Message Forum

Welcome to the Watterson High School Message Forum.

The message forum is an ongoing dialogue between classmates. There are no items, topics, subtopics, etc.

Forums work when people participate - so don't be bashful! Click the "Post Message" button to add your entry to the forum.


 
go to bottom 
  Post Message
  
    Prior Page
 Page  
Next Page      

07/01/20 11:33 PM #7566    

 

David Barbour

Dr. Jim,

Only resided on Torrence from 1976 to 1983.  In'83 we moved to the "Mistake on the Lake".

Best mistake I've ever lived in!!

I'd have sent an email but the website where I could find your address is down, AGAIN, Janie!!!

Just kidding, we love you Janie!  heart

DB


07/02/20 12:50 AM #7567    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

Hopefully this is something we can all agree on............God Bless the U.S.A.heart




07/02/20 08:39 AM #7568    

 

John Maxwell

I'm Spartacus!

07/02/20 09:35 AM #7569    

 

David Barbour

Where's Batman?

07/02/20 09:38 AM #7570    

 

David Barbour

MM, Lord knows we need it!!!

07/02/20 11:11 AM #7571    

 

John Jackson

AP article discussing effects of demonstrations on new coronavirus cases:

https://apnews.com/5a283df1b23ecc5c4b19803d320d0ebc

First two paragraphs:

NEW YORK (AP) — There is little evidence that the protests that erupted after George Floyd’s death caused a significant increase in U.S. coronavirus infections, according to public health experts.

If the protests had driven an explosion in cases, experts say, the jumps would have started to become apparent within two weeks — and perhaps as early as five days. But that didn’t happen in many cities with the largest protests, including New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Washington, D.C.

 


07/02/20 03:26 PM #7572    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

If that is true, John, then it sounds as though all outdoor sporting events will now be allowed to reopen.to the public as well as outdoor concerts, plays, amusement parks, etc. with no limit on crowd size. I am good with that,  Also, not widely reported in the news, is the report out of John Hopkins University that the number of coronavirus deaths per day has continued to plummet in June even as the number of cases has risen. Something for which we can all be thankful.smiley

  

 

 

 

 


07/03/20 09:45 AM #7573    

 

John Schaeufele

Happy Fourth of July to all.  We are not perfect nor have we ever been.  We have lots to improve on.  Pray for this nation.  God bless the U.S.A. and that grand old flag.  Stay Safe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfzJ8UBr-c0


07/03/20 01:40 PM #7574    

 

Michael McLeod

Actually we have two things in play about the characteristics of this recent coranovirus surge.

1) As has been understood from the very beginning, the older you are the more likely you will be to die from the virus. So it would make sense that this latest surge, which involved younger people, would reflect higher numbers and lower death rates.

2) Doctors are becoming much better at providing critical care to severely ill covid19 patients. That's another fact at play in the lower death rates. 

You could certainly call 1) and 2)  good news. But the bad news for me is that people are still being careless. I'm hoping this latest surge will wake everyone up that this is a long game, not a short one and that -sigh- we are all in this together, we are all in this together, we are all in this together -- and politicizing helps only one party in the formula, that being Mr. Covid. 

Some news outlets have a narrow focus. The good ones do not. Choose wisely in your reading and viewing and you'll see that all of this information is widely available, and has been for some time.

The things that confront us, scientifically and socially, are subtle.  Don't settle for preconception. Read. Watch. Have a humble heart. And rather than blame the messenger, consult more messengers.  Keep reading. Keep looking. Steer your way, as Leonard Cohen would say, thought by thought.

Actually it wouldn't hurt to find that song and listen to it. 

 


07/03/20 06:17 PM #7575    

 

Mark Schweickart

Hey Everyone,
On a lighter note: If you haven't already, spend the $7 to sign up for a month of Disney+ streaming service so you can watch the original Broadway cast performing Hamilton in 2016. It is unbelievably good, and this is coming from someone who saw a road production of the show, and frankly was disappointed. No disappointment this time. It's inventiveness and emotional power just bowls you over. Wow!

