xyzzy

The German beer purity law. And I didn't Google.

13 hours ago, Pdoggg said:

However 23 Burmese who recently returned home from Thailand tested positive after crossing the border.  This would be evidence that Thailand is not Covid free.

  Greenland is COVID free. New Zealand is/was but tried to screw it up recently. The rest of the world not so much. But of course you can always count on the Thai government to be right...

I've detested pop since I was about 15. KPOP Is especially worthless. The boy band theme run amok. IMO

Long term LB?  Hahaha   Should be your next ex...

22 hours ago, JustSumGai said:

leave it to xyzzy to know humidity ratings on airplane hull materials :D

After spending months in the humidity of Pattaya my goal is to get home without a nose bleed from the dry air. I have allergies so blow my nose a lot which doesn't help. The newer planes make it a bit easier. I live in a dry climate so not much better when I get home. Since I never has a bloody noses earlier in life I was somewhat shocked the first time I made a mess of my shirt flying home.

18 hours ago, JustSumGai said:

I've often thought of a mask as the dry recirculated air plays hell with my sinus and dry sinus is more accepting of nasties like cold or flu.

The carbon fiber planes like the 787 or A350 have a higher humidity than other planes. I try to get my flights on one of those when I can but of course not always possible.

On 4/30/2020 at 5:33 PM, seven said:

If you ask a nurse or a doc here they'll tell you here in Stockholm its pretty bad. The elderly cant  or couldn't be moved to hospitals as that would be the last trip they'd make. They're too weak.  Some hospitals were full. Its taking a toll on workers in the long run. 12-14 hour shifts and recently they were told they can forget summer holiday.

  In the US we have completely screwed up nursing homes . Along with meat producing factories and prisons. Some states are still not reporting the number of cases specific in these type of places. In Ohio one prison with over 2000 inmates had an infection rate of around 70% plus 168 correctional facility workers. One US federal prison reported no inmate cases as they had performed no tests.  But four of the workers there tested positive.

  The county I live in, less than 1/2 million population, has reported around 350 cases and about 20 deaths. The next county over, and less populated by maybe 15%, has reported about 1800 cases and about 100 deaths. They have a meat producing plant that employs 6000 people. They closed the plant for a cleaning but apparently Trump says it's full speed ahead to meat producing plants.

  My state did what was suppose to be a Phase One opening this week. You could pick up non essential items curb side from stores that were previously closed. No restaurant dine in or barbershops yet. I went out today and many stores were open that I didn't expect and the grocery stores were at nearly as full as a usually weekday. About 20% not wearing masks. The have been very slow for the last two weeks. It is 79F/26C today so the weather doesn't help cabin fever. If summer doesn't slow the spread of the virus I predict states like mine will start will suffer by the end of May (I'm not a doctor I just play one on the internet).     

On 4/30/2020 at 5:33 PM, seven said:

What was the question again?  Herd immunity.  Yes, thats what we need before the vaccine is out. You can't lock up the virus, it would take months or even years, and no society will survive that.

Sorry for the rant.

  I have no problem with rants as I do them probably way too often. But I still have the same problem with herd immunity. All the people with herd immunity will have to have been infected. The latest population numbers I saw put Sweden's 2020 population around 10 million. How many will it take for herd immunity? If half the population were infected over a six/nine month period there would be a huge load on the medical system. You can't have infection without a certain number of people getting very sick. I therefore just don't believe in herd immunity unless one is willing to live with the resulting disaster. 

39 minutes ago, JustSumGai said:

I might add that in the recent flu season 25,000 died in the U.S.

Yet only about 50% of the population bother to get vaccinated.

3 hours ago, strocube said:

Lol! Look around. 

That is a clever fucking retort.

On 4/30/2020 at 12:42 PM, strocube said:

 

FWIW the two doctors in the video were censured, by whoever sanctions doctors, just hours after this disinformation played on Fox News for the bullshit they were spreading. I'm sure you can make a conspiracy out of that. Fox News certainly made a conspiracy out of it.

