The Coronavirus

[Eric the Green]

Vaccination rates by ethnicity in Santa Clara County
African Am. 65.04%
Native Am. 71.43%
Asian and Pacific Is. 100%
Hispanic 65.55%
Multi-race 53.66%
White 68.22%

Vaccination rates by generation in Santa Clara County
Gen Z teenagers 68.29%
young Millennials 84.08%
older Millennials 96.62%
younger Gen X 83.49%
Core/older Gen X and younger Boomers 86.56%
core Boomers 86.41%
war baby cusp and Silents 82.76%

12 and older with at least 1 dose: 85.2%
complete vaccination 79.7%
current rate of daily new cases: 253
https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-vaccinations

previous post: July 28 http://generational-theory.com/forum/thr...l#pid78107

[pbrower2a]

The Governor of Texas has COVID-19.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to his office, who said the Republican is in good health and experiencing no symptoms.

Abbott, who was vaccinated in December and has refused calls to reinstate mask mandates as the highly contagious delta variant surges in Texas, was isolating in the governor’s mansion in Austin and receiving monoclonal antibody treatment, spokesman Mark Miner said in a statement. He is at least the 11th governor to test positive for the virus since the pandemic began, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

“Governor Abbott is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, in good health, and currently experiencing no symptoms. Everyone that the Governor has been in close contact with today has been notified,” Miner said.

The positive test comes a day after Abbott, who has seldom been seen wearing a mask in public recently, did not wear one while speaking indoors near Dallas to a crowded room of GOP supporters, most of whom were older and unmasked. Video posted by his campaign shows the governor mingling with attendees as they gathered around him taking pictures.

“Another standing room only event in Collin County tonight,” Abbott tweeted.

The event was held by a group called the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch. Reached by phone Tuesday after Abbott announced he had tested positive, Jack DeSimone, president of the club, said he did not like “to have conversations like this” and declined to comment further on Abbott’s appearance.

Abbott has rebuffed calls to reimpose pandemic restrictions, including mask mandates, as cases in Texas are again soaring, hospitals are stretched thin and a growing number of school districts defy his orders that prohibit face covering requirements in classrooms. Abbott and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton are now in court fighting what amounts to many of Texas’ largest school districts, which began classes this week.

More than 12,200 patients in Texas were hospitalized with the virus as of Tuesday, the highest levels since January, and state health officials said this week they had requested five morgue trailers from the federal government as a precaution. But as cases have sharply climbed, Abbott has stuck to a message that the path forward “relies on personal responsibility.”

Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat who has sharply criticized the governor over his refusal to give local authorities leeway in allowing masking, said in a tweet that he was “glad the Governor is vaccinated and isn’t experiencing symptoms. I hope he has an easy and quick recovery.”

Miner said the governor’s address to the group was his only public event this week. He said Abbott tested negative Monday and that no one else on staff has tested positive.

Abbott’s wife, Cecilia Abbott, tested negative. The governor had been getting tested daily and Miner said “everyone that the Governor has been in close contact with today has been notified.”

https://apnews.com/article/texas-governo...00cd8c75b1

Comment: Personal responsibility includes getting inoculated against COVID-19... and not trivializing or denying COVID-19 and its harm.

[Eric the Green]

Too bad he's vaccinated and so very likely will recover easily. Unlike lots of people that he is killing.

[Eric the Green]

Covid is taking a toll on the Ayatollah!

A lot of these tyrants don't seem to be very tyrannical when it comes to cracking down on covid. So, what the hell good are they?

Meanwhile the USA has a-ran away with the top spot again, thanks to our overloaded level of crazies. I still wonder if Crazy Classic Xer has gotten his jabs, or if he is a superspreader while he's helping spread around some infected, conditioned air.

