SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19

[Vegas Halo Fan]

1 hour ago, Fireball said:

I am a huge fan of cabbage.  Both red and green. 

So many uses. You can barbecue it, broil it, boil it, bake it, saute it,  shrimp cabbage, cabbage creole, cabbage gumbo, cabbage on a stick....

Speaking of which, I did have to cancel my yearly crab boil, usually do it right after Easter.  Sucks because crab is more than half the price now. 

Boiled cabbage smells like something dead. 

[UndertheHalo]

My co worker brought stuffed cabbage leaves to work once.  That stuff was good as hell. 

[Blarg]

 

[Tank]

4 hours ago, Fireball said:

I am a huge fan of cabbage.  Both red and green. 

So many uses. You can barbecue it, broil it, boil it, bake it, saute it,  shrimp cabbage, cabbage creole, cabbage gumbo, cabbage on a stick....

easy does it there, forrest grump.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Lou said:

F'n Tank 

we haven't been there since 2017. I swear it wasn't us.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Boiled cabbage smells like something dead. 

 

2 hours ago, UndertheHalo said:

My co worker brought stuffed cabbage leaves to work once.  That stuff was good as hell. 

the final product can be good. it's the process of getting there that requires a gas mask.

[Tank]

6 hours ago, Lou said:

I have never eaten a frozen pizza. Which brand is the best? 

they all equally suck.

buy a boboli pizza dough and make your own by adding whatever sauce and ingredients you like.

[Redondo]

LIZ PEEK: Here’s why the left is so scornful of any hint of optimism

Nancy Pelosi does not want Americans to go back to work. She and other Democrats will loft every possible excuse to prevent the nation from reopening, claiming that Trump’s intention of doing so is “deeply frivolous and wrong,” as Pelosi claimed is a recent tweet.

She mocks the president’s supposedly cavalier attitude that “People will die, so be it” instead of a science & testing-based path to reopening the economy…”

The Left downplays the effectiveness of therapies like hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir and derides doctors like Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil who don’t share the punditry’s alarmism. They are especially scornful of any hint of optimism.

They will insist that every single human being must be tested before a bricklayer, a piano tuner or professional golfer can safely earn a living, knowing that we are far from achieving that goal.

Who would have thought that rescuing the country from massive unemployment and collapsing incomes would become a political hot potato? Who would have thought that Democrats would be willing to sacrifice the well-being of the nation in order to win an election?

Only someone who has watched Democrats try to topple President Trump for three years with no success but ever-increasing desperation. Having failed to oust him by alleging conspiracy with Russia and then through a partisan and unfair impeachment, now they pray that a devastated economy will demolish his best argument for reelection.

That could happen, especially if blue and purple state governors around the country keep the lid on activity, demand that small businesses remain shuttered, and enforce the general misery, all in the name of keeping us “safe.” Mayor Bill de Blasio is threatening to keep New York City’s municipal swimming pools closed this coming summer, for budget and health reasons. Can you imagine what impact that might have city kids who have been cooped up for months, and who are desperate to play outside?

Nancy Pelosi does not want Americans to go back to work. She and other Democrats will loft every possible excuse to prevent the nation from reopening, claiming that Trump’s intention of doing so is “deeply frivolous and wrong,” as Pelosi claimed is a recent tweet.

She mocks the president’s supposedly cavalier attitude that “People will die, so be it” instead of a science & testing-based path to reopening the economy…”

The Left downplays the effectiveness of therapies like hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir and derides doctors like Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil who don’t share the punditry’s alarmism. They are especially scornful of any hint of optimism.

They will insist that every single human being must be tested before a bricklayer, a piano tuner or professional golfer can safely earn a living, knowing that we are far from achieving that goal.

Who would have thought that rescuing the country from massive unemployment and collapsing incomes would become a political hot potato? Who would have thought that Democrats would be willing to sacrifice the well-being of the nation in order to win an election?

Only someone who has watched Democrats try to topple President Trump for three years with no success but ever-increasing desperation. Having failed to oust him by alleging conspiracy with Russia and then through a partisan and unfair impeachment, now they pray that a devastated economy will demolish his best argument for reelection.

That could happen, especially if blue and purple state governors around the country keep the lid on activity, demand that small businesses remain shuttered, and enforce the general misery, all in the name of keeping us “safe.” Mayor Bill de Blasio is threatening to keep New York City’s municipal swimming pools closed this coming summer, for budget and health reasons. Can you imagine what impact that might have city kids who have been cooped up for months, and who are desperate to play outside?

Betsy McCaughey and others have argued that it is not carefully reopening the country that threatens Americans, but as the weeks pass, it is keeping the country in lockdown that could be much more harmful.

McCaughey wrote in a recent New York Post piece, “Every 1 percent hike in the unemployment rate will likely produce a 3.3 percent increase in drug-overdose deaths and a 0.99 percent increase in suicides, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the medical journal Lancet.”

With 22 million losing their jobs, and unemployment approaching Great Depression-era levels of near 20 percent, those projections suggest thousands could be at risk.

