Posted on 03/16/2020 8:43:03 AM PDT by GulfMan
Before you look up my account and call me a noob I have been here since Clinton was President, just under a different user name. I haven't posted in a week or so, I've just been reading and lurking. It has really been an awakening recently to say the least.
I am surprised and maybe even a little shocked by my fellow Freepers. I really kind of thought we were all kind-of like minded (ya, I know, conservatives).
We have the "FluBro's" who are in total denial of what is happening world-wide. It reminds me of the other party and their inability to see and or face the truth and I am just so surprised by that. They are the exact kind of people Italy is warning us about in a new article today. In the fact, the entire nation of Italy scoffed and laughed it off, now they warning us not be like them. I think there are too many in this country like that however, I just spoke to a real estate person in Gulf Shores who said the place was booming, as grandparents/parents were taking their kids down for vacations since school was cancelled. Not a clue.
We have the folks supporting the guys from Tennessee who drove around the country and bought up all of the supplies that people would want to protect themselves from the virus only to list those products on Amazon at outrageous prices were completely justified in the name of free enterprise. Imagine being the type of person that sees a crisis and their plan is to exploit people for money during those times, and then to have other people support them?
We have those who say they will refuse to quarantine and won't be told what to do and want all kinds of places to remain open. It's like cantankerous old coots who are stuck in their ways and feel their freedom trumps everyone and everything around them, they owe their brother nothing. I'm embarrassed in part to be in the same boat as many on this forum. The constant arguing between those that know this is a serious situation and the FluBro's is tiresome.
That said, this is the best site for following the Coronavirus outbreak as people are local everywhere and sharing local news we wouldn't get anywhere else. I will continue to lurk for sure.
I hope everyone stays safe and pray this passes quickly, that as few as possible die, and the economy rebounds strongly, and we get back to living the American dream.
God Bless
Me neither.
I always wondered why bother, just go away, no one cares.
Even your spouse, if they post, won't miss you.
Interesting chart. We do need to remember that three months ago nobody had even heard of COVID-19 or 2019-nCoV or coronavirus. It’s made a good move up the chart in only three months.
Late to the party as usual ;) but glad you posted.
Of late it seems that the relentless howling of the hate fueled Left, has brought about a significant change in the communication here.
It is less discussion, where sometimes you just have to walk away, or close out with agreeing to disagree, and so much more full tilt Ranting.
And, if some head of State, or celebrity you don’t agree with passes, or experiences a physical setback of any sort - they will find little humanity in response to their all too human situation.
It is sad, but more, it is a very troubling turn, when so many, even on the Right, cannot bring anything but hate to the table, shouting down any one who does not agree.
It seems that Orange Man Bad, has become, Orange Man and All who support him Must Die, but worse still - that that mindset is more contagious than the coronavirus.
Hoping this thread marks a return to more reasoned conversation.
Tatt
“Many of the best minds left FR in the days of banning any criticism of Trump George W. Bush.”
I remember those days. Carl Rove was a true patriot and genius also.
The coronavirus is undoubtedly serious, but all credible reports I’ve seen so far indicate that it’s about as serious as the flu
As simple example, based on the numbers given by China, three weeks after the disease pretty much topped out new infections, they still have 1 in 8 still sick. Their death toll has continued to climb at a higher rate compared to recoveries and is now at a dead/resolved rate of about 4.5% compared to a dead/case rate of about 4%. The flu is typically in the range of 0.04%-0.1% with a particularly bad flu at around 0.2%.
Outside of China and Iran, the numbers are dead/resolved of about 35% (overstated because it takes longer to recover than to die), and a dead/case rate of about 3.6% now. There are assuredly cases which were never reported, but probably not 3-8 million that have made it to the symptomatic point, within the countries with reliable reporting.
In the US last Monday, only 40% of the discovered cases were not linked to known cases. That suggests that despite the issues with testing there were probably no more than 1-2 times the unknown cases as known at that point.
And yeah, the Obama-era folks estimates of a *minimum* of 1 million deaths is completely over the top.
Here’s a study from March 1 that put the fatality rate at 5.5-5.9%. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30195-X/fulltext
“On this basis, using WHO data on the cumulative number of deaths to March 1, 2020, mortality rates would be 5·6% (95% CI 5·4–5·8) for China and 15·2% (12·5–17·9) outside of China. Global mortality rates over time using a 14-day delay estimate are shown in the figure, with a curve that levels off to a rate of 5·7% (5·5–5·9), converging with the current WHO estimates.”
