tdhoosier

43 minutes ago, IU Scott said:

The thing about Friday Night Lights is for a great team all of their games came down to the last play

There he is. How are you doing Scott?

5 hours ago, btownqb said:

A list- Ozark, Peaky Blinders, Prison Break, Breaking Bad

B list- Longmire, Justified, Friday Night Lights, Narcos, Narcos Mexico, Shameless, House of Cards

C list- The Shield, Queen of the South, Gotham, Lost, Designated Survior, Blacklist, Hell on Wheels, Godless, Dexter, Bodyguard, Arrow

Those are shows I've completed. 

I also watch a lot of funny shows to fall asleep to... 

Sunny in Philly, Family Guy, Parks n Rec, Arrested Development, F is for Family, Big Mouth, South Park, American Dad, 70s Show, Trailer Park Boys, Bojack, The Office, Paradise PD

Totally forgot about Friday Night Lights. Great show to watch with your wife. Didn’t think I’d like it, but it really was a great show. 

Funny story. 

I'm admittedly a baby and spent the last 24 hours freaked out. I have afib and my ablation was scheduled for April 1. Good news is that it finally got rescheduled for Monday, but on the phone they told me I had to get a COVID test 3 days prior, which is today. I thought it was strange because the test are so in-demand and I don't even have symptoms. My cynical side, chalked it up to the hospital setting some aside for procedures they can make a lot of money off of. But further more, I've heard those nasal swabs are absolutely horrible; it feels like they're poking your brain. My wife was making fun of me because I was more worried about the nasal swab than the actual procedure - and I was like HELL YEAH I AM. 

Anyway, I walk into the lab and ask the nurse how bad it's going to be and she gave me a funny look. She told me she was just going to swab the back of my throat. And I said "Through the nose?!" I must've looked terrified because she laughed and said "no, not that test. That's for if you actually have COVID symptoms.....this is just like a strep test." 

I was so relieved! haha. But damn that scheduler for freaking me out! She told me it was going to be a nasal swab.

Happy hour is starting early tonight. 

28 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

 

I think to do this we have to rectify a few things...

Is the American Dream still alive and well?

Do we want to continue The Great Experiment of a self governing society?

Can we eschew "gotcha" politics?

Yes. Yes. And I really hope so. 

26 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Three things...

I posted a link to some NYC numbers a few pages back that showed 66% of new cases were found to be people who had been sheltering in place. Very surprising. 

I also read the opinion of a couple of doctors who were saying wearing a mask may be detrimental to developing the necessary natural antibodies our body would produce on its own to fight this virus. That it will slow the "herd immunity." 

Thirdly, the numbers are going to "spike" simply because we're testing more.

Interesting, I’ll have to read up about the masks, as I haven’t thought about it from that angle. 

More tests or not. If hospitalizations go up that threaten their capacity, I think we’ll see restrictions tighten up in those specific areas. 

I'm honestly so torn on everything.

I think we botched home isolation horribly. Political bias and finger pointing truly aside; we botched it as a society. Or you could argue our society was never set-up to adhere to the type of regulations needed to effectively suppress this virus. If we effectively home quarantined, the new cases per day would be in the hundreds. If the cases were that low you can do contact tracing, but the restrictions to reach that goal would've been far reaching and would've required federal enforcement. Hypothetically, we could have ripped that band-aid off already and as a result we would have far more options to re-open society, which would've given us many more options economically. It didn't happen. We still have 2k active new cases per day, which is way too many for contact tracing.  

Our current reality is our reality though. The big thing that scares me now is because there are still so many active cases still, re-opening everything with the numbers this high can cause another spike. If that happens and we need to go back into home quarantine it will hurt the economy even more. Because we can't get on the same page as a country, I fear a long slinky-like effect (a cycle of tightening and loosing restrictions) which will make it extremely hard for our economy to get any type of solid footing, any time soon. 

