[News] Coronavirus

A place to discuss the now-global coronavirus outbreak.

Malor wrote:

You're trying to get to whatever the truth actually is, and somehow if conservatives believe something, it can no longer be the truth. As soon as you agree with them in any way whatsoever, you must be a shill.

The risky part of this is that no discourse can ever happen in that scenario. You get to a no compromise possible state.

Malor wrote:

There's a difference between the virus originating in China, and the virus originating in China because Chinese people are somehow bad. The first is currently the most likely scenario, and I think any hint of the second claim is projection from the reader, and not in your posts at all.

You're trying to get to whatever the truth actually is, and somehow if conservatives believe something, it can no longer be the truth. As soon as you agree with them in any way whatsoever, you must be a shill, and things get unpleasant.

The Trump administration and their allies have been trying for months now to do the following things

- Blame the WHO for the virus
- Claim the WHO is in the thrall of China
- Say that the virus originated in a Chinese lab that was experimenting with the virus
- Say that the virus originated in a Chinese lab that modified the virus as a weapon
- Rename the virus "Chinese virus"
- Rename the virus "The Wuhan flu"

All in the middle of a half-decade long trade war and war of words where China has been repeatedly declared an enemy of the US only rivaled by the press and immigrants.

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

MannishBoy wrote:
Malor wrote:

You're trying to get to whatever the truth actually is, and somehow if conservatives believe something, it can no longer be the truth. As soon as you agree with them in any way whatsoever, you must be a shill.

The risky part of this is that no discourse can ever happen in that scenario. You get to a no compromise possible state.

All the more reason to be wary of the talking points and "news" that originates from the side of the political spectrum that's been fomenting racial division.

DSGamer wrote:
Malor wrote:

There's a difference between the virus originating in China, and the virus originating in China because Chinese people are somehow bad. The first is currently the most likely scenario, and I think any hint of the second claim is projection from the reader, and not in your posts at all.

You're trying to get to whatever the truth actually is, and somehow if conservatives believe something, it can no longer be the truth. As soon as you agree with them in any way whatsoever, you must be a shill, and things get unpleasant.

The Trump administration and their allies have been trying for months now to do the following things

- Blame the WHO for the virus
- Claim the WHO is in the thrall of China
- Say that the virus originated in a Chinese lab that was experimenting with the virus
- Say that the virus originated in a Chinese lab that modified the virus as a weapon
- Rename the virus "Chinese virus"
- Rename the virus "The Wuhan flu"

All in the middle of a half-decade long trade war and war of words where China has been enemy #3 behind the press and immigrants.

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

Don't forget the underlying reason the right wants to demonize China: they need to give their followers someone to blame to make sure they don't connect the dots and realize the reason 100,000 Americans are dead is because the Trump administration completely botched America's response to the pandemic.

Where the disease started is something for scientists and epidemiologists to write papers about years from now. The thing that actually matters is what actions our government is taking to deal with the fact that the disease is here and is still spreading. And right now they aren't doing a damn thing.

In hindsight, "The Wuhan Virus" was a bad pick for the name of my Wu-Tang Clan cover band.

boogle wrote:

Maybe racism is the real virus

Mad Devin Nunes' Cow Disease

Mixolyde wrote:

In hindsight, "The Wuhan Virus" was a bad pick for the name of my Wu-Tang Clan cover band.

You could still go with Bat Bugs for your Black Sabbath cover band.

Unless that's specist?

MannishBoy wrote:
Malor wrote:

You're trying to get to whatever the truth actually is, and somehow if conservatives believe something, it can no longer be the truth. As soon as you agree with them in any way whatsoever, you must be a shill.

The risky part of this is that no discourse can ever happen in that scenario. You get to a no compromise possible state.

Isn't that the GOP position on everything? They would argue the sky wasn't blue if Obama said it

DSGamer wrote:

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

But he wasn't doing that. You do realize that, In effect, you've gotten to the point of getting angry about facts?

Mind, there are times when that's justified. Fox News, the actual newscast, is very careful to always state things that are literally true, but they paint an incredibly deceptive picture with them. Those people are worth being (extremely!) pissed at, but I'm not seeing any of that here.

I'm not sure a post that ended with "That's just a guess on my part." would necessarily fall into the "just stating facts" category.

