Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:04 pm

Holman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 1:55 pmAre they re-selling and price gouging?

Like that douche Shakespeare?

"Over a 15-year period he purchased and stored grain, malt and barley for resale at inflated prices to his neighbours and local tradesmen," they wrote, adding that Shakespeare "pursued those who could not (or would not) pay him in full for these staples and used the profits to further his own money-lending activities."

He was pursued by the authorities for tax evasion, and in 1598 was prosecuted for hoarding grain during a time of shortage.

Rep. Devin Nunes of California urged Americans to go out and visit bars and restaurants on Sunday, amid mounting calls by experts for people to avoid public gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

In an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures , Nunes told that people should “stop panicking here.” He was concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could harm the economy, “because people are scared to go out.”

Smoove_B wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:28 pm Oh hey look, yet another political official voicing advice in direct opposition to public health recommendations during a communicable disease pandemic. I've said it before - this is unprecedented.

Rep. Devin Nunes of California urged Americans to go out and visit bars and restaurants on Sunday, amid mounting calls by experts for people to avoid public gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

In an appearance on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures , Nunes told that people should “stop panicking here.” He was concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could harm the economy, “because people are scared to go out.”

Order take-out or delivery (I'm doing it tonight) if you want to support local small business.

El Guapo wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:31 pmIs take-out and delivery safe? I worry (in the pre-President Sanders era) about restaurant employees who are sick but can't afford to take time off or go to the doctor.

Spraying all your “order in” food with Lysol is probably an overreaction. Your biggest risk is if the delivery person sneezes or coughs on you. If you want to be sure wash and/or disinfect your hands after handling the packaging and beginning to eat, but either way very low risk.

There is also no evidence of transmission the foods. Doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but it’s a low probability event. You’re more likely to catch it from someone sneezing next to you in a restaurant and you breathing it in versus if somebody sneezed on your food.

Smoove_B wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:38 pm

El Guapo wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 2:31 pmIs take-out and delivery safe? I worry (in the pre-President Sanders era) about restaurant employees who are sick but can't afford to take time off or go to the doctor.

Yes. One of my academic mentors is a food-safety expert and he's been fielding this question steadily for the last few weeks. I'll default to him via his Twitter messages to the world. He taught me everything I know about communicable diseases.

Spraying all your “order in” food with Lysol is probably an overreaction. Your biggest risk is if the delivery person sneezes or coughs on you. If you want to be sure wash and/or disinfect your hands after handling the packaging and beginning to eat, but either way very low risk.

And:

There is also no evidence of transmission the foods. Doesn’t mean it can’t happen, but it’s a low probability event. You’re more likely to catch it from someone sneezing next to you in a restaurant and you breathing it in versus if somebody sneezed on your food.

He's kind of a big deal if you want to follow him (and I would recommend it):

[Illinois governor] Pritzker orders all bars and restaurants to close to dine-in customers by end of day Monday.

“The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. The time for action is here,” the governor said. “This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people of this state.”

Holman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 12:06 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:47 am

Kraken wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 11:42 am Americans used to be more community-minded, more compliant to authority, and believed the same news. Growing up during the depression and fighting WW2 (as my parents did) did instill a sense of pulling together. IDK that we're softer today, but we're certainly more fractious.

People during the depression certainly wouldn't have bought up all of the toilet paper in town in order sell it back to the community at a steep mark up. Well, a few might have, but they wouldn't have been well-received. By which I mean they'd have been made an example of.

But how many people are *actually* doing that?

The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to near-zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus.

Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 bps to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days.

The new fed funds rate, used as a benchmark both for short-term lending for financial institutions and as a peg to many consume rates, will now be targeted at 0%-0.25%.

The Fed also cut reserve requirement ratios for thousands of banks to zero.

Trump minutes ago: We have "tremendous control" of the coronavirus.

Fauci just now at the same briefing, after Trump leaves: "The worst is yet ahead for us. It is how we respond to that challenge that is going to determine what the ultimate end point is going to be."

Z-Corn wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:52 pm ...and we just closed on our refi last Thursday...crap.

Grifman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:14 pmOk, but help me make sense of this. If someone can cough or sneeze on me or I can pick it up from touching something that someone else has touched, then why not food? Someone is preparing it, will touch it, can cough or sneeze on it. How can it be safe? Why is food any different than any other object out there that we should avoid touching? I'd love to continue to support some local favorites of mine but I'm not sure how safe. Take out may be "safer" because I'm not in a room with with a bunch of infected strangers but I'm not sure how it's "safe". Does he explain it anywhere and can you provide his quote/explanation here?

Daehawk wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:44 pm Wish I could refinance the home and get off this 11.5% interest.

Grifman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:22 pm Well, I can't speak for others but my church is getting together a committee and other volunteers to make sure all of our elderly get their needs taken care of - groceries, prescriptions, regular contact, whatever they need to that they can isolate themselves and stay safe. I'm kind of proud of our response.

Smoove_B wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:16 pm

Grifman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:14 pmOk, but help me make sense of this. If someone can cough or sneeze on me or I can pick it up from touching something that someone else has touched, then why not food? Someone is preparing it, will touch it, can cough or sneeze on it. How can it be safe? Why is food any different than any other object out there that we should avoid touching? I'd love to continue to support some local favorites of mine but I'm not sure how safe. Take out may be "safer" because I'm not in a room with with a bunch of infected strangers but I'm not sure how it's "safe". Does he explain it anywhere and can you provide his quote/explanation here?