Of course, this is my opinion and you may disagree with it. And that's fine. I don't have any good answers other than we need to get on the same page as a country....somehow. The messaging (from everybody) is far too mixed right now. Sometimes I wish we could just call a timeout, put the petty shit aside, and do our part as citizens because everybody ultimately wants the same thing: to get back to normalcy. Social responsibility right now is the truest form of patriotism. 

Anybody watching Upload on Prime? We are about half way in and really like it...it’s easy to watch and has a unique storyline. 

Also just got through Dave on Hulu, which was hilarious and raunchy.

.....And Dead to Me season 2 came out today.

I better pace myself. 

My friend just sent this to me and I thought it was pretty cool. The Hood Internet is mashing 50 songs/videos into 3 minutes by year they came out. He started with 1979 and has made it up to 1985.

Anybody have any good tips to get the voles/moles tunneling through my flower bed? 

Also, what's the difference between these a-holes? Do you get rid on them the same way?

11 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I read that part, but why even publish it until something is substantiated? What good does it do the general public?

 

Pretty much every single article regarding COVID19 is unsubstantiated because we are learning about it. They are just reporting on information a new study found. This was reported in multiple new sources yesterday. 

I just shared because I personally have wondered why the East Coast and Europe are getting hammered harder than the West Coast and Asia. This may explain why...it may not explain why, just something to consider as scientists continue to learn more about this thing. 

8 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

So if you follow the very first Link in the LA Times article to the website that contains the data, the very first thing that is mentioned is the following disclaimer...

 "bioRxiv is receiving many new papers on coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.   A reminder: these are preliminary reports that have not been peer-reviewed. They should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or be reported in news media as established information"

Apparently the LA Times reporter didn't read that part.

Then again, maybe he did...

 

 

The reporter actually did talk about differing views about halfway in and why they need to be considered, but also why more studies need to be done. He actually went into this with quite a bit of depth by interviewing other doctors. Nothing in the content indicates that any of this is conclusive. 

Just an interesting article if you didn't see it yesterday: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-05/mutant-coronavirus-has-emerged-more-contagious-than-original

A study is finding that the Coronavirus developed a new strain that has mutated and is more contagious (not necessarily more deadly) than the original. The new strain is traced back to Europe, and it's the strain that hit the East Coast. This may also explain why the West Coast and other Asian countries have a better handle on it....they are dealing with a less contagious strain.  

Just had some home made carnitas tacos with pineapple. Finishing it off with the peppered Paloma I wrote about in the Cocktails thread. 

2 minutes ago, Lostin76 said:

I would really like to see a return of manufacturing in the US on a large scale. I for one am willing to pay more for products made locally. Your pendulum comment really summarizes my feelings on the matter. We've went to far on outsourcing everything.

I also think it's a matter of diversifying as well because realistically, with out cost of labor, certain things just won't be able to be manufactured here. Move production from China to other countries. 

What if we went to war with China? Are we going to call a timeout while we wait for them to produce certain electronics we need for our fighter jets? haha. 

10 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

@tdhoosier @Reacher

I'm willing to pay more. But most people are unrestrained professional consumers. If people realized they dont need to eat as much as they do or they dont need half the crap they buy then maybe we could get back to better quality american made goods and a better quality less destructive food supply. 

 

I'm a distributor and have the option to source products domestically and overseas. A myth that doesn't hold true anymore is that American made products are better quality. In certain cases they are, but in other cases it's simply not true. It all depends on the product. 

A quick example is hats. Sometimes my clients request American made hats, and very rarely they follow through because they are double the price for a crappy hat that looks like only your grandpa would wear: it's single stitched, snap back enclosure, 5 panels, etc. If you're only getting one hat for $12 instead of $24 then, yes, you could afford that and your purchasing decision would not be questioned (other than by you wife). But when a wholesaler is ordering 100,000 hats for $3 instead of $6, you're looking at an $300,000 price difference, that is significant decision when you're answering to a boss, who's answering to a boss, who's answering to a board of shareholders. 

AND this is not even getting into a secondary issue....with so few American hat manufacturers these days, can an order of 100k hats even get fulfilled? 

