.This is the thread for non-political news and events.
German police detain suspect after deadly shooting outside synagogue
Two people were killed in a shooting in the eastern German city of Halle on Wednesday and police said they had detained one person.
Mass-selling daily Bild said the shooting took place in front of a synagogue, and that a hand grenade was also thrown into a Jewish cemetery. An eyewitness told n-tv television that a perpetrator had also fired shots into a kebab shop in Halle.
Maybe full body latex suits will become the norm rather than a fetish.
My mom’s two sisters are Christian Scientists and I asked her how they’re responding to the coronavirus, if at all. My aunt works for the CS Mother Church in Boston and their staff is working from home. Church services, at least the ones my aunts go to, are also having people sit six feet apart. So that’s good. It’s pretty weird though to see Christian Scientists take a pandemic seriously but I guess they don’t want to take any flack.
This just sounds like someone trying to prank people into sticking hair dryers in their mouths.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hair-dryer-coronavirus/
Sure, high temps can fight viruses, but that’s usually called a fever.
3458EM is the FEMA disaster code for COVID-19. While the Nationwide Emergency Declaration was issued on March 13, 2020, the Incident Period is January 20, 2020. That means any costs incurred related to COVID-19 from that date forward may be eligible for reimbursement.
How do I know this? I just filed a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) with FEMA this morning. Once approved, the city I work for may receive reimbursements from the FEMA for labor, equipment, and expenditures directly related to COVID-19.
And the real kicker of all of this? I am STILL dealing with FEMA and the Texas Department of Emergency Management regarding Hurricane Harvey. I am near the end of Harvey then this shitshow starts!
It’s all complete bollocks.
Someone with half a brain has concluded that because seasonal flu tends to happen in the northern hemisphere winter that temperature is key. I got Whatsapp messages saying the heat from a cup of tea would kill it, which sounds nice but if true there would be no cases in the UK.
It’s not that far off in California which never really gets cold but I live in a tropical climate, it’s hot, all the time, all year. The seasonal flu happens just the same, nobody is immune to Covid-19. Malaysia is now the 4th highest in cases in Asia and the temperature never drops below 25 degrees celsius.
SHIT IS GETTING REAL!!!
Just when you think things can’t get any worse…Bono writes a corona song.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/18/bono-coronavirus-song-italy-let-your-love-be-known
It’s all complete bollocks.
Someone with half a brain has concluded that because seasonal flu tends to happen in the northern hemisphere winter that temperature is key. I got Whatsapp messages saying the heat from a cup of tea would kill it, which sounds nice but if true there would be no cases in the UK.
It’s not that far off in California which never really gets cold but I live in a tropical climate, it’s hot, all the time, all year. The seasonal flu happens just the same, nobody is immune to Covid-19. Malaysia is now the 4th highest in cases in Asia and the temperature never drops below 25 degrees celsius.
Yeah, one of our secretaries circulated a message saying to drink lots of tea and hold your breath for 10 seconds. Apparently her friend who works at a hospital had told her this (blatant lie I think).
I told her to retract it and showed her a CNN article devbnking the information. She did so very begrudgingly.
For the last four to five years I haven’t been able to move for jingoistic bullshit, people with no actual memory of it invoking ‘blitz spirit’, claiming we’re able to handle anything, stiff upper lip and women ‘n’ children first you know….
Within 48 hours of Covid-19 going to pandemic status, this has become…..
WOMEN ‘N’ CHILDREN FIRST? FUCK THAT, I NEED 10 LOAVES OF BREAD AND MILK FOR A YEAR!
It’s beyond pathetic. So, decided to last it out – people can’t afford to keep buying at the rate of they have, it has to calm down at some point – there’s no way this level of frenzy sustains itself – I might be wrong about this though.
Well there are some positive developments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxychloroquine#Research%5B/quote%5D
Pardon me while I run out to CostCo to hoard cases of hydroxychloroquine.
