The Worst People in the World...

[PhDhawk]

This is getting fucking maddening.

https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1 ... 2295944193

A new Pew poll shows that nearly 30% of Americans polled still think that this virus was man-made in a lab. Gee, I wonder what percentage of them vote Team (R)?

The disinformation campaign continues to work on a shockingly large chunk of Americans. And what's worse is that much of that chunk probably considers themselves to be better informed than everyone else because they see what's "really" happening. So sad and dangerous.

Here's the paper that shows it wasn't likely man-made.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

Though, this doesn't rule it out entirely, it shows pretty convincingly that it wasn't man made in the sense of splicing certain genes into an existing virus to make it more lethal or make it become a human pathogen in vitro.

There are other methods you could use to select for viruses that "naturally" jump hosts in a lab though, that wouldn't have these markers. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but there are ways you could do this to make it look like a natural occurence rather than just using modern genetics to make a superbug.

This isn't the conspiracy theorist in me, it's the scientist in me trying to think of every possible possibility before you make any kind of assumption.

[zsn]

Consistent with the title of this thread: "Justices" Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme- ... 5e9564a016

[twocoach]

This is getting fucking maddening.

https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1 ... 2295944193

A new Pew poll shows that nearly 30% of Americans polled still think that this virus was man-made in a lab. Gee, I wonder what percentage of them vote Team (R)?

The disinformation campaign continues to work on a shockingly large chunk of Americans. And what's worse is that much of that chunk probably considers themselves to be better informed than everyone else because they see what's "really" happening. So sad and dangerous.

Here's the paper that shows it wasn't likely man-made.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9

Though, this doesn't rule it out entirely, it shows pretty convincingly that it wasn't man made in the sense of splicing certain genes into an existing virus to make it more lethal or make it become a human pathogen in vitro.

There are other methods you could use to select for viruses that "naturally" jump hosts in a lab though, that wouldn't have these markers. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but there are ways you could do this to make it look like a natural occurence rather than just using modern genetics to make a superbug.

This isn't the conspiracy theorist in me, it's the scientist in me trying to think of every possible possibility before you make any kind of assumption.

Fascinating article, thank you (although I do have to admit that all the references to cleavage had me a little distracted). It was also interesting to see humans, cats and ferrets listed. I had seen that they had found it in cats but the ferrets were new info to me. So bizarre.

[chiknbut]

Kayleigh's new gig has her off to a good start!

https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/1250453060704505856

[ousdahl]

oh! this happened a couple weeks ago but I never got around to ranting about it.

so I live in a rural wooded neighborhood on the edge of town. At the corner of my block is a trail on a private conservation easement. The landowners, my neighbors, have generously granted permission for public use of the trail on their land.

This trail conveniently connects the neighborhood to many more miles of trails on public land. Though there are other trailheads to access this public land, this one is the quickest and easiest access point, as all the other trails are a steep climb into the national forest.

I consider these trails my neighborhood "home trails," one of the perks of why I choose to live here, and worthy of the tradeoff of otherwise living elsewhere. Particularly in the winter, I spend more time on these trails than anyone. With that said, the trails are popular, and I'm hardly the only user even if there isn't a pandemic. But as soon as the pandemic shit hit the fan and ski resorts closed, suddenly tens of thousands of entitled weekend warriors needed somewhere new to recreate.

The trails got overwhelmed, with several times the volume of even a busy weekend otherwise. So many folks flooded the trails that it became impossible to social distance. Though the end of the block is posted with "no parking" signs that were never very respected in the first place, the block suddenly had dozens of cars parallel parking up and down both sides of the road. Because of the suddenly high volume of users, I made the decision to avoid my own neighborhood trails.

Then a couple weeks ago the landowners, my neighbors, got concerned enough to speak up. They walked the trails and reminded to social distance. At the trailhead they suggested folks go elsewhere once things got congested and the parking became a mess.

Enter the worst people in the world! According to the owners, many trail users were shamelessly disrespectful. When the landowners explained it's private land and they're throwing the public a bone by allowing use, folks challenged the notion, alleging the landowners didn't actually have the authority to take away permission from the public. Many users were also disobeying other posted rules, such as wandering off trail and letting dogs run off leash and not picking up their shit. And when the landowners called folks out, folks got confrontational.

So the landowners said, screw you guys, we're taking away permission, trail's closed, y'all are why we can't have nice things. Now the end of the block is roped off and posted with a bunch of forbidding signs, as well as 3x as many new "No Parking" signs. And now, to access the public land a block from my house, I have to drive to the next town over and climb up a big hill to get there.