Malor wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

But he wasn't doing that. You do realize that, In effect, you've gotten to the point of getting angry about facts?

Mind, there are times when that's justified. Fox News, the actual newscast, is very careful to always state things that are literally true, but they paint an incredibly deceptive picture with them. Those people are worth being (extremely!) pissed at, but I'm not seeing any of that here.

This is literally my point. Some people saw Mannish's fixation on China in that post as problematic and akin to what you describe above. It was a post with some facts, tied together with a lot of speculation that focused on China in a way that made some people here leery.

You can spend pages more trying to debate with me what *other* people saw in his post if you like, but I'm tired of it personally.

I've already said I don't think Mannish was being racist, but rather that he should reconsider some of his news feed and the way he phrases some things. I stand by that and don't really care to debate it further.

Malor wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

But he wasn't doing that. You do realize that, In effect, you've gotten to the point of getting angry about facts?

That’s not what’s happening here. At all. It’s a gross mischaracterization to put that interpretation on it.

If I said something that sounded racist but I was unaware, I would consider it a service if someone told me, “dude, that sounded racist”. Then I could figure out how to say it differently. The other option is to say, “no it didn’t!”, in which case a) I’m likely to say other things that sound racist because I’m not considering how they are received and b) the person I’m ignoring is more likely to think that it’s intentional.

This isn’t tone policing, this is public service. If someone says that they don’t think you’re racist but that something you said sounds racist, it’s worth thinking extra hard about your delivery to avoid that misinterpretation. That’s not an attack, that’s a heads up.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Malor wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

But he wasn't doing that. You do realize that, In effect, you've gotten to the point of getting angry about facts?

That’s not what’s happening here. At all. It’s a gross mischaracterization to put that interpretation on it.

If I said something that sounded racist but I was unaware, I would consider it a service if someone told me, “dude, that sounded racist”. Then I could figure out how to say it differently. The other option is to say, “no it didn’t!”, in which case a) I’m likely to say other things that sound racist because I’m not considering how they are received and b) the person I’m ignoring is more likely to think that it’s intentional.

This isn’t tone policing, this is public service. If someone says that they don’t think you’re racist but that something you said sounds racist, it’s worth thinking extra hard about your delivery to avoid that misinterpretation. That’s not an attack, that’s a heads up.

Well, no.

I think this is the closest expression to what is really going on:

LouZiffer wrote:

I've heard so much "OMG China was the source!" justifying actual racism that it's probably not worth putting forth a theory that may merely be tasteless on the surface because of that junk, but still isn't rooted in more than connect-the-dots and would help to support the stuff that's tasteless all the way down.

It's beyond just whether it sounds racist. It's a higher bar than that. It's simply whether it reminds people of things racists say.

Like that Simpson's pic with the helicopter "not racist, but #1 with racists."

If someone tells you that you've handed them a crap sandwich, the solution will not be found by asking them if they wanted it on whole wheat instead.

cheeze_pavilion wrote:

It's beyond just whether it sounds racist. It's a higher bar than that. It's simply whether it reminds people of things racists say.

What's the difference between these two? I figure the definition of "it sounds racist" is "it reminds me of things racists say".

Well this thread seems to have jumped the shark. It was about the Coronavirus but now it seems to be about racism, news outlets, posters intentions, etc.

For the last two pages there hasn't been any real talk about the pandemic and/or the disease.

edit:

farley3k wrote:

Well this thread seems to have jumped the shark. It was about the Coronavirus but now it seems to be about racism, news outlets, posters intentions, etc.

For the last two pages there hasn't been any real talk about the pandemic and/or the disease.

two pages I managed to stay out of right until now--thanks farley!

you're right though.

here's something Corona and virus related. When they shut down the bars, I realized I hadn't been in one in ten years because of the sickness around me. Wish I'd taken advantage of that little window I had to enjoy them before they went away, just for everyone this time because of the sickness around everyone.

I know they'll come back in some form, but I dunno--I don't know if they'll be the same. I'm not sure any third place will feel the same.

edit: happy to return to our regularly scheduled pandemic horror show.

