Wuhan Corona virus

[Hydra009]

Remember back when Florida's covid dashboard manager was sacked, alleging that she was being pressured to falsify data?

Well, she's operating her own covid dashboard pro bono.  And it's higher than official reports.  Can't stop the signal, Mal.

[drunkenshoe]

We're on our way to 3rd world status - or worse.

The 3rd world is used to being the 3rd world though. That's how people survive and can't develop beyond it at the same time. A self-entitled culture like American culture could give very bad reactions to bad circumstances in mass scale compared to other Western ones. Too many armed civillians.

The basic infrastructure and the space. I trust the infrastructure is still good? Those seem to me the biggest advantages the country has. 

[SGOS]

Remember back when Florida's covid dashboard manager was sacked, alleging that she was being pressured to falsify data?

Well, she's operating her own covid dashboard pro bono.  And it's higher than official reports.  Can't stop the signal, Mal.

Alas, it's only for Florida.  The interactive map goes all over the country, but stats only are there for Florida.  I really admire that woman's grit.

[Mike Cl]

The 3rd world is used to being the 3rd world though. That's how people survive and can't develop beyond it at the same time. A self-entitled culture like American culture could give very bad reactions to bad circumstances in mass scale compared to other Western ones. Too many armed civillians.

The basic infrastructure and the space. I trust the infrastructure is still good? Those seem to me the biggest advantages the country has.

The infrastructure, both in a physical sense and political sense are way below par.  Trump has shown how this system of checks and balances can be easily rigged.  Our system is simply a bunch of checks that trump deposits into his account or the accounts of his cronies.
I think we are dangling on a very thin thread.  If trump wins in Nov. this country as a world leader are gone and we will zip right through 3rd world into the 4th world of dictators and tyrants.

[drunkenshoe]

Don't say that. I've never lived in the real 3rd world, Mike. And I live in a shit hole. You know what's the 4th world? Deep corners in Africa and the Middle East where mothers kill their own daughters after giving birth because they think it's better than living as a female there. That's not even the worst part. The worst part is they're probably right. Cheer up, please.

[trdsf]

I'm just not seeing an end in sight here in Ohio.  It looks like it's just a plain old linear progression -- yes, the bars in the gray zones have the appearance of flattening out, but I've been following this chart since April.  The data in the preliminary zones always looks like it's leveling off, and is always revised upwards when the final data comes in.

The only thing we're accomplishing is limiting the spread, not reducing it... and so of course we're going to start re-opening everything now.

[Mike Cl]

Don't say that. I've never lived in the real 3rd world, Mike. And I live in a shit hole. You know what's the 4th world? Deep corners in Africa and the Middle East where mothers kill their own daughters after giving birth because they think it's better than living as a female there. That's not even the worst part. The worst part is they're probably right. Cheer up, please.

I am not a pessimist--never have been.  I've always thought better was coming up.  I am fighting to keep that attitude; but the orange monster is making that more and more difficult.  Actually, it is not so much him as his supporters.  I still cannot figure out (and probably never will) how such a vast number of stupid (and evil at heart) people came to be in this country.  Most likely they were always here and i simply did not realize it.

[SGOS]

I am not a pessimist--never have been.  I've always thought better was coming up.  I am fighting to keep that attitude; but the orange monster is making that more and more difficult.  Actually, it is not so much him as his supporters.  I still cannot figure out (and probably never will) how such a vast number of stupid (and evil at heart) people came to be in this country.  Most likely they were always here and i simply did not realize it.

They have probably been there all along.  I knew there were some people like that.  There always will be in any population, but I'm really surprised by their numbers, and don't understand why they all came out of the closet at the same time.  Trump may legitimize  those qualities in people that they would ordinarily keep hidden from view.

[Mermaid]

I am not a pessimist--never have been.  I've always thought better was coming up.  I am fighting to keep that attitude; but the orange monster is making that more and more difficult.  Actually, it is not so much him as his supporters.  I still cannot figure out (and probably never will) how such a vast number of stupid (and evil at heart) people came to be in this country.  Most likely they were always here and i simply did not realize it.

You don't need to be a pessimist to see the clarity of the handwriting on the wall. That's being a realist.

[Hydra009]

I am not a pessimist--never have been.  I've always thought better was coming up.  I am fighting to keep that attitude; but the orange monster is making that more and more difficult.  Actually, it is not so much him as his supporters.  I still cannot figure out (and probably never will) how such a vast number of stupid (and evil at heart) people came to be in this country.  Most likely they were always here and i simply did not realize it.

I consider myself a Knight in Sour Armor.  I'm well aware of the crappiness of life, but I still want to change things for the better or at least try to change things for the better.  Because it's the right thing to do.

[drunkenshoe]

You don't need to be a pessimist to see the clarity of the handwriting on the wall. That's being a realist.

There are too many levels to down there. I really don't want to make you feel bad but reality is always better, don't you think? Round II. Hang in there.   

[Shiranu]

About two weeks ago I got called into work, and declined. They understood, and I just didn't want to risk exposing my family.

Friday two of my co-workers tested positive.

Dodged a bullet there.

[drunkenshoe]

The infrastructure, both in a physical sense and political sense are way below par.  Trump has shown how this system of checks and balances can be easily rigged.  Our system is simply a bunch of checks that trump deposits into his account or the accounts of his cronies.
I think we are dangling on a very thin thread.  If trump wins in Nov. this country as a world leader are gone and we will zip right through 3rd world into the 4th world of dictators and tyrants.

I mean the basic infrastructure. The utilities. Electricity and water? Where does it come from in the country, where it is produced, where does it go? It's a huge country. For example, how long would it take to come back if someone is to turn off the water somewhere?

[drunkenshoe]

I am not a pessimist--never have been.  I've always thought better was coming up.  I am fighting to keep that attitude; but the orange monster is making that more and more difficult.  Actually, it is not so much him as his supporters.  I still cannot figure out (and probably never will) how such a vast number of stupid (and evil at heart) people came to be in this country.  Most likely they were always here and i simply did not realize it.

I have never seen any of you in worse shape. Not even close. You all need to get on your feet and cheer up. Come on.

[Shiranu]

I mean the basic infrastructure. The utilities. Electricity and water? Where does it come from in the country, where it is produced, where does it go? It's a huge country. For example, how long would it take to come back if someone is to turn off the water somewhere?

Our infrastructure is notoriously bad, to be honest. Our Society of Civil Engineers gives it a D+, which is at least still passing but is still the bare minimum, and they estimate we need to spend $4.5 trillion dollars by 2025 to get it up to working condition. It "works", but almost all our infrastructure is 80+ years old with little to no maintenance and on the verge of collapsing. We can take care of it, on a good day, pretty effectively... but if we get a string of shit failing all at once, especially during a pandemic...


Those floods in the Midwest a month or so ago were an example of how bad we have let things get. Both dams that collapsed were known to be in unacceptable condition, but the government didn't want to do anything about it after taking ownership of it. Shit, Flint Michigan still doesn't have clean drinking water... and how many years ago did we learn about that?

https://www.bigrentz.com/blog/state-of-us-infrastructure