Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19) and Tinnitus

[FGG]

I used the word "many". Also, back in Soviet union, Yugoslavia was considered to be semi-capitalist - they had the least centralized planning of all of the countries behind the Iron Curtain.

First of all, check out
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffre...-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/

The author forgot to mention that Sweden is benefiting from technologies developed in countries that are more free, where people have a greater incentive to innovate, like the US.

Some of the vast fortunes we are observing these days are the result of monopolies and oligopolies cornering the market. It is interesting that instead of advocating policies that promote competition (that would break up monopolies and oligopolies) - policies that would promote equality of opportunity - you are advocating policies that promote equality of outcome. Let's put aside the likely Increase in exploitation (defined as treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work) where as a result of these policies people have the fruits of their labour taken away from them against their will, and let's focus on the Long Run.

[Aside, I love how you use the word "progressive" to refer to serfdom - a system that is anything but progressive. Under serfdom the serf had to work his master's lands 3 days a week.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom_in_Russia#Labor_and_obligations
This is 50% if we assume a 6-day workweek. The average Swede pays 44% of her income to the state,
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALeKk02CmDpT0UrO58n_SeHeIwi6M5faew:1589157473871&source=hp&ei=YZ64XvHHMu6a_QaE5L6ACA&q=sweden+tax+to+gdp+ratio
compared to tax to GDP ratio for the US of 24%
https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALeKk01_brMqdvIjVA3XvM9NmLkScNuL2Q:1589157485163&ei=bZ64XoCxCeSk_QbJ37uQCw&q=us+tax+to+gdp+ratio&oq=us+tax+to+gdp+ratio

A serf's master would take care of the serf (e.g., free healthcare, free education [i.e., learn what there is to know about farming, which happened to be the mode of production back then]). The only thing that's different now is the kind of education one needs to be productive.]

Let's use 40 years as our long run horizon. This is an interval that can actually fit into one's life. One can advocate for certain policies when one is 20 or 30 and then have those policies impact one's life when one is 60 or 70. Another reason to use 40 years is that this is the duration of an experiment when the East and West Germanies had a similar culture, but had different attitude about providing incentives to work/enforcing equality in outcome.

The redistribution of wealth that you are advocating will lead to a reduction in incentives to work. People respond to incentives, and so economic growth will have to be lower. You might argue that you prefer a more equal outcome and that it would be worth it to you to pay to achieve that outcome. Suppose you increase the taxes in the US so that now instead of 24% of their output in taxes, Americans pay 44%, like they they do in Sweden. What is your guess about how much this reduce economic growth? Hopefully we can both agree that it will be at least 5%-10% a year, and likely a lot more.

Now the question is what will happen to the economy after 40 years. Without the change the economy would grow 5% a year faster, so after 40 years the total size will be (1.05)^40 = 7. What does this mean? Well, it means that the country will be 7 TIMES wealthier. If the difference in growth is 10%, the country would be (1.1)^40 = 45 TIMES wealthier.

[If you think Sweden is doing well now, imagine how well it Could have been doing if back during 1970s they were to not abandon the policies that made them wealthy in the first place.]

This is the reason why the some of the wealthiest USSR citizens (who were not members of the Communist Party) were poorer than unemployed people and people working the minimum wage in the West. This had been the case for my family. Most people's salary in USSR in 1980s was between 70 and 150 rubles per month. My grandfather was a physicist at a research institute. His salary was over 300 rubles per month, and my grandma's salary was over 200 rubles per month (she was a doctor with a high rank at a major hospital(she was helping to manage the hospital)). So together they were earning more than twice the average salary, making them part of the top 1% (if we don't count Communist Party members who were paid not in salaries but in free benefits). When my family moved to the West, the quality of our food, our apartment, and the quality of recreational activities we could take part in were better than all of those things enjoyed by my grandparents. Also soon after our arrival we bought a car, whereas my grandparents could never afford a car.

I think people should be paid in accordance to their merit. Not only is this fair, but it also provides the most incentives to work and results in the fastest economic growth (which adds up and makes a huge difference in the long run). The best way to achieve these nice outcomes is to adopt policies promoting competition and freedom.

Ok. Gotcha.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Why would that matter?

I just wanted to find out how far gone FGG might be.

 

[FGG]

I just wanted to find out how far gone FGG might be.

Not taking the bait this time.

 

[aot]

I just wanted to find out how far gone FGG might be.

FGG is one of the most intelligent, respectable users on this forum.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Not taking the bait this time.

Yes, if you have no arguments/no way to defend your beliefs, it's better not to get into an argument. It makes sense to thank the other person for pointing out the things that I weren't aware of, and admit that you were wrong.

FGG is one of the most intelligent, respectable users on this forum.

