RogueWaves

I know you mean well, but where's the fun in the mushy middle? As long as we've been dealt this lousy hand we might as well play it for all it's worth. There's a lot of good banter here not only about the C-19 disaster, but other issues that are part of the bigger picture as well. Posts that are seen by some as antagonistic actually bring forth more discussion and sharing of knowledge. I will add this. I live next door to the Middle School and walking my pooch today noticed a "masks required" sign that had in bold font "ITS THE LAW". I thought "whoa, did we pass a law suddenly?" because the last I knew it was just the governor's most recent emergency order and not a law in the real sense of the term. I'll not mix words. I'm no fan of big gov nor government over-reach. So if the masking is not truly "the law" like wearing seatbelts (or not needing to wear a motorcycle helmet), that sign has me a bit concerned.

Duh. Who said I don't wear a mask? If you look far enough back in the thread made it clear I do wear a mask. But I don't wear one any longer than necessary to conduct close proximity business. That can have adverse side-effects. I wear it when appropriate and not a minute longer than necessary. The masks certainly work to stop moisture droplets/sneezes/cough projectiles that would contain the tiny virus particles. They are not an air-tight seal to the head though, so any normal exhaled air that goes out sideways could also contain the tiny virus particles. They help, but they don't guarantee a prevention of spread by an asymptomatic carrier to those around him/her. We'd all have to dress up in hazmat suits like that cartoon to truly be "safe" in the open marketplace.

Very nice business ideals. Sad that the larger the corp and richer the industry, the more corruption tends to happen. Wish it were otherwise.

A very good point I've always thought about as well. Unfortunately as you say, most businesses aren't any better than the average household at saving for that rainy day scenario. It's a cultural thing that flew the coup generations ago never to return. As for personal situations, many in #puremichigan were just digging out of the hole left in their finances and nest eggs from the banking fiasco of 2008. Now this, so I wouldn't expect much headway in the goal of that rainy day fund becoming the norm anytime soon. It just won't be possible no matter how much people may wish to do it.

I thought AZ was a massive breakout state? How can they be in the green "not rapidly spreading" category. Makes no sense.

Ford's "revolutionary plan" only worked out that way due to a new thing called mass-production assembly lines that produced cars cheap enough. The other thing going for him was the immense popularity and thus quantity demand for the product. The key to keeping the cars affordable was the volume. No way his plan to pay higher wages works if the volume wasn't there. I worked for Four Winns boats in Cadillac some years back, and trust me, nobody on that assembly line was paid well enough to easily afford even their lower-end sport boats, let alone the really low volume cabin cruisers or even the mid-sized cuddies.

Unless you're old or in a high risk group, maybe stop buying the fear narrative.

Down to 86F with cloud cover. Looks like I was "89'd" and I'm fine with it tbh. Heatwaves are just not my thing.

My post about the "dry heat 110F day" in TX deserves an asterisk next to it, lol. That summer was 5th hottest on record at the time (2010) and included a bunch of 100+ days including a 2-1/2 week stretch. 104 and 105F had been happening with regularity, so the additional 5 deg's that single day wasn't that much worse tbh. Sadly (and I'm glad I missed it) 2010 was just a rehearsal for the big-dog hotness that was 2011. Funny how this article from June of that year about the "great one" summer of 1980 heatwave quotes an old-timer saying "it won't likely ever be that hot again". Lol, then the very next summer gave 1980 a beat-down: https://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/living/family/moms/article3825628.html

I'm "scarred for life" inside my ear canals from mega infections as a side effect of adult chicken pox. I was exposed at 19 when visiting my young nieces who were contagious. My mom had 7 of us kids and told the doctor she thought at one point or another, we'd all had the pox and built resistance. An honest mistake any one who's not perfect (i.e. human) could make. Am I to go after her for careless disregard of my well-being? I literally thought I was dying, and I was a strong guy in the peak of my youth. Sh*t happens as they say. The people that need to get over themselves are the ones that narcissistic-ally believe that life should be free of risks and everybody has to be looking out for their concerns, especially "big brother" government. Guess what? You are living in a fairy tale if you expect that's realistic. Happy for you that your pneumonia side-effects weren't permanent.

