Posts Made By: James Lacey

Originally Posted by James Brown

I believe that this suggests that we'd be in a lot worse shape with respect to Covid 19 without the mitigation efforts.

Rational people would call this definitive, not just suggestive. There is no doubt the social distancing measures are working, and they have not just broad support among the public; they have tremendous support. The steps do have another cost, though. It turns out I was wrong about the 30% furlough at my work-place since it turned out to be 75% myself included. The company is going to pay our health-care premium for two months, so that is one bright spot. Our director says he believes we will be back to work by the 6th of July, but most of us don't think it will happen. For me, it's no big deal, my family and I will be fine, but for a lot of other people, it's a real threat to their well-being. I'm afraid, however, that we will be dealing with the fallout of COVID for at least another 2 to 3 years. Things are not returning to normal anytime soon, and especially not with the response seen so far from our national government.

Originally Posted by Maurice Clark

Hi James,

Sorry to hear you have been put off work.  At least your employer will keep paying your health insurance.  That has me wondering though, with some many people losing their job and possibly their health insurance, I wonder if that will increase support for a move away from employer-based health insurance towards universal health insurance?

Maurice

Hi Maurice,

We will see. I've been wondering if this pandemic will create a profound or notable transition in our politics as well. I'm not hopeful, however, since we never seem to be able not to allow political ideology to drive our public policy instead of common sense, hard data, and expert advice.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

Pure speculation on your part. The social distancing was forced on people to some extent. I think many people would simply ignore it if given the choice. That being said, if I go into a store that asks you to stay 6' apart in a line, I do so as a courtesy to others. Also, if there are enter/do not enter markings on the floor of stores in the aisles, I abide by that as well. If I pass someone in a store, I don't concern myself about a 6' distance; most people don't either.

Darian,

We are already at 50,000 deaths, and it's not even the end of April. Just a little over a week ago, you said that your intuition was that we would not see more than 40,000 deaths in total. I think this establishes that intuition is not a good predictor. We have seen 50,000 deaths in four months with extreme social distancing and non-pharmaceutical interventions. If you look at the data, if you read Jim's analysis, which is quite good and impressive, there is no doubt that social distancing has worked. It's not speculation, and to say otherwise is in my mind anyway, just willful avoidance of becoming informed since it clashes with your political leanings.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

James, I am sorry to hear about your employment situation but glad to hear that it will not affect you as adversely as others.

Thank you, Darian, I appreciate the sentiment. My security did not happen by accident. However, I fully realize the privilege and opportunity I had that allowed me to achieve it that others have been less lucky to encounter.

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

Un f'ing believable. I didn't watch any news yesterday and when I got into work this morning my partner was waiting for me to go off on him. When I didn't he told me what Trump said and it really didn't register until I heard it on the news on my way to fetch produce. 

Tillerson was right.  He's a F'ing moron. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33QdTOyXz3w

To quote Prez Donny: "I have a good you know what."
 

Come on, Jim, aren't you sick of the lame-stream media hoping that injecting disinfectants and laying in tanning beds won't work! What's wrong with a little optimism! If I get infected with COVID, you better believe I'm asking for hydroxychloroquine, bleach injections, and I'm laying out by the pool covered in baby-oil mixed with iodine!

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

Weapons-Grade Spin!!!!

"As far as the Dis-infectant comment, I can only say this, one would have to be a complete meathead to take his words literally as if he was saying swallow some Lysol. 

That explains the left and their constant barrage on his terminology.

It is easy, one becomes IN-fected with the virus and so he mentioned DIS-infecting your lungs. 

That's kind of what a drug does, an antibiotic Dis-infects one's internal system by eradicating the invading virus. "

  
Welcome back, Rich!  How was the rally?  Did you have a cool sign?  Did you yell at any nurses?

Dave

You know you have reached peak anti-anti-Trump when all you have left is don't listen to his words, and don't read his Tweets, and don't take him literally. For crying out loud, actions, deeds, and words matter, and they certainly matter for the POTUS.

Originally Posted by Rod Kaufman

Well, I can't speak for Darian, but the WH is now saying the media took it all out of context! Yup, that fake news is at it again!

And now Trump is making the play that he set the media up, just to see how they would react. I find this completely believable. It's just like that time Bush told New Yorkers to blow the fires of the twin towers out and just to catch the falling bodies to see how the press would react.

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

Me, too, James. Hang in there.

Thanks, I definitely will. Other than the distress of having to walk away from a job that you poured many years of your life into, it's not too big of a deal for my family. Unemployment is 39 weeks now and substantially better than usual due to the CARES act. My wife already gets a pension and could even start pulling social security if we had to, but it won't be necessary. If I ultimately get laid-off, which I fully expect, I'll get 13 weeks of severance, so all-in-all no financial worries at all. We won't even have to tap any savings until 2021 at least, even longer if we are frugal enough, and we always are. I think I'm going to look around and see if I can find a remote position since I'm not relocating. You never know, I may just slide into retirement. This pandemic is not how I pictured it happening, but c'est la vie!

Originally Posted by Russ Carroll

Let me add my condolences as well, James. Glad you and your wife will be OK. You obvious have lived (and spent) wisely in the past.

Russ

I appreciate that, Russ. I think the hardest thing for me is going to be missing the people, of course, but software developers pour a lot of heart-and-soul into their work. It is at its core a creative process, especially when you are solving complex real-world problems in software, like automating exchanges and refunds of airline documents. In some cases, we have products that no one else can provide because they have tried and failed. So, you get attached not to just the people, but the products as well.

Originally Posted by Darian Rachal

Do you listen to these briefings?mi

Trump has called reporters fake, terrible, nasty, and told them they are losers and that they are never going to make it. This behavior is his standard go-to response when he's not asked a soft-ball question that feeds him the seemingly endless supply of narcissism he requires. Sometimes, when tossed a soft-ball question, Trump still does it, such as when he went off on Peter Alexander for asking him what he would say to Americans who were afraid over the virus. Any competent person would have used this opportunity to showcase their empathy and leadership. But not Trump, he went on to say it was a nasty question and called Alexander a terrible reporter. In every case, I've seen where Trump lashed out at reporters at his press briefings, it was wholly unwarranted, and he only made himself look like a weak, spoiled child.

The negative fall-out from his performances has gotten bad enough that the WH is signaling the briefings will be less frequent, and they will diminish Trump's role. For example, the last presentation was only 22 minutes long, Trump read from a script, and took precisely zero questions. Predictably, his supporters will claim he's doing this because the press doesn't treat him fairly, but the truth is the WH is doing it because they understand that Trump is his own worst enemy.