The general news thread seems to be turning into another politics thread
It’s almost as if most news are somehow inextricably linked to politics.
The general news thread seems to be turning into another politics thread
It’s almost as if most news are somehow inextricably linked to politics.
It’s a politics epidemic!
It’s a politics epidemic!
The politics virus has always been around; it only became an epidemic when cable television was created and spawned CNN and FOXNEWS.
people can’t afford to keep buying at the rate of they have, it has to calm down at some point – there’s no way this level of frenzy sustains itself
That’s what I’ve been saying. There has to be a point where you’ve got so many toilet rolls you can’t get into your bathroom any more. When that happens, I will wait for them to refill the shelves and stroll calmly into a deserted shop.
The Dutch health minster collapsed on tv a few days ago and has resigned. Apparently it is just for exhaustion.
people can’t afford to keep buying at the rate of they have, it has to calm down at some point – there’s no way this level of frenzy sustains itself
That’s what I’ve been saying. There has to be a point where you’ve got so many toilet rolls you can’t get into your bathroom any more. When that happens, I will wait for them to refill the shelves and stroll calmly into a deserted shop.
I wouldn’t want to go anywhere busy after living for weeks without toilet paper either.
Yesterday the government ordered all restaurants and bars in the country closed at a one hours notice. That’s good leadership, retards. Leading to long lines at the coffeeshops.
A lot of the leadership here has been from the rear. Even the responsible local governments are basically simply validating what people are already doing and providing guidance. There is still a lot of backwards thinking – maybe “in denial” thinking – about the response. Trump doesn’t think a national lockdown is necessary because the middle of the country doesn’t have that many cases. However, does that seem reasonable? What’s the assumption? California and New York are in lockdown, but they already have a large number of cases. If states that don’t have a large number of cases want to keep it that way, then they should start doing the same thing that CA and NY are doing now rather than wait until they are in the same position. It’s not like we’re over here building a wall against the virus. It’s already on the way.
Also, the limitation of testing to only when people have symptoms seems like a bad idea. South Korea seems to be making a lot of headway by testing as many people as possible as soon as possible. It would be better to find out who has it before they show signs and infect others. I think the authorities are just afraid if they start widespread testing then case numbers will spike.
I haven’t heard any explanation yet for the very low mortality in Germany. With 20,000 cases and only 68 deaths the mortality is less than a half procent. I think this is mmore likely to be closer to the actual mortality than the 2-3 % figures going around.
From what I understand, the reason why our mortality is so much lower is that we are doing more testing, so we have more confirmed cases to stand in relation to those deaths. I mean, when Italy supposedly has only roughly double the number of infected (about 47.000 to Germany’s 21.000 right now) but over 50 times the deaths of Germany (4000 to 77), that’s apparently mostly because for one thing, there are many, many more infected in Italy than the number of confirmed cases.
So that part is good news. But I think the other half is that because we tested early, there are also a lot of cases that still have the course of the sickness before them and there will be more deaths to report in the coming week. There are other factors, as well – intensive care in Germany is pretty good, and Italy has a lot of old people in its population, for example, but yes: South Korea also started testing early on, for example, and has a mortality rate of about 0.6%.
So, that part is kind of good news. The bad news part of it is that many countries are far more fucked than the currently published numbers are letting on.
Yes Christian is right, it is the testing rate. The figures in Germany are probably the most realistic ones, it has been noted that people in the US and UK have been finding it very difficult to get tested if they have symptoms, even the frontline medical staff.
I wouldn’t jump too far into the mortality rate from that though, it’s a lagging indicator, it’s not something that immediately kills, the confirmation comes first.
Over in Malaysia we’re pretty much under curfew laws now, everything has to close between 7pm and 7am and police are patrolling to ensure everyone stays at home, I haven’t left the house in 2 days. Kids have been taught remotely since Tuesday.
My 79 year old mother in law lives with us who is also a stroke survivor so it’s something that has to be taken seriously.
