Octopus Overlords

It didn't strike me as chilling. It struck me as 'normal', at least from my experience around here. And the smaller the town, the more those views hold sway.

It actually kinda normal - the sentiment expressed by the man she's interviewing and one I've heard myself. I'm thankful you're doing your job, but you don't get to tell me what to do.

To be clear, part of "my job" is enacting policies and regulations to promote public health. While that isn't quite "telling someone what to do", I can see how it's interpreted that way. But yes, Trump's messaging reinforced decades of this attitude and likely destroyed a significant amount of public health messaging and programs nationwide. As I said when this all started, it might take a generation to unfuck what he's done.

Speaking of which, petulant man-child telegraphs how he'll continue to act out:

At a rally in Florida last night, President Trump suggested he would fire infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci after the election. After encouraging a “Fire Fauci” chant, a popular Trumpist slogan, he told the crowd, “Don’t tell anybody but let me wait till a little bit after the election.”

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:57 am It didn't strike me as chilling. It struck me as 'normal', at least from my experience around here. And the smaller the town, the more those views hold sway.

It's fucking horrible for me to think it but I look at that video and think "At least they're not rich enough to leave and spread it. They'll just die in place."

At this point I'm tired of uneducated dumbasses dictating the policies that impact me and my kids. Feel free to live your "ignorance is bliss" mentality in your own bubble, but stop endangering my kids with your stupidity.

YellowKing wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:34 am At this point I'm tired of uneducated dumbasses dictating the policies that impact me and my kids. Feel free to live your "ignorance is bliss" mentality in your own bubble, but stop endangering my kids with your stupidity.

You'll love this:

Go and see your family on Thanksgiving. Yes, even if you have to travel out of state to do it. In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve heard of the pandemic, and yet I repeat: Go see your family on Thanksgiving.
...
I say this precisely because I listen to scientists. We aren’t signing up for a short-term spell inside baking banana bread like we believed we were doing in March (remember those days?). The ­virus will be with us long-term, the scientists say so, and we must adjust our lives accordingly. And adjusting must mean not discarding the things that truly matter to a rational and social animal like the human being — family, community, worship.
...
Kim got to live her regular life for a little while, and people were jealous. It might not involve private jets and islands, but you can live your regular life, too. You can go see your family on Thanksgiving and argue about the election, just like in olden days. Your great-aunt can squeeze your cheeks. Your mom can badger you about getting married. You can drink too much with your cousins.

You can overeat and sink into the couch you’ve known since you were a teenager. You’ve been through an insane year, you’re tired and worn out. You need to collapse into the comfortable embrace of those who know and love you best. For God’s sake, go see your family on Thanksgiving.

Note, not written ironically or sarcastically. It's a real plea for New Yorkers to hit the road for family gatherings on Thanksgiving.

It might as well be titled - 'Be selfish. It's the American way.'

LawBeefaroni wrote:

YellowKing wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:34 am At this point I'm tired of uneducated dumbasses dictating the policies that impact me and my kids. Feel free to live your "ignorance is bliss" mentality in your own bubble, but stop endangering my kids with your stupidity.

You'll love this:

Go and see your family on Thanksgiving. Yes, even if you have to travel out of state to do it. In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve heard of the pandemic, and yet I repeat: Go see your family on Thanksgiving.
...
I say this precisely because I listen to scientists. We aren’t signing up for a short-term spell inside baking banana bread like we believed we were doing in March (remember those days?). The ­virus will be with us long-term, the scientists say so, and we must adjust our lives accordingly. And adjusting must mean not discarding the things that truly matter to a rational and social animal like the human being — family, community, worship.
...
Kim got to live her regular life for a little while, and people were jealous. It might not involve private jets and islands, but you can live your regular life, too. You can go see your family on Thanksgiving and argue about the election, just like in olden days. Your great-aunt can squeeze your cheeks. Your mom can badger you about getting married. You can drink too much with your cousins.

You can overeat and sink into the couch you’ve known since you were a teenager. You’ve been through an insane year, you’re tired and worn out. You need to collapse into the comfortable embrace of those who know and love you best. For God’s sake, go see your family on Thanksgiving.

Note, not said ironically or sarcastically. It's a real plea for New Yorkers to hit the road for family gatherings on Thanksgiving.

This election year I'm rather thankful not to be traveling to see family due to, umm, differences in certain political points of view.

Also, there's that pandemic thing going on.

The "we're going to have to learn to live with it" means after we have a vaccine and virus spread is relatively under control. I've heard the same argument from Covid downplayers - "it's going to be just like the flu, it's not going away, so we'll have to learn to live with it."

