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Post by artraveler on Mar 16, 2020 5:29:02 GMT -8
mea culpa, yes typhoid
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 7:06:23 GMT -8
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Post by artraveler on Mar 16, 2020 7:16:51 GMT -8
Just joking with my wife on Saturday that states are going to shut down restaurants etc. The the gov's of CA and IL actually announced a mandatory shut down of the same.
Regrettably, there is no penalty for over reaction to this BS.
There is no way we can deal rationally with people who have reached their decision irrationally. All we can do now is wait this out.
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Post by timothylane on Mar 16, 2020 7:35:29 GMT -8
I just saw a list on the Daily Caller of state reactions, and Kentucky has closed bars and restaurants (though not to deliveries and take-home, at least). One article I read on Town Hall suggested buying a gift card from a restaurant you like to give them some current business. (Of course, if it fails the money ends up wasted, so there is a risk.)
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 7:41:31 GMT -8
Unless people stop dropping like flies, Omega-Man style (and we hope this is not the case), this circus is unjustified and all we can do is wait it out. The problem is the precedent this sets. Now public officials will see any kind of cold or flu outbreak as necessitating drastic measures.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 7:50:52 GMT -8
Possible benefits of the current hysteria: The Coronavirus Will Save AmericaWouldn’t it be cool if it became politically incorrect to do business with China? I'd put this next bit in "I'll believe it when I see it." But it's plausible to some extent: We are morphing our way the the world as portrayed in Huxley's Brave New World where the government keeps people in a tight cocoon of safety...for their own good. The price is about every ounce of their freedom. And here I wonder if the writer has considered the likely results (Bigger and Bigger Government) rather than this truly naive picture: This "full alteration of cultural norms" will not be an alteration but more likely an exaggeration of current one. In short, do you expect more restrained government and fewer Snowflakes or the opposite? I expect fully the opposite.
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Post by artraveler on Mar 16, 2020 8:00:05 GMT -8
I really do not want to add to conspicery ideas, but this whole mess started in the media just two days after the senate vote on the impeachment. Go---figure
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Post by timothylane on Mar 16, 2020 9:06:46 GMT -8
The Wuhan flu is real, and a problem. Is hysteria justified? I doubt it. On the other hand, one article I read noted the difference between two Italian cities. One had more cases than the other, so they locked down quickly -- and now it has a lot fewer cases. Hopefully what we're doing will prevent a bigger outbreak.
But is the threat really worse than a severe flu? Somehow we survive every flu season without closing down the economy to the extent that is happening now. I just noticed ads for Outback and Red Lobster that both emphasized their (probably new) ability to do carry out or delivery. An on-line ad for Books-A-Million even emphasized roadsize pickup as well as their on-line capability.
I do hope this makes Americans understand the danger of relying on China for anything essential. They are not our friends. Even if they never try to make good on their threat of closing down access to pharmaceutical supplies (especially precursor chemicals), the threat alone is enough to indicate the risk.
Meanwhile, someone tried to hack HHS over the weekend -- and not for espionage. There was an attempt to slow them down, and also send out false alerts in the name of the CDC. How much harm was actually done I don't know, but this is sabotage, not espionage. Espionage is illegal but normal; sabotage is an act of war. They don't know (or aren't reporting) who did it, but I tend to agree with the blogger who thought the hacker probably speaks Mandarin.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 10:15:48 GMT -8
When we task the government with preventing outbreaks of colds or flu, we are traveling headlong down a very slippery-slope. Does anyone really believe that a similar thing won’t happen next flu season? Or the next? The precedent has been set…shut down society because somebody is dying from a virus of some kind. And there will be no way to gauge the severity of any particular virus because of the media.
Were we already becoming an at-home delivery society? Of course, and this will accelerate that greatly. Will businesses become less dependent upon Chinese manufacturing? Maybe. I’m not going to hold my breath in this regard unless Trump is reelected and takes measures.
Does this reveal a vulnerability regarding Snowflake Gullibility which feeds Government Overreach? I think that will be the main and permanent thing to come out of this. You thought health warnings on Superman costumers were bad (Warning: Suit does not actually allow wearer to fly), waiting until you see the inundation of them, both private and governmental.
This is one crisis that the government types will definitely not let go to waste. Will we ultimately be safer regarding future virus outbreaks? Without a doubt. Will this vast increase in the nanny state’s powers be worth it? Probably not, because those powers will be used in other areas that are not going to have the effect of saving us from a bug. They will (as with the open borders stuff) likely bring societal harm in many forms as these types are doing now.
KBO
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 10:27:33 GMT -8
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Post by artraveler on Mar 16, 2020 10:38:21 GMT -8
Brad, All of that is true, but except for a few who have some real world experience with the PRC. The real threat is the PRC and the Communists. There is no virus more dangerous to the health of the world than communism and the oppressive governments that go hand in hand. The media and the democrat/communist party will use this to keep a hysterical meme constantly in the news. Think of it as trump Derangement Syndrome 3,0. It is not going to matter that this is a very small tempest in a very small teapot.
