I wish I had something more profound to offer today, but I can’t help but keep shaking my head over Mr. “Give Me Free Refills Or Give Me Death”.
![Screenshot_2020-04-22 Natalie Allison on Twitter Today’s reopen rally organizer Steve Hasty of Murfreesboro says what he mi[...]](https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/screenshot_2020-04-22-natalie-allison-on-twitter-todaye28099s-reopen-rally-organizer-steve-hasty-of-murfreesboro-says-what-he-mi....png?w=500)
¡Ay, caramba! I have no doubt there are plenty more where he came from on the other side of the political divide. This isn’t so much a point about politics as it is about… well…
Is it just me, or is this country getting steadily less serious?
***********************************************************************
UPDATE: Okay, this made me laugh.
Get The Picture 
Is there a solution somewhere in between what people want? It seems we have one group that wants orgies in the streets and the other that wants to return to cave dwellings like the Neanderthal.
There are many businesses here that could open where contact/exposure is minimal. The businesses that conduct high exposure to the public could remain scaled down as previously prescribed.
The problem I see at our business is that while the exposure is minimal at work, they leave and have social gatherings. So, closing our company will not help them. But, after they go get exposed, they bring it back to work and expose the ones that are trying to follow protocol. They are either determined to share the virus or they just don’t believe it will happen to them.
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We should just cut to the chase and get the testing numbers up above 500k in order to get a handle on this.
Otherwise, stay sheltered and save your live vote for November. Let the dumbasses go out and get killed and reduce their vote in the Fall. If Trump’s sacred economy goes to tatters, it’s from his own hand and just accentuates why he should be voted out of office.
It’s fascinating to watch this would-be despot destroy all that he wants to keep going in the economy, all the while too stupid to realize the only chance he has is to get testing up such that we can control this virus well enough to go back to work without facing death as a consequence. He and Kemp are the biggest do-dos of the century.
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Think maybe the whole thing has gotten a little too political ? You spend 1 sentence on upping the testing and 2 paragraphs on political mudslinging. You know the virus is not as dangerous as maybe we thought when the muddy politics starts to supersede the real virus talk.
By the way, I’m all for testing, but it seems the original “flatten the curve” goal was about hospital resources. In my state (TN), we have so much capacity in beds and ventilators it would be borderline criminal NOT to open back up. But I guess the goalposts have moved. The next move is so predictable—the October montage of all the people who passed away because all these mean republican governors opened back up before cases of the virus were reduced to zero.
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The world has become much less serious since the advent of social media. People want whatever they say or do to go viral. People like this guy give those of us who are looking for balance a bad name just as those who scream “Die for the Dow” give those who want to make sure we’re taking safety in account a bad name. There’s no room for those of us who want balance.
At a time when we need serious, thoughtful people, we have some of the biggest buffoons in our elected class on both sides and some of the biggest idiots who think they are the smartest people in the room in the administrative/regulatory state. We have absolute fools in the media who are looking for their viral moment instead of trying to get facts. The patriots (flawed, as we all are) who founded this country, men and women alike, must be spinning in their graves watching what is happening right now.
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“…fools in the media who are looking for their viral moment instead of trying to get facts”
The media is of such great influence, they are the driving force behind the mindset of thousands. Everyone wants to be smart and informed to share their opinion. So, if the media is biased or just plan gets it wrong, the masses follow suit. You know what opinions are like and I don’t need the media’s…Just the facts, mam, just the facts.
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I don’t mind those who espouse their opinions on either side especially when they are clear that they are expressing their opinion regardless of the medium or the slant (Hannity vs. Maddow). I can choose in that case what I read, watch or listen to. The ones that call themselves “journalists” looking for facts and then spin that into opinion or are just putting on a show are the ones I can’t stand.
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I think that’s part of the problem. So many news channels now feature shows with talking heads and the viewers don’t distinguish between the news and the opinion pieces. So they take everything that comes from Hannity or Maddow (to use your examples) as fact without filtering it through the lens of an agenda.
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What about someone like Jim Acosta? Do you think he is a “journalist” or a biased “talking head”? I don’t think the problem is as narrow as you make it out to be.
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He is definitely not a journalist.
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I’m not a huge fan of Acosta. At times I’ve seen him asking legitimate questions but I’ve also seen him behave in a way that makes him a part of the story rather than just reporting on it. And I did say that it was a part of the problem, not the whole thing.
Another is that people don’t always engage in critical thinking. We’re all in love with the sound byte and we want to be able to explain things in 120 characters or less. So there’s a tendency in some people to just take some random statistic at face value rather than digging into it for the real details.
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“May you live in interesting times”…surrounded by morons.
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Well said.