[HouseDivided]

oh! this happened a couple weeks ago but I never got around to ranting about it.

so I live in a rural wooded neighborhood on the edge of town. At the corner of my block is a trail on a private conservation easement. The landowners, my neighbors, have generously granted permission for public use of the trail on their land.

This trail conveniently connects the neighborhood to many more miles of trails on public land. Though there are other trailheads to access this public land, this one is the quickest and easiest access point, as all the other trails are a steep climb into the national forest.

I consider these trails my neighborhood "home trails," one of the perks of why I choose to live here, and worthy of the tradeoff of otherwise living elsewhere. Particularly in the winter, I spend more time on these trails than anyone. With that said, the trails are popular, and I'm hardly the only user even if there isn't a pandemic. But as soon as the pandemic shit hit the fan and ski resorts closed, suddenly tens of thousands of entitled weekend warriors needed somewhere new to recreate.

The trails got overwhelmed, with several times the volume of even a busy weekend otherwise. So many folks flooded the trails that it became impossible to social distance. Though the end of the block is posted with "no parking" signs that were never very respected in the first place, the block suddenly had dozens of cars parallel parking up and down both sides of the road. Because of the suddenly high volume of users, I made the decision to avoid my own neighborhood trails.

Then a couple weeks ago the landowners, my neighbors, got concerned enough to speak up. They walked the trails and reminded to social distance. At the trailhead they suggested folks go elsewhere once things got congested and the parking became a mess.

Enter the worst people in the world! According to the owners, many trail users were shamelessly disrespectful. When the landowners explained it's private land and they're throwing the public a bone by allowing use, folks challenged the notion, alleging the landowners didn't actually have the authority to take away permission from the public. Many users were also disobeying other posted rules, such as wandering off trail and letting dogs run off leash and not picking up their shit. And when the landowners called folks out, folks got confrontational.

So the landowners said, screw you guys, we're taking away permission, trail's closed, y'all are why we can't have nice things. Now the end of the block is roped off and posted with a bunch of forbidding signs, as well as 3x as many new "No Parking" signs. And now, to access the public land a block from my house, I have to drive to the next town over and climb up a big hill to get there.

It is indeed crappy. It is also what happens when people are cut off from their lives and livelihoods with no hope and no end in sight. Good leadership casts a vision and offers hope and timelines. People like Dr. Fauci just say "It's really bad and not getting better. Stay put and we'll tell you when you can come out." You can be the smartest scientist in the world, but if you don't understand the human psyche, you are begging for this kind of outcome and much worse.

[chiknbut]

That's all well and good, Ousie, but Mich can't golf or go boating.

Ever think about that?

[Deleted User 62]

Too bad there isn't a place where all of these folks could climb out from under their oppressors thumb and meet up. Someplace, like say a Mega Church.
They should lock the doors behind themselves too. You wouldn't want one of those "science types" to sneak in.

[ousdahl]

and now the local post office is complaining about an uptick in PO box applications over the last few weeks.

Fucking second homeowners.

[twocoach]

and now the local post office is complaining about an uptick in PO box applications over the last few weeks.

Fucking second homeowners.

hey now

[ousdahl]

are you here right now? or did you come up?

don't get me wrong. I don't want to deprive anyone of their property, and would welcome the tourist dollars any other time.

but in case no one has heard, there's a FUCKING PANDEMIC going on.

Here, this article articulates it well:

Dear second homeowners and vacation renters, shelter in place literally means shelter in place. It does not mean shelter in place here and then shelter in place there. The way we slow down COVID is to minimize clusters of the virus. Right now, as far as we know, Grand County is not a cluster, but every time you drive over Berthoud Pass or to Summit County that becomes less likely. Being on the Front Range during the week and coming to your second home on the weekend is unnecessary travel...

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/letter-p ... right-now/

[Shirley]

are you here right now? or did you come up?

don't get me wrong. I don't want to deprive anyone of their property, and would welcome the tourist dollars any other time.

but in case no one has heard, there's a FUCKING PANDEMIC going on.

Here, this article articulates it well:

Dear second homeowners and vacation renters, shelter in place literally means shelter in place. It does not mean shelter in place here and then shelter in place there. The way we slow down COVID is to minimize clusters of the virus. Right now, as far as we know, Grand County is not a cluster, but every time you drive over Berthoud Pass or to Summit County that becomes less likely. Being on the Front Range during the week and coming to your second home on the weekend is unnecessary travel...

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/letter-p ... right-now/

Obviously, the author doesn't "understand the human psyche".

[Shirley]

oh! this happened a couple weeks ago but I never got around to ranting about it.

so I live in a rural wooded neighborhood on the edge of town. At the corner of my block is a trail on a private conservation easement. The landowners, my neighbors, have generously granted permission for public use of the trail on their land.