There's a reason those MAGA hats are ironically ugly. If I were to guess, Trump had intentions of putting his money where his mouth was, and sourced USA made merch. Knowing availability, I'm almost positive those crappy trucker hats were chosen because they are the only type of hat that could be produced in the USA on a large scale. But eventually, the domestic manufacturers couldn't keep up with demand and that's why you'll see that a majority of the MAGA hats were made in Asia. I tried sourcing USA Made trucker caps 3 years ago...you couldn't find them. Every single red hat was sold out. 

I guess my point is, price is only the half of it. Our infrastructure is not set-up to produce certain products. And to come full circle, we are getting a cold hard slap in the face as we are now depending on China to produce our PPE in a time of emergency because our infrastructure is not set up to handle this. 

1 minute ago, Seeking6 said:

Agree on all.

One thing that does concern me is when this thing is fully in our rear view mirror is unemployment for a variety of positions within companies. Know quite a few business owners (small and large) and one thing that seems consistent is this. They are realizing how many positions they don't need in order to run their companies. Companies are already looking to shave expenses....combine that with realizing they don't need "x" number of positions?? Unemployment numbers are here to stay. 

Very true and they sadly already do that. One of my biggest customers saw positions in her department 'temporarily' eliminated during the 2008 recession. As a result she took on the the job duties of 3 people and works a ton. Guess what? 12 years later those positions were never completely refilled and her workload is the same. 

8 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

Yep. In all aspects of our economy. Not just food. My better half has been doing zoom court cases, hearings all week.....telehealth has been exploding from Dr's, therapists (physical and mental health),etc....changing world coming. 

The one thing I keep coming back to is working from home. For many it's more convenient and desirable to work from home. If employees can prove to companies there isn't a fall off in productivity will this become the norm? Think of the far reaching effects. Leasing costs for office space are huge and will save money. Parents can be home when their child gets home for school. Healthier family lives. 

..and then you think of the secondary effects: less commuting means lower gas prices, less traffic, a cleaner environment, less car accidents...which could lead to lower insurance premiums, etc. 

4 minutes ago, Reacher said:

From what I've read, the problems stem from too much consolidation. Big giants controlling the farms and / or production. If it was more decentralized, like it used to be, a few plants going down would not be as much of a problem.  Then we lose some efficiencies and costs rise. Are Americans willing to pay more for that?

And that's what it all comes down to, doesn't' it? 

I say the same thing about bringing back manufacturing jobs. Are Americans willing to pay for that? Our purchasing decisions were the reason they went away in the first place. I know we're conditioned to think that voting (for policy) is what makes change. BUT we consumers speak much more loudly with our check books. 

5 minutes ago, Seeking6 said:

I also saw that Wendy's announced no burgers possibly?

I'm not completely there yet but this article sums plenty of the benefits of eating plant based meats....body, environment and of course animals. I eat Beyond Meat products regularly....not only as a stock owner in company but they taste really good.  

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2020/04/06/How-is-coronavirus-impacting-plant-based-meat-Impossible-Foods-weighs-in#

 

Hopefully when we get on the other side of this pandemic the food/ag industry can figure out a better way to change their business model moving forward to be able to pivot and avoid some of the senseless waste we see.

When I try to remain optimistic it's these points that I try to remind myself. This is the ultimate stress test, at least is will show expose all the flaws in our systems/industries and hopefully we'll improve for the better. 

38 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

There's so much misinformation and disinformation out there, and I think that's all by design.

The one thing we're certain of is that the Chinese have been less than forthcoming on not only the origins, but the spread of this virus. 

And you can see the fruits of their labor. Confusion, contradiction, panic, and, in some cases, outright hysteria.

We (the US) need to get it together and fast. Anyone who doesn't by now believe that China wants to supplant us as the predominant super power in the world and will do most anything to achieve that goal is fooling themselves.

40 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

The media sucks and at this point I would think is largely discredited.  I'm more concerned about the wanna be know it all nerds in the tech industry censoring information they dont agree with. 