If you go to snopes.com and look up Bill Gates and India you will find that the bullshit you posted about Bill Gates and vaccinations in India is total horse shit.

You remind me of Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory. Except he actually got one right. Why can't you post the crap in the conspiracy theory thread. That's where it belongs if someone is actually foolish enough to bother to post.

3 hours ago, strocube said:

Never said it wasn’t real; just that it’s being way overblown. The flu is real . . . It also looks to me that there are various nefarious agendas behind the global lockdown. 

IMO you think there are nefarious agendas behind most everything.

16 hours ago, seven said:

Heres a good piece about it. All countries strive for immunity, be it vaccine or infected citizens, it's just a matter of how soon we should try to achieve it. Each country have their own resources and abilities to fight it. Putting a lid on it , i e lockdown, might come back to haunt you. Theres also the civil rights aspect. Basically the whole world dismantled democracy in a few days and became totalitarian states.  Now that is dangerous.

Honestly , I wouldn't want to be in Finland when the true russian numbers are official.

We fucked up with the elderly care, no doubt about that. Herd immunity is about people infected, not dead (2462).

"There's been a lot of misunderstanding," Ann Linde said. "We have pretty much the same goals as every other government ... And as we have always said, we are perfectly ready to go with more binding regulations if the population does not follow."

She said the fairly high death toll was "certainly not part of the plan" and said the high number of care home deaths was "one area where we have failed."

"And as long as the healthcare system reasonably can cope with and give good care to the ones that need care, it's not clear that having the cases later in time is better."

"The truth is that no one, no one in Sweden, no one elsewhere either, knows what the best strategy is. Time will tell."

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/28/europe/sweden-coronavirus-lockdown-strategy-intl/index.html

 

______________

 

Another piece. I happen to trust the WHO. I know the right wingers/FoxNews/Trumpers hate their guts so bad the orange

assclown cancelled the US financial support to the organisation and advised his people to inject/drink disinfectants.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/29/who-lauds-sweden-as-model-for-resisting-coronavirus-lockdown/

Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergencies expert, said Wednesday there are “lessons to be learned” from the Scandinavian nation, which has largely relied on citizens to self-regulate.

“I think there’s a perception out that Sweden has not put in control measures and just has allowed the disease to spread,” Ryan told reporters. “Nothing can be further from the truth.”

 

  Sorry but I can't wrap my head around herd immunity. There was a "secret" report leaked from Oxford in the early days of the UK spread claiming 50% of the population had already had the virus and had herd immunity. My simple question is why weren't the Emergency Rooms and ICU beds not overwhelmed by at least the elderly and immune compromised if 50% had the virus. This was after all supposedly before anyone even knew much about the virus.  

  So I feel the same way about Sweden. If Sweden is developing herd immunity why is the the medical system not overwhelmed. If two million of Sweden's 10 million people had contracted the virus, even over several months, the hospitals would be overrun. 

  New York City did a modest amount of antibody testing, with a lot of emphases on first responders, and came up with 25%. This in a city that is ravaged by the virus with many coming in direct contact with the sick. I could be completely wrong but I don't believe in herd immunity with anything short of a vaccine. 

  There is quite a bit of discussion in the US about how long immunity will last.

I'm a bit confused how herd immunity is achieved. Obviously you don't expose the very old and immune compromised to the virus or you will have many serious illnesses and deaths. I'm going to guess that with 2462 deaths in Sweden the herd isn't very big or at least very old. Oh well hope it all works out.

I have a trip booked in mid January and right now I don't expect it to happen.

The old well known place that was in Pattaya and moved to Jomtien closed 2 or 3 years ago. Didn't realize there was something new.

I've never read the bible. I've never really been into fiction and books where the hero dies in the middle are boring anyway.

16 hours ago, rxpharm said:

I don't think there will be a ban on travel for any lengthy period of time - however I do believe there will be requirements to travel - as Eithad is testing a system that will check your temperature, travel history, and medical history screens before boarding (likely during check in). I can also see that all passengers will be required to wear surgical masks. This will likely be practice until a vaccine or effective drug treatment is found. The challenge the airlines will face is the reluctance of public to travel for the first while after reopening.