And this, anyone going into a hospital for another reason (any reason ofc) is getting tested, and if (+) they're chalked-up as a C-19 admitted case.

Covid topic in a wx forum? Seems even the wx is testing positive. Some covid stones from (where else?) China:

My all time hottest days personally experienced. July 1988, my home region of KFNT hit 105F with a 113F HI. I had no A/C at my home, work office, or in my car. That was the era of "fan power", lol. July 1995, living in NMI during the infamous Chicago "death torch". Only hit 100F up north (a place that usually only sees a handful of 90's each summer). Honorable mention, the day it hit 100F a wicked MCS blew thru town dropping our temp to 59F briefly before rebounding back up to a nice 75F evening. Nature's A/C for the win! August 2010, working in Ft. Worth TX and the long hot summer there culminated with a 110F high temp late in the month. I had A/C at the apartment, work office, and in my car so it was almost a "novelty". Besides, it was a "dry heat" off the Mexican desert. July 4 2012, went to Lake Michigan at South Haven where my car thermo was reading 103F. Beach was wall-to-wall people so we never actually made it in the water, lol. With A/C it just makes surviving these heatwaves soooo much less miserable.

About 1:12 into this video you will see the kitchen or open market food prep going on: (I don't remember mentioning a T-storm event circa 2003. Can't help with that one)

Off topic, but geez! Some of the flooding vid's out of China are sick stuff! Talk about "biblical", and there's a major dam that's shifting and bowing. Hate to see the results if that fails. What we had in the middle of the Mitt was horrible enough. I know it's a different culture and all, but that one video was just nuts. An open air kitchen/diner with the cook waste deep in flowing (nasty brown) river water while frying what looked like fish on a commercial frying grill barely above the nasty water and 2 customers calmly sitting on their stools waiting for their dinner. OMG how disgusting! Now all those multi-story building collapses as entire down-towns are getting washed away. I've watched wx vid's for decades and this is some of the craziest I can remember ever seeing.

There's a leaked vid of local health officials discussing a change in "case reporting" protocols. The new guidelines are including not only the person who tested positive, but anyone they were hanging out with prior to testing. If they were hanging with 5, 10, or 15 people those people are basically being counted as "presumed C-19 cases". That's why we're seeing a sudden "exponential growth" rate. Not sure how widespread this is, but it would explain a lot. Death rate calculated (about a week old article when deaths were around 125K) per CDC's own statement of 20 million infected, ends up being basically just like the flu:

My older sister and hubby were expected in state for a sibling's (delayed by 'rona) funeral/burial. She's 70+ with recent other health battles so to me they are right in their concerns. No need to tempt fate when that's your situation. Sucks, and they'll be missed by the rest of us, but fully understood too.

Sooo, in your mind, since they got that wrong they get everything wrong?? "Even a broken clock is right twice a day." One of our fave sayings around here, lol.

Agree, total "positives" means little since we've been aware since day 1 many carriers weren't sick, or sick enough, to warrant a test. Personally, I've always focused on the fatalities (against a typical flu season and other historical outbreaks) more than cases. Obviously, the more that test (+) and don't succumb or even fall seriously ill, the lower that over all death rate gets. Thru selective/limited testing the numbers looked horrible scary ofc. It will be very interesting to see where this ends up when all is said and done (if someone ever publishes an update of this):

While the author of the "OSHA 101" write-up could be taken as anti-mask, I think he/they were more so just giving Peeps a heads-up that many folks masking are not in touch with the proper use of them, nor the various ways they are (or are not) truly effective. Even prior to C-19 my local hospital's walk-in clinic asked anyone coming inside sick/coughing/contagious to grab one of those medical type masks and wear it while there to get checked out. It's a small closed in lobby, not well ventilated so that's always made sense to me. Certainly use them in similar situations but dispose of/wash them depending on their type in appropriate manner.