Is that really the case if she is supporting a policy that would result in the country's wealth being 1/7th of what it could have been? Another sign that the above might not apply to FGG is that she won't admit that she was wrong when presented with arguments that she's wrong, despite being unable to defend her position.

 

[FGG]

Yes, if you have no arguments/no way to defend your beliefs, it's better not to get into an argument. It makes sense to thank the other person for pointing out the things that I weren't aware of, and admit that you were wrong.

Is that really the case if she is supporting a policy that would result in the country's wealth being 1/7th of what it could have been? Another sign that the above might not apply to FGG is that she won't admit that she was wrong when presented with arguments that she's wrong, despite being unable to defend her position.

Unwilling. Not unable.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It makes sense to thank the other person for pointing out the things that I weren't aware of, and admit that you were wrong.

I meant to write "the things that ONE weren't aware of". Initially my sentence was about what I would have done if confronted with arguments/evidence that I couldn't address.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Unwilling. Not unable.

Shouldn't be hard to sketch a brief outline of what you think is wrong with my arguments.

This reminded me of a scene from a French comedy Le chevre (1981). Here is how I remember it: The protagonist has attempted to intimidate another person by saying that he is a master of the martial arts. The other person calls his bluff and proceeds to denigrate the protagonist who responds to every one of the multiple humiliating and degrading verbal insults with - "I could have EASILY taught you a LESSON to not do that, if ONLY the principles to only use my powers for good that I learned from my Sensei were to allow it".

 

[FGG]

Shouldn't be hard to sketch a brief outline of what you think is wrong with my arguments.

Jesus dude, stop straw manning me and assuming my positions. I am not saying "I'm not debating you because I would destroy you."

I am not debating because when you deal with political systems, values are at play and you can't win or lose that debate. Some people think a theocracy is ideal, for instance.

I happen to think health care and education is a right that everyone should have equal access to. Your metrics are the most rigorous economy possible. I'm not going to win a debate on *your* values. I have a different view of the world I would like to see and what I prioritize.

It also doesn't exactly come across as a good faith debate to start off by equating democratic socialism to Marxism.

Sorry if I sound harsh, I don't actually dislike you at all but recreational endless debates aren't my idea of fun.

 

[Bill Bauer]

when you deal with political systems, values are at play

This is the reason I used the values that You are likely to have (fairness, making sure that the poorest members of society are well off) in my post. I showed that if one were to have YOUR values, what you think will achieve YOUR goals will be unlikely to achieve them (it would result in unfairness, exploitation/serfdom, and the richest members of society being worse off than the poorest members of society in a society that Hasn't adopted the policies that you advocate).

I happen to think health care and education is a right that everyone should have equal access to.

I don't know much about how the US healthcare system works. It is my understanding that the unemployed can get the same treatment (through Medicaid?) that someone who works and pays for insurance can get.

I Do know that anyone can get a student loan (and the education at state universities isn't as expensive as the cost of private universities), which means that education is definitely something that everyone (with the exception of the homeless?) in the US has easy access to.

I'm not going to win a debate on *your* values.

Like I said, I am adopting your values. It so happens that the more prosperous an economy is, the better healthcare its citizens (including the poorest citizens) have access to, the cleaner the environment, etc. -> your values. And you will hopefully agree that these differences will be HUGE between two countries where one country has 1/7th of the wealth of the other country.

It also doesn't exactly come across as a good faith debate to start off by equating democratic socialism to Marxism.

Both result in poverty, while failing to achieve their own stated goals. So in that sense there is not much of a difference.

Sorry if I sound harsh

You don't sound harsh to me. If you think that I come off harsh, that has never been my intention.

 

[FGG]

This is the reason I used the values that You are likely to have (fairness, making sure that the poorest members of society are well off) in my post. I showed that if one were to have YOUR values, what you think will achieve YOUR goals will be unlikely to achieve them (it would result in unfairness, exploitation/serfdom, and the richest members of society being worse off than the poorest members of society in a society that Hasn't adopted the policies that you advocate).

I don't know much about how the US healthcare system works. It is my understanding that the unemployed can get the same treatment (through Medicaid?) that someone who works and pays for insurance can get.

I Do know that anyone can get a student loan (and the education at state universities isn't as expensive as the cost of private universities), which means that education is definitely something that everyone (with the exception of the homeless?) in the US has easy access to.

Like I said, I am adopting your values. It so happens that the more prosperous an economy is, the better healthcare its citizens (including the poorest citizens) have access to, the cleaner the environment, etc. -> your values. And you will hopefully agree that these differences will be HUGE between two countries where one country has 1/7th of the wealth of the other country.
Both result in poverty, while failing to achieve their own stated goals. So in that sense there is not much of a difference.

You don't sound harsh to me. If you think that I come off harsh, that has never been my intention.

