Posts by urbanhawk17

Michelle Palmer6 said:So, prostate issues, huh?

Ever since you stopped hanging out in the showers at the convention center, things have just been off. ☕

I just got up to pee, crawled back into bed, and then everything started shaking. That first tremor was brutal. Honestly, you just sit there praying the whole building won't collapse on you... It lasts maybe ten seconds, but it feels like an entire year passed...

During the second one, I heard a dog barking outside. I told my wife, "Here comes another one," hoping against hope it wouldn't happen. I guess dogs can sense it somehow, because right as I said that, the ground started moving again...

Just finished skimming a morning article about a little girl who died. She had to be buried twice today.🤦

Everything's just piling up on me. It’s getting to be too much. I honestly don't give a damn anymore.

I just saw on the news that they couldn't save that girl. Honestly, screw it all.

We're doing just great, aren't we?

It’s like a movie. First, you get a little virus, then suddenly it’s not enough, so they just start shaking everything up.

what a time to be alive ☕

Maybe throw in a flood before then ☕

ruggedjackal46 said:Look, just because people want to take a walk outside doesn't mean they’re some kind of deranged psychopaths. Getting some fresh air is actually healthy, especially for those of us stuck in tiny apartments. It’s good for both your physical and mental health, which is pretty crucial given everything going on right now. As long as people are following basic precautions, I really don't see why there's such massive hysteria about it.

It's because people are idiots.

If you go out for a stroll, it doesn't mean you have to hold hands with your girlfriend or gather a group of ten for a BBQ and a soccer game. Maybe stop acting like a tough guy and just sit at a cafe terrace pretending you're some big shot.

Or look at the crowds at the local park lately—everyone is suddenly out there, packed onto those stairs, practically touching one another.

And now, because of morons like that—who probably make up 90% of the population—the rest of us can't even go for a simple walk.

Anthony Jackson2 said:Michelle Palmer6, give us some actual facts so we aren't just spreading nonsense.

I'm really wondering when he'll be back.

Paul Sanders5 said:I don't get it. My old man is 80, so he bailed out to his cabin in the woods. He told me he hasn't stepped foot in the city or been around crowds for a month now, and he’s got no intention of going back anytime soon. That's just how you look out for yourself—what else is there? He knows he's high risk regardless of how healthy he feels; at his age, you can't ignore it.

That’s the way to do it. Just leave us alone and isolate yourselves as much as possible...

Honestly, I can't wrap my head around what's happening. It feels like I'm watching some movie. A virus hitting, quarantines, people dying, the military on the streets...

Over in France, they're already seeing fights and looting in the stores...

Seriously, what the hell is actually going on?!?

Eric Fox7 said:+ footage from the hospital in Bergamo Pathetique 🙄

Pure Bergam Pathetique.

It’s just like how we sat around waiting three whole days to deal with those cafe closures—honestly, they could have shut the schools down at the exact same time. 🤷

By the way—I honestly think the most vulnerable people out there are actually the ones with the least discipline. I was out riding my bike today and the city is just absolutely crawling with people. Even the news sites are reporting that a group of seventy-year-olds decided to go out for some collective sunbathing and a dip in the Mississippi River today. Just wild. 🙏🤦
Honestly, people like that don't even need COVID—a common cold would probably land them straight in the ICU.

Here, it's the exact same pattern in Miami.

Facebook is just full of melodrama lately. Of course, they're all posting pictures and videos of their beds from the arena.

Eric Fox7 said:Got some info from a solid source saying that starting next week—most likely Wednesday—we're looking at a full-on lockdown. Basically, work, essential retail, and emergency services are the only things still running.

Look, if that's actually happening, and it seems more and more certain, why wait? Why not start tomorrow? Or Sunday? It's four days until Wednesday. By then, we'll probably have another 500 or 600 infections.

Personally, I'm all for isolating the elderly and those with health issues while letting everyone else live normally. If that won't work—and it clearly won't—then we need a total lockdown, not this half-measure we're dealing with now. This current setup is nothing.

And by the way, now that people in the city are heading out to their weekend homes, there could be quite a few cases popping up in the suburbs. I hope that doesn't happen, but I wouldn't be surprised.

But you aren't saying the same thing I am, or maybe I just didn't catch your drift, but it doesn't really matter.

It hits the lungs, sure, but it isn't any more lethal than the flu.

Take the US, for example—we have about 130 cases right now, with 3 people on ventilators. We’re kind of lucky in this mess because the average age of those infected is 46, if I'm remembering correctly. If that average jumps to 65, we’re going to be in serious trouble.

In Italy, they just reported 5,500 new infections today. If 500 of those people need a ventilator today or tomorrow, well, there go your next 500 deaths...

And regarding the flu, like I said, you can get vaccinated, but the shot might not even work if the doctors guessed the wrong strain. It's not like you just get jabbed when the flu shows up; you have to do it 2 or 3 weeks beforehand.

And honestly, how many of us actually head down to the local clinic to get vaccinated before flu season even hits?

Sam Thomas3 said:It’s always easy to talk big when you aren't the one in the line of fire, isn't it? It's not like I'm shaking in my boots or anything—actually, I just got back from a pickup basketball game where there were maybe 15 people hanging out.

