Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Nomad

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Have you ever tried to load a dishwasher with someone?

I assume you have to push really hard to get them to fit.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

US government turned down opportunity to manufacture millions of N95 masks at start of pandemic: report

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/496980-hhs-turned-down-opportunity-to-manufacture-millions-of-n95-masks-at


This story looks really bad. But a cursory search on my part raises two concerns. If the manufacturer's phones were ringing off the hook, why did they not re-open the mask line and sell them to other interested parties?

The other is scale. 3M make 1.1 billion masks a year, and has pledged to increase production by 30%. Honeywell is another company expanding their mask production.

This story is a perfect example of journalistic problems. I am sure the article gets kudos for accuracy, but it is only telling a tiny part of the story.

But the story makes HHS look bad for turning down the business proposal....in January.

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“We are ramping to full production. We’re going 24/7,” Roman said. He added that the company is increasing production at its plants in China and other Asian countries, as well as in Europe in the United States.

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To fill the growing demand for the devices, particularly the N95 respirator, 3M is ramping up production, which means hosting job fairs, making offers on the spot and expanding its assembly line with robots.

In Aberdeen, South Dakota, more than 650 employees at one of 3M’s largest manufacturing facilities are working overtime to increase face mask production.

“We immediately ramped up production in this facility,” says Andy Rehder, plant manager at 3M. “We have capacity to do that and we did that immediately ... really from a more standard five-day to a seven-day week.”

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Also on Wednesday, 3M announced Ford is shipping 10,000 powered air-purifying respirators, or PAPRs -- which the two companies collaborated to develop -- to protect healthcare workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to 3M, since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the company has doubled its global output of filtering facepiece respirators, such as N95s, to more than 1.1 billion per year, or 100 million per month -- with 35 million N95s being produced in the United States.

The company said that 90 percent of N95s it currently produces go directly to health care workers.

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ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Damn am I glad I took a few steps back for a while.

Watching you all take pot shots at each other is actually rather entertaining.

Well, time to wade back in.

A quick thrust at all you Eurosocialists damning the US for not implementing nation wide orders.....

So ALL of the European continent implemented the same imperial edict orders and followed them?

Many of our states are three times the size of many of your nations...........yet is is OK for your individual nations to go their own ways....but not for our states?

My what hypocrites you all are.

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

This is not negligence. This is willful fraud. When we get done the CCP they need to be picking the corn out of their own s*** for 20 years.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

This is not negligence. This is willful fraud. When we get done the CCP they need to be picking the corn out of their own s*** for 20 years.

There is a bill up in congress to rename the street the Chinese Embassy is on after one of the missing Chinese Covid Doctors now presumed dead.

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

This is not negligence. This is willful fraud. When we get done the CCP they need to be picking the corn out of their own s*** for 20 years.

There is a bill up in congress to rename the street the Chinese Embassy is on after one of the missing Chinese Covid Doctors now presumed dead.

Dr Li. A heroic figure on par with "Tankman" at Tienanmen. Look how young he is. I am VERY suspicious they PRC off'ed the Dr Li.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51364382

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

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ORIGINAL: Nomad

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Have you ever tried to load a dishwasher with someone?

I assume you have to push really hard to get them to fit.

Okay, I take it back. Wasn't such a great question after all.

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ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

Just thinking about the public health vs public freedom angle.

The NHS estimates smoking-related deaths at 78,000pa in the UK. Cancer Research UK have it at 115,000pa.

If you assume a 20% 'hardcore' who would continue smoking whatever the legal status you could suggest that we could save 60-90 thousand deaths a year by banning smoking.

The tax take from smoking products is c.£10 billion - a seemingly massive number in isolation but only c.1-2% of the overall UK tax revenue. Certainly less than what has been spent so far in the economic measures introduced to mitigate against the effects of lockdown.

I don't think it is a massive leap to suggest that in the UK we already accept a level of premature deaths equivalent to what we are seeing from Covid-19 in the name of public freedom to smoke.

[edit - the counterpoint would be that the people dying in the UK from smoking related diseases are to a large extent those that were smoking heavily through the 70s/80s and never stopped. Anecdotally my dad was smoking 20-30 a day in the office in the late 70s/early 80s. The world is very different now - I'd expect the current rates of smoking related deaths to drop significantly in the next 20 years - at least in the West]

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ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

Just thinking about the public health vs public freedom angle.

The NHS estimates smoking-related deaths at 78,000pa in the UK. Cancer Research UK have it at 115,000pa.

