Global Protests Against Social Distancing, Lockdown, Vaccine Mandate

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Danoff
All I can do is try to get in work in between the moments when I'm trying to home school and entertain children. I'm working after they sleep, I'm working weekends... and I'm still burning vacation to make up for insufficient work hours.

Basically there have only been a few moments in my life where i have been busier. Maybe during exams in College, and maybe like when we sold a house and moved states.
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I'm just amazed you have time to do any of that ... as well as your full-time job - making thousands of posts on GTPlanet. :boggled:
 
Danoff
All I can do is try to get in work in between the moments when I'm trying to home school and entertain children. I'm working after they sleep, I'm working weekends... and I'm still burning vacation to make up for insufficient work hours.

Basically there have only been a few moments in my life where i have been busier. Maybe during exams in College, and maybe like when we sold a house and moved states.
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Travelling actually meant lots of downtime on Mondays and Fridays, because there's getting back and forth to places, and waiting around for things to break, need adjustment, et al. Now I manage a lot more of it remotely, although there's still moments of downtime - after all, if they're busy with customers and physical labor, you have to wait unless it's a critical step in the process. So I'm more efficient in many aspects of our work, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. A lot of locations use their software/hardware on a level of 1990s-era technology (with the exception of Wi-Fi and texting their customers). I've never been busier with both the work and the non-work stuff, in a way. It's easier to multi-task in a quieter and less demanding environment, though I miss the chaos at times. And of course I miss just getting out and going places, even as a family.

My wife has been handling 80-90% of the school work and watching the kids - she also teaches but only about half her class actually bothers to login, let alone pay attention. It's also a poorer school district which seems to value school on a basic institutional level, think "get the kids out of our home for 7-8 hours" than "make them ready for high-school/college/workforce", so the emphasis is really light. Keeping attendance, but no grading.

Our kids are still keeping busy with school work, reading, and getting to play outside for about an hour a day, weather permitting. Their school district has kind of figured things out a bit more with online meetings once or twice a day; but with optional grades, it really grates their carrots when they see other kids playing outside for 5-6 hours. They miss playing with their friends, and talking to them in person. But I've become the cool dad again (don't tell my wife).

I guess people get caught up in whatever happens on TV/radio/social media when they're all alone, and whatever drives them to get their emotions out is going to make them feel better. If anything, I'm less interested in social media, as there isn't much to talk about...except to use it what it was intended for, keeping up with family and friends in times like these.
 
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Might be the funniest, most ironic protest in history; you just know a bunch of these folks are of the anti-abortion following where, "My body, my choice" wasn't acceptable.

That being said, I see the word "communism" has become like Antifa's use of "fascism". What's that old meme? Ah yes, everything one doesn't like "Must Be Communist Propaganda".
 
McLaren
Might be the funniest, most ironic protest in history; you just know a bunch of these folks are of the anti-abortion following where, "My body, my choice" wasn't acceptable.

That being said, I see the word "communism" has become like Antifa's use of "fascism". What's that old meme? Ah yes, everything one doesn't like "Must Be Communist Propaganda".
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The good news is you can join my new protest group today - AntiFaCom.

We will stand up to the fascism of communism wherever we encounter it, and strive to end the communism of fascism!
 
Joey D
You're not going to get away from idiots by moving to another country. All you'll do is encounter another culture's idiots that potentially speak a different language.
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At least then I can pretend they're saying something else :lol: Of course this all has to be in an election year. I'm curious how it would play out differently if this was 2017 or 2018
 
DesertPenguin
Any good countries to move to this time of year? I don't want to live in this country anymore.
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Just spend a couple weeks in europe and come back and constantly tell everyone how much better it is over there even when totally irrelevant. But never actually get the plans together to move. Continue to tell everyone the same thing over and over.
 
Pupik
I'm just amazed that none of these people are using their time off to actually accomplish anything worthwhile.

I've had time to work 40 hours a week from home, paint half my house, practiced cooking, spent time with my wife and children, took care of various around-the-house projects, discovered a lot more of my family ancestry, played some old video games, showed my kids how to do computer stuff, explained photography, history, science, religion, art, in some downtimes, and still found time to watch The Tiger King. I also showed my kids how to change a tire, practice using tools, organize their belongings/memories, throw and catch a football, balance a checkbook, and work on our garden. I can keep going...

