Posts by Matthew Young35

ruggedjackal46 said:Man, how we got hit by an earthquake right in the middle of all that COVID madness... I've honestly never experienced anything quite like it, and I really hope I never have to again. Even now, as I’m typing this, I keep half-expecting my desk to start shaking. 🤦

It’s a huge relief that it passed without any fatalities—though I'm still praying that young lady pulls through; what a tragedy that would have been 😢. Honestly, those ancient buildings downtown need a total overhaul anyway; there's no more kicking the can down the road. On the flip side, it’s somewhat comforting that most of the newer developments and the areas toward the South didn't take much damage. It turns out Washington, D.C. isn't quite the disaster zone people make it out to be.

I guess both the pandemic and the quake forced us to rethink things and maybe organize our lives a bit better. Maybe, in the long run, it won't all turn out to be such a bad thing.

I wouldn't count on that happening.
😁

With these little tremors rattling everything all day (including that slightly stronger one a moment ago), the worst part is that low-frequency thudding coming from deep underground. If it weren't for that sound, I'd barely even notice they were happening.

To all of you who were busy mocking us for stockpiling toilet paper and yeast—now that the earthquake has hit, are you feeling even a little bit foolish?

Nancy Sanchez31 said:I’m heading into work like clockwork—mask, gloves, sanitizer, the whole bit. There's no way I'm staying home, especially since my boss mentioned he still has enough in the budget to cover three more paychecks.☕

It’s easy to say when you have that kind of security.
☕

Unfortunately, most people don't work for companies that can afford to be that generous.

At this rate, all we need is a massive locust swarm to really round out this disaster of a series.

Noah Perez2 said:Fourteen days won't cut it; we're looking at at least a month of total lockdown before things settle. It took drastic measures from the Chinese government to actually see results, and even then, they only stopped seeing local cases once they strictly controlled travelers entering the country.

I happened to stumble upon an article on a news site detailing the timeline, written by a journalist who has been tracking every update since this all broke...

Look at the gaps in logic here. The first case was identified on December 8, yet on January 24—meaning a full month and a half later—those bureaucrats at WHO were still claiming,

In an attempt to walk back their previous statements, they claimed on January 23 that it was premature to declare an "international public health emergency" and advised against any restrictions, including the closure of businesses or limiting travel between China and Europe.

Naturally, while those bat-eating types spread through both China and the rest of the world during the Lunar New Year...

They aren't closing their borders or stopping Chinese citizens from traveling to Europe because the decision-makers are still operating under the delusion that everything is perfectly fine. Besides, who dares criticize the Chinese when they've become such a massive global economic powerhouse?

The best evidence of how paralyzed the authorities are is that the governor of Lombardy had already requested that the national government in Rome shut down Lombardy, but the higher-ups refused to allow it.

To put it bluntly, it wasn't the people in Lombardy who were being naive; rather, it was the inert bureaucracy in power, prioritizing globalization and maintaining a "don't rock the boat" mentality over actual safety.
For an entire month, the virus was comfortably establishing its reservoir, likely heading toward a peak right around the Champions League finals.

Forget it, you can't even track the movement anymore.

Now we'll see people getting penalized in America just for taking a stroll through a park.
And you want to know what's actually going to spread the virus?
It won't be globalization.
It will be the employers who aren't legally barred from operating, demanding that staff show up to work even when there's barely any business to be had.
From what I can see, once the initial shock wore off, everyone sent their people home, but now they're already announcing calls to return to the office.
And for the average worker with no leverage, there is no choice: go in, or get fired.
I understand the business owners too; things are difficult for them as well, and even a trickle of business is hard to survive on.

Just my observation.

darkseal9 said:I'm honestly just dying to know what Greta Thunberg thinks about this whole Coronavirus bullshit. Like, what the hell is she even saying right now when we need her most?

You can mock Greta if you want, but...
There is an absolute disaster unfolding regarding the melting ice caps.
We're talking about ancient viruses frozen in the ice from billions of years ago.
We have zero immunity to them.
And they are thawing out.

Unless, of course, you believe Donald Trump is right—that the ice isn't actually melting and global warming is nothing more than a Democratic conspiracy.

Paul Sanders5 said:Of course some kids are gonna slack off. But look, it’s about time these kids learned how to take some damn responsibility. You gotta learn, period. Nobody is going to hold your hand through life forever. Otherwise, they’re gonna get hit by a massive reality check when they show up to American universities and realize the professors couldn't care less about them.😁

I find the human race absolutely fascinating. Like, a month ago, nobody gave a damn about being outside—everyone was glued to their phones, computers, TVs, the internet, the whole nine yards. Now, suddenly, everyone’s acting like they’ve discovered nature and can’t live without it. Meanwhile, most of them couldn't tell an oak tree from a shrub if their lives depended on it.

A month ago, people were actually working. Now? A huge chunk of them have decided this is just one big, unplanned annual vacation.

