News Is coronavirus a wild card?

i talked to my dad today, who is in his 80's. he is doing fine. a guy he knows died of the virus. the guy was 94. 94!

my grandma died at 93. she fell and smashed her head and died. it was not unexpected. she was 93. i expected she would die like every day. and this is fairly common, old people fall and have brain damage and die alot. that doesnt mean we should close schools because college kids might fall down and smash their skulls. we have to understand that th things that kill old people are not risks for young people.

the same way we dont need to remind folks in old folks homes not to drink and drive, but maybe we do at colleges. we need to be realistic about how old people face risks that dont apply to the rest of us.

 

In a messed up way, this is better than the experience they're having being in class. At least they're around friends, can work together on assignments and socialize. And they don't have to wear a stupid mask all day.

 

https://www.franklintempletonnordic.../on-my-mind-they-blinded-us-from-science.html

this is a really good read

Misperceptions of risk
Six months into this pandemic, Americans still dramatically misunderstand the risk of dying from COVID-19:

1. On average, Americans believe that people aged 55 and older account for just over half of total COVID-19 deaths; the actual figure is 92%.
   
   
2. Americans believe that people aged 44 and younger account for about 30% of total deaths; the actual figure is 2.7%.
   
   
3. Americans overestimate the risk of death from COVID-19 for people aged 24 and younger
   by a factor of 50; and they think the risk for people aged 65 and older is half of what it actually is (40% vs 80%).

These results are nothing short of stunning. Mortality data have shown from the very beginning that the COVID-19 virus age-discriminates, with deaths overwhelmingly concentrated in people who are older and suffer comorbidities. This is perhaps the only uncontroversial piece of evidence we have about this virus. Nearly all US fatalities have been among people older than 55; and yet a large number of Americans are still convinced that the risk to those younger than 55 is almost the same as to those who are older.

Partisanship and social media

For the last six months, we have all read and talked about nothing but COVID-19; how can there be still such a widespread, fundamental misunderstanding of the basic facts? Our poll results identify two major culprits: the quality of information and the extreme politicization of the COVID-19 debate:

• People who get their information predominantly from social media have the most erroneous and distorted perception of risk.
  
  
• Those who identify as Democrats tend to mistakenly overstate the risk of death from COVID-19 for younger people much more than Republicans.
  

This, sadly, comes as no surprise. Fear and anger are the most reliable drivers of engagement; scary tales of young victims of the pandemic, intimating that we are all at risk of dying, quickly go viral; so do stories that blame everything on your political adversaries. Both social and traditional media have been churning out both types of narratives in order to generate more clicks and increase their audience.

 

Schools have 99 problems and cheating ain’t one.

As I understand, last spring they went to pass-fail, and nobody could be failed. I expect it’s the same now.

 

i was just thinking, id the vaccine is released, they will need a system for priority of distribution. that could get really messy.

 

I mean......

 

What is going on in that picture? A concert? Oh, and the people pins are only 3 sided. And look at all the porta potties in the background. Nothing like person after person going into a small enclosed space and passing their dirty coronavirus particles around.

 

Jeezus, what freedoms will they give up next?

 

Not for moi