Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

NASCAR banning the Confederate Flag was dumb for them. It was kowtowing to the Left Wing mob at the expense of their actual fans. We've seen this in video games and movies lately too. it's always a disaster. Get Woke, Go Broke. Doesn't affect me though. I'm neither a Confederate flag owner, nor a fan of NASCAR.

Just wait and see what happens to NBA and NFL ratings this fall when those games turn into White Guilt lecture sessions.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I could be wrong, but I think what Trump is trying to say with the confederate flag issue is that it is a form of free speech to display it, even if we find that speech offensive.

Just like the courts have ruled that burning the US flag is a constitutionally protected form of free speech, even though millions of people, of all races and genders find that act offensive.

Personally I would do neither, but if we're going to have freedom of speech in this country, it must go both ways, even if some of us consider it offensive, and it needs to be protected by the law.

If anything, NASCAR's actions have probably caused an uptick in the sales of confederate flags.

Well for one it's not a constitutional issue. NASCAR can ban any signs or flags they want on private property. You may say they aren't acting in the 'spirit' of free speech but plenty of sporting venues have limits on the signs you can bring in or things you can say while inside. I don't know if the policy still exists but the 'new' Browns for a long time wouldn't let you bring in signs or anything that would obstruct the view of other fans, period.

Do you think that if NASCAR banned "Black Lives Matters" signs and flags that Trump would be criticizing them? I don't. He's pandering to what he thinks his base wants. He's not necessarily right.

[Dr. Strangelove]

NASCAR banning the Confederate Flag was dumb for them. It was kowtowing to the Left Wing mob at the expense of their actual fans. We've seen this in video games and movies lately too. it's always a disaster. Get Woke, Go Broke. Doesn't affect me though. I'm neither a Confederate flag owner, nor a fan of NASCAR.

Just wait and see what happens to NBA and NFL ratings this fall when those games turn into White Guilt lecture sessions.

A lot of the Johnny Reb style of NASCAR fans already left the sport years ago. At least since the Jeff Gordon heyday (20-25 years ago now!) there's been complaints that NASCAR was moving away from the fans that built it to a wealthier, more cosmopolitan demographic.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I am presently residing in the hot bed of uncontrolled spread of SARS-CoV-2 and death from COVID ...... S. FL!.

Drove down from ATL yesterday. Fer fuck sakes. I'm still alive and unaffected. As a member of the vulnerable I take precautions but I'm not immobilized. The S. FL press thinks we should be immobilized ..... or if not that, they raise their hands shrieking, "DO SOMETHING!'

Meanwhile, Desantis seems calm, Miami's mayor, Gimenez, got so much push-back on his order to close all sorts of shit down in his and surrounding towns that he relented. Outdoor dining will continue and gyms can stay open. Yipee. A minor victory for sensibility. Still, the threat of closing everything down looms ...... still waiting for the shoe to drop in Broward and Palm Beach Counties but the leadership there is listening to restaurant and gym owners that say if you close us down orlimit our service more, we will go out of business. Of course thousands will lose jobs forever if that happens.

I apologize for not having reviewed all I missed yesterday but I doubt this is redundant because, well, you know, COVID fear lives even hear too like it does just about everywhere else too. I've said most of this in one form or the other but it bears repeating.

As I've posted, I interact with a small group of Docs and nurses who are directly involved in COVID and COVID care. The predominant thought within this group is that the virus is with us and will be for the foreseeable future. Manage it. Most are focused on immediate issues involving patient care and sharing what they are seeing works and doesn't in getting the sickest well. Importantly, way less patients present being really ill from COVID and those that do are doing far better than before....... and WEAR A MASK and don it correctly. The more serious presenting illnesses aren't COVID but instead among those who have delayed seeking care because they are afraid to come to the hospital or clinics because of the risk of getting COVID - which is fucking low in these places! The press definitely has blood on their hands but no one is properly shouting that. This is an email I just sent to the group in response to concerns about rising case #s:

One side point. Testing is increasing across the US. In FL, it now exceeds 30K/d on a weekly basis. 4-5 months into this, the testing is tapping into a population with a much higher rate of infection - both asymptomatic and symptomatic. What non-hysterical, scientific reporting I'm reading indicates is that a large (but unknown at this point) cohort within the entire tested population since about mid-May is made up of either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, much younger patients that do not require hospitalization and get better at home in 7-14d with symptomatic treatments..

