# COVID-19



## Vol

Well, I have avoided even mentioning anything about this virus, but I suppose it is time to talk about it since President Trump will address it this evening.

There is so much false information on this virus, so let us not add to this hysteria.

Here is what we believe we know for facts at the moment.

1. It takes about 2 weeks for the virus to incubate in its host.

2. It affects the elderly the most. And so far, it affects children the least.

3. By far, most deaths occur to people above 80 years old.....but, the death toll is very very low here so far.

The only reason why I am writing about this is that the number of event cancellations is suddenly widespread. Colleges and Universities have gone to online only classes with no public meetings.

Sporting events of every kind have gone to playing in front of no fans, and only players, coaches, and security allowed in the venues.

This will go on for a while, but early talks are indicating that the first three to four weeks are when a very large percentage of infections will occur in this country. So one might want to avoid touching doors, counters, etc. while out in public. Medical gloves would be useful when out in public.

Evidently, the virus does not like warm environment temperatures nor humidity.....so this early spring that has enveloped much of the Eastern half of the country may be a blessing.

Everyone please be vigilant about "touching" as this virus is much more of a contact virus than an airborne virus.

Life must go on, so be aware and judicious.

Regards, Mike


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## stack em up

Just came from church council meeting. Our nursing home is closed to visitors, not a big shock there as it affects elderly. We are going to not do "sharing the Peace" hand shake instead just do a verbal one. Communion will commence as usual but no more Intinction, and servers wearing gloves. Otherwise business as usual.

Niece attending U of M is home on Spring Break, online classes now until April 1. Her job as a law library assistant on hold since library on campus is closed.


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## haybaler101

Oldest son a junior at Purdue is coming home tomorrow evening and classes will be online indefinitely after spring break next week. All campus activities cancelled for semester. Second son commutes to Vincennes University and is on spring break this week. Latest news this evening is classes as usual on Monday.


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## BWfarms

Granny is in rehab recovering from breaking her hip. Dad and my Uncle were taking shifts to watch her and keep her company 24/7. More to keep her comfortable and safe because she has some dementia and bouts of 'crazy'. This is to keep her calm or else she will try to do things she's not suppose to.

Rehab started lockdown shortly after my Uncle arrived for the night yesterday. Now nobody can come in except personnel. No visitors. My Uncle is in Jail lol. If he hadn't had shift change my Dad would have been stuck. Lucky Dad. He's still allowed to take supplies up to my Uncle but for now no changing of the guard.

Wife's work is now doing measures of work from home unless attendance is necessary.


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## VA Haymaker

I want to apologize for my part in the toilet paper shortage...


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## weatherman

Wife and son went on a 3 Asian country vacation in Jan. China was one of those countries and the last country to visit. They decided to leave three days early, arrived home Jan 27. They had a hard time getting out of Hong Kong because all the other tourist were leaving too. I took the wife to military hospital ER (I'm retired military) for flu like symptoms. ER staff quarantine us immediately and called CDC for the protocol of how to treat us. Fortunately, tests came back negative for the COVID-19 virus. After the ER visit, I told her that she was really fortunate of leaving when she did. The Chinese communist would have quarantined her for two weeks. No telling when she would have got home.


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## r82230

My wife (and her cousin) just left today, headed for Hawaii for a week, then New Zeeland/Australia 2 week cruise, then back Hawaii for a week. Sent her with some of those plastic throw away gloves you find in an auto part store, told her to wear them while loading her plate at the buffet. Cruise ship offered them an upgrade to a bigger cabin (already had a balcony cabin), which they took. Her cousin just retired last month, so her and my wife have to spend an extra two weeks on a cruise...&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. I'll manage. 

A week or so ago, a read that we had something like 29 million folks in the US that came down with the 'regular' flu so far this flu season and just over 12,000 people died from it. Is it possible that some are over reacting?

Seems a fair amount of the deaths from the common flu are from folks with other serious complications (as is with the Covid19 deaths).

As of last night Michigan had two confirmed cases of Covid19, and our Governor declared a state of emergency. 

Is it time to go put my head between my legs and kiss my something good-bye? I don't think so, but I might find a shortage of the stuff I need to wipe that same area with for some odd reason. Maybe we have turned into a flock of sheep, jumping off the cliff? :huh:

I will try feeding the cows 'remotely', too. 

Larry


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## Vol

Philippians 4:6-7 English Standard Version (ESV)

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


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## JD3430

My son was sent home from University yesterday. Their NCAA remaining schedule & season cancelled/suspended.


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## slowzuki

There is gonna be a mess here if it gets into nursing homes. Very very high mortality rate for elderly with heart disease or diabetes.


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## swmnhay

They just announced all public schools in Mn will be closed Wednesday or before.


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## Wethay

Oregon schools closed Friday for the rest of the month.


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## Aaroncboo

Illinois from this Tuesday for two weeks


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## Vol

Schools, Colleges, and Universities shut down last Friday. The State of Tennessee has recognized President Trumps recommendation of mandatory shut down of any public gatherings of 250 people or more. Many churches did not hold public worship this morning, but services were held online and that is how we worshipped.

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101

haybaler101 said:


> Oldest son a junior at Purdue is coming home tomorrow evening and classes will be online indefinitely after spring break next week. All campus activities cancelled for semester. Second son commutes to Vincennes University and is on spring break this week. Latest news this evening is classes as usual on Monday.


PUrdue sounds like they are done for the semester, dean told dorm students they could turn in key and clean out before they left. Vincennes University extended spring break thru next week and plans to go online the week after. My daughter is a junior in high school. All county schools closed end of day last Friday and are closed for at least 3 weeks. All churches suggested not to hold services. County Ag day breakfast cancelled yesterday morning and upcoming FFA consignment machinery auction cancelled. 4H pig sales still going, been to 2 this weekend.


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## Aaroncboo

Our governor just said that all bars and restaurants other than carry out or drive-thru is closed until the 30th state wide


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## haydust

Got the email last night. Iowa schools are shut down now as well. Given hay prices maybe now is a good time to open a daycare, I don't mind cooking, and could use the help calving


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## Ox76

Anybody have any ideas, thoughts, or heard about a possible interstate travel ban? I'm in the middle of a move from NY to MO and half my operation is still back in the nanny state and I'm very hesitant to make another run for fear of being caught in a "where you stop is where you stay" scenario, for many reasons, including health and meds.


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## RockyHill

Ox76 said:


> Anybody have any ideas, thoughts, or heard about a possible interstate travel ban? I'm in the middle of a move from NY to MO and half my operation is still back in the nanny state and I'm very hesitant to make another run for fear of being caught in a "where you stop is where you stay" scenario, for many reasons, including health and meds.


Might want to have an alternate route around Kentucky if we're on your route. Whatever is put in place anywhere else Kentucky's governor will start it here. Starting tonight (3/16) restaurants are being closed to in house patrons. Drive through, delivery still permitted.

If you have to stop/stay and are in south central Ky come on by.

Shelia


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## slowzuki

Bread, pasta and toilet paper all sold out around here. Defrosted some very old pork from the fridge and walloped a bunch of Indian spices to it for my supper. As the other dads in the thread probably understand I’m like the household dog that eats all the scraps while wife and kids eat the tasty stuff. My sons gonna get a lesson in less picky eating if the shortages keeps up.


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## IHCman

I've been reading online that there is now a run on guns and ammo. I suppose people need to protect their hoards of toliet paper and bottled water.


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## Vol

Well I sure as heck don't need anymore guns.....29 should do it. 

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101

We have had a family meeting tonight and decided we do not have enough ammo! Boys are off tomorrow shopping for another AR15, 1000 rounds of .223, 1000 rounds of 9 mm and .45's.


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## slowzuki

Lol wait you are joking right?



haybaler101 said:


> We have had a family meeting tonight and decided we do not have enough ammo! Boys are off tomorrow shopping for another AR15, 1000 rounds of .223, 1000 rounds of 9 mm and .45's.


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## haybaler101

slowzuki said:


> Lol wait you are joking right?


Serious as a heart attack. We are not going to wait to see what kind of a shit show this turns into. I don't have to have toilet paper to wipe my ass, but I prefer a readily stocked arsenal to protect my family and freedom.


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## Tim/South

We now have wild hogs. That concerns me more than the virus.

My son and wife had our first grandchild Sunday. Hospital allowed no visitors. He could not go to the truck to get his phone charger. Daughter-In-Law says people have to have the Whooping cough vaccination before they can hold the baby. (This was before the virus hysteria) Have not had the shot, and will not. 
I have not changed one habit due to the hysteria.

I had a Corona virus this past January, probably a different brand. I coughed, wife coughed longer. Friend and his wife had it as well. Cover your cough and proceed with life.


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## IHCman

I can't remember the last time I had the cold or flu, figure if I've avoided them for the last few years I should be able to avoid this virus. The only thing I can't avoid are the shortages from people buying out of fear and the crash in the markets kind of sucks to. Glad all my calves were sold before the worst of the crash. Hopefully this all straightens out before the next crop is ready to sell.


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## Farmineer95

Vol said:


> Philippians 4:6-7 English Standard Version (ESV)
> *6 *do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. *7 *And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


That has been on my mind since last Wednesday. The Peace of God completes us as we have the choice/obligation to bear good fruit as image bearers.
He says "don't worry about it, lay it on Me"

I think it's tempered on purpose but the pnemonia that results from the virus is the lethal part. I learned that today, thought I'd share.


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## IH 1586

My 2 sons in Plainfield, In. are on a e learning schedule for grades. Here in Warren County School District, PA it's a 2 week break with not having to make up the days. Due to lack of internet access no e learning. That could change if closure is extended though. Interesting times


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## JD3430

IHCman said:


> I can't remember the last time I had the cold or flu, figure if I've avoided them for the last few years I should be able to avoid this virus. The only thing I can't avoid are the shortages from people buying out of fear and the crash in the markets kind of sucks to. Glad all my calves were sold before the worst of the crash. Hopefully this all straightens out before the next crop is ready to sell.


The shortages caused by the hoarding actually put all of us, even the hoarder, at more risk. The hoarder thinks he makes himself more safe by stockpiling boxes of gloves or masks or cases of water. Really, all he's doing is making it impossible for everyone else to have these products, causing a lot more people get sick.
Eventually the hoarder will need something outside his home, but if everyone outside his home is sick, he will die from the very same virus.


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## slowzuki




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## BWfarms

slowzuki said:


> 03E1D0EE-3625-4A33-A4B5-2B7CF28F6D64.jpeg


That brought an out loud chuckle from me.


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## BWfarms

On a serious note; I'm still being mindful of my assets. My normal routine will allow me to function for extended periods, this has not changed. If this hoopla continues folks resort to looting. It's already been floated around on social media to raid farms if grocery stores fail.


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## Wrenchhead1968

I see we are sporting a whopping 4rolls of tail tape.atleast the freezer is full of meat,fair amount of dry goods in the pantry.Couple gallons of milk in the freezer.We are keeping our faith up and our glasses half full.Im sure our fore fathers had it worse.Got some left over net wrap from last season that can double for flossing both ends if necessary. Im scheduled for an angiogram Monday, atleast I'm only 52 hoping for the best,but definitely need to go as I got some issues and don't feel the best...gonna put my faith in god....Mom always said there is always somebody out there that has it worse,God bless her soul...Farmers are smart,tough,and always persevere .Button down the hatches and keep your powder dry good times a comin soon! Keep the faith!!!


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## haybaler101

haybaler101 said:


> Serious as a heart attack. We are not going to wait to see what kind of a shit show this turns into. I don't have to have toilet paper to wipe my ass, but I prefer a readily stocked arsenal to protect my family and freedom.


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## CowboyRam

Dad was wanting to have his knee replaced this spring; he had a appointment with the cardiologist for Thursday, and I suggested that he cancel it. I thought it was maybe a good idea to push this surgery off for a few months. A wait and see kind of thing. There are already 7 confirmed people infected at an assisted living facility in Lander.

I was talking with someone else that was supposed to have an hernia taking care of here in a few days, and his surgery was canceled.

I think it is prudent to be careful with this thing, and take all the precautions we can.


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## carcajou

We decided to shut up our farm next week nobody coming in, and nobody leaving except emergencies. Tough decision but dads and my wifes health are worth it. Figure at least 6 weeks. Freezers are all full now.


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## swmnhay

Was at dentist yesterday and they are closing for the next 2 weeks.


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## r82230

Happened to watch part of yesterday's presentation by Thump and company. My take away is that in two-three weeks this is NOT going to over with. They did not give an exact answer, because of too many unknowns. Seems China has possibly hit it's peak and they are seeing declining numbers after 2 1/2 to 3 months. So we could be involved in this until July/August time frame.

They kept mentioning that they are trying to flatten the curve (not eliminate the virous, that appears to be impossible at this time). I think of it being similar to a flood of water. The water (virous) will come through, we just need to keep the high water mark as low as possible, by spreading the amount of water going down stream over a longer time period. Which could be 4-5 months.

