PLAYPEN: Covid-19 Everything Political

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Thank God not all sheriffs in this country are wanna-be fascists. I hope there are more of the kind this guy is, supporting the Constitution and refusing to enforce those unconstitutional orders by quarantidiots:

https://www.facebook.com/buddy.cooley/videos/4356561637703296/

[JoeKitchen]

It was Alan's gross generalization that I was pointing out.

 Thanks for clarifying. 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

In case you don’t know the C19 lingo, here is a translation (credit: The Babylon Bee)

[Robert Roaldi]

Thank God not all sheriffs in this country are wanna-be fascists. I hope there are more of the kind this guy is, supporting the Constitution and refusing to enforce those unconstitutional orders by quarantidiots:

https://www.facebook.com/buddy.cooley/videos/4356561637703296/

2800 dead in the US today, over 45,000 in total

[LesPalenik]

2800 dead in the US today, over 45,000 in total

So no decline yet, infections and deaths still rising.
Just imagine how much worse it would be without the lockdown.

[Alan Klein]

Photo essay:

Still Lives
In this unnatural state of isolation, photographers show us the things that bind.

APRIL 21, 2020 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/21/us/coronavirus-photographers-diary.html

[Jeremy Roussak]

Yes, that is the most likely scenario. Do you get this stuff off social media or do you make it up all by yourself?

If you'd concentrated on the stream of ignorant, evidence-free xenophobic drivel that he's been compulsively posting here for what seems like years, fab, you wouldn't need to ask that question.

Jeremy

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Just imagine how much worse it would be without the lockdown.

We would never know, would we?

Just as we would never know how Sweden would fare with a lockdown.

Besides, there are three criteria, not just one;

1. Number of fatalities
2. State of the economy
3. Government overreach

And not necessarily in that order.

[LesPalenik]

We would never know, would we?

Just as we would never know how Sweden would fare with a lockdown.

Besides, there are three criteria, not just one;

1. Number of fatalities
2. State of the economy
3. Government overreach

And not necessarily in that order.

It is quite safe and logical to conclude that more people running around would create more physical contacts and thus cause more infections.
Similar to some prolific twitters who can inflict considerable damage by being on the loose.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

If you'd concentrated on the stream of ignorant, evidence-free xenophobic drivel that he's been compulsively posting here for what seems like years, fab, you wouldn't need to ask that question.

Jeremy

Sorry, Jeremy, that’s rather harsh, especially the “xenophobic” part. If people don’t like what Alan is writing, the solution is rather easy: block him. Instead, people seem to like to spar with him, even if for fun. Which is why we are here for, not to solve the world problems.

As you might have noticed, I agree with Alan most of the time, even when he states something based on a gut feeling (what you apparently call “ignorance”).  Not everyone has access to evidence and all the data, or it simply isn’t there, yet in our lives it is still necessary to form an opinion and take a stance. Hence the “gut feeling” and intuition, quite valid techniques in the decision-making academic disciplines.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

It is quite safe and logical to conclude that more people running around would create more physical contacts and thus cause more infections.

I have already posted a graph and research that refutes that seemingly logical assumption: there was no correlation between the speed of introducing lockdowns and the number of dead in among the 50 states in the USA.

[LesPalenik]

I have already posted a graph and research that refutes that seemingly logical assumption: there was no correlation between the speed of introducing lockdowns and the number of dead in among the 50 states in the USA.

It's impossible to prove the "what if" scenarios, but what we know for sure that the Washington state after the initial outbreak instituted very strict rules and thus avoided a large outbreak, whereas New York state was quite initially lackadaisical and ended up with a large number of infections. Of course, there were also other factors in play, but if you start with a large cast you end up with many casualties. Similar as with growth of governments - large governments grow faster than the small ones.

[elliot_n]

I have already posted a graph and research that refutes that seemingly logical assumption: there was no correlation between the speed of introducing lockdowns and the number of dead

This one?

Context: https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1249821828891250688

(Financial Times - fake news, obvs)

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

This one?

No, these are countries, mine was 50 U.S. states, which should have more similarities than countries around the world.

[elliot_n]

Thank God not all sheriffs in this country are wanna-be fascists. I hope there are more of the kind this guy is, supporting the Constitution and refusing to enforce those unconstitutional orders by quarantidiots:

https://www.facebook.com/buddy.cooley/videos/4356561637703296/

Coughs on hand, grabs microphone — a true corona comrade.

[kers]

I have already posted a graph and research that refutes that seemingly logical assumption: there was no correlation between the speed of introducing lockdowns and the number of dead in among the 50 states in the USA.

It is a simple calculation that the increase of engagement with infected people increases the number of infections.
The infections in the Netherlands were caused by :
1 the transportation to our country by Dutch tourists from ski areas in the alps - Italy and Austria.
2 the celebration of Carnaval a bit later-. That is held mostly in the south east.
3 after that it spread through the country up north.
The lockdown prevented it from getting much worse.

the yellow provinces in the North east and south west are the areas with the least economic activity.

Update: Our heath institute has calculated that without the lockdown ( issued 13th of march) we would have had 10X as many people going to the intensive care.
That would have created chaos as we have seen in Italy were not enough beds were available and doctors had to choose between life and death.

[Robert Roaldi]

We would never know, would we?

You're exhibiting signs of ideology gone mad, the same thing you often accuse others of. Attempting to make this a constitutional rights issue is overreach. You've latched onto an idea and now won't back down, something that you probably think of as steadfastness but which from the outside looks like petulance.

If a society can't band together to protect itself from outside attack, what's the point of being in it and what good is its constitution if it gets in the way of that. The very notion of asking people to refrain from some activities for while for the good of all is why humans form into communities in the first place. If this temporary state of affairs actually did cause long-term harm to your freedoms, that would not bode well for American society because it should be resilient enough to withstand this, it has withstood worse. I mean, once the infection rate is brought down people will resume their normal lives, end of story. Being drafted in WW2 or during Vietnam was a much larger imposition on individual freedom than being asked not to go to restaurants for a while. Get a grip.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... Get a grip.

It is a freaking flu, not a war.

The only time period a country should have been shut down is a few weeks until the production of necessary equipment is ramped up, makeshift hospital built, etc. Not a week longer. Not "until the last virus is extinguished," not when "everyone is tested," not "until a vaccine is found."

It is not about "going to restaurants" either. It is about crashing the world economy, the consequence of which will last for years for some and some will never recover. Those who lost their jobs close to retirement, will never again find the same job (hello, Walmart greeters!). Recent graduates who will spend next couple of years looking for a job, only to be dismissed in favor of more recent ones.

Huge numbers, in hundreds of millions across the world sentenced to starvation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52373888

Coronavirus: World risks 'biblical' famines due to pandemic - UN

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

Romania makes millions from handing out coronavirus fines

https://www.foxnews.com/world/romania-millions-coronavirus-fines

Citizens of the southeastern European country must fill out an official form before they leave home explaining why they have gone out, which has to be presented with an identification card if stopped by police or military.

Anyone caught breaking these restrictions can face fines ranging from 2,000 Romanian lei (about $450) up to 20,000 (about $4,500), according to the BBC.

(Emphasis mine)

In the period between March 24 and April 19, some 200,000 fines were issued, amounting to takings of $85 million. The amount was equal to the money collected in February from corporate tax, according to Romania-insider.com.

[faberryman]

Trump: "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea."

Does Iran having flying gunboats?