OKAY!!! YOU ARE THINKING AND COMING UP WITH GREAT RRESPONSES!!!



believe that there is plenty of danger from this virus. However I also believe that the news media have exploited this far beyond that which was necessary. Their object is to sell advertising anyway possible.
So the crusaders are at it again! Give me a cause I'll start a crusade!!!
It is now a time for rationality, reason and judgement.
Let's band together to deal with this issue rather than start a war over it.
Let us get together and do what each of us is able to help resolve the issue.
Quit fighting! Let us band together and defeat this thing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 05:45PM by thedesertrat1.

What is your point?

"Let's band together..."

And

"Let us get together..."

And

"Let us band together and defeat this thing!"

Are all calls to do the opposite of "Quit fighting!"...in my opinion. I'm just sitting back and letting the ones who want to risk getting C-19 contend with the probable minority who want to save themselves from any chance at contagion.

It's a tough 'theological' battle!!

It's the "overhyped" excuse yet again.

How many people must die before you take this pandemic seriously ?

Dave the Atheist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's the "overhyped" excuse yet again.
>
> How many people must die before you take this
> pandemic seriously ?
I take it seriously but I am not going to go into panic mode

What is panic mode? Where do you think the governmental reaction has been excessive and how to you propose to remedy that?

OKAY!
Is it the consensus of this forum that the people holding power in the government have taken reasonable action and precaution in this issue?

Not necessarily. But we'd need you to indicate what exactly you think is wrong in order to respond to you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 03:43PM by Lot's Wife.

the people holding power in the government have not taken enough reasonable action and precaution in this issue.

You and I agree in the main but it could be that Desert-izen has some good points to make.

We can't discuss those until he lays them on the table.

He's just trolling.

So is she . . . lol

good points? she's just looking for some red meat before lowering the boom -----

That's not trolling. It's just mixing metaphors.

So responding to trolling is trolling ? That's like saying that opposing racism is racism.

That's
like saying that opposing racism is racism.

————————

I can assure you that those sentiments have been voiced here many times over the years.

thedesertrat1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OKAY!
> Is it the consensus of this forum that the people
> holding power in the government have taken
> reasonable action and precaution in this issue?

I don't see how this question relates to the opinion in your first post that the news media has exploited the pandemic.

Or are you changing horses in mid-stream - presenting two completely separate topics?

In any case, both premises are likely to roam far into political territory - not usually desirable here no matter what ails the earth.

Almost prophetically our government dumped a lot of older, never used PPE not long before the pandemic was declared and then were scrambling to secure masked and gowns, etc. from China. I find the mere fact that China is making sterile PPE troubling given that they are among the least trustworthy government regimes on the planet. And we got a whole plane load of masks that were garbage...and another plane came back from China empty because someone gave the seller more for the load of PPE and it never made it to the airport. A dear friend custom made me a mask but I've asked at several pharmacies here and they have no stock (except for their employees)....2 months plus into this.

thedesertrat1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OKAY!
> Is it the consensus of this forum that the people
> holding power in the government have taken
> reasonable action and precaution in this issue?


You're talking about thousands of people "holding power" in thousands of jurisdictions around the world from the county/prefecture level on up to state level, etc., and every response has been slightly different and often contradictory to other responses. So there's no way to answer this in general.

If you turned off the tv, how would your behavior change?

This post reminds me of a bunch of high school guys with mullets going out on a Friday night with a bunch of beer in the backseat of a beater 1970's Impala with smoke pouring out of the tailpipe.

One of the guys gets in the car and asks "so what are we doing tonight?" and the driver yells "we're going out and we're getting laid!".....which is what he always yells and actually never, ever happens.

WH just adjusted their model upwards. Now predicting 147,000 deaths in US by August 4. Up from the current 81,000+ already deceased.

Seems like yesterday the toll was less than 50K with WH stating may not reach even the lowest projected casualty count of 60,000.

The media is reporting this. How could they not?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 05:34PM by Nightingale.

