Coronavirus

[Lord Liaden]

7 hours ago, Pariah said:

 I had to block somebody on Facebook today because they keep spreading conspiracy theories about how radicals in our government are using the coronavirus as an excuse to take away our civil liberties bit by bit

 

The irony is, some elements of the American government appear to be trying to do that. But they're not who the conspiracy theorists assume they are.

[BNakagawa]

5 hours ago, Bazza said:

 

 

Sayonara Glider

[Simon]

1 minute ago, BNakagawa said:

Sayonara Glider

Dammitsomuch.

[tkdguy]

The San Francisco Opera has just cancelled its summer schedule. I had already bought a ticket to see Ernani. I can either change it to a donation to the Opera or save it and exchange it for a future performance.

[Michael Hopcroft]

The Portland alternative weekly Willamette Week posted this article on what the next year will be like in Oregon based on what is anticipated in California.

 

It looks vaguely dystopian. Especially if you're the sort of person who enjoys concerts and arts events, or eating out.

 

The conditions described for restaurants include capacities about half of what they were before with many additional expenses. I don't see how smaller restaurants, diners, and delis can possibly survive those conditions. I don't look forward to a future where "all restaurants are Taco Bell".

[Michael Hopcroft]

3 hours ago, tkdguy said:

The San Francisco Opera has just cancelled its summer schedule. I had already bought a ticket to see Ernani. I can either change it to a donation to the Opera or save it and exchange it for a future performance.

Dang. I'm worried that the Postland Columbia Symphony may not survive the crisis -- they've already had to cancel the rest of their season and if they have a season it might not be able to get going until early 2021.

[unclevlad]

3 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

Dang. I'm worried that the Postland Columbia Symphony may not survive the crisis -- they've already had to cancel the rest of their season and if they have a season it might not be able to get going until early 2021.

 

I think arts companies in general will have an extremely tough time, and a scary, high percentage won't survive.

 

From the story Michael cited:

Quote

Big events like conventions, graduations and concerts may not return for at least a year. "The prospects of mass gatherings are negligible at best until we get to herd immunity," Newsom said—meaning such gatherings aren't going to happen until half the people in the state have had the virus or a vaccine has been developed, which isn't expected for more than a year.

 

This is something where I think we have no choice.  The Biogen conference is being cited as a megaspread event.  Mardi Gras.  Those are the object lessons.

And...wow.  Just...wow.
Trump halts World Health Organization funding.

[Ragitsu]

20 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

I don't look forward to a future where "all restaurants are Taco Bell".

 

Think positive: we may have Pizza Hut instead.

 

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

1 hour ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

I don't look forward to a future where "all restaurants are Taco Bell".

 

1 hour ago, Ragitsu said:

 

Think positive: we may have Pizza Hut instead.

 

Not. Helping.

 

I wonder whether delivery could ever be enough to save the restaurant sector, especially in a situation where fewer people are bringing in less money.

 

 

[Ragitsu]

1 hour ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

I wonder whether delivery could ever be enough to save the restaurant sector, especially in a situation where fewer people are bringing in less money.

 

Yes indeed. Another factor which compounds an already uncertain situation for these businesses is the inflated cost of eating out, or, in this case, dining in with delivery. Patronizing fast food joints, eateries, holes-in-the-walls and/or restaurants is an uneconomical way to obtain sustenance under the best of circumstances. I imagine rice, beans and some sort of simple animal protein (chicken breasts, chicken thighs, ground beef, pick a fish...any fish, etc) will take precedence over relative luxuries such as Big Macs or chow mein. Hell, you're better off purchasing the raw ingredients for a pizza and making it yourself; not only is it cheaper than the typical oily fare paraded as good food, but most people derive satisfaction from successfully preparing a meal themselves.

[Bazza]

16 hours ago, Pariah said:

 I had to block somebody on Facebook today because they keep spreading conspiracy theories about how radicals in our government are using the coronavirus as an excuse to take away our civil liberties bit by bit

 

You say "conspiracy theory" like it is a bad thing. I presume you know the term was popularised as a means to dissuade critical thinking into government activities/reports. They, the government, even told us this.  

[Bazza]

9 hours ago, Pariah said:

Can't remember whether Baz posted this one earlier or not. If so, well, here it is again.

 

Def seen it, but 1.5 metres is the standard in Australia. IT amuses me constantly that the US has decided on 6 feet. 

[Bazza]

[Bazza]

[Bazza]

[Michael Hopcroft]

8 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

I think arts companies in general will have an extremely tough time, and a scary, high percentage won't survive.

 

From the story Michael cited:

 

This is something where I think we have no choice.  The Biogen conference is being cited as a megaspread event.  Mardi Gras.  Those are the object lessons.

And...wow.  Just...wow.
Trump halts World Health Organization funding.

He's always been keen on messenger-shooting.

[Michael Hopcroft]

6 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

 

Yes indeed. Another factor which compounds an already uncertain situation for these businesses is the inflated cost of eating out, or, in this case, dining in with delivery. Patronizing fast food joints, eateries, holes-in-the-walls and/or restaurants is an uneconomical way to obtain sustenance under the best of circumstances. I imagine rice, beans and some sort of simple animal protein (chicken breasts, chicken thighs, ground beef, pick a fish...any fish, etc) will take precedence over relative luxuries such as Big Macs or chow mein. Hell, you're better off purchasing the raw ingredients for a pizza and making it yourself; not only is it cheaper than the typical oily fare paraded as good food, but most people derive satisfaction from successfully preparing a meal themselves.