New cases today:
USA 137,307
Iran 50,228
Brazil 38,218
India 35,201
France 28,114
UK 26,852
Turkey 21,692
Russia 20,958
Indonesia 20,741
Thailand 20,128
Malaysia 19,631
Japan 14,854
Spain 14,336
South Africa 10,685
Philippines 10,035
Cuba 9,772
Vietnam 9,605
Morocco 9,041
Iraq 8,778
Argentina 8,172
Bangladesh 7,535
Mexico 7,172
Kazakhstan 6,869
Israel 6,775

New cases in the USA
Florida 21,669
Texas 20,161
California 14,940
Georgia 7,639
New York 3,844
Louisiana 3,691
Illinois 3,639
North Carolina 3,575
Tennessee 3,559
Mississippi 3,323
Ohio 3,235
Kentucky 3,222
Minnesota 3,044 (ah, looks like Classic Xer is spreading around some delta!)

[pbrower2a]

[David Horn]

(08-17-2021, 11:41 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Too bad he's vaccinated and so very likely will recover easily. Unlike lots of people that he is killing.

The man is the worst kind of hypocrit: die as I say, not as I live. Sorry but I wish him ill, and that's not a helpful way to feel.

[Eric the Green]

Watching the vaccination rate for generations (as defined by S&H) in my county. Clearly our county is way above average (86.1% one dose, 80.4% fully vaccinated), but probably proportionally typical by age group. Although the older population here is majority white, and the younger majority Asian and hispanic. Asians here are 100% vaccinated, Hispanics about two-thirds (66.94%), and whites slightly better than two-thirds (68.64%).

Percent vaccinated:
Gen Z teens: 70.08%
younger Millennials: 85.2%
older Millennials: 97.68%
younger Xers: 84.21%
core Xers up through Jones Boomers: 87.09%
core Boomers: 86.7%
war babies and Silents: 83%

https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-vaccinations

[David Horn]

(08-19-2021, 06:30 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: Watching the vaccination rate for generations (as defined by S&H) in my county. Clearly our county is way above average (86.1% one dose, 80.4% fully vaccinated), but probably proportionally typical by age group. Although the older population here is majority white, and the younger majority Asian and hispanic. Asians here are 100% vaccinated, Hispanics about two-thirds (66.94%), and whites slightly better than two-thirds (68.64%).

Percent vaccinated:
Gen Z teens: 70.08%
younger Millennials: 85.2%
older Millennials: 97.68%
younger Xers: 84.21%
core Xers up through Jones Boomers: 87.09%
core Boomers: 86.7%
war babies and Silents: 83%

https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-vaccinations

Here in Bright Red Bedford County VA, we have 47.54% with at least one dose, and 42.62% fully vaccinated.  The least likely to be vaccinated: Evangelicals and African-Americans.  Statistical data is not available on percentages.

[Eric the Green]

It appears that Santa Clara County (aka Silicon Valley) has among the nation's highest full vaccination rate for ages 12 and over, listed as 82% on this site. The Massachussetts islands, and a small Rio Grande county in Texas, plus our neighbor Marin County, have higher rates, plus any that I missed.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...doses.html

This site ranks states according to first doses taken. The top 21 states are all Biden states, with 6 purplish-blue states on the bottom of that list of 21. Swing state Florida (but misruled by DeSantis) is next, and two fairly-healthy red states Utah and Nebraska come next. Purplish-blue Wisconsin is next, and a few Biden swing states lag behind in higher red territory: Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. Southern state Georgia is the only Biden state (but Republican-ruled) among the bottom 18 red states on the list below Michigan.

[pbrower2a]

The 2020 US Census results are out. So is the most recent number in the death toll. 

We have just lost the equivalent of the population of Detroit (America's 27th-largest city now at 639,111 , and it was once fourth), if not Las Vegas (I believe that I mentioned Las Vegas earlier, but at 641,903 it has grown while Detroit has hemorrhaged population and is now America's 26th-largest city).  COVID-19 is taking its grim toll of population, and its grim tour of cities as comparisons for population will be appearing next in Portland, Oregon ... (652,503) and then Boston (675,647).

[pbrower2a]

[quote author=Dr. Arch link=topic=402803.msg8212765#msg8212765 date=1629335668 uid=13753]
The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 8/12-8/18/2021 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

From March 2020 to mid-July 2021, I kept track of COVID-19 numbers daily. Now that there's a light at the end of the tunnel and states are staggering their daily updates, I am switching to a mid-week to mid-week model (Thursday to Wednesday).

Wednesdays are ideal for weekly updates since holidays don't usually fall in the middle of the week, and most states would have reported some update by that day each week.

