What on Earth is going on in the world today? It's gone mad

[calitennis127]

This column right here from the New York Times is a very pleasant surprise. It addresses the NYC narcissism that Moxie exemplifies so perfectly.

The point here is simple: outside of New York, there is no pandemic in the USA. So the rest of the country shouldn’t have to wait for the mental equilibrium of New Yorkers to return to normal before the country starts opening up:


America Shouldn’t Have to Play by New York Rules
A national lockdown is bad medicine and worse politics.

Opinion | America Shouldn’t Have to Play by New York Rules (Published 2020)

A national lockdown is bad medicine and worse politics.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Federberg]

This column right here from the New York Times is a very pleasant surprise. It addresses the NYC narcissism that Moxie exemplifies so perfectly.

The point here is simple: outside of New York, there is no pandemic in the USA. So the rest of the country shouldn’t have to wait for the mental equilibrium of New Yorkers to return to normal before the country starts opening up:


America Shouldn’t Have to Play by New York Rules
A national lockdown is bad medicine and worse politics.

Opinion | America Shouldn’t Have to Play by New York Rules (Published 2020)

A national lockdown is bad medicine and worse politics.

www.nytimes.com

it's an opinion piece mate. We'll see soon enough if leaving lockdowns make sense soon enough. For a man who's been forced to eat a lot of crow in the last few months, I applaud your inexhaustible appetite...

 

[Moxie]

Bret Stephens has gotten a lot of blow-back for that article. I'm sure Cali will hate that, but here it is:

NY Times' Bret Stephens Clobbered for Op-Ed Saying 'America Shouldn't Have to Play by New York Rules' - TheWrap

"Does anyone edit Stephens? Does anyone even do a cursory fact check?" a Twitter user asks

www.thewrap.com

 

[calitennis127]

it's an opinion piece mate. We'll see soon enough if leaving lockdowns make sense soon enough. For a man who's been forced to eat a lot of crow in the last few months, I applaud your inexhaustible appetite...

I really haven't been forced to eat crow.....the impact of the pandemic in the USA was slightly greater than I thought it would be, but it has still been negligible. The vast majority of the country has not been affected. So what are you talking about?

Also, my predictions about the economic impact have been right on point. From the start I said that this pandemic was not worth destroying the economy over. I fully stand by that. The coronavirus just isn't anywhere close to as dangerous as many people are making it out to be.

You and Britbox are forgetting that I posted an article by two Stanford professors in the Wall Street Journal, written on March 24th, arguing that the coronavirus was far more widespread than anyone realized. More recent studies have confirmed that. Why are you not bringing any attention to that?

I also posted an article on the demographics of those who died in Italy. The article showed that it was almost entirely the elderly who had passed away in Italy. This mirrors what has occurred in the USA. Why are you not bringing attention to that?

Oh yes, I know the answer. You want to focus on the fact that there have been a few more deaths from the coronavirus than the swine flu, mostly because of the outbreak in New York. But that is simply petty. I never guaranteed that the numbers would not get above that level. What I argued is that they were never going to be worth destroying the global economy over. And that assessment has been borne out.

 

[calitennis127]

Bret Stephens has gotten a lot of blow-back for that article. I'm sure Cali will hate that, but here it is:

NY Times' Bret Stephens Clobbered for Op-Ed Saying 'America Shouldn't Have to Play by New York Rules' - TheWrap

"Does anyone edit Stephens? Does anyone even do a cursory fact check?" a Twitter user asks

www.thewrap.com

This is typically what happens when someone says something rational. The individual in question inevitably has to deal with public condemnation and nonsensical barking.

 

[Moxie]

This is not just to stick Sweden up Cali's nose. If you read to the end, it talks about how, depending on if the curve flattens soon there, it could yet turn out to have been a better decision for the economy, since they didn't shutter businesses. Too early to tell.

Sweden has nearly 10 times the number of COVID-19-related deaths than its Nordic neighbors. Here's where it went wrong.