Larry


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## slowzuki

Yup everything I’ve seen is the vaccine won’t be ready in time to help.


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## swmnhay

There has been quite a few few people that told me they had been sick this winter,worst flu they ever had.Really kicked their ass and lasted quite awhile.

So has it been here for awhile and they just got over it?


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## Ox76

I think yer on to something....many people are thinking this very thing...me included.


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## slowzuki

Nope, the spread rate of covid means that if that was the case, it would have already be well into the exponential part of the growth phase now.


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## Vol

swmnhay said:


> Was at dentist yesterday and they are closing for the next 2 weeks.


They are doing the same here....got a text from them yesterday.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol

swmnhay said:


> There has been quite a few few people that told me they had been sick this winter,worst flu they ever had.Really kicked their ass and lasted quite awhile.
> 
> So has it been here for awhile and they just got over it?


Good question....I have heard the same this winter in this region.

Regards, Mike


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## Tim/South

swmnhay said:


> There has been quite a few few people that told me they had been sick this winter,worst flu they ever had.Really kicked their ass and lasted quite awhile.
> 
> So has it been here for awhile and they just got over it?


Same here and I never get sick or go to the doctor. I had upper respiratory deep cough for 4 weeks. Gave it to my friend and his wife. She and my wife had it worse than us.

She finally went to the doctor, tested negative for flu. Doc said it was a Corona Virus. Said most viruses were some sort of Corona. 
Everyone in my area caught it. A local has posted the theory on FB and has become instantly famous.


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## BWfarms

I think it has been here for awhile too. Took wife 3 weeks to get over a bug. She has fevers but not flu like symptoms. My oldest it hung around for a month and was diagnosed as adenovirus. I had a very mild cold like reaction. I have suspicions that it was misdiagnosed.


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## Farmerbrown2

I honestly believe I had it very mild case of it back 3rd week of February.The thing is when authorities here in the USA started testing for it they could only test 23 tests per day. The more people they test the number of cases is of course going to rise. I seen a story today that the mainstream can’t understand why the Russians and Mexicans aren’t getting it. Well if they don’t test for it they aren’t going to have anyone with Coronas virus. I believe this virus is real but do believe it is blown way out of proportion. I got laid off today over this dumbness. Hopefully this won’t last to long I have a lead on another job but it won’t be as good as the one I had.


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## slowzuki

If you had it, then the people around you would have it and have also transmitted it now. It's not impossible but pretty unlikely you had covid-19 at that time.

Spot on about the Russian reporting/lack of testing. Iran having similar issues with media towing the government line.


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## Aaroncboo

Fwd:
Homeland security is preparing to mobilize the national guard.

Preparing to dispatch them across the US along with military. 
they will also call in 1st responders.

they are preparing to announce a nationwide 
2 week quarantine for all citizens, 
All businesses closed.

Everyone at home.

They will announce this as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters...

they will announce before the end of the weekend,

within 48 to 72 Hours the president will evoke what is called the "Stafford Act"

The president will order a two week mandatory quarantine for the nation.

Stock up on whatever you need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything.

Please forward to your family/friends.

My sister works for a scuba shop and fills o2 tanks for firefighters and first responders and the one firefighters sent her this. Idk if I believe it but it's nice to be on the cautious side.


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## Wethay

School here closed last Friday until the first of April, just got an update this morning say schools closed until April 28th.


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## Vol

I can guarantee you that the Covid-19 came into this country long before this sudden awareness of the virus. Virus' know no bounds nor do they work on mankinds schedule. It is totally uninformed to think that this virus was not brought into this country as early as last fall. Folks have been flying into China and Hong Kong on business all fall and early winter like always. We were just not made aware of the virus until it overwhelmed a totally unprepared China whose health and living standards are highly substandard compared to much of the rest to the world. This country is fighting this full force and I am very certain that we will not be overwhelmed like China.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430

Makes me wonder about hay deliveries for customers that have grazing animals


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## IH 1586

Vol said:


> I can guarantee you that the Covid-19 came into this country long before this sudden awareness of the virus. Virus' know no bounds nor do they work on mankinds schedule. It is totally uninformed to think that this virus was not brought into this country as early as last fall. Folks have been flying into China and Hong Kong on business all fall and early winter like always. We were just not made aware of the virus until it overwhelmed a totally unprepared China whose health and living standards are highly substandard compared to much of the rest to the world. This country is fighting this full force and I am very certain that we will not be overwhelmed like China.
> 
> Regards, Mike


This and other posts fall into my thoughts as well. How long has this and any other unknown virus been around? If you don't test or can't test you can't know. It didn't materialize over night.


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## RockmartGA

My take on this situation...

A lot of commentators mention that the "normal" flu kills 20,000 - 30,000 people in this country every year and no one panics about that. Yes, that is true. The difference in this virus is the difference in how contagious COVID is. One of the main reasons is that COVID is infectious several days prior to someone becoming symptomatic (fever, cough, etc). As a result, seemingly "healthy" people would still be going to church, schools, restaurants, concerts, and any number of large gatherings and passing the virus on to other people. Cities such as New York are especially vulnerable due to the use of subways, busses, and elevators in all the skyscrapers.

What the health authorities are trying to do is to flatten the infection curve. If left unchecked, the number of cases would overwhelm our hospitals.

Case in point. My semi-rural county has approximately 6000 people over the age of 65. Let's assume that 1/2 of those senior citizens are healthy. That still leaves 3000 vulnerable to this virus. Worst case scenario we didn't curtail our activities and the grandkids went to school, grandma went to church, the parents went to a restaurant, and one or more in the family came down with the virus. Now let's say that 1000 of the 6000 senior citizens in my county become infected. We have two regional hospitals in the next county and there is no way they could handle that number of cases. Now multiply by about 8-10 other surrounding counties that feed into that hospital system and you can see the chaos that would cause.

Those of us at Haytalk who live in rural areas are in a much better place than those who live and work in large cities. I can limit my contact with other people very easily. As the old Hank Williams Jr song goes, "A country boy can survive".

We will come out of this situation and hopefully, this country will have learned a valuable lesson. But somehow, I doubt it.


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## IHCman

I do think that there is some panic and fear about this virus that is maybe a little crazy. I do think though that we need to be cautious and not underestimate it. Its bettter to be prepared and not need to be than the other way around. Certainly need to keep it away from those most at risk as best we can. I'm prepared to stay home and away from people as much as I can for quite some time. I'll be calving next month and didn't plan on leaving the yard much for the first 30 days anyway. I certainly wouldn't be going on a crusie or air plane or leaving the country while this is going on. I've seen a few interviews of young people at spring break in Florida and others that want to travel over seas because air fare is cheap right now. At those interviews the young people were disappointed how Coronavirus was interrupting their spring break and had no concern about the virus. Amazing to me how selfish those people are not thinking about their family members and other older more vunerable people that they might drag this virus back too. I can easily see how the health care system could be overwhelmed from this, especially in the bigger cities. If people can't handle buying toliet paper responsibly, whats going to happen when they're sick and can't get into a hospital. Or think they're sick and can't get in. Could be a riot in certain neighborhoods.

I'll be prepared as best I can and hope that no one that i know or myself catches this crap.


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## slowzuki

Anyone who’s been around outbreaks in pork or poultry operations knows how crazy out of hand things can get in high density stocking. Cities are kind of a high density stocking arrangement too, despite being smarter we are just animals.


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## Vol

Nope, we are not "just animals". Humans have Souls.....albeit it is hard to tell sometimes in some individuals.


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## r82230

Too bad the 'news' doesn't publish this about Italy:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/scientists-say-mass-tests-in-italian-town-have-halted-covid-19

Oh wait, it might be 'good news' and would we do it?

Also, seems younger folks might want to take heart, 38% of cases in US are between 20-50 years of age.

Larry


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## slowzuki

Can’t test entires towns if hundreds of entire towns get outbreaks simultaneously. They are at the plowing fire breaks stage of fire fighting to attempt to chop the problem up into manageable sizes.


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## JD3430

Last night in PA


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## stack em up

JD3430 said:


> Last night in PA


That's interesting. I had heard that may be the plan here too in the coming days. Guess I need to go get my Dairy Queen before I can't!!!


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## IHCman

All bars, resturants, and movie theaters are closed in ND, govenors order. Resturants can still do drive up or carry out. All Dentists in the state have closed up except in the case of emergencies.


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## Aaroncboo

I wonder what their definition of life-sustaining business is? In Illinois we have a closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days what drive-thrus are still open so as carry out. I wonder if they would close them because even though they sell food they're not necessarily essential like grocery stores. I work in a feed store selling livestock and Pet Foods would that be considered life-sustaining or is it only for people?


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## danwi

They say heat and sunshine is suppose to slow this down well the spring breakers were out on the beach that should have been a safe place. On a more serious note aren;t some places such as the southern US warming up? And what about the weather in Italy? China? or Australia?


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## haybaler101

https://www.agweb.com/article/homeland-security-recognizes-agriculture-critical-industry

Clarification to our businesses!


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## slowzuki

Here feed/farm stores are allowed to be open. Local feed stores you tell them your order and get loaded up at the drive thru loading dock. I'm a bit concerned about my pesticide order that was supposed to be arriving.



Aaroncboo said:


> I wonder what their definition of life-sustaining business is? In Illinois we have a closure of bars and restaurants for 15 days what drive-thrus are still open so as carry out. I wonder if they would close them because even though they sell food they're not necessarily essential like grocery stores. I work in a feed store selling livestock and Pet Foods would that be considered life-sustaining or is it only for people?


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## haybaler101

Poultry company I raise turkeys for will be processing in both plants tomorrow, usually don't kill on Saturday. Trying to reduce age on farms in case one or both plants get shut down with Covid positives.


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## slowzuki

At least the poultry plants have disinfectant systems installed already. Usually can run bleach, acid and base cleaners through them, one of they would nail that outer membrane on COVID.


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## rjmoses

Governor of Illinois orders "stay at home" lockdown.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-coronavirus-illinois-shelter-in-place-lockdown-order-20200320-teedakbfw5gvdgmnaxlel54hau-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3E51ShEXhD-yAKMq5zdsacmsJb_ITZspBfqW88n6o2pWoE8XcZNp2XMbQ&fbclid=IwAR1JRAC3TQGyOO7QgzqACbsJiNA6DX8F-5irB7jvb4syWh3MNCONBh9c5NM

This thing is one of three possibilitIes:

1) It's a gigantic over-reaction.

2) It's a hell of a lot more serious than they are telling us.

3) It's a power take over step-by-step.

The risk is that our economy could collapse in ways much more serious than the Great Depression; that people start really panicking, rioting and raiding stores; that state governments and politicians start grabbing for power, and so on.

Ralph


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## Aaroncboo

Oh fun....


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## Mf5612

Grocery stores up here are near empty.schools closed for next 3 wks.most restaurants are closed.our government got after this virus fairly fast.people returning from March break in the USA are required to stay home for 2 wks with no outside contact.i hope it doesn’t spread rapidly and you all stay safe.


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## Gearclash

A C19 case has been confirmed locally. First one for our county (Sioux). Also reports of a case in each of the next two counties south.


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## JD3430

I now have my kids home, like long term....that's a whole nother story.
Went out to get fuel and was really shocked at the closed retail. Fuel down 20%, few cars. 
Creepy, and about to get worse from what I hear....


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## Uphayman

Rarely grocery shop, but accompanied the Mrs. the other day. First time I've ever seen empty shelves. Really drove home the self sufficiency we have for our personal food supply in our household. 
Delivered 50 ton of unspoken for hay to a customer that was panicked this past week. 50 horse breeding operation. No more panic, gave her a few dozen eggs . Cemented the relationship. 42 miles each way.......meet 3-4 cars , now that's surreal.
The Mrs. did manage to blow out her knee, multiple tears,MCL, the works. And of course can't get an appointment to get it fixed, so she's struggling. 
One other casualty......ditched Dish TV a week ago. LIBERATED ! Don't need talking heads telling me we're all going to die, and getting billed for it. I'm planning on assuming room temperature some day.

There's something about caring for the animals. They're not interested in corona, they just want to get fed, have a clean stall, water to drink. Between the farm and the forest, I can get a cleansed mind. Probably stay germ free in the process.


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## rjmoses

Outside the box thinking:

People have a need to be scared. Why?--I don't know--but movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, Carrie, Halloween. Rosemary's Baby--just to name a few--have been big draws.

So this covid-19 thing got me to thinking: Are people over-reacting because they don't have real things, like bears, starvation, etc., to be fear nowadays? Is this covid-19 just a scary movie?

I've heard a lot of reactions, like hoarding toilet paper, are because people need to feel in control when they are scared. "I may not be able to control the disease, but I can control toilet paper."

I've been hearing a lot of stories such as so-and-so in Texas was in the hospital for 21 days and nearly died. But when I try to verify them, I can't find any real facts--like what hospital?

Perhaps, people are satisfying their need to be scared through this problem?

