Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County – where the launch site is located – insisted that anyone who wanted to witness the event at the Kennedy Space Center should do so without worry, despite advice from NASA to watch remotely.
"We are not going to keep the great Americans that want to come watch that from coming here," Ivey said on Friday, calling on people to "come here just like you have for all the other beautiful launches we've had. And enjoy it."
If NASA is telling people to not come here and watch the launch, that's on them. I'm telling people what I believe as an American. And so NASA has got their guidelines, and I got mine.
Ivey – an ally of US President Donald Trump, who has also questioned Covid-19 containment measures in some states – didn't entirely dismiss fears of the lethal virus, however, advising that launch-watchers should practice "family social distancing" and remain in small groups.
[...] NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a news conference earlier on Friday that "we don't want an outbreak," voicing concerns that hundreds of thousands of spectators could flock to the space center to see the launch, risking further spread of the coronavirus.
"The challenge that we're up against right now is we want to keep everybody safe," Bridenstine said. "And so we're asking people not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center, and I will tell you that makes me sad to even say it. Boy, I wish we could make this into something really spectacular."
Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX – which partnered with NASA for the mission, providing its Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rockets to bring two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) – said much the same, asking people to "be there for the ride with us," but "in spirit more so than in physical space."
So, the Sheriff wouldn't arrest you, but there are other law enforcement organizations that might look at things differently. Being in a jail cell in close quarters with others compounds the risk of coming down with COVID-19. And, even if you were not arrested, you could still get infected (or be an asymptomatic carrier yourself) and transmit it to others who would return to who-knows-where.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Arik on Sunday May 03 2020, @08:45PM (10 children)
And if you actually go onto the airbase that would be a worry.
But there are many other observation spots around the county, it shouldn't be hard to watch without crossing onto federal land.
"Being in a jail cell in close quarters with others compounds the risk of coming down with COVID-19."
Which makes it even more senseless when they arrest people for swimming alone or having a picnic, on the pretense of preventing infection they're more likely to cause it.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday May 03 2020, @08:56PM (8 children)
No, you don't understand,
What he believes, as an American is much more important than reality.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:10PM
That reminds me. I need to stock up on popcorn.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:28PM (6 children)
That's why he's a cop and not a scientist.
What's more worrying is that the POTUS functions in exactly the same way.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:37PM (2 children)
Oh good.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @06:00PM
Yeah, we sure dodged that bullet. I mean, it's not like cops have to deal with life or death situations on a daily basis or anything...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2020, @04:54AM
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/ [cbsnews.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:49PM (2 children)
We just opened up our beaches last week, fucking nobody is wearing a mask (if they do they have it around their neck or on their heads like me in case they need to go into a store). Since the beaches opened the places have all been crawling with cops fucking everywhere and the cops don't give a flying fuck how close people are bunches or who is and isn't wearing a mask. The only things they are actually enforcing now are (1) sitting in place, like if you sit on the grass picnic-style, then they'll tell you to get up and walk. But you can go out to the cliffs and stand still gawking at the ocean next to others and they don't care; and (2) no parking in the beach parking lots just yet, although you are free to walk through the parking lots and the cops are cool bullshitting with people.
Since I am a respectful upstanding citizen I will don my mask if I have to pass somebody else closeby, and if they have a mask at the ready they will do the same and we will both nod. I call this the "mask salute." I feel bad for the cops, for PR reasons they have to wear masks in sunny beach weather while nobody else does. They have to wear masks because too many people who can't mind their own business were bitching about them "not setting good examples."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:57AM (1 child)
Your place seems to be on the side of G-D.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2020, @07:30PM
Is that a wing in the Sharp Mesa Vista psychiatric hospital? I'm surprised they do field trips.
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday May 04 2020, @04:42AM
Are they actually arresting people for not practicing social distancing, swimming and having a picnic? Glad I don't live in that authoritarian hell hole.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @08:52PM (6 children)
Let's pull back a bit. Let's get some perspective here.
This is Florida, the home of "Florida Man (and woman)."
If there is one spot in the world where homo sapiens needs culling, Florida IS IT. Even Donny was a mansion here.
Let the nature take its course. Let it do the righteous thing.
It's for the common good. In the long run.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:19PM (5 children)
There's a problem with this line of thinking: nothing is keeping these people *in* Florida.
If we could build a wall keeping FloridaMan and FloridaWoman in Florida, then this would make some sense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:20PM
Indeed, some of them are in Arkansaws. And Louisiana.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:09PM (3 children)
You mean having and enforcing borders actually works?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday May 04 2020, @12:08AM
yes, they can [whichcar.com.au]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday May 04 2020, @06:43AM (1 child)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:29PM
Why not make things more Hunger Games like before the actual collapse happens? Sure!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday May 03 2020, @08:57PM (28 children)
This story appears to have been submitted by a sockpuppet account of Runaway's, as the supposedly unique, hidden hostmasks in the IRC chatroom matched for both nicknames. Now, that *could* just have meant two people were using the same Tor node or something, but the fact that "nutherguy" specifically addressed me as "'Zumi" in-channel kind of josses that idea :)
Look for more stories in the "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" vein from various ran-away sockpuppets in the future. I'm kind of puzzled as to why he didn't just submit under his normal nick but whatever. Poor opsec is poor opsec.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:18PM (5 children)
Do you have a newsletter I can sign up for? I like reading wild paranoia fantasies. How do we know you're not just an angry sockpuppet on Soylent?
