Coronavirus

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Indy »

And it is interesting that the WSJ editorial board doesn't see money for vaccinations or restaurants hit hard by COVID as good for economic stimulus, but they loved giving billionaires and CEOs even more in tax breaks. Hmm. Curious what their net worth is on that board.

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In2ition
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Re: Coronavirus

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That's a good question, but I imagine it's not anywhere close to or under $250K.
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Mori Chu
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Mori Chu »

Indy wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:44 pm
In2ition wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:59 pm
This doesn't seem good at all. What kind of pork is in this bill? Can we just get something that's just for the people, instead of whoever's special interests and some type of payment or kickback? I'm not even putting blame on any particular side, it's done by both and it's ridiculous, imo.
We can't, because the only way to avoid a GOP senator from filibustering the bill is to do it through Reconciliation. That means it has to be the entire spending bill, not just a one-off to help people. So it has all the pork in it that every congressman and senator has fought for in their state or from there lobbyists or for their own self-interest. It is awful. But it is also the sausage making process needed to get any spending bill to pass into a law.
This is the truth of it. The GOP completely obstructs any attempt at Democratic legislation. It is impossible to work with them or achieve compromise; they vote 100% against any Dem bill no matter its content. So every single legislative act taken by a Dem-led Congress must be jammed into the year's budgets and spending bills and passed via reconciliation. This is the sad state of the Senate today. It's stupid and it isn't the way our government should work.

I think the Dems should reform the filibuster so that this wouldn't be needed. The mistake is that they keep talking about "abolishing" the filibuster, which sounds scary. They should just "reform" it -- limit it to in-person speeches with no breaks, not remote delays -- and that'd solve 99% of the problems with it.

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In2ition
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by In2ition »

Mori Chu wrote:
Fri Feb 26, 2021 10:29 am
Indy wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:44 pm
In2ition wrote:
Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:59 pm
This doesn't seem good at all. What kind of pork is in this bill? Can we just get something that's just for the people, instead of whoever's special interests and some type of payment or kickback? I'm not even putting blame on any particular side, it's done by both and it's ridiculous, imo.
We can't, because the only way to avoid a GOP senator from filibustering the bill is to do it through Reconciliation. That means it has to be the entire spending bill, not just a one-off to help people. So it has all the pork in it that every congressman and senator has fought for in their state or from there lobbyists or for their own self-interest. It is awful. But it is also the sausage making process needed to get any spending bill to pass into a law.
This is the truth of it. The GOP completely obstructs any attempt at Democratic legislation. It is impossible to work with them or achieve compromise; they vote 100% against any Dem bill no matter its content. So every single legislative act taken by a Dem-led Congress must be jammed into the year's budgets and spending bills and passed via reconciliation. This is the sad state of the Senate today. It's stupid and it isn't the way our government should work.

I think the Dems should reform the filibuster so that this wouldn't be needed. The mistake is that they keep talking about "abolishing" the filibuster, which sounds scary. They should just "reform" it -- limit it to in-person speeches with no breaks, not remote delays -- and that'd solve 99% of the problems with it.
So when they originally suggested a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, you think they budgeted for most of this to be the yrs spending budget and they were looking for less than $900 billion for the stimulus all along? You might be on to something. We need to start looking into all the pork in the bill and figure out what it's for and if it's really needed. The stimulus checks could have been $3000 per, if the Reps weren't involved.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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In2ition
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Re: Coronavirus

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Federal judge rules eviction moratorium is unconstitutional
By Konstantin Toropin and Paul LeBlanc, CNN

Updated 12:38 AM ET, Fri February 26, 2021
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/politics ... index.html

(CNN)A federal judge in Texas on Thursday ruled that the federal moratorium on evictions is unconstitutional, according to court documents.

US District Judge John Barker, who was appointed by then-President Donald Trump to the court in the Eastern District of Texas, stopped short of issuing a preliminary injunction, but said he expected the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respect his ruling and withdraw the moratorium.
"The federal government cannot say that it has ever before invoked its power over interstate commerce to impose a residential eviction moratorium. It did not do so during the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic. Nor did it invoke such a power during the exigencies of the Great Depression. The federal government has not claimed such a power at any point during our Nation's history until last year," Barker wrote.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic persists, he said, "so does the Constitution."

The ruling punctuates a legal effort that began when a group of Texas landlords and property owners sued the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services in October over the Eviction Moratorium Order that was issued by the Trump administration in September.
The order, citing the fact that "COVID-19 presents a historic threat to public health," put a temporary halt on residential evictions.

But the property owners argued in their lawsuit that the federal government didn't have the power to stop evictions. Barker sided with that argument, writing in his ruling that Congress also lacked the authority to grant the CDC the power to halt evictions nationwide, and noted that the moratorium threatened to encroach on landlords' rights under state law.
The plaintiffs were represented by two conservative legal groups, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Southeastern Legal Foundation, which hailed the decision as a win.
"The CDC attempted to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to grab power and the court rightfully corrected this egregious overreach," Robert Henneke, one of the lawyers in the case and general counsel for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said in a statement.
The Department of Justice declined to comment when reached by CNN. It is not clear if the agency plans to appeal the case.
Initially, the CDC order was set to expire at the end of December, but it was extended through January by a provision in the second stimulus package. One of President Joe Biden's first acts in office was to seek to extend the moratorium again, until the end of March.
The order is invoked when a tenant gives their landlord a signed declaration asserting that they meet specific requirements -- including that they earn less than $100,000 a year, have experienced a significant loss of income and have made their best effort to find rental assistance and pay their rent.
Under the order, rent is not canceled or forgiven and landlords can evict tenants after the moratorium ends if they are not able to pay the back rent.
In some jurisdictions, existing tenant protections might be greater than what is offered in the CDC's moratorium.
An estimated 10 million renters were behind on their rent and at risk of eviction in the middle of January, according to a Census Bureau survey. And an estimated 16 million renters had little to no confidence they could pay their rent in February.
This story has been updated with additional information Thursday.
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Indy »

Curious if he owns any rental properties...