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I don’t think the country as a whole is less serious, as in there are fewer serious-minded people. I imagine the ratio of goobers to thoughtful people is the same as it’s ever been. I just think now the goobers gain more attention because of social media and the 24-hour news cycle.
Like others here I am probably somewhere in the middle in the grand “open up everything immediately VS keep everything closed until there’s a vaccine.”
I was hearing things from our local area chamber of commerce president yesterday which indicates our Governor, Larry Hogan, is working with counties to implement a geographical approach to “opening up” within the state. I think that’s a great idea.
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I think your governor has the right thought … what’s best for Baltimore or the DC suburbs is likely not the best solution for counties to the west or along the coast. Kudos to him for being thoughtful.
Just like in Georgia, what’s best for the City of Atlanta may not be the same as what’s best for many of the counties in Southeast Georgia and the North Georgia mountains. Heck, what’s best for Atlanta may not be what’s best for Alpharetta or for towns in extreme south Fulton with as large as spread out as Fulton County is.
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Of course, Gov. Kemp made sure to include in his order that local governments can’t act to countermand his order, so Atlanta has decided that the north Georgia mountains can’t decide what’s best for them anymore. Smart!
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Wait a second – don’t pin the decision on Atlanta. The mayors of most large municipalities in the state are not in favor of relaxing the shelter in place at this time. The decision was made by the Governor. He is from Athens BTW.
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No he’s not, he’s from Oconee County and if you don’t think there is a difference you’re not from around here.
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I suppose … I mean he was born in Athens and went to Clarke Central.
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Wrong. He is from Athens. Graduated from Clarke Central. Now lives in Arnoldsville, which is in Oglethorpe county. Kids go to Athens Academy. You must not be from ‘round here!
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I don’t think any of our elected leaders want to “lead” on this issue. It’s much safer to say that someone else made the decision and then criticize that person if it fails.
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The Mayor of Albany is saying ‘we’re not ready’ to begin normal life. Albany is about to become the center point for the virus-patient recovery. Phoebe North is being staffed with resources to become THE COVID-19 hospital in an effort to accommodate all the under-staffed surrounding towns. Certainly there will be a spike in virus exposure for this area following the start of the operation.
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This line of thinking makes too much sense
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Absolutely this cuntry is getting less serious and more easily offended. Folks need to develop thicker skin, gain a sense of humor and deal with adversity maturely. Ol Gene there was basically talking about me and I think it’s hilarious. But woe unto anybody that pokes fun at a protected class now. Suck it up buttercups!
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White males ranting about “protected classes” in a post about stupid people?
Perfect!
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“I’d kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.”
― Steven Wright
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Ditto
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Derek, you assuming I’m white proves you’re an abominable racist. Get your L Card stamped by the Stasi you looney, left wing loser.
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I don’t know why Derek would assume that. From reading your comments I always thought you were a flamboyant Puerto Rican with daddy issues myself.
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Doh! Outed again.
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Something has to give. I’ve got friends who have a beach house in Walton County, Fl and since they own the dry sand they can sit there all day long, yet it’s illegal to go in the wet sand or the water. Now Fl is starting to open it’s beaches and people can go in the water, but they’re not supposed to sit idle on the dry sand. How does any of that make any sense?
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The only reason those types of restrictions are needed is because as soon as it opens back up, you’ll have groups of dumbasses gathering together to collect the virus and then take it back their separate ways. Beaches and parks could/should absolutely be open. Unfortunately, we’re relying on people that use them being smart. That’s not a good bet.
I was part of a Meetup photography group (online group that would meet places for photography). Of course, during the lockdown, Meetup (the organization) recommended that all in-person meetups be suspended. The brainiac that runs our photography group decided that since getting gas was essential, we should all meet at a popular roadside filling station/convenience store along the interstate to take pictures. It would have been the perfect storm of stupid – people from all over Houston gathering at an interstate highway convenience stop to mingle with people from all over the state/country, just to take some pictures. This is the kind of stupidity that requires the government to step in and shut stuff down.
The worst part of this pandemic is that we’re largely reliant on the collective intelligence of the population.
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I think your theory paints with too broad a brush. As has been mentioned many times, there are big differences between metropolitan and rural ares. Yes there are dumbasses, but next time you’re out observe people’s current behavior. Even at stores, most people are staying as far away from others as they can. Take your brainiac as another example, he suggested a dumb idea, but I’m sure the majority of your group said, “here’s your sign.” What I’m getting at is that even if public parks (where feasible) were open, most people would use good sense, and those that don’t the local deputy can mop up. Hell before all this started, I could go to St George Island, Mexico Beach, or even PCB and go on the beach and not be within 100 yards of anyone, and that’s in the peak of summer.
Even our state hiking trails where you’ll see cars at the trail-heads, but rarely cross a soul on the trails are closed.
