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#361 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 5,294
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Restroom report: whereas before about 1 in 3 trips I would need to turn off running water upon entering or exiting, I will reliably need to turn off running water upon both entering and exiting every time.
There is a man with his daughter in the stall next to me. I hear him spraying something and wiping surfaces down. He repeatedly chastises her not to touch herself or anything else. The toilet auto flushed and he lectured her sternly for it. She began making fussy, nervous noises as he hunts for a sanitary wipe "we only have a couple left!" he exasperates. She washed her hands while he counted to 20 seconds. She had to use the air dryers even though she doesn't like them. She was sobbing a bit as they left. |
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#362 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 24,626
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Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting. |
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#363 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 3,924
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My nextdoor feed (north Denver area):
City manager gets on the feed numerous times to quell rumors: The city water supply is safe. The city has not told workers to stockpile drinking water in their homes. The city has no plan to close liquor stores. Less serious calls to the police are less likely to get an in-person response than before, but actual criminal activity is still being dealt with. Less talk about TP and food and such, other than those with supplies offering to share, and ad-hoc arrangements to help more at-risk people get what they need. People are working together to help each other out. More talk about the need to stockpile ammo and to open-carry. People are expecting looting to start soon. Some of those are the same people participating in the ad-hoc "get vulnerable people what they need" things. People are working together to help each other out, including some people are paranoid but lend a hand anyway. In the real world: My wife went to Target yesterday. It was not terribly crowded. TP and cleaning supplies cleaned out. Some food shelves bare (but not all), still no milk. She was surprised at just how much food was still available. She was able to buy yogurt, but only her second-most-favorite kind. Bananas, bread (not the good stuff, but still decent), apples (less variety than normal). Now that the initial panic has faded a bit, the stores seem to be restocking. My older brother works at a grocery store, he says it may take months to fully restock some items. Perishable items might be the first to get fully restocked as those are more frequently replenished to begin with. I think the concern might be when grocery store workers start to get infected. Once they find out that a contagious person came to work on a busy day, things might revert back to panic mode again. |
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#364 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 6,906
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#365 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,987
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Personally, if it comes down to food insecurity I'd rather just get the virus and have it over with. Right now I'm willing to work from home and "social distance", but if food troubles start that's more serious. I'm pretty sure at my age and health condition I can survive the coronavirus better than starvation.
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#366 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 6,906
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#367 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 6,906
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#368 |
Philosopher
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Panama City Beach, Florida, USA
Posts: 5,117
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I went to a pharmacy (CVS) today to get my asthma scripts and Wellbutrin refilled. I was planning to get milk if there was any; my mother and brother asked me to get eggs and bread, too, if possible. The pharmacy had one half-gallon of whole milk left that was more expensive than a full gallon costs at the grocery store (we usually drink skim(med), but I bought it anyway). They had one loaf of white bread and a few of wheat (I got one of each), and no eggs. I also bought four boxes of breakfast cereal, which were luckily deeply discounted, and eight cans of Progresso soup, which was also on sale, though still somewhat more expensive than at a grocery store. They were running low on or out of the cereal and soup that were on sale, but they had a lot of cereal and soup that weren't on sale. Finally, I bought some candy that I don't need, because it was on sale.
![]() I went to wash my hands as soon as I entered the store, and discovered that the signs on the men's and women's restrooms had been covered with papers that read "employee restroom" and "customer restroom," or words to that effect. BTW, CVS is a great place to wash your hands if you're out and about, because unlike many retail establishments, they have plenty of hot water, and they don't use hot-air hand dryers, which of course spread germs. After I got done at CVS, which was a little after noon, I swung by the nearby grocery store (Kroger) with the idea of going in to see if they had any eggs or milk, and possibly some fresh fruit, but the parking lot was packed, so I decided not to. I did see someone coming out with a gallon of milk, though. |
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Handy responses to conspiracy theorists' claims: 1) "I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." --Charles Babbage 2) "This isn't right. This isn't even wrong." --Wolfgang Pauli 3) "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." --Inigo Montoya |
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#369 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 8,458
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"A closed mouth gathers no feet" "Ignorance is a renewable resource" P.J.O'Rourke "It's all god's handiwork, there's little quality control applied", Fox26 reporter on Texas granite You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it. Art Buchwald |
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#370 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Port Townsend, Washington
Posts: 30,675
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I wound up at two supermarkets today, because I needed to pick up prescriptions at one and my wife is low on cheesecake from the other.
