thebruce44

Yeah, I'm completely with you...a couple years older, but we used that word CONSTANTLY. Just the one sylable, not the two. And to me that genuinely took away the homophobic aspect of it and just made it another type of insult entirely. Louie CK is certainly not a shinning beacon for how one should act, BUT he does have a whole joke about this that was HUGE because it did resonate with a lot of people. But the thing here.....A, you're an adult, you're 58 years old and you're in media. You have to be pretty obtuse to NOT know that it's rooted in hate. And B-EVEN if you were trying to use the "logic" that me and all my friends used back in HS, that it wasn't about being gay, it was about being annoying or soft or whatever(and there were a couple gay guys we hung around with who'd hurl it back at us...for what little that is worth) don't pretend you don't actually know what the word means or that it's rooted in hate. Even if you're using it differently. Long story short, I could get past someone saying THOSE exact words and coming back at some point if he'd said them in a very different way, but the way that he said them and to then pretend you're just totally ignorant about the hatred behind them. That's...more gauling. I assume that is what Brennaman was getting at in his apology: Brennaman says he didn't realize the homophobic f-word was "so rooted in hate and violence" -- and says he vows to never use it again. When I heard that Louie CK bit and learned the history surrounding the word it makes you reflect on how freely it used to be thrown around in sports when we were kids. Prior to the Louie CK bit, I just knew it as a word that was hurtful and one that I would never use. If anything good comes from this, maybe some people will be educated on just how despicable the word actually is.

Why does it matter? Whatever he says is obviously nothing more than attempted damage control at that point. An apology is fine when you have a slip of the tongue on the air or make a joke that you later realize is in bad taste, both of which happen. This is nothing like that, what was said was fully intended and he obviously believes it so I don't really know what the point of any apology is as it is meaningless. Fair point. I think my thought is that you should at least make the apology sound sincere rather than a carefully worded spin attempt. He could say something like "what I said was inappropriate and I need to make some changes to who I am as a person. I hope that people will give me a second chance some day."

This is pretty much what I recall. The initial focus was on contracting COVID, of which only N95 masks prevent inhaling it; cloth masks don't do much to protect against inhaling it. I'm totally OK with them "lying" to the public about masks to prevent hoarding of the N95 masks. Hell, look at the hoarding of toilet paper that happened - can you imagine the hoarding of N95 masks that would have happened? If that hoarding of N95 masks had happened, how many more health care workers would have contracted COVID-19? How many fewer healthcare workers would have been available to treat patients because they contracted the virus or because they didn't have access to N95 masks? How many more lives would that have cost? As we saw with many things over the last three months, people are selfish and opportunistic, and sometimes not telling the whole truth is the only way to prevent that. The people delivering these messages (surgeon general, Fauci, etc, are smart people. I'm sure they did a cost benefit analysis and knew that either route sucked, so they picked the best one. Encourage mask wearing, and first responders can't keep safe so the medical system potentially breaks down. Lie to the general public and encourage 6' separation to get through the initial wave, then reverse that and lose credibility. Honestly, I think they chose the best option based on what I saw with hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

Exactly. That's why the masks are really important in certain environments. Wearing one really helps limit the risk to others. People say, "Well I'm young and healthy" or "it violates my rights" or whatever -- well, it's not about you. It's about the people you could potentially give the virus to (and you might not know you have the virus). We can't force people to wear masks. I get that. And certain places it's not a big deal. But some places (a health care facility, for instance) it's really important. You interact with people all day long. You touch pens and paper and clipboards and computers and whatever else over and over. And others are doing the same. Why can't we? Especially on private property.

What kind of phone do you have? The default Google camera app automatically recognizes bar codes.

What do you want the CDC to do? Dig their heels in and not change their stance to save face? The point of researching something is to learn new things. How is finding new information in anyway ridiculous?

Its worth noting that American Airlines CEO, Doug Parker, actually said this in 2016 in regards to stock buybacks and investor profit: “My personal view is that you won’t see losses in the industry at all,” said Parker, speaking June 8 at American’s annual meeting. “We have gotten to the point where we like other businesses will have good years and bad years, but the bad years will not be cataclysmic. They will just be less good than the good years.” The misconception that airlines run on razor thin margins is incorrect thanks to all of the consolidation.