(Remember to cancel your subscription later to prevent this from being a recurring charge on your credit card. Or not. There is a ton of content on the site.)

Oh, and speaking of Broadway in 2016, here's Randy Rainbow's advice to the other Broadway shows that year:




07/03/20 08:11 PM #7576    

 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL.,

MM put up on the User Forum today the news about the study that Henry Ford Hospitals conducted on hydroxychloroquine. It is sort of exciting and will lead to further research. Even though a lot of negative press has been directed toward this drug and it's use in certain circumstances in treating  - and prophylaxis for - COVID-19, research has never really stopped on this agent.

I put a response to MM's post on that User Forum which might be of interest to you, and perhaps others, as we learn more about this virus and it's complications.

Jim


07/03/20 11:05 PM #7577    

 

David Mitchell

So, I guess they're not gonna be taking this one down.

Happy 4th t' y'all


07/04/20 09:09 AM #7578    

 

Michael McLeod

Thanks Jim. That drug must love the limelight, sure keeps finding a way to turn up in it. As you may remember I have done my own research in this regard. Of course it only involved one patient and my only conclusion was it gave him scary dreams. Somehow my study never got the publicity I thought it deserved.

 


07/04/20 12:42 PM #7579    

 

Joseph D. McCarthy

As long as were talking, medically (hope that's a word, about Covid-19 related items I will interject something that's been on (what little) brain I have left.  

Since the expansion of Covid-19 I have been reading a lot of Medical and Scientiffic articles related to the effects reulting from Covid-19.  Jim and Mike I would like to appoint the two of you to lead a survey on this topic.  To wit.

Since the "Lockdown" began my wife and I haven't been to a sit down restaraunt, we (me) have/has gone out once to KFC drivethrough and about four times to pick up a pizza at a local shop.  Other that my wife has been cooking dinner for the two of us.  All the articles concerned weight of indivduals, with most saying that indivduals GAINED weight as a direct result of Stay At Home / Quarantine.  

I have lost about twelve pounds since the lockdown, and my wife is a good cook.  

Survey Topic: (with NO names revealed) How many of our class has added a pound or two (a lot of Snacking) , and how many have lost weight (unable to get "Snacks" at the store)?

Joe


07/04/20 02:22 PM #7580    

 

Mark Schweickart

Joe -- My wife and I only eat at home, and you can put me in the weight-gainer slot. 8 lbs. and counting. 

Dave -- Stunning picture of the (a)Bartholdi Statue, ur...I mean (b) of Lady Liberty, or that is...  (c) of Liberty Enlightenng the World,  or should I say, (d) of The Statue of Liberty? Okay, so what was the original title of this statue anyway? 

For any of you brave souls out there who would like to read my multi-part screenplay (a drama, not a documentary) about the backstory of this unique statue's creation, let me know and I will be happy to send you a copy. Just think, then you will be able to annoy your friends on the 4th of July (that is, if we ever meet friends again in a 4th of July or any other party situation) with factoids about the statue's creation such as: how important Egypt was, or how Joseph Pulitzer discovered GoFundMe, or how 20,000  Parisian Communards lying dead throughout the streets of Paris changed everything, or how a disgraced US Civil War General got involved, or most importantly, how a young French sculptor with no backing, other than a single friend's optimism, sailed off to America to convince whomever he could meet that the U.S. needed to provide him with a location and a 150' tall pedestal to hold his gift to them of a 150' tall statue. This, by the way, would make it the tallest structure in the U.S. at that time, since buildings in those days topped out at 6 or 7 stories, and the Washington Monument was only half completed back then. What could be easier, even though he had no concept as to how such a thing could be engineered? What can one say, the man had pluck. This was in 1871, giving him 5 years to complete the project in order to make it a gift for the U.S. Centennial coming up in 1876. However, when he finally pulled back the literal veil of the French Tricolor flag covering Lady Liberty's face from his perch in the crown during the  dedication ceremony, it was 1886, not 1876, And when he pulled back the veil, he accidentally interrupted the speech being made below, which he could not hear, and thereby signaled the setting off of fireworks and cannon fire in the harbor. Oh well, so much for the dedication speech, and, oh well, ten years too late, and ten minutes too early. Quite an accomplishment nonetheless.

