cwericb

"This is so true, most grocery store vegetable/fruits have no flavour here in Canada as well Most fruit is usually tasteless and hard as a rock. Yes, supermarket prices are going up sharply and there are quite a few empty shelves. As Covid-19 spreads one has to be concerned about the food chain. The other thing I have noticed recently is that the supermarket's policy of cleaning carts, providing sanitizer, etc is sadly slipping quickly, but if you go into a Dollar store or many other stores, they have someone at the door wearing a mask and they spray every customer's hands as they enter.

Okay, here is what Mr. Trump supporters need to know.... Many other countries have sucked it up, locked down, paid the price and have been reasonably succesful in controlling this disease. On the other hand, as you admit the US has been too greedy and too selfish to do their part to help stop a worldwide pandemic. And because US can't get their shit together they are quite willing to put many, many people in other countries at risk. And “the government can't tell me what to do" crowd in the U.S. needs to grow up, suck it up and get with the program or suffer the consequences as they count up their dead relatives.

“...120k deaths and all is tragic from a human being emotional perspective, but in terms of the markets and the economy, its pretty meaningless...” Okay, so I can understand that you feel that a certain number of lives must be sacrificed to keep the economy from being damaged any more than necessary. To help me further understand, just what is the exact price you put on each person that you want to sacrifice? The number of dead Americans is 128,007, so could you translate that into dollars saved per person who has died? Also do you have a number of dead that that is acceptable 200,000, 300,000?

“Pinning the problem on Cuomo is easy. Research indicates that infected travelers from New York transmitted nearly 65% of new coronavirus cases across the US, according to The New York Times.” So you are suggesting that it is New York’s fault that the other states didn’t lock down? “Check out excess deaths by state. Florida, Arizona and Texas didnt have any more excess deaths than in 2018 winter. While NY, NJ have huge excess deaths. Plots for NY and Texas excess deaths shown below.” Apparently you have not been watching the news lately.

While this might seem unrelated to the Corona virus, this gives some insight into the man running the country. The F-35 stealth fighter jet has a low radar signature making it difficult to pick up on radar. However, Trump believes the plane is actually invisible to the naked eye. “You could be right there beside it and you can’t see it!” So are the pilots invisible too or would you just see a bunch of guys flying through the clouds? Must be a bitch to service, do people keep walking them on the ground? So with that level of naivety it should be no surprise that the president thinks the Coronavirus would go away if we stopped testing or if, well you know, the bleach thing, or sticking a light up your ass.

Careful Cubs, you know where Jim Jones’ cult ended up. Your cult leader is doing the same with Covid-19.

Well Cubs, why don't you tell us what a great job Trump and Pence are doing handling the pandemic. You know the guy who said it would just disappear. Or what a great job Florida, Arizona and Texas are doing.

Is this how you make America great again? How much has to happen before people wake up to see what a disaster is taking place and realize there is a serious problem stemming from the top?

Lockdowns do work. P.E.I., Canada. Smallest and most densely populated province. Population - 160,000, 1.6 million yearly visitors. Locked down mid March. Covid-19 cases - 27 Community spread - 0 Recovered - 27 Hospitalizations - 0 Deaths - 0 Applying US statistics, deaths would have been 60+ Last Covid-19 case was about 3 months ago. Reopening cautiously.

"The EU will not be alone" in doing this. Canada keeps extending severe border restrictions with US and it is hard to see why they would be lifted with the spike in US cases." I wonder if keeping the Canadian border closed is going to piss off Trump and will he threaten to retaliate? Then again, that didn't work out very well for him when he tried to steal the Canadian masks.

Today it seems that the EU is discussing refusing entry to travelers from the U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/world/europe/coronavirus-EU-American-travel-ban.html

“Common sense to a Trump supporter - Injecting with bleach” Or stick a flashlight up your a$$ But as the great man himself said... "If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any," And people vote for this twit.”

Yes. It is all about him. Always. And some aren't convinced he has mental issues.

I would predict that at some point people who do not wear masks in public are going to find themselves shunned by others and will be met with some animosity on the streets.

Jeez Cubs still don’t see the difference eh? On one hand we have average people white, black, brown, etc wearing masks demonstrating outdoors against cops who murder people. On the other hand you have the buffoon discouraging the wearing of masks lying that the pandemic is mostly over holding an indoor rally with 20,000 gullible people in an effort to keep his job. See the difference yet? Dump Trump... Make America Great Again So back to the subject... It is now appearing obvious that with Trumps urging, many states reopened too quickly. Nearly half the states are seeing increases in cases and in another few months we could be hit with a second wave ON TOP of the increasing numbers. Are we setting up for another perhaps harder and longer lockdown? Will we reach a situation where our food supply could be threatened? What is the alternative to a firm lockdown? Do we just put up with it and let another few hundred thousand die? If the virus really gets out of hand don't worry about locking down borders, no other country would let Americans in. Just thinking out loud.

“But CV is sure to skyrocket once the Trump rallies begin..” Well let us explain something to you since you don’t seem to understand. There is a BIG difference between crowds gathering outside with the vast majority wearing masks and packing 20,000 people with no masks into an indoor stadium. And here is a new slogan for ya... Dump Trump and Make America Great Again !

