The reason I'm thinking this is all pearl clutching panic is as follows.

First, the absolute inconsistency in the data, the lack of deaths in this country and others (India and Vietnam) that really should be showing up.

Second the statements by "experts" that say no-one has an existing immunity to covid-19, despite the fact it is a member of a pretty common family of viruses and there are always some groups of people that have innate immunity to particular diseases (shocking examples being the Black Death & HIV).

Third, the shutting down of any activities involving groups of people during an election year when one party was predicted to win, suddenly we can't talk things over at a school, bar, restaurant, or in some places, the public square. You aren't supposed to even leave your home, even when it is just you. My dog is going to really miss her walks.

white kitchen towels, amazon

Who would have thought with the cancellation of sporting events, restaurants, theaters, etc.
That people would take up shopping ?

quote:

Heinz ketchup? gone

with a few spices and a 14oz can peeled tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste you can make your own ketchup.

i was walking into the market and a random guy walking out says nothing there. i walked through and got a can of tomatoes and tomato paste, and a couple tubs of guacamole for the avocados.

bottled water gone? we have a bunch of 5 gallon water containers and i just filled up three - no line, not sold out. still $1.75 to fill one.

with a little imagination, as the stones once said - but if you try sometime, you find, you get what you need.

Driving down to Jacksonville today, hopefully I95 will be smooth sailing.

From the Struthers (Ohio)Police Department Facebook page. Nice to see that some people haven't lost their sense of humor in all this craziness:

image hoster

Classic!

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
I believe the comment has been made previously in this thread that we were following Italy's exponential curve, 10-11 days behind...

This is an interesting chart, but also keep in mind that Italy's population is about 60 million, or about 20% of ours. Also they are much more densely populated at about 520 people per square mile, versus about 86 people per square mile in the US.



.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
I believe the comment has been made previously in this thread that we were following Italy's exponential curve, 10-11 days behind...

This is an interesting chart, but also keep in mind that Italy's population is about 60 million, or about 20% of ours. Also they are much more densely populated at about 520 people per square mile, versus about 86 people per square mile in the US.

.

Italy's population is also on average 10 years older than the US population, and ground zero for their outbreak is in the North where they have basically turned their leather industry over to the Chinese and have significant travel between the region and China.

Yesterday was the last day the Disneyworld parks were open. I guess no one wanted to miss the fireworks.

As usual, Victor Davis Hanson has an in-depth analysis for both Trump and America at large when we come out the other side of this madness:

... When the virus peters out and the panic fades, China may be permanently rebranded and re-calibrated by the world at large. Its trading partners will trust it far less to honor any commitments or to abide by any international agreements. Supply chains will be diversified. Tourism will be reduced in fears another such coronavirus will follow SARS and COVID-19 - and be hushed up. Countries that had particular close commercial and cultural ties with China - Iran, South Korea, and Italy - were hurt most during the epidemic by Chinese silence and duplicity...

Ostensibly, the panic-driven shutdown of the U.S. economy could plunge us into recession or worse, with dire consequences for the 2020 campaign. Some on the Left see COVID-19 in unapologetically political terms, as the magic solution to ending the Trump presidency and his supporters in a way that all the past hopes and dreams of doing so - from subverting the Electoral College after the November 2016 election to Mueller and impeachment, and all in between - utterly failed.

Whatever the ultimate human and economic toll from the coronavirus, there is no doubt that Trump, as president, will be blamed for the economic slowdown of spring and perhaps even early summer. The media despises the president as does entertainment, academia, and the media, ensuring in popular culture and the news that he will be demonized in a way Obama was not, despite reacting far more slowly, to the swine flu threat of 2009.

But here are some caveats. Warmer weather and spring, global quarantines, travel bans, more testing and increased knowledge of the virus may all eventually conspire to slow its spread. And when its relative non-lethality is fully digested (perhaps 98 or 99 percent of those in the general population below 65 in previously good health who are infected recover), and the cases begin dropping off, the economy will not just recover but take off...

https://amgreatness.com/2020/0...ew-upside-down-world

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:

Italy's population is also on average 10 years older than the US population...

Good information. And they were probably not nearly as proactive, or as early in acting, as we have been on this outbreak.



.

de Blasio is opening his pie hole calling for nationalizing medical companies.

quote:

Foxnews.com

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is arguing that the best way to tackle the coronavirus outbreak is for the federal government to take over critical private companies in the medical field and have them running 24 hours a day.

The mayor, who made multiple media appearances over the weekend, said that the current situation calls for drastic measures which include nationalizing certain industries.

“This is a case for a nationalization, literally a nationalization, of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need,” de Blasio told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Saturday, calling for “24/7 shifts” during what he called a “war-like situation.”

The following day, de Blasio reiterated this message, telling CNN that “the federal government needs to take over the supply chain right now.” He specified the need for companies that make ventilators, surgical masks, and hand sanitizers to be taken over and made to work around the clock.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
de Blasio is opening his pie hole calling for nationalizing medical companies.

Fascists never let a good crisis go to waste.



.

quote:

Originally posted by TigerDore:

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:

Italy's population is also on average 10 years older than the US population...

Good information. And they were probably not nearly as proactive or as early as we have been on this outbreak.



.

Overall population isn't really relevant to disease spread unless a significant percentage of the population is infected.

As for population density being higher, population being older, and (your assertion) Italy's response being less effective... shouldn't all those things mean the spread in Italy would be faster than it is here?

quote:

He specified the need for companies that make ventilators, surgical masks, and hand sanitizers to be taken over and made to work around the clock.

When they are taken (by force = theft) who is going to run them? Government employees?
Cronies of politicians?
That's what Cuba did. That's what Venezuela did. Now they sit on an ocean of oil and don't have the ability to produce and refine it.
nationalization = destruction

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
de Blasio is opening his pie hole calling for nationalizing medical companies.

quote:

Foxnews.com

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is arguing that the best way to tackle the coronavirus outbreak is for the federal government to take over critical private companies in the medical field and have them running 24 hours a day.

The mayor, who made multiple media appearances over the weekend, said that the current situation calls for drastic measures which include nationalizing certain industries.

“This is a case for a nationalization, literally a nationalization, of crucial factories and industries that could produce the medical supplies to prepare this country for what we need,” de Blasio told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Saturday, calling for “24/7 shifts” during what he called a “war-like situation.”

The following day, de Blasio reiterated this message, telling CNN that “the federal government needs to take over the supply chain right now.” He specified the need for companies that make ventilators, surgical masks, and hand sanitizers to be taken over and made to work around the clock.

So the good comrade wants to give control over critical private industries to Trump?

These clowns never really think through their plans, do they?

When DeBlazio opens DaPieHole, I know we should pretty much do the opposite of what he is saying.

Nationalize medical companies / factories? Because the federal government is soooooo efficient and has so much experience running them???

Fucking facsist moron.

^^^^. Like Rahm Emanuel said, never let a crisis go to waste.