Rants and Raves

[QUOTE=AaronHamlet;4775721]Yes we are. But global data shows there is not a one size fits all approach. So here's what you need to do:

Based on your age, you're part of the 90% that bad things happen to if they catch the China Virus. Not necessarily death, but bad sick. Hospital. Tubes shoved down your throat. ICU stay. And I'm sure you know that over 100,000 Americans die each year from unrelated virus' caught while in hospital. You're in hospital for simple appendix surgery or to get a new hip and you catch a virus floating around in the hospital that kills you. Tragic. Depending on your pre-existing conditions, if any, overweight, morbidly obese, elevated blood pressure or hypertension, diabetes or pre-diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc. , your age combined with one, two or many of those, you are now in the 95-99% of those who bad things happen to if they catch China Virus. That 95-99% is only a percentage of those known tested positive for virus, not of the whole. Estimates range from 5-40% of all have had China virus. Depending on that actual figure, even at the lowest estimate you'd have to multiple, thin the existing data by 15 x which puts the percent of Americans at grave risk from China Virus so low, w / many zeroes to the right of the decimal point followed by a long chain of numbers, that if I posted that, you would run to your kitchen and shove so many of the aforementioned jelly beans down your throat that you'd puke. They're no good for you anyway, pure sugar, if you are diabetic, pre-diabetic they'll kill you.

Pertaining to this hobby, what you need to do whether it's a massage parlor girl, a crack / heroin addict at the Red Roof or a $1,000 sugar baby co-ed, based on your age with or w / o pre-existing conditions, you need to be very careful. They're up close and personal w / many, most likely passing China Virus back and forth from asymptomatic to asymptomatic. A Petri dish if you will. A month or so ago, someone of natl. Prominence called for 12-24 month lockdown of the US. An ignorant fear monger of course, but his point had validity for those at high risk like yourself. China Virus isn't going to disappear. Weaken yes. But those at high risk, those who China Virus seeks out and hurts bad will still be at risk while a fraction of a percent of the rest of us won't be. So you need to be careful w / that activity for years to come.

You should stay inside as much as possible. When you go out for groceries or whatever, you need to wear a mask. A certified N95 mask. One not from China because many of those are counterfeits. An N95 can actually filter out the China Virus microbes. A bandanna, painter's mask from Lowe's do nothing but jeopardize the health of a man your age. Make your heart and lungs work harder and you just breathe in and out, in and out, virus' you already carry. Make you sick. You also need to wear latex gloves. Order a case and throw away after each use. China Virus can live for days on cardboard. You're at the grocery store, pick up a box of Metamucil that someone who has virus just touched, you rub an eye, pick your nose and you've become infected. China Virus can live for weeks if not months on plastics, plastic laminates, stainless steel. Surfaces that exist on sales counters, reception stations, Dr. 's offices, that cold steel table in the exam room, etc. That again carries the same risk for years to come.

Depending on your living situation, you may need to mask and glove up at home also. Your son, grandson, great grandson lives with you. He's doing his thing, feels great. No problems. But he could be a asymptomatic carrier of the China virus. You ask him to pass the salt, you touch that shared surface then lick that BBQ sauce from your fingers and you've become infected. Faucets, toilets, countertops, fridge doors, etc. All pose the same risk to you. For years to come as previously stated.

What I and others in my shared demographic need to do:

Basically whatever the fuck we want to do. If under the age of 60. Feel great. No known serious pre-existing conditions. Bang hookers. Eat at dine in restaurants. Don't wear a mask or gloves. But don't shake hands. If I see an elderly person like yourself, I give them space for their benefit, not mine. But tests show passing someone on the street or in an enclosed environment, China Virus won't leap off them and onto you over those brief seconds. This type of behavior among those in low risk group is what someone like yourself in a high risk group should encourage. You lay low. Let the rest get on fully with their lives and work toward weakening the virus so all are at lower risk. They'll be an uptick in cases and deaths as this happens. But many claim those deaths, serious case, would've occurred anyway. They've only been delayed and possibly increased by a lock down that weakens our immunity to all.

To the original question you asked me, 'Or are you just in it for yourself?' I ask you the same. Are you just in this for yourself? Do you seek further job loss, business loss, suicides, homicides, divorces, depression, assaults, food / supply chain disruptions leading to higher price for basic necessities for the 99%+ of the population at extremely low risk at the sole behest of the -1% like yourself at high risk with all based on mis/disinformation?