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:46PM (4 children)
Because I don't post AC or submit stories under other names. I have nothing to hide and a clean conscience; I can face the full light of the sun unashamed. Which is more than you can say, most likely.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:53PM (2 children)
I have nothing to hide and a clean conscience; I can face the full light of the sun unashamed.
Ah, but the chickenshit down mods belie all that bullshit. You're just as goofy as the rest.
Still love ya though
Ciao babe
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 04 2020, @01:15PM (1 child)
Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes :D
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @01:54PM
Absolutely! You're the champ!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:11PM
Oh sure, mock us poor Vampire-Americans.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @05:33AM (11 children)
The drama thickens! It turns out there's no SN account for nutherguy. It's clearly Runaway posing as nutherguy on some IRC chat room that nobody cares about. We'll keep you posted as news develops.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @07:33AM
SOME IRC Chat room? khallow, surely you jest! This is the heart of SoylentNews! It is where only people who understand CLI can hang out, and the fact that a monkey like Runaway not only learned to do IRC submissions, but how to sockpuppet his submissions, for reasons that are well understood, suggests a further level of obfuscation is in order! But poor Runaway1956 has had to do this several times, after getting banned from the Silverwing forums, from the Fox News foaming at the mouth comments section, and ending up here, it is not suprising that he can no longer use his given name, *** ******, because of the contraining orders and outstanding warrants, but now he is no longer able to even use his Runaway moniker. So sad, because, you know, he is not just a notherguy, he is THE other guy. Actual trigger finger on JFK! I shit you knot! Just ask Trump and Ted Cruise!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 04 2020, @01:21PM (9 children)
I'd just hate for people to think his brand of rebel-without-a-clue shitposting has more support than it actually does, that's all. I dunno what it is about guys like him, maybe some kind of sunk-costs fallacy, but as time goes on he only seems to be doubling down on the worst aspects of himself.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @02:06PM (8 children)
I'm quite comfortable with you being a hater. It's your thing.
When have you ever tried to see any other aspects of Runaway?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:12PM (5 children)
Noice, that shpecial kinda khallow tone trolling bullshit.
At this point I'm guessing there are half a dozen of you with 2-3 sockpuppets each just driving this place into the ground. At this point calling you Russian agents would be too generous. Sad little capitalist fascists.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @03:48PM (4 children)
If only there was anything else to your posts than tone.
No, you're spinning another fantasy narrative. Very different from guessing since you're not even trying for accuracy.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @04:17PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @06:05PM (2 children)
cuz u is stoooopid
you is duuuumb
you can haz crackers
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @06:21PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @10:53PM
u can haz cracker cuz u IS kraka!
kraka laka shallow da parrot
pining parrot
prrot pining for der fjoooords!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2020, @12:13AM (1 child)
Runaway has "aspects"? You know, that soft and tender part of him, deep inside, that is actually just shit.
Besides, all soylentils have been exposed to far more details of a wasted upper lower class life than anyone should have to be. Runaway tends to only know how to talk about hisself, takes after the Donald that way.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 07 2020, @12:57PM
Apparently, you also only know how to talk about Runaway. Sad.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @07:14AM (8 children)
You're SUCH a genius, 'Zumi. Let me explain some very simple facts of life for you:
I have multiple machines in my home. I log in to sites from multiple seats. In some cases, such as IRC, logging in from multiple seats will get you kicked. It's called "ghosting", and IRC doesn't like it one bit. So, Runaway is logged in from what we might call the "Kitchen computer" and "nutherguy" is logged in from the server machine. There has been zero effort made to keep those facts secret. In fact, if you check with Bytram and other denizens of #folding - oh, hell, no need to even ask any of them. Look at the logs for #folding.
That 92nd percentile IQ that you once bragged about is just high enough to make you dangerous - to yourself.
Disclosure? Yeah, I'm all for full disclosure - when are you going to "come out" and tell us all about your inadequacies? In view of the fact that you constantly attack so many of your fellow Soylentils, you must have a mountain of inadequacies.
Protip: constantly trying to pull your betters down doesn't raise you up any at all.