New Legend:

Δ Change: Comparisons of Weekly Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths

Σ Increase: A week's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• [li]IE:What's the overall change in the total?[/li]
  

You may access the archive of daily reports below, with the last daily update at the end, which was on 7/6/2021.

Day-to-Day Archive from 3/26/2020-7/6/2021
(Hidden in spoiler mode to make the post more compact)
[spoiler]
<Last Numbers for 3/26-3/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 3/29-4/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/5-4/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/12-4/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/19-4/25 in this post>
<Last Numbers for 4/26-5/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/3-5/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/10-5/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/17-5/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/24-5/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/31-6/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/7-6/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/14-6/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/21-6/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/28-7/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/5-7/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/12-7/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/19-7/25 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/26-8/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/2-8/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/9-8/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/16-8/22 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/23-8/29 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/30-9/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/6-9/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/13-9/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/20-9/26 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 9/27-10/3 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/4-10/10 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/11-10/17 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/18-10/24 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 10/25-10/31 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/1-11/7 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/8-11/14 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/15-11/21 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/22-11/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 11/29-12/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 12/6-12/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 12/13-12/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 12/20-12/26 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 12/27-1/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 1/3-1/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 1/10-1/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 1/17-1/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 1/24-1/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 1/31-2/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 2/7-2/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 2/14-2/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 2/21-2/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 2/28-3/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 3/7-3-13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 3/14-3-20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 3/21-3/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 3/28-4/3 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 4/4-4/10 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 4/11-4/17 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 4/18-4/24 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 4/25-5/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 5/2-5/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 5/9-5/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 5/16-5/22 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 5/23-5/29 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 5/30-6/5 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 6/6-6/12 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 6/13-6/19 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 6/20-6/26 in this Post>
<Last Daily Update on 7/6/2021 in this Post>
[/spoiler]
6/16-6/22: <Baseline Week>

• [li]Cases: 34,433,696[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 617,864[/li]
  

6/23-6/30:

• [li]Cases: 34,544,094 (+110,398 | Σ Increase: ↑0.32%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 620,237 (+2,373 | Σ Increase: ↑0.38%)[/li]
  

7/1-7/7:

• [li]Cases: 34,641,189 (+97,095 | ΔW Change: ↓12.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.28%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 621,851 (+1,614 | ΔW Change: ↓31.98% | Σ Increase: ↑0.26%)[/li]
  

7/8-7/14:

• [li]Cases: 34,848,068 (+206,879 | ΔW Change: ↑113.07% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 623,838 (+1,987 | ΔW Change: ↑23.11% | Σ Increase: ↑0.32%)[/li]
  

7/15-7/21:

• [li]Cases: 35,146,476 (+298,408 | ΔW Change: ↑44.24% | Σ Increase: ↑0.86%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 625,808 (+1,970 | ΔW Change: ↓0.86% | Σ Increase: ↑0.32%)[/li]
  

7/22-7/28:

• [li]Cases: 35,487,348 (+340,872 | ΔW Change: ↑14.23% | Σ Increase: ↑0.97%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 628,098 (+2,290 | ΔW Change: ↑16.24% | Σ Increase: ↑0.37%)[/li]
  

7/29-8/4:

• [li]Cases: 36,176,471 (+689,123 | ΔW Change: ↑102.17% | Σ Increase: ↑1.94%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 631,299 (+3,201 | ΔW Change: ↑39.78% | Σ Increase: ↑0.51%)[/li]
  

8/5-8/11: <Last Week>

• [li]Cases: 37,027,466 (+850,995 | ΔW Change: ↑23.49% | Σ Increase: ↑2.35%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 635,629 (+4,330 | ΔW Change: ↑35.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.69%)[/li]
  

8/12-8/18: <This Week>

• [li]Cases: 38,072,249 (+1,044,783 | ΔW Change: ↑22.77% | Σ Increase: ↑2.82%)[/li]
  [li]Deaths: 641,338 (+5,709 | ΔW Change: ↑31.85% | Σ Increase: ↑0.90%)[/li]
  

[/quote]

