Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[AlabamAlum]

The AOC NEW GREEN DEAL!

[Ghengis Jon]

Good golly. A few weeks back, my company temporarily reduced salary paychecks because of the covid effect on business. Being grossly overpaid anyway, the effect is minimal to me. But due to federal and state relief programs, I find myself receiving about 25% more than what I was reduced. One would think there would be a cap on the relief - once you are "whole" you don't get any extra. When I brought this up to HR, the response was "this is what you're eligible for, this is what you get. The gov'ts do not adjust beyond eligibility." Free money is never difficult to accept, but I think throwing bushels of cash off the top of a building is not the proper distribution method. Its not my wish to profit from a pandemic.

[AlabamAlum]

Yeah, there are several in your boat. Just take your windfall and buy things.

[CGVT]

IRS accidentally sends stimulus money to thousands of foreign workers

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...workers-228974

That's why we need a wall!

[Dr. Strangelove]

LOL

[Dr. Strangelove]

Protesters now lurking around on the sidewalk Amy Acton's home. Great

[Whitley]

Protesters now lurking around on the sidewalk Amy Acton's home. Great

How dare a doctor tries to protect people.

[CGVT]

Dicks with dicks.
safe_image.jpeg
If dildos are outlawed, only outlaws will have dildos.

[Jeff Buchanan]

This is a good Sunday read. It seems China observers think China - as it's post COVID policy initiatives are being driven by the Communist Party - is screwing itself with the more aggressive, nationalistic diplomatic narrative it is pursuing.

Observers note that young Chinese diplomats posted around the world are being encouraged to take aggressive positions when confronted with attacks on China. These young diplomats are called "Wolf Warriors" in a call-back to China's resistance to reparations after the Boxer Rebellion in the late 19th Century. The global resentment of China at that time, forced a retrenchment of China's international diplomacy to a more isolationist approach becoming less interested in expanding their global influence.

Experts think that China's resistance to criticism of its handling of the COVID-19 epidemic in China, it's failure to hide the threat rather than warn about it, will thwart it's efforts to be seen as the global power to replace the US. China is missing an opportunity to be seen as the world's benefactor as it mixes harsh rhetoric with a flood of global aid.



So, fuck the Chicoms - glad to see they are doing it to themselves and that should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the history of Communism over time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/world/europe/backlash-china-coronavirus.html

[Ghengis Jon]

....

Heh.....Trumpcoms


Jordan, which has been under hard lock down since mid March, is opening everything up. Up to this point there have been reported 460 confirmed cases (9 dead). Let's see what happen to the toll as the floodgates are opened.


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN22F0OH

[Jeff Buchanan]

I read an article today about why the virus has such different effects in different countries, locals and people. Not worth a read as the conclusion was; "we don't know." or. "it's due to a lot of things combined." Well, no shit.

Anyway, there were a few things that stuck out to me. A virologist's view that, it just hasn't taken hold yet in places that have low rates of infection and death. I think that's a pretty good take.

What's good about that take is that in places it hasn't taken hold, Africa, for instance, countries there with at least a semblance of a health care system. responded to MERS and Ebola effectively. Nigeria and Kenya, for example, among others with stable governments, learned from those epidemics within their boarders. Most of them were ready then and stopped it in it's tracks from decimating the population - which it would have done if not contained. It fortunately was.

So, a prepared and aware public health system with good penetration into and availability within the population is one of the reasons, and probably a big one, why SARS-COV-2 hasn't overwhelmed the African continent. However, countries with crumbling governments and HC infrastructures due to collapse of stable government, e.g., Libya, Yemen and Iraq, also don't have many people traveling around, in or out of those places. Another way, by happenstance, that the virus isn't spreading.

