Corona virus (1 Viewer)

[bradleyl30]

Was kind of appalled by the procedural nature of the "vote" in the House of Representatives for a 2-trillion dollar virus measure.

So, we've got this mob of, otherwise, self-aggrandizing pussies who are afraid to meet and approve a truly gargantuan, legislative measure.

Meanwhile, we expect everyone from nurses to grocery store clerks to show up and stand their watch.

Boy, Congress sent those dumb-***** a signal, didn't they!

Know what I'd like to see?

The U.S. Constitution provides minimum ages for the President and members of Congress.

How about we amend the **** thing and put in a maximum age as well...for the lot of them...65 perhaps?

I'm SICK of seeing individuals who are so CLEARLY past their prime making our laws and setting public policy.

If they're too delicate to show up for work, then I say, let's bench 'em, PERMANENTLY.

That's all,

-Moe

To keep from making it personal and jeopardize this thread I am just going to say they did the right thing by trying to comply with Social Distancing

 

[ivanmoe]

Brad, I don't know what any Pandemic office could have done while being deceived...China's concealment of the genesis and nature of the virus, which also acted as a mechanism of viral dissemination, would have blindsided the terminated branch just the same. That being said, I believe that office should certainly be restored to active duty.
Joe

I don't want to get into the small weeds about this, as the particulars of such an issue can be difficult to evaluate in the midst of a crisis. However, in a broader-sense, it seems to me that the Federal Bureaucracy has, yet again, proven itself incapable of responding effectively to a major crisis. IMO, the testing debacle is the clearest evidence of this. And I don't believe that there's a thing that ANY President could have done about the institutional pathologies that torpedoed that effort. If there really is an end to this and the Republic survives, an advisory commission will no doubt be convened. Much wind will be blown, and much cash will change hands. Recommendations will be made, and the SOP dutifully transformed. In the end, however, I suspect that the USA will be just as vulnerable to a pandemic as it was in January of 2020.

 

[jazzeum]

Here’s an article from the Washington Post by Fareed Zakaria that helps explain how we are in the situation we’re in, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...6d1ade-6f9b-11ea-a3ec-70d7479d83f0_story.html

Below are some relevant excerpts:

The United States has shortages of everything — ventilators, masks, gloves, gowns — and no national emergency system to provide new supplies fast. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) says his state will need 40,000 beds for critical care. It has only 3,000. That means many patients will die simply because they lack access to care that is available under normal circumstances. Not even three weeks into this pandemic, health-care workers are reusing masks, sewing their own and pleading for donations. In a searing essay in the Atlantic, Ed Yong writes, “Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, and uncoordinated, America has mishandled the COVID-19 crisis to a substantially worse degree than what every health expert I’ve spoken with had feared.”

Why did this happen? It’s easy to blame Trump, and the president has been inept from the start. But there is a much larger story behind this fiasco. The United States is paying the price today for decades of defunding government, politicizing independent agencies, fetishizing local control, and demeaning and disparaging government workers and bureaucrats.

This was not always how it was. America has historically prized limited but effective government. In Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton wrote, “A government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the modern federal bureaucracy, which was strikingly lean and efficient. In recent decades, as the scope of government has increased, the bureaucracy has been starved and made increasingly dysfunctional. In the 1950s, the percentage of federal civilian employees compared with total employment was above 5 percent. It has dropped to under 2 percent today, despite a population that is twice as large and a gross domestic product that is seven times higher (adjusting for inflation).

Federal agencies are understaffed but overburdened with mountains of regulations and politicized mandates and rules, giving officials little power and discretion. The Food and Drug Administration’s cumbersome rules and bureaucracy — which have proved a huge problem in this case — are just one example among hundreds. The scholar who has long studied this topic, Paul Light, notes that under President John F. Kennedy, the Cabinet departments had 17 “layers” of hierarchy. By the time Trump took office, there were a staggering 71 layers. Both political parties have contributed to the problem, making the federal government a caricature of bureaucratic inefficiency.

Most of these dysfunctions are replicated at the state and local levels with their own smaller agencies. The challenge of creating a national strategy is complicated by the reality that the true power in public health lies with 2,684 state, local and tribal systems, each jealously guarding its independence. We like to celebrate American federalism as the flourishing of local democracy. But this crazy patchwork quilt of authority is proving a nightmare when tackling an epidemic that knows no borders, and where any locality with a weak response will allow the infection to keep spreading elsewhere. What happens on Florida’s beaches doesn’t stay on Florida’s beaches.
​

 

[ivanmoe]

To keep from making it personal and jeopardize this thread I am just going to say they did the right thing by trying to comply with Social Distancing

Bradley, An effective leader never lets his crew think that he's more important than they are.

