Continuation The all-new "US Politics and coronavirus" thread pt. 2

[Skeptic Ginger]

Originally Posted by smartcooky

It was only a matter of time before this happened. Stupid Sidney is next.

I was kinda hoping for Pence. That would make Bingo on my card.

[portlandatheist]

[Resume]

From Worldometer:

Quote:

United States
Coronavirus Cases:
15,159,529
Deaths:
288,906

New Cases:
173,861
New Deaths:
1,076

Remember when 100,000 new cases was shocking? Now 170,000 and 1000 deaths is just a slow day.

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by The Atheist

Sorry to those who get a bit squeamish about wishing others harm, but I really, really hope he dies, and not just because he's a disgusting old scroat and Trump sycophant, but mostly because he's the bloke who said "People don't die of it [Covid] any more."
.....

No, no, you want him to survive on a ventilator for about two months, then come out of it permanently incapacitated as a living example of the results of stupidity. Let his family go bankrupt paying for his care.

[Lurch]

Suppose that instead of an invisible virus it was sporadic terrorist attacks on gatherings of people. You'd bet that there would be little if any bleating from the Sky Daddy worshippers about their places of worship being off limits.

We saw the restrictions that were generally accepted after 9/11. With Covid having eclipsed that death toll by *two orders of magnitude* and still so many people remain blithely stupid amazes me. Imagine the national uproar if terrorists had slaughtered a quarter million folk. It's weird the kind of disconnect engendered by the difference in dying by AK-47 or bomb versus suffocating.

Back to the Sky Daddy worshippers. For the Xtian lot, didn't Jesus tell the Faithful to not worship ostentatiously, but instead to retire to the privacy of their closet to commune with the Heavenly Father? I mean, God sees all, no matter where you are, right? Wouldn't He rather that you didn't gather in crowds so as to help to not spread a deadly virus?

Now, suppose the virus was Ebola... THAT would keep the churches empty. So why complain so bitterly about a short period of restrictions for another virus just because it's not as gruesome or efficacious in its impact?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Lurch

Suppose that instead of an invisible virus it was sporadic terrorist attacks on gatherings of people. You'd bet that there would be little if any bleating from the Sky Daddy worshippers about their places of worship being off limits.

We saw the restrictions that were generally accepted after 9/11. With Covid having eclipsed that death toll by *two orders of magnitude* and still so many people remain blithely stupid amazes me. Imagine the national uproar if terrorists had slaughtered a quarter million folk. It's weird the kind of disconnect engendered by the difference in dying by AK-47 or bomb versus suffocating.

Back to the Sky Daddy worshippers. For the Xtian lot, didn't Jesus tell the Faithful to not worship ostentatiously, but instead to retire to the privacy of their closet to commune with the Heavenly Father? I mean, God sees all, no matter where you are, right? Wouldn't He rather that you didn't gather in crowds so as to help to not spread a deadly virus?

Now, suppose the virus was Ebola... THAT would keep the churches empty. So why complain so bitterly about a short period of restrictions for another virus just because it's not as gruesome or efficacious in its impact?

The 'pastors' don't rake in as much money when their rubes....er....parishioners aren't getting hit up in person.

[Ulf Nereng]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

The 'pastors' don't rake in as much money when their rubes....er....parishioners aren't getting hit up in person.

Yes, they are hurting the same way restaurants and other venues are hurting. They need people to come in and leave money behind. This is also the reason why some of them claimed that Christians were protected. What seems irrational at first glance becomes perfectly rational when you realize that they are in a business; the business of scamming people.

[The Don]

My sister in law works as a speech therapist in a care home in Montana. Over 80% of the residents have tested positive for Covid-19 and unfortunately the mortality rate is very high indeed.

Over the summer she was pleased about how well Montana was handling things and how low case numbers were. Her family in New Jersey warned against complacency.


edited to add.....

She was flying back from New Jersey last week and was absolutely fuming about how few people in Denver Airport and the flight back to Montana were wearing masks.

[thaiboxerken]

I wonder how serious more people would take this disease if the media would show more people in their death beds, more body bags and keep hammering the public on how deadly this pandemic is.

[ponderingturtle]

Originally Posted by Meadmaker

Actually, it kinda does. Applying it gets complicated, but if my religious beliefs require me to do certain things, and under ordinary circumstances those things would be illegal, I would get a free pass on those unless the government passes the strict scrutiny test.