Yes, it's the method of transmission. Without putting everyone to sleep, there are different ways bacteria/viruses/parasites get from the host into a new host. The virus (based on what we know right now) is seemingly most likely transmitted through droplets - tiny globs of saliva/mucous that are ejected from hosts nose and/or mouth when they cough or sneeze. Those tiny globs then need to come into contact with your eyes or nose and/or you're breathing in through your mouth and you inhale them. The mucosal membranes of your throat and stomach are more protected.

So basically, here are the scenarios:

* If someone is making you a burger and they cough/sneeze into it, then cook it, the virus is killed (no risk) - but still gross.

*If someone is making you a burger, they cook it, sneeze in their hand, pick up the burger and hand it to you, and then you eat it (extremely low risk). When you eat the burger and ingest the virus it is (based on current knowledge) inactivated by stomach acids and destroyed.

*Someone makes you a burger, they cook it, place it inside a container, sneeze on their hand and then touch the outside of the container and hand it to you; your hand touches that container / package surface, then you rub your eye (riskier, unknown level). This last scenario is no different than touching a doorknob or a handrail - it's just a non-food surface (packaging/container) that has been contaminated (in my world, we call these fomites) and you've now spread those droplets from that surface to your body.

In years to come there will be studies to figure all this out. We're not there yet. So best practices would say if you're really concerned, washing your hands after opening all the packages would be safest but (so far) risk seems low as we don't believe (yet) that cardboard, plastic or Styrofoam containers are likely surfaces that can transmit this virus; that may change.

tl;dr the risk for disease transmission is highest through the air (short distances); being sneezed on, being coughed on is to be avoided. Being in close proximity to people coughing and sneezing? Also should be avoided. Making sure to wash your hands when you're out and about, then back in a safe place and/or you're caring for someone is paramount.

This is also why there's been a call for greater sanitizing of surfaces. To deal with those tiny droplets that have collected on incidental surfaces when people cough or sneeze without covering. Here, we're trying to minimize risk that someone touches that surface, picks up viral droplets and then ends up touching their face.

Defiant wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:34 pm Fauci open to a 14-day ‘national shutdown’ to stem virus

gameoverman wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:48 pm

Defiant wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:34 pm Fauci open to a 14-day ‘national shutdown’ to stem virus

the supply chain remained healthy

I don't thing Trump or his people realize this isn't about the supply chain. People are worried that OTHER people will buy up the supplies, so therefore they must buy as much as possible before there's a shortage. Done on a wide scale, this causes the shortage and that shortage only reinforces the panic to buy more. Nowhere in this sequence of events does anyone care that toilet paper is still being made and shipped.

pr0ner wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 6:00 pm

Z-Corn wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 5:52 pm ...and we just closed on our refi last Thursday...crap.

Interest rates actually spiked at the end of the week since the virus appears to be slowing down home sales. Week before last my bank was at 2.875% for a 30 year conforming at 0.250 points. Right now they're at 3.5% and 1.250 points.

I put in a refi application 2 weeks ago and I haven't been quoted a rate yet. I'm not sure I want to pay a few thousand bucks to maybe go down .75% when I could have gone down 1.375% a week ago almost for free (if my bank could have gotten back to me faster).

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- At a home in Nelson County sheriff's deputies are doing something unprecedented that the governor and others ordered.

A 53-year-old man in Nelson County who has a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus refused to self-isolate, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday.

...

Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa said the man is now cooperating, but deputies will remain outside his house 24/7 for the foreseeable future. Pineiroa did not identify where in Nelson County the man lives.

The man left a hospital against medical advice, according to Beshear. It's unknown what facility the man left, but Pineiroa said the man gave a Meade County address at the hospital despite living in Nelson County for quite some time.

mori wrote: Sun Mar 15, 2020 7:15 pm People do not seem to understand there will always be TP available. People seem to be buying it until it is bursting from the seams in their homes. I guess this is what survivors of The Walking Dead have been living off of for years. I do not know if they think it will be a bartering commodity in the future or are leaving it for the survivors. I did witness a few people coming into taprooms/bars and trying to buy their drinks with rolls of TP (as a joke).

Defiant wrote: Sat Mar 14, 2020 11:50 am It's nice to know that at least some assholes trying to profit on this aren't succeeding How about donating it?

HAPPENING NOW: Matt did not answer our calls so we went to his storage unit. The AG’s office was on the scene facilitating with the donation. This is the 3rd stop they’ve been to this morning to gather the sanitizer.

Wacko Trump Sheriff wrote:It is now evident that this is an orchestrated attempt to destroy CAPITALISM. First sports, then schools and finally commercial businesses. Time to RISE UP and push back. Bars and restaurants should defy the order. Let people decide if they want to go out

...

GO INTO THE STREETS FOLKS. Visit bars, restaurants, shopping malls, CHURCHES and demand that your schools re-open. NOW!
If government doesn’t stop this foolishness...STAY IN THE STREETS.
END GOVERNEMNT CONTROL OVER OUR LIVES. IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
THIS IS AN EXPLOITATION OF A CRISIS.