COVID-19, part vi,...the first wave continues to surge

[Falls City Beer]

Countries can close their borders. California cannot. This is why the shutdown needed to be enacted at the national level rather than state by state.

You also have to realize that California is a huge agricultural state. That means a lot of migrant workers living in close quarters without good sanitation. Here in my county, where a whole lot of the country's lettuce is grown, the outbreak is concentrated -- but not limited to -- those workers.

Finally, counties in the Central Valley were agitating to open up. Some never really even closed. So you had people traveling from closed counties to open counties, bringing the disease with them.

Right, so the problem is one of housing and poverty. Another distinctly American problem.

[Boston Red]

Housing and poverty is a distinctly American problem?!?

[Falls City Beer]

The country’s leader suggested everyone drink bleach to stop the virus. And some people listened and did it.

I am sorry, but the “dumb” rationale seems to fit all too well.

People do dumb things everywhere. I know it makes people feel good to call people dumb (hey they deserved it, right?), but it’s just not true. Stop focusing on a single person. You might actually learn something about this country.

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Housing and poverty is a distinctly American problem?!?

Yes. Among developed nations, it absolutely is.

[Falls City Beer]

At least we’re moving into a discussion that goes beyond “If we just had *So and so* as our president we’d be fine” theories of causation. We might learn a thing or two about how systems work and don’t.

[RFS62]

People do dumb things everywhere. I know it makes people feel good to call people dumb (hey they deserved it, right?), but it’s just not true. Stop focusing on a single person. You might actually learn something about this country.

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DiSantis sneered at the press around Memorial Day about how Florida isn't New York. The clip has been getting a lot of air play recently.

That was the attitude exhibited by Florida man..... really pissed off at being preached at by the nasty libs for weeks over nothing. Tired of being inconvenienced by the doom-sayers.

And they flocked to the beaches and bars, sticking it to the snowflakes who overreacted about the virus.

The message from the top was that this thing was over.

[757690]

People do dumb things everywhere. I know it makes people feel good to call people dumb (hey they deserved it, right?), but it’s just not true. Stop focusing on a single person. You might actually learn something about this country.

When the single person is the leader of the country and a large part of the country does whatever he says, it is essential to focus on what he does and says. Ignoring this is negligent.

[Falls City Beer]

DiSantis sneered at the press around Memorial Day about how Florida isn't New York. The clip has been getting a lot of air play recently.

That was the attitude exhibited by Florida man..... really pissed off at being preached at by the nasty libs for weeks over nothing. Tired of being inconvenienced by the doom-sayers.

And they flocked to the beaches and bars, sticking it to the snowflakes who overreacted about the virus.

The message from the top was that this thing was over.

One thing that all of those states whose numbers are going up drastically have in common is huge numbers of retirees. Do you believe DeSantis has more influence over Floridians’ behavior than 24 hour news networks? He might. And he certainly hasn’t helped matters. But I doubt he’s a major reason for the spike.

[757690]

Every state has had a testing and tracing problem, huge ones in fact. Which lends credence to my fractured health care system theory. Other countries that allow for command of industries have done much better. They’ve marshaled their resources efficiently. So much for capitalist efficiency.

Also, there are tons of states that got nowhere near their benchmarks for reopening where the numbers have really not increased.

Nearly every state is seeing a rise in cases. New York has the best testing and tracing, and it is one of the few that is not.

https://wamu.org/story/20/07/19/map-...us-in-the-u-s/

[Falls City Beer]

Nearly every state is seeing a rise in cases. New York has the best testing and tracing, and it is one of the few that is not.

https://wamu.org/story/20/07/19/map-...us-in-the-u-s/

Some are precipitous. Some are negligible or steady. Some are going down.

[Boston Red]

Yes. Among developed nations, it absolutely is.

That's a big qualifier that makes it closer to true. Of course, it depends on what you consider the "developed" world. And our immigration history and proximity to the "non-developed world" compared to other parts of the developed world has a lot to do with any such differences. But there are no shortage of people living in poverty in London and Paris.

[RFS62]

One thing that all of those states whose numbers are going up drastically have in common is huge numbers of retirees. Do you believe DeSantis has more influence over Floridians’ behavior than 24 hour news networks? He might. And he certainly hasn’t helped matters. But I doubt he’s a major reason for the spike.

He's loved here by retirees for sure, and everyone else who is loyal to the GOP. As is Trump, and FOX news.

It's baked in deep. All of his campaign commercials feature his loyalty to Trump.

But I'm not implying it's his fault. It's Trump at the helm of this runaway train.

DiSantis is just one more of his enablers.

[BernieCarbo]

Yes. Among developed nations, it absolutely is.

That is nowhere close to reality.

[BernieCarbo]

That's a big qualifier that makes it closer to true. Of course, it depends on what you consider the "developed" world. And our immigration history and proximity to the "non-developed world" compared to other parts of the developed world has a lot to do with any such differences. But there are no shortage of people living in poverty in London and Paris.

Or, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Hungary, Poland, etc, etc. This is not an American problem.

[757690]

At least we’re moving into a discussion that goes beyond “If we just had *So and so* as our president we’d be fine” theories of causation. We might learn a thing or two about how systems work and don’t.

H1N1 was just as serious. Around 60 million Americans were infected. But it was handled completely differently, and the results were radically different. And with the same health care system.

I think this is clear evidence that the people at the top making decisions made a huge difference. I don’t know why anyone who is being objective would want to downplay this.

[Falls City Beer]

H1N1 was just as serious. Around 60 million Americans were infected. But it was handled completely differently, and the results were radically different. And with the same health care system.

I think this is clear evidence that the people at the top making decisions made a huge difference. I don’t know why anyone who is being objective would want to downplay this.

H1N1 was not as serious. Nor nearly as deadly.