PhineasC

I think a lot of the energy is more local than usual. Americans have spent way more time literally at home or close to home than ever before this year. I think it's caused a more localized worldview and increased level of interest In local issues, such as lockdowns, quarantine policies, business closures, school policies, law and order, etc. People realized their governor and state legislature wield much more power than the President when it comes to COVID policies...

I would be good with 240 inches this winter.

Cowbell or tambourine?

I think most of the country would vote to shut just the Pats down. Just being honest...

As much as they can, people should be preparing to hunker down until the spring. The fall and winter are going to be very ugly on a number of fronts. If I lived in a basement apartment in any major city or owned a business that requires physical interaction with customers in that city, I'd be nervous right now. The death blow is probably coming between COVID and unrest. Call me crazy, but there is a reason I bought a house deep in the mountains...

Super obscure reference, bro. But I like it.

Old cartoons told me you wash your big ol' hound dog with tomato juice in a large steel tub when he is skunked. I don't believe these modern recipes will work.

I saw 4 in a row earlier. Gideon/Collins/Gideon/Collins They just flowed one into the next, as if they were synchronized by the two campaigns. People in Maine must be so done with it

So I guess my "local" TV market is Portland, ME. Holy crap these Collins/Gideon ads are endless. One after the other. Must be a super tight race.

Or the penultimate scene is him bursting into the chief’s office, throwing down his badge, and saying “Next time, call somebody else... me, I have some unfinished business with a special someone.” The chief can only shake his head and mutter, “But you always were the best, Jer...” Final image is a freeze frame of Jerry piloting a boat near Miami towards the sunset with a blonde in a bikini at his side. Soundtrack by Danny Elfman.

Better practices in the nursing homes could cut deaths almost in half compared to March-May. We made a lot of mistakes early on. Spent more time worrying about the beaches than the LTC facilities... also, "ventilator shortages."

This debate is honestly pointless because after Election Day, America is done with COVID. It will quickly drop completely off the radar (it's already become mostly background noise). That's not to say the virus will be gone. It will just no longer be advantageous to harp on it non-stop.

Sure count them. Just factor in the corresponding drop in deaths from ARDS, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and general organ failure from past years in that population to get a better view of the real "excess deaths" toll. There is no hiding that COVID-19 is really only truly deadly for people age 65 and up with major underlying diseases, despite the persistent narrative that young healthy college students are dropping dead left and right. People under 25 should fear the flu much more.

Probably not, when you analyze based on quality-adjusted life years and factor in the up to 50% of victims who were 80+ with existing major underlying diseases who were in hospice/nursing homes already... Yes, it's sad they died, but a cold or stumble in the hallway could also be deadly for them. It's kind of disingenuous to put those deaths in the same broad bucket as the vibrant 30-something mom who succumbed.

He’s just mad I am not in MD wallowing in the swampy misery with him any more.

Glad we both get to chill out in NNE at the same time.

LOL did you read the rest of my post. We are saying the same thing. By "peer pressure" I just mean you get into the habit because everyone else is doing it and you want to fit in, not because you are thinking about COVID death. Public pressure is a much better way to motivate people than fear.

For most people I know, wearing a mask has become more about peer pressure than fear of the virus at this point. It was the other way around in early summer. I think most people have a bit of COVID news/stat fatigue and have been tuning it out, and the hygiene, social distancing, and mask practices are really just habits now versus something they think about actively. That's not a bad thing, really. Fear of dying from COVID when that likelihood is incredibly remote is very unhelpful. Better to just get into good habits that becomes second-nature. I do know a few people who are still "on lockdown" (of their own choosing) and basically never leave the house... I am little worried about them now. It's time to come out, folks.

In order to determine the rates and severity of these long term effects, we need to follow survivors for 5-20 years after recovery and also control for the many other factors that could be causing their lingering issues (such as existing lung tissue scarring from smoking). There is no way to be speaking definitively on long term effects right now. It's just not possible.

Oh yeah I have been out and about. Lots of stuff to do with the house, hoping that winds down soon so I can enjoy that recreation more. Ice gulch is a really neat hike. We did that back in June.

Wow, that’s interesting. I had no clue that was there.

The flu is much deadlier for kids than COVID. Stats show this.

It’s doesn’t necessarily apply to any pandemic. Past flu pandemics killed healthy young people and children at a much higher rate, for example.

About 4%, according to the CDC. https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/new-cdc-report-shows-94-of-covid-19-deaths-in-us-had-underlying-medical-conditions/

Over 90% of those 200k deaths had other major underlying conditions that are also leading causes of death, such as serious diabetes (85k deaths per year), chronic lower respiratory disease (150k deaths per year), and heart disease (655k deaths per year). Just throwing out that 200k number with zero context is super misleading. A sizable percent of that 200k were already deathly ill and were destined to die this year no matter what. COVID helped that along just like a cold or pneumonia could.