Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
Actually... at the present time we do (that may change).
Or people they need alive in order to vote for them. The average age of Conservative Party members is about 67, and the numbers for their voters are probably similar.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 06:59amThose who propose such strategies, with the notion that some portion of the population is expendable, never seem to consider that they themselves could be among the expended.
Not sure about the numbers, but there are reports of medical staff moving to other states to help. A doctor in NY was interviewed (can't remember the outlet) and he did speak of doctors elsewhere coming in. On the other end of the spectrum is also horror stories about medical staff denied accomodation when the landlord found out they were medical staff (this isn't just with medical personnel moving from another state to help out, its doctors in that state wanting to live separate from their families in case they pass covid 19 onto family members), so that could present problems even if doctors /nurses from other states want to move to hotspots to help.Bedlam wrote: ↑2020-04-09 03:06am
And do you think the US has thousands of medics in unaffected parts of the country to rush to the effected area?
China had the advantage that most of the infections were in a single area which they could cordon off and pump more resources into, the US has had infections scattered all over the country more or less from outset so that's less of an option for them.
Not arguing that their health system couldn't be better but the same solution isn't possible for all cases.
Or they believe they will be the lucky ones with mild symptoms. I think the case with Boris Johnson ending up in ICU, it has scared more right-wingers like Nigel Farage into taking this seriously.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 06:59am Those who propose such strategies, with the notion that some portion of the population is expendable, never seem to consider that they themselves could be among the expended.
The language around corvid-19 has sometimes felt trite and misleading. You do not survive the illness through fortitude and strength of character, whatever the Prime Minister's colleauges will tell us.
And the disease is not a great leveller, the consquences of which everyone, rich or poor, suffers the same. This is a myth which needs debunking. Those serving on the front line right now, bus drivers and shelf stackers, nurses, care home workers, hospital staff and shopkeepers are disproportionetly the lower paid members of our workforce. They are more likely to catch the disease becuase they are more exposed. Those who live in towerblocks and small flats will find the lockdown tougher. Those in manual jobs will be unable to work from home.
This is a health issue with huge ramifications for social welfare, and it's a wlefare issue with huge ramifications for public health.
That's to be expected. I can't think of many US presidents who wouldn't use this to get new powers.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 06:11amTrump is definitely using the pandemic to get as much of what he wants as he can without needing to deal with annoyances like the US Congress, the courts, the law, or human decency.The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2020-04-04 07:02pm Anyone who thinks those new border policies are temporary is delusional. They will never be lifted, or not until Trump is removed from power.
Good thing I didn't say that.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 12:00pm The notion that Trump is no worse than the average PotUS is a pernicious and dangerous idea. Not only is he a vicious, greedy, self-centered son of a bitch but he's got a cult of followers that have penetrated all levels of government and will let him do whatever the hell he wants to do.
As if everything else weren't enough, black men in America get to be put in a situation where they need to juggle the fear of getting infected versus the fear of being shot by the police because they walked into a convenience store while wearing a hoodie and a mask, and base their behavior on which one of those two things is more likely to happen.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a 180-degree turn last week and is now recommending that people wear face masks in public. The guidelines say medical-grade masks should be reserved for health professionals, who are facing a shortage of supplies, and suggest that Americans use T-shirts, scarves, handkerchiefs or any other spare fabric to make homemade masks to cover their noses and mouths.
On Saturday I thought about the errands I need to run this week, including a trip to the grocery store. I thought I could use one of my old bandannas as a mask. But then my voice of self-protection reminded me that I, a black man, cannot walk into a store with a bandanna covering the greater part of my face if I also expect to walk out of that store. The situation isn’t safe and could lead to unintended attention, and ultimately a life-or-death situation. For me, the fear of being mistaken for an armed robber or assailant is greater than the fear of contracting Covid-19.
These are the fears that black Americans have to constantly face. Where we can go, how we can show up, what we can wear, what we can say – it never ends. The world is upside down right now with the coronavirus pandemic and we are living in a dystopian nightmare come to life. Still, we are living in an America where history dictates that, even in the most absurd times, hatred and bigotry continue to reign. We are still judged, convicted and sentenced by race, by gender, sexual orientation and class.
Early reports highlight what many have predicted: those who are affected by Covid-19 are overwhelmingly people of color, poor people, the homeless and those living with disabilities. This stems from a lack of equitable access to healthcare.
Meanwhile, the bigotry escalates. There has been an increase of anti-Asian discrimination because Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China. Racial tensions are increasingly escalating, and the situation for minorities is getting worse.
As this is a historic moment, it is important that we remember our history. Black men and women in this country have been killed for any and everything. A child with a toy gun, a young girl sleeping in her family home, a man buying an airgun at Walmart. Knowing all that, I just don’t feel safe. Even in a time of pandemic, the discrimination does not stop.