If you assume a 20% 'hardcore' who would continue smoking whatever the legal status you could suggest that we could save 60-90 thousand deaths a year by banning smoking.

The tax take from smoking products is c.£10 billion - a seemingly massive number in isolation but only c.1-2% of the overall UK tax revenue. Certainly less than what has been spent so far in the economic measures introduced to mitigate against the effects of lockdown.

I don't think it is a massive leap to suggest that in the UK we already accept a level of premature deaths equivalent to what we are seeing from Covid-19 in the name of public freedom to smoke.

[edit - the counterpoint would be that the people dying in the UK from smoking related diseases are to a large extent those that were smoking heavily through the 70s/80s and never stopped. Anecdotally my dad was smoking 20-30 a day in the office in the late 70s/early 80s. The world is very different now - I'd expect the current rates of smoking related deaths to drop significantly in the next 20 years - at least in the West]

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe


Using tobacco products is a personal choice, it is currently legal to do so. Catching Sars-CoV is not so much a personal choice.

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy



My dad and mom were heavy smokers and I blame it as one of the factors for my mom dying at 62 from a heart attack (she was very slim, so obesity was not a factor). My dad had a minor heart attack and quit smoking soon after, living another thirty years.

In Britain and Canada, the calculations about tobacco tax revenue vs health costs borne by the taxpayers in general shows that it would be better to ban smoking, but social customs are not easily banned so they were eased out by making it more difficult to smoke everywhere. For the same reasons, drinking alcohol leads to more total health costs than the revenues from taxes, but social customs and restaurant/bar survival depend on alcohol so it is partly controlled rather than banned. Vaping was invented to get around the smoking restrictions but the chemicals being used have been proven to cause lung damage too.

As with many things, moderate alcohol use is largely beneficial to our overall well being (including social relationships in that), but binging and addictive drinking are a problem. I see no benefits from smoking or vaping, except to support a habit of putting something in our mouths.

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ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy



My dad and mom were heavy smokers and I blame it as one of the factors for my mom dying at 62 from a heart attack (she was very slim, so obesity was not a factor). My dad had a minor heart attack and quit smoking soon after, living another thirty years.

In Britain and Canada, the calculations about tobacco tax revenue vs health costs borne by the taxpayers in general shows that it would be better to ban smoking, but social customs are not easily banned so they were eased out by making it more difficult to smoke everywhere. For the same reasons, drinking alcohol leads to more total health costs than the revenues from taxes, but social customs and restaurant/bar survival depend on alcohol so it is partly controlled rather than banned. Vaping was invented to get around the smoking restrictions but the chemicals being used have been proven to cause lung damage too.

As with many things, moderate alcohol use is largely beneficial to our overall well being (including social relationships in that), but binging and addictive drinking are a problem. I see no benefits from smoking or vaping, except to support a habit of putting something in our mouths.

I think that nicotine addiction is slightly more interesting psychologically than the bit in bold. My own view is that people who smoke nowadays (myself included) are people that find it difficult to regulate their emotions/mental health. Smoking gives that feeling (albeit perhaps an illusion) of having a means of control. Despite all the public health measures introduced in the UK smoking rates remain sky-high amongst people with severe mental health conditions like Schizophrenia/BPAD etc.

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ORIGINAL: mind_messing


I think there is some strong evidence in Trump's past behaviour, particularly with regard to James Comey and the winder context of Trump's request for loyalty.

It suggests than official has to strike the balance between loyalty (in whatever form that is) to Trump and the demands of the role. It would be interesting to know how those considerations are balanced.

Unusual is certainly a diplomatic way of framing it.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/take-shutdown-skeptics-seriously/611419/

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

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ORIGINAL: mind_messing


I think there is some strong evidence in Trump's past behaviour, particularly with regard to James Comey and the winder context of Trump's request for loyalty.

It suggests than official has to strike the balance between loyalty (in whatever form that is) to Trump and the demands of the role. It would be interesting to know how those considerations are balanced.

Unusual is certainly a diplomatic way of framing it.

Most recent (and apparently ongoing) revelations have completely undone Comey's facade. Based on hard evidence, it turns out Trump was right about him. I'm not going to get off into that tangent, but you can read up on the documents released recently with apparently more still being released.

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ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

Just thinking about the public health vs public freedom angle.

The NHS estimates smoking-related deaths at 78,000pa in the UK. Cancer Research UK have it at 115,000pa.

If you assume a 20% 'hardcore' who would continue smoking whatever the legal status you could suggest that we could save 60-90 thousand deaths a year by banning smoking.