Now, you can go into detective mode, figuring out all the OTHER names I may have ever used here on Soylent. Have fun!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @07:35AM
Tom? That you? Or, Paul? Asking for a friend, who is doing PI work. Something about child support from a first marriage.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 04 2020, @01:18PM (6 children)
What makes you think I don't know already? :) LOL, and you think of yourself as my "better?" Good grief. Time to start on the Donepezil, old man.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @04:19PM (4 children)
The fact that you were still posting in this thread.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 07 2020, @12:28PM (3 children)
Non-sequitur as usual :) Mr. Hallow, I'm something like an iceberg, in that what you see is a small fraction of what's really going on below the surface. Just keep that in mind.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday May 07 2020, @12:49PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday May 08 2020, @12:32AM (1 child)
...might wanna check that analogy a little ;) What usually happens when an iceberg hits a ship? Hint: the iceberg is usually not getting the short end of that exchange. I'd flip the script and ask you why you insist on constantly running your flimsy paper boats into me.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday May 08 2020, @04:13AM
"Usually".
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @04:48PM
As I have alluded before, you cream in your jeans over some of my posts, when they don't have my nick on them. The best for instance was the one time I addressed you as "Hazuki" instead of "'Zumi" you were like, "Oh god, you know my FIRST name, everyone thinks 'Zumi is my first name, oh, I love you, and if I were interested in babbies I would have your babbie!"
FFS girl, don't come to a battle of the wits unarmed, alright? Or, if you insist, just fight with the mental midgets.
Now I'm kinda curious - how many years have you been using IRC? Do you even remember the war scripts days? Do you have any idea why the server checks for open identd sockets? Isn't this shit all new to you? ROFLMAO - of course my two logins share the same masks. If I were interested in hiding my identity, it would be trivial to proxy one or the other, or to just tell the server whatever I wanted it to believe.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Tuesday May 05 2020, @12:08AM
Just going to say, for the record, that aristarchus has never resorted to alternative identities to get submissions accepted. That sounds like something only the lowest of lying scum would ever sink to.
Of course, me and Bob Dole have started referring to ourselves in third person, which is somewhat disturbing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:00PM
>> "Boy, I wish we could make this into something really spectacular."
Challenger-style spectacular?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:21PM (40 children)
"And, even if you were not arrested, you could still get infected (or be an asymptomatic carrier yourself) and transmit it to others who would return to who-knows-where."
The problem with this line of thinking at the end is that typical Americans simply do not give a shit about other people getting something potentially deadly. Americans only care about themselves.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by turgid on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:24PM (9 children)
Americans don't even care about themselves. They elected Trump, and they're about to do it again.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:46PM (3 children)
Correction: More Americans did not vote to elect him. A hold-over from slave times allowed him to steal the election.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:49PM (2 children)
The first amendment?
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:16PM
Electoral Collage
Homo Floridensis: "Hey, watch this! Oh, hold my beer."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 05 2020, @07:36PM
Don't worry, Trump may be a fascist but he is ALL ABOUT people's right to publicly display their stupidity ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:58PM
Hat tip from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch to the Americans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:12PM (3 children)
As a white cisgendered male, I was tired of the prior eight years of Administration who cared about everybody else but me. It kinda sucks when the shoe's on the other foot, doesn't it? Bring me a Democrat who cares about all of us - me included - and I'll consider them but Biden ain't that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:43PM (1 child)
You should work toward expanding your duocracy with more parties, so that your government can better serve a plurality of opinions.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday May 04 2020, @11:59PM
You sound like a non-American. The problem with your proposal is that it's completely impossible, thanks to Duverger's Law. Our election system prevents more than two dominant parties from existing at any given time; this is a necessary consequence of plurality voting (aka "first past the post"), which is used at the national level exclusively, and also in most other lower-level elections nationwide.
Other countries like those in Western Europe don't have this problem because they don't work the same way: they generally have approval voting or proportional representation. For the latter, people vote for the party they like. If there's 10 parties, and Party A gets 40% of the votes, Party B gets 30%, Party C gets 20%, Party D 10%, and the rest nothing, then the seats in parliament are allocated this way: 40% to Party A (which they can fill with the members of their choice), 30% to party B, etc. This is why other democratic countries don't have only two main parties, and their parties also come and go over time. (You can look up approval voting on Wikipedia.)
It is possible, of course, for us to elect a 3rd party, but that's pretty hard because votes for "3rd parties" are considered "wasted votes" because they take away from the other two, and effectively become a vote for one of the two main parties. So this only changes very rarely; the last time was when the Whig Party died out, and the Democratic-Republican party split into the two parties we have today. That was way back in the mid-1800s. If one of the parties pisses off people so much that it doesn't get enough votes to survive, a new party will rise up somehow, the unpopular one will go extinct, and we'll be right back to having 2 parties for generations.