If you are employed for under 30 hours a week at one job, you don't not have the same access to healthcare even if you work 2-3 jobs as many people do. Employers are famous for cutting hours so you don't get benefits.

Medicaid is very, very hard to get in some states especially if you don't have children. And if you are even minimally employed, you often don't meet the cut off. There are millions of Americans who have zero access to even basic healthcare they can afford.

I don't agree that student loans make the cost of higher education feasible to everyone but I was also referring to the vast discrepancy between public schools in say southside Chicago and Evanston, a few miles away. When school funding is strongly tied to property tax (home values), there is no equal access to quality education.

It is not a fair system. Everyone deserves an equal playing field to start with.

Either America isn't prosperous or there is more to this equation. That "more" to me is enough socialism to make things equitable while still maintaining a democracy, hence democratic socialism.

P.S.-- I didn't want to get roped into this but our healthcare system is complicated for foreigners and i get that. It really doesn't make sense. Even for us.

 

[Lane]

GLUTATHIONE

I know ER doctors routinely give NAC to patients experiencing some kind of poisoning. It can very quickly significantly raise glutathione levels, the body's primary detoxification enzyme. My understanding is COVID-19 creates enormous amounts of free radical toxicity in the body, so it makes sense why IV glutathione would have such immediate results. The following is from a Chris Masterjohn email I received today.
...........................................................

The New York Post reported this Saturday on the case of a second year medical student at Sophie Davis/CUNY School of Medicine who apparently cured his mom's COVID-19-related respiratory distress with 2,000 milligrams of glutathione.

Josephine Bruzzese, 48, developed symptoms of COVID-19 on March 22. "She was so short of breath she couldn't speak," the article quotes her 23-year-old son, the med student, as saying. Her family rushed her to New York University's Langone Hospital in Brooklyn. She was diagnosed with pneumonia suspected to be COVID-19, but no tests were available at the time.

She was put on hydroxychloroquine, and some of her symptoms improved, but she still couldn't breathe. The family tried various remedies for her breathing, none of which worked. James contacted Dr. Richard Horowitz, a Hudson Valley Lyme disease specialist, who recommended glutathione.

"After one 2,000-milligram dose, the family witnessed a miracle," the Post reports. Within an hour, her breathing dramatically improved. She continued the glutathione for five days, and never had a relapse of her breathing problems.

Bruzzese, Horowitz, and Phyllis Freeman of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center wrote up the story in a combined report of two cases, along with another patient that Horowitz had treated, and published it in Respiratory Medicine Case Reports in April.

 

[Bill Bauer]

If you are employed for under 30 hours a week at one job, you don't not have the same access to healthcare even if you work 2-3 jobs as many people do. Employers are famous for cutting hours so you don't get benefits.

Medicaid is very, very hard to get in some states especially if you don't have children. And if you are even minimally employed, you often don't meet the cut off. There are millions of Americans who have zero access to even basic healthcare they can afford.

That IS messed up. I also heard that the US hospitals charge something like $10 for one Tylenol pill. The system is certainly corrupt to the core and needs to be reformed. However, it is not clear what that reform ought to be.

One possible fix might be to increase the enrollment in medical schools. I think the resulting fall in the quality of the graduates would not be that great, whereas the resulting fall in doctors' salaries would not only ensure that only the people who want to heal people would go into medicine (instead of the people who just want to become rich), but would also make healthcare a lot more affordable.

I am not sure what to make of Canadian healthcare system. When my mom broke her wrist, she has had a good experience at the hospital.

In December 2018 out of the blue my shoulder began hurting. I couldn't lift up my arm. I saw a doctor and he gave me a referral for an ultrasound of my shoulder. I was told that I would be contacted about it. After about three months, my shoulder got better by itself. Imagine my surprise when I finally got a call about that ultrasound test - in November 2019. I was told that my test was scheduled for February 2020. So that means that I would have had to wait 14 months for that free ultrasound test, while for all intents and purposes not being able to use my arm. When Canadian healthcare is like that, it is closer to a cargo cult than to an actual healthcare system.

I was also referring to the vast discrepancy between public schools in say southside Chicago and Evanston, a few miles away. When school funding is strongly tied to property tax (home values), there is no equal access to quality education.

I don't believe the authorities spent a lot on my school in USSR. In 1980s we had textbooks from 1950s and 1960s. And in fact why would anyone want to have new editions of basic math, science, history, etc. textbooks? The rules of arithmetic haven't changed between 1950s and 1980s. What other supplies does a kid need besides a notebook and a pen? Note that my unfinished grade 6 in that USSR school lasted me all the way to Canadian grade 11 (as in I had already seen that material in my school back in USSR). I am sure that the authorities were spending a LOT more on my Canadian school, and yet the curriculum was such that they were basically wasting kids' precious time. Well, I guess it wasn't a Total waste - they had been keeping the kids entertained, so there's that. When I got to a Canadian university, I ended up being on Dean's Honour List every semester, showing that one could do well at a university, despite only using a pen and a notebook throughout high school (I haven't used any supplies besides that at my Canadian high school too).