The 2020 Census numbers are out for the largest cities. We have just "lost Detroit"  in numbers... maybe Las Vegas.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

[pbrower2a]

[Eric the Green]

New cases today
USA 147,619
India 51,016
Iran 40,623
Brazil 31,014
UK 30,838
France 24,853
Malaysia 20,837
Turkey 19,191
Indonesia 19,106
Russia 18,833
Thailand 17,165
Japan 16,057
Philippines 11,891
Vietnam 10,811
South Africa 10,346
Israel 10,087
Spain 10,072
Cuba 9,907
Argentina 8,119
Iraq 7,670
Morocco 7,184
Mexico 6,543
Italy 6,076
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

New cases today in the USA
Florida 21,208
Texas 17,403
California 14,583
Georgia 9,186
Tennessee 5,153
Kentucky 4,626
North Carolina 4,623
Ohio 4,117
Minnesota 3,837
Louisiana 3,814
South Carolina 3,708
New York 3,594
Indiana 3,461
Mississippi 3,291
Washington 3,287
Virginia 3,027

Most total cases per capita
Rhode Island 151,568
North Dakota 151,316
Tennessee 146,816
Florida 146,642
South Dakota 146,283
Arkansas 145,293
Louisiana 142,966
Utah 142,083
Mississippi 140,043
Arizona 136,193
South Carolina 135,800
Alabama 135,759
Iowa 134,819
Oklahoma 134,544

Least total cases per capita:
Hawaii 40,424
Vermont 43,650
Maine 55,067
Oregon 61,745
Washington 71,153
DC 76,558
New Hampshire 77,655
Maryland 80,841
Virginia 87,187
Pennsylvania 99,760



https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

[pbrower2a]

[pbrower2a]

Another loud-mouth anti-mask, anti-vaccine advocate dies of practicing what he preaches.

Marc Bernier, a prominent conservative radio host from Daytona Beach, Florida, who was an outspoken opponent of COVID vaccines and mask mandates, died Saturday after a nearly month-long battle with COVID-19. He was 65 years old.

“It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years,” the station confirmed on Twitter. “We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief.”

It’s with great sadness that WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announce the passing of Marc Bernier, who informed and entertained listeners on WNDB for over 30 years. We kindly ask that privacy is given to Marc’s family during this time of grief. pic.twitter.com/vXQIAtVN9e

olusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, a regular guest on Marc Bernier’s WNDB radio show, told The Daytona Beach News-Journal that he’s been “numb” since hearing the news. “To me, this is a death in the family,” he said.

Bernier, a native of Rhode Island, moved to the Daytona Beach area three decades ago and became a popular and outspoken voice for conservatism during his three-hour afternoon show at the Florida station — as well as a strident voice against vaccinations of all sorts.

On July 30, Bernier posted what would become his final tweet, in which he compared the U.S. government to Nazis in its push to get people vaccinated.

He was responding to a tweet from Nikki Fried, a Democrat set to run against Florida’s Ron DeSantis next year, who wrote:”The greatest generation had to defeat the Nazis to preserve our way of life, you’re only being asked to get a shot. So be a patriot. Turn off the TV and go get vaccinated.”

In response, Bernier quote-tweeted her post saying, “Should say, ‘Now the US Government is acting like Nazi’s. Get the shot!’”  

Should say, "Now the US Government is acting like Nazi's. Get the shot!" https://t.co/8WLpXVxGRm

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/marc...49503.html

[Eric the Green]

One thing is certain. The unvaccinated peoples' refusal to get vaccinated guarantees that this covid pandemic will continue for many months to come. No-one wants more shutdowns or lockdowns, and masks are tiresome and separative from others; not to mention social distancing. That leaves us with no method for controlling the virus besides the covid vaccines. It makes me very sad. A lot of us will be more lonely than usual for many more months.

For sure, covid came down drastically after a huge peak in January because vaccinations were rolled out. But in April a huge surge in India occurred, where vaccination was scarce. PM Modi called huge rallies, and so did religious groups. These were super-spreader events. In this huge infection, as could be expected, the delta variant developed. It quickly spread to India's former overlord the UK, and then to here and in Europe and southeast Asia. It is much more infectious. Meanwhile, vaccination rates continue to be slow, because the only people left to vaccinate are the people who refuse to get vaccinated. Until they change their minds in great numbers, the pandemic here will continue. And more variants could appear, both here and around the world where vaccinations rates are still low.