So, the only way we can change our "duocracy" is to change our election system, and I'm not talking about the Electoral College either (that only affects the Presidential election anyway), we'd have to eliminate Plurality voting altogether and adopt something different. This is not a trivial task, and would require a new Constitutional Amendment. Here's a Quora link [quora.com] discussing this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @10:13PM
Poor snowflake.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:36PM (14 children)
I think it's safe to say that, in San Diego at least, everybody's starting to think this is total bullshit, and I agree even though I still wear PPE and disinfect. Fucking nobody except for the most extreme elderly and people who have to for work are wearing masks anymore. I was cautious because lockdowns were unprecedented in my lifetime but as it turns out this is just another swine or bird flu being exploited for political reasons and the people are fucking furious now that they see that people aren't collapsing around them left and right and there is no change in hospital load (I have a couple friends in the medical field and they confirm this, though they did note that some shipments of PPE destined for their hospitals have been redirected to other locations by FEMA and other agencies).
That leaves governors with 2 major choices amidst the increasing protests and civil disobedience: Save face by more quickly rolling back the restrictions, or double-down for your Chinese globalist masters because FUCK TRUMP! and risk being recalled (or worse). Newsome believe it or not I think is going with the former, tyrants like Whitmer are going with the latter.
Cleaner counties, beachfront or not, are not going to live like caged animals just because the third-world filth infesting L.A. and New York City are spreading this disease because they choose to live like caged animals in the first place.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:47PM (10 children)
Heh. Just wait till this starts reaming out Trump Country. I give it 2-4 weeks before the Deep South starts dropping like flies.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:54PM (9 children)
I've seen a bit of squalor in the South, but I've never seen 12 tubercular illegals shitting in a single bucket in a piss-soaked 200 square-foot basement like I did in L.A. And those weren't temporary stash-houses, either. Those people chose to live that way until they were evicted.
At least a hillbilly has good enough sense to shit in the bushes and wipe his ass with a few leaves.
(Score: 2, Informative) by fustakrakich on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:21PM (7 children)
At least a hillbilly has good enough sense to shit in the bushes and wipe his ass with a few leaves.
Half the deal is knowing which leaves not to use, and clearing the area of snakes first
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by arslan on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:56PM (6 children)
Eh? I though that's how Hillbillies do it, clean the area of snakes... by taking a dump.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:14PM (2 children)
That ain't how ya do it. Snakes is good eatin'!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:18AM (1 child)
Sir, that ain't a snake.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @01:00AM
Yea, I think that works too.. they put anything in their mouth, even family's "snake"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:37AM (2 children)
Reminds me of this morning when I took a big Trump. I felt so good it made me realize just how wonderful this country will feel when we get rid of that big fat turd in the White House.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @02:08PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:16PM
Good for you, get that poop pile outta the White House!
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Monday May 04 2020, @12:14AM
Is that the name of an Austin lounge act?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:37PM (2 children)
One's attitude may change if you have a relative, someone close to you, or someone close to you ends up dying from this thing. Then you might think about all the motherfuckers crying out "MY FREEDUMS!" and consider that every one of them can take some of that blood onto their hands.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @04:21PM
Or it might not change.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @04:54PM
Life is short. Are you going to live it, or are you going to quiver in fear that it will end? If you want to quiver, please stay in the privacy of your own home, and quiver. And, oh yeah, stop displaying your cowardice on the intartubez for all the rest of us to see.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:22PM (14 children)
On the spectrum between safety and liberty, most Americans lean towards liberty.
With all the outpouring of charity that's been flowing from Americans to other Americans, I can't believe anyone could honestly say that Americans care only for themselves. Many (not all) of us will give profusely of our time, our money, our energy to help others.
But we won't give up our rights. We really, really hate being told what to do. It's a cultural thing. We are not descended from fearful men.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:41PM (12 children)
But half the people only do what the guy on TV tells them to do. They would be completely lost if they weren't told what they are supposed to be outraged ab out this week. They are constantly being told to fear and loathe brown people, for instance, and they do. I have a neighbor who is outraged at the Michigan governor, just outraged, and you know what? He lives over 1000 miles away from there! Why the fuck should he care what the Michigan governor does or say, but he does because the guy on TV tells him how outraged he should be.
(Score: 2) by EEMac on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:51PM (4 children)
I find it hard to believe a TV channel is constantly telling people to "fear and loathe brown people".
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:21AM
Sorry, I'm sure some of them are good people but mostly drug dealers and rapists.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:32AM
Don't you get Fox where you live?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @03:39AM
Guess you don't ever watch Faux News
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @05:42PM
He thinks that because those TV channels have this program called the local news where they show pictures of the people who are arrested every day for robberies, muggings, stabbings, and shooting their fellow citizens. We're not supposed to notice if they're brown.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @07:22AM (6 children)
You're flirting with stupid there.
On the one hand, we have people out there telling the "man on the TV" to go fuck himself. But, you claim they only know to do what the man on the TV tells them to do. Which is it?
If the man on TV is telling me to fear and loathe brown people - it almost has to be a liberal/leftist/progressive/Democrat sumbitch telling me to fear. You and yours controls main stream media in this country.
