Wuhan Coronavirus: Megathread - Got too big

[najobo]

Oh, I see. So it's oppression and a fucking war crime to make Sally the 6th grade ELA teacher (with a Masters, massive bennies, and wealthy parents to help with her condo bill) to, um, do her job and teach kids, but it's a-okay for Bill the Kroger Clerk and Jack the electrician to keep on working, plague be damned. Huh.

 

[StarkRavingMad]

Awww shit. Looks like Covid killed Grand Imahara. Pressing F for Mythbuster man.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/grant-imahara-dead-mythbusters-host-was-49-1303101

He had a brain aneurysm, lol. But I guess everything is a COVID death nowadays, so sure, let's count him in the "Trump Virus Death Toll 2020" that the media is pushing.

F regardless.

 

[feral cat #6385]

He had a brain aneurysm, lol. But I guess everything is a COVID death nowadays, so sure, let's count him in the "Trump Virus Death Toll 2020" that the media is pushing.

F regardless.

Every death is a COVID death now.

Just like Travolta's "wife" and the Glee girl.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

You can really tell their dedication to their profession when they refuse to do their job and teach kids. If they were really dedicated to helping kids, they'd suck it up, assume the risk, and teach, because a tiny risk of death or permanent lung damage/whatever outweighs the risk of millions of kids not receiving an education or receiving a subpar education via failed distance learning programs. And this goes double for elementary schools, since those kids benefit the most from receiving that education. At one point I wanted to be a teacher and I know teachers and I'm well aware of how necessary it is for kids to get an education, and the younger they are the more important it is. Kids don't get back those months lost, ever. Unless it's an active fucking warzone with bombs falling overhead or something with an obscene death rate, then there's zero reason to close schools. Kids are more likely to die during an average flu season than they are of this virus.

And many school districts get so much money thrown at them (most of which is absorbed by the school boards and superintendents) they could EASILY afford to let the teachers actually at risk like Mrs. Jackson the hamplanet English teacher or Mr. Johnson the ancient math teacher who's been there for 50 years take a break and keep them paid (plus the benefits they get from the government).

But hey, nobody gives a shit about long-term consequences anymore.

 

[FuckedUp]

Homeschooling isn't a good idea.

Give me my trash cans.

 

[Quijibo69]

Oh, I see. So it's oppression and a fucking war crime to make Sally the 6th grade ELA teacher (with a Masters, massive bennies, and wealthy parents to help with her condo bill) to, um, do her job and teach kids, but it's a-okay for Bill the Kroger Clerk and Jack the electrician to keep on working, plague be damned. Huh.

That's why I think the whole "shut down" thing is fucking stupid because it isn't a really a "shut down". You have to shut EVERYTHING down or leave EVERYTHING open. You can't have both.

 

[StarkRavingMad]

You can really tell their dedication to their profession when they refuse to do their job and teach kids. If they were really dedicated to helping kids, they'd suck it up, assume the risk, and teach, because a tiny risk of death or permanent lung damage/whatever outweighs the risk of millions of kids not receiving an education or receiving a subpar education via failed distance learning programs. And this goes double for elementary schools, since those kids benefit the most from receiving that education. At one point I wanted to be a teacher and I know teachers and I'm well aware of how necessary it is for kids to get an education, and the younger they are the more important it is. Kids don't get back those months lost, ever. Unless it's an active fucking warzone with bombs falling overhead or something with an obscene death rate, then there's zero reason to close schools. Kids are more likely to die during an average flu season than they are of this virus.

And many school districts get so much money thrown at them (most of which is absorbed by the school boards and superintendents) they could EASILY afford to let the teachers actually at risk like Mrs. Jackson the hamplanet English teacher or Mr. Johnson the ancient math teacher who's been there for 50 years take a break and keep them paid (plus the benefits they get from the government).

But hey, nobody gives a shit about long-term consequences anymore.

Spoiler alert: Teachers don't care nearly as much as society tells everyone. Sure, there are plenty who do, but the ones that actually run the show simply do. Not. Give. A. Shit.

Every single teacher friend/acquaintance I know IRL do nothing but bitch and moan about their jobs. They paint themselves as the biggest martyrs possible, and they make sure to let everyone around them know it. They make every conversation about themselves. I'm not shocked in the slightest that teachers are basically telling kids to fend for themselves right now. When the chips are down, they are stunning failures.

If there is a silver lining to all of this, this should tell every single parent across the nation that at the end of the day, it takes PARENTS to raise their kids, not "A Village."

 

[Myles the Potatophile]

Spoiler alert: Teachers don't care nearly as much as society tells everyone. Sure, there are plenty who do, but the ones that actually run the show simply do. Not. Give. A. Shit.

Every single teacher friend/acquaintance I know IRL do nothing but bitch and moan about their jobs. They paint themselves as the biggest martyrs possible, and they make sure to let everyone around them know it. They make every conversation about themselves. I'm not shocked in the slightest that teachers are basically telling kids to fend for themselves right now. When the chips are down, they are stunning failures.

