Poll of the Day > American passports are worthless now, ok?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://medium.com/@indica/the-plague-states-of-america-53b20678a80e

"...you cant trust Americans. Americans have poor hygiene (low masking rate) and at least 40% of the population cant be trusted to even believe that COVID-19 exists, let alone to take it seriously. Theyre likely to refuse testing, not report symptoms, break quarantine, and generally [not] follow rules. Americans have a toxic combination of ignorance and arrogance that makes them unwelcome travelers."

Shout-out to dipshits like redpixel for making this possible, ok?

---

Freedom flu

---

Im just gonna write Hawaii on mine with a sharpie

---

America is the shithole country.
---

I mean, we voted in Reagan twice, GWB twice, and Trump once(about to be 2, I'm sure), so not sure why anyone's surprised.
---

Hmm, a website that let's anyone publish without fact checking. Very reliable.

---

Super Spreaders

We've been having a hard time keeping illegal tourists out of Banff

---

SunWuKung420 posted...

Hmm, a website that let's anyone publish without fact checking. Very reliable.

It's an opinion piece, genius. Also, it's no secret that Americans have very few countries they can travel to. Fact check that, ok?

---

SunWuKung420 posted...

Hmm, a website that let's anyone publish without fact checking. Very reliable.

you see this administration?? u really think fact checking is important in this country?????

---

y we're #25

---

thanks for nothing republicans

---

*Crickets*

/topic

---

Aculo posted...

It's an opinion piece, genius. Also, it's no secret that Americans have very few countries they can travel to. Fact check that, ok?

Why is this so personal for you?

---

Lokarin posted...

We've been having a hard time keeping illegal tourists out of Banff

Luckly banff is at 0 active cases

---

Veedrock- posted...

Why is this so personal for you?

idk maybe because we live here and its fault of the dumbasses in this country?

---

Thanks, Trump

i feel like my right eyeball is going to pop out

---

am i dying

---

this is the last thing ever jammed the fuck out to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQa_S_ymZMM

---

Don't care.

Most of the world is garbage anyway - there is more to see in the US than traveling anywhere abroad.

Mead posted...

Im just gonna write Hawaii on mine with a sharpie

Like that guy from Papers, Please who tried making a passport?
---

50 Social Credits has been added to your Social Credit Score.

---

Why is this happening? It's as if a bunch of people went out in a tightly packed protest without masks for multiple days! But who could possibly be that stupid in the middle of a lockdown? At least the local mayors didn't give their approval while also condemning another group that wasn't partaking in such a thing. That would be foolish and hypocritical.

---

Unbridled9 posted...

Why is this happening? It's as if a bunch of people went out in a tightly packed protest without masks for multiple days! But who could possibly be that stupid in the middle of a lockdown? At least the local mayors didn't give their approval while also condemning another group that wasn't partaking in such a thing. That would be foolish and hypocritical.

Hey Doctors said it was fine.

---

Well, that's one way to selectively infect a specific demographic

---

---

Yea. I have to call BS on this. If they're gonna break up things like a bunch of people attending church while staying in their cars because of the danger, they should be abhorred at these protests; morally right or not.

---

Unbridled9 posted...

Yea. I have to call BS on this. If they're gonna break up things like a bunch of people attending church while staying in their cars because of the danger, they should be abhorred at these protests; morally right or not.

Probably not. Though, it wouldnt matter. People probably wouldnt stop protesting, anyway...
---

While it's wrong to say that the protests had no impact on Corona cases, or deny that they were treated hypocritically, there's been no strong correlation between protests and cases so far. Otherwise you'd expect New York cases to be spiking again instead of falling.

---

Blightzkrieg posted...

While it's wrong to say that the protests had no impact on Corona cases, or deny that they were treated hypocritically, there's been no strong correlation between protests and cases so far. Otherwise you'd expect New York cases to be spiking again instead of falling.

It does seem like people at protest are wearing mask. More so than some other gatherings, possibly... Even the picture here shows that. And Ive seen pictures and videos of it. Not everyones wearing mask. But it seems like many were/are...
---

BeerOnTap posted...

Super Spreaders

If this were the case, we would see a spike in areas where the protests took place.

That hasn't happened. For whatever reason, those protests do not seem to have caused an uptick in virus cases.

And, even as someone who supported the protesters and recognizes their cause as extremely important, I find that astounding. At the time, I was certain there would be a huge spike afterwards... but there hasn't been. At least, not in those areas.