I don't really think kids need computers in high school, but I guess all schools Have computers. Those computers won't need to be expensive to teach the kids to use Word, Excel, Outlook, and a web browser.

 

[all to gain]

I just wanted to find out how far gone FGG might be.

I didn't realise that FGG is pregnant!

Are you saying that depending on how far gone FGG is, relates to the degree she is a Commie?
Is there some mathematical formula for this?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Are you saying that depending on how far gone FGG is, relates to the degree she is a Commie?

That's right.

Is there some mathematical formula for this?

I'll know it when I see it.

 

[Daniel Lion]

Hey folks,
I hope you are all safe and well.
Just a general bipartisan statement.

 

[Lane]

I am sure that the authorities were spending a LOT more on my Canadian school, and yet the curriculum was such that they were basically wasting kids' precious time.

@Bill Bauer -- Wasting of children's time has been a HUGE complaint of mine for many years regarding the U.S. educational system. I've come to look at the years most kids spend in school as almost akin to "fairyland" time. The pace of learning is generally aligned to the slowest of learners, not enough scholastic challenges, too little emphasis on "real world" learning (such as work skills), money management, basic health education, etc.

Looking back at my own high school experience, I now wish I would have quit at age 16 (earliest allowed by law), gotten my high school GED, and immediately went onto college level education. It would have given me a great deal of motivition to accelerate my education more attuned to my abilities and desires. Instead, I hung out during some very formative years adjusting to way too low expectations. I have a hope more high schools are allowing students to expedite their post-high school education in ways that weren't available many years ago.

BTW, I spent my first 8 years of school in a parochial school. There were 3 teachers for all 8 grades, and could easily be described as "too dense" by today's standards. And yet we were schooled exceptionally well on "the basics". Though the students would generally make up about 20% or so of the public high school, their scholastic achievements were always much greater than you would expect from their numbers. Usually at least half would end up in the top 10 of high school graduating seniors.

I don't really think kids need computers in high school

I had a chance to talk to an old-time banker one time, who told me how disappointing the results were of incorporating "modern computing" into his bank. He said people used to come in with their mortgage payments, and they would make a very simple notation in the ledger books. Never any problems. Once it was computerized, all kinds of problems would continually crop up, necessitating the need for some high priced computer experts. I believe in taking advantage of modern computing, but I sometimes wonder whether some high valued simplicity has been lost in incorporating these new systems. Perhaps with time things will get better.

 

[all to gain]

. I believe in taking advantage of modern computing, but I sometimes wonder whether some high valued simplicity has been lost in incorporating these new systems. Perhaps with time things will get better.[/USER]

In many ways I wish computers had never entered our lives to the degree they have. They have brought so much but taken so much away too.

Note that my unfinished grade 6 in that USSR school lasted me all the way to Canadian grade 11 (as in I had already seen that material in my school back in USSR).

So you are accepting here that the Soviet Union (Communism/Marxism) gave you a better maths education than Canada? How much of a Commie does this make you?

@Bill Bauer as you probably know Russia now ranks second in the world in number of cases of coronavirus. This is according to the government figures here. They may say that the figure is so high because they have carried out so many tests. The death rate seems very low though. Read into that what you will. And apparently now the president's press secretary has come down with it.

I saw an ambulance going by with the driver in all his protective clothing, yet many normal citizens seem to still be quite blasé (or too uneducated to understand) about it. Half the people are in masks, half not... even in shops... and many don't understand what 2 metres means!

 

[FGG]

That IS messed up. I also heard that the US hospitals charge something like $10 for one Tylenol pill. The system is certainly corrupt to the core and needs to be reformed. However, it is not clear what that reform ought to be.

One possible fix might be to increase the enrollment in medical schools. I think the resulting fall in the quality of the graduates would not be that great, whereas the resulting fall in doctors' salaries would not only ensure that only the people who want to heal people would go into medicine (instead of the people who just want to become rich), but would also make healthcare a lot more affordable.

I am not sure what to make of Canadian healthcare system. When my mom broke her wrist, she has had a good experience at the hospital.

In December 2018 out of the blue my shoulder began hurting. I couldn't lift up my arm. I saw a doctor and he gave me a referral for an ultrasound of my shoulder. I was told that I would be contacted about it. After about three months, my shoulder got better by itself. Imagine my surprise when I finally got a call about that ultrasound test - in November 2019. I was told that my test was scheduled for February 2020. So that means that I would have had to wait 14 months for that free ultrasound test, while for all intents and purposes not being able to use my arm. When Canadian healthcare is like that, it is closer to a cargo cult than to an actual healthcare system.

