Posts by mellowotter36

gentleharbor3 said:Really interesting lecture by American neorealist John Mearsheimer
who visited the University of Chicago back in 2015, about a year and a half after Maidan.
He lays out a very clear, well-argued case
on why the West is actually responsible for what’s happening in Ukraine and explains exactly how everyone played their part.
It’s an easy watch. He breaks down all the necessary elements
needed to grasp the broader context
of the conflict and the competing interests in that part of Europe. If you know English, give it a look...

ruggedjackal46 said:The death toll in the USA is ten times higher than what we're seeing in China. What kind of leadership does that even suggest?

Sweden has a death count roughly equal to our current infection numbers. Look, countries like Sweden or Germany can afford to take those kinds of risks because they have robust healthcare systems capable of absorbing a massive surge in patients. Our healthcare system is already straining at the seams; they're turning away people who don't even have Coronavirus just to keep up. What on earth would happen if we had 20,000 active cases instead of 2,000?

Honestly, this whole situation is a tectonic disaster. It’s a complete wreck for the economy, and it’s just as messy for politics, especially now that the crisis management team has basically become an unquestionable authority. No matter how you slice it, it's a total mess.

restlesssurfer97 said:

“The American Wuhan,” the town of Heinsberg right near the border with the Netherlands, was actually one of those very first hotspots where this whole coronavirus thing really started kicking off.

So here’s why: people in Germany just love their carnivals, and they went ahead and held theirs in Heinsberg on February 15th this year. Right after that, they hit this massive wave of infections—like a full-blown epidemic that eventually spiraled into the global pandemic we all know. They clocked 1,281 confirmed cases and saw 34 people pass away out of a population of 250,000, with just over 550 folks having recovered at that point.

Since the outbreak in Heinsberg happened about two and a half weeks before the virus really started spreading through the rest of Germany, scientists jumped on it immediately to launch the "Heinsberg Protocol." The whole idea was to deep-dive into how the virus evolved within that specific community so they could figure out lessons to apply to the entire country. They focused their lens on the Gangelt area, which has about 12,529 residents, and studied 1,000 people from 400 different households who filled out questionnaires and were tested for antibodies like IgG and IgA.

On Thursday morning, they finally dropped the first set of results from this study covering 500 of the participants, and honestly, some of these findings are pretty interesting:

- they found that 14% of those who caught the virus had developed immunity
- about 2% are currently infected
- the infection rate sits at 15%, counting both current and past cases
- the mortality rate is 0.37%

Yawn. ☕

Anthony Jackson2 said:And yeah, I’ll keep calling you out. Prove to me that the person who spread it was actually being irresponsible, rather than it just being pure luck. Go ahead, I'm waiting.

I live in a house with four other people—three of them work, so 4 out of 5 of us are out every single day, interacting with the world, hitting the grocery store or the pharmacy. The odds of me catching this thing while walking through a park are way lower than the odds of someone in my own house bringing it home from work or the store. So, what's the actual point of quarantines, locking apartment doors, and all those other idiotic measures? You guessed it: nothing. (I wrote that because I knew you wouldn't catch on.)

Besides, the fact that the virus made its way back to China proves these measures were a failure, especially since they aren't sustainable in the long run anyway.

restlesssurfer97 said:Last week they were all bragging about how low the mortality rate was, and now look—they just opened up a new assisted living facility in Miami. All ten of the positive cases are already on ventilators, and honestly, who knows how many more people are going to test positive soon. This whole thing is unfortunately headed straight for a total disaster.

Anthony Jackson2 said:It exists—but it comes with strings attached.

He thinks the quarantine placed on Murter is illegal—which, honestly, isn't hard to argue with. Under the Public Health Service Act, you can only forcibly quarantine individuals, not entire regions—and that call has to come directly from the Secretary of Health, not some FEMA directive. Plus, the Law also mandates that anyone forced into quarantine has to be compensated—another detail they seem to be ignoring.

Anthony Jackson2 said:So, while Canada is busy drafting actual legislation regarding travel restrictions—

it wouldn't surprise me if those getting slapped with fines for breaking quarantine or leaving their homes end up suing the government for a payday.

Anthony Jackson2 said:Look, for the record, you don't actually know the death toll—we've already established that.

The average number of flu deaths in the US is around 14,000 annually, looking back since 2013.

🤦

Which, frankly, doesn't mean a damn thing to them.

Anthony Jackson2 said:Just so we're clear—back in 2018, 16,000 people in Italy died from the standard flu, and even with these inflated COVID numbers, they aren't anywhere near that yet.

Scientist Ivan Đikić joined a live N1 studio session via Skype.

"The absolute priority is stopping the spread. Isolation is unavoidable, and we have to stay on top of hygiene. If we actually stick to this, we can see much better results than some other countries," Đikić said.

"There isn't an effective cure yet, and there's no vaccine for this virus. All we have left is a timely epidemiological defense. If we isolate those spreading the virus, the number of cases will drop, which frees up the healthcare system by preventing massive surges, ultimately lowering the death rate," Đikić told N1.

"Even though these measures might seem overly strict to some, they are exactly what we need to rein in the pandemic and save lives," the scientist added.

"Thousands of scientists worldwide are racing to develop a vaccine, but even with the most optimistic forecasts, we're looking at 12 to 18 months before we have something safe," Đikić noted.

More details coming soon...

ironpanther5 said:So, a buddy of mine just told me they’re completely out of flour at Walmart. 🤣
The crew is out there hauling around like they’re prepping for a month-long apocalypse, lugging about 45 pounds of pasta, rice, and canned goods. 😁

brightpilot6 said:If we follow that line of reasoning, we’d essentially be looking at deporting nearly half the population of the country.

Walking in lockstep with those paramilitary insurgents 🙏🙏

A total atrocity.

Robert Cooper60 said:It’s honestly depressing that they only allow 300 tickets for a section that big.
Because of security or something?