You and others can read the political propaganda copied and pasted here by some mook. Or the copied and pasted lab reports by some piss ant claiming the China Virus has mutated to an even deadlier version. You can watch some fuckstain on CNN telling you you'll fucking die unless we lock down for years. I could copy and paste multiple sources that claim the exact opposite of all. But I don't. I don't even have cable. All posts I've made on the China Virus have been fact based and data driven. Not opinions based on a political or selfish aim.

I've provided you with an excellent fact based, brief yet thorough snapshot of where we as a society, as individual parts of the whole are right now. If facts and data changes tomorrow, next week or next month, so will I. But if or when that happens, we have nothing left to discuss.[/QUOTE]Excellent post.

[QUOTE=SeekingHead;4775593]MLB, college football, NFL, NHL, NBA, & MLS all make a lot of money off of their TV contracts usually exceeding what spectators spend.[/QUOTE]The LEAGUES make most of the money from TV contracts, contracts that are already in place and are not up for re-negotiation this year or next. The TEAMS make money from ticket sales, concessions, parking, and seat licences, as well as a percentage of the TV contracts. So not having fans will hurt the franchises. Vendors. Workers that spend their game days selling beer and whatnot in the stadiums. Sports bars that show the games (NFL and maybe MLS) and draw droves of fans for games. The leagues will make the same because they are obligated to provide a product (set number of games) to be aired for an already negotiated contract. The networks will charge higher rates for their advertising during those games and make more (it's a guess how much more) money for those 30 and 60 second ads in front of a captive and entertainment starved audience.

[URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_broadcasting_contracts_in_the_United_States[/URL]

Do anyone ***** about the complete loss of talent, at least in the area of Happy Ending massages? Ten years ago there was a plethora of ladies that would give an awesome massage and happily grab your weiner at the end. Some were more than happy to let you blow as many loads as you could shoot.

I look at other areas of the country, and there seem to be a lot of these types of ladies working. And good looking ones, too. What the fuck happened to Atlanta?

[QUOTE=SgtSoros;4775574]You do realize if we get a second wave of this pandemic everything will shut down again, perhaps for even longer. This equals no money for businesses, teams, employees etc for an even longer period of time.[/QUOTE]And you do realize that if we shut ourselves down again, having given absolutely no thought to any reaction other than economic suicide, that the only country left to us will be one of mass bloodletting in the streets? We are close to that now. Some of you either seem to want that or you are so myopic that you will allow no other alternative. I refuse to believe that we cannot handle this virus without committing economic suicide. I refuse to believe that we cannot provide safety for the most vulnerable among us AND have economic stability at the same time. I do NOT understand why it must be one or the other, with economic suicide being the far worse alternative. Tell me why a shutdown of 24,12, or even 6 months is sustainable to some of you out there? What we have done to ourselves these past few months cannot, CANNOT, happen again. If it does, the blood on the hands will be on the hands of those of you who insisted on yet another mindless shutdown with no other alternatives allowed. For some of you bad asses out there, think long and hard about insisting on another shutdown because there will be at least an equal number of bad asses out here who will oppose you. This is not kid's stuff anymore. This is getting really real now. We had a revolution in 1776. We had a Civil War in the 1860's. Another bloody catastrophe is entirely possible in the here and now. I and many others seek compromise. Many of you do not. History tells us how that usually turns out. Make up your minds. We can go either way. Think about it, and I do mean really, really think about it.

[QUOTE=AaronHamlet;4775721]

I've provided you with an excellent fact based, brief yet thorough snapshot of where we as a society, as individual parts of the whole are right now. If facts and data changes tomorrow, next week or next month, so will I. But if or when that happens, we have nothing left to discuss.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=AcWorthDude;4775754]Excellent post.[/QUOTE]Though I disagree with the way Aaron interprets the facts and the decision he makes based on those facts, he's not wrong. Except for his definition of brief. I thought it was a Johnny Mapalo post at first.

There's no black and white here. Stay completely closed and the economy dies. Open up completely and you save jobs and get the economy going, and people (a lot more) will die. There is a spot in the gray area between that will save jobs and save lives, but some jobs and some lives will (and have already been) lost. The problem is people are too busy fighting over what suits them best and they don't take the time to see the big picture. And no one knows for sure what this virus really is or does. No one is completely wrong here, everyone is just basing their decisions on their point of view and their (limited) knowledge of how many people this virus has infected and killed. Like the 7 blind men and the elephant. [URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant[/URL].

I look at it like this. This virus is killing people with underlying conditions at a higher rate than healthy people. Without solid testing and true and honest accounting we don't know the real numbers. So those of you that think the pandemic is a scam or not a threat you, go out there do your thing. The president assures us we have this thing under control and we have enough ventilators and PPE so that anyone that does get Covid-19 will be nursed back to health. I believe that this is Darwinism at it's finest. If you want to get out there and do your thing more power to ya. Roll those dice with your life and health on the table. When those people start getting sick and dying they have only themselves to blame.