Sweden, which has yet to order any lockdown amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, has seen 14,777 COVID-19 cases and 1,580 deaths from the virus.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Federberg]

Fareed Zakaria GPS is well worth a listen this week. You can get the podcast from iTunes or wherever else. He interviews one of the top Virus hunters in the world. A couple of points, he doesn't believe this virus came from the lab in Wuhan. In fact he says that this particular corona virus hadn't been found in nature before the pandemic. To the question.. why then have the Chinese clamped up on Covid-19 related research? He points out that conspiracy theories and politicisation of this pandemic has led to China being more reticent to offer information since their initial openness. It actually makes a lot of sense. We saw wankers like Senator Tom Cotton promoting conspiracy theories after it became clear that the Trump Administration was sleeping at the wheel. The time to figure out what went wrong should have been after this pandemic was eliminated but it's clear that the realisation that a disaster was imminent in the US led to the blame game. It is so sad. There will be some who on this forum who will continue to promote conspiracy theories and apportion blame instead of keeping the focus on governments and the efforts they are making to get this crisis resolved. Have at it!

 

[Federberg]

interesting article...

Opinion | The Bearer of Good Coronavirus News

Stanford scientist John Ioannidis finds himself under attack for questioning the prevailing wisdom about lockdowns.

www.wsj.com

 

[britbox]

You and Britbox are forgetting that I posted an article by two Stanford professors in the Wall Street Journal, written on March 24th, arguing that the coronavirus was far more widespread than anyone realized. More recent studies have confirmed that. Why are you not bringing any attention to that?

I was loosely in agreement with that theory and said so at the time.

 

[calitennis127]

interesting article...

Opinion | The Bearer of Good Coronavirus News

Stanford scientist John Ioannidis finds himself under attack for questioning the prevailing wisdom about lockdowns.

www.wsj.com

Uh oh.....be careful Federberg. It looks like you are starting to fall for unscientific Fox News propaganda. Ioannidis has been on Fox News multiple times in the last few days. You don't want to be one of those unscientific Trump cultists questioning the need to shut down civilization for the next 18 months, do you?

Come on now.....we all know that the "science" dictates that these shutdowns have not only worked marvelously but are necessary to prevent mass death. Don't be a Fox News idiot. Please. Don't be that.

 

[calitennis127]

I was loosely in agreement with that theory and said so at the time.

Yet when it comes to referring back to my remarks in March you only mention that I didn't think it made sense to shut the U.S. economy down and cause mass unemployment over 33 deaths. And I still don't think that made sense, given that most of the USA has been totally unaffected and the shutdown strategy is not only idiotic on economic grounds but highly dubious on scientific grounds.

 

[calitennis127]

Fareed Zakaria GPS is well worth a listen this week. You can get the podcast from iTunes or wherever else. He interviews one of the top Virus hunters in the world. A couple of points, he doesn't believe this virus came from the lab in Wuhan.

Of course not.....because he is a standard Democrat taking the side of China against Trump and Republican critics of China. It's completely predictable.

To the question.. why then have the Chinese clamped up on Covid-19 related research? He points out that conspiracy theories and politicisation of this pandemic has led to China being more reticent to offer information since their initial openness. It actually makes a lot of sense.

Awwww.....poor China. If only the U.S. was nicer to China then they would have definitely shared the truth about the virus instead of lying through their teeth during the months of January and February about it and ordering their lapdogs at the WHO to do the same.

We saw wankers like Senator Tom Cotton promoting conspiracy theories after it became clear that the Trump Administration was sleeping at the wheel.

Right, it's just Tom Cotton promoting this "conspiracy theory." It is hilarious how any time a story that would support a Republican's claims comes out, it is automatically dubbed a "conspiracy theory." And then later when it is proven, the people who called it a "conspiracy theory" just pretend that they never characterized it as such.

