I hope the data miners producing models will include the effects of warming spring weather on infection rates and dispersion!
"'WHO parroting China" same old conservative trope...'
Same well-documented proven trope!
btbg hopes that "those of you who support a lockdown so vociferously would at least stop to consider the long term consequences..."
Well they have! The political leftists in this country are openly overjoyed at the present lockdown scenario, feeling certain that the crushing of President Trump's incredible economy will stifle his re-election chances.
Comedian Bill Maher told his TV audience last year he hoped the thriving economy would crash regardless of the effect of that on others "as it's the only hope for keeping Trump from getting re-elected..." Of course he's a multi-millionaire, so no worries for him! Nancy Pelosi did her best to interdict a recovery for the country by interfering with the stimulus package for small businesses. And in the Senate Schumer did the same.
Sadly for most Americans, many high-ranking Democrats have openly opposed efforts by others to get the country back to work. Some governors seem bent on using the crisis to submerge the constitutional rights of their citizens, abusing the power of their offices to micromanage the lives of the citizenry.
So yes, many Democrats have considered the consequences and see great opportunity in the misery of others.
I agree with you, Daryl: far too much time, energy and money has been expended through knee-jerk reaction to alarming computer models that have missed the mark widely concerning dramatic global cooling decades ago, dramatic global warming last decade, running out of "fossil fuels", and now this global pandemic.
We need ever-current data accumulation and rapid processing to understand and respond effectively to this threat.
Maybe it's time to look at the back side of this Covid-19 situation. The accompanying link is admittedly from a "conservative" forum but reveals a rather alarming connection to the U.S. government, and it's in real time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpwndRgw-kI
CBB posts "we're on track to fulfill one of the major causes of mass extinction by many species including our own..."
Alarmism in extremis! Right in line with the UN's Agendas 21 & 2030! Reduce the world's population by 50 percent! Sure, save the rest to live under a totalitarian world government. (Bill Gates' published ideal is to have every human vaccinated with a material produced in labs he subtends which will include tracking material so every human movement on the planet can be monitored. I wonder who will do the monitoring.)
The glaring problem with all that gloom and doom - shiploads of misinformation. Despite Greta Thundberg's[?] polemical panic, the poles are NOT heating up so much faster. Snowfall in the northern hemisphere has been increasing and global temperatures cooling somewhat over the past decade. Wild weather around the world is NOT worse beyond historical records. Ice in the Arctic has been shifting, not dramatically decreasing in recent years. Ice in Antarctica has actually been increasing! Ice sheets reaching the ocean have been "calving" not because it's warmer there, but because of the enormous weight of the ice over water which can't support it.
Human caused environmental damage is a fact. But is it really apocalyptic? Way too soon to tell, IMHO. I believe there are much greater forces at work on this planet than human action.
CW. I do not know you, your race, social stratum, marital or familial situation--only your opinion. I can't see in my words any disrespect for you. I do take issue with your opinion that conservatives are the nastier political side, which you have every right to hold, and I addressed that point directly.
I haven't used the words "moron" or "idiot", nonetheless they are far less nasty epithets than "racist, homophobe, liar, hate-monger, xenophobe, misogynist, terrorist, Nazi and traitor" which almost every Democrat speaking in public hurls unendingly at people of more conservative persuasion. If you truly want people to "use more restraint in what we say and call" others, start with "sweeping your own house".
CWGordon: Who did what to a "fellow American"?
And by the way..."Conservatives always have to get nasty and call people names"? Are you really unaware of the nastiness and name-calling the Democrats have been heaping on all conservative-minded, Christian, right-to-life believing, gun-owning Americans and our duly elected president for the past three and a half years? All have been villified, branded "racist, homophobic liars, hate-mongers, xenophobes and misogynist terrorists, and Nazis! Talk about hate speech!