Just thinking.....

Ralph

Maybe we should title 2020 as "Nightmare on Main Street".


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## Ox76

That's certainly possible. I personally don't get it, or need to feel scared for any reason. Of course, I'm not a citified person either, and living on my own out in the sticks all my life makes me have enough to worry about, self-sufficiency wise, in enough quantity that I don't need to go looking for more elsewhere. This voluntary self-containment? Yeah...been living that way for 25 years now. Nothing new under the sun!

I feel bad for the older folks who may have compromised immune systems. Must be a little scary for them.


----------



## Mf5612

We’ve got family that went on a 40 day cruise ship vacattion.they can’t dock yet and don’t know when they even will get back to Canada.nursing homes are on lockdown .theres 40 people in a nursing home an hour away from us.they were visited by people from outside Canada . Scary stuff.we should have closed things down a month ago.tiawan was smart reacting so fast.


----------



## endrow

JD3430 said:


> Makes me wonder about hay deliveries for customers that have grazing animals


Not Sure about deliveries we got most of ours sold when we saw this comming ,done other than the locals who will still pick up here? Local auctioneer told me he had to cancel all his sales the only thing that can go on is hay and food auctions . &#8230;..


----------



## endrow

Went for aload of fertilizer this am in the rain . At the blend plant the office doors were locked ,so i called the office on my sell phone verified what i wanted . Backed under the mixer stood out in the middle of the lot in the rain to give the employees plenty of social distance. When it was loaded they got out of the way , I ran back and rolled the tarp and hit the road .. Easy enough I don't have to do the touchie fealie the little brick in my pocket got a phone and text and email and internet for communication .


----------



## JD3430

Governor just closed 7 counties in PA

shelter in place


----------



## r82230

Michigan Gov, closed almost everything, but Ag is still open, so my thinking is I should be able to get on HT yet. 

Just kidding, reducing exposure and washing hands DOES seem to be important in my mind. I'm just glad weather is warming up, so I can social distance myself from the better half more. Via, working (tinkering around) out in the shed.

Heard, that the first case in my county has been reported (my county is next to the epic centered counties BTW).

Larry


----------



## slowzuki

Looks like Spain is going to be the next Italy, numbers growing rapidly.


----------



## JD3430

slowzuki said:


> Looks like Spain is going to be the next Italy, numbers growing rapidly.


Hmmmm, I heard Italy death rate declined 2 days in a row???.


----------



## slowzuki

Italy was back up again today, maybe a statistical blib, but with deaths about a 2-3 week delay from infections, measures to slow infections won't impact death numbers for a while hard to understand what is working or not. Might see all the people that escaped the quarantine a week ago start to impact infection rates in the south. Would be nice if they could really steadily decline.

Spain numbers are growing like those in italy had last week. NY numbers not looking great either.



JD3430 said:


> Hmmmm, I heard Italy death rate declined 2 days in a row???.


----------



## JD3430

So if I understand correctly: The Democrats want to block aid to save healthy corporations like American air lines that will fail because of Corona virus, but they'll bail out failing corporations like GM for poor business practices?


----------



## Farmerbrown2

Well sure seems that way. The current special interests Democratic Party (not all democrats) is not interested in helping the masses just the special interests. I am in no way interested in starting any fights it just seems the special interests are running the country. On both sides.


----------



## slowzuki

Farming friend waiting test results but 99% sure he has it. His coworker is positive, coworker bought everyone coffees the last day their office was open.


----------



## Wethay

Just called to get a couple jugs of spray. I don't buy in large quantities and have always just payed over the phone and had the spray delivered. No dice, they won't sell to anyone without an account, maybe next month they said.


----------



## Mf5612

Close to 85000 cases of covid 19 in the USA tonite,so my American news says.stay safe guys


----------



## JD3430

Mf5612 said:


> Close to 85000 cases of covid 19 in the USA tonite,so my American news says.stay safe guys


Numbers growing rapidly partially due to an enormous expansion in testing.


----------



## Vol

Worldometer is reporting over 100,000 case of CV19 in the US now, with nearly 50% of those in New York alone. Incredibly only 1600 deaths in the US. Bring on the heat and sunshine for our country.

Regards, Mike


----------



## JD3430

We're going to find out people in the US have been infected with this since probably November or December of 19.


----------



## slowzuki

The math of the growth curve says it's highly unlikely.



JD3430 said:


> We're going to find out people in the US have been infected with this since probably November or December of 19.


----------



## Vol

Liars can figure and figures can lie. (See China)

Regards, Mike


----------



## Ox76

JD3430 said:


> We're going to find out people in the US have been infected with this since probably November or December of 19.


Do you think they'll admit it publicly even if this would become true? I don't think so - it would make them look foolish and we can't have that, now can we? *****


----------



## JD3430

Ox76 said:


> Do you think they'll admit it publicly even if this would become true? I don't think so - it would make them look foolish and we can't have that, now can we? *****


Exactly, it's already pretty well known it was in Wuhan in the fall. Many travelers left and went to Europe and America and it spreads so easily that how could one not believe it was probably here in 2019 and went undiagnosed as a "virus".


----------



## slowzuki

Giant pneumonia outbreaks in the US are freely discussed by doctors in professional channeled and the by the public due to our freedoms in the west.

If it was here in oct/nov with no social distancing measures, after xmas shopping / New Years where people travel all over North America and see their family in close quarters, there would have been hundreds of thousands if not millions of cases mid January.

If it was here it would have had to be in a closed community that didn't interact with the public or each other so it stayed very confined as we see a single person can infect hundreds to thousands of others if roaming public spaces.

Edit or were a closed group of young healthy people that didn't develop the worst symptoms and managed no contact with people with underlying conditions or older people. Pretty darned unlikely group.



JD3430 said:


> Exactly, it's already pretty well known it was in Wuhan in the fall. Many travelers left and went to Europe and America and it spreads so easily that how could one not believe it was probably here in 2019 and went undiagnosed as a "virus".


----------



## slowzuki

More concerning to me is two US aircraft carriers that are covering the pacific have cases starting. If they get pulled out of service there’s opportunity for the usual characters in the pacific to nudge the line while the navy is busy with the sick airmen and sailers. I know the military plans extensively for these type of events so there is probably coverage with longer range land based aircraft but that precludes most fighters.


----------



## JD3430

slowzuki said:


> More concerning to me is two US aircraft carriers that are covering the pacific have cases starting. If they get pulled out of service there's opportunity for the usual characters in the pacific to nudge the line while the navy is busy with the sick airmen and sailers. I know the military plans extensively for these type of events so there is probably coverage with longer range land based aircraft but that precludes most fighters.


It's the price the world pays by relying mainly on the US to keep said "usual characters" in check.

Would be nice if the entire free world pitched into defending the world a little more. 
I like the way Trump is poking some of these fat cat European countries into contributing more.


----------



## Tx Jim

If you need a laugh watch this Virus related Youtube video!


----------



## JD3430

slowzuki said:


> The math of the growth curve says it's highly unlikely.


Ill bet hundreds of people died from a generic "virus" scattered about the US and nobody knew it was the beginning of Corona. 
There was no test, so there was no knowledge.


----------



## r82230

For those who have an interest, here is a tool to check your county's figure (you may have to move location).

https://www.wunderground.com/wundermap?covid=1&lat=41&lon=-87.91&cm_ven=covid-map

Larry

PS got 4 cases in my county as of...&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..last update.


----------



## Ox76

I've tried that wundermap before with the virus setting clicked. Never can see anything changing on the map. What am I doing wrong?


----------



## JD3430

Ox76 said:


> I've tried that wundermap before with the virus setting clicked. Never can see anything changing on the map. What am I doing wrong?


did you click the play/pause arrow.


----------



## endrow

19 in our Lebanon county . To our east and south counties have close to 100 cases and most of our surrounding counties are under stay at home orders . 2 Son in laws are Doctors in local hospitals nd I have a daughter that is an ICU RN at the local hospital . . 2 of our daughters are pregnant


----------



## slowzuki

In our area they’ve tracked the cases all back to 3 flights back from south for March break.


----------



## Ox76

JD3430 said:


> did you click the play/pause arrow.


Yessir. Nothing happens except the play bar now shows it's playing. I mean, I even moved the map over NYC and nothing showed up. I can play the radar showing precip just fine. Any more ideas?


----------



## JD3430

Ox76 said:


> Yessir. Nothing happens except the play bar now shows it's playing. I mean, I even moved the map over NYC and nothing showed up. I can play the radar showing precip just fine. Any more ideas?


It's really slow. Let it sit there for like 5 seconds


----------



## Palmettokat

It is amazing here in some dumb ways. We are about as closed any most places with restaurants and the social spacing and such and people from the North East who are not working due to their places closed due to the virus are coming here on vacation. Governor is asking them to do a two week self quarantine when they get here. Yea, bet that is happening with all the tourist attractions closed.

Lady who works for me talked with me this evening, she is needing to go to remote work due to day care concerns.

I have said before this is the best forum I have ever been on as to quality of the people and their attitudes...been away long enough to really missed being here.


----------



## endrow

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/livestock-auction-draws-crowds-in-new-holland-despite-ongoing-covid/article_9a9aed3c-72bf-11ea-88b8-7fec938c654e.html. I stayed home


----------



## JD3430

endrow said:


> https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/livestock-auction-draws-crowds-in-new-holland-despite-ongoing-covid/article_9a9aed3c-72bf-11ea-88b8-7fec938c654e.html. I stayed home


A wise decision. I don't know your age or health, but I'm in my 50's and in good health and wouldn't want to be in that crowd.
unrelated- Lots of mennonites at that auction!!


----------



## paoutdoorsman

Palmettokat said:


> It is amazing here in some dumb ways. We are about as closed any most places with restaurants and the social spacing and such and people from the North East who are not working due to their places closed due to the virus are coming here on vacation. Governor is asking them to do a two week self quarantine when they get here. Yea, bet that is happening with all the tourist attractions closed.
> 
> Lady who works for me talked with me this evening, she is needing to go to remote work due to day care concerns.
> 
> I have said before this is the best forum I have ever been on as to quality of the people and their attitudes...been away long enough to really missed being here.


Hey Kenneth, good to hear from you. I'm hearing you say that people are coming the Myrtle Beach on vacation since their place of employment has closed... common sense is becoming less and less common.


----------



## RockyHill

Palmettokat said:


> It is amazing here in some dumb ways. We are about as closed any most places with restaurants and the social spacing and such and people from the North East who are not working due to their places closed due to the virus are coming here on vacation. Governor is asking them to do a two week self quarantine when they get here. Yea, bet that is happening with all the tourist attractions closed.
> 
> Lady who works for me talked with me this evening, she is needing to go to remote work due to day care concerns.
> 
> I have said before this is the best forum I have ever been on as to quality of the people and their attitudes...been away long enough to really missed being here.


Good to see you on here! Hope you are well and the loonies coming to vacation don't bring you harm.

Shelia


----------



## slowzuki

Nuts being in a crowd like that at this time. Not far from us a single funeral has spread it to like 60 people.


----------



## endrow

Well our county is under stay at home orders now


----------



## Mf5612

Yesterday’s death count at a retirement home north of us 1 hr was 12 dead and 35 infected.the home became infected by people who had travelled this winter.scary stuff. Everything is shutdown except for essential people.its the first time we haven’t gone away during march break. And glad of it.stay safe and stay home if it’s possible.


----------



## Vol

We now have 8 cases in my county which is rather large geographically. Last week we had 2. The City of Nashville has several hundred confirmed cases and has spread to the counties surrounding Nashville. It was surmised that it spread through the "bar scene" that is quite prevalent in Music City.

Memphis, which is Shelby county has exploded with confirmed cases as of recent. So far, the death rate is less than 1%.

I wish everyone the best.....social distancing is working and just maybe, if we use our best judgement, we can have the lowest death numbers(%) in the world here in North America.

Regards, Mike


----------



## RockmartGA

GA governor just issued "shelter in place" order this afternoon. Also cancelled schools for the remainder of the school year.


----------



## CowboyRam

We have 135 cases here in Wyoming, 31 recoveries, and no deaths yet.


----------



## Aaroncboo

Illinois is 6980 cases and 141 deaths as of tonight...


----------



## r82230

Scary part to me is the death percentage rates for the US (based on US data Feb 12th to Mar 16th) for those who test positive.

55 to 64 up to 2.6% 26 out of a thousand
65 to 74 up to 4.9% 49 out of a thousand
75 to 84 up to 10.5% 105 out of a thousand
Over 85 up to 27.3% 273 out of a thousand

Data from:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e2.htm

I'm not much of a 'gambler', so I don't like any of these odds.

Stay safe.