Which they typically have with no issues. See the banning of Peyote in religious use.

[ponderingturtle]

Originally Posted by Lurch

Back to the Sky Daddy worshippers. For the Xtian lot, didn't Jesus tell the Faithful to not worship ostentatiously, but instead to retire to the privacy of their closet to commune with the Heavenly Father? I mean, God sees all, no matter where you are, right? Wouldn't He rather that you didn't gather in crowds so as to help to not spread a deadly virus?

That is socialist jesus, this is all about prosperity jesus.

[Resume]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I wonder how serious more people would take this disease if the media would show more people in their death beds, more body bags and keep hammering the public on how deadly this pandemic is.

It's worth a try and I imagine the Biden administration might urge the CDC and other public health agencies to work with the media to do just that. The public just isn't getting it because many have not suffered a personal loss to Covid yet. An emphasis on the lingering/chronic health issues from contracting the virus might help get the message across as well.

[Trebuchet]

Originally Posted by Resume

From Worldometer:


Remember when 100,000 new cases was shocking? Now 170,000 and 1000 deaths is just a slow day.

And that was by far the most cases ever on a Sunday.

Seven-day averages are a better metric than daily, due to weekend reporting delays and weekdays catching up. I've been tracking Worldometer since the beginning.
Current 7-day average is 2237 deaths and 198,502 new cases.

But hey, it's just a flu! And we're turning the corner, oh, so fast!

[crescent]

Originally Posted by Trebuchet

And that was by far the most cases ever on a Sunday.

Seven-day averages are a better metric than daily, due to weekend reporting delays and weekdays catching up. I've been tracking Worldometer since the beginning.
Current 7-day average is 2237 deaths and 198,502 new cases.

But hey, it's just a flu! And we're turning the corner, oh, so fast!

I'm a little suspicious of the past week's numbers. There was a big dip around Thanksgiving. That was not from fewer people dying, it was from stations not reporting in because some of the staff were off for the Holiday.

Those deaths eventually still got reported, maybe just a few days or a week late. Long enough to jigger up the 7-day rolling average. I am guessing that this current week's numbers will still be higher, but that the rate of increase will taper off, the line will get less steep for a week (because last week's numbers included late reports from Thanksgiving week), followed by steep again as we move past the two week under report/late report disruption.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I wonder how serious more people would take this disease if the media would show more people in their death beds, more body bags and keep hammering the public on how deadly this pandemic is.

I've thought that one "problem" is that COVID isn't deadly enough for a lot of people to take seriously. So many people seem to think that if it isn't a Contagion level of mortality/suffering it just isn't that bad. To be clear I do not agree with that, but a lot of people sure seem to...

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Dread Pirate Roberts

I've thought that one "problem" is that COVID isn't deadly enough for a lot of people to take seriously. So many people seem to think that if it isn't a Contagion level of mortality/suffering it just isn't that bad. To be clear I do not agree with that, but a lot of people sure seem to...

Well, duh. If it were Ebola, it would be cause for concern. Speaking of Ebola, Obama and the Democrats actually brought Ebola into the US, intentionally!* You didn't hear the lying fake news MSM telling you that at all in the last year, did you now? Thank Trump for his very hard work in eliminating that problem from the US.**



* - Actually true, albeit in a very controlled and informed way when they tried to save American lives, as I recall. It was spread to no one in the US, supposedly.
** - Tweeting half-assed political nonsense is very hard work, after all.

[dudalb]

Ron Johnson, one of Trump's die hard supporters in the Senate; will give a platfrom in a hearing tommorow to an Anti Vaxer questioning the safety of the new vaccines.
A new low for the GOP.

[Resume]

From Worldometer:

Quote:

United States
Coronavirus Cases:
15,369,046
Deaths:
290,443

New Cases:
198,792
New Deaths:
1,508

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by dudalb

Ron Johnson, one of Trump's die hard supporters in the Senate; will give a platfrom in a hearing tommorow to an Anti Vaxer questioning the safety of the new vaccines.
A new low for the GOP.

Which is ironic, considering Trump probably would WANT the covid-19 vaccine to be approved (as well as be seen as safe/effective). Not that I think Trump actually cares about people (or that he actually had a part to play in vaccine development), but he probably wants some sort of bragging rights.