So instead of trying to understand how skepticism fits into the scientific method you are choosing to tie your personal safety to confirmation bias? Confirmation bias of what? Where are the surges? Where are the MILLIONS of casualties piling up? Nursing homes in NY which the Governor forced to take in COVID19 patients by mandate created mass crisis, and now he’s blaming them for it. The NYC subway system has proven to be a major source of COVID19 being tracked around, and it was made worse by the Governor cutting trains. It cramped more and more people into less and less cars. Transit workers paid the price. Elderly health facilities are the majority of casualties, and here in Minnesota the age of death was averaging 85~ last I looked. Each statistic has a name and a family behind it, and is tragic. Life is also a tragedy and any one of us could contract something and die, or die of cancer or other illness because these people are not being serviced by low staffed hospitals. Mayo just laid off 30,000 employees because they can’t do anything! How many people will die because of this? Tedros is a stooge for China, and thus the WHO is a stooge. Simple google searches turn up all the evidence one needs. https://thehill.com/opinion/international/487851-china-and-the-whos-chief-hold-them-both-accountable-for-pandemic I'm not sure how to respond to your post as it covers so many unrelated topics. I'll just start with the first 3 questions you posted: Confirmation Bias Of What: The WHO (and other researchers) is skeptical and looking for more evidence that previously infected people are immune indefinitely. You posted that you are dismissive of anything from the WHO because of their relationship with China. It doesn't seem pragmatic to make a blanket statement like that. Where are the surges: What do you define as a "surge?" Chicago still has not peaked. Orange County opened beaches and is now seeing a large increase in cases. Green Bay had a localized outbreak. Do these meet your definition for a surge? Where are the MILLIONS of casualties piling up: What does that have to do with your trust or distrust for any information released by the Who? Is millions of casualties your qualification for something?

It was safe for the 58-year-old mayor of the third largest city in the United States to get a haircut three weeks ago because "the stylist wore a face shield and gloves". So, let's give barbers and stylists face shields and gloves and put them back to work. Make sure there is at least 6' between chairs. Where is all the PPE to pull this off? I desperately need these supplies for first responders and we are unable to procure any masks.

The Wire has been on my to do list for ages, have just never gotten around to seeing it... So HBO is currently free? No, a selection of HBO shows are free. Here is a link: https://www.hbo.com/hbo-news/watch-hbo-free-no-subscription My wife and I also enjoyed Big Little Lies- it was pretty intense. We plan to watch Sopranos next.

My wife and I are finally binging The Wire. We have HBO, but just so everyone knows, a bunch of their shows are free right now online.

I look at anything the WHO says as completely the opposite after seeing how they literally kissed the :&(‘es of China in January, and then seeing Tedros very suspect connections to them. Take it for a grain of salt...it may not even be worth that much. So instead of trying to understand how skepticism fits into the scientific method you are choosing to tie your personal safety to confirmation bias?

I've read so many articles about this thing that I can't remember where but next time I see one I'll make sure to link it here. The last few days the articles I've read have been about how many different things the virus does and the symptoms it causes. So basically if you have any of fever, chills, headaches, a cough, digestive issues, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, blurred vision, forgetfulness, trouble concentrating, numbness or tingling in limbs, loss of sense of smell or taste, or feel perfectly fine you could have COVID. [sarcasm]We've really got this thing nailed down.[/sarcasm] Reminds me of this:

Thanks. I honestly though this was fairly common knowledge, but I was challenged pretty heavily for suggesting it. Are we really going to draw conclusions from all this second hand anecdotal evidence?

Not sure, honestly. Maybe the receptionist/scheduler doesn't know the ins-and-outs of the hospital's policies? Here is the actual order, for those that haven't read it: https://evers.wi.gov/Documents/COVID19/EMO12-SaferAtHome.pdf The only restrictions actually placed on healthcare providers is that 'telehealth services should be used where feasible'. Most of the hospital 'elective procedure' cancellations were enacted by the hospitals themselves prior to the 'stay at home' order itself. My own speculation here, but I think healthcare workers are afraid and so hospitals are putting off whatever they can due to staffing concerns. It is easy to blame the stay at home order since most people probably didn't read it. That is how it has been with the first responder programs that I run.