I had a thought about the lockdown. It is basically bullshit, isn’t it? You can’t “close everything down”. Obviously the medical services and the food distribution infrastructure continues, but apart from that there is so much you can’t close down. All levels of government, the banking system, the weather service, road maintenance, garbage collectors, the media, tv and internet, the police and the fire brigade, the power company…
But you’d be surprised at how much you can now do virtually.
For instance, London’s regional government has been running virtually since Tuesday and will continue to do so.
I think this quote is very important:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien – The Fellowship of The Ring</p>
I had a thought about the lockdown. It is basically bullshit, isn’t it? You can’t “close everything down”. Obviously the medical services and the food distribution infrastructure continues, but apart from that there is so much you can’t close down. All levels of government, the banking system, the weather service, road maintenance, garbage collectors, the media, tv and internet, the police and the fire brigade, the power company…
Any ‘lockdown’ is going to retain essential services. If you don’t collect refuse for example then you’ll create another disease risk. I don’t think anyone was under the impression no humans can move at all, we all need to eat.
On the other hand as Ben says a hell of a lot of that stuff can be done remotely. A huge chunk of banking can be done without branches as people in remote areas already know, probably the only job you can’t is refilling the ATM. Journalists file from location all the time so can do so at home. The weather, pretty much all the measuring stations are connected online, hence the apps that give you real time data. My kids have had school all week via Zoom video conferencing. Things like road maintenance can be reduced to a skeleton crew because there are few cars on the road anyway.
So a lockdown is always really talking about the majority of people staying home for the majority of the time but if you see the ‘flattening the curve’ videos you can see how that can be very effective. We have evidence from some Asian countries already (and maybe China is hard to trust but I believe S Korea and Singapore).
I’ve found these quite useful in explaining some of this stuff to the kids.
They operate at different levels – attendance at sporting events was banned last week, from noon tomorrow pubs and restaurants and cinemas are closed. Supermarkets, pharmacies and banks remain open (but I still expect longer than ever lines at the local supermarket from opening).
Other places that provide food can still offer delivery – hopefully drive-through fast food is still open. Bondi Beach is closed since the sight of hundreds of people enjoying the sand, sun and surf on Friday pissed the world off. As recently as Saturday night pubs were full of people totally not spacially distancing.
The messaging hasn’t been clear. Schools are still open (except in the state of Victoria which will end the term 2 weeks early).
I assume that the escalation of thing is a mix of making it up as they go along and boiling a frog?
They could order a lockdown, and they might, but if they do it too early people will freak out. They need to get people used to the idea.
But on the other hand, they really don’t want to freeze the entire country, so they’re really hoping that each stage they do announce will be enough.
I assume that the escalation of thing is a mix of making it up as they go along and boiling a frog?
I do notice a kind of strategy used in crises.
First, some official brings up an action by telling people that this is something they have no intention of doing. That introduces the idea but in the connotation that it won’t happen. Second, some other people suddenly start shouting that that is exactly what they need to do. Third, under pressure, the original official says they are doing the thing that they said they would not do.
That happened all throughout the 2008 financial crisis.
I still expect longer than ever lines at the local supermarket from opening
We’ve had everything apart from essential services closed since last Tuesday, they made it stricter from Friday so only one person from each household can go out to get provision. The police have roadblocks and the army have been drafted in. They’ve gone full on to try and contain this as Malaysia’s profile so far isn’t that bad, 10 deaths compared to over 200 in the UK – although the UK has double the population so you could pro rate that to 20 v 200.
So I went to Tesco today and I’ve never seen it so quiet. Some shelves were pretty bare, frozen goods, tins and pasta sauces but most of it was decently stocked otherwise. There was loads of toilet paper (but that’s slightly a cultural thing as in SE Asia many do the necessary with a water hose).
I think there’l be a point when the panic buying will just die out because those people now have a cupboard with 50 cans of baked beans in it, a jammed full freezer and a spare room with 250 bog rolls. They can’t keep stockpiling every day.