So far, we’re well ahead of the curve, but we’ll see how it goes. I think many states under-reacted, then over-reacted. Many people didn’t bother to prepare even when it became obvious both the extent of danger the disease represented and that it had broken into the wild, then lost their freaking minds.
I suspect a lot of the mind-losing was what happened in NYC with the guy repeatedly travelling through Grand Central Station, then extrapolated across the country.
I agree...A virus, I am told, may mutate during a disease outbreak and might in fact have done so in the current pandemic. I was a comely, strapping bluejacket (LOL) in late 1968 or early 1969 when struck by a flu that might have been of the Kong Kong variety. I don't know if I could have survived it now. Well just out of curiosity, I checked out some of the world's worst pandemics just to get some perspective. I pray COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) is not going to be one of them.
It could very well be pneumonia but it would be viral pneumonia that is not remedied by antibiotics. The Spanish flu victims had bacterial pneumonia which nowadays can be successfully treated with antibiotics.
Not quite sure if that was your point but there it is.
I think a lot of folks here Do Care, FRiend, more today than ever. I am one of them.
We are all in the fight for our lives, and come here for all manner of reasons - to find laughter, knowledge, reassurance and maybe even a little different way of looking at things, to help make sense of an increasingly upside down world.
When my Dad reprimanded me in my younger years, he would always say that if he did not care, he would not be angry.
I pray that MOST of us are here, precisely because We Do Care.
May God guide and strengthen us all.
Sorry, ReaganGeneration2, my jumping cursor messed up the excerpt from your post.
Hear hear
Early on it was noted that most of the virus related deaths were in fact pneumonia. That ceased in order to kill President Trump
The difference between saying a disease killed someone and saying a symptom caused by the disease killed someone is not useful in many conversations - though sometimes it is of interest.
I would argue that by far the most people who are in good health and especially not in the hospital are not subject to pneumonia
Oh....you know....the ones who don’t troll....
I think you are right.
i9
Hey! It was taken through the triple pane window....I believe it was -37* ....and I don’t go out on the deck at that temperature.
The Summit has been having some real low zero temps and with 100mph gusts.s
We’re waiting for the snow to disappear; snowmobile-rs have nothing to do; ski slopes are closed early. Economically, this area is going to be hurting bad, quickly. Gas is $2.219 which is a good thing. But we’re not supposed to go anywhere. Heh.
"Rove, you magnificent bastard" became simply "Rove, you bastard".
And remember the Ann Coulter rule?
There is a gang who confuse liberty and freedom which carry responsibility and respect to others with anarchy which does not.
Most are the good ‘ol boy types with yellow rattlesnake flags and the like festooning their environs and possessions. If you called them libertarians they would fight you for impugning their sexual preference. They are also the same ones who never consider the greater good, the fact that some things don’t fit capitalism because of how ripe they are for monopoly and abuse and that no matter how much you may worship a man such as Trump he can be wrong and can always do a better job.
These are the same people who will violate a needed curfew or a necessary quarantine. I believe they are also the same ones who will pay the ultimate price for stomping on the rights and safety of their neighbors because they are thick headed, self-absorbed, selfish rubes that can’t be reasoned with or educated and are profoundly proud to simmer in their ignorance and crudeness.
I will only consider the source for some replies and dismiss them with a grimace but also sadness for the damage these types do to us all.
I am not a CV denier, but I sort of was not considering it seriously. I consider the pandemic a serious threat now. Why?
1. Different from flu, we have no natural immunity. It is to us like smallpox was to the American Indians
2. It is 4 to 6 times more contagious than traditional cold / flu virus and spreads exponentially just that much faster. Why?
3. It is a very tough virus with a high rate of survivability in the environment. We have no natural immunity to it.
4. The relatively low infection and death rates for China as a part of the whole population are not average. They are for a population subjected to draconian measures and enforced quarantine. We have no such thing. Even with the Chinese efforts it was bad. If we expect a Chinese progress we have to do what they did. Otherwise this will explode much worse than their outbreak
5. We are now at an infection rate similar to Italy of two short weeks ago. If we don’t do something serious to contain / mitigate we will be where they are now IN A HELL OF A HORRIBLE MESS.
I was a skeptic but upon study of the facts I am no longer. We are on self-imposed isolation and I have sent my helper home for at least two weeks. We may extend our program. I do not consider my liberty at stake at all. I consider anyone who does not follow the guidelines as selfish and probably ignorant and not a friend to any of us.
I can so Bob Ross that sky!
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