Jump to content

Thanks for visiting BtownBanners.com!  We noticed you have AdBlock enabled.  While ads can be annoying, we utilize them to provide these forums free of charge to you!  Please consider removing your AdBlock for BtownBanners or consider signing up to donate and help BtownBanners stay alive!  Thank you!

Class of '66 Old Fart

Coronavirus and Its Impact

Recommended Posts

I saw a post on Twitter today that said this is going to make everybody take a hard look at political correctness, special interests, "just in time" needs for everything - including information, corporatization, etc.. and make some of those initiatives seem petty and insignificant.  God, I hope so.    I was in medical sales for 20 years beginning in 1994 or so.  When I started?  St. Vincent hospital had 3 campuses.  The mother ship on the north side of Indy, Carmel, and a small hospital in Brazil, IN.  When I got out, they owned 47 campuses.  Selling became corporate and based solely on pricing.  No care-based rationale and no relationships.  Contract driven medicine based on purchasing power.

That's not Donald Trump's fault. That's not Barack Obama's fault.  That's not George Bush's fault.  It's systemic.   But the answer is not state control or whatever it is Gavin Newsom said today.  The government was set up of the people and for the people.  And the people are the ones stepping up to solve problems.  Our issue?  There are no term limits.  There are hundreds of professional politicians with no life experience, and the people leading our country right now from a medical perspective (Dr. Fauci in particular) have no understanding of the economic catastrophe which would be caused by his recommendations of "not opening up the country until we have a vaccine....in a year and a half."   Or really what's happening out there.  He has tunnel vision, and said yesterday therapies aren't his top priority.  I get that testing and finding out who's infected is his priority, but damn, dude...the country needs to turn the lights back on, too.  You can manage two priorities simultaneously!  

I do think this will create a better system for rapid response, and I think American manufacturing will play a huge role as long as leadership in Washington  promotes and permits it.  If we start to gravitate more toward state control?  We're doomed.  In my mind, it's as simple as that.  I trust business people and American ingenuity over elected officials every time.

This is a great read again. Old Friend nails it when he says “this is not Trump or Obama or Bush’ fault.” To think that any country would have budget money to plan fully for something like that has never happened in our history.

 

I work in a regulated industry where you review 30 years of history to pick the worst season and then you are allowed to add 10% to that. In 2014 things blew this industry up and things happened that had never happened in the industry. We were in scramble mode in mid January and still had to find solutions until the end of winter.

 

Controls put in place by regulators did not fit this environment. So we had to figure things out while working through controls that were limiting and not effective.

 

The thing is you can’t plan for things like this. I don’t fault Cuomo for not buying whatever number of ventilators he could have nor do I fault Trump or Obama.

 

No one saw this coming. China lied and the WHO told the world in mid Jan not to worry. We had leaders from both parties using China data to conclude this was like SARS. Had the data from China been accurate then people

In NY telling people to go out, Pelosi telling people in late Feb to go to China town, Trump comparing this to the flu would have all been right.

 

You cannot plan for this. Sorry. China did lie. The US and many companies and individuals are doing some incredible things.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
46 minutes ago, 8bucks said:

This is a great read again. Old Friend nails it when he says “this is not Trump or Obama or Bush’ fault.” To think that any country would have budget money to plan fully for something like that has never happened in our history.

 

I work in a regulated industry where you review 30 years of history to pick the worst season and then you are allowed to add 10% to that. In 2014 things blew this industry up and things happened that had never happened in the industry. We were in scramble mode in mid January and still had to find solutions until the end of winter.

 

Controls put in place by regulators did not fit this environment. So we had to figure things out while working through controls that were limiting and not effective.

 

The thing is you can’t plan for things like this. I don’t fault Cuomo for not buying whatever number of ventilators he could have nor do I fault Trump or Obama.

 

No one saw this coming. China lied and the WHO told the world in mid Jan not to worry. We had leaders from both parties using China data to conclude this was like SARS. Had the data from China been accurate then people

In NY telling people to go out, Pelosi telling people in late Feb to go to China town, Trump comparing this to the flu would have all been right.