YellowKing wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:46 am The "we're going to have to learn to live with it" means after we have a vaccine and virus spread is relatively under control. I've heard the same argument from Covid downplayers - "it's going to be just like the flu, it's not going away, so we'll have to learn to live with it."

This. Also, intriguing how it's portrayed as news that this was not going to be a short, 'bake some banana bread' interlude. That was quite clear from the beginning to anyone willing to listen to folks in the medical fie... Oh, wait. Yeah, OK, now I see.

This happened the day after the state announced a record number of cases, sent out mass texts over the emergency services SMS urging people to wear masks and distance, and mandated mask wearing. Thousands attend Halloween party until it is broken up by cops.

Several thousand people attended a Halloween party near Utah Lake on Saturday night, days after organizers claimed their event had been canceled.

Police say it was one of two parties in Utah County on Halloween night in which more than 1,000 people attended.

The Utah County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a large party on the west side of Utah Lake, south of Saratoga Springs near the Knolls about 10 p.m. Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon said "several thousand" people were in attendance, with the estimates from those who were there ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 people. The party included a stage, a professional sound system and lights, and DJs.

Cellphone videos of the event posted on social media show people, who appear to be high school or college age, packed together in a large group with no social distancing and very little mask wearing.

Read the comments and weep for humanity. :

Be glad your law enforcement was trying to break it up. I am not sure if our sheriff has stuck by his no enforcement statement, but it wouldn't surprise me.

As far as the holiday season goes, we had dinner with the in-laws on halloween since we weren't going to do the trick or treating thing... I was going to ask if they were going to hold superspreader events for thanksgiving and christmas, but I couldn't bring myself to ask because I knew the answer. Living less than 2 miles form the in-laws makes it hard to avoid for us. It gets even better when we add our kids that are doing in person schooling, the future bro-in-law who is an administrator at a school for troubled teens in the city, my wife who works in a hospital, the step-bro who does nothing but travel... so many vectors.

My mother is a very informed Democrat. Donated to Warren, but is fully on board the Biden train. (seriously - she buys Biden paraphernalia. Who does that?) She and my father have given up a lot over the last 7 months - she no longer goes to church, they stopped having parties and seeing their friends. As the virus numbers have shot up in the El Paso area, they's gone even deeper to ground - only my sister goes out shopping, and only at like 5 in the morning. They're being about as safe as anyone can reasonably be.

But when I talked to her last night, she made it very clear - You ARE bringing me my grandchildren for Thanksgiving.

So....yeah. Can't exactly say no to mom.

The current plan for my family is to gather at a large park and be entirely outdoors, with no food sharing. Probably will do it this Sunday instead of actual Thanksgiving, since my family is pretty flexible about when we celebrate holidays, and to maximize the odds that it will not be 10 degrees outside.

Surprised to see this - kids volunteering for vaccine trials:

Evans is a pioneer of the modern age, one of an eventual group of 600 children in the 16-to-17 year-old age group (along with 2,000 more between 12 and 15) to volunteer to be part of a Phase 3 trial to test an experimental COVID-19 vaccine made by the multinational pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The company had already enrolled 42,113 adult volunteers in its Phase 2 and 3 trials, but only recently did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) give approval to include children. And Evans, a high school junior in Cincinnati, was among the earliest, receiving her first of two injections on Oct. 14, at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

More:

“It’s a hard sell for pediatricians to say to parents, ‘I have a licensed vaccine that hasn’t been tested in the pediatric age group, but I want to give it to your children,’” says Frenck.

For that reason, he and other doctors are advocating for robust testing in the 12-17 age group, pausing to see how that goes, and, if the results are good, continuing to test in younger cohorts. “We are looking to test in older kids and then age de-escalate, even down to as young as six months,” he says.

For now, they’re a long way from that. Pfizer is currently the only company testing its COVID-19 vaccine in children of any age and the eventual sample group of 2,600 total children is not yet fully assembled. Still, while testing in children is not a requirement for the vaccine to be released and be used in kids, Frenck believes that other vaccine developers will take their cue from Pfizer and develop pediatric testing plans of their own. “My assumption is most of the companies—or many of the companies—will follow suit,” he says.

Nothing but genuine respect and admiration for these kids and their families.

“When we first spoke to him, he wasn’t too excited to be honest,” says Sharat. “And it was not so much the vaccine itself. He wasn’t too excited about the blood draw part of it. That was the main thing he wasn’t happy about.”

The families haven’t been happy about some other things either—not least the inevitable Internet trolling that seems to follow even the most virtuous act.

