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Coronavirus (Covid-19) Discussion

RoboCop

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If anyone is looking for a good way to occupy your time during quarantine, this is a friendly reminder that Kahn Acadamy is amazing and totally free. They offer high-quality courses on math, science, programming, even economics, art history, and US government and civics. I highly recommend checking them out. https://www.khanacademy.org
 

RoboCop

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Because they wanted haircuts?

I did think the one with the stimulus check was funny
Haircuts are a big part of it. In most of the videos of protesters there's at least one person or sign bitching about haircuts. Really, it's most businesses in the service industry and "haircuts" is being used as a stand-in for all of the services the protesters are mad they don't have access to. I wasn't originally going to share this post, as it's a pretty extreme view of the issue, but it does a good job of explaining the protests:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/gcrkzx
Here's an article about it from NPR: [edit] wrong article



Some protesters are legitimately mad they can't go back to work and don't know how they're going to survive, but they're in the minority. And even then, a stimulus of more than a single $1,200 payout would be more beneficial than reopening and allowing the virus to continue to spread. This post I shared earlier does a stellar job of breaking that point down (UBI = "universal basic income"):

 
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RoboCop

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There's a quarantine. Who the hell is gonna be looking at their hair when they should be at home?
They still have to get groceries and supplies, but even then, they can just cut their own damn hair or let it grow out. I got some cheap electric clippers on Amazon for like $25. Came with a whole bag of guards and attachments. I popped a guard on and sheared my hair down to about an inch. I look like a mental patient, but who the fuck cares? I wear a mask when I'm in public, anyway, so I certainly don't give a fuck.

On a related note, this is one of my favorite posts of the last month...
https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/g7kyrf
 

Marinjuana

Up rock incoming, ETA 5 minutes
Haircuts are a big part of it. In most of the videos of protesters there's at least one person or sign bitching about haircuts. Really, it's most businesses in the service industry and "haircuts" is being used as a stand-in for all of the services the protesters are mad they don't have access to. I wasn't originally going to share this post, as it's a pretty extreme view of the issue, but it does a good job of explaining the protests:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/gcrkzx
Here's an article about it from NPR: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/18/837776218/across-america-frustrated-protesters-rally-to-reopen-the-economy

So we judge multiple protests based off one person's sign? This is what I'm talking about when I say lazy. That reddit post is just a continuation of this mischaracterization. It's just white women mad about their bangs? LBSH, millions of people are out of work right now. It's not hard to imagine what could be motivating a lot of people here. And yes, there are a lot of idiots out there.

Let's look at your article. It says nothing about haircuts. I see arguments about long term economic and health concerns, concerns about general civil liberties, some fool on the radio and a counter argument from an ER physician. I'm sure every protester has their reasons and some of them are probably way more compelling then others.

Utah is one of only a few states without statewide COVID-19 restrictions. Still, Eric Moutsos, a former police officer who now works in solar energy, says the economy has ground to a halt anyway.

He says in his business, sales have virtually stopped. Also, projects that are in the pipeline are stalled because cities in the region aren't sending out inspectors or issuing many permits.

"All of those jobs have completely stopped business to where we can't be paid now," Moutsos says.

Moutsos says he feels for the people who are sick or have died from COVID-19. But he worries that if these closures last much longer, there will be far worse economic and health problems in the months and years to come.

"In my opinion, not being able to provide for your family is a hundred times bigger health crisis than any virus," Moutsos says.

Moutsos and an ad hoc Facebook group he helped form called Utah Business Revival are planning to hold a protest Saturday afternoon in downtown Salt Lake City to call on city and regional leaders to "reopen the economy" in a responsible way.

The event will mark the latest to have popped up in recent days from Minnesota to Oregon at which attendees have called into question the legality of statewide social distancing measures. Critics of these events, where protesters are often seen flouting social distancing regulations and not wearing masks, say President Trump has added to the confusion. The president initially said he was leaving the decision on whether states should reopen largely to governors, but on Friday, he tweeted his support for far-right-backed protests in important election battleground states like Minnesota.