This trail conveniently connects the neighborhood to many more miles of trails on public land. Though there are other trailheads to access this public land, this one is the quickest and easiest access point, as all the other trails are a steep climb into the national forest.

I consider these trails my neighborhood "home trails," one of the perks of why I choose to live here, and worthy of the tradeoff of otherwise living elsewhere. Particularly in the winter, I spend more time on these trails than anyone. With that said, the trails are popular, and I'm hardly the only user even if there isn't a pandemic. But as soon as the pandemic shit hit the fan and ski resorts closed, suddenly tens of thousands of entitled weekend warriors needed somewhere new to recreate.

The trails got overwhelmed, with several times the volume of even a busy weekend otherwise. So many folks flooded the trails that it became impossible to social distance. Though the end of the block is posted with "no parking" signs that were never very respected in the first place, the block suddenly had dozens of cars parallel parking up and down both sides of the road. Because of the suddenly high volume of users, I made the decision to avoid my own neighborhood trails.

Then a couple weeks ago the landowners, my neighbors, got concerned enough to speak up. They walked the trails and reminded to social distance. At the trailhead they suggested folks go elsewhere once things got congested and the parking became a mess.

Enter the worst people in the world! According to the owners, many trail users were shamelessly disrespectful. When the landowners explained it's private land and they're throwing the public a bone by allowing use, folks challenged the notion, alleging the landowners didn't actually have the authority to take away permission from the public. Many users were also disobeying other posted rules, such as wandering off trail and letting dogs run off leash and not picking up their shit. And when the landowners called folks out, folks got confrontational.

So the landowners said, screw you guys, we're taking away permission, trail's closed, y'all are why we can't have nice things. Now the end of the block is roped off and posted with a bunch of forbidding signs, as well as 3x as many new "No Parking" signs. And now, to access the public land a block from my house, I have to drive to the next town over and climb up a big hill to get there.

It is indeed crappy. It is also what happens when people are cut off from their lives and livelihoods with no hope and no end in sight. Good leadership casts a vision and offers hope and timelines. People like Dr. Fauci just say "It's really bad and not getting better. Stay put and we'll tell you when you can come out." You can be the smartest scientist in the world, but if you don't understand the human psyche, you are begging for this kind of outcome and much worse.

Or, more likely, "people like Dr. Fauci" make the mistake of overestimating the emotional maturity of the average American "human psyche".

[twocoach]

are you here right now? or did you come up?

don't get me wrong. I don't want to deprive anyone of their property, and would welcome the tourist dollars any other time.

but in case no one has heard, there's a FUCKING PANDEMIC going on.

Here, this article articulates it well:

Dear second homeowners and vacation renters, shelter in place literally means shelter in place. It does not mean shelter in place here and then shelter in place there. The way we slow down COVID is to minimize clusters of the virus. Right now, as far as we know, Grand County is not a cluster, but every time you drive over Berthoud Pass or to Summit County that becomes less likely. Being on the Front Range during the week and coming to your second home on the weekend is unnecessary travel...

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/letter-p ... right-now/

No, we aren't coming out to our place any time soon. Keystone just canceled the Bacon and Bourbon festival that was going to be in June that I had been eyeballing prior to this mess. Now maybe I don't make it out until Labor Day. No Bueno.

[HouseDivided]

oh! this happened a couple weeks ago but I never got around to ranting about it.

so I live in a rural wooded neighborhood on the edge of town. At the corner of my block is a trail on a private conservation easement. The landowners, my neighbors, have generously granted permission for public use of the trail on their land.

This trail conveniently connects the neighborhood to many more miles of trails on public land. Though there are other trailheads to access this public land, this one is the quickest and easiest access point, as all the other trails are a steep climb into the national forest.

I consider these trails my neighborhood "home trails," one of the perks of why I choose to live here, and worthy of the tradeoff of otherwise living elsewhere. Particularly in the winter, I spend more time on these trails than anyone. With that said, the trails are popular, and I'm hardly the only user even if there isn't a pandemic. But as soon as the pandemic shit hit the fan and ski resorts closed, suddenly tens of thousands of entitled weekend warriors needed somewhere new to recreate.

The trails got overwhelmed, with several times the volume of even a busy weekend otherwise. So many folks flooded the trails that it became impossible to social distance. Though the end of the block is posted with "no parking" signs that were never very respected in the first place, the block suddenly had dozens of cars parallel parking up and down both sides of the road. Because of the suddenly high volume of users, I made the decision to avoid my own neighborhood trails.