Have you ever watched Joy Behar in action? How about Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, Senator Schumer, and the four female anti-American Democrat House representatives who, with every public speaking opportunity, along with every late show host and comedian cannot resist spewing defamatory, hateful rhetoric against the President, Republican legislators, the NRA, Fox News and any citizen who questions "the Gospel of Global Warming" or is against wanton taxpayer-funded abortion on demand? How about that lying witch and her criminal lawyer who did their lying best to denigrate and demonize Justice Kavanaugh?
The pot calling the kettle black, maybe?
It also appears that the pandemic, as measured throughout the world, has a definite "life cycle" of about eight weeks, with the peak infection rate at the sixth week. According to an Israeli medical researcher the cycle has remained a constant in all the countries (China a possible exception) reporting the disease, and more importantly, irrespective of whether said countries "closed down" or remained open.
We still know much too little about the true numbers of people exposed to the virus versus those debilitated versus those who have died to make "carved in stone" policy moves. We don't even know how many deaths are truly the result of infection with the Covid-19 virus, because of the CDC's "being liberal" with the numbers, as Dr. Birx revealed.
This is not the first time the CDC has messed with fatality numbers: with the Swine Flu epidemic they claimed millions of Americans would die. But virtually all the test results the CDC received from around the nation were negative! When they were called on that, the CDC then upped the ante, predicting 22 million Americans would get that disease. Actual infections never reached anywhere near the predictions. Still the CDC cried "poor boy" and received millions more taxpayer dollars.
The hospitals in this country can be questioned legitimately about the Covid case numbers they are reporting. If someone is hospitalized for flu, the hospital can charge the health care system for about $4000. A Covid-19 diagnosis reaps $13,000 for treatment, and even a 15-minute ventilator application to a patient garners $39,000! Could there be a conflict of interest here? Hospitals are as money-centered as any business.
Each of us has a responsibility to enhance and protect his or her own health, and to not carelessly endanger the health of others. Members of the federal, state and municipal governments are responsible for the economic health of the nation as well as controllable health risks. Letting 330 million people slide into irrecoverable economic ruin, unaffordable medical care, starvation, suicide, victimization from exploding crime rates and significant downgrading of our national security to save even a million people from sickness and death is to a high a price to pay... especially with so little knowledge on which to base sound policy.
Just my 80-year-old, vulnerable group member opinion.
New Banana Song
I am Chiquita Banana and I'm very nice!
You can keep me fresh if you put me on ice.
Thaw me in the morning, a bit of heat will suffice,
And breakfast will never be a sacrifice!
Peel me once or you can peel me twice,
I'll always be a taste of Paradise!
gvarner wrote: "over 35,400 deaths so far (CDC count to-date). You can do the math..." Unfortunately we cannot do the math because the CDC in its "wisdom" has ordered the medical profession to miscount the numbers of deaths! All major death-causing terminal illnesses are now included in the Covid-19 death count if an individual has had even the slightest acquaintance with this corona virus. Also many of the tests used here and in other countries have produced "false positive" responses. Moreover evidence is now appearing that many times more people have actually been exposed to or have had the disease than previously believed. If so, the ratio of deaths to survival is far lower than current reportage suggests.
Sadly the major media in this country have more interest in maintaining the panic level to support Democrat talking points aimed at ousting President Trump than they have in informing the American people fully and truthfully. Major media, the entertainment industry and the Democrat Party have shared the same focus for the last three years in their efforts to derail America: "Never let a crisis go to waste!"
billb800si writes: "Longfellow ... was attempting to dissolve social tensions."
That's a stretch.
(Tee hee)
Yeah, now that I'm using RAW files, I'm facing getting low on space. I have till now been archiving my photos as PNG files and RAW files (both much more space-greedy than JPGs). But with even a little experience with RAW, I'm realizing I don't get that much benefit from RAW so I'll only use that format sparingly.
But your hint is just...with current low prices I can likely afford to join the multi-Terabyte community.
Viruses are strange, not living, but they are actually fairly easy to deactivate. They have a "fatty" coating which maintains their potency to invade cells, but that coating dissolves when heated, hence their low survival rate in summer. Since soap dissolves fat as well, that's why warm/hot soapy hand-washing is a great self-protective measure.