I'd like to test that hypothesis. The problem is that it is difficult for the public to access admissions data as a means to validate it. As well, upcoding - occurred earlier but not as much today because EDs are testing everyone that walks through the door - polluted admissions data for COVID related admissions. In S. FL, the increased numbers of people seeking care in a clinic or ED setting is inflating the percent positive number becasue everyone of them is being tested for C-19. As well, accurately knowing ICU bed space availability as a means of assessing COVID impact has now become the hot-button topic and highly controversial and politicized. The press charges the public isn't getting all the data and the Governor - Desantis who is an R - is "lying." PH policy makers have access; whether they are using it correctly or not is unknown. Public statements from large hospital system administrators, while they do say admissions are up, they calmly insist in the face of press scrutiny, that adequate capacity exists and expansion, if necessary, can be accommodated to handle any increase in admission. Believable? I tend to think so as the press loves shock value more than accuracy in their reporting. Other confounding factors are the increase since mid-may in routine, non-emergency post surgical recoveries that require admission, ICU or otherwise. Staffing has been an issue but reportedly is understood and being addressed. Miami Dade's Jackson Health has cut back on any non-emergent surgeries whihc tells me resources, human and material, are scarce but it's being managed. Excess bed space throughout the state and in nearby counties is there.

Younger cohort testing positive (in FL, median age is 34 and in some counties it's in the 20s), lower disease burden in this cohort suggests a more manageable pandemic than the media is demanding that it is. The CFR in FL is 1.8%, IFR is less than 1/10th of 1%. I'm watching these numbers as a means of assessing COVID impact. They are remaining stable or dropping. Clearly, there is a continuum of COVID impact from asymptomatic to death but, I think it is fair to allow that, as we move forward, the disease impact is going to be on the low end of that continuum. Lots of reasons for this - better knowledge, training, therapeutics, not to mention that the vulnerable know they are vulnerable and acting responsibly. None of this, however, distracts from your positions, wear a mask! It also does not diminish your views that the vulnerable are still just as vulnerable and have a higher probability risk of being exposed to a young person shedding virus by the sheer numbers of new COVID cases nationwide.

To be clear, I've never seen any of you as an alarmists so I share these thoughts with you on a professional level, not to dampen in any way your effort to be Physicians which means an educator as much as it means a practitioner of the medical arts. I remain optimistic that we can deal with C-19 while simultaneously addressing employment needs and our economy. The reality is that SARS-CoV-2 is with us and will be with us for the foreseeable future, vaccines, improved therapeutics or not. So, we need to remain calm, adapt and continue to move forward.

[lineygoblue]

Well for one it's not a constitutional issue. NASCAR can ban any signs or flags they want on private property. You may say they aren't acting in the 'spirit' of free speech but plenty of sporting venues have limits on the signs you can bring in or things you can say while inside. I don't know if the policy still exists but the 'new' Browns for a long time wouldn't let you bring in signs or anything that would obstruct the view of other fans, period.

Do you think that if NASCAR banned "Black Lives Matters" signs and flags that Trump would be criticizing them? I don't. He's pandering to what he thinks his base wants. He's not necessarily right.

I agree that NASCAR can make any silly rule they want. They can ban engines, and require that the cars be pulled by horses from now on if they want.

That was not the point of my post, .. but you knew that already.

I thought my post was more about what Trump has been saying in recent speeches, but I guess that is up to the interpretation of the reader.

[lineygoblue]

I am presently residing in the hot bed of uncontrolled spread of SARS-CoV-2 and death from COVID ...... S. FL!. Drove down from ATL yesterday.

You have got to be the only person I know who, in the middle of freaking summer, would leave one of the hottest places on earth, .. and go to a hotter place. Did you pack your long johns?

[Dr. Strangelove]

I agree that NASCAR can make any silly rule they want. They can ban engines, and require that the cars be pulled by horses from now on if they want.

That was not the point of my post, .. but you knew that already.

I thought my post was more about what Trump has been saying in recent speeches, but I guess that is up to the interpretation of the reader.

Well you're making the claim that Trump is somehow fighting for everyone's right of free speech and not specifically respect for the Confederate flag. So I will ask you again, if NASCAR or the NFL banned Black Lives Matter signs and flags, do you think he would publicly criticize them?