I just got back from the grocery. The chain I went to, H-E-B, was limiting the number of people they allowed in at a time. There were signs around the store limiting 2 items per basket for meat, dairy, the normally sold out items (toilet paper, disinfecting spray, hand sanitizer, etc.), and some other items throughout. I did get 2 bottles of antibacterial had soap to have on hand. There were a lot of empty shelves for the things you would expect.
A lot of restaurants are still open and they do either curbside pickup, go inside pickup, or delivery. No restaurant is allowed dining in. Many have also adjusted their hours so they are. It open as long.
Christel and I picked up pizza last night and drove through Sugar Land Town Square. Normally, it would be full of cars and people. It was just dead. A lot of retail areas are like that. It is rather quite eerie.
The GameStop in my neighborhood was forcibly closed by the police yesterday because management was requiring employees to continue working.
Excellent – Gamestop’s management need a good kicking.
Talking of shitbags, over here Tim Martin has been trying to claim it’s fine for the pubs to stay open. Fuckwit.
The GameStop in my neighborhood was forcibly closed by the police yesterday because management was requiring employees to continue working.
GameStop is an absolute garbage company. It needs completely new management at the highest levels.
New term for those ignoring health recomendations and refusing to stop hoarding:
Covidiot
As I went for my shop today I had to fill up with petrol. Usually in Malaysia the price of petrol is a massive talking point, the price is set by the government at pretty much cost price and if they announce it is going up 10 sen a litre (which is about 2 pence or 3 US cents) people line up for miles probably expending the same amount of petrol as they are saving.
So I’d read about the Russia/Saudi spat increasing supply but was unprepared today that the price had gone from RM2.20 to RM1.44. That’s 28p or 32 cents. I filled the tank for seven quid. Absolutely nobody is talking about it so I’m only 90% convinced it wasn’t an error at the pump but then again nobody has anywhere to drive to apart from the local supermarket.
New term for those ignoring health recomendations and refusing to stop hoarding:
Covidiot
Evangeline Lilly….
Huh? You’re going to need to elaborate Al
She’s been talking stupid shit about the pandemic
Ah, thanks
Edit – stupid is an understatement
A reminder of the Hierarchy of needs.
Let’s also break down “physiological”, shall we?
Air. Getting better, actually. Less cars, less smog?
Water. Pretty steady, but in case have an ample supply of potable water stored, and plan on not flushing.
Warmth/shelter. Other than being terrified for the homeless folks everywhere (a situation that needs to end) most of us are okay. Do not stress rents nor mortgages at this point, finance is part of this mess.
Rest. Most critical. Most of us need to feel safe to sleep decently. Right now, most of us do not. Very important time to explore self-care. What are your particular needs? What is emerging with all the new stresses? Very good time for insight work, journaling, writing, playing music, acting, dancing, singing – we are flooded by input at the moment. It is important to have output – or we stress out.
Best to everybody! Onwards to a finer world!
Is that the Maslow pyramid? I recall learning that back in college and then the professor flipped it upside down and made a good argument that survival really depended upon first having those top three needs met and having some meaning and emotional satisfaction in your life that would drive you to protect it. I think this is why we only see real devolution to brutal “survival mode” in fiction because in real life, it is far more likely people facing a catastrophe become more humane while when all of people’s “basic” needs are met but there is no driving meaning to their lives, they tend to be less humane and feel less connection to the people around them.
This morning Liz and I drove to an Irish food store in Sunnyside (Queens) at 8:15am. We were literally the only customers in the store, where we stocked up on sausages and blood pudding and some biscuits. Later in the morning we walked to a Chinese market in town for vegetables; this time we weren’t the only shoppers, but the crowd was so small that we didn’t have to wait in line to check out.
Moral of the story: shop in ethnic markets.
That is strange – the local big chain grocery stores have long lines (in the rain with little social distancing), but the local Armenian produce store is a tenth of the size and fully stocked with even more produce than the groceries, but no line and hardly anyone in there.