I don't believe the authorities spent a lot on my school in USSR. In 1980s we had textbooks from 1950s and 1960s. And in fact why would anyone want to have new editions of basic math, science, history, etc. textbooks? The rules of arithmetic haven't changed between 1950s and 1980s. What other supplies does a kid need besides a notebook and a pen? Note that my unfinished grade 6 in that USSR school lasted me all the way to Canadian grade 11 (as in I had already seen that material in my school back in USSR). I am sure that the authorities were spending a LOT more on my Canadian school, and yet the curriculum was such that they were basically wasting kids' precious time. Well, I guess it wasn't a Total waste - they had been keeping the kids entertained, so there's that. When I got to a Canadian university, I ended up being on Dean's Honour List every semester, showing that one could do well at a university, despite only using a pen and a notebook throughout high school (I haven't used any supplies besides that at my Canadian high school too).

I don't really think kids need computers in high school, but I guess all schools Have computers. Those computers won't need to be expensive to teach the kids to use Word, Excel, Outlook, and a web browser.

Well, it's interesting because now that there is a pandemic, the government realizes what a political problem it is to have millions of uninsured, so they announced that the cost of just Coronavirus care was supposed to be covered--though it turns out, that's not exactly true and mostly just the testing that is being covered and people are still being handed 10-20k bills after they are getting sick.

At least COVID-19 has made people wake up to the importance of "herd health".

Anecdote, I have always been fully insured and I still owe 14k in medical bills from two hospitalizations (and two ambulance rides which is never covered) in one year. Fully insured people frequently go bankrupt in this country. I'm paying this off $300 a month along with $480 month in insurance. That's an amount a lot of people pay for rent around here.

Hospitals do charge too much but they have CEOs and boards with very bloated salaries to pay AND they have to cover the cost of the huge percentage of people who can't pay the final bill for years, if ever.

We don't have a shortage of doctors except in rural areas and they are paid a lot less than in the cities. Graduating more from medical school won't change that or the salaries. The US already gives Visas to foreign doctors who will work in rural areas for a minimum of 10 years to combat this.

I do agree 14 months is outrageous for an ultrasound. I briefly lived in the UK in the 90s and I never heard of anyone waiting more than about 6 weeks for something general like that. Is your area rural or urban? I'm not sure why the waits would be that long in Canada.

Private insurance doesn't mean not having to wait for specialists btw. To see an Otologist here, my wait was about 3 months.

Re: education. I read a great book years ago: "Hope and despair in the American City: Why there are no bad schools in Raleigh, North Carolina". I don't remember all the details but the tl; dr is there were two former "mill towns" in trouble in the 50's, Syracuse and Raleigh. Syracuse eventually spent what resources it had on attracting new companies to the area and Raleigh spent it on education reform.

One of these cities is doing much better than the other (though education was cut and some of the changes reversed again in Wake Co, NC a decade or so ago, so we will see what happens soon as a control in reversing this).

They didn't just spend money, though, they looked at the data to see *how* to spend it. After implementation, Wake County students were among the best performing in the nation, something no one thought could happen without changing the parents or the teachers to do this. It was a national success story.

This article goes through some of the changes:

https://www.researchgate.net/public...Are_No_Bad_Schools_in_Raleigh_by_Gerald_Grant

This has nothing to do with COVID-19, though. I have to say @Bill Bauer you are a savant at egging out a response.

 

[linearb]

Huh, I had a great time in a very normal US public school system in a not-rich area; I was a difficult and unhappy kid and the access to being able to play an instrument and do school plays and stuff kept me out of a lot of trouble. My school experience directly prepared me for and led to junior college which prepared me for and led to university which set me up in a career which has so far gone quite well. Also, as a tech person who tested out of basically all my liberal arts requirements in college -- taking basic stuff like English and Earth Science in high school was of critical importance, because I never had to touch that stuff again, I have not taken an English class since AP English in 11th grade.

@Lane maybe you were emotionally and psychologically ready for college at 16; that would have been an absolute catastrophe for me. I think the US school system fails a lot of students but it served me well enough that I want to protect and rebuild it, and we live in a state with, while financially troubled, overall excellent schools and a ~1:12 student:teacher ratio overall (even lower at our school).

Perhaps with time things will get better.

as someone who works in tech: all software is terrible, if I am 50th percentile than half of it is made by people even lazier and more incompetent than I am, and the smartest people I know in tech all agree that software is, generally, bloated, expensive and "bad". So, I think things will get better for the various people who get paid by banks to make their systems newer and shinier, because people working in fintech make huge salaries, but I don't think that investment will lead to substantially better banking experiences for customers. It's not about that, it's about doing the bare minimum customer service necessary while acting as another conduit for money to flow from the bottom of the pyramid to the top; this is America, after all.