So, as said, this is was a comment posted on a you-tube video. People rarely use their real names. The Mr. Kalani identified in the opening section could've been his real name or the poster had simply obtained it elsewhere; wasn't clear. I work in industry where PPE is frequently used during manufacturing processes and governed by OSHA regulations. Nothing written in that strikes me as suspect or wacko. It states the intended uses for certain mask types and their known limitations for any other purpose. Just making some more information available to take into consideration, that's all. This link is about some scientific studies about the efficacy of masks and respirators in preventing spread of viruses such as C-19. Hope that helps. https://technocracy.news/censored-a-review-of-science-relevant-to-covid-19-social-policy-and-why-face-masks-dont-work/

I get that bar and restaurateurs are eager to get back into full capacity and balancing their budget sheets after suffering extensively, but I think keeping the 50% MAX capacity indoors is wise. If they have an option to increase outside dining with proper distancing during summer, good for them. Allow them that option. Spoke with a gent who built his own 9-hole golf course to run after retiring from civilian work. He told me he's down $13K in revenue this spring. Not sure what that means in percentage for his season, but he's a Mom and Pop type of operation and by the tone of his remark, it's significant. Crappy cold April/May sure didn't help his cause any either ofc.

There's been a lot of good disco/posts in here this week. We've got Peeps on both ends of the "to mask or not to mask" spectrum, and a few like myself gravitating a little more towards a compromised middle-of-the-road sensible approach. I think the "wear a damn mask" crowd generally cites the stopping of exhaled water droplets (potentially containing attached C-19 virus compounds) as their #1 reasoning. And to be fair, it's a reasonable if not good argument as a way to help slow a spreading virus of anything (common flu included). There are, however, some general fallacies regarding various types of masks that really need to be looked at closer. These functional details are not often spoken of in any common reporting outlet I follow (online news, gov web sites, etc.). Maybe they're out there and I've just been missing them. Bottom line, per the following from someone's comment (on a y-tube vid), if masks are used improperly they can actually have their own illness inducing side-effects. We should all be aware of the limitations and recommended "best practices". Especially if we find them mandatory going into the autumn months. The knowledge of these mask design specifics leaves me personally right where I had landed prior = minimal duration mask wearing when indoors/unavoidable extended close proximity. Here's some OSHA data on various mask types/designs from a subject matter expert (who admittedly is not so keen on masks as being helpful to the cause):

Whether you're personally in a position to accept it or not, there are many points to be made about the economic impact of C-19. Many here have been doing just that and what gives you the right to bully them not to continue to do so? Economically depressed lives matter! To some, that may be their only reality of this entire historical episode. But they can't comment? Now they have to forfeit that freedom of opinion as well? Perhaps you should hand over your next two paychecks to someone who's been put out of work by this to better understand the perspective.

Folks much better educated and trained in human immunology than self have gone on record stating that our immune system actually weakens and our resistance drops as we isolate from exposure to societal "stuff". The isolation thing is a stall tactic at best, but eventually if it finds you, your immunity strength will be key. I've personally had a compromised immune system back in the 90's and suffered a great illness so I've been cognizant of that in my daily lifestyle wrt changing my habits to an extreme. I'd love to think I could pin my hopes on some vaccine too, but with the history of those doing as much harm as good (in some cases much more harm than good - see 1976 flu vaccine horrors for example), there's no guarantee that would be a viable option to herd immunity either. As usual tho, we want big pharma to produce another magic bullet. Why don't we consider alternative approaches like building people's natural defense to ward off the viral intruder? Wouldn't it be great if there were highly educated people eagerly preparing such an option? If you're out of work, you're out of work and have probably filed for benefits so you'd be in the 21% unemployed attm. Unless you are referring to private contractor types that are self-employed and thus not really part of the whole UIA system in the first place.