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I’m basing it on my personal observations. I have to go buy groceries. About half the people are respectful and maintain distances. The other half is full-on dumbass crowding around, clogging the middle of aisles (instead of letting people pass on one side) and basically acting like nothing is different.
Same with the local park where I like to run. Most people can easily stay away from others, but then you’ll run up on a gaggle of COVIDiots standing in the middle of the path basically taking up the entire 10′ wide path. It’s a newer park, so the ground off the paths is often soft and muddy, yet people will take that to go around them. I decided to just start coughing loudly as I approached. Usually they move to one side. Usually, but not always.
Our local nature preserve had to close because they couldn’t stop people from gathering in larger groups at certain places in the preserve. 2500 acres of wilderness, yet the COVIDiots can’t help themselves, so the preserve decided to close, putting a beautiful urban nature preserve under financial strain.
Like I said, when my personal safety relies on the intelligence of the public, I’m not very optimistic.
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That’s crazy how different our areas are.
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“groups of dumbasses ”
This is why no reasonable effort to re-start life will work as efficiently as intended . There are some that just will not use good sense to allow any effort to succeed.
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I fully disagree with the protesters and I think it makes a lot more sense to be a lot more cautious about ending shelter in place and holding on to the hard earned gains in safety that we have made through this painful process.
However, with that said, I am extremely skeptical of this quote. The protesters (many of them, anyway) do have legitimate concerns about their financial well being and that of our country. I have little use for conspiracy theorists who believe … whatever they believe. But so many people are desperate to work or conduct business and they are weighing the consequences in a serious way and prefer reopening. I get it. Much like the guy with the DWAGS sign at the Outback Bowl was actually a Florida fan, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least to learn this sweet tea guy wasn’t playing some prank or trying to parody the protests.
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He’s identified in the tweet as a rally organizer, so I would think it would be very easy to test your hypothesis.
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Looking at the crowd, I don’t think Steve is very good at it.
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“Give me free refills or give me death!”
Well played, Senator.
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He’s wearing a mask and gloves. He’s obviously an amateur virus denier.
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Meh.
I’m more bothered by the Stasi cos-players (typically in local gov’t) and the East German citizens that use the power of the state to threaten the lives of a paddle surfer that is 100 yards off shore, kids skateboarding in a park or shooting hoops.
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Just because they can doesn’t mean they will.
This goes for business owners, employees, and customers alike.
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You know, President Trump was right. This whole Covid thing is just a Dem hoax and an attempt to keep him from winning the election. I’ll bet it’s just like the Sandy Hook thing where nobody really even died, just a bunch of actors. And I’m telling you, whatever you do, DO NOT read any of those articles from those so-called “epidemiologists” with their fancy degrees and places with fancy names like the “Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.” They’re all a bunch of commies with a liberal agenda. Besides, the articles are kind of long and have a lot of big words I don’t understand. I can learn everything I need to know from Facebook memes and Twitter feeds and people that really tell it like it is, like Alex Jones, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. These are the people we can really trust, not those libtards like Anthony Fauci and Michael Osterholm. Besides, even if this thing is real, Alex Jones has the Nano Silver Gargle which he says is the cure for Covid-19 so we really don’t have anything to worry about anyway. Now let’s get back to work and I’ll see you at the next rally!
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Ol’ Rush’s expertise is in the realm of opioids, didn’t know he was a coronavirus expert.
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https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.14.20062463v1
The Russian agents have even infiltrated Stanford. They’re probably a sleeper cell in place for decades waiting for an event exactly like this one in order to support the Russian agent in the White House.
The important thing is to pay attention to leftist politicians who are totally patriotic and can’t be swayed by Russian science.
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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Napolean repeatedly asserts that he doesnt suppot trump and then comes up with these responses. Why? Could you explain it to me nap?
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On Easter weekend our infant grandson was taken to the CHOA ER twice with a temperature hovering over 103. They didn’t even have a test available to check for Covid-19. Thankfully his temperature eventually moderated and 2 weeks later he’s back to being a happy bouncing baby boy.
But it demonstrates the lousy position GA is in should we have more outbreaks. At least the ice tea guy has a mask and gloves. Others nearby in that photo took NO precautions. Some people think we have this beat or they simply don’t give f#*k. Since we’ve barely scratched the surface with testing, I’m certain the easing of restrictions will result in more outbreaks.
A life or a fistfull of hospital bills is a heckuva price to pay for an extra glass of ice tea, a haircut, or a new tattoo.
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I’m glad your grandson is okay.
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Epidemiologist have been clear that this isn’t going away. Old people and the unwell will have to remain in lockdown and refuse visitors. The rest of the world will have to choose what level of care they are comfortable with.