Ever see a picture of those acres of graves at Arlington or WW II era grave sites in Europe? I wonder how long before we see those here in the US. I know, some of you don't believe that will come to pass. Do me a favor and PM me your list of UTRs before you go out. Have all the fun you can stand out there. I will keep sheltering and working from home until this things sorts itself out.

Good luck either way.

[QUOTE=Jeffinnatlanta;4775886]Though I disagree with the way Aaron interprets the facts and the decision he makes based on those facts, he's not wrong. Except for his definition of brief. I thought it was a Johnny Mapalo post at first.

There's no black and white here. Stay completely closed and the economy dies. Open up completely and you save jobs and get the economy going, and people (a lot more) will die. There is a spot in the gray area between that will save jobs and save lives, but some jobs and some lives will (and have already been) lost. The problem is people are too busy fighting over what suits them best and they don't take the time to see the big picture. And no one knows for sure what this virus really is or does. No one is completely wrong here, everyone is just basing their decisions on their point of view and their (limited) knowledge of how many people this virus has infected and killed. Like the 7 blind men and the elephant. [URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant[/URL].

Ever see a picture of those acres of graves at Arlington or WW II era grave sites in Europe? I wonder how long before we see those here in the US. I know, some of you don't believe that will come to pass. Do me a favor and PM me your list of UTRs before you go out. Have all the fun you can stand out there. I will keep sheltering and working from home until this things sorts itself out.

Good luck either way.[/QUOTE]It's not the military graves but the ones like a whole row at Marietta where kids died during the Spanish Flu of 1918 era. BUT, we have much better medicine these days and, for the most part, the young survive quite quickly. I am not saying the virus is a scam, I am saying that Fed, CDC, and thereby the states have admitted to fudging the numbers of COVID deaths to increase the fear. It does not increase the pandemic, only the fear. They have straight out admitted regardless of the true cause of death, anyone dying with COVID gets counted as a COVID death and that tells me I cannot trust their numbers. Plus there are too many in government who sound like they would sacrifice their own mother to ruin what was a booming economy just to try and make Trump look bad.

Happy Hunting and Stay Safe. But use your own discretion and common sense and stop letting others think for you.

Except the understanding of what happens if we open the economy and the number of people dying jumps to 3 K or more every day. If that happens the economy dies, because this economy is driven on consumer consumption. If the death rate spikes and climbs, people will again retreat to their homes, businesses will die from the lack of customers. Corporations like Boeing, Ford, GM, and their associated suppliers will die. Airlines like Delta, AA, United, Southwest will die, and their associated suppliers. Everyone seems to think that this issue is one of public health versus economic health. It's not, don't even try to conflate the two. If people do not feel safe, they will not go to work, they will not buy cars, refrigerators, houses. They will not travel. The virus drives how the consumer will act. Not even the 1918 pandemic had this much of an impact, but in our globalized world economy of the 21st century it does. Even if everything goes right, and right now its not. Most economists see unemployment staying about 10% or more for years. That is 15 to 20 million unemployed people.

And just to give prospective to how devastating this virus has been to the economy. The month of April unemployment wiped out all the jobs created since the Great Recession. Think about that and we know those numbers are under reported, because most state DOL can't handle the number of applications for UI.

[QUOTE=SgtLurker;4775981]It's not the military graves but the ones like a whole row at Marietta where kids died during the Spanish Flu of 1918 era. BUT, we have much better medicine these days and, for the most part, the young survive quite quickly. I am not saying the virus is a scam, I am saying that Fed, CDC, and thereby the states have admitted to fudging the numbers of COVID deaths to increase the fear. It does not increase the pandemic, only the fear. They have straight out admitted regardless of the true cause of death, anyone dying with COVID gets counted as a COVID death and that tells me I cannot trust their numbers. Plus there are too many in government who sound like they would sacrifice their own mother to ruin what was a booming economy just to try and make Trump look bad.

Happy Hunting and Stay Safe. But use your own discretion and common sense and stop letting others think for you.[/QUOTE]If anything the numbers have been downplayed. And a big part of that is the Federal Government, CDC and NIH. Here is the Orange Turd, doing it for political reasons.

But accurate numbers are anywhere for 1 to 8 weeks behind. Most reported deaths are those they can directly attribute to Covid19. The real number where Covid19 was a contributing factor and is reported incorrectly is probably higher by as much as 30% according to some reports.

