[quote=MascaratumB]
Thanks for that link. Looks scary in Italy, there is no doubt about that and the part about people dying alone is very sad to think about.
I think it´s rather important to realize, that this time it is not “just an influenza” or “just a flu” that is going on.
Naturally, there will also be cases of NORMAL seasonal flu/influenza during this winter.
I took the vaccine for the regular one in autumn.
That’s actually a good challenge based on the principle that don’t know how well you know a subject until you try to teach someone else about it.
The growth of government in the United States was the first metric that came to mind, another angle is probably the growth in the number of laws and regulations.
After a very quick Duckduckgo search (Google censors its results) I spied this article The Growth of Government in America. I’m sure there’s a lot more information out there (still) but that would take more time to hunt down.
Real Per Capita Federal Outlays, 1800-1990
• The federal government spent $16 per person in 1800, $27 per person in 1850, $109 per person in 1900, $1,544 per person in 1950, and $4,760 per person in 1990.
“Figure 2 shows the per capita level of federal spending over time. Even when adjusting for the growth in population size (and inflation), federal expenditures have mushroomed:”
Figure 6
Real Total Government Taxes per Household, 1900-1990
• In 1900 the average family paid nearly $1,400 in taxes.
• In 1950 the average family paid nearly $7,000 in taxes.
• In 1992 the average family paid over $16,000 in taxes.
“The tax burden is even more clearly expressed by examining taxes paid per household as shown in Figure 6.”
Howdy all
First if my comments were offensive PLEASE accept my apology. I don’t often post because I don’t have much to add. You all are so much smarter than me it is embarrassing. I get wound up with some of these conversations and may say the wrong thing.I apologize again if I was offensive.
This variant of the corona virus and it’s activity with the enzyme furin seems to make it all season. It is spreading in Singapore in the tropics n Australia which is still in summery weather. This is different than influenzas which have a tendency to spread more in cold weather. This variant is really a unique one.
Just a thought… I read somewhere (is this correct? not positive) that the Covid-19 test is 95% accurate. If this is so, does this imply that 5% of the tested people will show the wrong result? Well then, if we test a third of the US population, that’s roughly 100,000,000…. can we assume that 5,000,000 people who don’t have the virus will show positive due to the 5% error rate? Or does it mean only that 5% of the people who have the virus will show negative? Trying to figure it out…… :question:
I want to relate an anecdote. My daughter knows a guy in Ohio who says he got Covid-19, tested positive, was in the hospital, and the doctor told him to get his affairs in order because there was a good chance he wouldn’t survive this. He was on a ventilator and he said it felt like he had glass in his lungs. But he kept getting up and moving around even though it made him cough like crazy and even vomit sometimes. But he pulled through and got better. And he thinks it was because he kept getting up and doing stuff in the hospital room. He believes that if he’d just kept lying there he would be dead by now because the stuff just pools in the lungs more and more while lying down.
Dunno, just telling the story as my daughter received it. But if this is sort of like a pneumonia situation, I can picture why it would help to exercise and get more deep breaths, and not lie around.
I saw the images from Italy tonight on the news…. a whole lot of people just lying still in bed with ventilators. Looked like jars on some of their heads. Scary. I wonder, is there any chance that Italy’s extra-high mortality numbers are contributed to by the treatment method? Just speculating.
Are you sure you’re talking about the machine, and not something else guys might pay money for? :smiling_imp:
Well the credit card machines are at waist height, so I found it’s more ergonomic to keep my card duct-taped at a similar height. I get the wierdest looks when I whip out my card. And weirder yet when I take care of business. I don’t know why. 
In the end of 2019, I felt 2020 was like a future year in science fiction movie. I had good hopes in 2020. I could never imagine 2020 started like this.
I wish the damn coronavirus only happened in a movie.
Most provinces have 0 cases in China. New cases are people travelled back to China. People are worried that the virus spreads again and bring us back to the February.
Coronavirus is indeed a world wide disaster. More pacakges were returned by post office because more countries/cities are shut down.
It’s gonna be tough. If we live as usual, we should worry about the coronavirus. If we stay home, we could worry about economic crisis.
It’s hard to give a perfect solution. No matter what, we all need to sacrifice some.
Hope it will get better in April.
China did tell us that it will fizz out by end of June so hopefully they know what's going on. Sometimes when everything looks its worst things get brighter again.
Research and practice do indicate in a pneumonia situation that movement is indeed helpful in “breaking up the mucus” so that the coughing reflex can clear the fluid. This variant does lead to a build up of fluid in the lower respiratory system. While not a pneumonia infection itself you are correct in that the fluid build up contributes greatly to the likelihood of death. Some data is also indicating digestive problems too. The tp hoarders May have something there
I just had a silly thought for a cartoon sketch depicting a spaceship flying to mars crammed full of world leaders and them beaming back a message to earth ...... "don't worry, everything is fine, we're in this together".
I'm hording toilets .
Someone has to start these trends
I heard the model Ferguson is best, providing „a man‘s flush“. :-D
My joke must have went over everyone’s head because it was hilarious.
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel , is the headlight of an oncoming train .
Sort of a reverse Golgafrincham Ark B? (From Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Nobody pictured a guy humping a credit card machine? With his card duct-taped to his… uh… No? I’ll just show my self out. :eyeroll:
the comment was intentionally mildly suggestive but personally I didnt find it worth a waste of further imagination…………