-Moe

 

[Horus]

I have been hearing and read in a couple of places that if you develop symptoms, you should not take any NSAID (Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug) like ibuprofen (Advil) or aspirin. Apparently, they weaken your immune system and makes the situation worse. The pain reliever of choice is said to be Tylenol.

France came out with the warning not to take Ibruprofen (Nurofen) bit more than a week ago,
Also by here in UK, NHS (National Health Service) about a week ago unless already you have been prescribed for an already existing issue, in which case continue and contact your Doctor for advice.

Steve

 

[ivanmoe]

France came out with the warning not to take Ibruprofen (Nurofen) bit more than a week ago,
Also by here in UK, NHS (National Health Service) about a week ago unless already you have been prescribed for an already existing issue, in which case continue and contact your Doctor for advice.

Steve

Would be interesting to know what there is in the way of guidance regarding turmeric/curcumin.

 

[Horus]

France came out with the warning not to take Ibruprofen (Nurofen) bit more than a week ago,
Also by here in UK, NHS (National Health Service) about a week ago unless already you have been prescribed for an already existing issue, in which case continue and contact your Doctor for advice.

Steve

Should of added that Paracetamol is the drug recommended for pain relief and Brads trade name drug is the same thing.
Aspirin that's part of my prescription and not heard anything about that, so will continue.

Moe, Not heard anything about Turmeric.

Steve

 

[jazzeum]

Should of added that Paracetamol is the drug recommended for pain relief and Brads trade name drug is the same thing.
Aspirin that's part of my prescription and not heard anything about that, so will continue.

Moe, Not heard anything about Turmeric.

Steve

I had neglected to mention Paracetamol.

 

[bradleyl30]

Bradley, An effective leader never lets his crew think that he's more important than they are.

-Moe

But they also lead by example. The model the behavior we want. Right now the most important thing is Social Distancing, not vane displays of bravado.

 

[ivanmoe]

But they also lead by example. The model the behavior we want. Right now the most important thing is Social Distancing, not vane displays of bravado.

Is the little Hispanic gal that’s standing behind a cash register at a local grocery store engaged in a vane display of bravado? That’s a real question, BTW. And given the example set by the geriatrics in Congress, she may well decide to stay home tomorrow. Earlier today, I heard the governor of NY say that he wouldn’t ask the folks on the front lines to do anything that he wouldn’t do. Perhaps he reread his oath of office. Good on him.

 

[jazzeum]

One clarification about Paracetamol since that is a brand name and brand names may differ from country to country. The active ingredient in Paracetamol and Tylenol is acetaminophen (or APAP) and it’s possible that (if you can find it) your local pharmacy may sell its own brand of acetaminophen, which may be cheaper.

 

[Larry Allen]

Should of added that Paracetamol is the drug recommended for pain relief and Brads trade name drug is the same thing.
Aspirin that's part of my prescription and not heard anything about that, so will continue.

Moe, Not heard anything about Turmeric.

Steve

YES, Aspirin is an NSAID so proceed with doctor's advise f you feel that you might have been exposed.
To simply stop taking a med is dangerous without a complete view of the complications vs benfits.

Stay safe, Steve.

--- LaRRY

 

[GICOP]

There is a Lockdown in the UK, but this continues to happen

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...onavirus-lockdown-stripping-sunbathe-sea.html

Here’s one idea from a former Police Chief

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...asers-people-ignore-coronavirus-lockdown.html

Most commentators agree with him....including me

Stay safe

Martyn

 

[joesgis]

Because the administration also got rid of the team permanently posted in China to help with situations like this. They would have given us warning, and then the professionals on the NSC could have given better planning and preparation. Now we
Are reacting and behind the 8 ball.

The massive budget cuts at WHO a couple of years ago didn’t help either, but that’s a different issue.

A recent report by Reuters that the U.S. had recently terminated a CDC position in China was widely cited by Democrats and reporters as evidence of a lack of preparedness, and formed the basis for a reporter's question at a recent White House coronavirus briefing.

But, the article itself made clear that experts didn't think the move had anything to do with the spread of coronavirus in the United States.

"One disease expert told Reuters he was skeptical that the U.S. resident adviser would have been able to get earlier or better information to the Trump administration, given the Chinese government’s suppression of information," the outlet noted.“In the end, based on circumstances in China, it probably wouldn’t have made a big difference,” former CDC epidemiologist and Emory University professor Scott McNabb told Reuters.

“The problem was how the Chinese handled it," McNabb continued. "What should have changed was the Chinese should have acknowledged it earlier and didn’t.”

 

[bradleyl30]

A recent report by Reuters that the U.S. had recently terminated a CDC position in China was widely cited by Democrats and reporters as evidence of a lack of preparedness, and formed the basis for a reporter's question at a recent White House coronavirus briefing.