The drug stores are also pretty easy to get in and out without a big crowd.
Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive For Coronavirus In NY State Prison; Convicted Producer In Isolation
Karma is a wonderful bitch.
Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive For Coronavirus In NY State Prison; Convicted Producer In Isolation
Karma is a wonderful bitch.
No, Weinstein is COVID’s bitch. I hope the virus rapes his lungs.
Evangeline Lilly….
Looking at her instagram posts, it looks like she’s not doing too well overall. (Recovering from a depression and generally not too stable.)
The things she said were dumb, but I hope people don’t react too angrily. She obviously needs someone to talk to her kindly, and a flamewar could send her into a bad spiral.
So Ireland might be moving to full lockdown after people congregated at the usual summer hangout spots over the weekend. I saw photos of people queuing back to back outside the chippers in Howth and like seriously? I met up with Mark in the Phoenix Park on Paddy’s Day and he went to get coffee at one point, and even there the queues observed social distancing.
Harvey Weinstein Tests Positive For Coronavirus In NY State Prison; Convicted Producer In Isolation Karma is a wonderful bitch.
Still, it’s concerning. If he’s in prison, then who did he get it from and who else did they give it to? An epidemic in prison is bad news.
Anecdotally in my area the panic buying seems to have eased off this weekend. I wandered along to a small local store and found it a little better stocked than in the last week (seeing packets of dry pasta on the shelf was like meeting an old friend), and I’ve heard similar reports from friends in the area too. Presumably all the people panic buying around here now have a house full of food and bog roll and are wondering what to do with it all.
They’re surely swapping out the precious toilet rolls with all their hoarded copies of X-Men #1, given the relative values now.
Got some stuff from the local small shops – meat and cold meats are still hit but it if keeps going as it is maybe the message is starting to get through, namely:
There’s enough food if you fuckers stop fucking buying!
Meanwhile, think yourself well ‘ard for ignoring medical advice not to go out? Wanna infect 59,000 people? Oh that got your attention huh?
This is the best and clearest explanation of why people need to stay at home you could ever wish to see pic.twitter.com/49MgadlctI
— Alan White (@aljwhite) March 22, 2020
With all this going on – great as FF7 Remake is looking – videogames aren’t exactly essential retail except the companies in that really disagree, to the extent of killing their staff and customers.
And this is not restricted to the US – Game and CEX both are active UK companies, but in the wake of their idiocy all I can do is starve them of cash encourage you to do the same.
The link is a Jimquisition – so some swearing, justified in this case I think, but it’s there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=704CfJeP4XU
Stay at home order across the UK now. Ultimately I feel like it’s sensible when people aren’t complying with the gentler suggestions.
Dentistry is not real medicine. It’s like chiropracty or homeopathy or osteopathy or oncology – all those psuedoscience scams that end in ‘y.’
They’re surely swapping out the precious toilet rolls with all their hoarded copies of X-Men #1, given the relative values now.
What do you mean “now”?
I’ve been wiping my ass with Jim Lee’s magneto since ’92
They’re surely swapping out the precious toilet rolls with all their hoarded copies of X-Men #1, given the relative values now.
What do you mean “now”?
I’ve been wiping my ass with Jim Lee’s magneto since ’92
Go and put your drawstring pants back on.
(Bernadette, Andrew and I really are actors. Andrews actually named Frank. I’m a British boy named Pip and usually work in ads)
They closed McDonald’s in the UK?
McDonald’s closed themselves as far as I can see. We’re on a far more severe lockdown than the UK, with police and army roadblocks, but McDonald’s is still open for takeaway and delivery. I don’t know if that’s because the public couldn’t behave and crowded the stores anyway.
Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, said in a statement Sunday that the decision had been taken because it was “increasingly difficult” to maintain safe social distancing while operating “busy takeaway and drive thru restaurants.”