I’m getting a haircut as soon as my barber opens up (assuming she wants to).
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National Review dunks on ideas that got a lot of hot air here over the last 8 weeks:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/04/coronavirus-kills-more-americans-in-one-month-than-the-flu-kills-in-one-year/
As to the Senator’s question: the absurd has become serious. Very serious. We saw it in the left with the outer fringes of the PC movement, a movement largely reduced to whiny posturing on Twitter and Instagram. But now we see it coming from the right.
When 40% of your population gets all of its information about something new from sources so dedicated to downplaying it, these are the kinds of political pressures that get created.
Laura Ingraham last night was getting angry over the fact that ultraviolet rays (sunlight) can kill the virus, which means this is all going to go away this summer. Sure, it will get better this summer – and then the days are going to start getting shorter and colder again. Last week she had Dr. Phil on ranting about “380,000” swimming pool deaths in the US last year.
Actually, those were under 500. Laura and Phil were only off by 99.9%.
People get things wrong. This isn’t about error. It’s the insistence on a set of “facts” which are fabricated to support a narrative. A narrative which usually ends up putting the money in the pockets of grifters.
It’s one thing when that dynamic is creating fake child sex slave rings in a fictional DC pizza parlor basement or insisting that tragedies like Sandy Hook are an illusion created to take away guns. It’s damn scary to see that dynamic at work with a disease that went for a couple hundred dead to over 40,000 in 5 weeks. It reveals something about the audience for it, and it isn’t pretty. They prefer a world where they are in control of the “facts” – even if those “facts” are directly contradicted by mountains of evidence.
I hope Kemp’s plan works. I really do. It’s all trial and error at this point; some are going to do too much and some are going to do too little and some are going to get it just right.
But it would be nice if all 3 sets were based on a solid ground of “what we know so far and what we can reasonably conclude.”
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Kemp’s plan is to reduce unemployment claims. It’s gonna work just fine.
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That’s a bingo.
Can’t help but notice he’s not including state government on the re-open list.
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I’ve got a question for you, and it’s a serious question because you seem to have a lot of knowledge in this area and I’d really like to know your opinion. If it’s come up before, forgive me.
The first case of this thing can be traced back to mid November. If this thing is as contagious as they say it is, it should have started spreading like wildfire at that time, correct? Yet it’s being reported that there were ‘only 266 cases by the end of December.’ Isn’t it possible that this thing has been raking us over the coals since Thanksgiving just nobody knew what was going on? I’ve talked to several friends who said they were sick as shit before and after Christmas but tested negative for the flu, and their Dr told them it was just a severe upper respiratory infection.
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Yes.
Serology tests are pretty much confirming this.
A serology test in Santa Clara County, CA produced antibody results that indicate an estimated 50 to 85 times as many individuals have been infected and recovered without knowledge of what they had.
A serology test conducted by USC resulted in estimates of 28 to 50 times as many.
A random sampling in Boston showed 32% of those tested had antibodies present.
15% of pregnant women in a study in Manhattan tested positive, yet none had come to the hospital for COVID symptoms, all simply to give birth.
Every serology test and subsequent population test are showing far more infected people.
The true mortality rate for this virus will ultimately fall in line with the flu.
This excellent article written by 5 medical doctors and an additional PhD examines that issue….
View at Medium.com
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One of the most pointed quotes from the article on statistics:
“For example, the CDC states that 247,785 people tested positive for the flu this winter and about 24,000 died. This makes the CFR for the flu 10%; nine in ten people who get the flu don’t die of it! While only 247,785 people tested positive, the CDC estimates that 39 million people were actually infected with influenza this winter. Hence, the IFR for the flu is around 0.1%.”
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Got any other articles with cherry picked data from right wing attention whore anesthesiologists?
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Fauci’s even in on the right win attention whore racket!
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387
“If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively.”
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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“Covid 19 closer to the seasonal flu than SARS or MERS” based solely on mortality rate is a useless comparison. Yeah, it’s closer – but it’s still far deadlier than the flu, and it’s far more contagious than SARS or MERS. Deal with both combined, or your badly misrepresenting the virus. Way to cherry pick a Fauci quote out of context. He’s been off the flu comparison for a long time now. Months.
Covid-19 just killed more people in this country in 5 weeks than your average flu season. If Covid-19 averaged for an entire flu season what it has averaged over the past 10 days – with lockdowns in effect everywhere – it would kill about 180,000 people.
No one’s doing the flu comparisons anymore. Keep up.
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Take it up with Fauci. BTW, his paper was published less than a month ago.
But I’m totally on your side. I think Fauci’s a Russian plant intended to downplay the deadliest plague ever seen.
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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I like how you pretend to not be a trump supporter. It’s the only thing you can be consistent about.