[URL]https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736[/URL](20) 30933-8/ fulltext.

[URL]https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/21/world/coronavirus-missing-deaths.html[/URL]

[QUOTE=Jims2321;4776138]Except the understanding of what happens if we open the economy and the number of people dying jumps to 3 K or more every day. If that happens the economy dies, because this economy is driven on consumer consumption. If the death rate spikes and climbs, people will again retreat to their homes, businesses will die from the lack of customers. Corporations like Boeing, Ford, GM, and their associated suppliers will die. Airlines like Delta, AA, United, Southwest will die, and their associated suppliers. Everyone seems to think that this issue is one of public health versus economic health. It's not, don't even try to conflate the two. If people do not feel safe, they will not go to work, they will not buy cars, refrigerators, houses. They will not travel. The virus drives how the consumer will act. Not even the 1918 pandemic had this much of an impact, but in our globalized world economy of the 21st century it does. Even if everything goes right, and right now its not. Most economists see unemployment staying about 10% or more for years. That is 15 to 20 million unemployed people.

And just to give prospective to how devastating this virus has been to the economy. The month of April unemployment wiped out all the jobs created since the Great Recession. Think about that and we know those numbers are under reported, because most state DOL can't handle the number of applications for UI[/QUOTE]The virus has not been devastating to the economy. Our blind, panic-stricken response to the virus has been devastating to the economy, aided and abetted by the fear mongering media and agenda pushing hacks from both the political and medical opportunists. If fear continues to prevail then we are finished both as a society and as a nation. It's up to us as to what we will and won't continue to accept. That will determine whether we survive or not. It won't be some third rate virus that kills us, it will be us that kills us.

[QUOTE=Jims2321;4776176]If anything the numbers have been downplayed. And a big part of that is the Federal Government, CDC and NIH. Here is the Orange Turd, doing it for political reasons.

But accurate numbers are anywhere for 1 to 8 weeks behind. Most reported deaths are those they can directly attribute to Covid19. The real number where Covid19 was a contributing factor and is reported incorrectly is probably higher by as much as 30% according to some reports.

[URL]https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736[/URL](20) 30933-8/ fulltext.

[URL]https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/21/world/coronavirus-missing-deaths.html[/URL][/QUOTE]Here's the bottom line: if we live in fear of this virus for much longer, we will destroy the economic foundation of the greatest nation on earth. The ramifications of that destruction will dwarf the impact of the virus, even if the virus is left unchecked with no mitigation. That's fact. The best solution is to immediately open up this nation, accept the fact that a statistically very small percentage of our population will get the disease and a much smaller percentage of those infected will die (Less than 2 percent of all infections.) That's a hard choice to make, but it is the ONLY choice.

Think about what it means to have 30 million people apply for unemployment. Entire industries, aviation, gaming (casinos), petroleum, are dying and we cannot print enough money to overcome the damage.

Thankfully, there is hope in fighting the virus. Vaccines can potentially be available by the end of the year (Pfizer, others), we are a smarter, more distanced population, and there are improved therapies.

And, anyone who quotes the blankety-blank NY Times loses all credibility with me. I subscribe to the Times, read it every freaking day, and it is full of the most biased, slanted, often factually inaccurate "reporting:" I've seen in my 50 year media-related career. The Times is a disgrace to journalism.

Oh, and whoever called the president an "orange turd. " You are completely lacking in originality, and be glad you have him as president. You know why there's even a chance of a vaccine by the end of the year? Because Trump jawboned the health care companies, the FDA, to make it happen.

Please if anyone feels at risk, stay home. Just don't expect taxpayers to send you another damn 1200 bucks.

Let's get back to work. Now.

[QUOTE=Allen981;4776671]Here's the bottom line: if we live in fear of this virus for much longer, we will destroy the economic foundation of the greatest nation on earth. The ramifications of that destruction will dwarf the impact of the virus, even if the virus is left unchecked with no mitigation. That's fact. The best solution is to immediately open up this nation, accept the fact that a statistically very small percentage of our population will get the disease and a much smaller percentage of those infected will die (Less than 2 percent of all infections.) That's a hard choice to make, but it is the ONLY choice.

Think about what it means to have 30 million people apply for unemployment. Entire industries, aviation, gaming (casinos), petroleum, are dying and we cannot print enough money to overcome the damage.

Thankfully, there is hope in fighting the virus. Vaccines can potentially be available by the end of the year (Pfizer, others), we are a smarter, more distanced population, and there are improved therapies.

