TrickstaPriest

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.

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.

Dammitsomuch.

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. 

I have seen similar sentiments. As bad as the direct health effects of this pandemic are, I am starting to believe that the accompanying sociological ramifications are going to be equally detrimental.

They are neutral in nature. That is to say, they do not subtract from a member's "total reputation".

Yeah.  It's bad, but mostly in how we've handled it.

Hey!  That's one of the ones I take!  
 
 
I was going to do an update tonight, but I've been busy elsewhere.
 
Suffice it to say that week 3 is over; I have zero symptoms, and if it wasn't for the two co-workers exposed at the same time I was, I would say I dodged a bullet.  But I am still not comfortable enough to actually move back into the house yet.
 
I desperately _want_ to, but I have no way to be certain I haven't just become a carrier.  :/   And the way it is in Georgia right now, you can't get tested if you aren't sick.
 
 
So what do I do?  I have no idea.
 
 
I guess I can live out here until either there's a cure, a vaccine, or everyone in the house gets it.   At least one of those I hope does not happen.
 
On the plus side, this was the most realistic Passover in a a few centuries.....
 
 
 
So how does one get exposed?
 
 
Click here for details:    https://i.imgur.com/qhvNsIM.mp4

We're the wealthiest nation on Earth, but our doctors and nurses can't get masks and our citizens have to rely on GoFundMe to pay their medical bills.
 
 I can't help but feel that our priorities have become seriously mixed up somewhere along the way.

I just noticed something that hopefully is just a mistake. If it's not an error, I may just tell the company to shove it and risk unemployment for a while. 

FDNY sees massive spike in cardiac arrest calls
 


 
Patients who cannot be resuscitated on site are not brought to hospitals and are not tested for coronavirus.  Cardiac arrest calls have quintupled, and deaths increased sevenfold, since 3/16.  So the fatality count in NYC is probably low.  Like 4000 low.

Sore throat, an almost-but-not-quite cough ... Here we go.
 
Catch ya on da flip side.

The thing is, Trumps response to the Coronavirus has been defined by underreaction, rather than overreaction. He's letting governors take most of the lead on this. I am willing to bet $20 to the charity of your choice that Trump will not suspend Habeas Corpus, suspend the Posse Comitatus act (yes, he can in response to a pandemic, per HR 5122), deploy the Marines (they aren't prohibited by Posse Comitatus), or do anything else he can legally do resembling martial law.

It's the American "news" programs (especially those online) that I leave that complaint at the feet of.  They've created a toxic environment for discourse.  Memes and social media then magnify that noise across everyone else.
 
I wholly want to write a treatise on memes and how they reinforce cult-like brainwashing behavior.

It's the American "news" programs (especially those online) that I leave that complaint at the feet of.  They've created a toxic environment for discourse.  Memes and social media then magnify that noise across everyone else.
 
I wholly want to write a treatise on memes and how they reinforce cult-like brainwashing behavior.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52241221
 
 
 

I'm sure no one will care but me, but that is what the Internet is for.
 
The Canada Revenue Agency (think IRS, but with maple leafs and hickey [EDIT:  oops - hockey] sticks) is, for the first time ever, manning the phone lines on Good Friday and Easter Monday.  Why?
 
Well, they don't say.  But with most of their call centres (including the ones that call to ask where your unpaid taxes are) closed, the main centres are the individual enquiries line (presently restricted to calls to help with 2019 tax returns, people whose benefits aren't showing up and those trying to get access to CRA online services used to help with those same issues) and the brand-new, 2,000 person call center dedicated exclusively to helping people apply for a brand-new benefit for those who are unable to work (sick; quarantined; laid off; etc.) due to COVID-19, I could hazard a guess.  The business line (the only other one that's not closed for the duration - I think I know where those 2,000 people came from to staff the new line) is closed as is normally the case on holidays.
 
We all know the reputation of the civil service in general, and the Tax Man in particular.  We get a lot of negative news these days.  We need to hear more about the people who are giving their all to help in a crisis.  There's way more of them than we know.

It's the American "news" programs (especially those online) that I leave that complaint at the feet of.  They've created a toxic environment for discourse.  Memes and social media then magnify that noise across everyone else.
 
I wholly want to write a treatise on memes and how they reinforce cult-like brainwashing behavior.

IMO the main reason Trump nominated him, is because he published a legal opinion piece holding that a President has the power to pardon himself.
 
 
A number of Conservatives I've read have pointed out that it sets the precedent for Democrats to do the same thing to a Republican SCOTUS nominee if and when they control the Senate.
 
I often find myself reminding people (not you specifically, Badger) that not everyone who identifies as Republican or Conservative is an ideologue who sees people with differing views as "the enemy." Many of them are reasonable people who simply have a different perspective on certain issues than self-identified Liberals.

Comporting one's self with "proper decorum" while shredding hard-fought civil liberties is perfectly possible.

Well, that and machines equals Rich People, and imigration equals Poor People....

This seems to vindicate Capt. Crozier that much more, but probably too late to help him.

You know, I always bristle when Americans castigate the NHS, it is why I waited a couple of days before responding.
 
The NHS means that everyone, regardless of geographic location will get the same help (good or bad) and that noone will get a bill when they come home, simply for getting sick in an epidemic.  I also note that NHS staff workers are applauded every Thursday night be the citizens of the UK while some US doctors are having their wages cut because ER staff are making them less money just now?
 
When people talk about British values and what makes them different from other countries, my go to is to point to the NHS and the BBC.  They are not perfect but they are kind of unique to our country and embody a lot of the principles of my nation.  I am proud of both of them and the NHS is the principle reason I moved back to the UK rather than staying in the US when I had the opportunity.
 
I reckon the numbers are much more about the delay of the PM and the government to implement epidemic measures.  We could have been on top of this and now we are playing catch up. 
 
Of course, there is no way the NHS can cope with simple stupidity of British people....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-52221688
 
Duke - we are competing with your stories of stupid people in a pandemic here.  660 parties in a small city over a weekend and one woman arrested because they had to go back to the SAME party multiple times.  Those people almost certainly deserve to get ill and I would wish it on them if they would not simply clog up the services for more deserving folk...
 
 
Doc