Larry


----------



## swmnhay

r82230 said:


> Scary part to me is the death percentage rates for the US (based on US data Feb 12th to Mar 16th) for those who test positive.
> 
> 55 to 64 up to 2.6% 26 out of a thousand
> 65 to 74 up to 4.9% 49 out of a thousand
> 75 to 84 up to 10.5% 105 out of a thousand
> Over 85 up to 27.3% 273 out of a thousand
> 
> Data from:https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e2.htm
> 
> I'm not much of a 'gambler', so I don't like any of these odds.
> 
> Stay safe.
> 
> Larry


yes it's scary.
But I also heard 99% had other health issues before

Numbers can be made to look how ever they want them to

Not making light of the situation at all,just pointing that out!


----------



## slowzuki

Those are the average numbers. If you have heart disease or lung issues it’s much worse risk.


----------



## RockmartGA

I went to the grocery store yesterday unaware that the GA governor had just had completed a press conference and instituted a statewide "shelter in-place" order. People were panic buying once again. Needed dishwashing detergent, only could find generic brands. Of course, the paper aisle was empty as was the shelves for disinfectants and bleach.

Here's the thing - COVID is a respiratory disease. One of the most effective means to prevent the spread is for everyone to be wearing masks while in public - especially those whose jobs entail contact with the public such as cashiers, store owners, stock clerks, etc. I would wager you could not find a medical face mask or a dust mask in any store in America right now. Part of the problem is that we get those items from - wait for it - China. Also read where Obama administration failed to replenish the strategic supply of masks after the SARS virus.

This, too, shall pass. Hopefully, America and the rest of the world will learn a valuable lesson.... but I doubt it....


----------



## Mf5612

Hope you guys are staying safe down south.our American news channels are showing 80,000 people in nyc infected.i hope it slows down for everyone’s sake.


----------



## CowboyRam

RockmartGA said:


> I went to the grocery store yesterday unaware that the GA governor had just had completed a press conference and instituted a statewide "shelter in-place" order. People were panic buying once again. Needed dishwashing detergent, only could find generic brands. Of course, the paper aisle was empty as was the shelves for disinfectants and bleach.
> 
> Here's the thing - COVID is a respiratory disease. One of the most effective means to prevent the spread is for everyone to be wearing masks while in public - especially those whose jobs entail contact with the public such as cashiers, store owners, stock clerks, etc. I would wager you could not find a medical face mask or a dust mask in any store in America right now. Part of the problem is that we get those items from - wait for it - China. Also read where Obama administration failed to replenish the strategic supply of masks after the SARS virus.
> 
> This, too, shall pass. Hopefully, America and the rest of the world will learn a valuable lesson.... but I doubt it....


We can blame Obamacare for taxing medical devices, and therefore forcing those to be manufactured in China.


----------



## Mf5612

I know Americans love their country more than anyone.ive holidayed in 17 states ,you can blame this government n that past government but the blame needs to be put on trumps shoulders.canadas government got on it way earlier than the Us.our USA news showed trump downplaying the whole thing.
From what we see on cnn ,fox ,abc and all the other USA channels we get I hope you stay safe.


----------



## JD3430

Mf5612 said:


> I know Americans love their country more than anyone.ive holidayed in 17 states ,you can blame this government n that past government but the blame needs to be put on trumps shoulders.canadas government got on it way earlier than the Us.our USA news showed trump downplaying the whole thing.
> From what we see on cnn ,fox ,abc and all the other USA channels we get I hope you stay safe.


Do you realize CNN and ABC have been on an all-out campaign to destroy Trump 24-7/365 since he won for like 4 years now? What do you think they will say? That Trump is doing a great job?

Trump was on this plenty early. He shut down incoming Chinese by January 27. Our death to infection rates are very low.

What you don't realize is thousands of infected Chinese people came here before the Chinese admitted that the virus can be transmitted from person to person. This is probably the most travelled to and from country in the world for Chinese people.

Trump is doing an excellent job under horrific circumstances (medical equipment shortages left over from Obama/Biden). I really don't know anyone else I'd want in charge.

I sure as hell would want that clown Biden or that loser Clinton in charge. We'd be screwed six ways to Sunday.

Hope you stay safe, too.


----------



## Mf5612

What’s the best channel to watch?i don’t care what party is in charge I just want the truth.eveytime trump comes on tv there’s someone right behind him to smooth things over.the rest of the world can’t believe this guy.i would be pissedif I was an American and the president came on tv and told me no worries there won’t be a problem and then the poor people in nyc are sick as hell.like I say I hope all you folks stay home and stay safe!take care


----------



## Vol

Democrats were too busy trying to impeach Trump in December and January. Trump was busy defending himself. Washington was fixated on impeachment and not other things. NYC city is battling two problems....severe over population and the virus. Maybe we can encourage some of the Yorkers to move to Canada....lot's of unpopulated land.

Regards, Mike


----------



## JD3430

Mf5612 said:


> What's the best channel to watch?i don't care what party is in charge I just want the truth.eveytime trump comes on tv there's someone right behind him to smooth things over.the rest of the world can't believe this guy.i would be pissedif I was an American and the president came on tv and told me no worries there won't be a problem and then the poor people in nyc are sick as hell.like I say I hope all you folks stay home and stay safe!take care


I don't know where you get your information, but when did he say "no worries there won't be a problem"?  Seriously???? You are kidding, right?
I mean literally everything you are saying never happened!! 
The people standing next to him are USAs leading medical experts explaining what is going on. They have expertise in HIV/AIDS, Ebola, MERS, SARS, etc.

Trump is on TV every day for WEEKS now telling us to all stay inside. I mean the whole freaking country is shut down, a 22 TRILLION DOLLAR ECONOMY, bro!! The biggest economic engine the world has ever known is SHUT DOWN!

88% of the USAs population is living in its homes!!!

What else can the man do?

He has warned us the worst is yet to come, get ready for the possibility of over 100k deaths... etc.


----------



## Vol

Seems as if it is real fashionable to blame Trump for everything by the uninformed. A drug that was mentioned a few weeks ago by Trump as potentially useful against the virus is just that.

Regards, Mike

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/after-mocking-trump-promoting-hydroxychloroquine-media-acknowleges-might-treat-coronavirus


----------



## r82230

Vol said:


> Seems as if it is real fashionable to blame Trump for everything by the uninformed. A drug that was mentioned a few weeks ago by Trump as potentially useful against the virus is just that.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Or as our governor did threaten doctors with legal actions if they prescribed the drug. But our news folks didn't even question her 'change' of position, along with begging the Fed for the stuff now.  I guess you don't want to make old Joe's supposedly potential running mate look too bad.

Larry


----------



## slowzuki

Latest science articles lay out two possible evolution paths that covid took, one is the animal path then jump to humans, the other is that it's circulated in people longer as people on here have suspected then mutated leading to the outbreak.

So it is technically possible it was circulated pre-mutation last year if that is found to be true. Will take a few years to get the final verdict. None of the possible paths support lab manipulation/editing.


----------



## rjmoses

The problem is: Nobody knows! On any of this!

Personally, I'm more concerned about the secondary and tertiary efforts--such as a Second Great Depression and some demagogue doing a power grab.

All too many people are operating out of fear or power grabs and that leads to poor decisions. One of the strategies of brainwashing to get a person afraid, isolate them from their support system, put them under pressure, then feed them the company line. They'll buy into it just to get relief.

Ralph


----------



## carcajou




----------



## Vol

I don't have a problem with Trump asking 3M that, IF IT IS TRUE. I don't know for a fact that it is true. The US has a population over 331 Million people. Canada has a population of over 37 million. Simple math problem.


----------



## carcajou

I just put it on here for the hell of it. I don't know the details or why either.


----------



## slowzuki

It has been widely reported now. The trouble is Canada US Mexico supply chains are tightly integrated. Start playing protectionism it's going to interfere with total production. We don't have any mask production here, we buy from the US now since free trade and all.

There's a group at a university here trying to get another filter media approved for surgical masks that can be produced in Canada but it's maybe 6 weeks out for all the medical approvals and production.

Another example is our local pulp mill produces a fibre that is used to make paper based fabrics for disposable protective gear. That needs to get to Mexico for cheap labour to make gowns for the US. If it gets difficult the Indian owners will ship it to India for their own use in the outbreak, or worse it will get stuck in shipping somewhere and help no one.


----------



## Gearclash

Be careful out there folks. Take C-19 seriously. Red Power Forum member Randy Sohn died this week from complications of C-19. He was an interesting character, and a real gentleman. If you care to spend some time reading online, google search his name. He was one of the pilots that flew the B-29 Fifi out of its boneyard in CA.


----------



## stack em up

With all this Kung Flu craziness, saw a little bit of dark humor on the news the other day. Mr Food comes on directly after a report of so and so dying of Covid 19. His recipe? Funeral Potatoes. No shit. You can look it up on his website.


----------



## carcajou




----------



## r82230

One of the current 'hot spots' (Detroit) has a public bus transportation system (DDT). One of it's driver's posted a video about openly getting coughed on by a rider. He then got the virus (and tragically died). After his the compliant the DDT, made some changes, all passengers had to enter the rear door, no one could use the seats behind the driver AND there was no more fares being charge (free rides). The drivers now complain that the ridership has increased. The riders say 'why should I stay home, I can go anywhere for FREE'. The driver's feel like they are not much more than Covid-19 transportation specialist.

The Detroit mayor has taken down the basketball nets even, hasn't seem to faze some folks.

Be safe,

Larry


----------



## JD3430

Couldn’t imagine being in a city under these circumstances


----------



## Ox76

You got that right. Lots of crazy and gross and drug riddled life forms in the cities. Nothing but a petri dish.


----------



## slowzuki

Also loads of decent people. We wouldn't have many customers if everyone in the world lived on a farm.



Ox76 said:


> You got that right. Lots of crazy and gross and drug riddled life forms in the cities. Nothing but a petri dish.


----------



## swmnhay

people been saying this for weeks

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/03/26/coronavirus-fact-check-could-your-december-cough-have-been-covid-19/2899027001/?fbclid=IwAR10LxiqjDrsCozJW753gfKX-9rYrfK8so_FWOioWZ0DNoYwS6utfCUgsBk


----------



## Vol

I would venture a guess that the US will see a population shift from the city to the suburbs and further into the outlying areas. Large cities are death traps for viral illnesses. C-19 will be a wake up call for how we do business and how we live for years to come.

But maybe not, after 9-11 Church attendance skyrocketed, but after about 4-6 months it started waning.

Regards, Mike


----------



## haybaler101

The new normal at the local chemical/fertilizer supplier this morning.


----------



## endrow

I would not be surprised to see people want to shift away from the big cities. And this is why it blows my mind to think That someone has convinced the general public that all these small farms need to go and we are going to be so much better off When we clean off the East Coast of cattle move them a 1000 miles West and put them all on 3 big farms. No one's really worried about anything viral But there recommend a 10 way Booster twice a year and a couple of 3 nd 4 way vaccines in between. I going to farm with 1200 cows and it looks like a tone of animals to me.. I can't imagine 20 or 30000 Head on a farm


----------



## slowzuki

Get into more outbreak problems with cattle than people with those numbers.


----------



## VA Haymaker

One of the things my Wife and I have talked about is hay demand following this Covid-19.

We've been reading and watching YouTube about some of these homesteaders and off the grid folks. Interesting bunch and being a small hay producer, we sell a lot of hay to some similar folks. I can't say they are "homesteaders", but they have goats, a few cattle and other animals. They are interested in homegrown, antibiotic free meats and organic all around; they shop and/or sell at farmers markets. They have no use for big Ag and what they see as damage they bring to the small farm and environment. They have a vibrant part, though small IMHO, of the economy and its growing. I can't tell you how many folks I know and work with that just keep some chickens around to collect eggs for consumption and/or sell.

So what does this have to do with hay sales?

We think post Covid-19, the numbers of "homesteaders" or individuals that just want to be a little less dependent on the grocery store will add animals. Perhaps, folks here to fore dabbling with chickens/eggs will add a garden and perhaps a goat or cow. Any additional livestock ownership with increase demand for our square bales.

That my SWAG at a glass half full thoughts on post Covid-19 hay demand...

Bill


----------



## slowzuki

We already have a large number of those folks around here, the common problem is no storage for hay. I wish I could sort out a cheap delivery method. Bale baron bundles would be ideal.


----------



## Palmettokat

slowzuki said:


> We already have a large number of those folks around here, the common problem is no storage for hay. I wish I could sort out a cheap delivery method. Bale baron bundles would be ideal.


 Could you have a common drop off point or could you find a person here and there who might resell to the others? Tractor Supply here has a tractor trailer enclosed trailer sitting on their lot year round with small square bales from a farm about 75 miles away. People buy it all the time one bale and up. Forgot the price but they sure pay an up charge to buy it that way.

Maybe you could find a supply of suitable metal buildings for the hay storage and sell those also.

Have no idea on this, but how much would it cost to ship by motor freight a pallet loaded with bales? Some companies seem to get lower prices with the amount they ship or the frequency.


----------



## swmnhay

Palmettokat said:


> Have no idea on this, but how much would it cost to ship by motor freight a pallet loaded with bales? Some companies seem to get lower prices with the amount they ship or the frequency.