#stupid
#hypocrite
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Killed more people in 5 weeks WITH the most extreme control measures we’ve seen. If we treat this like the flu, the results won’t be like the flu.
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I think everyone gets too caught up in the mortality rate on this thing. What matters is infectivity (R0) and actual deaths. I’ve been tracking the stats on this thing in Georgia, and it’s nothing like the flu. Look at this chart ( http://sahoppy.com/covidcharts/covid19-charts.html#weekDeathChart ) and see how unlike the flu it is. Over 8 times the deaths in Georgia than an entire bad flu season (including swine flu!), and that’s with only two months with the disease. Hospitalizations are also much much worse. And these casualties happened with a costly two week shutdown and additional weeks of public gathering bans!
We can’t stay sheltered forever; we do need to figure out how get things moving again, but dismissing all of this as “just the flu” is counter-productive to the actual discussions we should be having right now like what do we need to open safely: more rapid tests, more masks, enforcement of public safety rules for individuals and businesses that ignore them, because this is a dangerous thing.
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Way to stay on point, JDog. The one and only thing we can control right now is to get testing way ahead of where it is. The only way to get ahead of this and begin to return to a semblance of “normal” life before this pandemic is to test and segregate. The… only … way.
We should be protesting the lack of testing. As hard as we can get after it. The abomination of not testing over 500k/da will eventually catch up (at the current rate) around the time that this organism has swept through the population and we are staring at each other from a spacing of 100yds because the people who would have occupied the 6-foot spacing are dead.
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Bingo, Cojones. Testing is the key. Once we know the herd immunity level, and hospitals have caught up with cases, then we can start to go back to our new normal. Anything before that is just a blind guess. Literally.
Oh, and everyone compares the death rates of this to every other normal public activity, forgetting that we’re seeing this death rate with some of the most draconian control measures any of us have ever seen.
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Color me skeptical of an anesthesiologist’s take on this. Hopefully he gets a well paid interview spot on FoxNews out of it, since if he were really confident he’d submit this to a peer-reviewed medical journal instead of a blogging site.
Meanwhile, Germany cancelled Oktoberfest. But who knows, maybe the doctor who knocks people out for surgeries telling us what we want to hear is right and the country that’s been handling things far better than the US is wrong?
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Yes, the primary on the opinion piece is an anesthesiologist.
Patel is in internal medicine.
Lacy Windham is in obstetrics.
Ashkan Attaran is a cardiologist.
Jason Friday is in pediatrics and psychiatry.
They co-authored this opinion piece as trained medical professionals about a social issue using the CDC and IMHE medical numbers.
I’m not entirely sure what medical journal one would submit to an opinion piece on public policy.
Germany deciding to cancel an international celebration attended by half a million people globally has little, no, let’s be honest, no resemblance to a hair dresser giving someone a perm.
Dr. Fauci has appeared on Fox. What shall we say of him?
You are free to be as skeptical as you like. It’s a free country.
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And none are epidemiologists as is Fauci and others who occupy positions of national trust earned through the years and who are trained to give us the correct scientific advice for this one friggin’ event, but buttholes keep upping the odds against us all by advocating these trusted people not be heard and instead, tamped down by unqualified ignorants who listen to unqualified people. It follows the path of climate deniers.
Words used here to advocate against meaningful research data as it appears are the epitome of obtuse.
What’s really ironic is the ignorance sewn to try to get people out to contract this dread disease as is done by groups who don’t want the economy to fail their cult. Not only will more people die, but the economy will most certainly be brought down by their actions. To selfishly deny the path to be taken to slow this disease for the sake of backstreet politics being placed on the front burner in a panic is the definition of anti-societal as well as unpatriotic.
Even more ironic is the path chosen by several Trump followers will end up killing those who would vote to return him to office. I’m beginning to think that the protesters are against Trump and are trying to persuade his stupid followers to commit suicide-by-coronavirus. How many large gatherings (like the one in Albany) does it take to convince you that social contact is the way this disease gets passed? There is evidence that says it is possible that the virus also can travel as an aerosol when the droplets expelled by those infected are small enough to be swept up in air currents.
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TNDawg is an example of exactly the disinformation/confirmation bias thing I originally posted about.
Genetic sampling of a huge percentage of confirmed cases, combined with observed rates of change in this virus as well as the larger spread of RNA viruses in general, tells us exactly where our cases came from (China, Europe, etc), how they’ve been spreading, and roughly when they arrived.
Arrival was in mid-January based on all of that research, which is going on across multiple labs working independently of each other.
I find Scott Gottlieb to be a good follow on Twitter for basic fact checking on stuff like this. He was Trump’s FDA Director ’17’-19, and he is rigorous on the science. Gives credit where credit is due, regardless of where it comes from or who it benefits.