But, the article itself made clear that experts didn't think the move had anything to do with the spread of coronavirus in the United States.

"One disease expert told Reuters he was skeptical that the U.S. resident adviser would have been able to get earlier or better information to the Trump administration, given the Chinese government’s suppression of information," the outlet noted.“In the end, based on circumstances in China, it probably wouldn’t have made a big difference,” former CDC epidemiologist and Emory University professor Scott McNabb told Reuters.

“The problem was how the Chinese handled it," McNabb continued. "What should have changed was the Chinese should have acknowledged it earlier and didn’t.”

Yes Joe, I agree that is in the article, but you (or whoever is referencing the Reuters report) grossly overstate that it says all experts believed that. The article seems to have a lot of journalistic integrity because it conveys both sides of the argument. There are opinions that it made a big difference, and as is not quite conveyed accurately in the statements above they also included that the opinion is not unanimous. There are "some" experts who don't think it would have mattered. Is it shocking not everyone agrees?

 

[Sentaapua]

I thank Brad for informing that my 75 year old father in law is storming the Coronavirus in great shape (he was in Italy in February) and that all our family tested negative. We are about a week to 14 days behind the current status of the epidemic in the US, but what is pretty clear to us here in Brazil is that if the Chinese did not withhold the epidemic data in the early stages of its outbreak in China, the whole world would’ve had more time to prepare. Right now we have roughly 3000 cases and 92 deaths, but these numbers will climb dramatically over the next days once the cases in the country reach the poorest neighborhoods in our major cities, like San Paulo and Rio. The disease arrived in our shores trough middle and upper class travelers, mainly returning from trips to Italy in February. So far these figures come from what we call here the “upper floor”, but we know that through workers for this “upper” class, it is entering the poor communities that have high population density and are very gregarious. We are bracing for a giant wave to hit our reasonable effective public healthcare system, so don’t be surprised if on Easter weekend Brazil starts to make the headlines as a hotspot for Coronavirus deaths in the world. You can’t imagine how much I wish this doesn’t happen, but frankly I think it’s a tinkling bomb waiting to explode! Similarly of what’s going on in the US, the issue here has become political, and I fear that this will just make matters worse... I urge you guys to stay safe, and more than anyone I understand the hardships that this pandemic will bring; I, as the CEO of a construction company, am still keeping operations running, because stopping our activities means disaster, albeit the government measures, but the truth is that no one today can say for sure were this epidemic will go. Brazil has 215 million inhabitants, 85% of which live in big urban cities.

 

[joesgis]

Yes Joe, I agree that is in the article, but you (or whoever is referencing the Reuters report) grossly overstate that it says all experts believed that. The article seems to have a lot of journalistic integrity because it conveys both sides of the argument. There are opinions that it made a big difference, and as is not quite conveyed accurately in the statements above they also included that the opinion is not unanimous. There are "some" experts who don't think it would have mattered. Is it shocking not everyone agrees?

Brad,

No, it's not shocking at all, and I agree there are classic dubious aspects to the article. Yet my feelings are that the straightest line can be drawn to China's intent to deceive and the willful execution thereof as being the initiation of chaos and worldwide peril. It is the clear game changer that rises above speculation about various states of preparedness, IMHO.

Joe

 

[Terp152]

There is a Lockdown in the UK, but this continues to happen

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...onavirus-lockdown-stripping-sunbathe-sea.html

Here’s one idea from a former Police Chief

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...asers-people-ignore-coronavirus-lockdown.html

Most commentators agree with him....including me

Stay safe

Martyn

Unfortunately, some officers use their new powers to harass and bully people getting groceries, medications, etc.

Hope you and family are well Martyn. Chris

 

[jazzeum]

Here is an interview that Trevor Noah of the Daily Show did with Dr. Fauci that I think is useful.

https://youtu.be/8A3jiM2FNR8

 

[nysoldiers]

Something we collectors can do to help survive the quarantines.

I am working with my local library to do a series of historical lectures by online streaming. I will use my collection
and put together dioramas to illustrate the topics I am discussing. We are gearing these to three levels of audiences,
For children in elementary school (ages 6 to 12), young students in middle school and early High School (ages 12 to16)
and older High School and college students and adults (16 and up).
We are going to start with American history and fortunately I have loads of FIW, AWI and ACW figures from all the great
makers.

Our hobby can be very helpful for teaching history and giving our communities another way to use this time of isolation
for expanding their knowledge of history. And as a grandfather I know that parents are looking for more ways to entertain
and teach their children while school are closed.

Any other ideasl related to our forum member's love of history and sharing their collections would be greatly appreciated.