I ship quite a bit LTL.For me about the cheapest shipping a 4 x4 pallet is $85 it can be stacked tall,not sure the limit but have shipped stuff 7' tall.Depends on shipping co but 2000-2400 before get extra wieght charge.Can ship over sized pallets but 4' wide limit.Dont know length limit but I ship some 67" long but then they charge for oversized and it's usually $130.

It cost me about the same for shipping if it's 50 miles or 200 miles.

The customer you are shipping to would have to have a loader or forklift capable of unloading also.Many homesteader types would not have something capable of that.

Double compressed bales in smaller bales like you see at some stores like TSC would be a better option shipping LTL but the eq to make them would be to costly for it to be cost effective


----------



## slowzuki

I was thinking more on the scale of a bale bed or dump bed on the pickup. If I could strap 3 bundles on quickly, then unstrap one at a time to dump off, I could make a loop on way to do other things. Maybe throw some of that lumber wrap material over the pile. As it is, hand bombing them off, they want to arrange a time they're there, end up helping put it in, chatting etc. End up losing much of a Saturday for 60-80 bales.

There is a coop store I'm a member off, they will sell wagon loads of hay or straw for you but can only park one wagon at a time.


----------



## r82230

This winter I moved a small amount of bales through a local feed store. I put 10 bales on a pallet, they would park the pallet out front on nice days. Sold around 500 bales this way at $10 a bale (they sold them at $12 each). They liked the pallet method (ease of moving), I only moved by hand once (on to pallet). I would say that over 80% of the bales sold one at a time, which is not the type of sales I want to do on the farm. A bale baron would have worked better for this type of marketing, but I'll stick with the Kuhn system. It works better for the other 90+% of my hay business.

BTW, this hay sold over about a 4 month period and I delivered the hay. About 4 mile trip, that I would be going into town usually for some other reason most of the time. But, I would have to drive my truck verses the car, so there is a fuel mileage difference.

Larry


----------



## FCF

Make a face mask from a shop towel:


----------



## Farmerbrown2

Cargill meat plant in Hazleton Pa got closed today 900 people out of work 164 tested positive for Covid.


----------



## RockmartGA

There has been a lot of speculation as to the origin of this virus. One theory is that the Chinese were conducting research at the Wuhan lab and somehow lost containment and it got into the general population. This article provides some credence to that theory. Not sure how accurate the story is or how you would verify, but it is an interesting read....

https://www.rightcountry.com/bombshell-report-reveals-chinese-doctor-ran-coronavirus-research-after-us-project-shut-down-look-what-happened-during-prior-release-of-the-disease/


----------



## Vol

RockmartGA said:


> There has been a lot of speculation as to the origin of this virus. One theory is that the Chinese were conducting research at the Wuhan lab and somehow lost containment and it got into the general population. This article provides some credence to that theory. Not sure how accurate the story is or how you would verify, but it is an interesting read....
> 
> https://www.rightcountry.com/bombshell-report-reveals-chinese-doctor-ran-coronavirus-research-after-us-project-shut-down-look-what-happened-during-prior-release-of-the-disease/


Yep, seems that more and more of "escape from Wuhan" is starting to make the headlines.

Regards, Mike

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-wuhan-lab-china-compete-us-sources


----------



## JD3430

RockmartGA said:


> There has been a lot of speculation as to the origin of this virus. One theory is that the Chinese were conducting research at the Wuhan lab and somehow lost containment and it got into the general population. This article provides some credence to that theory. Not sure how accurate the story is or how you would verify, but it is an interesting read....
> 
> https://www.rightcountry.com/bombshell-report-reveals-chinese-doctor-ran-coronavirus-research-after-us-project-shut-down-look-what-happened-during-prior-release-of-the-disease/


Speculation??? Seriously?

Of course it did. Problem is, most reporters don't have the courage to say so.


----------



## somedevildawg

Ya, I've heard that...who knows if it's true. Wait, the WHO probably does know (see what I did there  ) 
There is a tweet, that's still posted amazingly, from the WHO on January 10th (I think) that mentioned the virus in Woohan China, but it wasn't transmittable from person to person. Imagine that....they HAD to have known, if not, what good are they to us.....that single lie probably cost hundreds if not thousands of lives. Early detection is key for any epidemic or pandemic, the WHO failed us....they appear to be heavily influenced by China.


----------



## Ox76

There's definitely something stinky in the woodpile.


----------



## r82230

somedevildawg said:


> Ya, I've heard that...who knows if it's true. Wait, the WHO probably does know (see what I did there  )


I'm worse yet, every time I see 'The Who', I keep thinking of a rock-roll band. Dang, I'm dating myself again. 

Larry

PS for the younger folks that don't know Peter Townshend from Peter Rabbit:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0iqg2UanEc


----------



## somedevildawg

The Who were awesome....


----------



## swmnhay

Well it's here.Was just a matter of time with the meat packing plant and workers traveling from here to Sioux Falls and working at Smithfield.

Had 2 cases in county up until yesterday.16 went in for testing yesterday.I would guess most from JBS packing plant


----------



## slowzuki

An elderly family member passed away from it on Weds, was found in their nursing home a couple of weeks ago and just exploded throughout.


----------



## r82230

While covering my 'day' job I came across some info/statics that I thought I would share with everyone (the whole piece is something like 69 pages, so you are only getting a couple of pages). Something to look at, while staying safe. 

Larry


----------



## swmnhay

They just annouced Worthington JBS pork plant is shutting down.

So with Sioux Falls thats 40,000 hogs per day not getting slaughtered.

Thats almost 10% of the pork daily slaughter in US in just them 2 plants.


----------



## Farmerbrown2

I know where there is a barn full of steers as soon as my neighbor gets there tree seedlings out of my walk in cooler I’m going to get one. I haven’t butchered a steer in 20 years but I think I remember how.


----------



## Vol

Tennessee and Georgia Governors have announced that their states are going to open back up business wise the first of May. Of course, social distancing remains en vogue.

Both states have flat lined in CV cases and deaths. Time to move forward.

Regards, Mike


----------



## somedevildawg

Georgia governor Brian Kemp just announced reopening of non-essential businesses on Friday of this week, relaxing this stranglehold on the citizens of Georgia, it’s a phased in thing, but not one day too early that’s for sure.....


----------



## somedevildawg

Crazy...great minds type at the same time? It’s good news for sure!


----------



## r82230

Our Gov is too busy being on Joe's podcast to worry about letting the workers (Trump supporters) get back to work. Killing our nursery, small rural hospitals, construction trade, etc. business'.

Larry


----------



## mlappin

haybaler101 said:


> Serious as a heart attack. We are not going to wait to see what kind of a shit show this turns into. I don't have to have toilet paper to wipe my ass, but I prefer a readily stocked arsenal to protect my family and freedom.


 My 2000 rounds of 9mm are on backorder, i'm good on everything else.


----------



## Uphayman

We work with this operation, both in animal raising and hay supplying. The stress levels are brutal for these folks. They need our prayers.


----------



## Uphayman

Another casualty.........https://www.wearegreenbay.com/coronavirus/green-bays-the-cannery-closing-permanently-due-to-covid-19/


----------



## r82230

Well only in Michigan...&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230; the only state in the country that you can't get a hair cut (according to the salon owners).

As of today, you can get your critter's hair trimmed & styled. :huh: Governor is allowing them to open up for business, so I ask my wife to call a critter groomer and make an appointment for her old goat to get groomed. 

She was somewhat in agreement until I continued to run my mouth about how I would call a critter groomer to make an appointment for the old grey mare.  Good thing it was after supper, or I'd gone to bed on an empty stomach. 

Larry


----------



## Uphayman




----------



## Uphayman

If anyone deserves congratulations.......it's Karl Manke. Well done sir !!!

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/06/05/michigan-supreme-court-unanimously-sides-with-77-year-old-barber-over-gov-gretchen-whitmer/


----------



## JD3430

I can't believe these people, like our governor Wolf in PA even get elected.

IMO, now that we see how these governors act, if there's any sense in the world, they will face difficult re-election battles. We just need to put forth some good candidates to defeat them.


----------



## endrow

Our county didn't make the green


----------



## somedevildawg

I’m assuming green means “go” for reopen? They treat y’all like children even with reopening, pathetic.....get rid of those people, they’ll have you making mud pies before it’s over and done just because they can  vote those idiots out!


----------



## JD3430

Would like to vote the idiots out, but the education system has been wildly successful at creating a majority of idiots to keep them in office.
Let's face it, even our wins are pretty narrow anymore.

I will do what little I can, but I think we're screwed.


----------



## somedevildawg

JD3430 said:


> Would like to vote the idiots out, but the education system has been wildly successful at creating a majority of idiots to keep them in office.
> Let's face it, even our wins are pretty narrow anymore.
> 
> I will do what little I can, but I think we're screwed.


One thing Trump has taught us all...how to deal with the idiots amongst us. Call em on their bullshit....hit em back just as hard.
If you give em enuf rope, they'll hang themselves....


----------



## JD3430

I think Trump is kind of a "flawed angel" sometimes

yep, I said that.
Go ahead and laugh, but that's the what I think...sometimes....


----------



## Uphayman

So now fraulein Gretchen has decided to use the emergency alert system, to irritate the hell out of us peasants. Our phones start blasting the hideous sound, expecting a storm alert or amber alert........OK. Nope .........fraulein lets us know it's now mandatory for all peasants to wear a mask in public. There are penalties for businesses who disregard her orders, and of course the urging of the tattle tails to turn the offenders in. 
So, a quick google instruction on how to turn off all notifications.........peace again.
Folks........for goodness sakes ..........steer clear of the greenstone state. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/07/15/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-uses-emergency-alert-system-mask-mandate/


----------



## somedevildawg

My wife has covid....she works with one n95 and one on top of that....she wears a face shield and about 100 pairs of gloves a day. I was told by a fella today that one of his workers had it a few weeks ago, has tested positive for 5 weeks...his fiance (live together) has never tested positive.....think about that one. 
I haven't exhibited any symptoms, knock on wood, but we do sleep in the same bed...although conjugal visits are a rarity nowadays  idk....I'm sure of one thing, the "experts" know no more than anyone else about how this virus acts and reacts....
Should masks be worn...I think it's a personal deal, certainly not for the gov to decide without clear evidence to the validity of such claims. I think she has been infected since Monday of last week....that was her first symptoms, persistent headache.


----------



## Aaroncboo

Hope she feels better soon. I've known a few people who have been infected with various symptoms. Most just feel like a mild cold. Two were hospitalized for a couple days. All survived and are doing well now. Once again here's to a speedy recovery.


----------



## RockyHill

Hope your wife overcomes it soon and you and rest of family avoid it. Keep us updated.

Shelia


----------



## swmnhay

You thought a mask was inconvenient? Wait until you're told that you cannot enter a store without proof of the Covid-19 vaccine. Wait until you cannot go to public events, travel, or even get a driver's license without proof of having received this vaccine.!!!!!

"It's just a mask" can turn into "it's just a vaccine" very quickly. And it will, you can bet your bottom dollar on that!
.
In less than 5 months, our government has successfully divided the country into "obedient mask wearers" versus "selfish people that refuse to wear masks".
.
"It's just a mask, you guys". It's for "the greater good"!
Where have we heard this phrase before?
.
In less than 5 months, our government has dictated what events are acceptable versus unacceptable to attend. Riots are OK, family funerals are not. Standing in a graduation line is a "safety hazard", but feel free to line up at WalMart, Lowes, and Home Depot.
.
But it's "just a mask" & "safety precautions", you guys.
.
In less than 5 months, our government successfully facilitated the closing of family-owned businesses while granting authority to large corporations that they have invested interests in.
.
It's "just a mask" and "safety precautions" you guys. Oh & here's a measly $1200 that we stole from you in the first place. Enjoy!
.
In less than 5 months, our government was able to successfully sway the population into believing that a CASHLESS SOCIETY is a good thing! In the name of a government sponsored virus.
.
In less than 5 months, our government closed down public schools, and has "restructured" school moving forward under the guise of "public safety" from a "virus". These same schools fed children crap per the corrupt USDA food pyramid. But "health" matters when it comes to a government sponsored virus 
.
It's "just a mask" & "heightened safety precautions", you guys.
.
In less than 5 months, our government demonstrated how easily people assimilate to "guidelines" (that have NO scientific premise whatsoever) when they are fearful.
.
What was up with all that toilet paper?
.
It's "just a mask" & "6 foot social distancing", you guys. Oh, and dooky paper.
.
In less than 5 months, our government has successfully instilled fear in a majority of the population in America.
.
But citizens are not "afraid" of the people in power who are responsible for the removal of their "freedoms". Instead, they're fearful of their neighbors and family, human touch, and air.
.
There are thousands of viruses that *could* affect the population, but these viruses do not matter because MSM didn't say they do.
.
It's absolutely terrifying to me that so many people do not question authority because they see that authority as "all knowing." It's even more terrifying that these same people rely on corrupt "leaders" to be led, thus lacking all critical thinking skills/independence.
.
Slaves to the system that keeps them oppressed.
.
How quickly history is forgotten and repeated!
.
What's most problematic to me about all of this is that the people who are wearing masks "for the greater good" will be the first to sign up for this shiny new vaccine that's had 0 longitudinal safety tests against an inert placebo.
.
What's more problematic to me is that this Vaccine MAY be the deciding factor in life moving forward.

