Coronavirus RESPECTFUL Discussion Only! (Mod edit: Closed)

[PP2]

But I would urge you to never let China off the hook regardless of you dissatisfaction of the US Govt.

As another poster has mentioned, how do you hold a hostile government accountable? You could slap sanctions on them, but that will absolutely bring on a corresponding move, at a time when the world's economy is already in great peril.

The first rule of a successful foreign policy is to understand that a country will always act in its best interest. China was, and is never going to act except in its best interest, and a competent administration would have acted accordingly.

 

[PP2]

Refreshing press conference

A welcome break from the incoherent blabbering we've been getting on daily basis.

 

[RobertWeathers]

As another poster has mentioned, how do you hold a hostile government accountable? You could slap sanctions on them, but that will absolutely bring on a corresponding move, at a time when the world's economy is already in great peril.

The first rule of a successful foreign policy is to understand that a country will always act in its best interest. China was, and is never going to act except in its best interest, and a competent administration would have acted accordingly.

See my other post.

We are one planet. Hopefully something like this changes insular thinking like China and the US

 

[primetime]

As another poster has mentioned, how do you hold a hostile government accountable? You could slap sanctions on them, but that will absolutely bring on a corresponding move, at a time when the world's economy is already in great peril.

The first rule of a successful foreign policy is to understand that a country will always act in its best interest. China was, and is never going to act except in its best interest, and a competent administration would have acted accordingly.

You can't really sanction China anyways. I guess you could try to slap some symbolic travel restrictions on CCP officials or whatever, but they're an export economy that supplies the world's market. They've even moved a lot of high-tech capital manufacturing into the country so you couldn't even be like "no one's selling you robots" or whatever (a la Russia, where the US and EU agreed not to sell them high-tech oil and gas exploration equipment, which is only effective because energy export is their entire economy) and have it mean much. And even a relatively minor but nevertheless ill-advised trade war with China knifed the US manufacturing and agricultural sectors hard.

There is probably some value in putting blame on China for public health reasons, they should regulate their animal markets more effectively and not have tried to cover it up for six weeks, but it's not like pandemics can't start anywhere. 2008 H1N1 likely started in Mexico. 1918 H1N1 likely started in Kansas.

 

[PP2]

See my other post.

We are one planet. Hopefully something like this changes insular thinking like China and the US

What I would really love is for this to happen:

Many experts declined to speak on the record for fear of offending the president. But they were united in the opinion that politicians must step aside and let scientists both lead the effort to contain the virus and explain to Americans what must be done.

Harsh Steps Are Needed to Stop the Coronavirus, Experts Say

Unfortunately, trump is a narcissist and a megalomaniac. He will never relinquish being the center of attention.

 

[farn]

I see a lot of finger pointing to other nations, but there are still - as of March 21 - hundreds (thousands ?) of US citizens on California beaches, completely disregarding safety regulations...



Global pandemic. Taken seriously by some, less seriously by others.

 

[RobertWeathers]

What I would really love is for this to happen:



Harsh Steps Are Needed to Stop the Coronavirus, Experts Say

Unfortunately, trump is a narcissist and a megalomaniac. He will never relinquish being the center of attention.

...and Dems and GOP need to work together. That ain't happening either.

 

[PP2]

...and Dems and GOP need to work together. That ain't happening either.

Which is all the more reason for them to step aside and just let the scientists take charge.

 

[primetime]

I see a lot of finger pointing to other nations, but there are still - as of March 21 - hundreds (thousands ?) of US citizens on California beaches, completely disregarding safety regulations...



Global pandemic. Taken seriously by some, less seriously by others.

People crowding in DC to see the cherry blossoms... and in England, to see the cherry blossoms. DC shut down major bridges and roadways to curb this. It sucks, but there's always a tension in an open society about how much you can limit peoples' movements by decree or suggestion, and moving to threats of violence (by using the police or whatever) is qualitatively different. I know it wouldn't bother some of the less sophisticated authoritarians in this thread, but once the genie is out of that bottle, it's really hard to put it back in.

 

[farn]

People crowding in DC to see the cherry blossoms... and in England, to see the cherry blossoms. DC shut down major bridges and roadways to curb this. It sucks, but there's always a tension in an open society about how much you can limit peoples' movements by decree or suggestion, and moving to threats of violence (by using the police or whatever) is qualitatively different. I know it wouldn't bother some of the less sophisticated authoritarians in this thread, but once the genie is out of that bottle, it's really hard to put it back in.