Remember those texts message and social media posts about a federal shutdown back in March? Intel shows that China was behind those: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/coronavirus-china-disinformation.html

Regarding the tech companies, should they not block stuff like the above...a lie that Trump was going to shut down the country and bring out the national guard? Is that censoring if it’s origination was from a foreign government? On one hand, if you don’t like what FaceBook and Twitter censoring news, then you don’t have to use either of their platforms. And if we get our news from FB and Twitter, thanks to their algorithms, we are only getting news from our “bubble”.....it supports our individual narrative that is unchallenged and lacks any intellectual depth. ANY bit of info received on social media needs to be heavily vetted.

I’ve seen 2 posts so far on Facebook before they were blocked and I knew they were so untrue it wasn’t funny. Both were easily disputed. After they were blocked the users were crying that they were censored, which I thought was laughable. I’m not sure quite how to feel about this. It’s like posting a meme that the sky is red and then getting mad at Facebook after they claim it’s false information.  But I do understand it can be a slippery slope to ask social media companies to do this. 

In the end, if you don’t like it, then don’t use their platforms. Boycott them! I wish more people would stop using their platforms for news anyway. It’s slowly destroying our country by spreading us further apart. Social media is a huge reason to why we can’t even agree on what facts are actually facts anymore.

A couple of my favorite native Bloomington artists:

Busman’s Holiday and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight:

On 4/26/2020 at 7:41 PM, Inequality said:

Finished Outer Banks. Thinking of starting Extraction in a day or two. Good grief I’m bored. I rarely watch TV just to waste time.

I gotta admit that my wife and I watched Outer Banks too and enjoyed it, but man was it stupid. Haha. My wife just shared this article with me that I thought was funny: 7 Things About The Outer Banks That Simply Do No Make Sense. 

A couple of other not mentioned in the article that I thought of: How did the old blind lady move out of that house and how did they close on it so quickly? Since when do the police allow the public to join in on a man hunt? 

Speaking of pre-planning...i really wish I could remember the Exact details so bear with me...

Fauci said that they are going to work on manufacturing vaccines before they are approved, hoping to have one ready to administer right away upon approval. Apparently manufacturing these can take months. Of course, this can backfire if the vaccines don’t work because they’ll be left with a lot of useless vaccines. But desperate times are calling for desperate measures. 

17 minutes ago, Reacher said:

I appreciate the perspective you, and all others, bring. As far as deaths, are we counting increased suicides as COVID deaths? That may be one part of increased deaths and while you can say that COVID was partially responsible, I agree with those saying you need an accurate count or the unintended consequences will mess things up for years.

If you're counting overall deaths then, yes, suicides will be included. Everything is included. They will also be included in the '% of normal'. The article also said some overall mortality numbers are down in some states like California, which can be contributed to a lot of things but most particularly car crashes. Not nearly as many people are driving. So while you can blame isolation for suicides, on the flip side you can credit isolation for saving lives in car crashes. I believe the purpose of the article is not be 100% accurate, which is impossible, but more of a check on the numbers being currently reported. Does the change in mortality rates line up with the COVID numbers being reported? 

I agree with you on accuracy. However, I don't sense a conspiracy around the numbers being reported (not saying you do, but some have hinted of that on here). I think chaos can be blamed for the inaccuracies on both sides and numbers are being picked apart to support individual narratives....whatever they may be. I just don't know if we're nitpicking over an error rate of something like +/- 3% or +/- 20%? If the nitpicking adds up to an error rate of +/-3% does it really change the overall picture, or is it affecting policy? Now, if it one thinks it up to +/-20%, then that would be a problem. But to say that is true would be a very bold statement given the information we have. 

53 minutes ago, mrflynn03 said:

The death total has definitely increased.  It is the cause of death I draw into question.

 

Where did you find this image because it looks like a high schooler put that together? I even typed in the reference link and it says page not found: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/14/nyregion/new-york-coronavirus-deaths.html

This looks fake.

Edit: And if this graph is using the numbers in the link I provided it is far off. This is showing a 19% increase in total deaths. NYC is showing 325% increase.