PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[rsvman]

Well, the American Film Institute considers West Side Story to be the second-best movie musical of all time. But you’re probably right that it “sucks”.

I'm guessing that when bostondevil says it sucks she is indicating that she doesn't like it. Could be wrong.

[Bostondevil]

I'm guessing that when bostondevil says it sucks she is indicating that she doesn't like it. Could be wrong.

You are correct. I do not like it. I hate it as a matter of fact. That hatred is a black mark on my soul according to many of my theater friends. Who knew it would be so controversial around here? Actually, I did. People who love that trainwreck, really, really love it, including, it seems the American Film Institute. So what? I remember reading a list claiming that The Catcher in the Rye was the best novel of the 20th century. As if. (Will that start another fight? Anyone that wants to have a throw down over that opinion has to go reread it as a grown-up first. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's not the best.)

And now I will try to let you all get back to solving the pandemic crisis.

[johnb]

In 1974-75, I took high school biology. Last year, some service rated my old school the best K-12 private school in the country. Almost everybody took that 10th grade biology class, and so about 60 of us were in the auditorium, sitting in alphabetical order. Gray pants, white shirts. All boys. The teacher handed out the monthly exams in order, but he didn't announce in advance which order. He'd walk around the room with the stack of exams, talking about the test for 5 or 10 minutes, strolling down the aisles, and then call out a last name (only the last name). Since we knew each other quite well, that name was crucial. If he said X, we knew it was going from the top score down, so we'd want our test handed back immediately. If Y, however, we'd know Mr. L was starting from the bottom, and so the hope was for your name to get called late. My experience at Duke was much more gracious.

Anyway, I recall multiple things about the class, but most pertinent was this assertion: "what the world needs is a damn good plague. There are too many people, and people are just way too stupid to control themselves. The only way to keep the earth in balance is for half the world to die."

A few thoughts:
The first: the earth's population has more than doubled since I was in 10th grade.
The second: my teacher died of AIDS, so I guess he got the plague that he'd requested, though perhaps not the one he anticipated.
The third: Many people seem unwilling to do the basics (masks, wash, distance). Okay, I'll do my best to avoid stupid people.
The fourth: the government is interlaced with smart people and stupid people, but the overall response makes me just oh so sad.
The fifth: for the richest country in the history of the planet, it's sobering to see how many people ran out of resources after a few weeks.
The sixth: The skies and the seas and the glaciers are probably happy as clams, who themselves are also happy if clams could be happy.
The seventh: Shouldn't there be a way for us to be both happy while also limiting our destructive zeal?

[dudog84]

"what the world needs is a damn good plague. There are too many people, and people are just way too stupid to control themselves. The only way to keep the earth in balance is for half the world to die."

The sixth: Shouldn't there be a way for us to be both happy while also limiting our destructive zeal?

That was about 3.7 billion people ago. Yes, the population has almost doubled since you left high school.

I take it your wonderful school didn't teach Taoism.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

That was about 3.7 billion people ago. Yes, the population has almost doubled since you left high school.

I take it your wonderful school didn't teach Taoism.

Loved reading Taoist literature.

[johnb]

That was about 3.7 billion people ago. Yes, the population has almost doubled since you left high school.

I take it your wonderful school didn't teach Taoism.

Ha. I may have underplayed the Republican riches of my hs experience. I was soon to write an editorial suggesting that we do a mock vote that reflected our own views, rather than those of our parents. For the '76 election, Ford got 80% of the vote, with Reagan getting close to 10% write in. Carter, not so much. My lefty views didn't get a lot of traction.

Someone better than me would have to teach/encourage a different philosophy. Lao-Tzu was less read than Ayn Rand.

[BD80]

Originally Posted by Bluedog

Interesting that the WI Supreme Court struck down the constitutionality of the Safer at Home order. (Some) Bars and restaurants proceeded to open immediately. however, local municipalities can still have more stringent guidelines. Milwaukee for example still has all bars closed. Not trying to make this a Public Policy topic, but it seems like we do have some natural experiments going on that hopefully will give us more data on outcome differences.

A lower court in Michigan heard arguments on Friday on the Constitutionality of Governor Whitmer's repeated monthly declarations of a state of emergency, freezing out the legislature. The judge questioned the governor's counsel as to whether a governor could just use this procedure monthly for an entire term. When eventually pinned down, counsel admitted that the current emergency won't be over until a vaccine is available. The judge's decision is due this week, but he admitted he expected it to go to Michigan's Supreme Court, so I would expect a stay pending appeal.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...rt/5197735002/

Sadly, there appears to be no whiff of compromise to avoid the Wisconsin debacle. Allowing the legislature to participate does not mean that all restrictions must be lifted. It was cool to listen to the proceedings, which were on Zoom and broadcast on local public radio.

[BD80]

In the Washington Post, there's an article proposing relying on extensive testing, contact tracing, and "supported isolation" to have the country fully reopened by July 4. I haven't thought about it carefully enough to evaluate the merits of the proposal, but I thought folks here might be interested in it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlo...9ad_story.html

I strongly urge everyone to read the article linked above. It is an entirely reasonable and feasible plan to get our nation back to being both prosperous and safe. It is not crazy expensive (cost is $74 bil over 12-18 months, chump change for the US Government), it only requires the worst hit areas to take truly strenuous measures, and I just don't see how anyone could find this objectionable.

I know there are folks reading here who think the stay-at-home orders are too strict or feel that asking folks to wear a mask is infringing on their personal rights (or something like that)... I honestly really want to hear what those folks think about this article.