An Anti-vax message could in theory derail that and make Trump look bad.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Segnosaur

Which is ironic, considering Trump probably would WANT the covid-19 vaccine to be approved (as well as be seen as safe/effective). Not that I think Trump actually cares about people (or that he actually had a part to play in vaccine development), but he probably wants some sort of bragging rights.

An Anti-vax message could in theory derail that and make Trump look bad.

Well... Here's a tangential piece of information to that on the Trump Administration and vaccines.

Trump Turned Down Pfizer’s Late-Summer Offer to Sell the U.S. More Vaccine Doses

Quote:

Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter. Now Pfizer may not be able provide more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of its commitments to other countries, they said.

As the administration scrambles to try to purchase more doses of the vaccine, President Trump plans on Tuesday to sign an executive order “to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,” according to a draft statement and a White House official, though it was not immediately clear what force the president’s executive order would carry.

[Captain_Swoop]

U.S. DEATHS, PEARL HARBOR, 7 DEC 1941: 2,403

U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 1 DEC 2020: 2,473
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 2 DEC 2020: 2,733
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 3 DEC 2020: 2,706
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 4 DEC 2020: 2,563
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 5 DEC 2020: 2,445

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Captain_Swoop

U.S. DEATHS, PEARL HARBOR, 7 DEC 1941: 2,403

U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 1 DEC 2020: 2,473
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 2 DEC 2020: 2,733
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 3 DEC 2020: 2,706
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 4 DEC 2020: 2,563
U.S. DEATHS, COVID, 5 DEC 2020: 2,445

Does this mean that a state of war now exists between the United States and the Japanese Empire?

[Safe-Keeper]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

Does this mean that a state of war now exists between the United States and the Japanese Empire?

Come to think of it, if only someone had declared a War on Covid, everyone would probably get on board right away. Implement some draconian rules and regulations for good measure, to give everyone the feeling of fighting a good ole war. Maybe start rationing toilet paper. Have the army and police be at the forefront somehow in the fight against the virus, not boring old nurses.

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Come to think of it, if only someone had declared a War on Covid, everyone would probably get on board right away. Implement some draconian rules and regulations for good measure, to give everyone the feeling of fighting a good ole war. Maybe start rationing toilet paper. Have the army and police be at the forefront somehow in the fight against the virus, not boring old nurses.

We could have put those armed militias and Proud Boys to good use patrolling the streets and enforcing mask mandates and social distancing.

[EHocking]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

Does this mean that a state of war now exists between the United States and the Japanese Empire?

Well if so, the US is winning it.

Their daily deaths are greater than the total for all of Japan for the year.

[slyjoe]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Come to think of it, if only someone had declared a War on Covid, everyone would probably get on board right away. Implement some draconian rules and regulations for good measure, to give everyone the feeling of fighting a good ole war. Maybe start rationing toilet paper. Have the army and police be at the forefront somehow in the fight against the virus, not boring old nurses.

Let's see:
War on Crime - fail
War on Drugs - fail
War on Poverty - fail
War on Terrorism - fail

The only time we win a war is when we declare a war on people, not things.

[Delphic Oracle]

Originally Posted by thaiboxerken

I wonder how serious more people would take this disease if the media would show more people in their death beds, more body bags and keep hammering the public on how deadly this pandemic is.

Seems like every time I see an article with a photo from inside a CICU, there's 800 comments about why a photographer gets to go in there, but not family members.

No, even suffering people and the corpses of those who died are not enough. It can all be rationalized away by just focusing on some misguided "gotcha" well off the main point.

[Horatius]

Originally Posted by Safe-Keeper

Come to think of it, if only someone had declared a War on Covid,

Originally Posted by slyjoe

Let's see:
War on Crime - fail
War on Drugs - fail
War on Poverty - fail
War on Terrorism - fail

The only time we win a war is when we declare a war on people, not things.

Yeah, step 1 of a "War on COVID" would probably be sending cops into minority neighborhoods to forcibly nasal swab anyone caught Walking While Black.

Then there'd be thousands of people defending this practice because we know "poor people spread disease", and a few "clever" remarks about the sizes of certain people's noses, "know what I mean??"

[Tero]

Quote:

Brad Dickson
@brad_dickson
Nebraska has moved up to third place in the nation in the Covid-19 standings, just behind the Dakotas. We've moved ahead of Covid giants Fla, Iowa, Georgia and Texas. Congratulations, Gov. Ricketts, on a job well done.

https://twitter.com/brad_dickson/sta...14669657706499

responses:
Replying to
@brad_dickson
When’s the next pointless press conference where he tells us we still have beds and ventilators available?