Our policymakers must not only weigh the impact on Americans’ health from the ongoing lockdown but must also examine the soaring costs of the rescue plans approved by Congress. Trillions are flowing out the door to protect unemployed individuals and small businesses from losing everything – losses that if prolonged could cripple our economy for years to come.

Though the need for these emergency measures is undisputed, they cannot go on forever. Already the U.S. has $18 trillion in debt outstanding, held by other countries like China as well as private investors. According to the Wall Street Journal, that amounts to 89 percent of GDP, the most since 1947. Adding to that will be a deficit for this year estimated by Goldman Sachs at $3.6 trillion, an unimaginable total.

Given the health and economic costs of the ongoing lockdown, why are Democrats so opposed to a gradual reopening? Simple. The coronavirus shutdown could undermine Trump’s reelection prospects, and they don’t want to give it up.

Plus, the pandemic has granted certain Democrat politicians, like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, their first national platform. They are milking that opportunity for all it is worth, even as they risk overreaching with endless edicts.

The coronavirus must seem heaven-sent to Democrats. Just as it bloomed, the economy was soaring and, despite being impeached by the House, President Trump’s approval ratings were at all-time highs. Odds-makers gave Trump the nod for reelection.

At the same time, Democrats have settled on Joe Biden as their candidate, who generates about as much excitement as last week’s casserole.

The disease is challenging Trump and the capabilities of government like nothing that has come before. The president will almost certainly make mistakes as he walks the tightrope between keeping Americans safe and trying to reopen our society – errors that his critics will campaign on.

The pandemic has arguably evened the odds that Biden might best Trump; according to recent polling, the election is now neck-and-neck. Why would Democrats want to move on?

[Redondo]

Harry Kazianis: Costs of coronavirus — China must pay for its misdeeds, start with these 5 steps

With over 39,000 American lives lost forever due to the COVID-19 pandemic — 13 times more than the savage terror attacks on Sept. 11 — multiple reports at Fox News point to China’s sloppy handling of a lethal pathogen in a virology institute in the city of Wuhan as the most likely cause.

Combined with clear evidence of Beijing’s coverup of the severity of the virus — even going to great lengths to silence its own experts who tried to warn an unsuspecting population — it is only the scale of China’s responsibility in the current coronavirus that is up for debate.

While a comprehensive investigation is being conducted at the highest levels of the Trump administration to ascertain the facts, it is not too early for Washington to consider how it will respond.

President Trump must ensure that China pays a considerable price for any actions that cost our country tens of thousands of lives, trillions of dollars of economic growth along with trillions more in debt, precious jobs lost and something even more important: a sense of security that may not return for years — if ever.

Such a response should mirror what the Trump administration has done to other rogue states: maximum pressure, but on steroids. China — and other nations contemplating such behavior — must know that their actions will result in the severest of consequences. We must completely rethink every aspect of our China policy and be unafraid to label Beijing what it is: a dangerous 21st-century evil empire whose communist government should have fallen into the ash heap of history along with the Soviet Union.

I would offer a simple five-point plan that would ensure China pays for its actions.

First, America must boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. Jimmy Carter led such a boycott of the 1980 games in the Soviet Union when the stakes were far lower. We must repeat this action, as we cannot ever reward a regime that has caused such carnage on a global scale. We simply cannot afford to allow China to wrap itself in the spirit of the Olympics and whitewash its actions. That would be unacceptable and morally wrong.

Second, we should adjust our diplomatic strategy to fit the times, which means stronger ties with Taiwan, unafraid of Beijing's bullying response. China’s Communist Party considers Taiwan a renegade province, but now is the time to consider full diplomatic relations with Taipei — even a visit to the White House by President Tsai Ing-wen. We should no longer abide by outdated diplomatic arrangements that only help Beijing crush a vibrant democracy, one that tried to warn the world about the coronavirus — but was silenced.

Third, we must do what we can to turn what makes China stronger by the day — its growing economic power thanks to U.S. consumers — into a weakness. If a product is imported from China to the U.S. a clear “Made in China” label needs to be placed on the front of the package. Warning labels are the only way to force American’s to understand how, through our purchases, we are transferring trillions of dollars of wealth to China. If we truly want Americans to buy American, we first need them to understand what they are buying and from who.

Fourth, we must, once again, make human rights one of the central pillars of our conversations and policy choices with China. Beijing has at least a million or more Muslim Uigurs in concentration camps, controls the actions of its citizens through an expanding Orwellian social credit system and crushes any religion or faith-based organization that it does not control. The Trump administration needs to shine a beacon on these human rights abuses and make Beijing try to defend the indefensible.

Finally, China must pay a financial penalty for the coronavirus crisis. Americans must be able to sue China for any actions that resulted in the loss of life or financial hardship. This would mean amending, as Sen.Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has argued for, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act so U.S. citizens can sue in court for damages. Only the severest financial penalties, including having their assets seized by Americans, can make China, or any other nation, understand that such misbehavior will not go unpunished.