Here in NS, yesterday, our Premier made one of the scariest speeches I’ve heard. Intellectually, I understand that measures must be put in place if we are to limit the damages. But it sounded like it was straight from the Police State handbook.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

So people in Nigeria are watching these daily briefings. Huh

This is the issue with creating confusion and misinformation instead of relying on the experts to provide clarity.

Nigeria records chloroquine poisoning after Trump endorses it for coronavirus treatment - CNN

In related news, 30 folks in Lagos have COVID-19 and pharmacies are price gouging with prices escalating by the minute. With a population of 20M, Lagos appears ****ed.

Regards,
Chris

 

[JackBauer]

Republican Guard Barracks Saddam Hussein Obama bin Laden more like

Very subtle isn't it

 

[venecol]

Refreshing press conference

Gotta love the Army Corps of Engineers. Incredible work they do. Married with military logistics this can be a huge help. Wish they would've been involved sooner, but it may not be too late.

 

[primetime]

In related news, 30 folks in Lagos have COVID-19 and pharmacies are price gouging with prices escalating by the minute. With a population of 20M, Lagos appears ****ed.

Regards,
Chris

Yeah, a lot of the news is about the developed world. Obviously, Italy is being hit hard and the worst is probably yet to come for the US and the UK, among others. But this could rip through the developing world, which has basically zero public health infrastructure (and the developed world won't be able to provide aid unlike with ebola). The Spanish flu is remembered for how badly it hit Europe (especially in the trenches) and the US, but 60% of global mortality from that pandemic was in India.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

I see a lot of finger pointing to other nations, but there are still - as of March 21 - hundreds (thousands ?) of US citizens on California beaches, completely disregarding safety regulations...



Global pandemic. Taken seriously by some, less seriously by others.

On this topic...

I went to the beach this weekend just to walk and get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Turns out tons of others had the same idea, so much so it made the news. That being said, at the beach I was at, the people all kept to themselves with quite a bit of social distancing. Anybody who put out a blanket to sit easily kept 20ish feet minimum from anyone else's blanket. Even just strollers like myself would give a good 10ft+ berth to any passerbys. I thought everyone did a good job.

I did notice driving past other beaches on highway 1 that there were larger crowds, at least from the number of cars in the lots. Not sure what it was like on those beaches, though.

Regards,
Chris

 

[JackBauer]

President Trump is signaling interest in scaling back “social distancing” and other steps promoted by health officials to contain the novel coronavirus as a growing number of conservatives argue that impact on the U.S. economy has become too severe.

“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF,” Trump said in a late-night tweet Sunday written in capital letters. “AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

The White House has promoted a 15-day period — initiated March 16 and set to expire later this month — to “slow the spread” of the deadly virus that includes following directions of state and local authorities that have resulted in shuttered schools, restaurants and other businesses.

Trump’s tweet appeared to reflect impatience with the economic toll of such moves, and a series of retweets by the president early Monday added to doubts about whether he is committed to staying the course beyond March if necessary.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Good luck, everyone.

 

[Nunchucks]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Good luck, everyone.

Here in MA we are closing non essential businesses for 2 weeks.

 

[PP2]

Meanwhile Biden is MIA. Yeah, that's the definition of leadership in a time of crisis.

DNC sure chose the wrong puppet.

How reassuring.

 

[farn]

On this topic...

I went to the beach this weekend just to walk and get some fresh air and a change of scenery. Turns out tons of others had the same idea, so much so it made the news. That being said, at the beach I was at, the people all kept to themselves with quite a bit of social distancing. Anybody who put out a blanket to sit easily kept 20ish feet minimum from anyone else's blanket. Even just strollers like myself would give a good 10ft+ berth to any passerbys. I thought everyone did a good job.

I did notice driving past other beaches on highway 1 that there were larger crowds, at least from the number of cars in the lots. Not sure what it was like on those beaches, though.

Regards,
Chris

Our Premier started with (paraphrasing) “Many of you are obeying, but I was disappointed to see pictures of cars in beach parking lots and I have no choice...” and it went from there.

Sounded ridiculous (the delivery of the message). It was like an “I love you, but I need to...” bad-bf speech.

I don’t know if it’ll even help... he says no more than 5 people... we are six in my family. This whole situation would have been unimaginable two weeks ago.

 

[farn]

In related news, 30 folks in Lagos have COVID-19 and pharmacies are price gouging with prices escalating by the minute. With a population of 20M, Lagos appears ****ed.

Regards,
Chris

You could make a solid case that daily life in Lagos isn’t ideal for many, even before all of this.