At the first they were out of the wipes for the cart, instead providing a spray and box of paper towels. The latter was empty. No TP or sanitizer, of course, but well stocked with meat, milk, and lots of other stuff. I bought two jugs of cat litter because it was on sale and I saved six bucks! But there was still no cheesecake. Who'd have thought they'd be hording cheesecake? Oh, and despite the draconian regulations in my hippy-dippy town, one store was refusing to use reusable shopping bags. Our insurance company insists on 90 day supplies. Apparently it costs them less. |
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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant. |
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#371 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: South Africa
Posts: 2,690
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I went to the shops to get some supplies. No cases in central SA yet. TP was lowish at the supermarket and it seemed markedly busier than usual. Everyone had some TP.
Baking bread. I've streamlined a recipe I found on the web years ago. It's really easy. No kneading involved and it's delicious, yellowish, chewy and with a thick crunchy crust. I use a cast iron dutch oven. Pane Rustico: Italian Peasant Bread Highly recommended. |
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"... when you dig my grave, could you make it shallow so that I can feel the rain" - DMB |
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#372 |
Suspicious Mind
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,265
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This post brought to you by the artist fauxmerly known as Moe. *Parrot Mason's mask courtesy of alfaniner* |
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#373 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Sir Fynwy
Posts: 31,073
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Brewdog have started producing hand sanitiser.
Quote:
I'm a Brewdog shareholder and I approve of that message |
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#374 |
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open.
Posts: 42,986
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Now it's general hysteria. Lots of food items being created out so the big shops are bringing in rationing.
Enterprising people are going out and raiding country areas. |
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Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos |
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#375 |
No longer the 1
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 23,494
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We're having this: https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0318/11...ercise-dublin/
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As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves. |
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#376 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 7,334
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The King Arthur Flour catalog is a good option for home bakers in Canada and the US. 1lb bags of instant yeast are showing backordered until next week, but 1 lb is a lot of instant yeast. States it's good for up to a year if stored properly.
Even with shipping, this may actually be cheaper than what I've been buying in the store. The 4oz yeast jars are very expensive for what you get. I haven't ordered so much in the past, but I'm making much more bread now that I'm staying at home. I went ahead and ordered the yeast combo, which includes a storage jar, 1lb of instant yeast, and a 2.25 tsp measuring spoon (which is the amount that comes in one packet of yeast and is standard for most recipes). |
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Gobble gobble |
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#377 |
No longer the 1
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 23,494
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__________________
As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves. |
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#378 |
No longer the 1
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 23,494
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__________________
As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves. |
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#379 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Sir Fynwy
Posts: 31,073
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We have sufficient for now - around 800 bags - so about a week's worth
Yes, for now. The UK government seems to be taking a passive-aggressive approach to public safety. They won't actually force pubs, restaurants, gyms and so on to close, merely tell people that they should avoid them (and that they're not angry, merely disappointed, if you go to one). |
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#380 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 24,855
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CNN had a piece yesterday about TP production. Apparently, it would be next to impossible to ramp up production. The machines already run 24/7, as the product has a pretty steady and predictable demand. It goes from factory to warehouse to distributors. What little variability that exists in normal circumstances is soaked up by warehouse space. The one thing they can do is shift demand from some sort of product to others, but the actual equipment can't be brought on line easily.
The actual biggest fear is that the workers will become sick, and the machines won't be able to run. |
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#381 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 7,334
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Gobble gobble |
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#382 |
Insert something funny here
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Norway
Posts: 10,416
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Eurovision cancelled.
Now you know it's serious. |
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#383 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 30,002
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Okay I might not see anyone die of Covid-19, but I might soon see someone die because of Covid-19 if people don't calm the ever-loving hell down.
Just watched a little old lady sitting in a Pharmacy waiting room pull out a little travel size can of Lysol and spray it directly into the face of another little old lady sitting next to them after the person coughed. Like it was goddamn Mace or something and she was being mugged. Hospital security legit had to come and break up was about two steps away from becoming a little old lady throw down. |
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#384 |
Illuminator
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 4,101
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Made a trip to the local 24-hour grocery store late at night, and it seems that at least Finns are done hoarding TP - the shelves looked pretty normal in the paper aisle.
HOWEVER, because we're Finns, of course we're hoarding rye bread. A minor miracle happened, and I got the last package of rye bread on the empty shelves. People are buying it all up and freezing it to use later. |
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#385 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 24,855
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#386 |
"más divertido"
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: USA! USA!
Posts: 22,779
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In the US, this should be normal, at least as long as people are still working. My client took a full truckload of dry goods yesterday. Soups, Ramen, cleaning products, etc. Next weeks order is on schedule with no shortages. Shelves will be full in no time with the exception of sanitizer etc. |
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#387 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 7,334
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Gobble gobble |
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#388 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 30,002
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This is why if you're the kind of person who you know panics and horder during a crisis, the onus is on you to slowly build up your stash before the crisis, not when it starts happening.
