Help the Fight Against COVID-19

[Dr. Dipwad]

Jimmy,

Oh - you mean the task force that was completely dismantled upon taking office?

Um, that's not how I understood the events to have played out.

What the Washington Post said was:

But according to Tim Morrison, the former aide to whom direction of this office was assigned, the office was not “dissolved.” It remains in operation under Morrison’s successor.

...and elsewhere, agsin writing in the Washington Post, Morrison states:

When I joined the National Security Council staff in 2018, I inherited a strong and skilled staff in the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate. This team of national experts together drafted the National Biodefense Strategy of 2018 and an accompanying national security presidential memorandum to implement it; an executive order to modernize influenza vaccines; and coordinated the United States’ response to the Ebola epidemic in Congo, which was ultimately defeated in 2020.
It is true that the Trump administration has seen fit to shrink the NSC staff. But the bloat that occurred under the previous administration clearly needed a correction. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, congressional oversight committees and members of the Obama administration itself all agreed the NSC was too large and too operationally focused. . . .
The reduction of force in the NSC has continued since I departed the White House. But it has left the biodefense staff unaffected — perhaps a recognition of the importance of that mission to the president, who, after all, in 2018 issued a presidential memorandum to finally create real accountability in the federal government’s expansive biodefense system.

(emphasis added)

Now, if the reduction to the NSC sidecar-groups had not merely consolidated them organizationally, but had also "let go" the biodefense staff, it seems the accusation "dismantled" would be warranted. But it looks like this was a change to the "org chart" rather than a removal of positions.

That's a more complex story, but the Post was willing to tell it, and I don't think of them as terribly fond of the current admin.

With others, however, I'm concerned about this thread going political.

Better, I think, that it remain practical.

 

[ruso]

Totally off-topic, but one of my Too 10 favorite bass-lines.

 

[spagthorpe]

So all of our stores are out of guns, ammo, and toilet paper because Americans are intelligent, warm-heated, witty and have a good sense of humor?

Have you seen what people here will do for a $149 flat screen on Black Friday?

People are out of toilet paper everywhere. I see people talking about it in Austrailia, Denmark, etc. It's not an American thing. I'm sure guns and ammo would be the same if they were allowed to have them.

 

[spagthorpe]

I would have a blast. Running around empty cities on the motorcycle is something I've done a few times in the past and it's the best.

 

[Dr. Dipwad]

Here's a somewhat optimistic bit of news,
for those who aren't otherwise ill:
99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-died-from-virus-had-other-illness-italy-says

(For those who are, I guess it's same ol' same ol'.)

Particularly noteworthy:

The average age of those who’ve died from the virus in Italy is 79.5. As of March 17, only 17 people under 50 had died from the disease [out of more than 2,500 deaths overall]. All of Italy’s victims under 40 have been males with serious existing medical conditions.

Hopefully I don't have to say this, but just in case I do: Obviously the lives of all persons are sacred, elderly or young, male or female, healthy or infirm. So, to note that only (or mostly) elderly ill men are affected is not to say that only young healthy women are of value!

Still, it's good to know where to focus our efforts, and it's good that the virus isn't just generally deadly.

I wonder why mostly men? Is it...

• men smoke more?
• men engage in riskier behaviors and less-good health maintenance, generally?
• men don't go to the doctor when they should?
• some actual biological, non-behavioral component?

 

[deathbyguitar]

My apologies for posting that. I assumed, wrongly perhaps, that the ship had sailed on the no political comments rule. To the admins., please delete if necessary.

I've been reading this thread to get a sense of how others are feeling, which is quite obvious now...like me, scared as shit, but also to get some facts from some very well informed people in the Fractal community. This thread has been a great summation of information. I think now though, I know what I need to know and that's to take this seriously and heed the warnings to distance myself and my family socially from others.

I think it's time to stick to the other threads and try and make life as normal as possible, by continuing my daily routine as best as possible, within the confines of my home and part of that routine of course, is continuing to play guitar on my Fractal gear, which gives me great comfort and joy.

'The band played on'

I wasn't offended by your post if that's what you were thinking.

 

[Toopy14]

I wasn't offended by your post if that's what you were thinking.

No, I wasn't referring to you specifically. I only quoted your post because of your mention about politically related posts and having similar concerns about their appropriateness.

I appreciate the response though...thank you.

 

[Scented Meat]

I mistook Cliff’s post about “our so-called leaders” to be political in nature and responded accordingly. I stand corrected and apologize for my (since deleted) post. To try to keep people from dying has been my profession for >25 years; I tend to get fairly passionate about it. I’ll stick with unrelated threads.

 

[solo-act]

Bit of a silver lining:
Just read that McLaren is going to make ventilators. Musk/Tesla offered to yesterday.

 

[deathbyguitar]

Bit of a silver lining:
Just read that McLaren is going to make ventilators. Musk/Tesla offered to yesterday.

That's really interesting. I know it's too early to even be concerned about this but what the heck do we do with a bunch of extra ventilators worldwide once this thing dies down? Do we stockpile them in a warehouse for another rainy day? Do we recycle the parts? Hmm...