The tax take from smoking products is c.£10 billion - a seemingly massive number in isolation but only c.1-2% of the overall UK tax revenue. Certainly less than what has been spent so far in the economic measures introduced to mitigate against the effects of lockdown.

I don't think it is a massive leap to suggest that in the UK we already accept a level of premature deaths equivalent to what we are seeing from Covid-19 in the name of public freedom to smoke.

[edit - the counterpoint would be that the people dying in the UK from smoking related diseases are to a large extent those that were smoking heavily through the 70s/80s and never stopped. Anecdotally my dad was smoking 20-30 a day in the office in the late 70s/early 80s. The world is very different now - I'd expect the current rates of smoking related deaths to drop significantly in the next 20 years - at least in the West]

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ORIGINAL: Sammy5IsAlive

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy



My dad and mom were heavy smokers and I blame it as one of the factors for my mom dying at 62 from a heart attack (she was very slim, so obesity was not a factor). My dad had a minor heart attack and quit smoking soon after, living another thirty years.

In Britain and Canada, the calculations about tobacco tax revenue vs health costs borne by the taxpayers in general shows that it would be better to ban smoking, but social customs are not easily banned so they were eased out by making it more difficult to smoke everywhere. For the same reasons, drinking alcohol leads to more total health costs than the revenues from taxes, but social customs and restaurant/bar survival depend on alcohol so it is partly controlled rather than banned. Vaping was invented to get around the smoking restrictions but the chemicals being used have been proven to cause lung damage too.

As with many things, moderate alcohol use is largely beneficial to our overall well being (including social relationships in that), but binging and addictive drinking are a problem. I see no benefits from smoking or vaping, except to support a habit of putting something in our mouths.

I think that nicotine addiction is slightly more interesting psychologically than the bit in bold. My own view is that people who smoke nowadays (myself included) are people that find it difficult to regulate their emotions/mental health. Smoking gives that feeling (albeit perhaps an illusion) of having a means of control. Despite all the public health measures introduced in the UK smoking rates remain sky-high amongst people with severe mental health conditions like Schizophrenia/BPAD etc.

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/take-shutdown-skeptics-seriously/611419/

That is the kind of balanced view I would hope for in the dialogue. Issues with both. Make sure to understand costs of staying closed.

It didn’t have much evidence for some claims unfortunately. Being in education I can state clearly that what is not usually considered is that kids are still learning. On top of that they’re learning, perhaps for the first time in their lives, the true value of school, education, social connectiveness and the decreased value of video games and social media.

I know this from direct experience. They’re desperate to get back in. Learn. Be in a classroom. See their friends. Get off of their laptops.

All the while though teachers are teaching. Students are also learning that there are some important decisions going on in cultures that directly affect their lives. Difficulty and awareness of others in a society are not always bad for them. They’re also all noticing nature. The change of seasons a nd the value of family time and exercise.

If they miss a few dates, don’t get to study as many equations, need to refresh themselves next year on the periodic table. I think that’s okay. As long as this doesn’t go on for many many months, it could be a defining moment for many to value their lives, family, friends and education more than before.

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

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ORIGINAL: obvert

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Take the Shutdown Skeptics Seriously

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/take-shutdown-skeptics-seriously/611419/

That is the kind of balanced view I would hope for in the dialogue. Issues with both. Make sure to understand costs of staying closed.

It didn’t have much evidence for some claims unfortunately. Being in education I can state clearly that what is not usually considered is that kids are still learning. On top of that they’re learning, perhaps for the first time in their lives, the true value of school, education, social connectiveness and the decreased value of video games and social media.

I know this from direct experience. They’re desperate to get back in. Learn. Be in a classroom. See their friends. Get off of their laptops.

All the while though teachers are teaching. Students are also learning that there are some important decisions going on in cultures that directly affect their lives. Difficulty and awareness of others in a society are not always bad for them. They’re also all noticing nature. The change of seasons a nd the value of family time and exercise.

If they miss a few dates, don’t get to study as many equations, need to refresh themselves next year on the periodic table. I think that’s okay. As long as this doesn’t go on for many many months, it could be a defining moment for many to value their lives, family, friends and education more than before.

I am very nervous from conversations I have had that some folks in education think that lots more laptop/remote learning can replace classroom time in the future. I already feel social and communication skills are slipping badly. Stick them on laptops more and they may never speak to another human. OK, a bit of hyperbole there, but I agree they need to be in a classroom.