And, anyone who quotes the blankety-blank NY Times loses all credibility with me. I subscribe to the Times, read it every freaking day, and it is full of the most biased, slanted, often factually inaccurate "reporting:" I've seen in my 50 year media-related career. The Times is a disgrace to journalism.

Oh, and whoever called the president an "orange turd. " You are completely lacking in originality, and be glad you have him as president. You know why there's even a chance of a vaccine by the end of the year? Because Trump jawboned the health care companies, the FDA, to make it happen.

Please if anyone feels at risk, stay home. Just don't expect taxpayers to send you another damn 1200 bucks.

Let's get back to work. Now.[/QUOTE]When COVID-19 first appeared on the horizon, Trump could have made different choices in terms of taking it seriously and responding aggressively in the early going. Instead, he downplayed and denied until it was too late, and since then he's spent most of his time chasing his ass. Hence the grade of D- awarded by Melinda Gates, who knows a thing or two about pandemics, to the administration for its handling of the coronavirus.

For some indication as to how things might have gone if Trump had taken a different course, look no further than Germany. There, Angela Merkel was a lame duck who was sinking into the muck before COVID-19 hit. But now, thanks to her effective handling of the pandemic, her approval rating has surged, and she looks set to end her time in office on a high note. Oh, and because COVID-19 infections are on the downswing in Germany (truly on the downswing, not wishful-thinking on the downswing), Germany is moving forward with reopening, with substantial PUBLIC buy-in. It wasn't long ago that the President of the United States was regarded as the leader of the free world, but these days that title may have been ceded to the Chancellor of Germany.

[QUOTE=SgtSoros;4776847]When COVID-19 first appeared on the horizon, Trump could have made different choices in terms of taking it seriously and responding aggressively in the early going. Instead, he downplayed and denied until it was too late, and since then he's spent most of his time chasing his ass. Hence the grade of D- awarded by Melinda Gates, who knows a thing or two about pandemics, to the administration for its handling of the coronavirus.
.[/QUOTE]Please tell us why, when he started imposing restrictions such as banning flights from China and telling people to start avoiding large crowds, Pelosi went to China Town of SF and told people to come out out and that Trump was nuts? DeBlasio did the same thing in NYC?

We were and still are being lied to from China. You are doing nothing more than Monday Morning quarterbacking. This should not be about hate Trump and destroy the economy and promise some form of safety in exchange for our liberty. I want liberty far more than their brand of safety.

[QUOTE=SgtLurker;4776885]Please tell us why, when he started imposing restrictions such as banning flights from China and telling people to start avoiding large crowds, Pelosi went to China Town of SF and told people to come out out and that Trump was nuts? DeBlasio did the same thing in NYC?

We were and still are being lied to from China. You are doing nothing more than Monday Morning quarterbacking. This should not be about hate Trump and destroy the economy and promise some form of safety in exchange for our liberty. I want liberty far more than their brand of safety.[/QUOTE]Let's clear the air about the flights from China.

1. It was flights, not people.

2. If a infected person had a layover in say Japan, S. Korea, Singapore that was fine.

3. As most epidemiologist noted, he close the front door and left the back door open to Europe. Guess where the infections on the East coast came from?

Honestly the federal response to this entire virus as been one fuck up after another. Our daily death rate has already hit 3 k and that is before the effects of reopening has been felt. When it hits 5 K by the end of May, will people start taking it seriously?

[QUOTE=Jims2321;4776985]Let's clear the air about the flights from China.

1. It was flights, not people.

2. If a infected person had a layover in say Japan, S. Korea, Singapore that was fine.

3. As most epidemiologist noted, he close the front door and left the back door open to Europe. Guess where the infections on the East coast came from?

Honestly the federal response to this entire virus as been one fuck up after another. Our daily death rate has already hit 3 k and that is before the effects of reopening has been felt. When it hits 5 K by the end of May, will people start taking it seriously?[/QUOTE]It's not that people aren't taking it seriously, it's that some are taking it far more serious than others and that upsets that group. Clark Howard was stating this morning that people are so afraid to go to the ER when they have a stroke or heart attack or other medical emergency because that have been made paranoid about catching COVID. That is how stupid we have become as a society.

[QUOTE=SgtLurker;4777224]It's not that people aren't taking it seriously, it's that some are taking it far more serious than others and that upsets that group. Clark Howard was stating this morning that people are so afraid to go to the ER when they have a stroke or heart attack or other medical emergency because that have been made paranoid about catching COVID. That is how stupid we have become as a society.[/QUOTE]Well as the famous comedian Ron White as said many times, "You can't fix stupid". Hopefully, this is nature's way of cleansing the gene pool of stupidity. We have made it too easy for it to continue to exist.