COVID-19

[xSilverPhinx]

My mother is worried about her elderly parents living in in the city of São Paulo (over 12 million residents), which is currently the epicenter in Brazil. They're both over 85 years old and suffer from chronic diseases, which puts them in the high risk group many times over.

My grandfather still insists on leaving the house every now and then, endangering himself and my grandmother.

So...my mother asked me to drive with her 1,100 km north to pick them up and bring them back to Porto Alegre, where we currently live. We would've left this morning but my grandfather told her not to bother, he hates the south and would rather die in São Paulo. My submissive grandmother has no say in what happens in her life so she's stuck with my abusive grandfather.

Now my mother's upset and worried about her mother, who she can't help.

[jumbojak]

I would already be on the road to take her away from that house.

[Recusant]

okay

maybe im just dumb. i finally figured ^^^that out without asking my teenagerz for help.

but this next one myztifiez me:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/21/politics/army-coronavirus-social-post/index.html

can someone explain the faux pas to me?

or is it horrifyi gly obvious and i should juzt go to classes in remedial humanity?

I don't think it's obvious. In my opinion the CNN reporter failed to give enough context to understand the situation. I went to a military-oriented site, which gave a more explicit description. It was a flippant response to the question "Why did a man eat a bat?"

The chiming in by Representative Duckworth claiming that the post was an example of racism seems off base to me, but maybe I'm lacking in the proper perception.

The article I linked gives me the impression that though that post gained attention, it was the overall flippancy of the responses that got the person responsible relieved from that position.

[Tom62]

Our "beloved" leader of the free world has to go into quarantine.

[billy rubin]

I don't think it's obvious. In my opinion the CNN reporter failed to give enough context to understand the situation. I went to a military-oriented site, which gave a more explicit description. It was a flippant response to the question "Why did a man eat a bat?"

The chiming in by Representative Duckworth claiming that the post was an example of racism seems off base to me, but maybe I'm lacking in the proper perception.

The article I linked gives me the impression that though that post gained attention, it was the overall flippancy of the responses that got the person responsible relieved from that position.

ahh

flip i guess it was.

but the question wasn't very sharp, i think. people eat bats in various places for the same reasons people eat anything-- they consider them food. anything is edible to somebody, and chinese cultures, especially cantonese, eat just about everything, in my experience.

as for tammy, i don't see any racism. she and i went to the same secondary school in singapore (different years), and she's ethniocally chinese, so she ought to be as aware of that as i am.

the story as i understand it was that the disease was traced to wild-game food market in wuhan. that's the sort of place a lot of diseases get transmitted.

[billy rubin]

on  lighter note, the governor of my state put  us all into lockdown, effective midnight tomorrow.

stay at home, unless there is an essential function that you need to pewrform. buying dog food, helpnig your neighbor, delivering groceries to grandmother, and stuff like that is okay.

going to the beach (we have a beach to the north, i guess), reclining in the park, attending a sporting event or dinner function are verboten, he says.

the health department and police have the authority to chastise you, but he says that's not the plan so far.

in my case the point is moot, as i belong to a protected class because i work in the oil fields. my typical 50 to 60-hour work weeks will continue. maybe increwase, too, because the day care centers will close and some other drivers will have to stay hoime with their kids.

[xSilverPhinx]

I would already be on the road to take her away from that house.

She won't leave him.

[Recusant]

You're describing a truly poignant aspect of the current pandemic, xSilverPhinx. 

* * *

My attempt at a positive view of COVID-19 is that it might be a serious wake-up notification to Homo sapiens regarding our collective hygiene. I think that this bug is by no means the last that will appear as we barge around on this planet, and it shows the direction that things might go.

Here we have a virus with a nice long incubation period during which no symptoms appear, and in fact some infected will show few if any symptoms at all. That's a situation in which the virus can infect a high percentage of the population over a period of a couple of months, if there is no change in protocols of behavior. If the virus were somewhat more lethal than COVID-19 (not too lethal too quickly, of course) and the government in the outbreak locale was as incompetent as the Chinese were, we'd be seeing a more impressive winnowing right now, I think.

I used the term incompetent because that's how the title of the article sums it up. It is of course much more complicated and damning than that. The Communist Party showed some of the same verve for catastrophic dissembling and denial of reality as it did so abundantly during the Great Leap Forward.

Perhaps we (definitely including China) will learn a lesson that will serve us well in the future. Perhaps not.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

Hello from Texas.  Dallas County just ordered "shelter in place", and I suspect many other Texas counties/cities will be doing the same soon.  I am working from home, and it's a challenge.  In my town in Central Texas, it's hard to get any paper products or sanitizer.  But Wal-Mart is going to open on Tuesdays just for seniors (I qualify) at 6:00 am to 7:00 am.  I plan to be there at 5:30 am to get in line, with mask in place.  One thing I've learned:  plagues are boring. 

[Tank]

Hello from Texas.  Dallas County just ordered "shelter in place", and I suspect many other Texas counties/cities will be doing the same soon.  I am working from home, and it's a challenge.  In my town in Central Texas, it's hard to get any paper products or sanitizer.  But Wal-Mart is going to open on Tuesdays just for seniors (I qualify) at 6:00 am to 7:00 am.  I plan to be there at 5:30 am to get in line, with mask in place.  One thing I've learned:  plagues are boring.

Good to hear you're all right.

[xSilverPhinx]

Hello from Texas.  Dallas County just ordered "shelter in place", and I suspect many other Texas counties/cities will be doing the same soon.  I am working from home, and it's a challenge.  In my town in Central Texas, it's hard to get any paper products or sanitizer.  But Wal-Mart is going to open on Tuesdays just for seniors (I qualify) at 6:00 am to 7:00 am.  I plan to be there at 5:30 am to get in line, with mask in place.  One thing I've learned:  plagues are boring.

[Magdalena]

Hello from Texas.  Dallas County just ordered "shelter in place", and I suspect many other Texas counties/cities will be doing the same soon.  I am working from home, and it's a challenge.  In my town in Central Texas, it's hard to get any paper products or sanitizer.  But Wal-Mart is going to open on Tuesdays just for seniors (I qualify) at 6:00 am to 7:00 am.  I plan to be there at 5:30 am to get in line, with mask in place.  One thing I've learned:  plagues are boring.

Hi, Bruce, 
Good to know you're OK.

They're not that boring if you have 2 kids at home --who should be in school. 

[joeactor]

I recorded this parody at Tank's request (so you can blame him ;-) )

http://www.joesdump.com/audio/EffectiveSocialDistancing_JoesDump.mp3

[Tank]

I recorded this parody at Tank's request (so you can blame him ;-) )

http://www.joesdump.com/audio/EffectiveSocialDistancing_JoesDump.mp3

Very good Joe! 

[Dark Lightning]

Too funny, Joe! ...and to the point!