[Eric the Green]

What we've got here is, failure to communicate. That's the essence of the covid crisis today. And those who are going to the hospital and dying of covid now, are "getting it."

Almost all of these new patients, over 100,000 new patients a day now in the USA, are unvaccinated. Chuck Todd on Meet the Press posted statistics that the 40 or so counties with the most covid infections voted for Trump by a 40% margin. The surge is concentrated in the southeast area of the country. Some Republicans seem to have decided that the best way to beat Biden and re-elect Trump is to stay unvaccinated and not wear masks. That way the covid crisis will grow, and Biden as the president gets the blame as his approval rating goes down. Biden is entirely blameless of course; this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated; the second-worst surge of the crisis.

Such Republicans seem to have decided that to go unvaccinated and unmasked and to protest mandates and masks is good political strategy. The pandemic gets worse then, and so Biden is blamed for what THEY themselves did. Many Americans can't discern the difference, because Americans of the USA are so willfully ignorant, as George Carlin called them. But this little bit of politicking may cost the deniers their lives. It is already costing the lives of many of their comrades. I guess they feel it's worth it. Nothing would be finer than to get their narcissist bully conman hero back in office. Maybe they just think if Trump is president, their taxes will go down again, and fewer immigrants will cross the border. Well, maybe there's no taxes in heaven, and God can paint the streets with gold anyway. It seems like the approach of the Muslim suicide bomber to me. Maybe they think they are martyrs for the cause.

[Classic-Xer]

(08-30-2021, 08:12 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: What we've got here is, failure to communicate. That's the essence of the covid crisis today. And those who are going to the hospital and dying of covid now, are "getting it."

Almost all of these new patients, over 100,000 new patients a day now in the USA, are unvaccinated. Chuck Todd on Meet the Press posted statistics that the 40 or so counties with the most covid infections voted for Trump by a 40% margin. The surge is concentrated in the southeast area of the country. Some Republicans seem to have decided that the best way to beat Biden and re-elect Trump is to stay unvaccinated and not wear masks. That way the covid crisis will grow, and Biden as the president gets the blame as his approval rating goes down. Biden is entirely blameless of course; this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated; the second-worst surge of the crisis.

Such Republicans seem to have decided that to go unvaccinated and unmasked and to protest mandates and masks is good political strategy. The pandemic gets worse then, and so Biden is blamed for what THEY themselves did. Many Americans can't discern the difference, because Americans of the USA are so willfully ignorant, as George Carlin called them. But this little bit of politicking may cost the deniers their lives. It is already costing the lives of many of their comrades. I guess they feel it's worth it. Nothing would be finer than to get their narcissist bully conman hero back in office. Maybe they just think if Trump is president, their taxes will go down again, and fewer immigrants will cross the border. Well, maybe there's no taxes in heaven, and God can paint the streets with gold anyway. It seems like the approach of the Muslim suicide bomber to me. Maybe they think they are martyrs for the cause.

Well, the Democrats spent a year telling minorities that evil whitey was trying to kill them all and warning them against vaccination. It's mainly minorities who are getting sick now days. I think I've had three variations of COVID now. The first one sucked big time. The second one wasn't nearly as bad as the original. The third one was a piece of cake. I guess there's something to be said about getting sick and developing natural immunity. Here's your problem, the Democrats overly politicized COVID, let a bunch of sick illegals enter the country and now they're seeing the results of their own stupidity. Guess what, COVID is here to stay. Welcome to the 4T.

[Eric the Green]

(08-30-2021, 08:45 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(08-30-2021, 08:12 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: What we've got here is, failure to communicate. That's the essence of the covid crisis today. And those who are going to the hospital and dying of covid now, are "getting it."