And, Michigan is just about 1000 miles away from me, as well. Gretchen is pissing me off, too. Why? BECAUSE THIS WHOLE CONTINENTAL US IS MY HOME!! That's kinda what "America" is all about, we're one big happy family. Well, happy family if we ever get rid of the CTRL-Left fascists.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @05:03PM (5 children)
And the reason that a lot of people hold your kind of political philosophies and "principles" in such low esteem is that you'll be angered and outraged by a completely new topic in a month or so, and it will be exactly the same topic that the man on TV tells you to be outraged about. Remember how mad you were about the imperial presidency of Obama, but you don't give a shit about how Trump has taken it three orders of magnitude worse? Remember how power-mad Obama was using Executive Orders to "by pass the Constitution"? Remember how mad you were at Obama for all the golf he played? Now the man on TV tells you that you should be mad at the people who say it is unconstitutional for Trump to mis-appropriate funds because they hate America?
And yes, the man on TV tells you to fear and loathe brown people. You should use this as a moment of self-awareness if you haven't noticed that. The people who are crossing the border are drug dealers, murderers, terrorists, rapists, and just all around "bad hombres". It is perfectly fine to cage their children and turn them away when they ask for help, which is of course against the international conventions to which we belong.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @05:14PM (4 children)
Thanks for the reminder. Next month I'm on concentration camp duty. Gotta keep them brown babies caged up, don't you know? When Obama set those cages up, you weren't whining then, were you? Only when Trump appears to be responsible do you whine and snivel about the cages.
But, Trump is orders of magnitude worse than Obama - because - uhhh - because you say so, right?
And, we've gone round and round over those conventions. MEXICO is failing to meet it's obligations under those conventions, not the US. You know, that bit about "the first country" to which those "refugees" come to? Mexico passes it's obligations on to us, and we're the bad guys?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @06:07PM (3 children)
You've gotta be a special kind of stupid to think Trump is not orders of magnitude worse than Obama. I guess you really are a racist piece of shit, you've just been desperately trying to hide that fact. Sadly such idiocy is not something you can hide, it oozes out in little ways.
Here is some food for thought for you fucked up capitalist apologists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_experiment [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @06:28PM
I think rather the other way around. A huge thing people keep forgetting, is that the media won't let Trump get away with a Ukrainian phone call, but they will let Obama get away with assisting drug lords (particularly, the Sinaloa Cartel) with murdering 200+ Mexican and US citizens.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @06:29PM (1 child)
That's not a whole lot of food for thought: it's been blatantly obvious for years that both parties are idiots when it comes to taxation. For the most part, the two have offset most of each other's ills. And that helps to explain why it would be near catastrophic if either party controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate for more than 8 years running. One party would tax us to death, and the return would be near worthless. The other party would nearly end taxation, and the infrastructure would fall apart. If you're not partisan, you probably realize that both parties are ignorant, and just pandering to their bases.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @11:02PM
"One party would tax us to death, and the return would be near worthless."
God DAMN you're stupid. The US used to have way higher taxes, through the GOP neoliberal policies along with DNC complicity the taxes on the wealthy have been dropped repeatedly while shifting the burden on to the lower and middle class. Programs that the lower classes depended on were shut down, and the US has been in a death spiral ever since.
You're just too fucking dumb to comprehend because you're brainwashed with "taxes baaaad" paired with the most selfish politics which benefit the super wealthy. You have glimmers of realization that are instantly buried in your partisan propaganda.
Hell, just the amount of whinging about minimum wage increases and protests against racist policing blow apart your attempt at centrism.
Get fucked you selfish cunt.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Monday May 04 2020, @03:24AM
mod parent +1 optimistic
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Sunday May 03 2020, @09:53PM (32 children)
I want to say that I can't believe that this is being broken down by political lines. Of course I reflect that is a ridiculous want. What about science? Why can't we keep the discussion about science?
Science says that if people take precautions and quit messing in each others space, you will significantly reduce the spread of this and every other virus out there. Science says that if you wash your hands and don't pick your nose before that you probably won't infect yourself. Science says that COVID has a case-fatality rate of 5%-10% where measles is 15% and H1N1 (Swine Flu) is 10%. Science says that the majority of people dying with this had other fairly major issues with the exception of a few edge cases. Science says we are trying to not overwhelm the healthcare system, not eradicate this and every other communicable disease.
I had H1N1 two years ago, 9 years after it was introduced to the United States. It was a bad flu. I was sad. No one brought me food. No one stayed home for me. No one tried to convince me I was going to die. The doctor told me to suck it up and to let them know if it got worse.
If we break this down into partisan bickering we'll never get anywhere. I have zero interest in a lockdown for 9 years because we are now too smart and know there are novel dangers in the world that require us to be fearful. If we keep this up we will soon see alliances that one would have never thought possible. Fear creates paranoia. Paranoia creates insanity.