Anyway, enough of my factoid rambling. Oh, and as you probably guessed, the answer to the question above is (c).

If anyone wants a copy, my email is: schweickartmark@gmail.com


07/04/20 05:38 PM #7581    

 

Michael McLeod

Happy Fourth of July all!

Here is a fish tale to help you celebrate!

 

 

Today is the two hundred and forty-fourth anniversary of our declaration of independence from Britain, and we find ourselves living in a republic of mendacity. The falsehoods never stop. No occasion is too minor. “Pres. Obama destroyed the lobster and fishing industry in Maine. Now it’s back, bigger and better than anyone ever thought possible. Enjoy your ‘lobstering’ and fishing! Make lots of money!” So tweeted the President on June 24th.

As the Boston Globe and other news organizations have reported, the tweet is a lobster fib. Not that President Obama needs to get credit for it—climate change, driving the lobsters north, was probably the reason—but, in 2016, the last year of the Obama Administration, the Maine lobster catch was the biggest in history, a hundred and thirty-two million pounds. Since then, it has fallen by thirty-two million pounds, largely because of the Trump Administration’s trade war with China, which caused certain American agricultural exports, including lobsters, to be hit with a thirty-five-per-cent tariff. China is not in a trade war with Canada, however, and Canadian lobster harvesters have stepped into the market. Over all, the value of the fishing catch in Maine, all species included, has dropped from seven hundred and thirty-three million dollars in 2016 (also a record) to six hundred and seventy-three million in 2019.

If lobstering is (or may be) “back,” it is because of a recent White House directive to extend funds from the cares Act—the pandemic bailout—to the lobster industry, which had previously been left off the list of most-favored businesses. Observers note that a Maine Senate race is under way. The Republican standing for reëlection is Susan Collins. Senator Collins has become the kind of senator the Republicans need. She stages a mini-drama of conscience before every controversial vote, and then ends up voting, most of the time, with her party. The Republicans want to keep her in office. As always, the Administration is directing its attention and taxpayer-funded largesse to whatever pays politically. How else would it operate? It has no other principles to guide it.

Lobster fishing is a niche industry. About fifteen thousand people in Maine make their living harvesting lobsters. And the lobster tweet is a relatively benign lie, more in the braggadocio category. But why insist on lying? Why lie even when the truth—“We looked strongly into extending the cares Act to Maine’s beautiful lobstermen!”—does the job perfectly well?

Speculation about this began on January 21, 2017, and it has not abated. One theory that has a certain elegance and simplicity is that Trump is a nitwit. Most of the time, he has no idea what he is talking about, and so he does what he has done all his life: he says whatever makes him look best. The kindest interpretation is that this is just good salesmanship. You always hype the product, and, in this case, the product is him. He is not exaggerating the truth—he is not even lying, technically—because he doesn’t know what the truth is. He assumes that the biggest whopper is the safest bet. Someone else can clean up the mess.

And the thing is, there always is someone else. It’s not hard to understand Trump. It is hard to understand the people in his Administration who enable the blather and the misinformation, who spin-cycle it to bleach out the most offensive or dangerous implications, and who parrot it dutifully. For the first two years of Trump’s Presidency, some of these people were known as “the adults in the room.” To an admittedly remote observer, those people looked indistinguishable from opportunists willing to suppress their opinions in the hopes of becoming Presidential puppet masters. They were dreaming. All of them have departed with their reputations scarred.