Zakaria is being his standard insipid self and simply going to bat for the Democratic Party. Ultimately he is nothing but a Democratic Party shill with zero originality and nothing to add to the public discourse except "I disagree with what Fox News is saying right now." That one phrase sums up his entire show every week. It's the same thing over and over, no matter how silly the things he is forced to say may be.

Just for the record, Federberg, it isn't only Tom Cotton or "Fox News" that is claiming the virus came from a lab in Wuhan. It is U.S. intelligence officials who are suggesting that. This is the first paragraph from a story from NBC News on April 16th:

"The U.S. intelligence community is examining whether the coronavirus that caused the global pandemic emerged accidentally from a Chinese research lab studying diseases in bats, current and former U.S. intelligence officials tell NBC News."

Now you bought into the Russian collusion conspiracy theory on the basis of claims from U.S. intelligence. If you revere U.S. intelligence officials as much as you do, why can't you give Cotton's theory some consideration without flippantly dismissing it?

U.S. intel community examining whether coronavirus emerged accidentally from a Chinese lab
April 16, 2020, 12:05 PM EDT
By Ken Dilanian and Courtney Kube

U.S. spies probing if coronavirus emerged accidentally from China lab

One expert said the theory the virus came from a Wuhan animal market has lost favor in some quarters, in part because an early patient had no market link.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[Federberg]

Global coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported | Free to read

Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across 14 countries analysed by the FT

www.ft.com

 

[calitennis127]

Global coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported | Free to read

Mortality statistics show 122,000 deaths in excess of normal levels across 14 countries analysed by the FT

www.ft.com

Or the death count is being overreported and the threat from the virus has been massively exaggerated. The state of Pennsylvania just adjusted its death count downward.....


Pennsylvania slashes virus death toll; reopening explained

DEATH TOLL SLASHED

The Pennsylvania Department of Health slashed the state’s COVID-19 death toll on Thursday by 201, saying probable deaths it had previously included in the count were eliminated after further investigation.

The overall death toll now stands at 1,421, down from 1,622 reported a day earlier.

The number of deaths confirmed by a positive virus test actually rose overnight by 69, to 1,394. But Levine said Thursday that 270 probable deaths that had been added to the death toll in recent days have been removed after further investigation.

“This verification process is very intensive and under normal circumstances it can take months to complete,” she said. “We continue to refine the data that we are collecting to provide everyone this information in as near time as we possibly can. This is really difficult with thousands of reports each day.”

State health officials had recently changed the way they count COVID-19 deaths -- now including probable deaths along with confirmed deaths -- which resulted in a doubling of the state’s death toll in just four days. A probable death is one in which a coroner or medical examiner listed COVID-19 as the cause or contributing cause, but the deceased was not tested for the virus.

Pennsylvania slashes virus death toll; reopening explained

The overall death toll now stands at 1,421, down from 1,622 reported a day earlier.

www.wtae.com

 

[Federberg]

Here's Why Herd Immunity Won't Save Us From The COVID-19 Pandemic

It's hard to predict things in a pandemic.

www.sciencealert.com

 

[britbox]

Yet when it comes to referring back to my remarks in March you only mention that I didn't think it made sense to shut the U.S. economy down and cause mass unemployment over 33 deaths. And I still don't think that made sense, given that most of the USA has been totally unaffected and the shutdown strategy is not only idiotic on economic grounds but highly dubious on scientific grounds.

I think the point was that you weren't acknowledging the contagion rate that had already been seen in multiple countries. It was clear that the "paltry" numbers you were quoting were going to escalate quickly. The patterns were happening everywhere else. I didn't think you were taking it seriously enough. Yes, the mortality rate is lower than what was initially being bandied around in the media... but a small percentage of a large number can still result in large raw numbers.

Neither do I think the reaction was whipped up by the Washington Post. The events unfolding in Italy were more than enough to fuel the European press. Sure, certain sections of the media will always attack Trump, whether it's justified or not, but that is irrelevant to the virus itself.