-Jason "I suppose there is still a segment of the country that thinks the virus is a hoax or something like that... sadly, I fear we will never get through to those people" Evans

I think that some aspects of Michigan's stay at home orders are too strict. The truly ridiculous portions were rescinded two weeks ago. I do object to the governor continuing to exercise sole authority over decisions and refusing to include the legislature. I do not object to masks, and frankly think people should wear masks as a courtesy to others. We teach people to cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough, why can't that courtesy be extended just a bit farther in these times?

As to the proposal: I find it compelling, but simplistic. As one of the 10% in a "red zone," I can fairly assure you that locking down a red zone with surrounding yellow zones will be unworkable. The issue will always be how and where you draw the line. Detroit City is within Wayne county, which are separately counted in the stats. Combined they account for 20,000 0f Michigan's 50,000 confirmed cases and 2,200 of Michigan's 4,800 deaths. The 2 counties north of Detroit, Oakland and Macomb, comprise the northern suburbs, and combined account for 14,000 cases and 1,600 deaths. Most of the suburban cases were from hospitals just north of the Detroit border. Just 5-12 miles north in those same counties, suburban hospitals had far fewer cases and have not been strained at all. Where do you draw the line between red and yellow? Policing will be horrendous.

On a macro scale the proposal is a great concept. Why should the entire state be penalized when the hot spot is Detroit? But how do you keep those from the hot spot IN the hot spot? In a way, this is what individual states will be doing in choosing their own paths. Further, it is the reason state legislatures should be involved in the state emergency planning, to represent the various constituents.

Tracing is also problematic, but necessary. Not sure how to reconcile that. Pretty sure mandatory tracing of other infections or diseases has not fared well from a legal perspective.

Testing. Obviously the way to get a hold of the situation.

Interesting that WaPo publishes the piece just as bill 6666 is introduced (and no, I did not make up the number):

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...inbCkRzSOM62r8

$100 billion for testing, tracing and quarantining, just in 2020.

[Bob Green]

This isn't encouraging.


https://apnews.com/0cae34376380ab415...ieyvqyHvrBX5LI

The number of TR Sailors who have retested positive is up to 13:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/16/polit...rus/index.html

[OldPhiKap]

Loved reading Taoist literature.

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Great book. How Toaist philosophy is explained through the characters of Winnie the Pooh.

(I also recommend Joseph Campbell’s lectures on the subject, available for free I believe on Apple Music. Especially The lecture in Volume I, Series II, talk 1.4 — “Buddhism in China”)

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Oh, and pandemic bad. But so far, Georgia has not had a horrible spike. Many are still practicing social distancing and improved hand hygiene, and perhaps a seasonality to the bug (?) is giving a bit of a false plateau.

[acdevil]

Anyway, I recall multiple things about the class, but most pertinent was this assertion: "what the world needs is a damn good plague. There are too many people, and people are just way too stupid to control themselves. The only way to keep the earth in balance is for half the world to die."

Wait, I must have missed that part. So you’re saying that Thanos used the Time Stone to go back in time to teach high school biology? Guess he got tired of playing the long game.

[Indoor66]

By any chance do you have an Asian grocery store nearby? For example here is H-Mart (a Korean chain) and their locations nationwide: https://www.hmart.com/ourstores

I do all my grocery shopping at H-Mart now, where 95+% of shoppers are wearing masks. This is in contrast to the Kroger, Albertsons, etc that I've entered where it's more like 50%. It's just a big cultural difference. (Also, I can get at the H-Mart almost everything I would've gotten at the Kroger, in case anyone is wondering.)

Hope this helps you or someone else.

They are in 12 states.

[MChambers]

I have a suspicion that what may happen is that the heat and humidity may actually slow the virus down a great deal, which will counteract all the covidiots actions. Then when the forecasted second wave doesn't arrive, they will take that as confirmation that they were right all along, and that the medical doctors and scientists were wrong.
Then, those of us who have been urging caution will never hear the end of it.

But then doesn't come back with a ferocious second wave in the fall, when things cool down, just like in 1918?

[Bostondevil]

Remember back at the beginning when the scientists and public health experts said that a good outcome would be people saying everybody over-reacted? I do.

[Tripping William]

Remember back at the beginning when the scientists and public health experts said that a good outcome would be people saying everybody over-reacted? I do.

Me, too. And I continue to agree with it. But, like the bar exam, I prefer we overreact just barely enough. (I know, I know. We’re not the finely calibrated on this. And I know, in hindsight, I over-studied for the bar exam.)

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Hard to eat and drink wearing a mask.

Not if you’re resourceful...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-breathe.html

[Troublemaker]

They are in 12 states.

Yes, but H-Mart is not the only Asian grocery store chain. I was using it as an example, but there are others. Plus, there's an H-Mart in Cary, and I know there are NC residents on here. I'd estimate most DBRers are close to an Asian grocery store (but not everyone obviously), given some common sense assumptions about demographics and where y'all live.

[Bostondevil]

A fun read?

https://www.newsweek.com/wisconsin-b...O3BFesEML17QX4

[rsvman]

But then doesn't come back with a ferocious second wave in the fall, when things cool down, just like in 1918?

Prolly.

[J4Kop99]

I plan on taking the antibody test early this week.

Any opinions on the finger prick test vs the actual blood test? I’m trying to figure out the maker. Maybe Roche? Our medical group seems to be using the rapid finger prick test.

As you might be able to tell, I don’t know much about this...