tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post4476150848755843136..comments2024-03-19T07:10:27.303-07:00Comments on Quark Soup by David Appell: Governors DeSantis, Abbott Killed PeopleDavid Appellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03318269033139447591noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-41793606861904617512022-03-18T06:40:22.853-07:002022-03-18T06:40:22.853-07:00I agree completely. His pandering comes at the co...I agree completely. His pandering comes at the cost of lives. It's unconscionable.Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-83165607406267676522022-03-17T12:55:53.884-07:002022-03-17T12:55:53.884-07:00Individuals are free to remain in lockdown, to a p...Individuals are free to remain in lockdown, to a point. They still have to go out into society for groceries or trips to doctors or any number of things, and if they want to be safe they rely on others taking precautionary steps during the pandemic. You can't fight a pandemic if everyone does whatever they want -- it will be chaos and death. The statistics show it. <br /><br />Yes you have to make tradeoffs between perpetual lockdown and complete freedom, for the sake of economic functioning. But people like DeSantis have told lies and declined to take simple, sensible steps. He wouldn't even admit if he was boosted, when he had a wife at home with cancer and small children. What kind of a-hole does that? WHY would he do that? WHY??? He's playing political games with people's lives. That's why people call him DeathSantis. David Appellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03318269033139447591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-73818748694547972492022-03-17T12:02:56.804-07:002022-03-17T12:02:56.804-07:00How have governments not done numbers 1-3?
All go...<i>How have governments not done numbers 1-3?</i><br /><br />All governments have done all three to varying degrees. Arguably DeSantis did horribly at #2 and #3. It's when governments go beyond those three where they really need to show their measures are warranted, and on balance, beneficial. DeSantis did well in not going beyond these three.<br /><br /><i>"I don't get how anyone can be envious of Florida. Look at their higher death rate."</i><br /><br />Folks in Florida were free to remain in lockdown with their neighbors to the north. In that case they would have been at very little risk. They were also free to go to restaurants or take up employment. They would have assumed that risk.<br /><br />DeSantis may still take blame to the extent that Floridians may have had a skewed perception of the risk. That's where #1-#3 are critical.<br /><br />Even California made decisions in favour of freedom rather than safety. They also had a positive excess mortality. Perhaps perpetual lockdown could have avoided that.Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-58987604672298554872022-03-17T10:00:22.506-07:002022-03-17T10:00:22.506-07:00+1 Pete. We vaccinated our kids as soon as it was...+1 Pete. We vaccinated our kids as soon as it was available but it was not after carefully considering the data. We had to rely solely on the advice of Health Canada: "Health Canada completed a thorough and independent scientific review of the evidence. They concluded that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks in children 5 to 11 years of age."<br /><br />Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-85273329395600374942022-03-17T09:37:25.383-07:002022-03-17T09:37:25.383-07:00Layzej,
How have governments not done numbers 1-3...Layzej,<br /><br />How have governments not done numbers 1-3? <br /><br />Granted, number 2 is difficult in an envolving scientific environment. But I think the US government, at least, has done its best, and mostly with #1 and #3, with exceptions -- govt should have been sending masks to everyone through the mail, and tests much earlier). But they're swimming upstream against constant conspiracy theories and purposeful mis- and disinformation.<br /><br />I don't get how anyone can be envious of Florida. Look at their higher death rate. There will also be a higher case rate. That's going to mean more cases of long COVID, more side effects of having had COVID, etc, in a state that hasn't expanded Obamacare (viz expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act). <br /><br />All so, IMO, DeSantis can pander to the Trump crowd from the right and get the Republican nomination for President in 2024. I think it's beyond shameful. I'm very thankful I don't live in Florida.David Appellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03318269033139447591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-90292153978915644652022-03-17T08:12:14.844-07:002022-03-17T08:12:14.844-07:00"there is a difference between China's dr..."there is a difference between China's draconian measures and just encouraging people to vaccinate, making sure it's easy to get too and try to get rid of all the conspiracy theorists."<br /><br />I agree 100%. A responsible government would have done the following:<br />1) Provide tools and technologies to allow people to mitigate risks.<br />2) Provide accurate and honest data around the relative risks of catching the disease vs. the mitigations.<br />3) Provide leadership to encourage people towards civic responsibility and combat misinformation on either side.<br /><br />Possibly lockdowns were also warranted towards the beginning.<br /><br />I know there are many people who were envious of the freedoms afforded to Floridians, even while shuddering at the pandering and lack of leadership from their government.Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-75522317869481040912022-03-16T14:45:59.802-07:002022-03-16T14:45:59.802-07:00There is also the issue of age. Covid is extremely...There is also the issue of age. Covid is extremely risky for old people while younger folks have a much much smaller risk. I haven’t done the numbers but I guess that covid at 25 is less risky then the all-age flu risk. If you’re 25 and you feel invulnerable, I can see why the vax and masking may not be on your list. Vaxing because of side effects (yes, these are greatly exaggerated by the right wing but I know a couple of people who had problems). Masking because it is a (small) pain in the neck. And for years. <br /><br />If you’re 25, you may end up doing this for other people, or because of laws. <br />petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04502153252871697926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-32080965615776091602022-03-16T08:59:45.861-07:002022-03-16T08:59:45.861-07:00Layzej, there is a difference between China's ...Layzej, there is a difference between China's draconian measures and just encouraging people to vaccinate, making sure it's easy to get too and try to get rid of all the conspiracy theorists. Exactly whet strategy works best differs from place to place. For example, some have suggested that in Eastern Europe charging for vaccines would have worked better. If people distrust the government and worry that it's trying to push something dangerous on them, making it cost turns it into something exclusive.<br /><br />"States are laboratories for experimentation, but fragmented health policy has consequences. While other countries mounted a national response to COVID-19, the US was hobbled by 50 response plans"<br /><br />Most American states are as large as countries, so that's no excuse.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13637003962678558195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-46622871460822663152022-03-15T13:06:02.003-07:002022-03-15T13:06:02.003-07:00I may decide that I am at the end of my life, and ...I may decide that I am at the end of my life, and I'd rather spend my last days strolling the grounds of my old age facility rather than locked down in my room, even if the risk is quite high.<br /><br />I may decide that, being vaccinated, I'm happy to have friends over for dinner rather than remain isolated. I may even decide that as a healthy vaccinated individual I don't care to wear a mask outdoors.<br /><br />There is some risk involved in each of these scenarios. How much risk is tolerable may vary from person to person.<br /><br />Keep in mind that remedies went well beyond simply masking and vaccinating. There are currently ~30,000,000 people in lockdown in China. I would not choose to live in a state with a zero Covid policy, though excess mortality would possibly be lower there.Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-82217111732524647132022-03-15T10:20:42.721-07:002022-03-15T10:20:42.721-07:00But how can "freedom," whatever exactly ...But how can "freedom," whatever exactly that means to a person, be more important than life itself, especially in this case where we're talking about relatively innocent protections like masks and vaccinations?David Appellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03318269033139447591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28837843.post-81803946876620906262022-03-15T10:13:26.068-07:002022-03-15T10:13:26.068-07:00Regarding low vaccination in Florida, the Governor...Regarding low vaccination in Florida, the Governor should have been providing leadership rather than <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/ron-desantis-isnt-just-anti-171617699.html" rel="nofollow">pandering to a vaccine hesitant base</a>.<br /><br />"there are some things more important than their health and their lives."<br /><br />That is certainly true. There is always an individual balance struck between safety and freedom. Some folks won't go near vehicles or streets due to the risk. Everyone draws a different line.Layzejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11346550512734519728noreply@blogger.com