Here is what I said to George re: Mike: It was a tongue in cheek comment George.... just circumstances that they had such a "parade" in The Village and Gipper happens to live there and would agree probably with everything it was about.... except the "white power" statements. I thought the parade was a pro-Trump show of support parade. So in my statement I did associate Mike as pro-Trump so maybe I am in error for that assumption. But I also said he would agree with everything BUT the "white power" statements that were made by someone. So otherwise if Mike is not white.... doesn't live in The Villages..... doesn't ride in golf carts and doesn't support Trump then I do apologize for making incorrect assumptions in my tongue in cheek poke.
Had to add this anecdote just for you Bobda.... my wife just went for a walk with her middle aged friend from West Michigan and she was telling my wife she thinks the whole thing is a form of biological warfare all designed solely to take down Donald Trump and that everyone she talks to feels the same. And this girl is an RN.... whatever....
Interesting, I quote and analyze your EXACT words to AJ re Mike and why a reasonable person would conclude those remarks were malicious and your reply ignores that quote and flips over to a later statement made by you where you back peddled away from your earlier malignant response to AJ re Mike Evasion and deflection done by you in your typical clumsy and disingenuous manner.
Don’t think this new story offers factual disproof of the data supporting the conclusion that young people fueled the present spike but it seems her friend and you share a common trait of indifference to facts when forming opinions.
I am not 100% sold that this is a random coronavirus that started in a Chinese shithole market. The story of the arrest of the Harvard professor of Chemistry on a $50K per month Chinese retainer with the Wuhan lab one month before the pandemic broke. This thing broke fast and worldwide. And because of BS trade agreements, we send a lot of live pork over there to be processed and shipped back to us. We also get a large portion of our PPEs from China. It is not an incredible stretch to imagine that one of our Chinese imports is the virus re-infection.
As of June 17 the USA had done 26,723,179 COVID tests, as of today July 9 we have done 40,161,137 tests. Simple math reveals that in those 22 days we had an average of 639,903 tests a day and an increase of 50.3% in the total tests. And that 600K+ per day goes on every day. During the last 13 days Florida has averaged 45,350 tests, close to 6 million tests. Which largely explains their increase in cases. It doesn't take a genius to understand a couple of things, first that the large increase in testing will reveal a lot of cases that we wouldn't otherwise know about. Secondly that during most of this time the total deaths each day was decreasing meaning the actual death rate dropped considerable. The total deaths this week seems to be increasing but nowhere near where they were at the peak, meaning the death rate, per million, continues to decrease. But do you see any of this on Daves beloved CNN, MSNBC or other news outlets that hate Trump as much as Dave (MCG) does? Of course not, but he continues to bash FOX. If it was not for FOX presenting the other side the Trump hate would be even worse than it is now.
The positivity rate is a key number and it is at record high levels now in Florida: "An internal FEMA memo revealed that 56 hospitals in Florida are out of available ICU beds, and an additional 35 medical centers in the state are already at 10 percent or less capacity. That eye-popping statistic comes as the Sunshine State had its deadliest day yet, reporting 120 new deaths and 8,935 new cases, bringing the total number to 232,718. So far, 4,009 people have died in the state’s outbreak. Florida is also reporting a record 18.39 percent positivity rate, as hospitalizations continue to climb."
If it was business as usual we would be planning for a normal reopening of all sports, bars would be packed and airlines full. Obviously something is totally off the rails with this pandemic: "Staggeringly, the United States -- the world's richest nation that has just over 4% of the planet's population -- has a quarter of global cases of Covid-19 and nearly a quarter of the deaths. Intensive care units are filling up across southern and western states. It took the US 99 days to reach one million cases, 43 days to get to 2 million and 28 days to add another million. That's a horrific rate of increase. In mid-May, in what were then assumed to be the darkest days of the crisis, the US was recording around 20,000 new cases a day. Now it's averaging around 60,000" And here is a major reason why: "There is no plan. As the US plunges into an ever deeper coronavirus morass, setting record new infection rates and the death curve begins to rise again, there's no prospect of the nightmare ending for months. Delusion dominates an administration that perversely claims the United States is the world leader in beating this modern day plague. There are only contradictions, obfuscations and confusion from the federal officials who ought to be charting a national course. The massive integrated testing and tracing effort that could highlight and isolate infection epicenters doesn't exist. Attempts to reopen schools in a few weeks are already descending into farce amid conflicting messages from Washington. Amid all of this, the coronavirus task force does not hold daily briefings, and when it does, they are an exercise in dodging difficult questions and self-congratulation."
Enough back seat driving, Dave. Let's pretend you are President. And let's pretend that you have a Congress that does your bidding without hesitation; one that NEVER obstructs you for purely political reasons. Lets pretend all the nations governors and mayors are in total lock step with you. Let's pretend you have NO riots or destruction to deal with. OK, President Dave. Let's hear your plan to curb and eradicate the pandemic. And can you accomplish this in time to save college football? You have the floor, Mr. President.