These jackasses hadn't heard of the moral of the grasshopper and the ants, but they sure as heck will tell others to do the same when they're not disadvantaged. And they're going to spread more of the virus because they didn't sit still in Biology class and only paid attention to the descriptions of sex organs. Now they consume pseudoscience and poop out lies based on their homespun ideas of statistics. Our great nation is literally diseased and dying from freedom, because they're worried about when their local tattoo parlor is going open. They can spend their stimulus check which is just a tax money on a fishing reel. I'd like to think Darwin would take care of then, but they're going to careen, cough, and sputter themselves into our lives because they're selfish fools.

I guess I'm a Renaissance Man in the Second Dark Age. But for once, I suppose overreaching Big Government has mysteriously made me more productive, something even I wouldn't have imagined.
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I'm working more than I was before the pandemic. I'm also studying for my professional registration exams (which I wasn't before), reading novels, and have been brainstorming business plans with my partner for the next phase of my life. I've also been riding my bike almost every day. I've reconnected with an old friend. I've discovered the joy of puff pastry. I accidentally ordered over 100 chicken drumsticks from Costco and have set about cooking all of them in different ways. I've saved something like $600 more per month than I normally do just because I'm not commuting and eating out. The isolation can be quite productive if you channel it.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
The isolation can be quite productive if you channel it.
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And you have money still coming in or enough savings to live off of happily for the forseeable future. Unfortunately I and many others don't have that luxury. I'd love to learn some new hobbies and all that but it's just not happening right now :(

I'm happy for you and anyone else that is able to truly make the most of this dark time though. My brother is getting into his woodworking more and seems to be getting more creative with each project. That's nice to see. :cheers:
 
Texas Governor says there are things more important than living. :confused:

“But 500 people out of 29 million and we’re locked down, and we’re crushing the average worker. We’re crushing small business. We’re crushing the markets. We’re crushing this country,” Patrick said. “And what I said when I was with you that night, there are more important things than living. And that’s saving this country for my children, and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us. And I don’t want to die, nobody wants to die, but man, we got to take some risks and get back in the game, and get this country back up and running.”

Read more here: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article242167741.html#storylink=cpy
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DesertPenguin
And you have money still coming in or enough savings to live off of happily for the forseeable future. Unfortunately I and many others don't have that luxury. I'd love to learn some new hobbies and all that but it's just not happening right now :(

I'm happy for you and anyone else that is able to truly make the most of this dark time though. My brother is getting into his woodworking more and seems to be getting more creative with each project. That's nice to see. :cheers:
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Just curious, what industry are you? I'm knocking on wood every day and feel for people that are not as fortunate. I see a lot of carnage even close to me.

More relevant to this thread: It's mind blowing how reflexively conservatives resort to bad faith politics. Didn't this used to be the party that claimed reason? Or at least that was their banner...

Talk about bleeding heart snowflakes...
 
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Grocery Retail. I'm one of those that mostly lives paycheck to paycheck. I didn't have any paid time off accrued yet for this year so all I could get in NY State was 12 weeks unpaid leave of absence. It's almost up and after that I either go back to work or quit. My parents are older with underlying conditions and don't want me working while this is still such a serious issue and potentially bringing it home to them. Thankfully they're very generous and can help take care of any bills I have right now which (again) thankfully aren't many to begin with. I don't expect to go back to work any time soon but when I do I'm sure the job market will be ripe so I'm not stressing too much about that.
 
DesertPenguin
Grocery Retail. I'm one of those that mostly lives paycheck to paycheck. I didn't have any paid time off accrued yet for this year so all I could get in NY State was 12 weeks unpaid leave of absence. It's almost up and after that I either go back to work or quit. My parents are older with underlying conditions and don't want me working while this is still such a serious issue and potentially bringing it home to them. Thankfully they're very generous and can help take care of any bills I have right now which (again) thankfully aren't many to begin with. I don't expect to go back to work any time soon but when I do I'm sure the job market will be ripe so I'm not stressing too much about that.
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I think that's the right attitude. I used to work grocery (near 10 years of it!) so I can empathize with the insecurity. What's happening right now isn't fair and there isn't much that can be done about it other than holding on and waiting for it to run its course. That's why it's so ***-damn maddening that people are out there with these stupid protests that will almost undoubtedly prolong the pain. Things will get better...but it will take time.
 
Dotini
Texas Governor says there are things more important than living. :confused:
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That's the Lt. Governor whose been a completely useless moron about this entire thing. He was spouting the same nonsense last month that the elderly should "sacrifice" themselves & risk getting the virus so everyone can return to normal. Still hasn't sunk into his non-existent brain that the virus is killing a lot of people not over 70.
 