Encampments of refugees in and beyond S. Europe, Africa and the ME are another problem entirely but these camps, again, don't have people moving haphazardly in and out of them. There's no where for them to go and health authorities in wealthier neighboring countries are laser focused on containment in these camps. Health entities that do good things for global public health are also doing a good deal with simple sanitation and hygiene measures that, while its really all they can do, it is a helpful containment and mitigation strategy given resources available to deal with COVID.

Singapore, once a model of containment, suffered a major increase in cases last week. But, they are all being strictly contained in worker encampments and will run their course. Worth keeping an eye on this news as it is likely that, yes, people will get sick and some will die, but not in the droves models previously predicted and not in Singapore which absolutely knows how to contain and eradicate and has the tools available for those tasks. Worker and refugee encampments are an unfortunate petri dish but one that will yield important epidemiology about SARS-COV-2 and COVID-19 over the coming weeks and months.

[Ghengis Jon]

Dubya made a corona virus video preaching encouragement and unity. He doesn't mention Trump at all and you know who isn't happy.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/03/donald-trump-attacks-george-w-bush-after-coronavirus-video/3074822001/

[THE_WIZARD_]

BFD

[Jeff Buchanan]

Wiz, Krazy Kemp, as GA's governor is called by his political opponents including the Mayor of Atlanta, Kiesha Lance Bottoms, opened up restaurants last Friday. Some restaurateurs welcomed it others are holding back - I'd say half have not opened in the metro Atlanta region and continue curbside pick-up as that never stopped in GA. I've read Kemp's EO. It's pretty good where restaurants are concerned. Restrictive enough, IMO, but not too burdensome either. Oh, and the famous Waffle Houses - a GA trademark- reopened on Friday too. They were mobbed. People turned away or told to wait outside in neat lines to maintain distancing.

We went to one of our local favs and had brunch today. Gasp, INSIDE! We know the owner well. We took carry-out from him on Thursday and promised to come in on Saturday or Sunday to do indoor dining. He told us on Thursday he was keeping his head above water with carry-out service. He had a good lunch crowd Friday in his now open dining room (his place is centrally located in a Gwinnette Co industrial park that has "essential businesses" that never closed. Patrons were really glad they could get out of their places of work and have a nice lunch out.

The place is well laid out to support table distancing. Not sure how many tops he has but it's probably around 20 - not a huge place. At 11:30am we arrived to a smallish dining crowd - around 5 tables occupied - inside (he has outside dining too but this is the season for giant carpenter bees so, no). We walked in with masks, were seated far away from anyone else, removed our masks when we sat down, used regular menus (surprised me but I don't think it's required to use throw aways in GA) and enjoyed a nice meal. The waitress had a mask on and was very precise in telling us what she could and could not touch. IOW, there was the appearance of a detailed plan to mitigate virus spread in this restaurant. I felt comfortable. Was glad to support local restaurants as has been my cause in FL and now here in GA. and staff as they work their way back to some level of normal.

I have no doubt that next week's headlines will slam Krazy Kemp for "opening too soon" when the typical nonsense numbers come out and will be touted as showing increases. Doesn't matter that they don't mean the virus is spreading because of reopening. What the media will say will be, "I told you so, cases will rise if you reopen too early and sure as shit, they have." Lance Bottoms will be right there calling for Kemp to be investigated.

This will be the refrain everywhere states are moving past the virus and trying to get businesses back up and running before they bankrupt, sell their equipment and close for good. Never mind that thousands of restaurant workers in GA will be unemployed and unable to find work.

How's your situation?

[Whitley]

Also worth noting that a group of restaurant owners (which have 120 restaurants in the Atlanta metro region I think) said that they are not opening up too.

https://covidactnow.org/us/ga

Interesting on the metrics. According to this the place Georgia is in real trouble is with beds. IF there is a surge (and hard to imagine that there isn't going to be one with everything opening) the hospitals don't seem ready for it.

https://covidactnow.org/us/fl

Florida seems in a lot better shape compared to Georgia. ICU beds seem to be an issue (though a lot less than in GA).