The medium has manipulated this thing for ratings and to sell advertising. And they’ve managed to convince Russia, Iran - countries around the world to shut down. The power of msnbc.

From what I have read in the past, the news division of any TV station does not make money. It is carried financially by the entertainment shows.

It's the "MSNBC is fake news and fox news is real news" argument.

How delightfully droll!

Iran experienced its crisis long before the US came to recognize the problem, back when the US leadership was saying "15 cases going to zero" and "it's going to disappear; it's a miracle." And in any case Teheran does not broadcast MSNBC.

Russia denied the threat posed by the pandemic until well after the US acted, and in any case does not broadcast MSNBC. So no, Rachel Maddow does not sell anything in the countries you assign to the left-wing media conspiracy.

It's time for you to turn off the lights, pull out the candles, and consult a different medium.

Dave & Lot’s . . .

Don’t believe everything you read or see on TV. Or even something I post. Sometimes it might be sarcasm.

If you want some one to realize you are being sarcastic, I find it is always helpful to start off with, "Listen, Mary . . ."

So we shouldn't believe anything you post ?

So you post something irresponsible and then later claim it was sarcasm ?
Where have I heard this before ?

that's actually funny.

but are there really people who think Russia would shut down because of Rachel Maddow? :)

The fact that this is going on around the entire world does take a little wind out of idea that the radical left is creating this, doesn't it?

What is this "radical left" of which you speak ?

haven't you seen them asking questions on the White House lawn?

(you're on your own with this one LW)--

Looks like you need a lesson on "overton window".

> Don’t believe everything you read or see on TV.
> Or even something I post. Sometimes it might be
> sarcasm.

How delightfully droll!

I suspect the truth is you are retroactively sarcastic, meaning that you say things that prove embarrassing and then decide to act as if you were joking all along.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 07:20PM by Lot's Wife.

You could suspect that . . . but I think you're famous for researching poster's past posts and it wouldn't take much research to put your theory to rest.

I could also show you my box of N95 masks I ordered in February :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/12/2020 08:28PM by jay.

“It's time for you to turn off the lights, pull out the candles, and consult a different medium.”

You can get a ouija app for your phone, called Spirit Board. It has to be better than Fox News.

Wait--wasn't it you who just suggested that MSNBC had persuaded Russia and Iran to shut down their economies? You know, media (not "medium") that are banned in both Russia and Iran and hence have zero influence there? Moreover, what is the basis for your assertion that Russia shut down its economy at all?

The clock is ticking. It's time to hold a seance so your medium can affirm that you should declare you meant it all as sarcasm and retreat.

Nightingale Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WH just adjusted their model upwards. Now
> predicting 147,000 deaths in US by August 4. Up
> from the current 81,000+ already deceased.
>
> Seems like yesterday the toll was less than 50K
> with WH stating may not reach even the lowest
> projected casualty count of 60,000.

Even the high amount is really and truly not that high of a death rate overall. Especially when you realize the vast majority of those are going to be the elderly or those with preexisting conditions. All of whom should take maximum precautions.

But it's not the bubonic plague and it's not Ebola and this is not comparable to 1918 because our medical science and basic hygiene protocols are so much more advanced than then.

Too much sun?

OK I screwed up!
I'm sorry!!

At least you're no longer comparing the virus to car crashes.

Baby steps.

I don't think you screwed up, DR. If you could explain your position in more detail, we could discuss it. You and I may well disagree, but don't assume any ill will or pre-emptive victory on either (any) side.

You have been taken to task thedesertrat1. I get why you feel the way you do even though I don't align with all of your thinking.

Sorting out the truth with the Covid-19 reminds me of sorting out the truth from Mormonism. Our leaders and the news have appeared to be all over the place like a mad woman's sh!t.


I am so sick of the 24/7 CoVid19 non-stop coverage and exhortations. Every time I get gas somebody comes on a screen in the top of the pump and they start telling me in a voice that grates to be sure to distance and wear my mask like I haven't heard it a thousand times a day for months now and then people start looking at me odd because I am flipping the bird at the monitor with both gloved hands and yelling "Shut Up" with masked face. Well, I say something else between the "shut" and the "up" but I will leave it at that for now.