 

No one will die because of Trump’s lobster tweet. But the stuff he makes up about the coronavirus is killing people. Those at risk are not limited to the small band who showed up in Tulsa. They are people in nursing homes and veterans’ hospitals; people with diabetes and heart conditions; people on Native American lands; people who will lose their jobs if they do not show up for work in spite of the danger to their health; people who may not think about Donald Trump from one end of the year to the next but who live in states whose governors, for fear of White House vilification, have adopted a policy of pandemic bravado, as though by putting on a big hat you can face down a pathogen.

Now those states are being ripped apart, and that is likely to restart the spread of the virus in states that have successfully flattened their curves. If that happens, the whole spring shutdown, with its economic pain unevenly distributed—as everything in the United States now is unevenly distributed—will have been wasted. The United States has a higher coronavirus mortality rate than Brazil. A quarter of the world’s covid-19 deaths have already happened here, in a country that has 4.25 per cent of the world’s population. And we are not nearly finished.

What is appalling is that this was predictable. A man who is incapable of not making things up about the crowd size at his Inauguration is not going to start suddenly caring about the science when he is confronted with a disease that he knows nothing about. He’s going to do what he has always done.

When Trump said, on March 6th, that he did not want sick passengers on a cruise ship brought ashore because it would raise the number of cases in the U.S., making him look bad, it was clear where this was headed. Republican senators knew it; Republican governors knew it; Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar knew it. But they let Trump dominate the Administration’s airtime on the pandemic and, when they finally talked him off the stage, they allowed him to put on a display of petulance that continues to suck up most of the coverage, and to undercut any governor who tried to shoulder a responsibility he has washed his hands of.

The federal government is not supposed to work this way. Its officials are not supposed to punt because the head of state is not up to the job. They are supposed to put aside political interests to attend to the public welfare. It is not as though there has been much leadership on the Democratic side, either. Congress gave the Administration a trillion dollars, with virtually no strings attached, to hand out as it saw fit, and it sent nearly $1.4 billion of it to dead people.

It is to the credit of the press that, even with silly tweets like the lobster fib, it holds Trump to account—not that this has the slightest effect on him or the sanitation crew that cleans up after him. But the press cannot set guidelines, or distribute face masks, or perform testing, or do contact tracing. The public looks to government, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration, to insure its “Safety and Happiness.” We can guess what he would make of the current one.


07/04/20 05:43 PM #7582    

 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Joe McC., 

My weight is about the same, judging from which belt hole I still use.

Throughout the "Stay at Home" months we made do with occasional take out, home cooking, grilling more than I usually do (Omaha steaks are the best and, although overpriced, become more affordable when we don't go to nice restaurants for a while) or just grazing throughout the day.

Since the "Safer at Home" policy went into effect about 3 weeks ago, we have gone to sit down restaurants maybe a half-dozen times. In downtown Colorado Springs on Friday and Saturday evenings, the city has now begun to close off a block or two of one street which allows the smaller eateries to put tables into the street itself so that more patrons can "enjoy" the dining experience. I think this is happening across the country in order to help restaurants survive at 25-50% capacity. Sorry, even with a view of Pikes Peak we have not opted to eat in a gutter next to a parking meter, sewer drain (which might house a raccoon or two) or manhole cover. The places we have dined in have been our usual haunts in our own zip code where "everyone knows our names" even with facial covers. I must say that, although the food has been as good as ever - albeit from a limited, xeroxed and disposable menu - the experience is not quite the same. 

Forehead temperatures might be taken and then the masked host or hostess guides us (also in masks) to a table or booth well away from other tables and booths (I like that part) and places that xeroxed, limited menu on an otherwise empty table. Tightly wrapped in paper napkins dinnerware is brought to us and water is served. Our waitperson soon arrives, of course masked and gloved looking like a surgeon ready to do an out-patient skin biopsy. But, that's O.K., there is a pandemic still occurring. Once our meals are served one must ask for any condiments - pepper, grated parmigiana cheese (can't eat Italian food without that!), ketchup or whatever else is needed. These are all brought in small plastic cups or those thumbnail sized packets. No "shakers" are permitted as they would be touched by other patrons. Not that you are hurried but, if other diners are waiting for the limited seating, you might feel guilty if you linger too long over your meal. Re-mask and exit without chatting with other diners whom we might know.

