

 

The claim contradicts comments Mr Trump made to journalist Bob Woodward earlier this year, when he said he minimised the virus's severity to avoid panic.Mr Trump also repeated on Tuesday that a vaccine could be ready "within weeks" despite scepticism from health experts.

 

Guys... do me a favour, if you're in the US and somebody offers a vaccine within the next 3 weeks, stall!

 

Edit: Not saying don't take vaccines, but anything that gets forced through at that pace and still somehow labelled "safe" (granted, probably safer than the bleach that was first suggested) would make the approval process of the Boeing 737 Max look like professional work. Wait until it's deemed safe by somebody other than the current governments henchmen.

[Hurlshort]

Quote

 

I'm sure this will shock some of you, but yesterday I volunteered for the vaccine trials for covid-19. The vaccine is one that was created in Russia.

I received my first shot yesterday @2 pm, and I wanted to let y'all know that it’s completely safe! So far, иo side effects whatsoeveя, and that I feelshκι χoρoshό я чувствую себя немного странно и я думаю, что вытащил ослиные уши.

 

 

[Malcador]

Would be nice to learn Russian so quickly.

[Gfted1]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

Guys... do me a favour, if you're in the US and somebody offers a vaccine within the next 3 weeks, stall!

I have made the difficult decision to save the first, and possibly second, dose of the vaccine for some rando oldster, as they tend to have multiple health conditions. 

[Gromnir]

we suppose belated congratulations are in order. had no idea math and science challenged pro police state midwesterners had moved ahead o' at-risk populations insofar as vaccine priority is concerned. you never know who has a powerful lobby until times such as these, eh?

if otherwise healthy people is genuine concerned 'bout the health o' rando old people they will never meet or know, then we applaud meaningful efforts to help. however, such would result in behaviours opposite than expressed. the more people who take the vaccine, the safer will be those rando old people.

the doctors and scientists need to do a better job o' communicating vaccine facts, 'cause there is enduring and pervasive misunderstanding 'bout who should take and why.

that said, the fda and cdc have done substantial harm to their credibility. sure, too many o' the folks who is most vocal 'bout vaccine safety concerns were equal reluctant in february of 2020 as they is today. is not as if the politicizing o' covid-19 has had any impact on their behaviours. the complicity o' hahn, redfield and others has done little save legitimize the fears o' the government conspiracy crowd. 

the process implemented and the speed o' the trials is not something to be feared. speed o' the trials is misunderstood, 'cause no single aspect o' the trials is being rushed. same steps were implemented for covid-19 as previous vaccine trials, but multiple steps were taken simultaneous as 'posed to linear. no loss o' safety results from such implementation but there is enormous monetary costs involved particular if any individual vaccine trial fails.

however, there is reason to be concerned the administration will follow through with the process implemented. in more than one instance the science has been massaged to better match the President's message. we got a President who is indifferent to the welfare and safety o' even his own constituency. trust has evaporated.

am personal thinking the fears o' vaccine safety is overblown, but such fears is increasing reasonable as the US government appears to be doing as much as is possible to undermine their credibility with a public that were increasing inclined towards conspiracy and clear science challenged from the start. every effort shoulda' been taken to reassure the public by making the integrity o' the process unassailable. opposite. the government has attacked its own scientists and science, played fast and loose with facts, and indulged in unrepentant gaslighting. is now too late to rehabilitate fda and cdc reputation. concerns 'bout the vaccine might be overblown, but they is reasonable given government behaviours.

HA! Good Fun!

[Gfted1]

Im a giver.

In other news: CDC director says face masks may provide more protection than coronavirus vaccine. So, Im good.

[Zoraptor]

Meh, that's like the "94% of people dying from covid had underlying conditions" thing. It's true, but deeply misleading, when used out of context.

Fundamentally, something you can definitely do that helps (ie mask wearing) is always better at providing protection than something you could potentially do sometime in the future assuming it works and is safe (get vaccinated). If both are available doing both is better than doing one or the other.

Digression: Kind of funny in a way, it's generally the same people who embiggen Sweden's failed herd immunity approach who seem to be against vaccination despite it being the epitome of and instant granter of herd immunity theory. Well, so long as vaccine efficiency is above that required for herd immunity and everyone takes it, but even a 50% effective vaccine is most of the way there.

Edited September 16, 2020 by Zoraptor

[LadyCrimson]

*catches up on thread*

Trump is a bottomless-well of buffoonery and that's all I have to say about that.

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

*catches up on thread*

Trump is a bottomless-well of buffoonery and that's all I have to say about that.

LadyC !!!! Im shocked, I have never known you to use such profanity ,,,,,,"buffoonery". Is such language really necessary ?

[Skarpen]

6 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

*catches up on thread*

Trump is a bottomless-well of buffoonery and that's all I have to say about that.

You say it like it's a bad thing.

[Hurlshort]

16 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Im a giver.

In other news: CDC director says face masks may provide more protection than coronavirus vaccine. So, Im good.

This just in: Not getting shot is safer than wearing a bulletproof vest.

[Gfted1]

Indubitably.

[Gromnir]

7 hours ago, Hurlshot said:

This just in: Not getting shot is safer than wearing a bulletproof vest.

am curious. as a teacher, how does hurl approach a learner who is either unwilling or incapable o' understanding material? exhaust the modalities and invent new options? use group learning to see if other students may aid in the learning process? witchcraft? all fail. now what? 

for the student with a language obstacle or learning disability am suspecting most o' us have greater sympathy, but the stubborn and obtuse student is failing to learn no less than does the kid with serious dyslexia. 

pithy bit o' education silliness: there are no bad students, only bad teachers. 

socrates or mr. miyagi? easy to confuse the two.

personal, as am not a teacher, we find the obtuse student to be illustrative. we would likely invent him/her if she didn't exist... but in our experience he always exists. nevertheless, am wondering how hurl deals with such.

oh, and 

HA! Good Fun!

[Gizmo]

12 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

pithy bit o' education silliness: there are no bad students, only bad teachers. 

socrates

Once, a friend and I were walking to his car, and were stopped by a passing kid (10-11 or so), and he asked us, "Do you guys work with computers?"  My friend said, "Yes".  The kid then said, "I wanna work in computers!". This impressed my friend, so he asked the kid what interested him about computers. "I wanna get paid all that money for just clickity-click-click", the kid said, while pantomiming typing on a keyboard.

Yes there are bad students.

Edited September 17, 2020 by Gizmo

[Hurlshort]

Unwilling and incapable are two dramatically different situations. 

I will bend over backwards trying to help the incapable kid find some success. There is always a path forward, it just might not look like it did for the rest of the class. Special education teachers basically live in this world. They are all excellent at celebrating the small successes instead of focusing on the failings. 

Unwilling...eh. If a kid wants to space out all period, there is only so much I'm going to do to try and engage them. People need to own their education. I'm bummed when a kid fails because of lack of effort, and I will extend plenty of opportunities to jump on board the learning train, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Heck, it gives me more time to focus on the kid who needs and wants the help.

That all being said, I do see it as my job to engage the students. If a good chunk of the class is not picking up what I'm selling, then it is on me to shift gears. I swear some teachers just assume it is the students job to always be attentive, no matter how boring they are being. My attention span is a pretty good indicator. It is not long.

What were we talking about again?

[ComradeYellow]

17 hours ago, Skarpen said:

You say it like it's a bad thing.

If a lot of them weren't such bootlickers and authority lovers I wouldn't hold too hard opinion.

The trick here is to find the Republican-leaning people who aren't too fond of cops (they exists) and try to win them over to our side.

Both right wing militia types and leftists have something in common:  They both don't care for police officers.