 

You cannot plan for this. Sorry. China did lie. The US and many companies and individuals are doing some incredible things.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Boy, I don't know.  I mean, firing Dr Linda Quick and then whole pandemic response team certainly hampered things.  One could argue that we would have been able to plan for this without those missteps.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Boy, I don't know.  I mean, firing Dr Linda Quick and then whole pandemic response team certainly hampered things.  One could argue that we would have been able to plan for this without those missteps.

I think you can argue that for sure. But my point is you don’t have any idea how to plan for this. This is the outlier of events and you would not have planned for nationwide shut down.

Had that team been around they would have relied on China and the WHO too. Then when that proved wrong they would have blocked travel to China, formed a task force and done much of what has been done.

I mean if it was so obviously a bad move to redeploy that team then you have to blame Cuomo for not realizing the obvious risk and he should have bought the ventilators and added more hospital beds. See you can’t because you can’t plan for this.


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, 8bucks said:

This is a great read again. Old Friend nails it when he says “this is not Trump or Obama or Bush’ fault.” To think that any country would have budget money to plan fully for something like that has never happened in our history.

 

I work in a regulated industry where you review 30 years of history to pick the worst season and then you are allowed to add 10% to that. In 2014 things blew this industry up and things happened that had never happened in the industry. We were in scramble mode in mid January and still had to find solutions until the end of winter.

 

Controls put in place by regulators did not fit this environment. So we had to figure things out while working through controls that were limiting and not effective.

 

The thing is you can’t plan for things like this. I don’t fault Cuomo for not buying whatever number of ventilators he could have nor do I fault Trump or Obama.

 

No one saw this coming. China lied and the WHO told the world in mid Jan not to worry. We had leaders from both parties using China data to conclude this was like SARS. Had the data from China been accurate then people

In NY telling people to go out, Pelosi telling people in late Feb to go to China town, Trump comparing this to the flu would have all been right.

 

You cannot plan for this. Sorry. China did lie. The US and many companies and individuals are doing some incredible things.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

I wouldn't plan on any country being able to fully handle this once we go full pandemic; I do agree on that.  Certainly, the problem wasn't helped at home when we sent tons of supplies overseas and are now, for some reason, overpaying for products we already had private businesses contracted to provide for a set cost.  

However, when you have someone completely downplaying the threat for 2 months, telling people that going to work with the virus is no big deal, that's it's a hoax perpetrated by the opposing political party, that "the 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero" (said on Feb 26th), or saying  "I know more about viruses than anyone”....that is poor leadership and misleading the public.  Heck, until a national quarantine is put in place, this stuff will just drag out.  If a national quarantine would have been made two weeks ago we would be in much better shape and most likely be "okay" by the beginning of May.  As is, we probably won't be back to normal until June at best.  Perhaps as late as August.  

We also have no test kits available because funding was cut for the very health services responsible for producing them. 

The numbers are drastically understated in China and America (here because no one can get tested.  I personally know four individuals who probably have it.  They tested negative for flu and have every single sign of Covid...but can't get tested).

No one in their right minds believes China's numbers, and if someone actually allowed their decision making on Covid to be informed by a government notorious for lying, then yea, that's on them too.  Heck, it's believed China's numbers are probably understated by 15 - 40X (at least by UK's government).  

Covid has become much worse than it ever had to be.  The government serves a purpose and we are seeing that very clearly today.   However, critical agencies have been underfunded, talent is leaving in droves, and there's very little competent leadership left.  We don't get to break the government and then pretend nothing could have prevented the mess we are in.  Heck, in October an agency whose sole purpose was finding and preventing the next pandemics was eliminated.  I'm not saying they would have stopped this, but we also don't know.  

