PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[LesPalenik]

Maybe a blue colour would go good with his yellow hair.

Blue color like in the Avatar movie? But then, he would need a long tail.

[armand]

But there IS enough data to conclude that the speed of lockdown IS correlated with the number of deaths when it comes to blaming Trump?

Are you guys serious!?

You can read, can you? It's not the lockdown that I have a gripe with Trump's reaction, but the rest of the stuf he didn't do and now he's trying to find someone to blame for, anybody. I said it so many times that I'm not going to bother again.

You know at first, I thought, maybe this is not the right time, but you got to hand it to Trump to be able to control the narrative. 

Pelosi vows to challenge Trump's 'dangerous, illegal' move to freeze WHO funding

Now instead of debating how he handled the pandemic, Trump goaded Pelosi to unwittingly shift the conversation to be about the WHO.   

I believe I read that Cuomo supports it too, so another suicide mission it is by that supposed brilliant speaker of the house. 

And yet, I'll repeat  it, every model you have pointed to has been revised lower, significantly and repeatably.  But anyway, if the data is truly not there for this, then, as Slobo pointed out, neither is it there to blame Trump for anything either. 

Insofar as ending cutting, it is not criminal right now.  WHO has a rather large bank roll and will not feel the effects for 6 months. 

But if not now, then when?  After this is over the attention and resolve wont be there.  It will get kicked down the road and nothing will happen; this is the perfect time.  Not to mention it is a masterful way of getting his opponents to unknowingly pick a winning battle for Trump.  I think Trump's ability politically is not to win the argument, it is to trick his opponents to pick the argument he can win. 

I don't care who supports it, it could be the entire Democrat party, it is wrong. More people will die. I don't know how long they will last before they feel the effect but I would take a guess that currently they use way more funds than their usual rate. He's making a political thing (and you guys) with other people's lives. That's a rotten core right there. There needs to be a basic decency present.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

You can read, can you? It's not the lockdown that I have a gripe with Trump's reaction...

I can certainly read. If there is one constant in these 50+ pages so far, it is that Trump should have imposed a lockdown sooner to save lives. I never mentioned you specifically (noticed the "guys" - plural - in my post?).

[armand]

I can certainly read. If there is one constant in these 50+ pages so far, it is that Trump should have imposed a lockdown sooner to save lives. I never mentioned you specifically (noticed the "guys" - plural - in my post?).

My apologies then, you replied to me. As I said, that's not where my issues are.

[faberryman]

So in case you can't read let's spell it out once more.

Those who were returning were screened upon their arrival.  They were free to go UNLESS it was SUSPECTED or PROVEN that had the virus.  That is why they were screened.

Thats all the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is legally allowed to do.
Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).[/i]

Yes, screened, not tested. So if you were infected but asymptomatic, you were free to infect your friends and neighbors.

Trump placed the American passengers off that cruise ship (also not tested) in a 14 day quarantine on an army base. He did not do so if you arrived by plane.

The whole "screening" charade was a sieve. Why not test? Remember everyone who wants a test, gets a test. They're perfect.

Maybe you couldn't do more, but don't crow about how effective it was.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Cutting funds to WHO now is criminal. End of story. ...

Since you put the word "now" in the sentence... whatever US decision becomes final, it will not affect the "now" budget cycle, that is, the current one. Besides, the US, the largest contributor, provides about 15% of the budget. Certainly not something that would affect gravely the operations (whatever it is they do). Maybe just cut their Meals & Entertainment budget.

Oh, while we are at it, cut the funding and kick the UN out of the US too.

[John Camp]

Yes, screened, not tested. So if you were infected but asymptomatic, you were free to infect your friends and neighbors.

Trump placed the American passengers off that cruise ship (also not tested) in a 14 day quarantine on an army base. He did not do so if you arrived by plane.

The whole "screening" charade was a sieve.

Maybe you couldn't do more, but don't crow about how effective it was.

As I understand it, several thousand Chinese were admitted to the US, mostly in New York, by coming in through Europe, which Trump didn't stop until quite a bit later.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Since I am in the position to experience C19 in two countries simultaneously (the US from the media only, but I still have my daughter and friends, including doctors there), an observation:

You heard from me about the draconian measures in Serbia. Last weekend a 60-hour house arrest, this weekend 84 hours, military patrols, etc. You'd think (well, some of you): "Hey, at least someone takes this seriously and on time."

In reality, Serbian government officials, including the President of Serbia, were quite downplaying the risk in the beginning. The President suggested just to drink enough slivovitz (plum brandy) and all is good. Another apparatchik advised women to go shopping in Milan, as they must have huge sales under the circumstance (North Italy was already quite infected at that time). And yet another said that the virus is the funniest virus in the history of viruses.