The idea that "computers will make out lives easier" has been around since the 70s; I'm not seeing it. Certain things are more convenient, the stock market can now be run by robots instead of people, etc, but I don't know if the average American person's life is "easier" now than it was in 1970.

 

[Lane]

Regarding people who get infected with COVID-19: I just watched a video by a holistic doctor who treats his patients with a combination of natural remedies. One thing he emphasized is that once a person gets (or suspects) they have the infection, it's important to not let it "set in". The longer a person waits to get treatment, the more challenging it will be to recover. -- He has a number of stories on how some people were able to recover quite quickly when treated early on.

I think the US school system fails a lot of students but it served me well enough that I want to protect and rebuild it

Like most things, I think the state of our educational system(s) should constantly be reviewed and modified. Ideally, all public schools would get equal funding, and programs put into place to allow each student to proceed at their own pace, taking into account their intellectual, emotional, and psychological readiness.

I know in tech all agree that software is, generally, bloated, expensive and "bad".

Very interesting; just what I suspected!

 

[Lane]

This interesting 4-min. video is mostly a Rand Paul (arguing for opening up the economy) / Anthony Fauci exchange (cordial):

GOP senator tells Fauci he isn't the 'end all.' See his response.

This is an insightful 3-min. reply from a former Obama staff member who describes in depth the preparedness plans they shared with the incoming Trump administration:

Ex-homeland security adviser: Our playbook was 'ignored'

Wake County students were among the best performing in the nation, something no one thought could happen without changing the parents or the teachers to do this. It was a national success story.

@FGG -- Just to mention, I don't need a source for that.

 

[FGG]

@FGG -- Just to mention, I do

This interesting 4-min. video is mostly Rand Paul / Anthony Fauci (cordial) exchange:

GOP senator tells Fauci he isn't the 'end all.' See his response.

This is an insightful 3-min. reply from a former Obama staff member who describes in depth the preparedness plans they shared with the incoming Trump administration:

Ex-homeland security adviser: Our playbook was 'ignored'



@FGG -- Just to mention, I don't need a source for that.

I already did provide a source though...

 

[linearb]

I am going to reiterate that as data about organ damage, lung scarring and other things we still don't understand continue to emerge, I remain very disinterested in getting this virus (or getting it again in the case where I did already have it -- since we don't know what immunity looks like, but we do know that for some other coronaviruses in human population it can be as little as a season or less).

With that in mind, this is the blog of a UMass associate professor who teaches and and researches immulogy.

https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

This has some good practical advice about what we currently know about transmission and what's helpful and not, as well as some overall pessimistic outlooks which are editorialized, but also factually supported.

An epidemic curve has a relatively predictable upslope and once the peak is reached, the back slope can also be predicted. We have robust data from the outbreaks in China and Italy, that shows the backside of the mortality curve declines slowly, with deaths persisting for months. Assuming we have just crested in deaths at 70k, it is possible that we lose another 70,000 people over the next 6 weeks as we come off that peak. That's what's going to happen with a lockdown.

As states reopen, and we give the virus more fuel, all bets are off. I understand the reasons for reopening the economy, but I've said before, if you don't solve the biology, the economy won't recover.

There are very few states that have demonstrated a sustained decline in numbers of new infections. Indeed, as of May 3rd the majority are still increasing and reopening. As a simple example of the USA trend, when you take out the data from New York and just look at the rest of the USA, daily case numbers are increasing. Bottom line: the only reason the total USA new case numbers look flat right now is because the New York City epidemic was so large and now it is being contained.

So throughout most of the country we are going to add fuel to the viral fire by reopening. It's going to happen if I like it or not, so my goal here is to try to guide you away from situations of high risk.

...

In order to get infected you need to get exposed to an infectious dose of the virus; based on infectious dose studies with MERS and SARS (and this one), some estimate that as few as 1000 SARS-CoV2 viral particles are needed for an infection to take hold. Please note, this still needs to be determined experimentally, but we can use that number to demonstrate how infection can occur. Infection could occur, through 1000 viral particles you receive in one breath or from one eye-rub, or 100 viral particles inhaled with each breath over 10 breaths, or 10 viral particles with 100 breaths. Each of these situations can lead to an infection.

...

Treat public bathrooms with extra caution (surface and air), until we know more about the risk.

...

A single cough releases about 3,000 droplets and droplets travels at 50 miles per hour. Most droplets are large, and fall quickly (gravity), but many do stay in the air and can travel across a room in a few seconds

A single sneeze releases about 30,000 droplets, with droplets traveling at up to 200 miles per hour. Most droplets are small and travel great distances (easily across a room).