As for the "medicine" - closing the Economy down... (Not just in the United States, but throughout the globe) - sure, there is a debate to be had. I've acknowledged that before. Also, bear in mind that parts of the economy wouldn't be operating anywhere near the levels of usual activity anyway (even without the mandated lockdown).

Personally, I was in favour of a limited short-term lockdown to buy time to learn more about the virus, ride out the main storm, and get healthcare capacity in place. Robust healthcare supply chains should be added to that list based on what's unfolded.

Once the PPE supply chain is strong enough, then most lockdowns around the world should be rolled back. People will need to accept that they will have to co-exist with the virus, as with any other infectious disease. Mitigation measures to protect the elderly and high-risk groups should be in place.

Long term lockdowns aren't sustainable and more damaging from both economic and health perspectives.

 

[calitennis127]

Once the PPE supply chain is strong enough, then most lockdowns around the world should be rolled back. People will need to accept that they will have to co-exist with the virus, as with any other infectious disease. Mitigation measures to protect the elderly and high-risk groups should be in place.

But it's looking more and more like that could have been done from the start without ruining life for everyone else. The recent studies showing that immensely high numbers of people contracted the virus in California and New York are making these shutdown policies look unnecessary. By the time the shutdowns were implemented, vast numbers of people had the virus and were unaffected.

Without ruining the economic fortunes of millions of people measures could have been taken to protect and care for the elderly (as opposed to deliberately and maliciously kill them and prevent effective treatment from getting to them - which is what appears to have been taking place with the villains of the NYC healthcare system).

 

[Federberg]

Testing, testing, testing.....

• Scott Gottlieb, of the American Enterprise Institute: “If we can develop a point of care, swabable stick that gives a readable result in the doctor’s office it can dramatically increase screening.”
• Shan Soe-Lin and Robert Hecht, Yale University: “What’s needed is widespread testing of people with no known symptoms … We need to aggressively search for asymptomatic carriers, particularly among people who have frequent contact with the public and among vulnerable populations. This includes those who are infectious but will never develop symptoms and those who will develop them days after the test.”
• And more from Osterholm, an infectious disease expert, and Olshaker, a writer: “Governments throughout the world and the research, medical-supply and clinical-lab industries must unite to vastly increase global production of reagents and sampling equipment. Achieving this will take months and require building new capacity, presumably with public subsidies. The time and costs involved will be considerable, but such an effort is the only way to test large populations for this infection (and for others in the future).”

 

[calitennis127]

Here is the video YouTube just censored for dissenting from the Democratic Party line.....it apparently had gotten over 5 million views. It's sad to see scientists getting censored by left-wing activists like this. True science is really on the chopping block for these people:



Accelerated Urgent Care doctors recommend lifting shelter-in-place order

Accelerated Urgent Care doctors recommend lifting shelter-in-place order

Doctor and co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield say it may not be necessary anymore for residents to shelter-in-place.

www.turnto23.com

 

[britbox]

Here is the video YouTube just censored for dissenting from the Democratic Party line.....it apparently had gotten over 5 million views. It's sad to see scientists getting censored by left-wing activists like this. True science is really on the chopping block for these people:



Accelerated Urgent Care doctors recommend lifting shelter-in-place order

Accelerated Urgent Care doctors recommend lifting shelter-in-place order

Doctor and co-owners of Accelerated Urgent Care in Bakersfield say it may not be necessary anymore for residents to shelter-in-place.

www.turnto23.com

It's actually very concerning how "Big Tech" decides what is the "truth". So, the policy of Youtube and Facebook is to remove any content that differs from that offered by bodies such as the WHO (amongst others).

So, If you believed that Coronavirus was transmissible between humans a few months ago, your content would have been deleted, because it was contrary to the original WHO advice.

I saw the video you offered up... So, we've had two doctors on the front-line getting censored by a Big Tech company over a health matter...