It seems it's time to remind ourselves that we all die at some point and we don't have much of a say in the end. I certainly don't want my tombstone to read, "I died a happy man being quarantined for 9 years fearful of COVID, after a bad car accident."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:24PM (1 child)
There, it's happened again. Someone ruins a perfectly good flamewar with facts and rational thought. /s
Thank you for writing what I was about to. I'm starting to have problems with people (long stories) on both ends of the wacko spectrum- some who seem completely unaware of the pandemic and are taking no precautions (no masks, no distancing, no sanitizer, etc.). Then others who are maybe even more wacko- far too overly cautious, far beyond the facts of COVID-19, how it might be spread, how it's not spread, how it can't live for 3 weeks on hard surfaces, etc. (too long of a backstory).
I wish the govt. and healthcare system would be clear about everything. As far as I know, it should be okay for people to go anywhere, including watching a rocket launch, and do anything as long as they 1) wear a mask, and maybe the type needs to be clarified better, 2) still keep distant, 3) wash or sanitize hands, 4) do not touch your face, etc.
And we need more testing to figure out who are carriers.
And anyone who has some kind of disease or condition making them more vulnerable, needs to take even more precautions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @04:58PM
Everyone needs to be very afraid. Remember, it's transmitted by wireless transcievers. And, I'm working on a way to transmit it via wire and fiber. I haven't quite figured out the transition from copper to fiber, then back again, but I'm making progress.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @10:56PM (3 children)
Why not? Sounds like a good life! Better than "after I drank fish-tank cleaner on the advice of an Impeached idiot."
When I die, I want to go like Granpa did, quietly in my sleep. Not screaming in terror like his passengers.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:39PM (2 children)
Your Trump Derangement Syndrome is showing. The wife of the man who died from ingesting fish tank cleaner is being investigated for murder.
https://news.yahoo.com/woman-blamed-trump-giving-her-133613382.html [yahoo.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:28AM (1 child)
You messed-up TDS there champ. TDS is all the jugheads who defend Trump beyond all rationality when he clearly does one of his many idiotic things.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday May 04 2020, @04:23PM
The best defense is a terrible offense. ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 03 2020, @11:17PM (4 children)
Even better there are by some estimates well over 4+ million people who had it and are 'good' now. Let them out! Do not lock them down!
COVID has a case-fatality rate of 5%-10%
More like 2% from reported cases. But your point still stands.
The bottom line is this thing goes all the way from 'man I feel kinda bad' to 'gawd I need a ventilator and need to get my affairs in order'. With more of the first than the second. 98% of the reported cases get better. We also have good evidence our actual numbers are 5-6x off from reported. It may be higher/lower in some areas than others.
There is a lot of misinformation out there. People are frightened. So the political knives have come out. I am seeing absolutely ridiculous arguments being made. We have a much better idea of what this thing is now. It is pretty clear that China lied big time (back when it was being called the wuhan virus). However, we have our own numbers now. We also have many in the US political org saying fun things like 'reshape to our vision'. Which makes the fear rise and pisses people off.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:25AM
Holy shit, you talk about how much misinformation there is out there, how about backing up your numbers first? Where does your 2% come from, and how are you defining it? And back up your 5x to 6x off. A very highly placed person in the government told everyone that it would be completely gone by the end of April. Talk about being WAY off in your numbers, but not in the direction you're talking about. We don't know these numbers because we don't know who is infected and who isn't until they present symptoms. Regardless of what China was or was not saying (and don't forget that the President back in January was praising how open President Xi was being), the CDC had people in the WHO and in China when this stuff started showing up in November. The US knew everything that they needed to know by the end of December, but chose to not do anything about it until March (and no, banning travel for Chinese nationals but not any other travelers coming from China didn't do shit because 40,000 travelers still came over from China after that "ban").
People are scared because they know they are on their own. There is zero leadership from the top, and in fact, the top has said many times that it isn't their problem, it's not their responsibility, and it is all up to the governors and they're not going to be getting any help from the Fed.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @01:37AM (1 child)
Your information is two months stale. Already on March 3rd [who.int], the WHO measured the ongoing fatality rate at 3.4%. But even then, that estimate is for individual cases that are able to receive adequate care. When the number of cases overwhelms the health system, as happened in Italy [worldometers.info] and Spain [worldometers.info], the mortality rate may rise to 15-25%.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Monday May 04 2020, @06:33AM
Percentage of what?
These percentages depend on testing [worldometers.info]. testing [statista.com] that needs to have consistent criteria to be comparable between counrries..
If people are asymptomatic and untested, they won't be counted as being sick - so the death rate looks worse
If people are sick, but don't untested, they won't be counted as being sick - so the death rate looks worse
If people die untested, they miss being in counts above and below the line.
The more you test, the more 'not very sick' you find, so the death rate looks much better,
If lots of people have the disease, but don't know it, they may end up passing it on to others, who may not be so lucky.
Untested people need to stay away from others, because your right to liberty should not allow you to kill someone or make them very sick because you didn't know you had the disease.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @04:01AM
>There is a lot of misinformation out there.