Not like the "good old days".   

Jim

 


07/06/20 11:59 AM #7583    

 

David Mitchell

I visited my youngest daughter in Cincy last week and made a quick visit to the "big C". Had a few enjoyable hours with Tommy Swain and Charlie Kaps at a restaurant in the Poeple's Republic of Upper Arlington. OLP rocks!

Each time I go back, the city continues to impress me with it's new inner-city redevelopment, but driving down N. High Street was even more amazing this time. The "short north" is going bonkers. But it means gentrification and a lot of older low-income peoplea re on the losing end of that equation.

 

Hmmm,  "big C" - I kinda like the sound of that. Think I'll add it to my top ten list of new names.


07/07/20 11:46 PM #7584    

 

Michael McLeod

 

In case you wanted to know what the real fake news is:

Margaret Sullivan

 

 

Media columnist

 

It’s another one of those Trump Era realities best described as unsurprising but nevertheless shocking.

Three serious research efforts have put numerical weight — yes, data-driven evidence — behind what many suspected all along: Americans who relied on Fox News, or similar right-wing sources, were duped as the coronavirus began its deadly spread.

Dangerously duped.

The studies “paint a picture of a media ecosystem that amplifies misinformation, entertains conspiracy theories and discourages audiences from taking concrete steps to protect themselves and others,” wrote my colleague Christopher Ingraham in an analysis last week.

Here’s the reality, now backed by numbers:

Those who relied on mainstream sources — the network evening newscasts or national newspapers that President Trump constantly blasts as “fake news” — got an accurate assessment of the pandemic’s risks. Those were the news consumers who were more likely to respond accordingly, protecting themselves and others against the disease that has now killed more than 123,000 in the United States with no end in sight.

 

Those who relied on Fox or, say, radio personality Rush Limbaugh, came to believe that vitamin C was a possible remedy, that the Chinese government created the virus in a lab, and that government health agencies were exaggerating the dangers in the hopes of damaging Trump politically, a survey showed.

 

“That’s the real evil of this type of programming,” Arthur West of the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics, which sued Fox News in April over its coronavirus coverage, told the Times of San Diego, a news website. “We believe it delayed and interfered with a prompt and adequate response to this coronavirus pandemic.” (A Fox News lawyer called the suit “wrong on the facts, frivolous on the law,” and said it would be defended vigorously; a judge dismissed the suit in May.)

       

Beyond the risks the general public faces from consuming this nonsense and misinformation, there’s the fact that the president himself has been picking up these same ideas and using them to steer policy. Instead of tapping experts in the medical and scientific community — many of whom are on the government payroll — he has chosen to educate himself by watching right-wing news outlets.

 

Recall the South Carolina campaign rally in late February where Trump dissed his political adversaries’ criticism of his virus response as “their new hoax.” Or the Feb. 26 White House news conference where he said of the virus: “We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people. And we could be at just one or two people over the next short period of time.” The next day, he offered his now-infamous “it’s going to disappear” reassurance.

As the weeks went on, and the toll of the virus became undeniable, Fox’s offerings became somewhat more responsible, but viewers were misled for far too long. As late as March 6, a Fox “medical contributor” was falsely assuring Sean Hannity’s audience that the virus wasn’t all that bad: “At worst, worst-case scenario, it could be the flu.”

 

To his credit, Fox’s Tucker Carlson was delivering a different, much more reality-based, message, but he was an outlier on the network in those early weeks of the crisis. In fact, one of the studies found that Carlson viewers took protective measures much earlier than Hannity viewers.

 


07/08/20 04:51 AM #7585    

 

David Barbour

Thank you Mike,you're pretty good at this writing thing.

 

Dear Dr. Jim,

Here is an article that you may enjoy.  It is a little above my pay grade so I didn't get all

the fine points, but is roughly what we have discussed recently.  No looting, though

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/magazine/isabel-wilkerson-caste.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtyp

From the NYT Magazine by Isabel Wilkerson.