Here is an example from him on Santa Clara study (cited by TNDawg in response to your post). It was really sloppy research seized upon because it seems to confirm what a lot of people hope:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
And if that doesn’t work, this link will:
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Thanks.
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I have firmly believed, no change since Jan, this thing is much more prevalent
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Our governor (Kemp) is coming across as a brain dead fence sitter. He appears to be trying to appease the protesters while seeking political cover. I think he thought he could do both with his stupid list of businesses that could open (hair salons, massage parlors, etc) all the while hoping Trump would tell him whoa bubba.
Sadly we all suffer the whims of our elected loons.
How do you drink iced tea while wearing a mask?
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I didn’t think any Georgia governor could be any worse than Gene Talmadge (personally got the University System unaccredited by SACS), Marvin Griffin (idiot segregationist), or Lester Maddox (circus clown sans makeup). Brian Kemp is worse than Lester Maddox.
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Maddox was a strange bird. I went to H.S. with his sons and saw a lot of Maddox before he was governor. His public persona was very different than his private one. He treated his employees (99% black) at his restaurant as if they were his own children – then handed out those axe handles – strange indeed.
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The Guvna would routinely go to Jerry’s barber shop on 14th Street in home park where I grew up and I hang out at the Kool Korner and listen as a youngster. I enjoyed meeting him and listening and was always a special thing for me.
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Lester Maddox was not elected by the majority vote in Georgia. The election was thrown into the legislature and the actions of the Clark Co rep explain how he was elected. Although Athens and UGA voters had selected Bo Callaway, the Clark Co representative stood and voted against his own county, as was done by several of the old Democrats in that body at that time.
Later, to no avail, Lester went to the Bahamas for a method to treat his cancer that was not allowed in the U.S… He didn’t carry any of his signature ax handles with him that he had earlier used to intimidate black people from eating in his restaurant.
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Free refills on Iced Tea. I don’t know why but this scene popped into my head when I read that.
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Just because businesses re-open doesn’t mean I/you/we have to frequent them. I plan on limiting my exposure while not being completely insane with paranoia.
BTW, blessed to live in rural area.
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Have two check points that have been somewhat helpful/necessary in keeping non residents from traveling….
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Being in a rural area might work against you for two reasons
1) Fewer stores means everyone has to shop at the same places, potentially turning those locations into vectors of disease
2) Rural healthcare facilities are getting pretty scarce these days.
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The grim reaper tweet is great, but it’s actually on a beach in New Zealand two years ago. Still funny, IMO. https://imgur.com/gallery/FVJYx
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You mean those mountains in the background aren’t in Daytona? Fake news.
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What…you’ve never seen a land fill in fla…..
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Ha, not from the beach. They usually hide those inland or at least along I-95.
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Thanks for clearing that up. Those mountains looked like the dunes on Santa Rosa Island as viewed from Wynnehaven Beach. The dunes seemed like mountains humping a Zodiac filled with our twelve 100 lb plus rucksacks over em from the Gulf to the Sound.
Good times!
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If you don’t want to go out, don’t. Seems simple to me..
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^This…a thousand times this. Most don’t hear or want to understand this. It reminded me of the proverb. “You can’t wake-up a man who is pretending to be asleep”. I’ll do me; you do you, but don’t quarantine a healthy person.
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How do you know you’re healthy? Many (most?) are asymptomatic yet can still spread the virus.
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If Kemp’s plan is successful, do you guys think it will because he was right in his decision or will it be that he was wrong and he just got lucky? I’m generally of the opinion that you can make a good call that leads to a bad result and vice versa. I’m not entirely convinced that his logic is sound.
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I think his logic is based on his own survival – put another way I don’t trust him one bit. I did vote for the dim bulb based on the lesser of two incompetents.
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People need to do the math from the opposite direction. Rather than buy-in to the limited odds of contracting the virus using today’s data (“I’ve only got a 0.1% risk!”) they need to understand the limits on our healthcare system. If you live in a county with only 20 ICU units with respirators, then that sets the limit on how much social contact should be permitted or we’ll end up like Italy or NYC. Retailers and supply/service businesses could open slowly and with heavy precautions in place but we really need testing in place first to gauge any increases in the rate of infection. We can only move as fast as our healthcare system can manage, and right now, sadly, in most of the large population centers around the country that’s nowhere near enough to support a full restart of the economy.
I trust they’ll find a vaccine sooner than later. I have zero hope they’ll find a way to inject common sense back into society.
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As we have already seen, it can get worse by opening up businesses again. The people who work there are at the greatest risk and the longer they are open, the worse it will get. See Smithfield and Tyson industries for confirmation. They kept going and getting infected and now cannot supply food in the chain. How many more outfits have to go through this and end up endangering the populace as a whole?