Almost all of these new patients, over 100,000 new patients a day now in the USA, are unvaccinated. Chuck Todd on Meet the Press posted statistics that the 40 or so counties with the most covid infections voted for Trump by a 40% margin. The surge is concentrated in the southeast area of the country. Some Republicans seem to have decided that the best way to beat Biden and re-elect Trump is to stay unvaccinated and not wear masks. That way the covid crisis will grow, and Biden as the president gets the blame as his approval rating goes down. Biden is entirely blameless of course; this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated; the second-worst surge of the crisis.

Such Republicans seem to have decided that to go unvaccinated and unmasked and to protest mandates and masks is good political strategy. The pandemic gets worse then, and so Biden is blamed for what THEY themselves did. Many Americans can't discern the difference, because Americans of the USA are so willfully ignorant, as George Carlin called them. But this little bit of politicking may cost the deniers their lives. It is already costing the lives of many of their comrades. I guess they feel it's worth it. Nothing would be finer than to get their narcissist bully conman hero back in office. Maybe they just think if Trump is president, their taxes will go down again, and fewer immigrants will cross the border. Well, maybe there's no taxes in heaven, and God can paint the streets with gold anyway. It seems like the approach of the Muslim suicide bomber to me. Maybe they think they are martyrs for the cause.

Well, the Democrats spent a year telling minorities that evil whitey was trying  to kill them all and warning them against vaccination. It's mainly minorities who are getting sick now days. I think I've had three variations of COVID now. The first one sucked big time. The second one wasn't nearly as bad as the original. The third one was a piece of cake. I guess there's something to be said about getting sick and developing natural immunity. Here's your problem, the Democrats overly  politicized COVID, let a bunch of sick illegals enter the country  and now they're seeing the results of their own stupidity. Guess what, COVID is here to stay. Welcome to the 4T.

NO, no such talk form Democrats occurred. Democrats told minorities to get the vaccine, along with everyone else. Many Republicans told people not to get them. It sounds like you refused. I guess you played your martyr role and survived. Congratulations. Now you will still have to pay higher taxes if Biden gets his way and you make more than $400,000 a year. Meanwhile Republicans continue to politicize covid in hopes the people will blame Biden for it.

Your only reply is to spread silly false slogans about Democrats letting sick illegals into the country. Covid came over here first from China and then from Europe. It most likely spread from the USA to Mexico, not vice versa. The USA is the sickest covid country in the world. We are the source for most of the covid in the world, and Republicans are the source of the continuing pandemic, because of people like you who refuse to get vaccinated.

YOU and people like you are the problem, not illegal immigrants.

[pbrower2a]

(08-30-2021, 08:12 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: What we've got here is, failure to communicate. That's the essence of the covid crisis today. And those who are going to the hospital and dying of covid now, are "getting it."

Getting it...of course, in the wrong way.

I have typically assumed that the Hard Right distrusts any intellectual construct, but this one seems universal and nearly self-evident from the experiences that I have had and have seen in others:



(Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs)

Put people in excruciating pain, get them desperately hungry or thirsty, threaten them with violent death, freeze or burn them, deny them sleep, or have them gasping for breath, and such becomes the focus of life. The scariest situations in which I have ever been in are 

(1) two gay-bashing incidents, and
(2) seeing four large dogs charging a door in front of me, the door having a latch too flimsy for my comfort. 

I ran away or drove off from the gay-bashing incidents and walked away from the dogs to my car. Dogs are as dangerous as bears and Big Cats except for one thing: good behavior -- yours and that of the dogs. I was doing Census work, and the dogs must have thought that I was a burglar, and thus meat. I do no stupid stuff around dogs. 

I have seen people dying of cancer, lupus, respiratory failure, and cirrhosis, and it isn't pretty. As a substitute school teacher I have told students who talked about their tobacco use and told them what awaits them in emphysema and lung cancer. It is safe to say that you do not want something like your breathing to be the focus of your life. I have seen small animals mangled partially, but not fatally, in confrontations with motor vehicles, and it is ugly. 

Death by COVID-19 comes from respiratory failure. I do not smoke, and I do not take chances with COVID-19. 

Quote:Almost all of these new patients, over 100,000 new patients a day now in the USA, are unvaccinated. Chuck Todd on Meet the Press posted statistics that the 40 or so counties with the most covid infections voted for Trump by a 40% margin. The surge is concentrated in the southeast area of the country. Some Republicans seem to have decided that the best way to beat Biden and re-elect Trump is to stay unvaccinated and not wear masks. That way the covid crisis will grow, and Biden as the president gets the blame as his approval rating goes down. Biden is entirely blameless of course; this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated; the second-worst surge of the crisis.