I know right?! Some people are suggesting that drinking bleach is the cure. Fortunately we know better - Trump wine is the cure and *bonus* it tastes better (slightly.).
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @12:05AM (3 children)
No, science has learned quite a lot in the last six weeks and that's not what science is saying. Science is saying that they don't know why people outside of the high risk groups are dying, and that is pretty frightening. People in their 30s and 40s are developing massive blood clotting that doesn't respond to anti-coagulates, and they don't know why. Minorities, particularly black males, are dying more than two times the rate of other races, and in some areas seven times. And they don't know why.
Nobody is saying a nine year lockdown, or whatever other scary number you want to throw out there. What you gloss over is that science is saying that in contrast to the other viruses you mention, this one is extremely contagious. Those other viruses didn't become major issues because they don't transmit as easily, and that there was coordinated and concerted efforts to stop them. The whole point of all of these lockdowns was to slow the spread to buy us time to figure out how to treat, or at least manage it. History tells us that it will probably make a comeback again even worse than this time. Or maybe, since this one spreads so very very quickly, most people will get it the first time around and maybe it won't be so bad when it comes back. Science doesn't know.
What science has been saying from before day one was that we need testing, lots and lots of testing. That is the ONLY way that we can make ANY informed decisions, including when and how to open up society. But the reason we don't have testing in the US is 100% political. So everyone is just making the best guesses they can at this point. All the mathematical models need good numbers to put in them, but you need testing.
If we had reliable testing, tracking, and quarantine capabilities, a lot more would be able to open by now. But we don't. And science says that it isn't as easy as you make it out to be.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @06:29AM (1 child)
Minorities, particularly black males, are dying more than two times the rate of other races, and in some areas seven times. And they don't know why.
I thought it was due to poor underlying condition brought on by improper diet, exacerbated by a deeply rooted suspicion of doctors that leads to them not seeking treatment earlier. Don't diabetes and other conditions run more in the Black community? Soul food and the cultural memory of things like the Tuskeegee experiment seem like likely causes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @04:40PM
If it was heavily influenced by deep rooted suspicions of doctors and other medical experts, then the MAGA crowd is in grave danger.
(Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Monday May 04 2020, @09:34PM
Thank you for this...wish I could push it to +6. Most everyone I know for example (who happen to be mostly left leaning) simply want an approach like you suggest based on the science, and the fact that a) COVID-19 is extremely contagious, b) we don't know a lot about it yet, c) we have no vaccine as yet, and most importantly d) testing right now is totally for shit...so yea...we have no clue how many are carrying it. And yes, as you said, many seem hell bent to compare it to things that are nowhere near as contagious.
Many posts here keep talking about some fabled groups on the left that want everyone to hide in their closet for years, and I'm just not seeing that at all. The far right is pushing this "oppressive lock down" BS well enough that everyone seems to be buying into it I guess. What I AM seeing is many on the right that want to seriously open shit up in states that likely haven't even peaked yet. Good fucking luck with that. And the outbreaks that can happen from that can cause a massive spike in the spread, and very much CAN kill those who decided not to "take chances", simply because the odds of everyone else coming in contact with it skyrocket.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Username on Monday May 04 2020, @12:57AM (7 children)
It's always a political line. Authoritarians who says you need to be locked down so they can have power vs Libertarians who say those people that don't want to be locked down, don't need to be. And, those who want to be, can be. We all know who's who now.
There is no reason to stop people from willingly assembling. They all know the risks. They have agency. If I don't want that risk, I dont go out. Everyone wins. If someone drags you out of your house and exposes you to the world, call the police, or better yet, get a gun so they can't do it in the first place.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @02:53AM
But the democrats need to evict Trump supporters from their jobs. They voted wrongly in 2016 and had been doing well, despite 3 years of Russiagate and impeachment. The people needed to be taught a lesson so that the Party has a chance to get their chosen morally superior dotard into power.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by captain normal on Monday May 04 2020, @04:13AM (5 children)
You just don't get it, do you? If only a couple of asymptomatic people in an assembly are carriers of the virus, they could easily infect dozens. Those could be asymptomatic but carriers for up to two weeks, and then wind up infecting hundreds who could then infect thousands. The next thing you know millions are sick and many are dying. All because a few selfish assholes think they "want mih freedoms".