DB


07/08/20 09:58 AM #7586    

 

Michael McLeod

sorry to pee in your cheerios, but....

 

 

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/06/03/Vaccine-Will-Not-Erase-Pandemic/?utm_source=twitter&fbclid=IwAR1-mEKCIR3mQlz3ESdCVFWfdNGinxuQ5wMcg8kjPkgRU2m67Ad37wzNFxU


07/08/20 10:41 AM #7587    

 

Michael McLeod

OK one more newsfeed but then I'll chill for a bit.

However you stand on this reopening the country issue - really scared for my girlfriend, who has to go back to teaching grade school kids in a month - I love how this woman noticed a parallel in the strangest of places and fleshed it out in a lively and engaging and somewhat even nostalgic essay.

 

The Real Horror of ‘Jaws’ Isn’t the Shark

It’s the leader who initially values capitalism over saving lives.

Jennifer Weiner

By Jennifer Weiner

Contributing Opinion Writer

  • July 7, 2020

 

Looking back, I can see it was the definition of overkill. But a few weeks ago, I decided that what my family needed, in the summer of 2020, was a horror movie. So my husband and daughters and I headed to the drive-in movie theater in Wellfleet, Mass., to watch a 45th anniversary rerelease of “Jaws.”

In the past, the drive-in — the same one my parents took me to when I was a child — was a reliably good time. The kids would wear pajamas and visit the playground and usually run into a friend from day camp or from the beach. Adults would bring sweatshirts and blankets and set up folding chairs on the pavement outside of their parked cars, the better to enjoy the night air. The national anthem would play at the start of the show, and the scent of rose hip blossoms and popcorn would be borne by a stiff ocean breeze. When twilight finally deepened to dark, you could see thousands of stars in the sky.

This year was different, in a dozen ways large and small. We bought our tickets online. The woman inspecting the receipt on my phone wore gloves and a mask and handed me a list of rules: No moviegoers allowed outside of their cars. The playground was closed. Only two people per group allowed at the snack bar.

I hadn’t planned on attempting the snack bar. We brought our own popcorn and, after some fumbling with the speakers, we arranged ourselves in the back of the minivan and got ready for blood on the water.

 

“Is this going to be too scary for me?” my 12-year-old asked. I told her I thought she’d be fine. The truth was, my memories of “Jaws” were limited to the theme song, the gore and the line, “We’re going to need a bigger boat.”

I didn’t recall the real horror of the movie. Or maybe, the last time I saw it, I was too young to understand that the shark was simply doing what a shark is built to do, and that the true villain is not the coldblooded predator — it’s the warm-blooded mayor.

“All I’m saying is that Amity is a summer town — we need summer dollars,” Mayor Larry Vaughn argues after the first attack, when the chief of police wants to close the beaches. It was a phrase that could have been ripped off for a speech by one of the Republican officials who initially refused to shut down his state’s beaches or insisted on reopening the bars.

Even in the face of the gruesome evidence, Mayor Vaughn decides that the victim had been killed by a fishing boat. He tells the police chief that he’s being too hasty — “You yell ‘shark,’ we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.”

The beaches stay open. The shark kills again, its victim, this time, a young boy.

On the dock, the boy’s grieving mother gives the chief of police — the one man who had been trying to do the right thing — a hard slap across his face. “You knew there was a shark out there,” she says. “You knew it was dangerous. But you let people go swimming anyway. You knew all those things. But still my boy is dead now.”

 

I found myself bracing for a Trumpian response — for the police chief to say that he didn’t take responsibility, or to talk up Amity’s great job numbers, or to point out that most swimmers will not get bitten by a shark, and that almost all young people who do get attacked make complete recoveries. I prepared for fringe theories or culture-war distractions, maybe a rant about how the hippies were the real threat to Amity’s way of life.

