Comments on: On Trump’s illness: assuming the risk

By: Bryan Lovely

Bryan Lovely — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 05:30:26 +0000

Eh, that’s well into the Late Period when Egyptian civilization had gone decadent and they were ruled by one set of foreigners after another. For a *real* curse you’d want a mummy around 4000 years old at least.

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 05:15:28 +0000

Speaking of risk taking —

“Who had money on the “Apocalyptic Egyptian Mummy Curse” 2020 prop bet? Looks like it’s about to pay off!”

https://notthebee.com/article/whose-idea-was-it-to-do-this-in-2020-archaeologists-just-opened-a-mummy-tomb-thats-been-sealed-for-2500-years

By: JHCorcoran

JHCorcoran — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 23:38:18 +0000

Huxley: The States media has instilled so much fear. I am sure there is a lot of mask wearing in my former University Town. No body wants Covid, but a lot of the suggestions to prevent it remind me of TSA at the airports. People do not feel safer. I am hoping that all the people in Trumps orbit have a full recovery and maybe common sense will prevail.

By: J.J.

J.J. — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 23:08:28 +0000

Cicero: “It is about law and order. It is about civilization.”
True dat. No nation or society ever prospers that doesn’t protect private property through laws that are enforced by the police and courts. I have been in quite a few of those nations.

Sharon W., feel blessed that you have easily available testing. (Not that you need it now. Praise the Lord.) We have two drive through sites here in Snohomish County, which is fairly large geographically and with 800.000 people. Other medical offices provide testing, but they are limited. The numbers of cases here are up somewhat over the summer lows, but still quite low. Except for restaurants and gyms things are pretty much open now. Traffic is as congested as before the pandemic. Mask compliance is pretty high. I seldom see anyone without one. Glad you and your husband are doing well.

By: huxley

huxley — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:32:29 +0000

JHCorcoran: I’m in a university neighborhood where couples wear masks while walking their dogs on our mostly-deserted streets. Or even solo. WTF?

One friend at my cafe pulls his seat out another six inches when I sit down without a mask, even though I’m careful to pull my chair back when I sit down.

By: JHCorcoran

JHCorcoran — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 21:54:05 +0000

Huxley,

Great graphs! Thank you for the link. It is a school break in NZ and I am in a very crowded cafe with wall to wall people that consist of kids, parents, and grandparents. Not one mask.

The health minister Ashley Bloomfield is very sensible about these things.

Sharon W,

Wishing you and husband good health soon!

I agree our President is a man of courage.

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:45:35 +0000

huxley – the only rational conclusion from those graphs is that wearing masks causes infections to increase.
Without any comparative graphs charting the course of infections in places that had NO masking, they are essentially meaningless, because we don’t have a base-line from which to actually measure the contribution of masking to cases.

Of course, the really meaningful statistic is “new hospitalizations” – since the new cases consists of those plus mildly ill people plus asymptomatic people.
I would have added “false positives” but that needs the caveat of “depending on the test done” — apparently there are a lot which are cranked up so high they catch dead virus particles, in addition to live infectious viral RNA.
(I read it somewhere recently) if one of the reliable tests comes up positive, you really do have the disease.
However, if any test comes up negative, guess again – and keep taking precautions whether those involve masks or not.

By: huxley

huxley — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:22:23 +0000

Sharon W.: Bless you and your husband. Thank you for your comments.

By: huxley

huxley — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 20:13:19 +0000

Re: masks…

JHCorcoran: Today PJM has an article with great graphs on the lack of correlation between mask regulations and daily infections.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2020/10/06/do-masks-really-work-heres-what-the-charts-tell-us-n1009481

I consider it possible, even likely, that if everyone scrubbed down and masked up like a surgeon going into surgery it would make a difference, but of course that’s not how masking works in the real world.

By: JHCorcoran

JHCorcoran — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 19:42:18 +0000

Masks;
I live in NZ and it has been strict about COVID, but there is not noticeable mask wearing. There has been a lot of homemade mask making. During our 4 week lockdown a very nice neighbour made masks and put them in her mailbox for free. With the recent Auckland cases of COVID, one of our neighbour’s daughters made at least 100 masks and sold all of them for five dollars each. We all received or bought masks. I haven’t seen anyone wearing them. Our Prime Minister never demanded people to wear masks (except on planes, trains, and buses, but not school buses – all schools are open here) but encouraged ‘only’ Aucklanders to wear them when they were shopping indoors. The PM also encouraged going for a walk and getting fresh air. There is an election in NZ and with the exception on a couple of campaign signs sprayed with graffiti and MAGA (make Ardern go away) bumper stickers, no rioting, no destruction is occurring.

I have mailed my USA vote and voted straight red. I voted for candidates that I don’t like as a protest against the direction the Dems are taking the Country. I watch and read about what is happing in America half away around the world and I am appalled at the incompetence and brazenness of the the Democratic Party. The States have Dems that are like Ardern (Tulsi) that are not crazy, care about the citizens and are not nasty human beings. But the Democrat Party and their leadership, plus there media idiots need a ‘good’ shellacking this 2020 election.