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In2ition
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by In2ition »

Indy wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:54 pm
Curious if he owns any rental properties...
That's a very fair question, and if so, he should have recused himself. I think this ruling gets moved to a higher court, no?
"When we all think alike, nobody is thinking" - Walter Lippmann
"Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them." ~ Frederick Douglass

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

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In2ition wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:56 pm
Indy wrote:
Mon Mar 01, 2021 12:54 pm
Curious if he owns any rental properties...
That's a very fair question, and if so, he should have recused himself. I think this ruling gets moved to a higher court, no?
You can find other articles online that point out flaws in his legal arguments, including him saying that if you are paying rent for a property, you are not participating in "economic activity," which SCOTUS has ruled the fed government can much around with.

I assume it will be appealed and go to the next level.

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Nodack
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Re: Coronavirus

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I will never ever live in Florida. They are bat shit crazy. If you are a teacher and you get the Covid vaccinated you aren’t allowed to teach in this private school? Unbelievable!

Miami Private School Won't Employ Vaccinated Teachers, Citing Debunked COVID Myths
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa ... s/3021437/

A private school in Miami is discouraging teachers from getting the COVID-19 vaccine — and in a letter to parents, the school says it will not employ anyone who has taken it.

Centner Academy's new policy directs teachers to not get the vaccine or they won’t be allowed around students — effectively losing their jobs.

The policy has some parents looking for a new school.

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Re: Coronavirus

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It's a private school. In America, you're allowed to be privately stupid (and publicly, but that's different).
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Mori Chu
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Mori Chu »

I wonder what the reasoning for that policy is. The article talks about the vaccine negatively affecting others around the vaccinated individual? What!?

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Superbone
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Re: Coronavirus

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Sheer stupidity. Wow.
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Nodack
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Nodack »

The CDC relaxed guidelines for Covid. Now if you have been vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask in public. The Covid passport thing was shot down. If I am a person who didn’t get vaccinated and have no plans on getting vaccinated and hate wearing masks, what’s to stop me from not wearing a mask and lying about it if asked at the store? Absolutely nothing.

In AZ you can a vaccine today from multiple sites without a reservation. The official freeway signs have been advertising “Your shot to end Covid.Get vaccinated!” and announcing the locations of where to get shots. It seems we are quickly almost done vaccinating people. Those who want it have gotten it. Those that don’t want it won’t get it. Hopefully it’s good enough. Time to ship the ones not wanted to India.

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

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Nodack wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 4:02 pm
The CDC relaxed guidelines for Covid. Now if you have been vaccinated you no longer need to wear a mask in public. The Covid passport thing was shot down. If I am a person who didn’t get vaccinated and have no plans on getting vaccinated and hate wearing masks, what’s to stop me from not wearing a mask and lying about it if asked at the store? Absolutely nothing.

In AZ you can a vaccine today from multiple sites without a reservation. The official freeway signs have been advertising “Your shot to end Covid.Get vaccinated!” and announcing the locations of where to get shots. It seems we are quickly almost done vaccinating people. Those who want it have gotten it. Those that don’t want it won’t get it. Hopefully it’s good enough. Time to ship the ones not wanted to India.
~25% of the population is under 16, so some of those people just became eligible, and only for one type (pfizer). We still have a ways to go before we get to ~80%. Not sure we will get there, which means if you already had COVID and got your shot, it still might not be enough. So many variants because it keeps replicating in all the people still getting it. I will be surprised if we don't need annual boosters and hope we can stay ahead of the mutations.

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Nodack
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Re: Coronavirus

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If everyone got the shot it would help a lot. Some people are never going to get the shot. Another Yankees player who was already vaccinated got Covid.

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Superbone
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Re: Coronavirus

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I went to watch the latest Bill Maher show on Friday and it was a repeat. Looked it up and Maher tested positive for the virus even though he’s fully vaccinated. I read a quote where he feels no effects and is just upset that it broke his streak of never missing a show when he feels fine.
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Nodack
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Nodack »

How common are breakthrough COVID-19 cases?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-br ... 1621026068

Breakthrough cases are rare. As of April 26, 2021, more than 95 million Americans had been fully vaccinated against COVID, and of that 95 million, 9,245 breakthrough infections were reported to the CDC. Among the breakthrough cases, 27% were asymptomatic, 9% went to the hospital, and 1% died.

“The key to your decision-making should be, are you unvaccinated, or are you around people who are unvaccinated?” said Wen. “I’m not worried about being in a room with other people who are fully vaccinated. I’m worried about going into a crowded room with a bunch of people who are not vaccinated and not wearing masks.”

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

Post by Indy »

curious how many of those are from the J&J one. I know that was the least effective (although still 85% effective against serious COVID cases).

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

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Also, those breakthrough cases... I wonder how many were infected before getting their final shot or within the two weeks after.

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Indy
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Re: Coronavirus

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and I HATE when "news articles" quote tweets from non-experts when they are reporting on a story.

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