Coronavirus

lol, so we've had revealed to us that while our current enrollment is looking stable, there are greater long term issues with the size of our university based on demographic projections over the next 10-20 years that will require major cuts.

So our administration has decided to use the coronavirus as an opportunity to make some longer term changes they already want to make. Which is some grim shit.

jeb wrote: It's time this whole anti-science thing goes away. Fight it.

Preach it!

Is this virulent strain of anti-science running through American culture a uniquely American phenomenon? Are other cultures around the world seeing this too? Just curious.

And if it IS uniquely American ... why is that??

jeb wrote:

ChristopherMD wrote: Lost my nail clippers so went to Family Dollar store to buy some. Signs all over the front door saying not allowed inside without a mask on. Older guy inside bragging to employee* about not wearing a mask. "If I die then I die. I don't want to make others sick but I'm not gonna do extra stuff for them." Then proceeds to ask which non-food items he can spend his food stamps on. I almost called the guy a piece of shit to his face. Has no problem wasting those food stamps others paid for that he clearly doesn't need for food but he can't wear a mask for five fucking minutes to help other people.


*There was only one young girl working and it would be ridiculous to expect her to enforce the mask policy on people like this.

You don't have to call him a piece of shit, but you should tell him he's ignorant and rude. Polite society needs to stop being polite and tell these people to stop this. It's not polite to let others do this. If they want to interact with society, follow the fucking rules. Like racism--it's not enough to just be not racist--you need to be ANTI-racist or you are part of the problem.

It's time this whole anti-science thing goes away. Fight it.

Man, I'm totally with you, but I honestly don't know what I would do in that situation. I'm not a confrontational guy, as a rule, but that attitude would get my blood boiling. If I act calm, I'd be ignored or laughed at, if I got aggressive, then I'm the problem. How do you confront a total stranger and encourage them to behave better?

I really don't get this "freedom" bullshit. No one grabbed their AK47s and marched on the capital when Arby's put up their "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" sign. Why is a mask any different? I know, I know, nerd scientists can't tell us what to do, etc.

I wasn't going to say anything but fuck it.

Jeb, you are being ignorant and rude by adding some strawman shit that I support racism because I'm not interested in getting into arguments with strangers over masks. You weren't there and I stand by my judgment of not escalating that particular situation. Please kindly take this criticism and improve yourself with it. Good day.

Besides, he's hoping for the argument. That's his validation.

Thanking both of these posts in criticism of my reply. One makes me realize my analogy was really poorly worded, and I apologize profusely. I will add an addendum to my post to reflect that. I in no way wanted to intimate you were racist or any other -ist, that's my mistake. I am embarrassed that it could be interpreted that way, I try to be careful with online communication and I really blew this one.

The other, that he wants the argument I think also might be true. But having an argument is a two-way thing. You can say your piece and move on. He can start to rant and try to get shit going but the same "rights" he has to talk about why he's not wearing a mask when there is a deadly pandemic he might be spreading is the one that lets you say he's an ignoramus and dangerous to be around. You each got to say one thing. Argument over.

All this being said, there are some legitimately mentally unwell people out there. My wife and about a third of the folks at Target had to dodge a really unstable person doing their thing on the staff there. I think that customer was bodily moved to the parking lot at the end of the whole thing. So, not every person spouting nonsense should get the same treatment, to be sure. I have let my thoughts known to most and made judgment calls about others. I'll add this note too.

Yes. Last night the Spawn said that she felt like her friend in Georgia was living in a different country.

I would almost say that most things here, aside from retail/restaurant closures and no big public events, are pretty much back to normal. Malls are open, even.

What's worse is that people are just acting like it's back to normal when it's not. Traffic is picking up, which means people are moving around more and spreading it more. This is a time bomb down here.

You go to the store, and inevitably if you are wearing a mask there is a sneering boomer redneck that shakes their head at you or intentionally barrels down the aisle to crowd you. I have taken to wearing a mask almost as a sign of rebellion against these death cultists. Then you get the boomer Karens that throw a big fit at Publix because the aisles are now one way, acting like it is some kind of ConSTATUUshunnAL right to go two ways in a fucking grocery store aisle. The other side of it are the 18-25 year olds going to the grocery in big groups and goofing around, unmasked of course. Just like my wife says - if one of these fucking selfish, ignorant assholes not wearing a mask spreads it to five people, then everything we have sacrificed to hopefully slow and eventually stop this is in vain. I'm not crying a single tear for any of these anti-mask/anti-social distancing/anti-science shitbrains that get this and suffer. But I will be crying for the people that these self-centered defenders of tHe COnstaToOshIN can and will kill. I look at anyone without a mask as a potential murderer. There are so many people not wearing masks here that it's untenable to call them out or confront them publically...or else I would.

We went to a totally outdoor Cherokee historical site sunday. All 4 of us were in masks the whole. We got DIRTY looks form people not wearing masks, as if us wearing the masks reminded them that things are NOT back to normal. We were the only people out of about 30 that were masked. I saw one dude put his hands all over a stair rail and then pick his fucking nose.