Replying to
@brad_dickson
Not all on his own. I went to Hyvee the other day at 8AM, because the previous time, it was full of men with the football coach mask style: nose sticking out. I then took to shopping only Target till Christmas, as there are mostly women there in my shopping hours.

[Mader Levap]

Originally Posted by slyjoe

The only time we win a war is when we declare a war on people, not things.

And even that is conditional (see Vietnam) and in case of win, there is often big mess afterwards (second Iraq). Did USA had even one clean war since second world war?...

[ponderingturtle]

Originally Posted by Mader Levap

And even that is conditional (see Vietnam) and in case of win, there is often big mess afterwards (second Iraq). Did USA had even one clean war since second world war?...

Panama?

[turingtest]

Jenna Ellis makes the list (Reuters):

Quote:

Jenna Ellis, an attorney helping lead President Donald Trump's legal challenges to the results of the U.S. presidential election, has contracted the coronavirus, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

[Darat]

Originally Posted by turingtest

Jenna Ellis makes the list (Reuters):

It’s almost as if social distancing, washing hands and mask wearing helps prevent infections! Who could have known that?

[bignickel]

Evidently, the latest junk to make the email rounds is Tucker Carlson's* latest 'amazing uncovering' of the fact that folks like Fauci don't think the little tykes will get terribly ill and die as a result of going to school, so... they've been duping us all along!

No ####, Einstein. We all knew that covid wasn't going to kill rows of kids out there (although we're still worried about longterm damage); the whole point was to keep the kids from bringing covid home to their parents and grandparents and infecting them, thus overflowing the ICU's and killing even more people than the 1/4 million plus we've already lost. Duh.

* As John Oliver described, "what happened if the sound "Thud" grew a human face."

[Minoosh]

It may be sinking in, even in red state/rural areas, that the Covid-19 mortality rate is not the only number to worry about. Hospitals filling up - where that is really happening and readily apparent – might get some people's attention. It's one thing to think that you won't die of it and another to realize that if you need care for any other reason, it might not be available. I am hoping that gets people's attention and they'll realize that wearing a bit of cloth on your face can help prevent that, or at least is worth doing because what does it cost you, really? From there it's not too far to realize that holding super-spreader events might not be a good idea after all.

I'm around a lot of old people (that is, older than me), and even if they support Trump, they take the virus seriously. They're on board with anything that increases their chances of staying out of hospitals, or getting into hospitals for non-Covid reasons.

[Captain_Swoop]

Rep. Jim Jordan tweets

@Jim_Jordan

The WHO now recommends against hugging over the holidays.
Like we said last week, pretty soon you won’t be able to say Merry Christmas.

[Captain_Swoop]

Jenna Ellis said that Jesus wanted her to overturn the election.
I guess he also wanted her to have covid.

[Resume]

From Worldometer:

Quote:

United States
Coronavirus Cases:
15,591,709
Deaths:
293,398

New Cases:
208,121
New Deaths:
2,913

[acbytesla]

COVID has resulted in 285,000 Americans deaths in 11 months.
That is three times as many Americans that died during the 11 years of The Vietnam War. (90,220 US deaths)

Every two days we lose more Americans to COVID (3,066) then we did from the 9-11 attacks.
(2305)

We are likely to see more COVID deaths by March then the number of Americans that died as the result of WW2 hostilities. (416,000)

[Aridas]

*sigh*

Florida state police raid home of Rebekah Jones, data scientist who challenged DeSantis on coronavirus statistics

Quote:

Law enforcement authorities in Tallahassee, Fla., on Monday raided the home of a data scientist who had been fired by Gov. Ron DeSantis after refusing to manipulate numbers.

In the months since her firing, Rebekah Jones has continued to publish coronavirus statistics independently, while also issuing warnings on Twitter and cable news. DeSantis, meanwhile, has continued to downplay the severity of the epidemic, which has killed nearly 20,000 Floridians.

Jones posted video of the raid, which was conducted by Florida state police Monday morning. She said the police “took all my hardware and tech,” for which they obtained a warrant following a Department of Health complaint.

“They pointed a gun in my face,” Jones said in her message, which was shared by thousands of people. “They pointed guns at my kids.”

In a second message, Jones described how the state police “took my phone and the computer I use every day to post the case numbers in Florida, and school cases for the entire country.”