In local news, Nova Scotia is allowing a variety of establishments to reopen on June 5. This is concerning, because we still have new cases daily. What's really concerning is the potential for reopening child care June 15. You know, less than the incubation period of COVID, so necessarily before we find out if the June 5 reopening was a good idea or not. Ugh.

cheeze_pavilion wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Malor wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

The origins of the virus have been politicized by the right far more than you're admitting to.

But he wasn't doing that. You do realize that, In effect, you've gotten to the point of getting angry about facts?

That’s not what’s happening here. At all. It’s a gross mischaracterization to put that interpretation on it.

If I said something that sounded racist but I was unaware, I would consider it a service if someone told me, “dude, that sounded racist”. Then I could figure out how to say it differently. The other option is to say, “no it didn’t!”, in which case a) I’m likely to say other things that sound racist because I’m not considering how they are received and b) the person I’m ignoring is more likely to think that it’s intentional.

This isn’t tone policing, this is public service. If someone says that they don’t think you’re racist but that something you said sounds racist, it’s worth thinking extra hard about your delivery to avoid that misinterpretation. That’s not an attack, that’s a heads up.

Well, no.

I think this is the closest expression to what is really going on:

LouZiffer wrote:

I've heard so much "OMG China was the source!" justifying actual racism that it's probably not worth putting forth a theory that may merely be tasteless on the surface because of that junk, but still isn't rooted in more than connect-the-dots and would help to support the stuff that's tasteless all the way down.

It's beyond just whether it sounds racist. It's a higher bar than that. It's simply whether it reminds people of things racists say.

Like that Simpson's pic with the helicopter "not racist, but #1 with racists."

If someone tells you that you've handed them a crap sandwich, the solution will not be found by asking them if they wanted it on whole wheat instead.

Well, that's just coming from me. Others probably feel differently, but if I wanted to theorize on something which might be construed to support an existing, widespread, sh*tty narrative I wasn't aiming for, I'd be sure to ground it firmly in actual knowledge which differentiates it from that stuff. More firmly than what could be on the back of a napkin or things that are already common knowledge. That's my higher bar though.

~mod~

This most recent spat is beyond exhausted. Let's please stick to the topic of the thread, if it continues to go off the rails about authorial intent or whatever, will check in after work on how to action if continued, thanks. Don't have time now and this thread moves absurdly fast. Much appreciated.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/ZDfh1jZ.jpg)

https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance...
Simulated Sunlight Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces

I hadn't seen this study before. Might mean the current reduction in infection rate in many areas is just lucky timing.

Cue Trump suggesting we inject artificial sunlight.

Shadout wrote:

https://academic.oup.com/jid/advance...
Simulated Sunlight Rapidly Inactivates SARS-CoV-2 on Surfaces

I hadn't seen this study before. Might mean the current reduction in infection rate in many areas is just lucky timing.

Cue Trump suggesting we inject artificial sunlight.

This was mentioned in the infamous press conference that had the disinfectant quote however long ago that was. I think it was April when they presented that finding about light killing the virus in a couple of minutes in UV light similar to what would be seen outside.

Link.

Wouldn't trust a word said at Trumps press conferences but fair enough. Old news.

Shadout wrote:

Wouldn't trust a word said at Trumps press conferences but fair enough. Old news.

Research was done by the Army biosecurity lab.

UVC disinfects things. That's been known for a long time. Unfortunately UVC lights are extremely expensive and have safety concerns. Enough so to be only used in applications where it's warranted to spend that kind of money and use them under strictly controlled conditions. The "UVC" lights that are on ebay or Amazon are (EDIT: mostly - you can count on it for the LED ones) fakes. At best they'll be on the low end of the purple spectrum and into a bit of UV, but not the wavelengths that do any good.

Here's bigclive educating the people:

Safety concerns...

How to tell if your lamp is UVC...

Some examples of fakes...

People selling those things should have them forcibly inserted in an uncomfortable location.

CNN wrote:

A person who partied in the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, area on Memorial Day weekend has tested positive for coronavirus -- and was possibly infectious over the holiday weekend.
The Boone County resident visited multiple bars on May 24 and 25, according to the Camden County Health Department. They "developed illness" on Sunday and were possibly infectious before then.

Person who attended Lake of the Ozarks Memorial Day gathering tests positive for coronavirus

IMAGE(https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/69027885/this-is-my-shocked-face.jpg)