If the worst should happen in November and that senile Biden should be elected watch all of this suddenly blow away. It is a manufactured crisis and our media should be ashamed for the hysteria and inconvenience it has caused. They aren't and they won't.
I still have a belief that this will blow over and people will see it for what it is and DJT will be reelected in November, but it will not be a total defeat for the communists, only a setback.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 10:48:34 GMT -8
I agree. Throw in “Big Government ‘Social’ Democracy” as well.
I agree. And it saddens me that most people haven’t the ability to call a spade a spade.
I do think this is a manufactured crisis, with the caveat this will *not* have been overkill if the dead start lining the streets and we do a recreation of Charlton Heston in Omega Man.
Listen, I know you think I’m all anti-woman. But my brother summed this up in a nutshell: For years he had to be the voice of reason when his wife wanted to panic and take the kids to urgent care every time they had a soar throat. It’s not “manly” to deny real risks. But it certainly is to not be hysterical and run to the government demanding that society be shut down because of a run-of-the-mill virus.
We’ve been seeing this stuff brewing for years. Think of the insanity of some schools banning peanut butter sandwiches because some kid somewhere might be allergic to it.
Those (like me, and you) who were raising slippery-slope arguments about this were right. Everything about the hysteria going on confirms that we were right about 99% of the hysterical overreach and bubble-boy safeguarding being done all over the place.
What we most need is a government label that is required on the forehead of any elected official or bureaucrat: Warning: Is Subject to Lying, Hysteria, Over-simplification, Corruption, and Bouts of Overall Stupidity. Use with Extreme Caution.
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Post by timothylane on Mar 16, 2020 10:54:33 GMT -8
I commented in the beginning of my response to Schlichter's article last night that the first part (your first quote from him) was partly redundant.
One question I've asked is if this is going to become the norm each flu season. Will we really partially shut down the economy for a few months every year (including Thanksgiving and Christmas)?
How much of this is genuine concern over a possible health threat (and we can see in Europe what a threat it can be), and how much is panic-mongering for the sake of various agendas?
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 12:54:25 GMT -8
I went our for a little 4.5 mile bike ride (not long, but the elevation gain is a bitch) at Ueland Tree Farm. Midday on a weekday I would have expected two or three cars there, tops. The lot was about full with 30 cars or so. Have the Nanny State Authorities actually said we can’t go outside? Must we “self-isolate” in front of a video game or a Netflix stream? I just want to make sure I’m not breaking any rules by actually living life. At 52 degrees, even in the full sun it was getting pretty chilly in places. But I did at least get one of my normal routes in. I’m shaking off the winter sloth if not the actual pounds yet. Could perhaps someone print up a few bumper stickers that say “Fuck Coronavirus”? I think the “Fuck Cancer” bumper stickers are self-indulgent, crude, and vulgar. As if cursing at a disease had any effect. Write a check, asshole. Or hold a fundraiser. But I would consider putting one of those "Eff Coronavirus" bumper stickers on my car.
KBO
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Post by kungfuzu on Mar 16, 2020 13:02:10 GMT -8
That looks like a very nice place. I am surprised it is so large, yet in private hands. Good for them.
OK, I'll bite. What is KBO? Keep borders open? Kick Barack Obama?
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Post by timothylane on Mar 16, 2020 13:21:29 GMT -8
Note that it's west of Bremerton, which is on the west side of Puget Sound, so the tree farm is on the Olympic Peninsula, home of a (very rare) temperate rain forest. (And that picture sure looks like it.) There really are tree farms, presumably growing arboreal products (fruits and nuts, which makes California a logical place for them) or maybe trees for timber. I recall that a former GOP Representative from NC-11 was a tree farmer. (I don't remember the exact name, even though as a one-time contributor I got some yearly calendars that supplied historic dates from Washington's first term. He was one of the people pushing impeachment in early 1997, as I recall.)
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 16, 2020 13:47:57 GMT -8
It is said that during the war, Sir Winston would end phone conversations with “Keep Buggering On.” Shame on the biographers you read for not including that. But that documentary on his painting did, which is where I heard it.
It’s so appropriate right now.
— KBO
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Post by kungfuzu on Mar 16, 2020 13:52:30 GMT -8
Perhaps they did and I forgot it. But does sound like something he would say over a scotch and cigar.
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Post by timothylane on Mar 16, 2020 14:00:34 GMT -8
I wonder if he would be so delicate as to say "buggering" instead of something earthier. (Incidentally, the reason Frederick the Great is referred to as the "King of the Bulgars" in Candide is that in French, "Bulgar" and "bugger" are the same word. Note that Frederick had no children and was succeeded by a nephew.) He famously responded to someone talking about Royal Navy traditions that those were "rum, sodomy, and the lash".
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Post by kungfuzu on Mar 16, 2020 14:03:20 GMT -8
Here are a couple of Churchill quotes which I just read. Both apply to the present situation.
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