But hey, it’s all well and good while everything is playing out over in Italy. Would any of us be obsessing over whether it’s a 1% or 3% fatality rate if it were happening right here in the States? Would GQ be making those wild analogies if it were hitting our own backyard? If those percentages were your actual reality instead of just numbers on a spreadsheet, would you feel differently? Imagine hearing the stories firsthand, or heaven forbid, watching your own neighbors become nothing more than a statistic in a crowd, wondering which side of that percentage you’re going to land on. You'd be huddled in a room, praying that you—and that one or three percent—just bypass you entirely. Honestly, I find it hard to believe anyone could comfort themselves with statistics in that moment, let alone try to convince others on a forum that these are just harmless little figures.

Besides, even though I get the impression the virus itself might not be more dangerous than the flu, it is definitely much easier to spread on a massive scale. And then there are the complications—they might not always be fatal, but they certainly require a serious response, the right equipment, and total readiness. I mean, what is the actual mortality rate of a virus if you have 500 ventilators available for 10,000 critical patients?
The real question is how prepared we actually are—especially in terms of physical capacity—to suppress this thing. Because if you aren't ready, that vacuum-sealed fact about a "1% mortality rate" doesn't mean a single thing.

The biggest issue is that if the count climbs past 800, we're in trouble because we won't have the space or the ventilators...

That's the current situation in Italy; they lack enough ventilators and hospital beds, so they're literally choosing the younger patients and letting the older ones pass away.

Of course, this all started because doctors brought the virus into the oncology ward... and now it's just panic and chaos. They should have the quarantine results by Monday, maybe a day earlier or later, but it's crucial to reduce the patient load so they have enough ventilators for everyone.

I think our officials mentioned today that we have 800 ventilators in the US, but right now there are only three patients on them. Once you're on a ventilator, you're in critical condition. You can't breathe on your own.

If things take a sharp turn for the worse, there will be problems, and that's why being aware of the quarantine is so important. As a virus, the mortality isn't huge, except for the elderly.

And if it reaches the point where we have to take a ventilator off someone who is 90 just to save someone who is 30, then we are truly in trouble.

Ashley Bailey6 said:That's exactly my point.

I know.

Paul Martinez73 said:Why not just reach out to the WHO and explain things to them? Tell them they haven't got a clue. Send a note to the folks shutting down production at places like Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and the rest, telling them there's no need to worry because the Pope said nothing will happen. Tell them it's just "Flu v2," and if they weren't shutting down then, they shouldn't be doing it now.

Or just shoot an email to Merkel; tell her that while they're basically grinding the economy to a halt, you know better than they do. Tell her they're just panic-mongers. After all, the Pope about virus has more info than Merkel does.

By the way, the way they're ramping up these restrictions in an area like Chicago is pretty symptomatic of what's coming. There are maybe 50-60 cases, yet they're setting up massive containment zones for at least 500 people, not to mention hospital capacities. It looks like we're bracing for a total disaster...

Yeah, because the WHO was so spot on with bird flu, right? I'll definitely take their word for it. Sure.

I suppose the progression will just be hitting 500 cases, or even more. I don't see an issue with that part.

The real issue is the impression that only 5% will survive while 95% of people die.

Ashley Bailey6 said:If we didn't have a flu vaccine, things would be much worse.

There. Explained.

If a different strain of the flu hits than what the medical experts predicted, then the vaccine doesn't help at all, I guess.

So you have seasons where you get vaccinated and it does nothing for you. I don't see this level of panic or hysteria, nor do I see people counting the dead.

But that's basically what Plazo said—that if we had called this disease "flu" instead of Covid19, even if it was just a different type of flu, nobody would care.

Paul Martinez73 said:Hey Group, someone needs to tell her that this isn't even a big deal; honestly, the flu is way more dangerous and half these numbers are probably exaggerated anyway. It’s not unheard of for flu season to pack hospitals so tight you literally run out of beds and have to just let people pass away... total unnecessary panic ☕

The plague killed half of Europe.

brightpilot6 said:Which grandpa are we talking about?

big fair

ZZ, is Grandpa still online?

William Gomez5 said:Six feet of social distancing in a cramped room

Dads and all those other guys in relationships finally waking up to reality

Wait, but what happens to ZZ?

William Gomez5 said:+1

Man, the big man already spoke the truth a long time ago ☕

As for being great... maybe he was. Maybe even the greatest. 🙏🙏

Jacob Kern2 said:I find myself genuinely wondering how this landscape will look in a month's time, once people realize that all these lockdowns might prove nearly futile against a virus that refuses to vanish. The scientific community seems largely in agreement that we cannot simply eradicate it, often citing the necessity of herd immunity, yet we continue to shutter everything in sight. One must consider the fate of the thousands who will lose their livelihoods, or the emergence of secondary health crises triggered by extreme stress and economic hardship—issues that could ultimately leave the most vulnerable without even a roof over their heads. All of this stems from a virus that, according to current projections, may only reach about 20% of the total population, many of whom will experience nothing more than mild symptoms.

It is easy to play the strategist once the dust has settled, but considering the massive amount of revenue the United States will undoubtedly lose, I believe we would have been five times better off if we had allocated a portion of those funds toward supporting the seniors who need to stay home. We could have invested in delivery services for food, water, and medication, or perhaps even provided temporary housing for those living in multi-generational households until the situation stabilizes.

To me, this mounting hysteria feels increasingly like Sladoljev was right, much like when he voiced his skepticism during the swine flu era. If we hadn't branded this specific illness as "coronavirus" and given it its own unique identity, it likely would have slipped under the radar just like dozens of other viruses that have historically been lumped in with the flu.

I guess I'm leaning in that same direction too. 😉