“I’ve gotten a few comments on Facebook—’What kind of mother would let her kids do that?'” says Evans. “But Katelyn has also had teachers and other students in the hallway say, ‘Hey, my gosh, that’s so cool’ and, ‘You’re so brave!'”

So...intentionally exposing a child to a vaccine agent to boost immunity? Bad. Refusing to wear a mask and just letting your kid get it naturally? Good. Is that what I'm to presume from the detractors?

Grifman wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:53 am This is why the disease is spreading in rural Red America. The level of willful stubbornness and stupidity is chilling:

Farking hell. It doesn't help that so many of those people have existing medical conditions that put them at further risk.

Sometimes I just want to throw my hands up and say, maybe this is the purge we need.

I was thinking (planning?) to visit the folks for Thanksgiving. They just rented a place near me for a few days and we all wore masks when we got together. But if I'm going there for Thanksgiving, I'm not sure if any of us would want to wear masks for four straight days. One thing I was thinking about was getting a COVID test a few days before (so time enough for processing it) and then isolating until the trip. Of course, there's a chance I could be infected but not show up on the test if it's early, but seems pretty unlikely?

Alefroth wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:48 pm

Grifman wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:53 am This is why the disease is spreading in rural Red America. The level of willful stubbornness and stupidity is chilling:

Farking hell. It doesn't help that so many of those people have existing medical conditions that put them at further risk.

Sometimes I just want to throw my hands up and say, maybe this is the purge we need.

If we're at the point of 'well, what is something good that's come out of this?' (and I kinda agree we're basically there), there are some amazing $$ opportunities for people in healthcare right now. I mean sure, u risk getting a disease that's killed a 1/4 of a million people in 9 months, but I've got a buddy that's been netting >$10k A WEEK since July 1. For doing a job that normally pays about $100k/year. Tbf he is working 90+ hours a week, 6 days a week; however, that's little different than what most resident docs do. And he just got the notice they'll be expanding into north Texas today (DFW had not yet needed his agency's help but with the current spike and it being winter, hospitals here are ramping up).

silver linings and all that, right?

Trump did say that the doctors are in it for the money.

Grifman wrote:

Alefroth wrote: Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:18 pm Sorry to hear that Kurth and RM9. Hope it's as mild as it can be.

Sorry, I haven’t been following this thread as closely. I hope both of you and your families are doing ok.

My wife is doing ok, she’s got Smoove_B on speed dial to make sure she knows what to do.

Massachusetts tries lockdown lite.

-One must remain at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless one has a reason not to. Enforcement isn't specified.

-Most businesses must close at 9:30. Assorted local restaurants and bars in my facebook feed are NOT amused.

-Private gatherings (where most infections happen) are limited to 10 individuals indoors or 25 outdoors.

-Masks are required in all public spaces, with exemptions allowed for those who can document their reason.

Apparently, Charlie Baker has determined that the coronavirus is only active at night! This could be a real breakthrough. While I recognize the need to flatten the curve again, and support efforts in that direction, I don't understand the value of a 10 p.m. soft curfew.

Kraken wrote: Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:09 pm Massachusetts tries lockdown lite.

-One must remain at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. unless one has a reason not to. Enforcement isn't specified.

-Most businesses must close at 9:30. Assorted local restaurants and bars in my facebook feed are NOT amused.

-Private gatherings (where most infections happen) are limited to 10 individuals indoors or 25 outdoors.

-Masks are required in all public spaces, with exemptions allowed for those who can document their reason.

Apparently, Charlie Baker has determined that the coronavirus is only active at night! This could be a real breakthrough. While I recognize the need to flatten the curve again, and support efforts in that direction, I don't understand the value of a 10 p.m. soft curfew.

My guess: it's the frog in the pot strategy. Get Mass residents used to curfew, then when major lockdown is required they will be more receptive to it.

its bars and parties. try to shut down the hotspots where close proximity mingling happens.

Despite what you might have heard:

https://twitter.com/WajahatAli/status/1 ... 9323797504

Red states about to be hit very hard. Sigh.

"United States tops 100,000 new coronavirus cases in a day for first time"

Dont worry...Joe has a plan.
It should all be over in no time.....

We're going to need to see how things look on 1/20/21. I predict...bad. But I'm sure the GOP is frothing at the mouth to somehow blame Joe Biden for the state of the nation in January of 2021, yes.

stimpy wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:56 pm Dont worry...Joe has a plan.
It should all be over in no time.....

Well, that's about 500% better than where we are now, ain't it?

I have to wonder if we'll get an election day coronavirus bump as well.

malchior wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:16 pm I have to wonder if we'll get an election day coronavirus bump as well.