But the chief, Martin Brody, doesn’t bluster, doesn’t counterpunch or pass the buck or stage a photo op. When the mayor apologizes after the mother’s outburst, saying, “I’m sorry, Martin. She’s wrong,” Chief Brody responds, “No, she’s not.” His shoulders slump, as if he’s taken on the weight of the mother’s grief and sorrow, and he walks away without another word.

By that point, my 12-year-old was dozing. I woke her up. I wanted her to see a story about a leader doing the right thing in the face of a deadly outbreak (of shark attacks) — even if it took one more death, with the police chief’s own son imperiled, to finally prod him into action. So we watched the chastened mayor release funds for a shark hunt, and the police chief, in the company of a nerdy scientist and a grizzled old salt, goes off to vanquish the underwater enemy. There is tension. There’s tragedy. Finally, there is triumph. The police chief blows up the shark and dog-paddles home.

In Wellfleet, the audience cheered as the credits rolled. But it was hard not to think about our real-life, real-time horror: a pandemic that continues to disproportionately affect the poor, Black people and Latinos (and that has taken the life of the actress who played that mourning mother in “Jaws”).

Masks have been politicized to the point that donning one is akin to sporting a “Biden for President” bumper sticker on your face. And instead of a leader who steps up to do the right thing, we’ve got a president who delights in divisiveness and wallows in woe-is-me, while too many of his fellow Republicans, loath to cross him, seem to care more about those summer dollars than dead citizens or grieving families. Instead of a boat on the water, we’ve got heads in the sand.

That night, driving home in the dark, I imagined our country as the first girl to die in every horror movie, the pretty one who falls victim to the monster or the serial killer. The one who is blithely certain of her own invincibility, or maybe just bored with taking precautions. The one who goes down to the basement or up to the attic as the audience screams that she shouldn’t, knowing what will happen to her if she does.

This shouldn’t be so hard. It shouldn’t be so hard for the government to support workers. It shouldn’t be so hard for citizens to stay home as much as possible, to wear a cloth mask, to postpone birthday parties and barbecues. From the Ozarks to Fire Island to the Jersey Shore, we’ve all seen pictures of Americans who won’t deny themselves their summer pleasures, insisting they happen just as they always have.

 

But how can we be surprised? Our leader is standing knee-deep in the shallows, smiling and beckoning and telling us that the water’s fine.

 


07/08/20 02:13 PM #7588    

 

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

The following tables are copied from the CDC's website which are the most recently updated on COVID deaths. The first table represents the week the deaths were reported in the entire U.S. and the total of COVID deaths, beginning with 2-1-20 through 7-8-20. Also something worth considering in this data is the fact that according to the NYT as of 6-27-20 over 40% of COVID deaths were in nursing homes. The second table represents total COVID deaths in the U.S. beginning 2-1-20 through 6-27-20 ranked according to age group. 

 

Through the end of June, there have been a total of 29 deaths in children under the age of 15.  The total number of deaths for the age group 0-24 is 171.  In addition, as of today's date, the CDC's table shows a dramatically falling death rate for the entire United States. While each death from whatever cause is tragic, America is not being told that in a nation of 74 million children, there have been just 171 deaths from COVID. This is important knowledge to have when making decisions about children returning to school. Children never have been a target of this virus.    

 

Life is for the living, and the living must have the means to provide food, clothing, shelter for their families and children must be educated and socialized. There are many more dire ramifications for a nation's populace when they live in a constant state of fear and anxiety.  I argue that as the tables prove, the virus is no longer a virulent, serious threat to the population. The medical community has learned how to properly treat COVID so as to shorten the duration of the illness and to greatly reduce the need for hopitalizations. We have more PPE stockpiled and have trained long-term nursing facilities to better protect the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, the media and some of our city/state leaders fail to provide the requisite information which is necessary for individuals to become unburdened from their fear and so make their own personal decisions about how they choose to live their lives.    