[lineygoblue]

Well you're making the claim that Trump is somehow fighting for everyone's right of free speech and not specifically respect for the Confederate flag. So I will ask you again, if NASCAR or the NFL banned Black Lives Matter signs and flags, do you think he would publicly criticize them?

I'm not making any claim about Trump fighting for anything other than Trump. That's been his MO all along, and he's not going to change now.

I'm not taking the bait for your NFL strawman, because we are rapidly approaching the day when if I were to go to an NFL game, and stand for the National Anthem and render a salute to the flag as I normally do as a veteran, my actions would be considered by some as "racist", and place me in physical danger upon leaving the stadium.

Again. My point was, however clumsily he may be doing it, .. Trump may have been trying to say that displaying the confederate flag is a constitutionally protected form of free speech, just like burning the US flag has been determined to be.

If you hear him saying that he hates every minority on the face of the earth, then so be it. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear, and read what we want to read.

Right?

[Hannibal]

A lot of the Johnny Reb style of NASCAR fans already left the sport years ago. At least since the Jeff Gordon heyday (20-25 years ago now!) there's been complaints that NASCAR was moving away from the fans that built it to a wealthier, more cosmopolitan demographic.

I guess I don't follow NASCAR enough to know whether it has become a wine-and-cheese crowd or whether it's still a genuine southern-based sport. Either way, I'm guessing that there is little grassroots desire to have the Confederate Flag banned at NASCAR events, and it's a virtue-signalling move that will alienate fans or, at best, produce no result.

[lineygoblue]

I guess I don't follow NASCAR enough to know whether it has become a wine-and-cheese crowd or whether it's still a genuine southern-based sport. Either way, I'm guessing that there is little grassroots desire to have the Confederate Flag banned at NASCAR events, and it's a virtue-signalling move that will alienate fans or, at best, produce no result.

It has its audience, and a lot of them like displaying the confederate flag as a symbol of 'rebellion' rather than overt racism. Most of those folks are fine if left alone, as long as you slap a couple Budweiser's in their hand, and chomp on a plate of ribs and 'tater salad with them. 99% of them are harmless, and not racist at all.

I still don't understand the entertainment value of sitting in a grandstand with the mid-day sun beating down on you in 100 degree heat, and 200% humidity, watching really loud cars drive around in a circle for 3 hours. But, to each his own, I guess.

Jeff would probably sit in the grand stands and complain that he didn't pack his long johns.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I'm not making any claim about Trump fighting for anything other than Trump. That's been his MO all along, and he's not going to change now.

I'm not taking the bait for your NFL strawman, because we are rapidly approaching the day when if I were to go to an NFL game, and stand for the National Anthem and render a salute to the flag as I normally do as a veteran, my actions would be considered by some as "racist", and place me in physical danger upon leaving the stadium.

Again. My point was, however clumsily he may be doing it, .. Trump may have been trying to say that displaying the confederate flag is a constitutionally protected form of free speech, just like burning the US flag has been determined to be.

If you hear him saying that he hates every minority on the face of the earth, then so be it. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear, and read what we want to read.

Right?

All I'm saying is I do not believe Trump was making a general point about free speech, he was specifically saying NASCAR shouldn't have banned the Confederate flag. And I'll answer my own question: no, if NASCAR banned BLM signs he wouldn't say anything about free speech or tell them they were wrong to do so. He himself has called for people to be fired or punished for things they've said or written countless times.

[iam416]

It was a complete nod to his base, though it was more veiled. PDJT has zero principles. I'm not sure many politicians have more, but I am sure he's at zero.

[Hannibal]

Trump doesn't have zero principles. When he follows his instincts instead of listening to his bleeding heart daughter and bum son-in-law for advice, you see what those principles are.

[iam416]

I'm not going to die on the hill of "zero" as I suppose one can discern a principle or two if you really try. But, germanely, freedom of speech and the marketplace of ideas model isn't one of them.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I honestly don't have an opinion on what the better option is but probably in September we are going to have to make a decision to either continue bailing out the airlines or let tens of thousands be laid off on or right after October 1st. If we were talking around 10% of each airline's workforce then as sad as it is, you might let it happen. If we're talking closer to a 1/3 of the industry (or even higher for a few) then it's a much more difficult decision, IMO.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/08/coronavirus-united-braces-36000-employees-for-job-cuts-as-pandemic-roils-travel-demand.html