I about lost my mind mother's day night. One of my sisters is ultra right wing, ultra evangelical. Frankly, dumb as a rock. So she has been talking to my elderly mom about how the virus is a democratic hoax, apparently they got ahold of that "Plandemic" thing, MSM is blowing it out of proportion, etc. Now, my mom is questioning whether this is a hoax and if she should be getting out like normal. I don't talk to my mom that much because she's a Fox News death cultist (which is extremely saddening), but of course I called her on mother's day. "What do you think, do you think this is a hoax?" I about went off on her for even entertaining the idea. I told her that the equivalent of ten planes full of people crashing are dying every day, go ask those families if this is a hoax or if it's "just like the flu". I told her about my wife's cousin in NYC, who made the news because he was the first patient where they noticed blood clots forming throughout the respiratory system, ask him if this is "made up by the MSM". I'm so unbelievably angry at my sister for even planting this seed of doubt in my parents' minds. Usually when she's on her religious bullshit I'm just like whatever, but that she would even have this kind of conversation with our mom just utterly disgusts me. I doubt I'll be speaking to my sister again anytime soon. So now I've got to call my mom every day to reinforce that no, she and my dad can not go to Costco.

My father-in-law keeps sending us Youtube videos from shit-stirrers on the conspiracy behind the virus and all this. He just wants us to watch them. He just wants us to know about this.

HIS DAUGHTER IS AN IMMUNOLOGIST.
HIS SON-IN-LAW WORKS FOR THE BIGGEST BIOTECH COMPANY IN THE WORLD.

We have already forgotten more about coronavirus than he could ever possibly know, and he still gets his news from idiots on WeChat and grifters on Facebook. I want to throw his electronics into the trash and my spouse is like ten times as exasperated. We don't send him newsletters every day telling him this is a horrible disease, please stay inside so your immuno-compromised wife of fifty years doesn't die, BUT I GUESS WE SHOULD.

The multiple plane crash every day analogy is an excellent one, I'll keep that in mind. Human minds don't deal well with large numbers without context. It's why our discussions of public policy vis a vis spending is so messed up.

I’m heading in to work to manage our new make shift hand sanitizers bottling operation. I’ve had 2 employees test positive and they got infected outside of work. One got infected from a fire fighter she was living with who got infected from someone they were saving. The other guy was infect early on while visited Brooklyn back in March before the shutdown. I had to self quarantine for 2 weeks because I was in close contact with one of the positive case. Luckily, everyone came out with mild cases and I never had symptoms.

I’m segregating work shifts so if we have another case we can shutdown that shift but not the whole operation. We’re temperature checking as people come into work. Masks, cleaning protocol and social distancing are mandatory at work.

Personally, I feel super safe at work. I think if given the choice, I feel safer licking a frequently sanitized toilet at work then shop at the local Dollar Store or C Store next to the Asshats right now.

Things have improved significantly over here.

The website for booking a supermarket trip once a week is now working. The 'supermarket' has been set up in a school and everyone is temperature checked and provided gloves on entry.

Obviously, a mask is compulsory.

They have all the basics although fresh fruit is difficult to find.

Living on dal, which is OK as it is pretty healthy, and restocked my freezer as well.

Kuwait thinking about allowing immediate families to return to Kuwait so maybe Tanya will be able to get back before Christmas as, right now, there are no commercial flights allowed into Kuwait except for imported food etc. One thing at a time though as she still needs to actually get a passport and recover her health.

Thanks for everyone's concern. Panic button off for now.

Back to general suffering rather than actual hunger.

Joebot wrote:

jeb wrote: It's time this whole anti-science thing goes away. Fight it.

Preach it!

Is this virulent strain of anti-science running through American culture a uniquely American phenomenon? Are other cultures around the world seeing this too? Just curious.

And if it IS uniquely American ... why is that??

I believe that the anti-science thing is specific to America for the last 20 years or so. During that time, right-wing media pushed the usual divide between liberals and conservatives into yawning chasm, to the point that nearly every aspect of our society has been politically polarized. Somewhere during that time span, analysis of election results indicated that college-educated people are more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans, so many Republicans have turned against higher education, including the sciences. Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch may have American citizenship now (dual citizenship with Australia), but he has no particular interest in a powerful America. Instead, he has determined that there is a lot of money to be made by operating a divisive propaganda channel that continues to drive a wedge through our society. Fox News offers a daily blend of bias confirmation and aggressive spin designed to keep conservatives simmering with rage and resentment.

I'd agree that the anti-intellectual strain is specifically American and has increased in recent decades for the indicated reasons, but the US has had the seeds of that for a long time. We've been basically the largest purveyor of the idea that one's individual lights, be it in religion, politics, whatnot, is the north star, and if everyone has equal reasoning power (so the thinking goes), then no one's truth is any better than any other's. And I think in recent decades you can go back further than the last two to note the evangelical revival of roughly four decades now, which is almost definitionally anti-establishment. And you can couple this with attacks on the idea of truth from the intellectual left as well, and you've got the seedbed for distrust of everything and belief in nothing.

There's a great quote from Isaac Asimov: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"