So back to the Cronavirus... If someone in the United States is hospitalized with Covid-19 does anyone have an idea of what costs are involved? I know there is no exact answer, but if the person is uninsured, what might his bill be? It would seem now that most travel insurance will no longer cover you for Covid-19 if you travel to the US.

What sort of alternate universe do we live in? Protected by hundreds of Secret Service, Police and even Army troops, The President of the United States (You know the draft dodger) is such a phony coward that that he and his family hide in the basement like Saddam Hussein hid in a ditch. And then in an asinine attempt to recover his masculinity the big chicken refuses to wear a mask setting a terrible example for those fools who see him as an example. Not much wonder Trump has done such a terrible job of protecting his citizens from the pandemic. And yet there are those who still attempt to defend this buffoon.

"IMO, shutting down was a no-brainer at the start, and now opening shops while requiring masks in public enclosed spaces (and ideally good ventilation) is also a no brainer. " Agreed. You have to wonder about anyone who is against wearing a mask in public. Wearing masks help protect yourself, but more so it protects others if you should have the virus. At some point it will become evident that not wearing a mask is insulting to those you meet. I know of some countries where this is already the case and those not wearing masks may be met with some hostility.

"Japanese tend to more about the culture/community instead of the individual. I think you're right that it can work without lockdowns. I just don't know how well that would work in a more individualistic culture like the most of the west." Probably right. We seem to have a lack of self discipline to the point that would make this difficult.

"Its also really bizarre all the outrage some here had at college kids partying or states reopening, but now little to no concern about hoards of protesters everywhere.” “...why you seem to have an infatuation with putting everything on one person(POTUS)...” First, I can’t recollect any post that suggested that there was no concern over protesters. Of course there is a concern over crowds gathering. Second, what sort of example is set when the country’s leader continues to downplay the virus and refuses to be seen wearing a mask or when he promotes discredited medicinal treatments? He is the guy in charge after all. Remember "The buck stops here" vs "I take no responsibility for that" Why worry about protesters when the president himself continually crowds people together without masks for his photo ops or plans to hold an INDOOR rally of 20,000 people? And while Trump discourages people from wearing masks, he requires attendees to his rally to agree to hold him harmless in the event attendees contract the disease. Obviously the country has made a total f*** up of the situation and the credit for much of that rests with the guy in charge. Remember that guy who set up guidelines for reopening and then criticized states for not ignoring them and for not opening up faster. You know, “free Michigan”.

“Now, of course there are those cynics among us who may think that Trump is not that stupid. Perhaps he is making a smart strategic move to retain power by postponing elections indefinitely and using the pandemic as an excuse.” Well Cubs, since you don't think Trump is that smart, I guess you and I agree that Trump is just stupid. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “People unfortunately die. This is part of life. I wish this wasn't the case, but it is. You arent griping about car accidents..totally avoidable. Cancer kills tons of people. We haver a pandemic. A virus with no vaccine yet. This stuff is inevitable. “ Given your previous statements of “Its just the flu” and you would only “become concerned if there were a few dozen deaths in the whole US.” now that the US is heading for 120,000 deaths and rising, are you concerned yet? It would seem that you simply can’t grasp the fact that the situation may become far worse unless it is taken more seriously than it has been in the US. I wonder if your attitude would change if some people close to you comes down with the virus? Unfortunately, as this virus spreads the chances of that are increasing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And for both of you guys, if you think that the country is doing such a great job, we are still waiting for your explanation of : Why are US deaths still rising when other countries have been getting it under control? Why does the US account for nearly 30% of world wide deaths? You guys never actually face the tough questions. Deflect, deflect, deflect because it seems you have no answer.

“Of course it needs to be minimized...” Really? Ignore it and it will go away? It is unbelievable that some STILL haven’t clued in to what is going on and are still following the official line of the Buffoon-in-Chief. This is serious sh*t and with Trump seemingly sticking his head in the sand and ignoring it will not make it go away. In fact this thinking has is causing thousands and thousands of unnecessary deaths. Those are not just numbers. Those are DEAD people. And to assume those are just old people or people with medical problems is simply ignoring the realities. The gross mishandling of this disaster is proven out by the fact that the US accounts for about 30% of world Covid deaths while accounting for just 4% of world population. Want to try and justify that? The US is handling the epidemic worse than third world countries. Why? And while you are so worried about the economy, you still don’t seem to understand that this line of thinking may very well lead to another major shut own of the economy. Now, of course there are those cynics among us who may think that Trump is not that stupid. Perhaps he is making a smart strategic move to retain power by postponing elections indefinitely and using the pandemic as an excuse.

Yeah, when you give assholes a break some of them are still going to be assholes. Put them in the Covid ward. I have no sympathy for them. You would think that if you had been let out of jail you would try to avoid going back. Then again those idiots probably liked it better in jail where they get 3 meals a day and a bed for free.

I find it surprising you still seem to be trying to minimize the Covid-19. A few months ago you were telling us that this was “basically the flu” and you would be concerned when you could count the deaths on the fingers of one hand in any state or if there were a few dozen deaths in the whole US. You give the impression that this is still not any worse than the flu. Just FYI. 116,000 people in the US have died and that number is climbing daily. Trump and his third world administration - that you seem to support - have so badly handled this that the US accounts for nearly 30% of the world’s Covid deaths, while only accounting for 4% of the world population. This ain't no flu. And it is going to get a lot worse.