Can you really be mad at people for not wanting to be locked up in their homes? I'm not one of those "it's just the flu" types but I am growing more skeptical on how this whole situation is being handled. What disturbs me the most is there not being any nuanced discussion on the mortality rate.

Not that the lockdown really effects me that much.. The only people allowed to come close to me are my wife and kids, my kids have been allowed to go to day care since the lockdown started, I'm allowed to go to the office or work from home (my choice), I have always avoided public transportation, I gave up my party life 2 years ago and going out for dinner has been replaced by fancy home cooking and a movie. Only real difference is going to the gym 4/5 times a week, but I'm ok with doing home work outs for now.
 
VolkswagenX
Can you really be mad at people for not wanting to be locked up in their homes? I'm not one of those "it's just the flu" types but I am growing more skeptical on how this whole situation is being handled. What disturbs me the most is there not being any nuanced discussion on the mortality rate.

Not that the lockdown really effects me that much.. The only people allowed to come close to me are my wife and kids, my kids have been allowed to go to day care since the lockdown started, I'm allowed to go to the office or work from home (my choice), I have always avoided public transportation, I gave up my party life 2 years ago and going out for dinner has been replaced by fancy home cooking and a movie. Only real difference is going to the gym 4/5 times a week, but I'm ok with doing home work outs for now.
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No. You can't be mad at people for that. It's completely normal to be upset at the situation. The situation is ****ed. Whats different is going against the available scientific knowledge to express your disdain for being locked in which is potentially endangering everyone else. It's a temporary and phenomenal situation. Keyword: TEMPORARY. I think there is a prevailing attitude that life has been solved by society and that everyone is entitled to have an easy existence. Nothing is guaranteed and what we are facing is unprecedented. And again, it really, really sucks.
 
I think we should go off lockdown May 4th in Washington. Infections and deaths are way down. Health care infrastructure is under no stress, even though testing is screwed up for several reasons. The elderly should remain isolated. Everyone else should wear masks and gloves, but go back to work.
 
Dotini
I think we should go off lockdown May 4th in Washington. Infections and deaths are way down. Health care infrastructure is under no stress, even though testing is screwed up for several reasons. The elderly should remain isolated. Everyone else should wear masks and gloves, but go back to work.
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I'll ask the question though I doubt i'll get an answer. If infections and deaths are way down during the lockdown, without a vacinne or adequate testing, doesn't that pretty heartily imply that the lockdown itself is driving the downtrend? What do you think will happen when the lockdown is lifted in the absence of adequate testing or a vaccine?

Antibody testing seems much more scalable at the moment. We should roll that out in a big, big way. Every pharmacy in the country should have a free antibody test. Test positive for antibodies? Good to go back to work - provided we have substantial proof that those with the antibodies are in fact immune.

Step 2 should be getting the actual disease test up to a similar scale. It's the only way we'll be able to control future outbreaks that could put us right back where we are now.

Step 3 is obviously a vaccine.

Simultaneously, we should be cranking out things like masks and gloves.

Without the first two in place, it is reckless and counterproductive to set things back to normal. The fact that we cant even get a simple plan like this from a federal level speaks volumes for the towering incompetence of the federal government and the Trump administration. The lack of urgency is shocking. There should be Manhattan-project levels of effort happening right now. This is for all the marbles. This could have been Trumps moment to shine. Instead, Trump has effectively gone MIA from a leadership perspective. Guess it's too tough for him
 
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Joey D
You're not going to get away from idiots by moving to another country. All you'll do is encounter another culture's idiots that potentially speak a different language.
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That could be better if one doesn't understand said language?
 
Eunos_Cosmo
No. You can't be mad at people for that. It's completely normal to be upset at the situation. The situation is ****ed. Whats different is going against the available scientific knowledge to express your disdain for being locked in which is potentially endangering everyone else. It's a temporary and phenomenal situation. Keyword: TEMPORARY. I think there is a prevailing attitude that life has been solved by society and that everyone is entitled to have an easy existence. Nothing is guaranteed and what we are facing is unprecedented. And again, it really, really sucks.
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What about the available statistical data? I know it can be different depending on the country, but over here the average age of COVID-19 related mortality is 81 (Source) (3.916 dead vs 34.134 confirmed cases) and that is without looking at issues in patients beyond COVID-19 (like a large number of patients in IC being overweight). Yeah that is still bad, but does this justify putting the country in a lockdown? I don't know? But why can't we have a civil discussion about it?