 

[dpeterson]

That's really interesting. I know it's too early to even be concerned about this but what the heck do we do with a bunch of extra ventilators worldwide once this thing dies down? Do we stockpile them in a warehouse for another rainy day? Do we recycle the parts? Hmm...

no way in hell we wont see this again... over prepared is never a bad thing.

 

[FractalAudio]

Bit of a silver lining:
Just read that McLaren is going to make ventilators. Musk/Tesla offered to yesterday.

Just like Elon was going to fix the Flint water crisis?

Elon is a charlatan. He's just saying that so he doesn't have to abide by the lockdown.

 

[solo-act]

That's really interesting. I know it's too early to even be concerned about this but what the heck do we do with a bunch of extra ventilators worldwide once this thing dies down? Do we stockpile them in a warehouse for another rainy day? Do we recycle the parts? Hmm...

We keep them, every single one, so people can HYPERventilate when the next crisis hits. Better that & pass out than run out and hoard kleenix and kalashnikovs.

 

[deathbyguitar]

Just like Elon was going to fix the Flint water crisis?

Elon is a charlatan. He's just saying that so he doesn't have to abide by the lockdown.

I'm so tired of the billionaire savior complex. These guys offer to throw so much money at a given problem that you can't say no to it, only to find out years later that they didn't know what the hell they were doing and often leave us worse off. Look at the Gates Foundation's track record on Education for example.

 

[Dr. Dipwad]

I'm so tired of the billionaire savior complex. These guys offer to throw so much money at a given problem that you can't say no to it, only to find out years later that they didn't know what the hell they were doing and often leave us worse off. Look at the Gates Foundation's track record on Education for example.

I second this.

However, there is this to say about the "billionaire saviors": As a general rule, when they formulate some grandiose gesture by which they aim to improve the world, the money they throw at the effort is their money.

This, while imperfect, seems to me to be morally superior to "politician saviors" (who are also, not infrequently, multimillionaires, but that's neither here nor there), because when they formulate some grandiose gesture by which they aim to improve the world, they do it with our money.

In either case, I think there is a lesson in the classical virtues of humility and patience which is missing in both forms of secular messiah: Grandiose gestures to rapidly rewrite civilization and all its intermediary systems more often terminate in the guillotine or the Cultural Revolution, than in substantive improvements (let alone the paradises promised by those who try to sell the public on such gestures). The best, safest, and most long-lasting improvements are done quietly, indirectly, locally, and through the kind of marginal improvements and removals-of-perverse-incentives that Japanese business analysts called "kaizen."

Of course, humbly and patiently working "in the trenches" doesn't stroke the ego, and it doesn't buy elections or flattering magazine write-ups. But it's better -- both for civilization, and for the soul -- than the other kind. "Let not your left hand know what your right is doing...."

 

[creativespiral]

Elon's special skill is not that he "knows everything"... He doesn't claim to know everything, so therefore is not a charlatan.

He doesn't know how to build ventilators, but he is an expert at researching technologies, absorbing information, thinking outside the box, asking questions, and surrounding himself by smart people. He's a great leader and innovator because he's willing to challenge norms and test new ideas in a rapid pace, until he and his team make a breakthrough.

He is willing to put his money on the line, his reputation on the line, and he's willing to fail. Tesla is changing the world - not only have they directly created a fervor for their electric cars, but they have opened up patents and gotten the whole industry to accelerate the pace of development. He is changing the world as much as anyone else out there. In addition, they are pushing forward development of battery technology and solar technology. Also, SpaceX has made incredible progress, leading the world in development of reusable rockets, and inspiring a new generation of scientists and engineers.

Also, the Boring Company is doing interesting work at an incredible pace, and his past work has been pretty impressive as well.

If he says "I'm gonna create ventilators", I say cheer him on... The worst case scenario is that maybe he doesn't succeed, but learns a bunch of new skills for quickly retooling assembly lines that leads to some future breakthrough.

He may not be perfect... he's certainly a mediocre public speaker at best, and he has made public mistakes in the past, but he's doing so much more good than 99% of the population of the planet.

 

[NeoSound]

This is an unmitigated disaster. A true nightmare scenario now. Our so-called leaders completely botched this and now the world is on fire.

china could have gave everyone warning at least a month ahead of what they did. we are in uncharted territory now. permanent change ahead for sure.

 

[Morphine]

china could have gave everyone warning at least a month ahead of what they did. we are in uncharted territory now. permanent change ahead for sure.

They could have. However, not confident the scenario would be playing out any differently in the US had they done so.

 

[deathbyguitar]

They could have. However, not confident the scenario would be playing out any differently in the US had they done so.

Pretty much. I've been saying for ages that as a whole, Americans are too stupid and arrogant to learn any other way but the hard way. Leadership, citizens, you name it. It's in our blood.

 

[Morphine]

Pretty much. I've been saying for ages that as a whole, Americans are too stupid and arrogant to learn any other way but the hard way. Leadership, citizens, you name it. It's in our blood.

It's not like we weren't aware of it months prior. Up until a week ago our leadership was downplaying it. So yeah, wouldn't have mattered.