In Utah, a persistent worry for Eric Moutsos is that the various stay-at-home orders are an excuse for government intrusion into people's lives.

"Quarantine is for sick people; you lock sick people away," Moutsos says. "But when you lock healthy people away, that's tyranny."

A similar argument is being made by more far-right groups and militias, some of whom were expected to join the Salt Lake-area protest. Also this week, reopen-America-styled protests were planned for central Oregon and took place in Minnesota and Michigan, where traffic was blocked.

The event will mark the latest to have popped up in recent days from Minnesota to Oregon at which attendees have called into question the legality of statewide social distancing measures. Critics of these events, where protesters are often seen flouting social distancing regulations and not wearing masks, say President Trump has added to the confusion. The president initially said he was leaving the decision on whether states should reopen largely to governors, but on Friday, he tweeted his support for far-right-backed protests in important election battleground states like Minnesota.

In Utah, a persistent worry for Eric Moutsos is that the various stay-at-home orders are an excuse for government intrusion into people's lives.

"Quarantine is for sick people; you lock sick people away," Moutsos says. "But when you lock healthy people away, that's tyranny."

A similar argument is being made by more far-right groups and militias, some of whom were expected to join the Salt Lake-area protest. Also this week, reopen-America-styled protests were planned for central Oregon and took place in Minnesota and Michigan, where traffic was blocked.

The nascent movement has drawn early comparisons to the emergence of the Tea Party movement during the Obama administration, though it's yet unclear just how big this latest one is or how many actual business owners are taking part.

At a protest this week in St. George, Utah, Kate Dalley, a local conservative talk radio host questioned whether COVID-19 is even a problem.

"Why ruin our lives to keep us safe?" Dalley said on her Facebook livestream. "Give me a three-day virus, I'm totally cool with that, just don't ruin my life to do it."

Like in many largely rural regions, there are not that many reported infections in southern Utah.

But health officials worry that a premature opening could make all of the problems — economic and health — even worse.

"Because the concern is if you do it too soon, cases will start going up and then you've got to shut it all down again," says Rob Davidson, an emergency room physician in rural Michigan.

Davidson says there still isn't enough testing capacity to reopen large parts of the economy in many states. He says the rate of infections may also be lower because, like in cities, the bulk of rural Americans have been adhering to the strict distancing orders.

Davidson is often the only ER physician working in his small rural hospital with 25 beds and one respiratory therapist.

"My great fear is we use this data incorrectly. We assume that we're in better shape than we are and we reopen too quickly," he says.

And then, he says, community spread could happen in his town, which would likely overwhelm his hospital and those around it.

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/18/837776218/across-america-frustrated-protesters-rally-to-reopen-the-economy

 

RoboCop

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LBSH, millions of people are out of work right now. It's not hard to imagine what could be motivating a lot of people here. And yes, there are a lot of idiots out there.
Right, and those cartoons are specifically making fun of those idiots; the idiots threatening to shoot up their lawmakers. Like I said in my post, there are plenty of people who are legitimately protesting so they can go back to work. People are going bankrupt and it sucks. I severely disagree with the protesters but I can see why they would protest. That cartoon is not making fun of them, it is making fun of the psychopaths.

[Edit] And that's my bad on the article. I saw the pic at the top and mistook it for another article I had read. I'll see if I can track down the correct one. That said, thanks for actually taking the time to read through it.
 
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RoboCop

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Not too sure what to make of this. People are comparing it to the unsubstantiated claims about WMDs that got us (the US) into the Iraq war. Hopefully they backtrack before it escalates. In classic Trump fashion, they refuse to release any of the "enormous evidence" they supposedly have.
He doesn't seem to mention the Wuhan lab in that video, so trying to find more info. If you just Google "pompeo Wuhan lab", there are a ton of results from reputable sources discussing the claim.