I agree that this sucks. My 80 year old neighbour who has COPD and his wife are scared to go outside and I don't blame them. He has a 40 year history of heavy smoking, it was a different time then.. I'm not going over to him saying "haha you're old and maybe you should not have smoked".. I like my neighbour (he's a car guy). So when his wife asked us to do some grocery shopping for them I told them no problem. I go out twice a week to get them the groceries they need.

I'm not saying we should ignore the situation and go about as it has never happend. I just believe that based on the statistics, that we can be less restrictive for certain groups and that we should be carefull with people who are at risk. Is that an unreasonable position to have? Or can it atleast be discussed?
 
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Eunos_Cosmo
I'll ask the question though I doubt i'll get an answer. If infections and deaths are way down during the lockdown, without a vacinne or adequate testing, doesn't that pretty heartily imply that the lockdown itself is driving the downtrend? What do you think will happen when the lockdown is lifted in the absence of adequate testing or a vaccine?
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Based on developments here in Washington, it's possible to attribute the decline in infections and deaths partly due to effectiveness of social distancing and lockdown.

But it's also possible to attribute a portion of the decline on selective testing. The cases being currently found are mostly amongst the homeless and that's where the testing focus is. It's possible that a far higher proportion of the population has encountered the coronavirus, become infected and suffered only trivial symptoms.

So I agree that more effort should be made to do random testing throughout the population. The current tests seem plagued with unreliability, high costs, and little effort on the part of authorities to increase testing beyond the most minimal.

In Washington, I think the lockdown should be lifted in phases starting on the 4th May, and responding with more lifting or reinstatement based on the evidence.
 
VolkswagenX
What about the available statistical data? I know it can be different depending on the country, but over here the average age of COVID-19 related mortality is 81 (Source) (3.916 dead vs 34.134 confirmed cases) and that is without looking at issues in patients beyond COVID-19 (like a large number of patients in IC being overweight). Yeah that is still bad, but does this justify putting the country in a lockdown? I don't know? But why can't we have a civil discussion about it?

I agree that this sucks. My 80 year old neighbour who has COPD and his wife are scared to go outside and I don't blame them. He has a 40 year history of heavy smoking, it was a different time then.. I'm not going over to him saying "haha you're old and maybe you should not have smoked".. I like my neighbour (he's a car guy). So when his wife asked us to do some grocery shopping for them I told them no problem. I go out twice a week to get them the groceries they need.

I'm not saying we should ignore the situation and go about as it has never happend. I just believe that based on the statistics, that we can be less restrictive for certain groups and that we should be carefull with people who are at risk. Is that an unreasonable position to have? Or can it atleast be discussed?
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I think it's wise to avoid own-goals until we get a better handle on what we are dealing with. Without broad testing...it's hard to know where we even stand. My biggest grip with the Federal government is not prioritizing that broad testing.
 
VolkswagenX
What about the available statistical data? I know it can be different depending on the country, but over here the average age of COVID-19 related mortality is 81 (Source) (3.916 dead vs 34.134 confirmed cases) and that is without looking at issues in patients beyond COVID-19 (like a large number of patients in IC being overweight). Yeah that is still bad, but does this justify putting the country in a lockdown? I don't know? But why can't we have a civil discussion about it?

I agree that this sucks. My 80 year old neighbour who has COPD and his wife are scared to go outside and I don't blame them. He has a 40 year history of heavy smoking, it was a different time then.. I'm not going over to him saying "haha you're old and maybe you should not have smoked".. I like my neighbour (he's a car guy). So when his wife asked us to do some grocery shopping for them I told them no problem. I go out twice a week to get them the groceries the need.

I'm not saying we should ignore the situation and go about as it has never happend. I just believe that based on the statistics, that we can be less restrictive for certain groups and that we should be carefull with people who are at risk. Is that an unreasonable position to have? Or can it atleast be discussed?
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I think it's clear that as/when more is understood about the virus it should be possible to have a much more nuanced approach to dealing with it. The initial lockdowns were to prevent the uncontrolled spread in an unprepared society. The trouble with these protests is that they are coming from the same place of ignorance & political bias as many of Trump's statements (& you could lump in Bolsonaro & a few other world leaders).

Deciding who exactly is "vulnerable" to Covid-19 is not such a straightforward thing. How many of the "old people" have died because of pre-existing conditions rather than "age"? And there are plenty of people who have become very sick or have died who don't fall into an obviously vulnerable category. I suspect many of the people protesting are smokers, unfit, & seriously over weight which may make them more vulnerable than a much older, fit person.
 

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