The Coronavirus, not the beer

[Krgrecw]

What’s more concerning to you? How trump is handling corona or getting to the bottom of the origins of corona with China and WHO covering it up?

[nsacpi]

What’s more concerning to you? How trump is handling corona or getting to the bottom of the origins of corona with China and WHO covering it up?

My main concern is being able to as much as possible cope with the two catastrophes facing us. The deaths and the economic depression.

That doesn't mean I don't think other things are important. China needs to be held to account. Some officials in Europe have called for an international investigation. We should join in that call. I don't expect China to cooperate but it is an ask we should be making.

[nsacpi]

Deaths per million population (number in parentheses is just for the past week)

Italy 474 (37)
Spain 541 (48)
UK 425 (106)
France 383 (31)
Germany 83 (12)
Netherlands 299 (36)
Belgium 720 (76)
Sweden 277 (58)
Denmark 83 (10)
FINLAND 42 (8)
United States 209 (41)
Canada 96 (30)

The UK is getting hit really hard. Those two weeks of dithering when they contemplated a herd immunity strategy are costing them a lot. Sweden has been near the top in deaths per capita the past couple of weeks.

[The Chosen One]

Save us from the tyranny.

[The Chosen One]

What’s more concerning to you? How trump is handling corona or getting to the bottom of the origins of corona with China and WHO covering it up?

Priority one should be how Trump is handling it here.

Priority 1.5 should be making China accountable. We can do both, but certainly we can all agree that taking care of the house first is more important?

[nsacpi]

Save us from the tyranny.

A little perspective never hurts.

It is always possible to find examples of a policy being enforced in an overzealous way. My son's baseball practice once got shut down by the cops (this is in pre-COVID days). I could have put up a video on twitter and youtube and screamed tyranny. But no, it was just some cop overreacting because some mom was overreacting to a bunch of kids practicing baseball. Happens. Unfortunately, in our current situation there are people including posters around here eager to seize upon things like that to scream tyranny.

[sturg33]

Ok so thanks for the distinction.

There is no tyranny until the shots are fired and camps are open.

How silly of me

[cajunrevenge]

China was well known to not be an honest actor. Blame whoever trusted them. If Trump took China at their word on a PR issue then that is the exact reason he is unfit for his position. Spoiler warning, China is a police state.

[nsacpi]

How silly of me

couldn't have put it any better

[nsacpi]

China was well known to not be an honest actor. Blame whoever trusted them. If Trump took China at their word on a PR issue then that is the exact reason he is unfit for his position. Spoiler warning, China is a police state.

yeah...it takes me back to the old days...there is a discussion somewhere about which country is more poisonous to the rest of the world...a certain poster who for his own protection i will allow some anonymity took the position that it was the United States...he said China at least did not go around invading and occupying other countries...I mentioned Tibet...he scoffed...ignorance i guess...I started a thread about China's supression of the Uighur culture...not much traction...thethe posted a few things about Muslims and that was it

now people are woke

but like many woke people they also have an unrealistic conception about what we can and should do about China's behavior

[cajunrevenge]

A little perspective never hurts.

It is always possible to find examples of a policy being enforced in an overzealous way. My son's baseball practice once got shut down by the cops (this is in pre-COVID days). I could have put up a video on twitter and youtube and screamed tyranny. But no, it was just some cop overreacting because some mom was overreacting to a bunch of kids practicing baseball. Happens. Unfortunately, in our current situation there are people including posters around here eager to seize upon things like that to scream tyranny.

Losing a lot of faith in humanity though all of this. Used to be we came together in this country in times of tragedy and hardship. Cant help but think Russia is fueling this fire on social media.

[Tapate50]

Losing a lot of faith in humanity though all of this. Used to be we came together in this country in times of tragedy and hardship. Cant help but think Russia is fueling this fire on social media.