While I, on the other hand, feel terrible after my failures -- which, when it comes to cooking, are far more frequent than my successes. I seem incapable of even pan-frying a pork steak, or building a pizza from scratch.

 

If I had to live on rice, beans, and simple protein, I'd hate life.

[Pariah]

4 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

If I had to live on rice, beans, and simple protein, I'd hate life.

 

You are, of course, describing the normal diet of hundreds of millions of people in the world under the best of circumstances. 

 

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, we Westerners have got it pretty good by comparison.

[Cygnia]

Hubby became a pescatarian last year (I didn't).  But, since it's easier to prepare beans, lentils and tofu, that's been the majority of our dinners.

 

Elsewhere...

 

Ex-Marine Accused Of Stealing Hundreds Of Face Masks From a Veterans Administration Hospital

[Pariah]

8 minutes ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

While I, on the other hand, feel terrible after my failures -- which, when it comes to cooking, are far more frequent than my successes. I seem incapable of even pan-frying a pork steak, or building a pizza from scratch.

 

Chin up, friend. Cooking is a skill like any other: It comes easily to some, less easily to others, and improves with practice. Sometimes a lot of practice.

 

I remember what kind of cook my Dad was when I was young. Horrid. He would drown everything in salt and pepper to cover that fact that he'd burned it, messed up the proportions, or otherwise rendered perfectly good food functionally inedible. I still can't stand to put salt or pepper on anything to this day, the memories are so ingrained.

 

Over the years, he got better. Much better. When he was diagnosed with Celiac several years ago, he had developed the skill and background knowledge to transition to new foods pretty much without missing a beat. He's no chef, mind you, but now when he cooks, we know it's going to be good.

 

I bless my parents for making sure my brothers and I all learned how to cook.

[Cancer]

15 hours ago, Cygnia said:

 

Delete the first two images.

 

Divide the remaining day numbers by 100.

 

Then you have me.

[unclevlad]

2 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

Chin up, friend. Cooking is a skill like any other: It comes easily to some, less easily to others, and improves with practice. Sometimes a lot of practice.

 

And time to do it, and the mindset to study the results.  What am I doing right, what am I doing wrong...and why?  Kitchen timers ARE your friends, too.  

 

So is the right gear, but that's a little harder to work out.  

[Cygnia]

Alton Brown's YouTube channel has some good stuff.

[ScottishFox]

18 hours ago, Old Man said:

Death rates between countries are hard to compare because of the striking differences in testing and other practices.  South Korea tested everyone in sight and yet might still not be catching some totally asymptomatic patients.  American famously fumbled its testing response, still hasn't caught up, and maybe never will.  And testing regimes differ between states as well; here they were only testing people that obviously had coronavirus until a few days ago, and New York isn't testing people that die of coronavirus before they make it to the hospital.  Ecuador (IIRC) is counting deceased patients as recovered. 

 

Texas is doing pretty well overall and I know they've been testing for at least 6-7 weeks because when my wife tried to die of pneumonia (just not coronavirus pneumonia) they were already testing for it.

 

I'm surprised how low the DFW numbers have been overall and they're VERY low in the area where our hospital is located (which is the location I watch most closely).

 

America's daily case rate is starting to taper off as well.  We might be seeing wave 1 of this disaster starting to flatten out.

 

 

[Ragitsu]

7 hours ago, Bazza said:

 

You say "conspiracy theory" like it is a bad thing. I presume you know the term was popularised as a means to dissuade critical thinking into government activities/reports. They, the government, even told us this.  

 

True or not, the fact remains that there are many people in the United States of America suffering from undiagnosed (not to mention subtle and possibly hereditary) mental illnesses that predispose them towards paranoia and an abundance of "truth tellers" all too happy to sell a narrative which comfortably aligns with a mindset biased towards spotting an assassin in every shadow.

 

  

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

You are, of course, describing the normal diet of hundreds of millions of people in the world under the best of circumstances. 

 

Even in the midst of a global pandemic, we Westerners have got it pretty good by comparison.

 

Here are some typical dishes prepared and enjoyed in this household. Do note that there's a bit of a cheat involved: the presence of vegetables. However, most of these additions are fairly cheap not to mention far from extravagant.

 

1. Rice served with a mixture of diced chicken thigh, diced potato, a sprinkling of finely chopped plus nearly liquefied onion, the occasional minced carrot and curry powder.

2. Rice served with a mixture of kidney beans, finely chopped onion, chicken thigh OR chopped steak OR ground beef and some sort of tomato-based sauce.

3. Rice served with a salad consisting of garbanzo beans, black beans, minced onion, a bit of lemon juice, a little parsley and salt/pepper to taste.

4. Rice served with shrimp and a mixture of cabbage, onion, carrot and pepper along with an inexpensive spicy sauce often but not always primarily consisting of ketchup plus mustard.

5. Rice served with hummus (garbanzo beans placed into a food processor with an assortment of easy to obtain ingredients).