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There really should be a serious discussion as to why we would expect people in rural Georgia or Tennessee with low infection rates and low population density to shutter businesses and eliminate travel while in NYC, the epicenter of America’s problem, leave subways and busses running where commuters are packed in close proximity and who leave parks open for their residents.
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Exactly my thoughts…sounds like the Elitists in those larger cities are basically FOS. Common sense has flown out the window,
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How much healthcare capacity do you have in rural areas? Around Athens, there are entire counties with single digit ICU beds. Just because you’re in a rural place doesn’t mean you can’t have a health crisis in your community.
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We also need to be calling in Congress to pass a bill exempting all Americans from liability lawsuits regarding the transmission of infection.
The lawyers will be coming soon to try to exploit this pandemic.
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I wouldn’t go so far as to say exempting all Americans from liability. If you’re one of those assholes going around the supermarket licking stuff and you get someone else sick, you deserve to have the book thrown at you.
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Sure.
You could craft a bill with cutouts for criminal activity.
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If they’re confident these businesses are safe to open, perhaps the folks making those calls should take on the liability. Let’s see if they’re really confident about it.
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https://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-04-14/kemp-designates-auxiliary-emergency-management-workers-emergency
Liability limitations for responders and healthcare providers are typically included in state emergency declarations. I do not expect to see these exemptions extended to other businesses.
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That grim reaper photo in the tweet is funny, but it can’t be Florida, can it? I mean, the coastline in the background doesn’t look like any Florida coastline I have seen… anyone else have any ideas about it?
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It’s the landfill where Kirby buried the Florida rivalry.
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I knew I had seen that guy before. A Pepsi drinker.
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Yeah, but it’s Pepsi.
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When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility. Then (they) ceased to be free.
-Edeth Hamilton
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The greatest freedom is the freedom to force our neighbors to stay inside because we’re scared.
Thomas Jefferson (probably)
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https://twitter.com/ConorBlenner/status/1252870171422715907
It’s a little known fact that Jefferson wanted to start the Declaration of Independence with “Sacrifice the Weak”, but was talked out of it.
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looks like agitprop to me.
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What a great example of polarization and why these conversations are typically fruitless. He shares a thought on freedom that belittles those with concerns, and you respond with something that the overwhelming majority on either side wouldn’t espouse. Pretty cool you guys teamed up for the illustration. Thank you!
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You evidently need to acquaint yourself with the concept of mockery.
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I misread. The two of you are both on the same side of the issue and mocking the other side? Totally changes the dynamic.
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Good try, but you need work. 😉
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You evidently need to acquaint yourself with the concept of literacy.
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Exactly. We both agree that the elites have every right to force the plebes to behave. All of this protesting government tyranny is just un-American.
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They open May 1. He may have been trying to spell “Sacrifice the Week”.
With Tennesseans, you never know.
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Sadly, Dan Patrick, the Texas Lt. Governor, said that “there are more important things than living” to justify reopening the economy. I thought it was just a clickbait header, but no, he actually said and meant it.
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Completely taken out of context
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Some of you might find this interesting https://nationalinterest.org/blog/korea-watch/i-live-south-korea-here-what-limited-reopening-coronavirus-looks-146806
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Hey Spur. I picked up John Steinbeck’s book of dispatches from Vietnam and thought of you when he describes you rotorheads.
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I still have dreams of flying low level over the tree tops being one with the machine. It was a very different time that’s for sure. I think the only envy was having to walk after the ride.
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I only got to go up a couple of times in country but a couple of years ago I won charity auction ride in the front seat of a cobra down at the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and it was a real treat for an old man. This is the only shot I have flying over the Delta.
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You would not believe the # of times I have said “Thank You Lord” to having that scream from the sky brazing fire, streaming smoke!
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Huevos. Motherfucker.
I got my license in a Piper Warrior and I cannot imagine winding down the pattern in that little bastard with someone shooting at me.
Your comments carry more weight for me than some. Thanks for your service.
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Wrong?
Never!
Taking responsibility?
Why?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-us-cure-trump-hydroxychloroquine-testing-results-a9478211.html
We’re first in the world in deaths!!! Winning!! MAGA!!!
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yup. all those MAGA chuds in Queens and the Bronx.
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And 50% of those who drank aquarium cleaner, which Trump specifically advised people to do, died. How many more deaths will he be directly responsible for!?!
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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Why do you keep saying you don’t support trump?
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The maga poster boy;
https://apple.news/AdvuChcO2SGihsdX7kvl-MQ
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Crawling through a private citizens fb to LOL his death. Bravo derek.
You always find a new low for your hatred and vitriol of anyone who doesn’t share your worldview. Sad really.