Our grandfathers gave up so much for such a selfless cause, and it's astoundingly remarkable that after what, five weeks of being asked just to stay in our homes, in an era of video games, streaming services, Amazon, and food delivery, people are holding protests and clamoring for their Governors to open Buffalo Wild Wings. That mindset literally puts those very grandfathers in harm's way in this case. Well said PeaveyFury. I don't mean for the following to get political, I am just trying to gather my thoughts because it seems as though there is a logic breakdown going on with the people who want to open things back up. The individuals protesting Safe At Home Orders of wanting to be Liberated are doing so because they feel as though these policies are negatively impacting them financially. They are not considering the counter argument, that they could instead be demanding more Government Stimulus, especially cash payouts or rent/mortgage deferment. If you look around the world you see what other developed countries are doing and what is happening here doesn't make sense to me. If you tell people to stay home and reduce or eliminate incomes, then you need to provide essentials like food and shelter. A one time payment of $1200 is nothing. Instead we have some members of our government supporting protesting the very thing that is keeping this from getting significantly worse. How is this happening?

Why would you be saving for retirement while working to establish your emergency fund? Or were you comfortable having less than $10k as your amount? Just curious. I'm guessing we are around the same age. Our generation will have been hit by two massive recessions while trying to start families and get our lives in order. My family is in a really good place at this point in time, but man has it been exhausting. I don't think people should have to be as frugal and financially educated as my wife and I have become. Yes, we did it through hardwork, but I don't blame anyone else for not also doing so. FWIW, I'm 37, own investment property, have been maxing 401ks and IRAs for 7 or 8 years, have taxable investments, and still do not feel financially secure.

People like me who own rental property and have to pay that mortgage, whether my renters pay their rent or not. Don't you have a safety fund in place to be able to weather this lack of income?

My wife and I were discussing something similar last night. A couple weeks back, basically the first week we were self quarantining, I had some of the worst back aches/cramping I've ever had. I typically have some issues, but the cramps and spasms were way beyond normal. Short of an antibody test, we will never know if we all had the virus and were mostly asymptomatic. It sure would be nice to know- my line of work is essential and if I had antibodies there is a lot more I could be doing that would be of value to the general public.

The S&P 500 crashed, what, 30%? The question is if that priced in all the damage to come. I'd say it really happens how long this lasts. I think that drop priced in a significant shelter in place order. If those restrictions are eased and another wave of this hits, I think there is going to be another drop.

Is this correct? My family and I just went on a hike this weekend in a City Forest Preserve. I thought it was just the Lakefront, 606, and Riverwalk? Which one? I don't believe there is such thing as a "city" forest preserve from what I can tell. They may be in Cook County, but they are not in the City of Chicago. Also heard that Waterfall Glen closed off access to non-locals (DuPage County residents only) due to overcrowding coming from the city. You're right, I am mixing up my City vs County Depts. It is Cook County, but it also means that the Mayor has not shut down all trails in the City. Also, at the park near me, which is a City Park, trails are open. I still think it is just 606, Lakefront, and Riverwalk.

Is this correct? My family and I just went on a hike this weekend in a City Forest Preserve. I thought it was just the Lakefront, 606, and Riverwalk?

Isn't it safe to assume US intelligence agencies knew exactly what was going on despite China's efforts? Not trying to make a political argument or start a conspiracy theory, I just this its a safe assumption to say they knew exactly what was going to happen.

Exactly. We need to get organized if we are going to do anything more than have everyone sit inside all day. We need expanded testing and a way to test for antibodies. Every nonessential factory that can be repurposed should have done so week ago. People who have recovered should be the first to return to work or even retrain recovered unemployed individuals to perform admin or easy healthcare work. Drycleaners are still open, release plans online for people to sew masks at home. Have a QA program at drycleaners to receive them, then clean them. I'm just brainstorming, but this is going to take some overall direction from the Federal Government. States can't do this on their own because if WI gets over the worst, but someone drives up from Florida and infects 100 people, WI starts all over.

I'm aware of the shutdown thanks to Lightfoot sending me an alert on my phone yesterday. Just pointing out that there are still tons of people out and about. The parks near us on the southside are packed whenever the sun comes out. I'm also near Chinatown, so there are a lot of people who do not understand what social distancing is. They have tape on the floor at the grocery store to indicate how far apart to stand and about 90% of people get it, but there are still enough who will just stand right behind me and look confused when I ask them to back up.