5fouls

This is the truth. Oh wait, if I say what you said is the truth, then there actually is some truth, which contradicts what you said. I'm so confused.

Cincinnati Reds minor league legend........ Motorboat Jones http://www.greatest21days.com/2011/01/motorboat-jones-trying-to-hit-695.html

Those three words pretty much sum things up for everything Covid related. It truly is unfortunate. I personally think that the State of Indiana is in a pretty good spot to really have a breakthrough, but I think making masks mandatory in public places provides the most direct line to get there. But, as of yet, Indiana has not pulled the trigger on that. The mask thing is a mystery. They are uncomfortable, no doubt. But, if wearing them takes weeks or months off this pandemic, I can't think of a rational reason why not to. My kids are scheduled to go back to school on July 29th. If the state were to make masks mandatory, they would wear them without complaint because everyone else would be wearing them as well. Unfortunately, if wearing them was simply voluntary, the masks would be off the second they were out of my sight. They don't have the understanding of how their actions impact not only other people, but society as a whole.

Of the 19 deaths he State of Indiana reported today, only 6 of them occurred in the last 7 days. In fact, 7 of the deaths occurred 30 or more days ago. Hard to get a good read on what is really happening when the reporting is so fragmented.

Wish Mrs. Mile a happy birthday for me.

The 20 states with the highest percentage of cases per 1 million in population New York New Jersey R. Island Massachusetts D,C, Louisiana Connecticut Arizona Delaware Illinois Maryland Nebraska Mississippi Iowa Alabama Florida Georgia South Dakota south Carolina Virginia Indiana is 25th The 20 states with the highest percentage of deaths per 1 million in population New Jersey New York Connecticut Massachusetts Rhode Island D.C. Louisiana Michigan Illinois Maryland Pennsylvania Delaware Indiana Mississippi Colorado New Hampshire Georgia Minnesota Ohio Arizona It will be interesting to look at these numbers again in 3-4 weeks to see how the current spike changes things. As of right now, both lists, especially the 'death' list are skewed to the initial outbreak.

According to the Indiana Department of Health website, there were 18 'new' Covid hospitalizations on 7/1 in the state. Assuming there is no late reporting numbers, that would be the lowest number of 'new' hospitalizations in the state on a given day since 3/14.

With over 5,800,000,000 (that's BILLION) views, I present to you.......

Meh. Discussion when everyone is in total agreement isn't really discussion, certainly not of the interesting variety. I welcome different opinions. Reality is that both you and the individuals you are arguing with are posting facts. Nobody is posting lies. Facts are facts and everyone uses the acts that support their position. Here is an example, and I beg people not to turn the discussion in the direction, because that discussion would certainly cross the political line. Fact: The 2nd amendment gives individuals the right to bear arms Fact: Over 38,000 people in the U.S. were killed by guns in 2019 Both of those things are facts and someone arguing their position is going to latch onto the one that supports their belief. That said, to try and argue the other is not true is stupid. The other statement is still factual, whether you or I agree with it or not. It works the same way in any discussion, including one on Covid. The situation in Houston can be used by those that believe things are getting worse. It is, The declining death rate, or improvement in places like New York, can be used by those looking for something positive. The reality is that both arguments are based on facts, There is no right. There is no wrong. Even when the discussion veers from facts, people are entitled to their opinion. If @btownqb wants to express his displeasure about wearing a mask, it's his right. At the same time, @IU Scott has the right to his counter argument. For what it's worth, I agree with Scott's position on masks, But, I'm also not going to get bent out of shape because Btwon, or anyone else has a different opinion. Sometimes your responses come across like you are taking people's disagreement with you personally. Hell, if we all agreed, this would be a pretty boring site. Edit - I will admit that @mrflynn03infatuation with that woman in the picture I posted is a little bit disturbing.

If we could get 100% of people over age 5 to wear a mask every time they leave their house, the virus numbers would get to a level where we would not be worrying about half the things we are worrying about.

She wants your number

One thing I've not seen much written about is how this virus seems to be different than most others in that it's not taking the summer off.

As of right now, Worldometer is reporting approximately 2.8 million cases in the U.S. The total population of the U.S. is about 331 million. That calculates out to be approximately 1 in every 118 residents in the U.S. has, at some point, tested positive for the disease. ABC News quoted the Los Angeles Mayor stating that it is estimated that 1 in 140 in the city have been infected. In Los Angeles County, 1 in 140 people are estimated to be infected, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday. If both numbers are accurate, then L.A. is doing better than the nation as a whole.