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I wouldn't plan on any country being able to fully handle this once we go full pandemic; I do agree on that.  Certainly, the problem wasn't helped at home when we sent tons of supplies overseas and are now, for some reason, overpaying for products we already had private businesses contracted to provide for a set cost.  
However, when you have someone completely downplaying the threat for 2 months, telling people that going to work with the virus is no big deal, that's it's a hoax perpetrated by the opposing political party, that "the 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero" (said on Feb 26th), or saying  "I know more about viruses than anyone”....that is poor leadership and misleading the public.  Heck, until a national quarantine is put in place, this stuff will just drag out.  If a national quarantine would have been made two weeks ago we would be in much better shape and most likely be "okay" by the beginning of May.  As is, we probably won't be back to normal until June at best.  Perhaps as late as August.  
We also have no test kits available because funding was cut for the very health services responsible for producing them. 
The numbers are drastically understated in China and America (here because no one can get tested.  I personally know four individuals who probably have it.  They tested negative for flu and have every single sign of Covid...but can't get tested).
No one in their right minds believes China's numbers, and if someone actually allowed their decision making on Covid to be informed by a government notorious for lying, then yea, that's on them too.  Heck, it's believed China's numbers are probably understated by 15 - 40X (at least by UK's government).  
Covid has become much worse than it ever had to be.  The government serves a purpose and we are seeing that very clearly today.   However, critical agencies have been underfunded, talent is leaving in droves, and there's very little competent leadership left.  We don't get to break the government and then pretend nothing could have prevented the mess we are in.  Heck, in October an agency whose sole purpose was finding and preventing the next pandemics was eliminated.  I'm not saying they would have stopped this, but we also don't know.  
 
 

Great points. I think that group will be back n some fashion. But while Trump was downplaying it he built the task force and Dr Fauci has said repeatedly that he has never chosen to do something they did not recommend. Dr Fauci has served many admins and even he downplayed this until we started to see real data. That was not till Feb.

If we fault Trump for downplaying we also have to fault Pelosi for urging people on Feb 24 to go out to Chinatown or NYs mayor for urging people to go out in early May.

The pandemic group did not have things stocked up (during Obama and Trumps) term so I am not that confident they could have done much.

The sales of product we needed was done by private corporations not the government. Now had Trump declared war time provisions that might have stopped this but Shumer and Pelosi were already complaining about the China travel ban.

Going forward I hope we can build a better plan but instead we will have Trump, Shumer and Pelosi all pointing fingers and whatever gets done will probably be window dressing.


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My company is furloughing employees for 2 weeks here shortly and possibly(likely) 2 more weeks later on in the year. 
 

The stimulus check only covers my lost wages for the first 2 weeks and that’s assuming I can successfully get unemployment as well. 
 

My wife and I are in a decent place financially but feel terrible for all the people who were struggling prior to this. 
 

My wife with a small amount of effort was possibly going to be able to get a promotion. Originally it wasn’t going to be worth it because of stress but might need to talk with her. 
 

My company and its industry is always hit hard by recessions. If they start cutting shifts my job becomes expendable real quick. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I’ve always felt Senators should be limited to one elected term. And no more than 10 total years. And then let the house be 10 total years. That way the house isn’t losing too many people any given year and. And with fresh candidates every year in the senate you might have little experience but you’ll probably have a lot of people that were already in the house for 10 years trying to work their way up. 

10 years would probably be good. A single 10 year term. So no campaigning while having a spot. Presidency should be a 6 year term I think. Too much time is spent campaigning. You get one 6 year term and move on.


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My company is furloughing employees for 2 weeks here shortly and possibly(likely) 2 more weeks later on in the year. 
 
The stimulus check only covers my lost wages for the first 2 weeks and that’s assuming I can successfully get unemployment as well. 
 
My wife and I are in a decent place financially but feel terrible for all the people who were struggling prior to this. 
 
My wife with a small amount of effort was possibly going to be able to get a promotion. Originally it wasn’t going to be worth it because of stress but might need to talk with her. 
 
My company and its industry is always hit hard by recessions. If they start cutting shifts my job becomes expendable real quick. 

Where I work did the same. Really not sure when we will go back though being it is a hotel. Though it is a hotel owned by Mr. Cook. So I’m sure he could afford a couple people wages. About two weeks in now and clueless as to when I’m going back. No reason for a hotel to be open right now.