These, and perhaps other strong steps, will ensure that China does not get away with its actions and understands that the United States and other like-minded nations will not allow hundreds of thousands of lives around the world to be forgotten. If Beijing did cause this pandemic and the world does not collectively punish Communist China, we ensure that we will suffer such a crisis again.

[tdawg87]

Fox News.

[Jason]

Haha! We need more government 

Edited April 20, 2020 by Jason

[ten ocho recon scout]

12 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

Bill Maher got owned by Dan Crenshaw here. 

 

Havent watched the clip, but read something about it.

One thing ill agree with from the text is that is true, the studio audience cheering and booing is one of the slants of the show.

I used to like maher a lot. His standups were pretty funny back in the day, and I liked the show format (arguing politics from both sides, with dick jokes). So I actually went to a taping of the show twice back in the day.

The audience was jerry springer-esque. Maher, aside from "screw the cons" had very little in common with the crowd. And I assume youd get he same result from a conservative host.

But it stood out that it was a group think situation. Anything deemed slightly conservative was booed. (Again, bill maher's republican twin's show would be the same). So it killed any ideas I had that the show was "balanced", although I think originally, maher tried to keep it that way.

But as entertaining as I used to think he was, hes gone off the deep end in recent years. I still agree with him somtimes, and hes still funny sometimes. But hes spread false facts too many times in recent years for me to look at him as anyone who stands out anymore.

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Redondo said:

 

The Left downplays the effectiveness of therapies like hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir and derides doctors like Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil who don’t share the punditry’s alarmism. They are especially scornful of any hint of optimism.

McCaughey wrote in a recent New York Post piece, “Every 1 percent hike in the unemployment rate will likely produce a 3.3 percent increase in drug-overdose deaths and a 0.99 percent increase in suicides, according to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the medical journal Lancet.”

Two points here.

I think it needs to be mentioned that both Dr Oz and Dr Phil arent real doctors in this regard.... neither is an infectious diseases specialist. So whereas they are doctors, yes, neither has any background in this situation. 

Its kind of like retired nba players being on sports talk shows, talking about mlb. And vice versa.

"Duh, he was a pro athlete. He won a ring with the bulls in 94. He played with jordan! So lets ask him about how to build a lineup".

The second part, about ODs and suicides. As someone who routinely goes to these events, often more than once before lunch, Ill wait and see if its true... and I doubt it. Ive taken maybe a handful of suicides in my career where someone had financial problems. Its usually depressed lovers. 

And Ive never taken an OD from someone who was working all the time, got laid off, and suddenly had a hookup for heroin or fent.

Maybe this changes... but like I said, Ill wait and see. 

[Adam]

Ocho some of us will be expecting personal escorts to the front of the breadlines in a few months. Just a heads up

[Lou]

I still think eyepatches are cool. 

[RallyMo]

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, VladdyMo said:

I agree

[RallyMo]

6 minutes ago, Lou said:

I agree

I knew you would.

It has issues, though: I think it assumes even distribution geographically. I guess it just helps to make a point, and not a bad one.

[Crampknees]

21 minutes ago, VladdyMo said:

Where does having to close one eye to see the board playing cornhole at the bar fall. 

[Amazing Larry]

8 minutes ago, VladdyMo said:

LOOK OVER THERE

I deleted it and put it in the China thread. Wtf are we doing giving over $3 million to a Chinese lab? Absurd. 

[RallyMo]

11 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

I deleted it and put it in the China thread. Wtf are we doing giving over $3 million to a Chinese lab? Absurd. 

Can't you use the Google? I'm sure it was for research. Multiple US research institutes were doing work there, no?

Look, it sure seems to be a possibility that this virus somehow came from bad containment, but there are many, many possible scenarios.

However, this isn't being used to legitimately raise issues with funding, but moreso to shift blame. Obama had been out of office for over 3 years when it was time to start taking this seriously. 

[Amazing Larry]

15 minutes ago, VladdyMo said:

Can't you use the Google? I'm sure it was for research. Multiple US research institutes were doing work there, no?

Look, it sure seems to be a possibility that this virus somehow came from bad containment, but there are many, many possible scenarios.

However, this isn't being used to legitimately raise issues with funding, but moreso to shift blame. Obama had been out of office for over 3 years when it was time to start taking this seriously. 

Seems like the money was well spent. Everything is going good. 

[RallyMo]

5 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Seems like the money was well spent. Everything is going good. 

All of this stuff can coexist and be true without this particular issue being worth any more of our time than you and I have just spent discussing it. You can look over there if you'd like, just don't stare.

[Amazing Larry]

8 minutes ago, VladdyMo said:

All of this stuff can coexist and be true without this particular issue being worth any more of our time than you and I have just spent discussing it. You can look over there if you'd like, just don't stare.

Deflect ignore! Deflect ignore!

[RallyMo]

6 minutes ago, Lhalo said:

Deflect ignore! Deflect ignore!

Stop the grant if it's continuous. That's simple, no? Is there anything else to this issue?