Paul Sanders5 said:I mean, why even bother reserving them? I don't get it. It’s not like you’ve got a whole stash of unused ones just sitting in a warehouse somewhere.

Reserve, procure, deploy, pull from storage... pick your favorite phrasing.
Beyond that, ventilators are more than just small pieces of equipment.
It is absolutely vital to know how many patients you'll be facing.

Critical cases at the hospital, but without all the fanfare?

And just how many ventilators are you planning to reserve for critical cases if you aren't counting them like cattle?
Do you actually have any more sophisticated methods of counting?

What kind of absolute demagoguery is this? Even Milka Planinc would be embarrassed by that "counting them like livestock" line.
And how exactly would you propose counting them, if I may ask?

Counting patients is a fundamental necessity. It’s how you determine how many medications you need, how many doctors, how many nurses, how many ventilators, how many beds, and how many rooms...
So, how else would you count them besides... one, two, three, four, five, six, and so on? Is that what you mean? Counting them like livestock?

Amanda Evans2 said:He’s having a hell of a run with these doctors lately—first that "expert" regarding the Facebook virus, and now this Alan Ford fellow...

I was born, yet I haven't died.

Paul Martinez73 said:Well, I think I found my own answer...🤷
So if you have 8,000 deaths for every 80,000 recoveries, and you assume that ratio holds steady for everyone else, you’re looking at 160,000 recoveries and 16,000 deaths—which is a 10% mortality rate, not some tiny 1.3% figure people keep throwing around.

Actually, that wouldn't be 10%; it would be 9.09%.

But then again, the raw data itself is double-edged.

Did anyone catch the match?

NEPAL B DIVISION

Soccer - Aug 18

Madhyapur YA - Nayabast YC

Offering 1.50 on the visitors feels like a gift.

brightpilot6 said:Jessica Gonzalez is such an anti-vaxxer. She managed to pull three random numbers out of thin air, claiming we all have a 1.5 percent chance of dropping dead this year, and she’s actually trying to build some grand philosophy around that premise.

Can someone please give people some actual facts?

The 1.5% chance of dying isn't what keeps me up at night. What actually worries me is the 50% chance I might lose my job, and the 100% certainty that I won't be able to find another one. On top of that, there's a 100% chance that people I actually care about will get laid off too.

That 1.5%? That’s just noise for the panic merchants.

I’m not losing sleep over that tiny one-and-a-half percent chance of dying. What actually keeps me up at night? There's a solid 50% chance I'll get laid off, and a 100% certainty that finding a new job won't be easy. On top of that, there's a 100% guarantee that people I actually care about will lose their jobs too.

That 1.5% figure is strictly for the panic merchants.

Jessica Gonzalez said:I wouldn't call it a conspiracy, mostly because governments can't seem to agree on anything. It seems more like the math itself is what scares them—if the number of infections and deaths keeps climbing uncontrollably, healthcare systems just won't be able to handle the influx of patients, especially older folks. In America, a major concern is our aging population, which is the most vulnerable group. Almost every family has seniors, and it's really tough to fully shield them from these kinds of seasonal bugs. Winter is always a struggle with colds and the flu, and now we have Corona on top of it. It also shows how much of an issue borders are; in a crisis like this, the idea of a unified system like the European Union feels a bit theoretical.

It's all nonsense... I get it, you just don't like the European Union.
But regarding this, I'm not sure how to put it... Panic has gripped the entire world.
It started in China, where information and movement are strictly controlled.

The issue isn't open borders; it's something else entirely.
And yes, I agree—this isn't some grand global conspiracy.

Paul Sanders5 said:I honestly don't think Americans realize just how hard we're all gonna get hit when this tourist season slump finally kicks in.😁

It isn't a matter of falling short; it’s a matter of nonexistence.

Paul Sanders5 said:Let's get real for a second and ask ourselves—what happens if this doesn't wrap up in two weeks? Or a month? Two months? Are we actually looking at a whole year of this?

We can't sustain this for a year.
If this drags on for more than a month or two, the black market is going to explode.
There's simply no other way.

I suspect we aren't getting the full story.
I’m not talking about conspiracy theories or anything of that nature. It’s more like how you might lie to a small child just to keep them from getting too frightened.

What are the odds that every single nation on Earth would descend into absolute panic and trigger a total economic collapse over a virus that infected roughly two hundred thousand people, with a mortality rate of just 0.001 percent for anyone under sixty?

Perhaps they are terrified it might mutate into something significantly more lethal or far more contagious?
Or maybe they realize this isn't just a seasonal thing and that infection rates will climb exponentially without any sign of slowing down?
Or who knows... heaven only knows.

To me, it feels surreal that the entire world has ground to a halt because of a few thousand elderly deaths, however tragic those losses may be.

I wouldn't say they are hiding things, per se, but there are certain details they simply aren't discussing.
Again, I want to emphasize: I'm not suggesting a grand conspiracy. It's more likely they just don't want to spark even more panic than what we are already seeing.