If a person is infected, the droplets in a single cough or sneeze may contain as many as 200,000,000 (two hundred million) virus particles which can all be dispersed into the environment around them.

A single breath releases 50 - 5000 droplets. Most of these droplets are low velocity and fall to the ground quickly. There are even fewer droplets released through nose-breathing. Importantly, due to the lack of exhalation force with a breath, viral particles from the lower respiratory areas are not expelled.

Unlike sneezing and coughing which release huge amounts of viral material, the respiratory droplets released from breathing only contain low levels of virus. We don't have a number for SARS-CoV2 yet, but we can use influenza as a guide. We know that a person infected with influenza releases about 3 - 20 virus RNA copies per minute of breathing.

Remember the formula: Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time

If a person coughs or sneezes, those 200,000,000 viral particles go everywhere...

But even if that cough or sneeze was not directed at you, some infected droplets--the smallest of small--can hang in the air for a few minute...

But with general breathing, 20 copies per minute into the environment, even if every virus ended up in your lungs, you would need 1000 copies divided by 20 copies per minute = 50 minutes.

...

The exposure to virus x time formula is the basis of contact tracing. Anyone you spend greater than 10 minutes with in a face-to-face situation is potentially infected.

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Symptomatic people are not the only way the virus is shed. We know that at least 44% of all infections--and the majority of community-acquired transmissions--occur from people without any symptoms (asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people)

...


Just to see how simple infection-chains can be, this is a real story from Chicago. The name is fake. Bob was infected but didn't know. Bob shared a takeout meal, served from common serving dishes, with 2 family members. The dinner lasted 3 hours. The next day, Bob attended a funeral, hugging family members and others in attendance to express condolences. Within 4 days, both family members who shared the meal are sick. A third family member, who hugged Bob at the funeral became sick. But Bob wasn't done. Bob attended a birthday party with 9 other people. They hugged and shared food at the 3 hour party. Seven of those people became ill. Over the next few days Bob became sick, he was hospitalized, ventilated, and died.

But Bob's legacy lived on. Three of the people Bob infected at the birthday went to church, where they sang, passed the tithing dish etc. Members of that church became sick. In all, Bob was directly responsible for infecting 16 people between the ages of 5 and 86. Three of those 16 died.

The spread of the virus within the household and back out into the community through funerals, birthdays, and church gatherings is believed to be responsible for the broader transmission of COVID-19 in Chicago. (ref)

This also has a lot of speculation based on modeling about the risks of reopening specific kinds of events.

The takeaway for all of this, for me, continues to be that I love my life at home and am happy to continue these measures for as long as necessary until we have sufficient data and infrastructure to behave differently.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well; we had our last flurry of NE winter, I think, but things are starting to look warm and even sunny in places.

 

[Bill Bauer]

So you are accepting here that the Soviet Union (Communism/Marxism) gave you a better maths education than Canada? How much of a Commie does this make you?

In this case it wasn't that the Soviet education had been good, it was the fact that the Canadian education system is in the process of being systematically dismantled. It is my understanding that back in 1950s Canadian teachers also had a focus on teaching (as opposed to having a focus on entertaining). In USSR they wanted their citizens to be educated=productive. In order to turn Canada into USSR, you need the voters to be uneducated - to "not know much about history", to not be numerate, and to not understand how cause and effect work.

Half the people are in masks, half not... even in shops...

In my area fewer than 10% wear masks. The reason for this might be that the masks that might provide some protection (N95 masks) aren't available in stores. I've seen cloth masks being sold and about 1% of the people around here wear cloth masks.

I'm paying this off $300 a month along with $480 month in insurance.

My uneducated guess is that the amount I am paying in taxes for the "free healthcare" is likely more than $500 a month.

We don't have a shortage of doctors except in rural areas

If your doctors earn over $300,000 a year (and specialists earn over $500,000 a year), something isn't right. The supply of doctors could be increased until their salary falls to $100,000 per year.

One of these cities is doing much better than the other

This might just be measuring the willingness of the teachers to assign unearned grades or the unwillingness of the teachers in the town that scored lower to teach"tinky dinky stuff" instead of actual skills. Please point me to One way a higher budget could improve on the pen and paper approach.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It isn't looking good.

 

[FGG]

In this case it wasn't that the Soviet education had been good, it was the fact that the Canadian education system is in the process of being systematically dismantled. It is my understanding that back in 1950s Canadian teachers also had a focus on teaching (as opposed to having a focus on entertaining). In USSR they wanted their citizens to be educated=productive. In order to turn Canada into USSR, you need the voters to be uneducated - to "not know much about history", to not be numerate, and to not understand how cause and effect work.

In my area fewer than 10% wear masks. The reason for this might be that the masks that might provide some protection (N95 masks) aren't available in stores. I've seen cloth masks being sold and about 1% of the people around here wear cloth masks.