This forum does that. People like to post the headline grabbers for their team, but no one likes to look outside and see what people are doing on the basic level to help. People can be awesome when they are motivated by something other than their own self interests.

Don't read here as much, it gives you better perspective when you do.

[nsacpi]

Losing a lot of faith in humanity though all of this. Used to be we came together in this country in times of tragedy and hardship. Cant help but think Russia is fueling this fire on social media.

Well I think it is worth remembering that the twittersphere is not representative of the country. My mom (a Trump voter) is taking the need to stay at home very seriously. She got out her sewing machine and has spent all her time making hundreds of masks for friends and strangers. I think there are a lot of Trump voters out there who are decent people. Some of them are knuckleheads and they make a lot of noise and get all the attention. But they are a minority within a minority.

[cajunrevenge]

yeah...it takes me back to the old days...there is a discussion somewhere about which country is more poisonous to the rest of the world...a certain poster who for his own protection i will allow some anonymity took the position that it was the United States...he said China at least did not go around invading and occupying other countries...I mentioned Tibet...he scoffed...ignorance i guess...I started a thread about China's supression of the Uighur culture...not much traction...thethe posted a few things about Muslims and that was it

now people are woke

but like many woke people they also have an unrealistic conception about what we can and should do about China's behavior

Internationally the US has no question been worse than China. China has been far more brutal to its own people than the US has to its but that doesnt make the US Government innocent by any means.

[nsacpi]

Internationally the US has no question been worse than China. China has been far more brutal to its own people than the US has to its but that doesnt make the US Government innocent by any means.

The 20th century set a record for mass murder. The 3 all-time greatest mass murderers lived in the 20th century. The greatest of them all was Mao. And what made him really special is he mostly killed his own people.

But I think we need to be careful about how we describe China. Chinese people are wonderful people. My maternal grandfather was Chinese. They want the same things we do for themselves, for their country and for their children.

China is too big and powerful to put in some sort of box. We have to deal with them as they are. With our eyes open. But that also means being open to the possibility of working constructively with them.

[Runnin]

What’s more concerning to you? How trump is handling corona or getting to the bottom of the origins of corona with China and WHO covering it up?

Why do you think this corona virus is any different from the others? The WHO covered it up?

Dude!

Priority 1 is dealing with the here and now. The virus must be contained and the economy safely opened up ASAP.

[nsacpi]

After Robert Kadlec was confirmed as President Trump’s top official for public health preparedness in 2017, he began pressing to increase government stocks of a smallpox vaccine. His office ultimately made a deal to buy up to $2.8 billion of the vaccine from a company that once paid Kadlec as a consultant, a connection he did not disclose on a Senate questionnaire when he was nominated.

Under the agreement struck last year with Emergent BioSolutions, Kadlec’s office at the Department of Health and Human Services is paying more than double the price per dose it had previously paid for the drug. Because Emergent is the only licensed maker of the vaccine, Kadlec’s office arrived at the price through negotiations with the company rather than through bidding.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/inves...bdb_story.html

not a good look

[Runnin]

How Trump Gutted Obama’s Pandemic-Preparedness Systems - Vanity Fair

Former officials: Trump’s reshuffling of positions and departments, focus on business solutions, downgrading of science, left the country dangerously unprepared for an unprecedented pandemic. ^^By Abigail Tracy, May 1, 2020

Obama’s team never faced a crisis as serious as the novel coronavirus, a truly unprecedented challenge. But officials who worked on past crises and experts on pandemic response believe that Trump’s dismissal—and in some aspects, wholesale discarding—of the Obama administration’s preparedness structures and principles, and the current administration’s ideas about government—that states could and should take take responsibility, that business could be more effective than government at solving problems at this scale—have left them dangerously unprepared.

[Carp]

Sweden with a not so good of a start to this week. New cases and deaths up from the same point last week. Was hoping last week was a sign of a positive turn for them. Hopefully the next 2-3 days provide better news.

[goldfly]

Great country we have here