And it's not just that people are feeling sick or not well, they litterally can't breath and their hearts are blowing up. God forbid that you should have to try to stay alive on a ventilator that is pounding air into your lungs so hard that you have to be put into a coma so you don't try to fight against it.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2) by Username on Monday May 04 2020, @07:31AM (2 children)
I get it, but I don't think you do. People know the virus exists. They made the choice to get it. Other people made a similar choice and meet up with them. What's wrong with that? How do they harm anyone who didn't take that risk? The point you're trying to make is the same one against homosexuality. Who cares if two gays give eachother aids? You're not getting aids, doesn't effect you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @01:21PM
Criminal transmission of HIV is the intentional or reckless infection of a person with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This is often conflated, in laws and in discussion, with criminal exposure to HIV, which does not require the transmission of the virus and often, as in the cases of spitting and biting, does not include a realistic means of transmission.[1] Some countries or jurisdictions, including some areas of the U.S., have enacted laws expressly to criminalize HIV transmission or exposure, charging those accused with criminal transmission of HIV. Others, including the United Kingdom, charge the accused under existing laws with such crimes as murder, fraud (Canada), manslaughter, attempted murder, or assault.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_transmission_of_HIV [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday May 04 2020, @06:17PM
"How do they harm anyone who didn't take that risk? "
No one willingly goes out to catch this virus. If you think anyone does you are either a fool or you think you are immune. Which is also foolish. It is not just people over 60 and with preexisting conditions that catch this virus, people in their 20s and 30s in good health are catching it and dying from it. Why don't you just go out and play Russian Roulette with a revolver to kill yourself without endangering other people.
As for harming anyone else, if you pick up this virus, you take it home to you family, to your work, to your church, to your favorite restaurant, your favorite bar and to any place where you and your friends (if you actully have any) gather.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @07:35AM
GP's point is, if you don't go out, it doesn't matter all that much to you.
I've already mentioned a time or two that I'm "at risk". All of us old bastards are "at risk" it seems. And, I'm still living my life.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @07:54AM
Actually, I think Runaway is already there, he just doesn't realize it yet. Just wait awhile for some of the drugs to wear off.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @07:31AM (4 children)
It's rather confusing to the average Joe. On the one hand, he is told that if he maintains a six foot distance from other people at the grocery, or wherever, then he's fine. On the other hand, state and federal parks with tens of thousands of square miles are closed down because - uhhhhh - he might run into a brown bear with covid19? Or a covid racoon? Seriously, WTF? He is also being told that it is healthier to remain inside of a cramped home with wife and one to five children of school age, than to set up a barbeque in the yard.
If we are going to rely on science, then let us rely on science. And, all those authoritarian bastards at the state capitals and city halls can go fuck themselves.
Meanwhile, all of us "essential personnel" continue to go to work, providing those goods and services that the nation needs. Aside from health care workers, I'm not aware of any sector where we, the workers, are suffering from it.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @07:48AM (3 children)
And even moreso to the much less than average, uneducated, ex-trucker, like our Runaway here. Must be painful, not knowing what to think, or who to believe, because you are not smart enough to figure it out for yourself. No wonder the excessive noise and outrage of right-wing propaganda gradually takes over such weak minds. Poor Runaway! Blearf his heart!
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 04 2020, @07:53AM (2 children)
My number one fan posts again. I'll feel bad if the Wuhan Flu kills me, because your purpose in life will be taken away. But, until the flu gets me, you go ahead and trot along behind me, sniffing and snuffling at all my words that you can't understand. Who's a good boy? Here, FETCH!!
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @01:24PM
I prefer your number twos actually.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @11:07PM
Happy to burst your bubble, you have quite a few critics around here. That is what happens when you spew partisan nonsense like it is gospel truth, and worst of all you never cite anything other than alt-right click-bait sites with the worst reputations.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday May 04 2020, @01:26PM (2 children)
Because this country has always had a dangerous anti-intellectual streak, and it's been electing complete fucking morons for 40+ years. The kind of citizenry that would even *consider* Dubya, let alone Trump, is already too dumb to wipe its own ass.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 04 2020, @02:29PM (1 child)
Not limited to the USA nor the current time unfortunately. Here's a quote from wiki (names redacted to protect the guilty). Who could it be? Could it be Stalin in 1922? Could it be Hitler in 1936? Pol Pot in 1975? More importantly, wasn't it Trump in 2016?
Although the output consisted of low quality lumps of pig iron which was of negligible economic worth, **** had a deep distrust of intellectuals who could have pointed this out and instead placed his faith in the power of the mass mobilization of the peasants.
According to his private doctor, **** and his entourage visited traditional steel works where he found out that high quality steel could only be produced in large-scale factories using reliable fuel.
However, he decided not to order a halt to the backyard steel furnaces so as not to dampen the revolutionary enthusiasm of the masses. The program was only quietly abandoned much later in that year.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday May 07 2020, @12:26PM
That sounds like Mao more than the others.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by sjames on Monday May 04 2020, @11:11PM
Nobody's talking about a 9 year lockdown. It's not like we haven't figured anything out. Chloroquine looks like a bust but remdesivir shows some promise. Intubation is out, BIPAP is in. Convalescent plasma looks promising.
The problem with letting the stay home orders expire is that too many people seem to be all or nothing. Ga let the stay home orders expire and over the weekend in Atlanta there were people gathering in large groups with no masks doing all but having a face licking party. I guess we'll see how that works out. We might have been better off slowly expanding the list of exceptions first.
Meanwhile, we have a serious kink in meat production with several processing plants down due to workers coming down with COVID.