She may still be out there Steub. Don't give up. https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=cindy+jones+image&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHo-bJ567qAhUCVs0KHdD5C7wQsAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1366&bih=657

Do you see this? Did you want to see this?

University of Illinois professor predicts players will die of Covid if there is a college football season. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/coronavirus-in-college-football-hospitalizations-deaths-projected-by-data-analysts-if-fbs-plays-in/ If that were to happen, to even a couple of players, it would dwarf everything that's happened up to this point. The fallout would be devastating.

Verdell

Over time, I've come to the belief that the numbers are only meaningful when looking at trends. 7 day average, or a week to week comparison based on a day of the week. I don't believe the numbers are accurate in and of themselves. I think total cases are probably undercounted due to so many people being asymptomatic. Meanwhile, I think deaths are probably overstated due to people dying of a multitude of other reasons who happened to also test positive for the virus. That said, as long as the reports are CONSISTENT, then trends can still be meaningful. Things go haywire when inconsistencies start to happen. For instance, New Jersey added thousands of people to their death toll last week on a single day because they changed the way they reported deaths. That blew all of their positive trending out of the water even though most of those cases were from April and early May. Even with trending, number of deaths is infinitely more meaningful to me than number of cases. Whether the death is 'by' Covid or 'with' Covid is almost irrelevant at this point as long as the target does not move as it did in New Jersey. The number of cases has skyrocketed in some states. But, that is not as important to me as deaths for a couple of reasons. One, is that testing has increased, so how do we know that Texas, Florida, and Arizona didn't have the same number of cases in April as they do now? What is meaningful to me is how many people are dying. Are the same number of people dying each day? Isn't 1,000 deaths compared against 50,000 cases better than 1,000 deaths compared against 12,000 cases? The math says it is. Now, if deaths actually go down while cases increase, that's even better. Maybe the virus is losing a little steam as it mutates. Or, maybe, while it can be deadly, it's deadly in a rate that is more in proportion to what we see with other diseases. The big caveat to all of this is we likely will not know whether the spike in cases results in more deaths for a few more weeks. So, for the time being, we need to be concerned about the spike. If it turns out deaths do not go up despite the massive spike in positive cases, then we learn something and can use that to make educated decisions on how to proceed going forward.

In my opinion, the biggest failure for the U.S. in this whole thing is not a lack of testing, not a lack of contact tracing, and not even a lack of social distancing. All of those things are contributing facts, significant ones. That said, the biggest failure in the U.S. is the lack of accurate reporting. From the onset, the numbers have been questioned. Too high or too low, take your pick. People dying of alcohol poisoning getting counted as a Covid death versus those claiming somebody reported as dying of the flu in early March should have, in reality, been Covid. No one, I mean no one, believes any of the numbers that are provided. On one hand, you have a segment of the population that firmly believes the numbers and the risks are inflated. On the other, you have a segment of the population that feels the numbers are too low, and that the nation is being reckless. Compare that to somewhere like Italy. Nothing I've read indicated there were any questions about Italy's numbers. They were shocking in the early stages of the epidemic, , but no one believed they were inaccurate. As a result, the Italian people bought into the actions that needed to be done. Italy had 142 new cases yesterday. That's 142, or, put another way, 23 cases fewer than the state of New Mexico, which reported 165. Fix the reporting. Give the U.S. population numbers they can believe in, and I think things get significantly better in a shorter amount of time.

American Academy of Pediatrics believes kids should be physically at school versus e-learning. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/30/us/aap-kids-physically-in-school-wellness-trnd/index.html

Honestly. My favorite sport to watch right now. Every event since they have resumed play has been exciting with a top flight leaderboard.

I'm thinking closing public restrooms in places where people are used to having them may not be a good idea. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/balmoral-outdoor-toilet-scli-gbr-intl/index.html

I got an email from Ticketmaster today informing me that the Pacers / Warriors game I had tickets for on March 18th has been cancelled and that they would be refunding me within the next 30 days. It's heartwarming to know that, three months afterwards, they realized they've had my money all this time and they will only hold it for one more month. What a noble thing to do.

Meanwhile, Izzo is telling other 6'8" kids he is recruiting in the 2022 class that Bates will never actually step on campus.

And, that's the demographic most at risk.