I will not be covering my face until I am able to obtain a face mask that is unmistakable for what it is. Let me be clear: this is not because I do not trust the advice of the CDC – I do. I believe in science, and I have followed all of its guidelines up to this point. I know masks work, and I trust the CDC’s recommendation.
What I do not trust is the innate biases and lack of critical thought about the implications of these decisions. I do not trust that I can walk into a grocery store with my face covered and not be disturbed. I do not trust that I will not be followed. I do not trust that I will be allowed to exist in my black skin and be able to buy groceries or other necessities without a confrontation and having to explain my intent and my presence. I do not trust that wearing a makeshift mask will allow me to make it back to my home.
So until I receive a mask, I will get to live out my childhood dream of being on Supermarket Sweep. And yes, I will attempt to get everything I need into my cart and to the checkout in three minutes or less.
I doubt it's the first time you've had a president like that. I also doubt it's the first time you've had a president who plumbs such remarkable depths of stupidity that if their wealthy relatives hadn't been covering for them they would probably have wound up in the poorhouse or dead long ago.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 12:00pmThe notion that Trump is no worse than the average PotUS is a pernicious and dangerous idea. Not only is he a vicious, greedy, self-centered son of a bitch but he's got a cult of followers that have penetrated all levels of government and will let him do whatever the hell he wants to do.
I think the most significant difference between Trump and other bad presidents the US has had is that those bad presidents were still interested in running the country.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 12:00pm The notion that Trump is no worse than the average PotUS is a pernicious and dangerous idea. Not only is he a vicious, greedy, self-centered son of a bitch but he's got a cult of followers that have penetrated all levels of government and will let him do whatever the hell he wants to do.
Yep.Vendetta wrote: ↑2020-04-09 03:53pmI think the most significant difference between Trump and other bad presidents the US has had is that those bad presidents were still interested in running the country.Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-04-09 12:00pm The notion that Trump is no worse than the average PotUS is a pernicious and dangerous idea. Not only is he a vicious, greedy, self-centered son of a bitch but he's got a cult of followers that have penetrated all levels of government and will let him do whatever the hell he wants to do.
Like Nixon was corrupt as all fuck, but he also reopened diplomacy with China and signed SALT-1. He actually did some presidenting as well as doing crimes.
Trump wanted to be president to run a real estate grift and to stroke his ego.
The researchers, along with a team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, analyzed the samples and found the number of coronavirus particles was on par with if there were 2,300 people infected with the virus.
But at the time of tests, there were only 446 confirmed cases in the region, according to the study.
The researchers shared their findings with local health officials who said it was plausible there were hundreds of undetected cases.
“They could believe that [our] numbers could be correct and not out of the realm of possibility,” Matus told the outlet.
No, the best case scenario would be Trump living thirty years inside of a prison cell while his family loses everything. Except Barron, who becomes a millionaire in Silicon Valley and supports only Tiffany financially.EnterpriseSovereign wrote: ↑2020-04-09 08:49pm Wouldn't the best case scenario be if Trump himself was struck down by the virus?
These hostis humani generis pieces of shit need to be forced to stop fucking spreading pestilence and if doing that takes beating the shit out of them, then this is ultimately natural selection at work.Grocery Store Customers Tackle Man Who Coughed and Spit on Food
A man in Massachusetts found out the hard way just how on edge people are about germs in grocery stores right now.
People at a Stop and Shop store in Kingston tackled a man who coughed and spit on produce during the COVID-19 global outbreak, reported The New York Post.
Kyle Mann posted the grocery store incident to his Facebook page, with a video that showed several people tackling the man.
“He fought an employee and good customers took him down until the cops arrived,” Man explained in his caption.
Police from Kingston said the 65-year-old man allegedly “was coughing and spitting” at the store. Things got physical soon after, with the man from Duxbury fighting with employees and other customers.
When cops arrived, the man was taken to a hospital where he was evaluated. Officers reported there is no reason to believe the man has COVID-19.
Police said the man might face charges of assault and battery and destruction of property, and assault and battery with a shod foot.
The incident comes two weeks after a woman purposefully coughed on and destroyed an estimated $35,000 worth of products in a grocery store in Hanover Township, PA.
The co-owner of the store, Gerrity's Supermarket, reported to customers and authorities that he did believe the woman was infected with the virus, although the store had to get rid of the stock. He shared an update the next day announcing that the compromised produce section had been fully restocked.
That would result in President Mike Pence. Even if he's limited to a caretaker presidency that lasts less than nine months, that's not a terribly edifying prospect.EnterpriseSovereign wrote: ↑2020-04-09 08:49pmWouldn't the best case scenario be if Trump himself was struck down by the virus?