You thought a mask was inconvenient? Wait until you're told that you cannot enter a store without proof of the Covid-19 vaccine. Wait until you cannot go to public events, or travel, without proof of having received this vaccine.
.
To everyone that doesn't believe this is possible - do you understand that our government just successfully dictated to people WHEN they were allowed to be outside, where they were allowed to go, and how their children would be educated, in less than 5 months? And that a majority of the population followed blindly because they were told to do so.
.
You're kidding yourself if you believe that they're not going to repeat this behavior with a vaccine.
.
If people have not protested the occurrences in America over the last 5 months, they will assuredly continue to abide by unsubstantiated "guidelines" that will include a vaccine.

*Copied and Pasted from a friends post.


----------



## somedevildawg

There’s a lot of truth there Cy.....it’s been my biggest contention with this whole ordeal. The constant use of “health experts” that really have no idea, generating all kinds of conflicting reports, and expecting (and getting) cooperation from the population. I was very sceptical of them from the git-go....others have amazingly fallen for the bait, hook/line and sinker. Now it has morphed from “health experts”to governors, mayors, legislators that are now the oppressor based on “data”, albeit flawed data, that they use to oppress......


----------



## r82230

somedevildawg said:


> My wife has covid....she works with one n95 and one on top of that....she wears a face shield and about 100 pairs of gloves a day. I was told by a fella today that one of his workers had it a few weeks ago, has tested positive for 5 weeks...his fiance (live together) has never tested positive.....think about that one.
> I haven't exhibited any symptoms, knock on wood, but we do sleep in the same bed...although conjugal visits are a rarity nowadays  idk....I'm sure of one thing, the "experts" know no more than anyone else about how this virus acts and reacts....
> Should masks be worn...I think it's a personal deal, certainly not for the gov to decide without clear evidence to the validity of such claims. I think she has been infected since Monday of last week....that was her first symptoms, persistent headache.


Sorry to hear, hope for a speedy recovery.

As far as the same household, there was an inadvertent test somewhere in NY city, a mom, dad and 2 adult (early 20's) daughters, that I read about. Testing positive/negative, help the officials find out their tests weren't 100% accurate.

Now, on to the missing 'visits', you could ask for rain checks, but if it's like my household, they might not be collectible.  

Larry


----------



## Tx Jim

Dawg

I hope your wife has a speedy recovery & you dodge the virus.

Jim


----------



## Vol

I don't know what to say anymore other than I will not be taking a vaccine early on. No one is going to make me jump their hoops without a battle. I know it is a battle that I will eventually lose, but I will make my own choices.

Todd, I hate it for the little woman and you. I think most people will never forget the year 2020. It has been tough in an unbelievable number of ways for most including me.

Lot's of vaccines are already mandated for public schools etc.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html

Regards, Mike


----------



## Aaroncboo

I'm for vaccines. Without them we'd still have polio and all those other terrible diseases but I'll be damned if I'm getting it the first few years it's available. I'm not going to be the guinea pig that finds out all the side effects. Not until it gets refined. I hope...


----------



## somedevildawg

I agree, not wanting to be a part of the “rushed” vaccine....I’ll take my chances until the jury comes back


----------



## JD3430

Anti-Vaxer crowd should make it interesting....


----------



## BWfarms

JD3430 said:


> Anti-Vaxer crowd should make it interesting....


Aren't they usually radical to begin with? Lol


----------



## swmnhay

Met some friends for breakfast yesterday.Go there and parking lot was full.Went in and looked like all the older people have said F this Covid crap.Large table of ladies with some in their 80's all sitting together and another large table of men similar age for Saturday morning coffee.No one in entire place had a mask on.


----------



## Uphayman

My general observation is, at least in my neck of the woods, that there are two camps on the covid pandemic. One has "caved up". Major panic mode, not doing anything because "we're all going to die", wearing a mask when solo driving the Subaru. 
The other camp, one of which I guess I belong, are the folks that continue to tend our crops, care for the animals.........live our lives. 
Attended a beautiful wedding yesterday afternoon. Farmer we work with, daughter tied the knot. It was in neighboring state of Wisconsin. There were no masks. There were hugs. There were handshakes. There was happiness, laughter, and love. There were babies. There were little kids. There were parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.I didn't sense any fear.

Farmers are in the camp that live life........AMEN


----------



## JD3430

Uphayman said:


> My general observation is, at least in my neck of the woods, that there are two camps on the covid pandemic. One has "caved up". Major panic mode, not doing anything because "we're all going to die", wearing a mask when solo driving the Subaru.
> The other camp, one of which I guess I belong, are the folks that continue to tend our crops, care for the animals.........live our lives.
> Attended a beautiful wedding yesterday afternoon. Farmer we work with, daughter tied the knot. It was in neighboring state of Wisconsin. There were no masks. There were hugs. There were handshakes. There was happiness, laughter, and love. There were babies. There were little kids. There were parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.I didn't sense any fear.
> 
> Farmers are in the camp that live life........AMEN


Yes indeed they are. Thanks for that story. Made my day a little better.
Training is in progress 
Police bad 
Mask good


----------



## swmnhay

Yea, few days ago went to breakfast in little bigger town,that is a Covid hotspot with JBS plant and all the workers had masks and had to sign in and give telephone number.About 1/2 th people coming in had masks on.It's right along interstate so a lot more travelers also.

Quite the difference in 2 restaurants.Both county seats 30 miles apart.


----------



## somedevildawg

The wife is doing purty good with the Covid Virus....still laying in bed but doesn't feel quite as bad so perhaps she's on the uptick.
In so far as masks....here it's about 50% wearing them, Walmart just announced they will require them, I don't shop at WW so no skin off of my back. Seems like CVS had a sign yesterday that said they were required but I continued walking....no issues. I've been using delivery with most things for over a year anyways....
I was listening to a talk radio host the other day and he supported mask wearing. He tried (unsuccessfully) to compare it to PPE for a worker (safety shields, gloves, etc.) I think it's probably common sense (if I'm going in crowded spaces, like elevators, etc.) but otherwise, I'll opt out.....I wouldn't know how to put it on....


----------



## Vol

Uphayman said:


> Major panic mode, not doing anything because "we're all going to die", wearing a mask when solo driving the Subaru.


Hah ha....that is funny. I suppose we all have the masked solo subaru drivers....usually the hatch is covered in every sticker imaginable. Hoop jumpers.

Regards, Mike


----------



## somedevildawg

If I see one, I see 100 a day....not in Subaru’s but they’s a lot of Kia drivers. Speaking of Kia’s....they must be hot rods because every time I see one it’s passing me, I always think “I bet he’s got that baby to the floor” idk. Then the y swerve thru traffic as if they have an important stockholders meeting they’re late for...it’s at that moment, when I add 2+2 and derive 5 , that I realize, ahhh, they’re one of the entitled ones  best to leave them be....they will be their own demise


----------



## luke strawwalker

swmnhay said:


> Met some friends for breakfast yesterday.Go there and parking lot was full.Went in and looked like all the older people have said F this Covid crap.Large table of ladies with some in their 80's all sitting together and another large table of men similar age for Saturday morning coffee.No one in entire place had a mask on.


Dad used to say, and would now if he were still around, "You can't run on fear"... That's true. We're watching everything that makes life worth living just getting kicked around or done away with. It's crazy! What's the use in living if life is just hiding in your house and going out in a space suit for groceries when you absolutely have to?? I mean, we've done that, when my mom was in the hospital and two things were absolutely clear-- 1) with her health issues, age, COPD, and numerous hospitalizations for pnuemonia over the past several years, if she had come down with the virus it would almost certainly kill her, and 2) when she got out of the hospital after her fall, Betty, Keira, and I were going to be her primary caregivers til she got back on her feet (instead she had a downturn with her heart and resistant infection, went on hospice, and passed away after a few weeks).

We were "early adopters" in our area of the self-isolation and quarantine stuff, masks, etc, but *WE* felt we had a compelling reason to do so, to protect an elderly highly at-risk family member. We haven't exactly been running around to "covid parties" or any crazy stuff like that, and I've been taking what I consider "common sense" precautions, but we don't let it rule our lives... We've been in Shiner a lot of weekends doing stuff at Mom's house and dealing with the estate and business, and so we've done most of our shopping there instead of the suburban Houston county we reside in... For most of this time, Lavaca county (Shiner) had only 6-8 confirmed cases (until a few weeks ago when a plastics plant in town came down with about 80 cases in their workforce virtually overnight), versus Fort Bend county's 600, then 800, then 1200, and currently at several thousand cases. When the gubner first 'reopened the state' we went to our favorite restaurant for a good sit-down Mexican food meal to celebrate my nephew's graduation from high school. Fortunately he got to have a real graduation, and it was nice-- kept to about an hour, no long winded speeches by a bunch of school district blowhards and other nonsense, just a brief valedictory and salutatorian speech and announce the honors society people by ranks or whatever and then start calling names and hand out diplomas. File out in specific order, get in your car, and SPLIT. Things were getting better, now a spike in cases again, and "the world is ending".

The gubmint is making this stuff up as they go along... Betty, as a teacher, has a front-row seat. First they were gonna split the student body in two, and have school 2 days a week, online learning the other two days a week, and Wednesday off to sterilize the campus. Half would go Mon/Tues, the other half Thu/Friday... alternating online stuff. Nope, gubmint doesn't like that plan. Texas has a legally mandated maximum class size of 21/1 in elementary grades (K-5) and a little higher than that in secondary school, can't remember the maximum but it's not a LOT higher... First thing the state said was "all K-5 elementary kids will attend school every day" and changed it to an 11:1 maximum class size. My first question was "so where do you instantly get DOUBLE the number of elementary teachers??", and of course hand-in-glove is "Where do you instantly get DOUBLE the number of CLASSROOMS??" I mean, all they've wanted to build the last 30-40 years is these big MEGA-campuses with 3000-4000 students or more per campus, particularly in high school and junior high... and of course they're two story buildings with TWO 20 foot wide staircases between floors at either end of the building, and the kids are packed in there like cattle in a sale barn going up and down those stairs five times a day! PERFECT conditions for spreading germs and injuries-- they usually have at least one kid every week or so take a tumble from the pushing and shoving going on with 500 kids at a time tromping up and down those stairs... ANYWAY, so the cure is "online learning 2 days a week and in-school 2 days a week", to HALVE the number of kids in the mega school from 3-4K to "only 1500-2000"... crazy! District sent a questionnaire to employees asking about their opinions of certain issues, one question was "should we shut down when 2 or more confirmed cases of COVID are reported on-campus?" Betty was like "might as well never reopen if you're gonna do that-- shut down for 2 cases you wouldn't be open for 2 days before that happened!" All kinds of BS. My sister's been freaking out because 1) she's a middle school band director, and there's NO BAND in any kind of traditional sense, just basically what they can do ONLINE, and since she teaches fifth graders, she has to have an elementary certification.. and the schools administrators, in the attitude brought in vogue by the previous presidential administration that shall not be named, and those seeking his position afterwards, to "NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO UNUSED", has already decided to start handing the sh!t end of the stick to all the employees... they said as much in a zoom meeting online-- "we don't have to worry about teacher resistance or employee attrition-- teacher's aren't gonna quit and go get a different job when EVERYBODY knows, "last one hired is the first one fired" and with the current economic uncertainty, nobody will want to risk changing jobs and then losing it later" (Oh, we haven't even BEGUN to see the economic fallout of all this covid mess, shutting the country down for MONTHS ON END, and starting to do it AGAIN... I'll be frankly COMPLETELY SHOCKED AND AMAZED if we're not in a full=fledged DEPRESSION by the end of this year or sometime next year... In a "top down" economy like we have, as fragile as it is where a "bad Christmas shopping season" can send us into a recession, what do you think shutting down the economy for MONTHS is going to do?? With a gubmint that has decided its best decision is to try to throw money at it and "print money to get out of this mess"?? You won't have to worry about finding toilet paper when it'll be cheaper to wipe with $20's and $50 dollar bills due to hyperinflation of worthless scrip the gubmint has printed and thrown out like water!!

TBC... OL J R


----------



## luke strawwalker

Continued...