So much depends (I think) on how bad things get over the coming months - and whether or not Americans finally start to realize this isn't a goddamn hoax.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:58 pm We're going to need to see how things look on 1/20/21. I predict...bad. But I'm sure the GOP is frothing at the mouth to somehow blame Joe Biden for the state of the nation in January of 2021, yes.

Trump did fix a destroyed nation and make us better than we ever were by February of 2016, so yeah, if he took no responsibility for anything under is presidency and took responsibility for all of the things gained before his presidency than of course Biden would have to own the current stat of everything January in 2021 and no attachment for anything that happens during the next for years. That's how it works.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:41 pm

malchior wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:16 pm I have to wonder if we'll get an election day coronavirus bump as well.

So much depends (I think) on how bad things get over the coming months - and whether or not Americans finally start to realize this isn't a goddamn hoax.

I'm not counting on it. Even if hospitals all started falling over they'd believe whatever bullshit Trump shoveled out.

LordMortis wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:49 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:58 pm We're going to need to see how things look on 1/20/21. I predict...bad. But I'm sure the GOP is frothing at the mouth to somehow blame Joe Biden for the state of the nation in January of 2021, yes.

Trump did fix a destroyed nation and make us better than we ever were by February of 2016, so yeah, if he took no responsibility for anything under is presidency and took responsibility for all of the things gained before his presidency than of course Biden would have to own the current stat of everything January in 2021 and no attachment for anything that happens during the next for years. That's how it works.

Remember the mess that W left for Obama? He turned a budget surplus into record deficits, started two wars, executed them poorly, and cratered the economy. He was the worst president of my considerable lifetime. Obama got out his shovel and cleaned it up, more or less, while managing to reform a dysfunctional healthcare system. Then trump comes along and makes W the second-worst. Biden faces record deficits; an economy in a "K-shaped recovery," as if that should even be a thing; international pariah status; and a surging pandemic that is long past any ability to control. Biden will get out the shovel, and four years from now those crises will be behind us. Whereupon America will reinstall a Republican, whom we can only pray will not make trump the second-worst president of all time.

Please be right

Whereupon America will reinstall a Republican, whom we can only pray will not make trump the second-worst president of all time.

Anecdotally, lots more COVID+ and PUIs in the hospital. Critical COVID+ and vented COVID+ are both up as well.

Hey, look at me conjoining two topics:

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a surprising twist: In places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas. Most were rural areas in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Smoove_B wrote: Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:31 pm Hey, look at me conjoining two topics:

U.S. voters went to the polls starkly divided on how they see President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, with a surprising twist: In places where the virus is most rampant now, Trump enjoyed enormous support.

An Associated Press analysis reveals that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority — 93% of those counties — went for Trump, a rate above other less severely hit areas. Most were rural areas in Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Trumpists love coronavirus

But just wait, theres more!

My best telecommercial voice.

A quick update on my COVID-19 journey:

10/19 - Got a flu shot at the local Rite Aid; suspected exposure.
10/21 - Started feeling off, not terrible, but off with mild cold/flu symptoms.
10/22 - Felt bad enough to cancel a dentist appointment.
10/23 - Started feeling bad in earnest; terrible headache, fever/chills, aches and pains. Began quarantining in basement.
10/25 - Tested positive for COVID-19.
10/26 - Both sons (also got flu shots at Rite Aid) tested positive but remained asymptomatic throughout; wife and daughter tested negative.
10/26 - 10/31 - My week in the basement; suffered through what felt like a bad case of the flu; monitored O2 levels with a pulse oximeter (hovered between 92 And 95 for much of the week); felt lousy, but never came close to heading to an ER.
11/1 (my birthday) - Started feeling better; headache receded and fever/chills stop; finally got a decent night’s sleep.
11/1 - 11/4 - Sleeping better every night and feeling better each day.
11/5 - Back to near 100% albeit with a persistent but intermittent cough; got clearance from Dr. to resume normal activities and discontinue quarantine; went on my first run since this started and put in a solid 4 miles at an easy, recovery pace; went to the grocery store for the first time.

So, after getting through this, my experience has been that it sucks and I wouldn’t want to wish it on anyone. That said, in all honesty, at its worst, it felt like a particularly bad case of the flu. While I’m not happy I got it, I am feeling really lucky that my experience with it wasn’t any worse. I’m immune-compromised due to some pretty serious medication I’m on to treat a chronic underlying condition. All in all, very happy to be done with this!

good news! there is an end in sight!



at this rate, everyone in the United States will be infected in less than a year!