I've read a lot of unconfirmed reports that the coronavirus has been floating around in North America since early November to mid December of last year. This is why we need the antibody test now and everywhere, if the results in other places are similar, it means we're a lot further along the curve than what the official projections say.Roseland Hospital phlebotomist: 30% of those tested have coronavirus antibody
Business
By Staff reports | Apr 9, 2020
A phlebotomist working at Roseland Community Hospital said Thursday that 30% to 50% of patients tested for the coronavirus have antibodies while only around 10% to 20% of those tested have the active virus.
Sumaya Owaynat, a phlebotomy technician, said she tests between 400 and 600 patients on an average day in the parking lot at Roseland Community Hospital. Drive-thru testing is from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. each day. However, the hospital has a limited number of tests they can give per day.
Owaynat said the number of patients coming through the testing center who appear to have already had coronavirus and gotten over it is far greater than those who currently have the disease.
“A lot of people have high antibodies, which means they had the coronavirus but they don’t have it anymore and their bodies built the antibodies,” Owaynat told Chicago City Wire.
Antibodies in the bloodstream reveal that a person has already had the coronavirus and may be immune to contracting the virus again.
If accurate, this means the spread of the virus may have been underway in the Roseland community - and the state and country as a whole - prior to the issuance of stay at home orders and widespread business closures in mid-March which have crippled the national economy.
In addition, those who show signs of already having had the illness should be able to re-enter society -- albeit with some modified social distancing measures in place -- rather than sheltering at home as they are no longer in danger. Of those who contract the coronavirus, around 25 percent may be asymptomatic.
A recent study of 1,000 people in the Heinsberg District of Bonn, Germany found that 15% of the population had contracted the virus, many unknowingly and without symptoms.
Of those, only 0.37% died from COVID-19, a figure much lower than those previously cited.
In fact, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently decreased his projection of the number of deaths nationwide from the virus to 60,000 from the 100,000 he predicted just last week.
Labs have been ramping up production of antibody tests in recent days, and some are saying the testing will hasten the end of the crisis and help restore the economy and quality of life to the country at large.
Abbott Labs in particular, which developed a five-minute testing kit, is stepping up efforts to roll out more antibody testing kits.
Many are calling for the kits to be shipped to homes around the country to determine if people have already had the virus or not. Those receiving a positive result would be deemed safe to re-engage in the workforce as well as assist in efforts to help those most negatively affected by the virus.
Roseland Community Hospital, located on the far south side of Chicago, has 138 beds serving a majority minority population with over 96% of the community’s residents identifying as African-American.
In recent days, the White House has sounded the alarm saying early data show the black population is being affected to a higher degree by the virus.
I may actually watch the Pope's. I'm not remotely Catholic, but there's an artistry and grandeur to Catholicism which can be interesting to watch if I'm in the right mood for it, plus Francis is a good advocate of socialist values at times.TORONTO -- The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the cancellation of gatherings large and small across Canada, and religious ceremonies are no exception.
This means that for families celebrating Easter and Passover, this year’s festivities will look much different from any other. With the closure of places of worship like churches and synagogues, many will be spending their holidays at home.
But despite not being able to attend religious services in person, many are being given the option to do so virtually.
This is thanks to a number of organizations across the globe that are livestreaming their ceremonies. Christians will be able to celebrate Easter through virtual services, and those of Jewish faith can observe Passover by tuning in to online seders. Members of different religious groups are able to mark the holidays while staying at home and maintaining the necessary physical distance.
One organization that has gone digital is Toronto's Beth Torah Congregation. Rabbi Yossi Sapirman has been livestreaming his Saturday morning services for weeks now. Given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he decided to broadcast his seder online as well. He hosted the ritual in his home on Wednesday as part of his Passover celebration.
“I would not normally invite a camera into my home for my own seder, but it has to be done,” the rabbi told CTVNews.ca via telephone on Wednesday. “Putting myself out there means thousands of people will be comforted, and there’s no greater way to celebrate.”
Government and public health officials have firmly called for the cancellation of all religious gatherings ahead of both Passover and Easter, stressing that all holiday festivities should take place at home.
"This year, celebrations will feel very different as all of us find ways to meet with our families and friends virtually rather than in person, but it is absolutely crucial that we continue to follow these rules to protect our families, our friends, our neighbours and our country," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday.
But aside from having to stay home, this year’s Passover is unique in a different sense, said Sapirman. The holiday is meant to commemorate the story of Exodus and the Israelites’ journey from enslavement to freedom. But given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it becomes an opportunity to reflect on humanity’s collective journey during these difficult times.