My point being, back to the US, that, when criticizing the timing of the US (or Trump) reaction - you know all those memes listing by date what he said each day - to compare that with what the rest of the world was saying on those days (or adjusted for the timing of the virus arrival in particularly country).

Also, my American doctor friend admitted that he never thought this is going to get this serious.

[Robert Roaldi]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52291326

"Coronavirus: Denmark lets young children return to school"

Thank god there is still some sanity in this mass hysterics.

I don't follow. My understanding is that the Danish government is taking this step because they feel they have flattened the curve enough to open this service. That's not a sign of sanity amidst the hysterics, it's where everyone wants to be. Presumably, that will be everyone's SOP.

Neither the USA or Canada is there yet, nor are many other countries so I don't see why we should be thinking about that yet. I just checked the stats and the USA is on track for another 2000 death day. Canada, unfortunately, just reached 1000 total deaths, but the graphs are still sloping up. Make plans for how to relax restrictions, to be sure, that's what authorities should be doing, but it makes no sense to act on the plans prematurely.

Regardless of what point people think it is ok to relax restrictions, it surely has to be sometime after peaking. But we're certainly not there yet.

[Rob C]

Well he did fail to fill up the stockpile Obama left empty.  However I would be surprised if he was ever told.

Yep 26,000 deaths.  It’s a sad affair.  However even the best experts were predicting up to 2.2 million deaths.  Not looking so bad in comparison.

I find it odd that there is a crumb of consolation to be found comparing a number of actually dead people with an estimate of theoretically possibly dead people. Clearly, ymmd. That there is any valid comparison to be made is a mind-boggling thought.

[chez]

As I understand it, several thousand Chinese were admitted to the US, mostly in New York, by coming in through Europe, which Trump didn't stop until quite a bit later.

Article?

[Rob C]

LOL Chez. 

You see highly edit clips from his rallies that dont show the full story.  It's similar to when the media take Trump's jokes (also at these rallies) and plays them as if he was being serious.  Same thing.

Lambs to the slaughter: those female fans holding placards reading "Women for Trump"; I wonder if the irony is totally lost, even to their husbands, should they have them?

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Regardless of what point people think it is ok to relax restrictions, it surely has to be sometime after peaking. But we're certainly not there yet.

I, for one, couldn't care less about curves (unless they are female - and those I certainly wouldn't flatten), peaks or flattening them. Just like Sweden.

But if you insist on graphs and curves, here is one that explains why Texas is going to open for business soon:

[faberryman]

In reality, Serbian government officials, including the President of Serbia, were quite downplaying the risk in the beginning. The President suggested just to drink enough slivovitz (plum brandy) and all is good. Another apparatchik advised women to go shopping in Milan, as they must have huge sales under the circumstance (North Italy was already quite infected at that time). And yet another said that the virus is the funniest virus in the history of viruses.

And they each have their ardent supporters on Serbian photography forums extolling their virtues and whining about fake news.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

And they each have their ardent supporters on Serbian photography forums extolling their virtues and whining about fake news.

If there would be an award for consistently making inane comments, a sheer waste of bandwidth and time, I would be the first to vote for you.

[Craig Lamson]

Yes, screened, not tested. So if you were infected but asymptomatic, you were free to infect your friends and neighbors.

Trump placed the American passengers off that cruise ship (also not tested) in a 14 day quarantine on an army base. He did not do so if you arrived by plane.

The whole "screening" charade was a sieve. Why not test? Remember everyone who wants a test, gets a test. They're perfect.

Maybe you couldn't do more, but don't crow about how effective it was.

Yes, screened.  So you want to test 65,000 at 13 airports and then wait days to find out the results.

What a silly plan.  You do what you can do, and we did.  End of story, except for those who suffer from OMB virus.

Btw, the cruise ship passengers came from a boat with actual cases present.  They fit the law.  Funny how that works.

[Robert Roaldi]

I, for one, couldn't care less about curves (unless they are female - and those I certainly wouldn't flatten), peaks or flattening them. Just like Sweden.

But if you insist on graphs and curves, here is one that explains why Texas is going to open for business soon:

If that continues to hold, good for Texas.

[Rob C]

Really?  You know he has not saved a single life?  You might want to lay off the bears.

Noxious beverages aside, surely you don't believe, for even a moment, that had he saved a single life (other than his own by not stepping in front of a bus) he wouldn't be wearing a cap, or waving a flag advertising it?

[Craig Lamson]

As I understand it, several thousand Chinese were admitted to the US, mostly in New York, by coming in through Europe, which Trump didn't stop until quite a bit later.

I’m sure quite a few slipped in.  Did you propose a better and legal plan?

[Craig Lamson]

Noxious beverages aside, surely you don't believe, for even a moment, that had he saved a single life (other than his own by not stepping in front of a bus) he wouldn't be wearing a cap, or waving a flag advertising it?

He has been telling us about the China ban and the potential lives it saved for weeks.