[edit] Pertinent info starts at 4:44: https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/secretary-state-mike-pompeo-70478299

After watching the full video, it seems to me like a man who doesn't want to lose his job is doing everything he can to not contradict what Trump said about the virus's origins.
 
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CrimsonShadow

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Not too sure what to make of this. People are comparing it to the unsubstantiated claims about WMDs that got us (the US) into the Iraq war. Hopefully they backtrack before it escalates. In classic Trump fashion, they refuse to release any of the "enormous evidence" they supposedly have.
He doesn't seem to mention the Wuhan lab in that video, so trying to find more info. If you just Google "pompeo Wuhan lab", there are a ton of results from reputable sources discussing the claim.

[edit] Pertinent info starts at 4:44: https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/secretary-state-mike-pompeo-70478299

After watching the full video, it seems to me like a man who doesn't want to lose his job is doing everything he can to not contradict what Trump said about the virus's origins.
The entire worldwide scientific community and the intelligence community said that there's no evidence that this was made (and that even if it was, it wouldn't accomplish any goals as its highly inefficient).

This is giving the conspiracy nuts tons of ammo. It's truly unbelievable.
 
Yeah if this was man made (its not), whoever did it fucking sucks at making a super virus, do better lol
Yeah I rolled my eyes when I heard people say that, not to downplay the deaths but if it was man made it would have been much worse. Though it is still possible for some whackjob to spread it on purpose.

I'm still scared that the next pandemic will be a weaponized virus, cause I just know some very bad people are studying how the governments responded to this virus and learning from it for their attack.
 

Dankster Morgan

It is better this way
Yeah I rolled my eyes when I heard people say that, not to downplay the deaths but if it was man made it would have been much worse. Though it is still possible for some whackjob to spread it on purpose.

I'm still scared that the next pandemic will be a weaponized virus, cause I just know some very bad people are studying how the governments responded to this virus and learning from it for their attack.
Yeah not to downplay the deaths, but the crippling of the economy is more of a burden on most of the population than the actual disease. That's what the protestors don't get, the precautions aren't for them, it's for the people most vulnerable. But regardless, bills don't give a shit, if someone respectfully protests, that's their right.
 

CrimsonShadow

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Yeah not to downplay the deaths, but the crippling of the economy is more of a burden on most of the population than the actual disease. That's what the protestors don't get, the precautions aren't for them, it's for the people most vulnerable. But regardless, bills don't give a shit, if someone respectfully protests, that's their right.
Gathering and protesting in a pandemic when being out and around people spreads a virus that kills people's moms, dads, brothers, cousins, lovers etc. isn't exactly what i'd call "respectful".

I have friends that have lost their life partner from this. And couldn't sit with them in the hospital, and couldn't have a funeral. I'd like to get you on a call with them and have you explain to all of us that really the economy is worse than the disease.
 

Dankster Morgan

It is better this way
Gathering and protesting in a pandemic when being out and around people spreads a virus that kills people's moms, dads, brothers, cousins, lovers etc. isn't exactly what i'd call "respectful".

I have friends that have lost their life partner from this. And couldn't sit with them in the hospital, and couldn't have a funeral. I'd like to get you on a call with them and have you explain to all of us that really the economy is worse than the disease.
Take your Ritalin dude.

By respectful I mean online and not in public. I was talking about how shitty the virus would be as a bio weapon due to its low burden on the population as a whole. And that's why I said most, not everyone, because it still does have a low death rate, me saying that covid would be a shitty bio weapon isn't cruel to the people who have passed. Your friends truly have my condolences and I'm sorry for their loss. Look at what you quoted in the context of the conversation I was having.
 

RoboCop

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Blue Lives Matter is trending on Twitter because of the protesters putting the police in danger of catching the virus (since many of the proteters were Blue Lives Matter advocates). The hipocracy is insane.