Then a couple weeks ago the landowners, my neighbors, got concerned enough to speak up. They walked the trails and reminded to social distance. At the trailhead they suggested folks go elsewhere once things got congested and the parking became a mess.

Enter the worst people in the world! According to the owners, many trail users were shamelessly disrespectful. When the landowners explained it's private land and they're throwing the public a bone by allowing use, folks challenged the notion, alleging the landowners didn't actually have the authority to take away permission from the public. Many users were also disobeying other posted rules, such as wandering off trail and letting dogs run off leash and not picking up their shit. And when the landowners called folks out, folks got confrontational.

So the landowners said, screw you guys, we're taking away permission, trail's closed, y'all are why we can't have nice things. Now the end of the block is roped off and posted with a bunch of forbidding signs, as well as 3x as many new "No Parking" signs. And now, to access the public land a block from my house, I have to drive to the next town over and climb up a big hill to get there.

It is indeed crappy. It is also what happens when people are cut off from their lives and livelihoods with no hope and no end in sight. Good leadership casts a vision and offers hope and timelines. People like Dr. Fauci just say "It's really bad and not getting better. Stay put and we'll tell you when you can come out." You can be the smartest scientist in the world, but if you don't understand the human psyche, you are begging for this kind of outcome and much worse.

Or, more likely, "people like Dr. Fauci" make the mistake of overestimating the emotional maturity of the average American "human psyche".

I see people every day who are furloughed from service industry and manufacturing jobs. They had little to no financial cushion in place, and whatever they had is now gone. They are cooped up in their house with increasingly belligerent kids, no way to pay their bills, wondering how the hell they are going to afford to buy groceries next week, and they desperately want somebody to tell them how much longer they have to hang on.

Sorry, but that's not immaturity or a character flaw - that's real people with real problems - people with whom Dr. Fauci, our national policy makers, and, apparently, yourself, cannot begin to identify.

You wonder how DJT was elected. Look in the mirror for Exhibit A. Look at the disparaging posts about these people all over this bored for Exhibit B. You tell people they don't matter, that they are stupid, that their rights are not important for long enough, and they will give you the middle finger in every conceivable fashion.

One of the people I most admire in the world is my college roommate. He is a primary care physician in the rural Kansas town where we both grew up. One of the smartest people I know. But he grew up the son of a lawnmower repairman. He was the kid who always smelled bad, wore clothes from the consignment store, and never had any spending money in high school. He has never forgotten what that was like, and he is patient and kind with people who don't understand or who disagree with him. He would never call anyone stupid or worthless or any of the other names you are so fond of bandying about around here with people who dare have a difference of opinion. We need more people like him and fewer like you and Dr. Fauci.

[defixione]

I'm wondering how any of these people would even consider reelecting DJT. Crap, he almost killed them.

[Geezer]

Unemployment + 600 dollars a week is hardly destitute.

[imzcount]

I'm wondering how any of these people would even consider reelecting DJT. Crap, he almost killed them.

More FAKE NEWS!

[defixione]

I'm wondering how any of these people would even consider reelecting DJT. Crap, he almost killed them.

More FAKE NEWS!

Thanks for pointing out that he's always months late to act.

[Shirley]

Oh, ouch! Take it back! You can't imagine how painful it is to be included with Dr. Anthony Fauci.

I meant to come back and edit that post, because it was wrong of me to call into question the "emotional maturity" of you and the "average American". Instead, I should have said, "Psych, and ~ 20% of Americans".

More than eight in 10 voters, 81 percent, say Americans “should continue to social distance for as long as is needed to curb the spread of coronavirus, even if it means continued damage to the economy.” Only 10 percent say Americans “should stop social distancing to stimulate the economy, even if it means increasing the spread of coronavirus.” Nine percent of voters have no opinion.

While Democrats (89 percent) are more likely than Republicans (72 percent) to say Americans should continue the “social distancing” measures, large majorities in all demographic groups say it’s more important to stop the spread of the virus than to resume economic activity that could undermine those mitigation efforts...

So, not even 30% of republicans think we should risk reopening too soon. That's somewhat reassuring.

Your problem is with Trump for not doing what it took to implement testing sooner. Look at Germany, Denmark, Austria, etc., who did, and they're already beginning to open back up. Why? Why can they begin the process of opening their economies back up? Because they have done enough testing to take the calculated risk. We can't calculate our risk, because we don't know shit. Why don't we know shit? Because we haven't been, and still aren't testing nearly enough.

Congress has allocated > 2.5 million dollars to help people like your foul-smelling childhood friend. If it hasn't reached him, that's likely on Trump, too. But, when his check does arrive, it'll have Dr. Trump's signature on it, so that's something.