Who put the televisions in the gas pumps for hell's sakes? Every commercial now on Television starts off with "In these uncertain times . . . " And I'm like "Shut up already. We know!" I don't want to be talked to like a five year old anymore.

Now here in LA they are opening the flower mart, parks, trails, and beaches and yet we can't go back to work in a giant wherehouse with 20 feet between each of us even though our masks would be on and we have sanitizer galore. Cuz if we did they would cut our power and water.

So no. I don't think the leaders have done an outstanding job. Some did well. Some stink. Some are using it as campaign tool as it is a chance to show their magnanimosity. Some are giving aid in hopes you remember their names were connected to the check at election time. Many are hoping this will be pointed out on Fox news.

But I have to ignore that and fact find and care about others. It can be done.


I hope you are all safe. I have been overdoing at the business a bit trying to keep it all going and now feel like the Ancient of Days without the super powers. I have weathered it all, but I cannot go much longer without going to a nursery. I am addicted to flora. The flower mart opened with thousands of maskless people for Mothers Day but my nursery is closed that usually has a crowd of five on an acre. Politicians.

My mask and distancing will go on for a long long time and it will continue in our business. But I want a lot of the crap going on everywhere else to change.


I am reading "The 100 Year Old Man who climbed out the window and disappeared." Oddly I feel a deep connection. Very entertaining book.

"Who put the televisions in the gas pumps for hell's sakes?" ...
That's one of my major complaints. Now I am forced to watch advertisements while pumping ? It's insane !

You could carry three tennis balls in your car, and practice juggling until the pump shuts off. This would entertain you and the drivers at the other pumps. :)

For my part, I'm holding out for you and chainsaws.

Done and Done wrote,

> ... all over the place like a mad woman's sh!t.



That’s reason enough to wear the mask.

Now D&D, what the hell are you talking about screens on gas pumps? Here you are not even allowed to pump your own. Will your nursery maybe do curbside for you? This is our 20th anniversary with ours :). They are doing curbside and they moved a register outside. I was able to restock my herbs, get icicle radish and carrot seeds, a nice lavender to replace the one my kid thought was a weed (gee Mom, you have a weed that smells so good!), carnations, fuchsias and most important TOMATOES! Three Sweet 100s and my adored Krim. I have a friend in TX and her Krim is already producing. She posts 'mato porn just to tease me!

Don't work too hard!

Way to rub it in Susan! Thanks a lot.

Had to look up Krim. You had me worried cuz you got to scroll down a long way til you find tomato as a definition. Got too many gophers on the hill to grow vegetables. Jealous of you there too. I did supply the little critters with a lot of Sweet Peas one year. They look so cute chewing a vine off at the bottom and then pulling the chain of blooms down a hole but I just couldn't go all Elmer Fudd on them. "Hey kids. Look what Dad got for dinner!"

The Mother of Pearl roses and other flowers are blooming like crazy so I guess I'll make it through.

I lack education enough to sort through the wildly varied opinions, theories and data. I feel like I'm going to faint with a mask on, but I keep it on and simply have to get in and out of a store very quickly. It's wise to err on the safe side, and stick to the old adage:



"It's easier to dodge an elephant than a microbe."

"How many people must die before you take this pandemic seriously ?"

That's a good question. How are we going to handle flu season from now on? How many must die before we shut down economies, and threaten 300 million with starvation?

We should have shut down a few years ago with 80,000 deaths in the U.S. Or should 30,000 be enough?

Who decides?

so you are equating covid with the flu.
Why aren't you out there dying for wall street ?

Here we go again. . .


------------------
> That's a good question. How are we going to
> handle flu season from now on?

Red herring. As people have remarked multiple times, you cite numbers without substantiation. You make shit up.

But for the sake of argument, let's take your 30,000 per annum figure and think it through. So far the coronavirus has killed 82,000 in just over two months. That puts the COVID death toll at about 15 times the influenza number. Is it your contention that 30,000 is the same, for all intents and purposes, as 450,000?