My sister is convinced that she's going to show up at school, and be told "well, no band to direct, come with me-- here's you're new kindergarten class!" because she's like "no way no how! If I wanted to teach "embryos" (babies) I'd have become a kindergarten or elementary teacher in the FIRST PLACE!... Of course ALL teacher contracts have five magic little words after the "job description"--- "Or other duties as ASSIGNED"... So basically you're over a barrel, and they know it. Betty doesn't have an elementary cert as a high school teacher, but there's no telling what may happen-- gubmint decide there's a teacher shortage and waive the certification requirements or whatever for high school teachers to bump them over into elementary grades... OH, and the unused classrooms in the high school and junior highs from half the kids being home "learning online?" They're gonna bus the elementary kids to these secondary school campuses to use those classrooms to help bridge the gap of the sudden doubling in classrooms required... Betty said they're gonna just stick teacher's aides in there to "babysit" kids while the "certified teacher" runs back and forth between them teaching BOTH classes... but even then, where are all the AIDES gonna come from??

Then there's the transportation issue... school buses are designed to hold either 66, 72, or 84 passengers depending on their size (snub noses "cabovers" being the largest seating capacity). Most buses have 24 seats in them (larger sizes 26-28) so that's average 2 rows of 12 seats per bus. Some states 'social distancing" proposals for buses would put ONE STUDENT PER SEAT in EVERY OTHER SEAT on the bus... that's TWELVE STUDENTS MAXIMUM plus the driver PER BUS. I was reading an article about this and the writer did the math for their school district of roughly 21,000 students IIRC, and the district was providing busing with 220-some odd buses and drivers on the routes... But that's for about 50-80 kids per bus... to follow these "state guidelines" they'd have to buy another NINE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-ODD buses and an equal number of drivers to run them, when MOST districts are ALWAYS perpetually shorthanded and CHRONICALLY BEGGING for bus drivers because they treat their driver's like sh!t and won't enforce discipline, since they're "only bus drivers" and therefore "non-professional (non- college degreed) personnel" Good luck with that! Clearly, that ain't gonna work in ANY universe-- the numbers just don't add up. Even If you kept EVERY BUS running staggered start and release times ALL DAY LONG picking up and dropping off kids to keep the numbers down on the buses, a LOT of drivers have second jobs and work elsewhere during the day, or care for invalid family members or grandkids or whatever and WON'T BE AVAILABLE to run all these "extra routes". Plus, they'll be running the wheels off of basically HD straight trucks (buses are built on truck chassis) getting SIX MILES A GALLON to haul no more kids than an average minivan could handle! All those extra routes will DOUBLE or TRIPLE the fuel requirements of the school districts quite easily to say nothing of wear and tear... all that extra burned diesel isn't gonna make the global warming nuts happy! It's all just "spitballing" by a bunch of paper-pushers with NO REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE, knee jerk reactions to a vastly inflated problem that sounds good and blows warm smoke up people's backside with NO CHANCE OF WORKING IN REALITY... it's insane.

The gubmint said "no' to the split schedules, but have elected to allow parents to decide whether to keep their kids home for "e-learning" all done online, or to send them to school. Now with the sudden surge in cases in urban/suburban areas in Texas, our district is basically saying they're gonna be doing it all "online" again anyway, and the schools will remain closed. The state is currently fumbling around trying to figure out what to do or say next, but unless things change, that looks to be where it's headed AGAIN.

Thing is, these kids (and people at large) need SOMETHING to do... all this protest crap and explosion of violence and tearing down statues and everything, it's all a by-product of the deteriorated mental state of people that have been contained with NO OUTLETS for their emotions or feelings and who are fearful and angry about the situation that has unfolded and been denied any sort of productive or at least DISTRACTING pursuits to lower their stress and anger levels and contribute to their mental health. SO, something happens that "triggers" them and they go off like a bomb... and we have riots and looting and nutjobs in the streets, and limp wristed gubmint officials too busy dictating you have to wear a mask and can't buy garden tools or flower seeds while they allow antifa terrorists and scumbags to loot and burn their cities and overrun police! Absolutely insane!

These KIDS need something to do. They're just lost and confused and frustrated and angry, and EVERYTHING that makes life good for them and provides structure and mostly mentally healthy interaction and skills has been taken away... Keira has been apoplectic because they never returned to school after spring break. At first she liked it-- she basically dislikes school because there is SO much WASTED time, time spent by teachers correcting the 10% of troublemakers, or dealing with "nonsense" that doesn't really involve the kids actually learning or doing anything, or having to "hand-hold" the bottom 20% of kids that aren't that bright and "just don't get it", lots of stupid "touchy-feely" type assignments that are more about "team building" than actual learning, etc... I felt the same way when *I* was in high school 30 years ago, and it's WAY worse now!! She's in "gifted and talented" and that's not even enough to keep her really 'engaged'. The e-learning they did on the computer, she basically played with a bit of it and then did almost the entire semester's work in about a week right before school let out, and from the teacher's perspective, their "teams" were planning lessons and stuff the kids could do, and grading requirements, and time schedules for turning stuff in, and all that, and basically the district pulled the rug out from under them and reduced the whole second half of this past school year to a 'participation' grade-- IOW, if they did *something* and turned it in, regardless of whether it was right or wrong or half done or whatever, well, "they passed". Of course they didn't "advertise" that fact, because the kids would do one thing and say 'screw it' to the rest, but that's exactly what happened... Now, given that they had to "pull all this out of a hat" at the ninth hour when this covid crap landed in their laps at spring break, they did the best they could I suppose, to be CONSISTENT across the entire district and different classes, teachers, and schools, BUT they are already saying they HAVE to put some "standards" in place for the upcoming year in regards of online learning... YA Don't Say!!!

Thing is, people ULTIMATELY have to take some responsibility FOR THEMSELVES, for their OWN FAMILIES, and do what THEY feel they need to do to "stay safe" and make a living and live their lives... but, that flies in the face of the all-knowing, ALL POWERFUL "nanny state" that we've come to accept and depend upon... it requires EFFORT and THOUGHT! HOW DARE YOU!!! But people need the freedom to do what they need to do.

Yeah, there's a LOT of elderly and health-compromised folks out there that are highly susceptible to this disease and who are at most risk of dying if they catch it, or having severe disabling complications... Those folks DO need to wear masks to protect themselves, and stores SHOULD have "early bird" shopping hours for immuno-compromised, elderly, and other health-complication population folks who NEED to isolate themselves as much as possible before the 'general population' comes in to the store for the rest of the day... IF the store owners/operators feel like that's something they SHOULD do or CAN do. If not, well, then it becomes the responsibility of the affected persons to figure out how to get what they need in the "safest" manner possible-- be in masks, ordering online, having a friend or neighbor go buy it for them, etc. They probably DON'T need to be sitting in large crowds in restaurants, masked or unmasked-- we didn't go to a restaurant for anything but takeout through the drive-thru from mid-March to early May when mom passed away due to not wanting to risk exposure to germs and carrying them home to her... but that was OUR choice, not 'mandated' by anyone, particularly the state... we'd have done it ANYWAY because it was what was "right" for our particular situation... shouldn't FORCE *everyone* to do the same if *their* situation is different! Same thing with church-- mom's small congregation stayed open the entire time; we did "online church" via Youtube of the services, until after she passed, and have attended a small congregation near Shiner and Indiana on vacation since then... when we WERE at home one or two weekends and not tending to estate issues and mom's house in Shiner, we continued to do "online church" because of the fact that our county has HUGE numbers of cases, and we felt like that's a common sense precaution. SO do about maybe half the congregation, though they have reopened and maybe half is in the building, with every other pew kept empty for "social distancing" purposes... Our preacher even gave a lesson in the middle of the shutdown, that when it ended, we needed to "not pass judgment" on other people, some will come back, some will want to shake hands and hug, and some will want to sit way in the back or in the fellowship room spread far out, or just continue doing "online church" from home, because of THEIR personal situation... and we shouldn't pass judgment or berate people for THEIR choices when they're different from OUR choices-- folks who wear masks or stay distant shouldn't fuss at folks who DON'T, and folks who hug or shake hands or don't wear a mask shouldn't thumb their noses at people who DO mask up or sit afar off or refuse to shake hands...Just as Paul and Barnabas couldn't agree whether to take Timothy with them, so they each went and did their OWN THING, went on separate mission trips, and there was NOTHING wrong with that! Neither one was right OR WRONG... it was a matter of CHOICE!

TBC... OL J R


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## luke strawwalker

Continued...

What cracks me up is, the ones screaming the loudest about tolerance and FREE CHOICE in matters of health (particularly women's unquestionable right to abortion on demand) and the unbridled power of the"police state" will INSTANTLY want a JACKBOOTED THUG response to ANYONE DARING to not wear a mask or do whatever it is *they* think or feel or want everyone ELSE to have to do because THEY think that's how it should be... and they will scream and go full "karen" on ANYBODY who DARES to disagree with them!!! TOTAL HYPOCRITES...

But, and I'll close with this... You can believe what you will, as is your GOD-GIVEN RIGHT in this *hopefully* not for the time being "free country" of ours... but I'll tell you this, ALL of this has been FORETOLD in the Bible, and that's a fact. Not only did Jesus say there'd be "wars and rumors of wars, and pestilences, and earthquakes" before his return, but God's inspired Word says in MANY places that, "A nation WITHOUT GOD *will* be turned into HELL"... Not "might" not "could be" not "maybe" turned into hell, **WILL** be turned into hell. "Turned into" means a process, something that doesn't *necessarily* happen instantly-- caterpillars "turn into" butterflies, but not overnight, but it doesn't take as long as snow piling up to form a glacier, for instance, or buried dead critters to turn into fossils, which takes a LONG time... "A nation" INCLUDES the United States, as it does ANY and EVERY nation... there is no "qualifying statement" amending that phrase, like "A nation, EXCEPT the United States" without God, shall be turned into hell". It's an all-inclusive statement. "Without GOD" is equally clear. The Bible also clearly states that God will pass judgment on people, societies, and nations at SOME point, when His patience has been expended... "Because they loved NOT the truth, but LOVED A LIE, for THIS REASON *GOD* *gave them over* to a REPROBATE MIND, so that they should do those things they should not, even those things *NOT IN THEIR OWN BEST INTERESTS*" (paraphrased). Analyze that statement for a moment-- First, the "WHY" part-- "Because they HATED THE TRUTH"-- tried telling the TRUTH to most people lately, PARTICULARLY these hypocrite nutcases running around protesting, screaming at people not wearing masks, let alone rioting or looting?? "Because they LOVED A LIE"... people have convinced themselves that while Hitler and Nazi Germany killed 6 million Jews, 2 million gypsies and homosexuals and other "undesirables", and triggered a World War that killed 55 million people (including 20 million in the Soviet Union alone), that they are evil incarnate and deserved their fate and worse (which I don't disagree with, to be sure). BUT those same people turn a blind eye to communism and Stalin, who killed 30 million of HIS OWN people in his power-mad purges into the gulag archipelago, and the bankrupt ideology that gave him the power to do it. They turn a blind eye to Mao, who killed 60 million of his own people in the "Great Leap Forward", all to the glory of the communist state in China... and the few who do "finger wag" on the grounds of "abuse of human rights" think that it's a GOOD THING that America has KILLED OVER 60 MILLION UNBORN BABIES since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1972... THINK ABOUT THAT ONE... "God sees" and he is just, regardless of what these libtards happen to think or believe, or what slick lawyers can convince the Supreme Court of... "Vengeance is MINE" says the LORD, "I WILL REPAY!" There are only TWO things that God actually HATES, the Bible teaches this too... "A LYING TONGUE, and HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD!" How do you know a politician is lying (or a news reporter??) THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING! How much more "innocent" can you get than a DEFENSELESS BABY in its mother's womb?? God sees, and HE WILL REPAY!