Sent from my iPhone using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
51 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

My company is furloughing employees for 2 weeks here shortly and possibly(likely) 2 more weeks later on in the year. 
 

The stimulus check only covers my lost wages for the first 2 weeks and that’s assuming I can successfully get unemployment as well. 
 

My wife and I are in a decent place financially but feel terrible for all the people who were struggling prior to this. 
 

My wife with a small amount of effort was possibly going to be able to get a promotion. Originally it wasn’t going to be worth it because of stress but might need to talk with her. 
 

My company and its industry is always hit hard by recessions. If they start cutting shifts my job becomes expendable real quick. 

Black Friday with my company as well.  Roughly a third of employees were furloughed, and I expect more to happen.  Luckily I am not one of them and I highly doubt I will become one, but it's incredibly sad to see coworkers I've known for years being let go.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Defenserocks28 said:

 

However, when you have someone completely downplaying the threat for 2 months, telling people that going to work with the virus is no big deal, that's it's a hoax perpetrated by the opposing political party, that "the 15 (cases in the US) within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero" (said on Feb 26th), or saying  "I know more about viruses than anyone”....that is poor leadership and misleading the public.  Heck, until a national quarantine is put in place, this stuff will just drag out.  If a national quarantine would have been made two weeks ago we would be in much better shape and most likely be "okay" by the beginning of May.  As is, we probably won't be back to normal until June at best.  Perhaps as late as August.  

 

Just make sure you research all the other powers that be and their statement about the virus in Dec, Jan, and Feb.  You'll see almost nobody thought it could be this bad.  Even Dr. Fauci is on TV "downplaying" it.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, Josh said:

Black Friday with my company as well.  Roughly a third of employees were furloughed, and I expect more to happen.  Luckily I am not one of them and I highly doubt I will become one, but it's incredibly sad to see coworkers I've known for years being let go.  

These economic crashes suck.  We are running out of cash.  Hoping the PPP will help tide us over, but if it's not enough, everything I worked for is gone.  I sold as much stock as I could in my 401(K) and such to make sure I had something to live on for a year.  We have to get the economy opened back up.  Fingers crossed.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Josh said:

Boy, I don't know.  I mean, firing Dr Linda Quick and then whole pandemic response team certainly hampered things.  One could argue that we would have been able to plan for this without those missteps.

Man, if he had only known ahead of time....  Hindsight is always 20/20.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
27 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Just make sure you research all the other powers that be and their statement about the virus in Dec, Jan, and Feb.  You'll see almost nobody thought it could be this bad.  Even Dr. Fauci is on TV "downplaying" it.  

17 days AFTER Trump placed the ban on China.  Pelosi was touring Chinatown in SF on February 24th and inviting everyone to join her, saying it was "safe."   Nobody will convince me our real first case was January 21st when the Chinese had no travel restrictions for over 50 days while it was known over there.  No chance.  Gavin  Newsom is touting CA's flattening their curve, but I'd bet a whole lot that state already had some immunity built up because the Chinese, when they fly to the US?  They land in San Francisco and Los Angeles

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I’m probably not going to live through this. Napelhoosier, please understand that the President needs to do more.  I’m not trying to bash him, but we need full scale recovery and UBI.  It’s not personal, it’s survival.   Good luck all.

He is doing all he can. He can’t totally wreck the economy but he is doing what he can.


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I’m probably not going to live through this. Napelhoosier, please understand that the President needs to do more.  I’m not trying to bash him, but we need full scale recovery and UBI.  It’s not personal, it’s survival.   Good luck all.

Don’t worry, you will get your checks!


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I’m probably not going to live through this. Napelhoosier, please understand that the President needs to do more.  I’m not trying to bash him, but we need full scale recovery and UBI.  It’s not personal, it’s survival.   Good luck all.

And damn it you don’t need UBI! That’s horse crap! Sack up and do what you need to do instead of sitting on your butt at home. Sorry. Don’t give me that crap!


Sent from my iPad using BtownBanners mobile app

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×