Better yet, let's assume arguendo that the United States had followed your preferred strategy of no restrictions and the COVID death rate rose to the one million that was the low end of the epidemiological predictions. Are you trying to persuade us that 30,000 is the same as 1,000,000?

I'm having trouble, you see, with your logic. You seem to suggest that two death totals are equally bad regardless of magnitude and hence that the policy response should be identical. By that standard, the fact that one or two people a year die from hangnail infections implies that the US government should not do anything about murder, tuberculosis, automobile safety, terrorism, heart disease, or injury by drumstick at MGTOW rallies in the PNW wilderness. Is that your position?


------------------
> How many must
> die before we shut down economies, and threaten
> 300 million with starvation?

Are you threatened with starvation? Or is this just another Rand Paul talking point?


---------------------
> Who decides?

That's the crux, isn't it? Most of us like living in a democracy, in which the people decide. Others, however, would like to live in a dictatorship in which the dictator determines a policy, the sheep stand up and cheer, and everyone lives happily--or not--ever after. Your side controls the White House. The big bad mainstream media is not in charge.

More generally, what would it take for you to come out from behind your political lectern and offer an alternative comment on any other topic? For your constant beating of this putrid equine corps seems pathological.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2020 02:17AM by Lot's Wife.

>More generally, what would it take for you to come out from behind your political lectern and offer an alternative comment on any other topic? For your constant beating of this putrid equine corps seems pathological.


Would you rather he express his views on women?

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here we go again. . .
> For your constant beating of this putrid equine corps
> seems pathological.

Are you calling out the, um, calvary to your defense, Lottie? I'd rather not inject religion into this argument. Now, who was it who talked about "corpsemen?"

"Who decides?"

Not you, thankfully.

You repeatedly post the same bad-faith "questions." Although each of them have been addressed, you refuse to acknowledge any of it and continue to bring them up as if in a vacuum. As a result, you have shown yourself to be nothing but a troll and cannot be taken seriously.

Engaging on any subject with you is no different than discussing Joseph Smith's polygamy with a TBM.

Perhaps you ought to consider taking your fellow traveler Macaromney and head to Calgary to visit Jordan. You three comics can work together to Make Alberta Great Again.

Hey don't bring me into this, I'm not picking on you today, not logged into today!

I come onto this website to get a shot of rational thought, not more of the bullshit Fox Propaganda talking points that I get from my LDS family.

>>Who decides?

Your governor along with other elected officials, acting on the best medical advice.

*Of course* they want to get the economy going again. We all do. But we don't want our loved ones taking a gamble with this virus if at all possible. We also want our loved ones to get ventilators if they get the virus and need to be hospitalized. We don't want our local ER and CCU/ICU to be overwhelmed with patients. We want the number of CV-19 patients to stay low enough so that people with other medical needs can get attention as well. And we don't want physicians and nurses to throw in the towel and find a less dangerous way to spend their time, especially since there is a core group of people who don't seem to care about *them*.

I'm going to ask you this, Free Man, what have you done to HELP other people during this time? Have you volunteered at a food distribution site? Signed up to work at a grocery store or home improvement store? Volunteered to work the information desk at your local hospital (since CV-19, in your mind, is no more dangerous than the flu?) What are you personally doing to keep things moving or get things moving again?

I am continuing to teach and help vulnerable populations. I also signed up for the CV-19 vaccine trials (I likely won't be selected, but I wanted to put my hand in the air.) So Free Man, what are YOU doing to move things forward?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2020 11:27AM by summer.

I see a huge number of rational arguments over this issue. We are here to state and discuss things. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. I post this way to incite thought and comment. I don't do it to ridicule or put down. Invariably there is a huge pro and con response. That is why I post!

I like these posts. Get to finger out a lot of things nobody wants to hear. Closest I come to saying what I want and letting the chips fall where they may. Hard thing to do in life for me.

So, you kept a lot of people entertained and reminded us all to be sure to cook our bats to at least 162 degrees Fahrenheit. Win/win.