 

Updated July 8, 2020

Week ending date in which the death occurred

All Deaths involving COVID-19 (U07.1)1

Deaths from All Causes

Percent of Expected Deaths2

Deaths involving Pneumonia, with or without COVID-19, excluding Influenza deaths

(J12.0–J18.9)3

Deaths involving COVID-19 and Pneumonia, excluding Influenza

(U07.1 and J12.0–J18.9)3

All Deaths involving Influenza, with or without COVID-19 or Pneumonia

(J09–J11), includes COVID-19 or Pneumonia4

Deaths involving Pneumonia, Influenza, or COVID-19

(U07.1 or

J09–J18.9)5

Total Deaths

114,741

1,324,958

104

125,868

49,623

6,492

196,538

2/1/2020

0

58,283

98

3,770

0

478

4,248

2/8/2020

1

58,998

99

3,768

0

518

4,287

2/15/2020

0

58,203

99

3,787

0

552

4,339

2/22/2020

5

58,134

100

3,648

1

559

4,211

2/29/2020

5

58,400

102

3,771

3

640

4,413

3/7/2020

33

58,621

101

3,904

16

623

4,543

3/14/2020

52

57,646

101

3,893

27

611

4,528

3/21/2020

555

58,469

103

4,492

248

546

5,338

3/28/2020

3,061

62,372

112

6,080

1,380

440

8,151

4/4/2020

9,530

71,211

127

9,661

4,552

464

14,880

4/11/2020

15,734

77,982

141

11,763

7,050

469

20,578

4/18/2020

16,394

75,383

139

11,031

7,003

261

20,497

4/25/2020

14,168

71,677

133

9,765

6,058

143

17,922

5/2/2020

11,753

66,589

124

8,319

4,977

64

15,139

5/9/2020

10,857

64,694

122

7,592

4,596

46

13,890

5/16/2020

8,889

61,686

117

6,505

3,672

19

11,738

5/23/2020

6,863

58,141

111

5,583

2,857

21

9,607

5/30/2020

5,758

55,143

106

4,898

2,338

10

8,328

6/6/2020

4,443

53,397

101

4,431

1,937

10

6,947

6/13/2020

3,433

50,554

96

3,801

1,527

10

5,714

6/20/2020

2,287

44,367

82

3,068

979

5

4,381

6/27/2020

743

31,694

50

1,694

311

3

2,129

7/4/2020

177

13,314

16

644

91

0

730

 

Data as of 

Start week 

End Week 

State 

Sex 

Age group 

COVID-19 Deaths 

Total Deaths 

Pneumonia Deaths 

Pneumonia and COVID-19 Deaths 

Influenza Deaths 

Pneumonia, Influenza, or COVID-19 Deaths 

Footnote 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

Under 1 year

9

6,896

64

2

14

85

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

1-4 years

6

1,325

46

2

40

90

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

5-14 years

14

1,995

66

3

46

123

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

15-24 years

142

12,369

247

46

51

390

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

25-34 years

770

26,258

937

344

147

1,497

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

35-44 years

1,972

37,317

2,086

836

234

3,431

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

45-54 years

5,488

70,356

5,513

2,431

562

9,031

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

55-64 years

13,465

164,063

15,283

6,178

1,204

23,563

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

65-74 years

23,333

251,194

26,318

10,718

1,403

40,110

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

75-84 years

29,780

310,904

33,560

13,310

1,429

51,264

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

85 years and over

37,247

394,198

38,477

14,686

1,340

62,214

 

07/01/2020

02/01/2020

06/27/2020

United States

All

All Ages

112,226

1,276,875

122,597

48,556

6,470

191,798

 


07/08/20 05:01 PM #7589    

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

I've been living "in a constant state of fear and anxiety" since way before the corona virus ever came on the scene.

Register

Vote.

And, of course, wash your hands. ❤️😷

Clare


07/08/20 05:24 PM #7590    

 

Mary Ann Nolan (Thomas)

Clare, good advice.


go to top 
  Post Message
  
    Prior Page
 Page  
Next Page