“We’re celebrating the anticipation of our own personal freedom,” he said. “We’re not celebrating tomorrow, we’re not celebrating today – we’re celebrating the possibility that it’s going to get better.
“This is why I tell people this is the most meaningful Passover ever.”
While the world is united in the fact that everyone is experiencing this crisis together, many continue to remain confined to their homes in an effort to stop the virus from spreading. This is precisely why it’s important to connect with others, insists the rabbi. One of the best ways to do this is through technology.
“These are uncharted territories for all of us because there’s never been a greater need for social engagement and to talk to each other,” said Sapirman. “Technology is really saving us right now, it’s saving our social engagement.”
It’s for this reason that Sapirman and many others are turning to streaming platforms like YouTube to connect with members of their congregations. YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing site, and one of the most popular platforms for livestreaming. In the past couple of weeks, the company said it has seen hundreds of channels created by various places of worship in an effort to connect with others.
The Vatican, for example, will be live treaming all of its Holy Week services from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City through the website. This comes after its office announced Easter services would be held without the public for the first time.
“People come to YouTube for a lot of different reasons,” Andrew Peterson, YouTube Canada’s head of content partnerships, told CTVNews.ca on Thursday over the phone. “It’s not surprising to see faith and worship being some of those many things people come to the platform for in times like this.”
The website features a number of resources to help these religious organizations transmit their services online more efficiently. These tools include a digital playbook featuring instructions on how to create a YouTube channel, as well as how to optimize and set it up for livestreaming. Instructional videos on the YouTube Creators channel also offer information on content strategy and troubleshooting.
“We’ve created these resources to help people tackle the really daunting challenge of taking an offline event, online,” said Peterson. “As a platform, we just want to make sure that important cultural and faith organizations in Canada can continue providing valuable support and services to their constituents in this really difficult time.”
For Peterson, the best part of watching religious organizations livestream their services is seeing how they continue to transform the way they engage with members of their congregations. He points to the vlog-style videos posted by St. Mary’s Church in Brampton, Ont. as an example.
“I’m so inspired by the new ways people are finding to make that connection,” said Peterson. “I think the innovation that we’re seeing to keep this sense of togetherness is phenomenal.”
Sapirman has also been making his services more interactive by asking viewers to send in photos of themselves. For his Saturday service, or Shabbat, he places these pictures in the pews. But during his virtual seder on Wednesday, he used the photos to create a slideshow that played during the live tream.
“People were able to see themselves participating,” he said. “It’s creating the warmth and connectivity that a live service could never do.”
He explains that the seder was much different from any previous service he had led, whether in-person or virtually. Taking place in his home, it included conversations with other family members and featured a variety of music and videos.
“We did a full-on YouTube-based engagement,” he said. “It's not all driven by frontal rabbi conversation.”
According to Sapirman, feedback on his live treams has, for the most part, been positive. Despite this, he also admits that not everyone he’s come across has been so welcoming of this kind of technological engagement. His parents, for example, don’t usually watch his Saturday services due to their strict observance of Jewish law.
While everyone has the right to determine their own experience, Sapirman encourages others to at least give technology a try.
“I've had a lot of people say, ‘I'm really surprised at the warmth that can emanate from the technological engagement,” said the rabbi. “It might surprise you.”
In addition to the warmth, he said, many have pointed out an increased sense of comfort when tuning in from home. Members of his congregation have mentioned feeling safer about engaging in these services due to a lack of judgment or physical barriers. For this reason, and the fact that the pandemic remains ongoing, Sapirman believes it is likely that communication technology will continue to play a role in the way religious services are conducted for the foreseeable future.
“We have to be prepared for the possibility that YouTube and platforms like that...can make technology warm,” said Sapirman. “We're not trying to tell people this is the right way, all we're trying to say is this is another way, and especially in these times, it might be the best way.”
A list of livestreams taking place on YouTube from locations across the world in the coming days:
EASTER
The Vatican - Italy
The Archdiocese of Toronto - Toronto
National Catholic Broadcasting Council - Toronto
St. Mary's Church (English and Spanish) – Brampton, Ont.
St. Mary & St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church – Richmond Hill, Ont.
St. George's Anglican Church – St.Catherine’s, Ont.
Saint-Joseph Centre - Quebec
PASSOVER
Beth Torah Congregation - Toronto
City of David Messianic Synagogue - Toronto
Melech Yisrael Synagogue - Toronto
Shaarey Dezek Synagogue - Winnipeg
Park Avenue Synagogue - New York City
Saturday Night Seder - New York City
The Romulan Republic wrote: ↑2020-04-10 01:39am I suppose its a good reminder not to put your faith in the Church.