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I “crawled” through his fb? When?
I posted a story I found on the internet.
I think stupid is sad, not funny. Because stupid can be deadly.
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Derek, how could you post an article that 40% don’t wish to read and would rather hatch up something all made up and flatulent to try to convince you to go out to support the economy of the IMPOTUS and die in the process? It’s mo’ buttah to just tell them that we are staying indoors so that Trump’s economy will fail. That twists their skirt more than anything you could write trying to convince them with common sense.
Think I’ll start a counter-movement that encourages all to dump Trump by not going outside until November. We can watch the idiots mingle and keep score of the % population that would have voted for Trump as they die, as well as refuse to support this drawn-out economic loss fostered by ongoing ignorance. It’s a win-win for the sacrificial weak.
Support big-number testing for everyone to win.
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Anyone who doubts the power of politicians to micromanage every aspect of our lives obviously deserves to die.
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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#Stay alive. AND WIN!
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As long as the plebes are staying alive by doing exactly what their betters tell them to do. Staying alive by exercising good judgment, or because they live in a rural area where social distancing already exists is intolerable. Only through blind adherence to politicians freaking out will we all be safe.
Personally, I’ve had to furlough my nonessential household staff. I’m currently sheltering in place on my live aboard yacht. I suggest everyone do the same. It’s just common sense.
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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Tell me about it man. I had to furlough my butler. This shit’s getting real!
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Oh, I’ve still got the butler. He’s essential. But my chauffeur has been furloughed along with the gardener and scullery maid. Just because we’re sheltering in place doesn’t mean we have to live like savages.
#StayAtHome
#StayPoor
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Savages?
SAVAGES?!?!
That’s it. Now I’m offended. Both you and Derek are banned from my casino.
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Excellent point Napoleon. As soon as my PPP money comes in, I’m going to rehire the butler. We must maintain proper trappings of civilized life, lest we end up like Derek.
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Better red than dead!
What? Oh.
Never mind.
Gotdam hippies.
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“Give me liberty, unless tyranny would be safer.”
– Patrick Henry (probably)
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This guy says he doesn’t support trump
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Fuck all ya’ll.
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For data crunchers at home, state-by-state data for COVID-19 cases is easy to find.
What is more difficult to find is the case count where COVID-19 is the confirmed cause of death vs. a presumed cause of death.
What makes this information difficult to find is the CDC’s April 14 directive to add presumed COVID-19 cases to their case counts and the CDC’s March 20 directive to classify all presumed cases under ICD-10 code U07.1 (confirmed) instead of U07.2 (inconclusive).
As of this morning, only 23 COVID-classified deaths posted on the Georgia Public Health website were listed as having no other underlying cause. However, current year-over-year data for other causes of death is not easily found online.
Georgia’s Public Health Commissioner has this information. She has served in leadership roles at the CDC and understands their politics, so I am confident Georgia’s rollout plan was not put together arbitrarily.
I pray they have this right and the overwhelming majority of Georgians take this seriously. We’ll find out soon.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html
Click to access Alert-2-New-ICD-code-introduced-for-COVID-19-deaths.pdf
https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report
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Because limited government and stuff:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/business/chevron-venezuela-oil-trump/index.html
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Only a real dumbass would post anything from the Pravda media. CNN has zero credibility.
Dumbass.
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Pravda has the story too:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/trump-tells-chevron-to-wind-down-oil-fields-in-venezuela
Idiot.
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Idiot? That’s it. Now I’m really offended. You’re banned from my convenience store as well. Keep it up and you’ll have to start paying the full hour when you bring your “clients” to my motel.
Dumbass.
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Thank God Trump is removing the evils of capitalism from the socialist Utopia of Venezuela. I mean, even the poor people are millionaires there.
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1,000,000 Bolivars = $.0000001
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Its crazy how you keep saying you don’t support trump and yet we are repeatedly here… It’s almost as though your are cherry picking bullshit and then claiming some sort of zoomed out neutrality. It would be good if you’d stop lying about your bias. I dislike trump if you all can’t tell. I dont wish any ill for any of you trump supporters, but unless we are lucky, your savior’s ideas are going to lead to many more deaths.
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Senator you are Awesome. Love your sense of humor
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I would like to remind everyone that there is zero scientific evidence that parachutes are effective at reducing death or major trauma due to gravitational challenges. All evidence that indicates that parachutes may be effective is anecdotal at best and is subject to selection bias. The FDA would consider it illegal for a physician to prescribe the use of a parachute and could not recommend doing so until double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trials have been completed.
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Releasing the parachute before you reach the ground isn’t recommended. That’s what the Gov of Georgia is asking you to do. Good luck, because you’re going to need it.
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I was talking about the shitty reporting on hydroxychloroquine.
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