Well I don't often disagree with you RX but I do on this one. With so many asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 I think temperature screening is something that just makes some feel better about allowing travel but is only somewhat helpful. Travel history and medical history? With a virus this communicable? Worthless IMO. And then of course one has to consider what the country they are flying to will do when the arrive. I'm going no where if I have to quarantine for 14 days. I could be wrong but IMO to assume anything less is Trump-ian.

Perhaps all this could be applied to a select group of big money business people that travel. But it won't be me on my holiday.     

57 minutes ago, seven said:

When Cuomo says the worst is over I take that as a positive. Our chief epidemiologist in charge says the same. Italy and Spains numbers are down. Surely you can find some comfort in this?

I didn't say I disagree with you. I just wondered what your numbers were. Realistically I think there is a good chance we won't be able to foriegn travel as before until there is a vaccine. It would be nice if that came along before my next Pattaya trip scheduled in mid January. But who knows...  

1 hour ago, seven said:

Right,  you doom and gloomers. I know this is far from over, but I don't share some of your doomsday views:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-coronavirus-outbreak-could-peak-132912267.html

Cuomo said on Monday that "the worst is over"

The Northeast states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will work with Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island in coordinating to gradually reopen their economies together, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic was likely behind the state, so long as there's no rush to reopen the businesses and the economy as hospitalizations slow, which could trigger another acceleration."

What does that mean one month, two months or more months? What date does your lack of doom and gloom need to not to be gloomy and doomy? Just curious. No one is putting any dates to anything right now.

4 hours ago, seven said:

“I don’t know what he thinks of it (the resistance against the herd-immunity, ed.), but those of us who work with infectious diseases know that this type of disease continues to spread, until we achieve immunity in the population. There is no other way to stop it.”

Well I am certainly not agreeing with Trump.

There are some studies starting to show up that those that had the virus and were asymptomatic or had very little illness did not create any/many antibodies and therefor are likely not immune. The latest I heard on this was today from a doctor on TV that was in the Obama administration in some major health capacity.

The only thing we really know about this virus is we don't know shit.

3 minutes ago, strocube said:

Should I just post the link then and not the entire article? Easier to do it that way, actually. 

I personally usually post a link and then maybe the first paragraph if it's interesting enough. Sometimes just a link and headline. But up to you. Do we have a conspiracy theory thread here?

9 hours ago, strocube said:

 First of all, I do not BELIEVE anything.

Finally the truth. Well you do believe in posting a link to a very long article and then posting the whole damn thing.

On 3/29/2020 at 6:41 PM, xyzzy said:

Hong Kong got good reviews also.

Guess I wasn't paying attention. Hong Kong is now having a problem and closed restaurants and bars. I usually fly Cathay Pacific.

1 hour ago, bumblebee said:

With all that’s happening at the moment, no doubt some of you guys are changing, or thinking of changing your travel plans. Personally I don’t see myself getting back till the end of 2021, but that was on the cards anyway.  But how about the rest of you chaps, have you changed upcoming trips and when do you think you may feasibly get back?  

A moot question perhaps as it’s so hard to see how this may all pan out of course.

I have a two month trip booked to arrive mid January 2021. If I was a betting man I wouldn't bet it will happen. Unless a vaccine comes faster than expected. But I can always cancel and it will probably cost me nothing. 

1 hour ago, Tomcat said:

yah .. just like China is " Communist"...    

The Washington Examiner is a VERY conservative point of view newspaper. Up to your political leanings to determine what that means to you. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Examiner

The Examiner has been described as and is widely regarded as conservative.^[5] When Anschutz first started the Examiner in its daily newspaper format, he envisioned creating a competitor to The Washington Post with a conservative editorial line. According to Politico, "When it came to the editorial page, Anschutz's instructions were explicit – he 'wanted nothing but conservative columns and conservative op-ed writers,' said one former employee."^[3] The Examiner's writers have included Michael Barone, Tim Cavanaugh, David Freddoso, Tara Palmeri, Bill Sammon, Rudy Takala, and Byron York.