The areas that are out of control now are mostly right-wing states that opened up way too early. States like New York, the site of massive protests, have had no noticeable increase in their caseload since the protests happened.

---

darkknight109 posted...

If this were the case, we would see a spike in areas where the protests took place.

That hasn't happened. For whatever reason, those protests do not seem to have caused an uptick in virus cases.

And, even as someone who supported the protesters and recognizes their cause as extremely important, I find that astounding. At the time, I was certain there would be a huge spike afterwards... but there hasn't been. At least, not in those areas.

The areas that are out of control now are mostly right-wing states that opened up way too early. States like New York, the site of massive protests, have had no noticeable increase in their caseload since the protests happened.

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense. If large gatherings where hundred people are packed together for several hours has 'no discernable impact' but a person opening a business in which they enforce social distancing is a health threat worthy of the police, then something isn't adding up. Either they're lying about how it's spread or they're lying about what's going on with the protests. Either way, that's the sort of thing that results in people refusing to listen to health experts and disregarding their advise entirely. You want to shame people into staying indoors, wearing a mask, and social distancing? Don't turn around and then praise the people violating all those things and say they're okay.

---

Unbridled9 posted...

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense.

It's literally the facts of the situation so whining about it doesn't matter.

Being outside and wearing a mask causes the risk of infection to drop like a rock.

---

I image it's young people who went and are more likely to be asymptomatic not getting tested.

dedbus posted...

I image it's young people who went and are more likely to be asymptomatic not getting tested.

There have been a few articles bouncing around about protesters proactively getting tested in large numbers shortly after the protests and those tests overwhelmingly coming back negative. It's a weird result, for sure, but it seems that many of these protests conclusively haven't resulted in spikes in cases (not all of them, since not all of them were tested so rigorously), not just that a spike hasn't been detected due to inadequate testing or anything like that.

Blightzkrieg posted...

Being outside and wearing a mask causes the risk of infection to drop like a rock.

Which honestly makes some degree of sense. Masks already limit what's in the air pretty dramatically (both in terms of total volume and in terms of particle/droplet size), and when you throw in sunlight effectively disinfecting everyone's masks and faces while they're outside and the fact that anyone choosing to wear a mask for this probably washed their hands when they got home, I can believe that the combination of those factors amounted to pretty effective infection control.

Unbridled9 posted...

If large gatherings where hundred people are packed together for several hours has 'no discernable impact' but a person opening a business in which they enforce social distancing is a health threat worthy of the police, then something isn't adding up. Either they're lying about how it's spread or they're lying about what's going on with the protests.

The bottom line is that the protests were/are concerning, but there's not a lot that can be done to stop them without committing political suicide and/or staging a full-on military offensive. Shutting down businesses for being too risky is a lot more feasible, both practically and politically. Shutting down businesses that are implementing adequate protective measures, however, shouldn't be happening. I agree with that.

The fact that the protests don't seem to be as much of a problem as was expected is weird. I don't think anyone saw that coming (except the people who have been insisting the virus has never been an issue, but that's an example of a stopped clock being right). There are almost certainly going to be lessons to be learned and some new conclusions to be drawn from that result, which will inform public health policy moving forward, but it's too early to expect that just yet. It's been less than a month since this result became really apparent, and science just doesn't move that fast.

---

Unbridled9 posted...

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense.

I didn't say it made sense, I'm just saying it's the truth.

I don't understand it either. The protests seemed like they should be an excellent event for spreading the virus, yet all indications so far are that no such spread occurred.

Unbridled9 posted...

Either way, that's the sort of thing that results in people refusing to listen to health experts and disregarding their advise entirely.

Well, what are you expecting them to do? Lie about the results and pretend that there actually is a huge spike in protest areas (or that there isn't one in red states right now)? You're getting upset at them for accurately reporting the current state of the virus.

It's worth noting that while the experts remain our best source of information about the virus, they too are flying somewhat blind on this. They are still learning about the virus as it goes along - for instance, they're now thinking there's a good possibility that it's airborne, which substantially changes our understanding of how the disease spreads (the entire two metre distancing rule is based on the idea that the virus *isn't* airborne and therefore we only need to worry about the virus being spread from things like sneezing or yelling or singing spreading moisture droplets). They're not going to be 100% right about this virus from the get-go. That doesn't mean their advice is worthless, but it also means it's understandable that they're occasionally going to get things wrong and we shouldn't necessarily be getting super-upset about that.