I've been beating this drum for weeks George because I could see the prospects of a college football season slipping from our grasps. The reality of this pandemic should have been acknowledged months ago and a concerted federal effort should have been put in place to test and trace and isolate. All of those things I would implement immediately but it's probably too late for the season at this point.... but it might give us some kind of season. Instead we flounder around with mixed messages and divisive tweets with no clear direction and a concerted effort to ignore the medical community's advice by not making it mandatory to do those things like wearing masks and instead we're holding and planning mass rallies where people are not wearing them and are crowded together. My sonis an ex-teacher who was just saying to my wife that there's a large contingent of teachers in the 60s who will not stick around for such a leaderless and dangerous school reopening without a clear and firm plan for it to happen. Wishful thinking does not get the job done.
But you did not make specific recommendations of your own. You only criticized the current administration. Mr. President, we need YOUR leadership!
Good question George, not so good an answer Dave. The numbers I quoted above came from this site which is updated as of each day. I have kept some of the numbers back several months in a spread sheet so they are not off the top of my head. Here's a few more thoughts. MCG would implement testing immediately, but we have had over 600,000 tests daily since at least June 17 and a total of over 40 million as of yesterday. We will pass the 50 million mark in less than 10 days. So I don't know how he would do more. 41% of the deaths are in three states, NY, NJ and Mass. Strange they are all Northeast very liberal states. With all Dave's agony about Florida their death rate is well below the National Average. Football is not the most urgent national issue at this point. Here's a link to the site United States Coronavirus: 3,220,995 Cases and 135,838 Deaths - Worldometer
There is so much scientific confusion about this virus (how it spreads, how to decrease the spread, how to treat it) that is is hard for anyone to agree on a best plan. I believe masks in public and avoiding crowds when possible are obvious things we should be doing. I go to a bar once a week with some guys...we sit too close together sometimes (Ohio allows "groups of 10 and the bar has groups of 10 stools...the groups are separated by 6 feet or more but the individual stools are, to my mind, too close together) and don't wear masks because we're drinking and eating. I go to the golf course without a mask and ride in a cart with another guy. We have drinks afterwards...the club tries to limit persons in each room and social space, but sometimes it gets overcrowded and I see behavior that makes me uneasy (guys standing in groups close together talking so loudly that everyone is practically yelling)...I don't ever shake hands but see it happening all the time. I won't go to karaoke anymore (yes, Dave...I do sing.) My county isn't really a hot spot. Not sure what my point is, except that there are things that we could be doing smarter, but you can't live life without coming into contact with other people. We can't all go into caves. We can't destroy the prospect of any kind of life for our grandchildren by destroying our economy by shutting it down totally. There is no way for us to kill this virus, unless it decides to burn itself out or we get an efficient vaccine. We could shut down bars, sports, entertainment, particularly in hot areas, but the economic damages are huge. We can't shut down factories, food production, medical facilities, prisons, military, law enforcement, yada, yada, yada. The virus will do it's thing, albeit slower if we did the right things. I guess I'm willing to give up any of my personal pleasures to help fight the virus...but I am unwilling to support the crashing of the country. Then again it's even easier for me to give stuff up because I am no longer dependent on a job or a business for my income...and I don't have a mortgage. And despite what many of our poorly educated youth may think...the government can't keep printing money and handing it out. Pretty soon our dollars will be like Confederate Script.
Stu... no one person should be more of a leader.... more of a unifier of people and more of an inspiration to do the right thing in a national emergency than the President of the United States of America. I too have given up most of my personal freedoms although I take less chances as you say you do once a week but I am always cautious and concerned whenever I do leave the house. My two sons do work jobs outside on the beach currently and for them it is essential for their mental health and financial well being but they are outside in the sunlight and fresh air which is less conducive to virus transmission. I abruptly lost my job back in October and I am working a job from home and I am giving it a lot of patience to come to fruition because going out in the outside working world right now is so precarious. So in that respect the virus is hurting me financially and it is soon going to really hurt spiritually when football becomes affected or possibly cancelled. Bill.... whatever numbers you want to throw around keep in mind those states in the NE were in the initial wave of the virus surge and were ill prepared to keep people alive and are probably better able to do so now with knowledge and ICU space. In any event.... the rate of new infections are new infections.... not created by tests but discovered by tests and they should be managed by a national effort to limit their spread..... not encouraged by a rudderless ship with no captain to run amuck and be free to create even more new infections. And it is these new infections that are keeping us held hostage and cancelling out our way of life.... including fall enjoyment of college football.
Not sure how playing golf and sitting in a bar trying to stay separated (ok...sometimes not so successfully) is that much more risky than going to a karaoke bar...but whatever.
I haven't been to a karaoke bar in three weeks now.... since the virus started spinning out of control here in Florida. And when I did I sat by myself like the biggest loner you have ever seen even though that isn't my usual nature. You would have thought I was surrounded by Skyboxers LOL
PS...washing my hands frequently...no problem (have always done so). Not touching my face...uh, a problem.
Yeah that face touching is a tough one so when I was singing even though they wiped down the mike before I grabbed it to sing when I returned to my isolated table afterward I would get out the disinfectant and wipe my hands down good. Meanwhile..... in the Mississippi legislature the importance of wearing masks and socially distancing has been determined: "About one in six state lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Dr. Thomas Dobbs of the Mississippi Health Department. For weeks, politicians flouted mask recommendations inside the state Capitol. Twenty-six state legislators have now tested positive for Covid-19, including Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and State House Speaker Philip Gunn. Neither man wore a mask at a bill signing at the governor's mansion last week."