In the first wave, COVID-19 struck
 
(1) the demographic known as "frequent flyers", on the whole a well-educated lot, and
(2) urban populations, especially minorities who live in high-density locations even by urban standards. 

Both groups skew Democratic, and they got hit hard before the medical community could get its act together. Indeed, medical staff were especially vulnerable.

COVID-19 may have made the 2020 election closer than most wise people thought because it killed a disproportionate share of minority voters, including some who had already voted but whose votes proved not to count. From here on, COVID-19 seems to be killing people largely on the reactionary side of the political spectrum. That alone could greatly reduce the GOP vote in subsequent years. COVID-19 did not seal the deal for the Republican Party in 2020, and things stand to get even worse for the GOP even if one ignores possible disillusionment by those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19. People who have lost loved ones to COVID-19 do not have liberals and Democrats to blame. 

Quote:Such Republicans seem to have decided that to go unvaccinated and unmasked and to protest mandates and masks is good political strategy. The pandemic gets worse then, and so Biden is blamed for what THEY themselves did. Many Americans can't discern the difference, because Americans of the USA are so willfully ignorant, as George Carlin called them. But this little bit of politicking may cost the deniers their lives. It is already costing the lives of many of their comrades. I guess they feel it's worth it. Nothing would be finer than to get their narcissist bully conman hero back in office. Maybe they just think if Trump is president, their taxes will go down again, and fewer immigrants will cross the border. Well, maybe there's no taxes in heaven, and God can paint the streets with gold anyway. It seems like the approach of the Muslim suicide bomber to me. Maybe they think they are martyrs for the cause.

In a political order as polarized ours is, at least for now, demographics mean more than does quality or even economic interest. The people who will die of COVID-19 will be those who have made stupid choices that put them at pointless risk. Except in super-repressive regimes in which the ability to think outside the box is likely to make one a rebel or a suicide risk, stupidity is not a survival tool.  We just went through a few hours in which America was in grave risk of becoming the sort of social order in which being a pliant dullard is a way to avoid every problem except those inevitable in the poverty that usually goes with stupidity. 

Of course if anyone believes any part of the generational theory, one can reasonably expect a more conformist, socially-unified political life in which extremism of any kind becomes a severe detriment to the quality of life. The sorts of politicians that I expect are going to act more like Barack Obama (really a typical 1T leader before America is completely ready for him) than like Trump even if a conservative. That means sobriety, rationality,  the respect for protocol and precedent, limitation of risk, acceptance of the hierarchy of talent and skill, recognition of the desirability of law and order at the least as a protection of civil liberties, an expectation of moderate levels of economic hierarchy, and the promotion of education and learning for their own right. We will have set for a time the idea that we all mostly succeed together or fail together. 

In education I expect the norm for people not mentally retarded to get at the least two years of inexpensive, if highly-structured, formal education beyond K-12. My suggestions for the syllabus:

1. basic philosophy -- so that people can learn how to think
2. economics -- microeconomics (consumer/worker/firm and macroeconomics (the overall economy) 
3. psychology  -- so that people can recognize scams 
4. world history -- rather recently I thought Spain in the 1930's a scary analogue for America
5. comparative religion -- to reduce the potential for religious bigotry
6. music and art appreciation -- nice use of time. These have kept me out of the mental ward. 
7. comparative political systems -- the consequences of the rejection of democracy
8. freshman composition  -- so that one can communicate effectively
9. foreign languages (start earlier -- one Romance, one Germanic, and one Slavic, one of which will have to be at the college level)
10. more literature
11. probability and statistics -- enough said on their importance  

Basically, as complex as our economic life and social realities are, our youth will need the basic liberal arts. Three languages? Learn one Slavic language even if it has a small population of speakers (Hello, taramarie!) exp-ands one's intellectual universe greatly. 

So what if it makes certain parts of the current political spectrum irrelevant? If it is the Trump cult -- great.