Maggie's Farm

Be scared!  Follow the rules!

California Docs Say Lockdown vs. Non-Lockdown 'Did Not Produce a Statistically Different Number of Deaths'

Debate is good. New facts are useful too. As I understand it, though, lockdowns are not so much designed to prevent death as they were to slow the rate of serious infection - to extend the epidemic at a less intense rate.

Related:  Will the “experts” and elected officials ever have the courage to tell people the truth about the situation? No. And the less said about our hopelessly corrupt press, the better.

The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation

Pope Francis: 'We Have Sinned Against the Earth ... the Earth Never Forgives'

There's a strange theology for you. 

In a political year, everything gets politicised. It's good to hear the other side of the discussion: Time to consider possibility that coronavirus lockdown was colossal public policy calamity.

It might very well turn out that way. I tend to feel now that lockdown was extreme, but good hygiene and masks would have been sufficient especially in hot spots. 

Few people are flying these days, so why not a virtual private flight? If you ever have the chance to fly private, do it. It's a blast.

That infamous explanation from a Vietnam War incident comes to mind as I read and listen to the debates about lockdowns and shutdowns.

I don't know what to believe anymore. Everybody with an opinion seems to be viewing the situation through their own particular lens, or filter as Scott would say. Of course, that's normal for everything all the time, but everything is exaggerated now to the point that balanced wisdom seems to have left the room. I guess that's normal too.

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." 

I understand that Covid is not the seasonal flu. I also understand that it is neither polio nor the 1918 flu, nor, God forbid, the Black Plague. I understand that it seems to be a highly infectious virus with the power to cut people down and stress medical care in some areas (although less so much right now). I understand that this SARS Covid will be around forever, like all viruses. No escape, ever. Even vaccines are not 100% and it could be 12 months before we have them. 

Let's discuss in the comments, in a calm, civil and respectful way. Later, I'll take you on a nice airplane ride.

BD Addenda:

Menton:  To Reopen, Or Not To Reopen? That Is The Question

Reynolds:

I'll just add that one thing that has appalled me — in the comments here, on social media, and well, everywhere — is that so many people dealing with a situation full of uncertainty and unreliable data are so dead-certain of their positions and so abusive of people who disagree. And that’s certainly true of both sides in this debate.

 We have reached the point where fear and panic have precluded logic and facts.

Thank God our parents and ancestors were not so fearful. 

Seemingly doped up and in terrible shape, shortly before he died

It is not an exclusive club. Funny how people enjoy having things to hate. As they say, haters gotta hate. Hatred is recreational for people, or at least for some people. 

Feel free to explain the psychology of that. 

Speaking of clubs, Trump was one of the first guys to make an exclusive club in Florida open to Jews and blacks.  

Re Sullivan's:  How to Live With COVID-19

The opening up of work and life is not a black and white choice between health and wealth.  If it were, that would be an easy choice. We're not talking about wealth here. We're talking about a functional life, working, being useful and social, paying bills, not losing shelter, staying solvent.

This Chinese virus is not ever going away. It's here to stay like all viruses, and many if not most people will be exposed to it before 2021. However, viruses tend to run rapidly through a population over about two months and then just stick around more quietly forever, waiting for opportunity. Some people will get sick and die, regardless.

The trick now is how to balance illness and death risks with destroyed lives, careers, futures, families, and businesses.  I still feel that the lockdowns and stay at home programs were extreme responses, but I understand that they were issued in the absence of data and in an atmosphere of panic (eg, 2 million Americans dead!). Lockdowns do not really save lives, and that is not what they are for anyway.

The Trump administration's plan makes good sense to me, with calm guidelines but leaving local decisions local without a one-size-fits-all for this giant country. After all, the federal officials and world experts weren't omniscient, were they? They never are. Nobody is.

I do appreciate that Dr. Fauci now says I can go back onto Tinder, but where will I go to meet that special girl in person? Maybe for a 6-foot distanced walk up and down 5th Ave...with masks? That would be a memorable way to meet your true love, masked and anonymous. It might work.

One question for readers: Do those with secure cash flows have different ideas from those who do not? 

From I&!, Media Hope In COVID-19 They Finally Have The Event That Will Destroy Trump

 Unable to chase Trump from office through Russia, Russia, Russia; impeachment; and incessant whining about the Electoral College, the media are now riding the coronavirus panic. If they could just convince the public the president is responsible for every COVID-19 death, that he acted too soon, and acted too slowly, that he’s wielded too much power, and not enough, that he hasn’t said enough, but now he’s said too much, they could get their man elected in November. It’s almost as if the press was working from a list of Get Trump bullet points.

From The Coronavirus Forces Countries into a No-Win Situation:

 There is this probably particularly American mentality that if we just study a problem long enough, and are somehow smart enough, we will inevitably discover some option that creates a win-win scenario that avoids both the terrible health consequences (more infections and more deaths) or the terrible economic consequences (a depression that forces all kinds of businesses large and small into bankruptcy). The coronavirus may be presenting the countries of the world with a no-win situation.

Here.

Media loves to over-hype things. Yellow journalism. It gets people to watch. And now they have a captive audience which is even better for their income. Many people are watching the boob tube obsessively. Not me.

From Czech: Police confront nudist sunbathers over not wearing face masks amid coronavirus outbreak

Michael 'Big Short' Burry Blasts "Unjustifiable" Lockdowns As "Most Devastating Economic Force In History"

I agree with him. We need to get business back in business, with reasonable precautions of course. Since this virus will be circulating for years, the political challenge is when. The first patient who dies after opening up will be Trump's fault. Meanwhile, lives are being destroyed.

As Scott Adams asks,  How Many Grandmas Would You End to Get Back to Work? Make Your Case

A sort-of unusual lady from Northampton, MA - a ghetto of lefties and LGBT culture - reports honestly on her pain  (h/t SDA). Losing friends over political disagreements is disgusting:

Doctors At University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: We’ve Developed a Vaccine Against Coronavirus

And they can scale it easily. Pitt is one of the great American medical centers. If they say it, they mean it. Quite remarkable speed, but most people in urban and suburban areas have been exposed now anyway, naturally vaccinated.

Coronavirus death rate much lower than previously reported, study says

Forget the politics and forget the hate and the hateful media. As Scott Adams says (and as I observe), the American people almost entirely come together in positive ways when the going gets tough. We might not be a family, but we're a team. Team America.

That is when it matters. Petty politics and sniping are for the good times, not the challenging and sacrificial times. Nobody is worrying about pronouns or the weather now, thank goodness. Unfortunately, there are more important issues.