My uneducated guess is that the amount I am paying in taxes for the "free healthcare" is likely more than $500 a month.

If your doctors earn over $300,000 a year (and specialists earn over $500,000 a year), something isn't right. The supply of doctors could be increased until their salary falls to $100,000 per year.

This might just be measuring the willingness of the teachers to assign unearned grades or the unwillingness of the teachers in the town that scored lower to teach"tinky dinky stuff" instead of actual skills. Please point me to One way a higher budget could improve on the pen and paper approach.

Doctors are overpaid sure but the national average for general practitioners is around 126k per year, which is pretty close to Canada's. Some specialists (anesthesiologists, for instance, do make 300k-500k but that's the higher end of the specialists). Keep in mind too, the average doctor is about 200k in student loan debt (sometimes more) when they graduate and it is rising every year.

Your healthcare cost in Canada in terms of taxes at least depends on your salary and is distributed in a way all citizens have access. And without knowing your salary, it's hard to say whether that is an especially high financial burden for you.

The Raleigh educational reform was the subject of the book i mentioned. I wish i still had it so I could get the spending data for you.

 

[all to gain]

This woman apparently died after a man claiming to have the virus spat in her face. If it's shown that this was the reason she got the virus, this man should be hung (along with a lot of politicians).

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-52616071

In this case it wasn't that the Soviet education had been good, it was the fact that the Canadian education system is in the process of being systematically dismantled. It is my understanding that back in 1950s Canadian teachers also had a focus on teaching (as opposed to having a focus on entertaining). In USSR they wanted their citizens to be educated=productive. In order to turn Canada into USSR, you need the voters to be uneducated - to "not know much about history", to not be numerate, and to not understand how cause and effect work.

Not knowing much about history is the big thing here. It's amazing what people will do for the cause when that cause supplies its version of history.

In my area fewer than 10% wear masks. The reason for this might be that the masks that might provide some protection (N95 masks) aren't available in stores. I've seen cloth masks being sold and about 1% of the people around here wear cloth masks.

I'm only guessing at the percentage, it could be much lower than 50%. Most here aren't wearing FFP2 or equivalent masks. Just cloth masks or medical masks.

If your doctors earn over $300,000 a year (and specialists earn over $500,000 a year), something isn't right. The supply of doctors could be increased until their salary falls to $100,000 per year.

I would put the figure at much lower than $300,000 and $500,000 to say something isn't right.

My mother is often surprised when I say that we can get a doctor to come to our place when the kids are ill and all free of charge. She says that the health care system here (Russia) must be better than in the UK. I always make the point that the only reason that we can get a doctor to come to see us is that the government can afford to do so, ie doctors are paid peanuts... and I mean peanuts (where I am about $430 / £350 a month)! They deserve way more here, and way less (in general) in the UK and maybe other places.

I went to see a specialist and paid private. Cost me 1000 rubles... $13.5 / £11.0! And he was as good (in fact better) as any specialist in the same field I have ever seen in the UK. I told him he should move abroad. The same specialist in the UK would have cost me... $370 / £300.

That said there may be more variance in the standard of doctors here than in the UK, but that isn't something I have ever studied and am just going by one secondhand report.

 

[Bill Bauer]

If it's shown that this was the reason she got the virus, this man should be hung

No capital punishment in the UK.

In Canada, killing a man by dragging him underneath your car while listening to him screaming as his skin and muscles are being ripped off by the coarse asphalt, will get you a six year prison sentence.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2183800/gas-and-dash-killer-in-trouble-with-the-law-again/

I would put the figure at much lower than $300,000 and $500,000 to say something isn't right.

My figures were for Canada. Here are the figures for the United States:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/compensation-issues/10-highest-paying-medical-specialties.html

 

[all to gain]

No capital punishment in the UK.

In Canada, killing a man by dragging him underneath your car while listening to him screaming as his skin and muscles are being ripped off by the coarse asphalt, will get you a six year prison sentence.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2183800/gas-and-dash-killer-in-trouble-with-the-law-again/
My figures were for Canada. Here are the figures for the United States:
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/compensation-issues/10-highest-paying-medical-specialties.html

Yeah, I was being literal, but knowing that it will never happen. Shame! This doesn't mean that I agree with capital punishment on the whole, but some cases...

Those figures are outrageous. But then paying someone £240,000 per month (average premier league football salary) to kick a ball around is even more outrageous. But that's the world we live in.

As much as I feel people should be paid on merit, there comes a limit where things are simply unsustainable for a society to work properly... whatever properly means!

EDIT: Things are really getting interesting here now what with the prime minister and the president's press secretary coming down with the virus. What if the Pres gets it too? This virus could change the world on it's head... if it hasn't already!

As soon as I can I would like to get the kids out of the city and into the country place.