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#389 |
NWO Kitty Wrangler
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 28,925
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I'm seeing weird patterns in what is sold out and what isn't. On Sunday, when shopping for my mother, the commercial bread was almost completely sold out, there were just a few bagels and English muffins left. Yesterday, as I expected, the bread was fully-restocked, but they were sold out of fresh chicken and frozen french fries. But they still had normal levels of beef and pork, literally right next to the bare chicken shelf. Why panic buy one, and not the others? Just weird. |
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Obviously, that means cats are indeed evil and that ownership or display of a feline is an overt declaration of one's affiliation with dark forces. - Cl1mh4224rd |
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#390 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,951
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#391 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 24,855
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A lot of it is distributor issues. People are stocking up on meat, so all kinds of meat are selling out. What might have happened is that your store's chicken supplier couldn't make his normal delivery because it went to another customer, but your store's beef and pork delivery was made as normal.
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#392 |
Official Ponylandistanian National Treasure. Respect it!
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ponylandistan! Where the bacon grows on trees! Can it get any better than that? I submit it can not!
Posts: 39,779
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"Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes... Because then it won't really matter, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes." ![]() |
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#393 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,987
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#394 |
NWO Kitty Wrangler
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 28,925
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The other nice thing about a machine is they usually have a timer. You can set it up just before going to bed, and wake up to a fresh loaf. My machine can set the delay up to 13 hours, and then will keep the loaf warm for an hour or two after baking, which gives me a pretty wide window for having fresh bread in the morning. |
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Obviously, that means cats are indeed evil and that ownership or display of a feline is an overt declaration of one's affiliation with dark forces. - Cl1mh4224rd |
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#395 |
Self Employed
Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Florida
Posts: 30,002
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I was listening to a new podcast from the Night Vale people; Our Plague Year a sort of general purpose current events podcast. One of the speakers on on the first episode was sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow with a piece called "Don't Look for the Helpers."
There is a wonderful line in it. "It is not dystopian to imagine the crisis. It is dystopian to imagine that in the aftermath we will all reveal ourselves to be barely constrained monsters just waiting for the second civilization hits pause." The panic hoarding mentality, in most cases (sane or at least justifiable versions of it do exist to be sure) is nothing more than that, another version of the "I think the world is crap, I'm better than you because I think the world is crap, and if it comes to it I will do everything in my power to make the world crap just to prove my point that you never should have had optimism." This are people who refuse to even consider the notion that the rest of humanity is just waiting for the first excuse to be horrible to them, which says more about them then it does about anyone else. I guarantee you the bulk of the panic buying is being done under the "Oh I don't need to hoard toilet paper, no siree, but I have to buy toilet paper before all the... others hoard it all with their panic buying. You see I'm not panicking, I'm reacting to other people panicking is a way that is functionally identical to me just being the one panicking." mentality. |
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Yahtzee: "You're doing that thing again where when asked a question you just discuss the philosophy of the question instead of answering the bloody question." Gabriel: "Well yeah, you see..." Yahtzee: "No. When you are asked a Yes or No question the first word out of your mouth needs to be Yes or No. Only after that have you earned the right to elaborate." |
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#396 |
JREF Kid
Tagger
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 8,223
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"Faith without doubt leads to moral arrogance, the eternal pratfall of the religiously convinced" - Joe Klein, Time magazine "The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan |
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#397 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,987
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Somewhere out there is a machine that makes bread machines. And there must also be a machine that makes the machine that makes bread machines. And a machine that makes that one! That's where the real money is: the bread machine machine machine machine. That would be like owning the One Ring. (The enchanted finger jewelry, I mean. The books don't make it clear but when they say "the One Ring" they mean the jewelry, and not Sauron's butthole. Which I'm sure is also magical, but in a different way. So many hobbit fingers have been in there, it's got to degrade the quality of the magic over time.)
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#398 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 6,906
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#399 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,302
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/dann "Stupidity renders itself invisible by assuming very large proportions. Completely unreasonable claims are irrefutable. Ni-en-leh pointed out that a philosopher might get into trouble by claiming that two times two makes five, but he does not risk much by claiming that two times two makes shoe polish." B. Brecht "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions." K. Marx |
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#400 |
Official Ponylandistanian National Treasure. Respect it!
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ponylandistan! Where the bacon grows on trees! Can it get any better than that? I submit it can not!
Posts: 39,779
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Oh brother... Local news has a "good news/bad news" twist today.
Good news, the county I live in has had it's first confirmed case, but, the individual knew they were at risk and self quarantined before becoming symptomatic and being tested positive. Bad News, St. Louis has it's second confirmed case, and that idiot had been going to work with symptoms. We don't know where they work, but one would hope the business/authorities are discretely informing other employees to stay home/get tested, and are mapping out other contacts to alert to possible contamination. |
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"Never judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes... Because then it won't really matter, you’ll be a mile away and have his shoes." ![]() |
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