---

Blightzkrieg posted...

While it's wrong to say that the protests had no impact on Corona cases, or deny that they were treated hypocritically, there's been no strong correlation between protests and cases so far. Otherwise you'd expect New York cases to be spiking again instead of falling.

Atlanta shot through the roof the past week. The mayor is trying to move the city back into phase 1 of the lock down but dipshit governor redneck is trying to stop her

Mask usage seems to make a big difference.
The George Floyd protestors are usually seen almost all wearing masks.
The anti-stay at home protestors largely shunned wearing them.

I saw a few weeks ago someone pointing out that Japan hasn't been too bad. Despite people still packed in subways/trains and how densely populated and elderly the population is. But they ALL wear masks. It's considered normal there and they actually give a damn about protecting other people.
Here, we have an idiot reality tv reject president refusing to wear one and railing against them and his followers emulating him.

One thing I'm curious about is whether mask usage when sick will become normalized in a post pandemic world, like it is in Asia. There's no reason it shouldn't be.

---

Blightzkrieg posted...

One thing I'm curious about is whether mask usage when sick will become normalized in a post pandemic world, like it is in Asia. There's no reason it shouldn't be.

But....but.... mah free-dumb!

darkknight109 posted...

but it also means it's understandable that they're occasionally going to get things wrong and we shouldn't necessarily be getting super-upset about that.

And it especially doesn't mean that we should ignore what they say and make up our own understanding of the virus based on what sounds most convenient to us. Even if the experts make mistakes, they are still the best source of information and advice that we have. Anything else is going to be idle armchair speculation from people desperate for any information that might validate their hope that it's not a big deal.

streamofthesky posted...

I saw a few weeks ago someone pointing out that Japan hasn't been too bad. Despite people still packed in subways/trains and how densely populated and elderly the population is. But they ALL wear masks. It's considered normal there and they actually give a damn about protecting other people.
Here, we have an idiot reality tv reject president refusing to wear one and railing against them and his followers emulating him.

I've seen it suggested that that's why it didn't rip through China as badly as one might expect, too (though China's specific numbers are largely meaningless). East Asian countries had a pre-existing culture of wearing masks to help combat the inevitable public health consequences of their high population density, which means there hasn't been the kind of adamant resistance to mask-wearing recommendations that we're seeing in the US in particular.

---

Yeah, China's numbers mean nothing, I don't trust them one bit.
Same for Russia. Have you looked at Russia's numbers? I never see anyone mention them, but they're fucking hilarious. Currently 727,000 cases (and it's been slowly growing all along, didn't just suddenly spike up) and only 11,335 deaths. Meanwhile, France is at 171,00 vs. 30,000 deaths, UK is 289,000 vs. 45,000 deaths...
Like, I get that most of their population doesn't make it past age 50 due to alcohol poisoning* so they don't have as much of a vulnerable elderly population, but those numbers still are super suspect, lol

* Maybe an exaggeration....but not by that much....

Blightzkrieg posted...

One thing I'm curious about is whether mask usage when sick will become normalized in a post pandemic world, like it is in Asia. There's no reason it shouldn't be.

They do it on base. I use to see it in tech school and basic. Sometimes on regular bases, as well... Either way, it probably wont be. Well, after the pandemic, at least... I just dont see many people doing it...
---

This post is worthless, ok?

---

Blightzkrieg posted...

One thing I'm curious about is whether mask usage when sick will become normalized in a post pandemic world, like it is in Asia. There's no reason it shouldn't be.

honestly no matter what happens I think Im probably gonna wear a mask in public places going forward, sick or not

---

streamofthesky posted...

The George Floyd protestors are usually seen almost all wearing masks.
The anti-stay at home protestors largely shunned wearing them.

You know this is media bias right? News outlets choose the pictures that fit their story.

---

Veedrock- posted...

You know this is media bias right? News outlets choose to use pictures that fit their story.

Even if there is bias in pictures chosen, are you claiming that a group who's sole reason of protest is, "this virus is bull shit" / "this virus isn't nearly as bad as the MEDIA tries to tell you!" is likely to have the same rate of mask usage as other groups? Because I guess they want to be careful about the virus they claim isn't a big deal...?

Grasp at straws some more, please.

I point out your anecdotal evidence is influenced, you put words in my mouth and say I'm grasping at straws. I didn't even take a fucking position.

Glad we had this conversation.

---