Look at the next part of it, "WHO"?? GOD "gave them over". HE knew their hearts, that they loved the lie and hated the truth; HE gave them a chance to change, and they didn't, and HE who knows every thought and every heart "GAVE THEM OVER"-- gave up on them, KNOWING they would NEVER CHANGE. Didn't REFUSE TO ALLOW them to change; NO, "for God SO LOVED the WORLD he gave HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whomever should believe on HIM should NOT perish, but have eternal LIFE". BUT, God *IS* just, righteous, and holy, and justice DEMANDS eventual judgment and crimes be paid for. If change and repentance is refused, if forgiveness and righteousness is REFUSED, then all that's left IS judgment and punishment! Thus, God "gave them over",,, IOW, he LET THEM HAVE THEIR WAY, let them HAVE WHAT THEY WANT! "WHAT" did He give them?? HE gave them over to their own REPROBATE MIND-- to their own twisted way of thinking, backwards set of ideas and ideals, worthless twisted backward values, sick mindset, etc. The Bible CLEARLY states that before the end, people WILL call evil things "good", and GOOD things "evil", which is the very heart of a reprobate mind-- the opposite way of thinking to what is good and TRUE. It also says, "for in that day, people shall be lovers of pleasure, lovers of self, hedonistic, VIOLENT, RESPECTING NO ONE, haters of good and those who HOLD TO THE TRUTH, without SELF CONTROL, and will kill those who love God, thinking they're DOING HIM A SERVICE!" (paraphrased) Any of THAT sound familiar?? See it on TV any hour of day you want to turn it on, if you're honest with yourself! SO, what's the "OUTCOME" of all that?? "Doing those things they SHOULD NOT, even those things NOT IN THEIR OWN BEST INTEREST!" THAT should sound VERY familiar-- see these idiots like Chelsea Clinton, ranting and raving out of one side of their faces about women's rights and screaming about "Women's CHOICE" and women's rights to not be forced into wearing burkas and stuff, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME **PRAISING** the "religion of peace and love, ISLAM" which is the greatest perpetrator of the very same atrocities they denounce?? WHICH IS IT?? They're even APOLOGISTS for the Islamic perpetrators and their bankrupt ideology that causes things like female castration and genital mutilation and public beheadings, all under their own sick, twisted, TOTALLY ILLOGICAL sense of "diversity" and "tolerance" and "racial inclusiveness" and all these other buzzwords of the liberal elite and their bankrupt, twisted, sick, and worthless "politically correct" ideology! By definition it CANNOT be both! Not LOGICALLY it can't, but then, LOGIC has NO place in their way of thinking... it's all a sick, twisted, backwards, "EVIL" is good and "GOOD" is evil mentality, a mental illness! But it's one they are SO devoted to that they INSIST *everyone* **MUST** embrace it as well, or they're intolerant, bigoted, racist, haters who need to be FORCED to not only accept but EMBRACE their sick and twisted views! What else is the "outcome"... "EVEN those things NOT IN THEIR OWN BEST INTERESTS"... WHAT do these antifa terrorists and BLM nutjobs and libtard protesters and anarchists and rioters THINK will be the outcome of their actions?? Well, nobody *ever* sees themselves as "the bad guy" and SO many people are SO misguided they *think* they're going to have some POSITIVE influence and "make things better" when actually the OPPOSITE is true (as LOGIC would clearly demonstrate to any honest THINKING person). People WILL be ruled by one of two things-- the RULE OF LAW, or THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE... The rule of law is established in the Constitution, in our laws, in our institutions forming, enforcing, and interpreting those laws and administering them FAIRLY AND JUSTLY to the people those institutions and laws govern, by the consent of the governed. If ANY of those things break down, society ceases to function as it should... disregard of the Constitution, or allowing whatever politician or cop or judge or WHOMEVER in authority the right to determine "whatever the INTERPRETATION of the law they choose to impose" at that moment, RATHER than what the law ACTUALLY SAYS, or refusing to stop rioters and looters and protesters and defend the property of the law-abiding citizens or even their very safety or lives, or allowing our institutions to be come SO corrupt and SO overreaching in power they can do *anything they want* and still excuse as "justified", and the whole "rule of law" becomes MEANINGLESS... a sham, farce, an imaginary idea from a time now past... SO what does that leave?? THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE-- everybody just does what *they feel* is right, regardless of whether it's right or WRONG... "who's to say it's wrong"... "moral absolutism" is an oppressive product of "corrupt Western civilization" which is of course "dominated by the whites and the Christians" and therefore "evil" according to the liberal nutjobs... BUT it has created the VERY SAME CIVILIZATION which has flourished and prospered and ALLOWED them the ABILITY and the FREEDOM to hold such ridiculous notions, rather than MANDATING a specific set of beliefs and ideology they must obey... and the very same civilization they now DECRY and want to REPLACE with the most INTOLERANT, HATEFUL, and BIGOTED societies and ideologies ever known in the history of mankind!! SO what's the outcome?? These LUNATICS are going to CREATE the VERY SAME POLICE STATE that they are SUPPOSEDLY so vehemently OPPOSING... they're creating the conditions in which the gubmint will either fall into decline or collapse, and will therefore either HAVE to create a strong police state capable of ruling over the savage mobs, OR will inevitably collapse and be REPLACED by a totalitarian dictatorship operating as a true police state, with jackbooted thugs like modern day SS and Gestapo dragging off or just shooting in the back of the head ANYBODY who disagrees with them or that are guilty of NOTHING but whom they simply DO NOT LIKE OR ACCEPT, or perceive as a threat to their order... These IDIOTS have NEVER SEEN a TRUE police state... and they better pray to God they NEVER actually see one, but, the Bible paints a picture that says that is EXACTLY what is ultimately coming... because of people's OWN refusal to believe the truth, their love of "the lie" and their own refusal to do what is right and good, and their absolute, final refusal of it and hatred of it in favor of their OWN sick and twisted ideology...

We've "sown the wind, and now we shall reap the WHIRLWIND", as British Bomber Command General "Bomber Harris" put it in World War 2, speaking of Germany bombing England and in turn having its cities razed to the ground by the British and US Eighth Air Force... Well, HOW MUCH MORE have *WE*, as a nation, sowed the wind, and shall now reap the whirlwind??

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker

swmnhay said:


> Met some friends for breakfast yesterday.Go there and parking lot was full.Went in and looked like all the older people have said F this Covid crap.Large table of ladies with some in their 80's all sitting together and another large table of men similar age for Saturday morning coffee.No one in entire place had a mask on.


Point I forgot in the mix...

These kids are really having a hard time with this mess, and it's gonna create problems down the road... Keira lost all her spring band contests, her JROTC drill competitions basically ended the week before it all started (covid) and of course the response to the virus caused the church summer camp and all youth activities to cease for the duration. She was supposed to fly with the JROTC group to San Diego to tour the Marine base there, Camp Pendleton IIRC?? Or 29 Palms... Anyway, the gubmint shutdown early in the year nixed that-- the JROTC program is actually military funded, and therefore the Major couldn't budget for more than 30 days out, and he couldn't get all the kids on one flight for an affordable airline ticket rate on such short notice, and wasn't going to deal with kids on several different flights leaving and arriving at different times, so the whole plan was tossed out. Then they were supposed to go spend the night on the USS Lexington aircraft carrier museum ship in Corpus Christi to learn more about life at sea, history, and the military, eat on the ship, special tour, the works... Covid killed that, along with the planned trip they were gonna take to either Kelly or Lackland AFB in San Antonio, to tour where they train the military dogs for various duties... then they were gonna go to Fiesta Texas for the rest of the day as their "fun time" for the year... Nope, that fell through. SO, we checked into Space Camp in Alabama... something to whet her interest in science and technology and give her some time away from home and working with other like-minded kids... she was skeptical due to her last elementary/middle school day camps put on by the NASA contractor running the museum "Space Center Houston" next to Johnson Space Center (mission control) in Houston (all the NASA museums are run by subcontractors now... some better than others). Those last few days camps were supposed to get them some more "age appropriate" hands on stuff and tours and things, and they 'dumbed it down" at the last because it was near end of summer and gave them some "baby crap" to do as she put it... so she got a sour taste in her mouth and wasn't thrilled about going to Space Camp, despite it being run by a completely different outfit and GEARED towards G/T intelligent high-achieving OLDER high school kids that is WAY more "in depth", "hands on", and sophisticated "behind the scenes" look at what NASA does and how it works, and with real "hands on" exercises and activities like mission planning and performing mock missions and doing projects and stuff like that... we DID however get her really interested and signed up for FLIGHT CAMP to learn to fly an F-18 Hornet in the full-fledged simulator and learn about aerospace, flight, and the 'military" side of it... Then of course at the ninth hour they cancelled that too... Then she was looking forward to church camp in Indiana... most of Indiana's numbers have been pretty flat, so they were still on for Camp Indogan up here, until we left Texas and they cancelled it en route. They ARE having an overnight 'lock in' at the camp next weekend, IF that holds, which she's REALLY looking forward to. She's had a lot of problems in her life NOT covid-related, some things happened that have deeply affected her, and frankly she NEEDS the diversion, something to hope for, believe in, throw her heart and mind into, something to DO... Being on lockdown at home between Shiner and Needville for 3 weeks while her Grandmother was hospitalized, then having to help us take care of her (she took the 3-5 am shift since she was up all night chatting online with her friends anyway) sitting with Nanny (who was usually asleep or watching "Judge Judy" on DVR at that time anyway) she could just sit in a chair and if Nanny needed something, she could come wake either me or her Mom up to come help her with whatever it was she needed... BUT the kid saw some stuff that was a lot more traumatic for her at the time than I thought it was, didn't realize it was til later on, during that week Mom was home, before she went back into the hospital another week, and then was home on hospice for about a week before she passed away, and Keira and Ian (nephew 3 weeks younger than Keira) both were present for her passing on... I never realized how "affected" these kids are nowdays... for us dealing with stuff like that was just "part of life" and we dealt with it and went on, yeah it was "tough" but we 'got through it' and I thought she was prepared for that sort of thing and that she was stronger than she was, I guess... my fault. Not much I can do about it now...

Anyway, she's had virtually NO contact with any other kids from school or anything since all this mess started in mid-March, and it's showing. She's had SOME contact with her little kid cousins here in Indiana and Billy, her "honorary cousin" in Tennessee who's mom is Betty's best friend from college, whom we go see every time we go to Indiana, and their family. Other than that, she's been isolated and while I might have disliked being "disconnected" and "an outcast" and working on the farm all the time I wasn't in school, not having friends, etc, she's just going stir crazy... we didn't have the computer to make friends or communicate back then, but she's MISSING school and she's absolutely DESPONDENT now that basically the first semester is going down the tubes, and marching band and JROTC drill season with it... she even wanted to do flags this year in addition to marching band... she loves marching band, and she's REALLY GOOD at it, and it's a state year for them (every other year in Texas, 1A, 3A, and 5A schools one year, 2A, 4A, and 6A schools the following year) and now their marching season is pretty much over before it starts. JROTC is all completely up in the air. The teacher in charge of the yearbook saw Keira's work in various classes and JROTC and talked to Betty and recruited her to be the editor and photographer for the yearbook this year, and now THAT is being pickled bit by bit... So while she's glad to not have to deal with a lot of the stupidity and waste of time in school, she's also DESPONDENT that she gets NO human contact or interaction, and everything that she's WANTING to do and NEEDS to do is being torpedoed and going to the bottom one by one!

It's the same for these older folks... which is better, sit home and "be safe" while a prisoner in your own home, or just get out and live life and well, if ya get it ya get it, maybe you make it, maybe you die... As a lot of poets, philosophers, and Star Trek writers have said over the years-- "Surviving is not the same as "living"-- and "surviving" is not enough... If "surviving" is all there is, then WHAT'S THE POINT?? Life is about LIVING, not just "surviving"..." This is ABSOLUTELY TRUE!

While I agree that people need to be given the freedom to take common sense precautions to protect themselves and their families as they see fit, everyone ALSO needs to be given the freedom to live a LIFE WORTH LIVING, and if that puts them at risk, or even leads to a fatal infection and possibly DEATH, well, it's THEIR choice... Life has to be worth living or else "what's the point"?? Simply surviving isn't enough.

It's like I told Betty after about a month or six weeks in isolation-- "Ya know, even after an all-out nuclear war, most of the fallout in most places is pretty much over with in TWO WEEKS... Sure, SOME places would be radioactive for centuries, but MOST places wouldn't even get much if any fallout, and even most places that DID would be safe to at least LEAVE THE AREA in two weeks or less... This mess has been dragging on for MONTHS with NO END IN SIGHT, and basically the CURE is WORSE THAN THE DISEASE, because we've almost assuredly dealt a SEVERE if not ultimately FATAL blow to our economy in the process of knee-jerk overreactions to what is, basically, LESS fatal than the regular influenza we've dealt with yearly from virtually time immemorial... and this mess, for what it's worth, it's OUT NOW, and it's GONNA be around from now til doomsday-- so we might as well take a deep breath, put our big boy britches on, and DEAL WITH IT in a SENSIBLE and REALISTIC way, and quit hiding in the bomb shelters til we create the REAL havoc that we THINK we are TRYING to avoid!!!

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker

somedevildawg said:


> If I see one, I see 100 a day....not in Subaru's but they's a lot of Kia drivers. Speaking of Kia's....they must be hot rods because every time I see one it's passing me, I always think "I bet he's got that baby to the floor" idk. Then the y swerve thru traffic as if they have an important stockholders meeting they're late for...it's at that moment, when I add 2+2 and derive 5 , that I realize, ahhh, they're one of the entitled ones  best to leave them be....they will be their own demise


Yep crazy!!! WAY more likely to kill themselves driving like a maniac in them little bug cars than they are to die from the COVID, but try to convince THEM of that... LOL Numbers and probabilities don't lie LOL OL J R: )


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## JD3430

ZERO kids die from this without some kind of freakishly bad comorbidity. They don't carry enough viral load to give it to each other or adults.

Schools need to go back to a full schedule. Older teachers with Co morbidities need to retire or teach zoom school from home for the parents who refuse to send their kids back, like the anti Vaxer freaks or the ones that wear masks while driving alone in their Prius.
Like Luke said,cant live in a world controlled by fear. It ain't worth living.

Something else is at work here and it's much bigger, it's Marxism. Creating nationwide fear amongst the population is a huge accomplishment for them.


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