If there is a silver lining to all of this, this should tell every single parent across the nation that at the end of the day, it takes PARENTS to raise their kids, not "A Village."

I grew up in small town with a very small school system. Our teachers cared about our outcomes. When I got older and moved into a city, I started hating teachers because I could tell they just didn't give a shit. School seemed more like a big day-care or a prison. After I finished high school I really felt like a sucker and wondered why we had to spend 12 or more years of our lives learning all that language, science, and math only qualified us to jockey a cash register, work a sales floor, or work at a movie theater. The teachers probably felt the same way at some point in their careers. They got a degree in science and now they have to teach me about osmosis every fucking semester as if we didn't learn that in middle school. I'd be mad too, but I wouldn't take it out on the kids. I wouldn't cheat them out of their time or waste it because I got the shaft.

I thought kids would be better off at home when Coronachan popped up. Kids can be with their families, and maybe the parents can even teach what the kids need to know. It's the same stuff we learned after all, sans the globohomo stuff.

 

[PurpleEater]

Homeschooling isn't a good idea.

Give me my trash cans.

Most parents are insanely optimistic about how well they'd be able to homeschool their own children (and a lot of them suck at it even when they claim otherwise). Teaching is a skill that requires years of solid experience and oftentimes terminal degrees for a reason. Plus one person can't be expected to "teach" in every subject area, and that's true no matter how high you go in your degree level. We also know school is about more than just rudimentary "learning." It's largely about socialization, and good schools create well-adjusted kids who go on to be useful members of society. Bad schools tend to produce the opposite. It isn't rocket science. There's a reason homeschooled kids tend to be autistically inclined.

I see so many of these parents on Twitter sperging about how they plan to pull their kids and do "distance learning" even IF SCHOOLS DO RE-OPEN, which is just lunacy. They're convinced they can set up a "network" of other parents who work from home full-time yet somehow think they can educate, entertain and socialize at least one school-aged child.

 

[F/lying Frankenstein]

Today is the 14th of July, the French national celebration, with military parades in major cities. Which is the greatest and most expensive ad campaign for the French Army ( Also the regular cops, and elite cops, the military schools, the firefighters)

What is usually a State wankfest avout how the branches of the French army are awesome, will this year celebrate how the military helped the fight against the Corona, which is a bit gloomy.

Only good thing is that the healthcare workers are being honored today.

At least the tribute to De Gaulle will happen, as well as the showcasing of the army but still. And most soldiers will parade on the Champ-Elysees with their surgical masks on, without a public due to social distancing.

Pretty depressing.

 

[FuckedUp]

Today is the 14th of July, the French national celebration, with military parades in major cities. Which is the greatest and most expensive ad campaign for the French Army ( Also the regular cops, and elite cops, the military schools, the firefighters)

What is usually a State wankfest avout how the branches of the French army are awesome, will this year celebrate how the military helped the fight against the Corona, which is a bit gloomy.

Only good thing is that the healthcare workers are being honored today.

At least the tribute to De Gaulle will happen, as well as the showcasing of the army but still. And most soldiers will parade on the Champ-Elysees with their surgical masks on, without a public due to social distancing.

Pretty depressing.

You guys should do another revolution, preferably without the whole Great Terror bit (and ending up with a fucking overrated ruler who immediatly censored the press when he got power).

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

Spoiler alert: Teachers don't care nearly as much as society tells everyone. Sure, there are plenty who do, but the ones that actually run the show simply do. Not. Give. A. Shit.

Every single teacher friend/acquaintance I know IRL do nothing but bitch and moan about their jobs. They paint themselves as the biggest martyrs possible, and they make sure to let everyone around them know it. They make every conversation about themselves. I'm not shocked in the slightest that teachers are basically telling kids to fend for themselves right now. When the chips are down, they are stunning failures.

If there is a silver lining to all of this, this should tell every single parent across the nation that at the end of the day, it takes PARENTS to raise their kids, not "A Village."

I can't say that for teachers I know, like my friend's mother who has been an elementary school teacher for 20 years (although she told me a lot about how much shit teachers put up with), or some teachers I knew well in high school. But you're definitely right about that.

I've heard a lot of the more idealistic teachers wash out after a year or two, which isn't surprising given the strain of dealing with kids and an education system that just doesn't care and wants you to teach to the test (rather than any real appreciation of the topic or the methodology behind it). The reason I never became a teacher is because I know I couldn't take the stress of dealing with kids for 8 hours and then doing hours more unpaid work on tests, emailing concerned parents, and all that. But that's what actually works. You look at some of the charter schools which achieve huge success, and they are putting those demands on teachers. Education doesn't end when the last bell rings, and it doesn't end when you graduate, it's a lifelong process. And it really does take a society and culture to instill that into kids, and I know for a fact there's a lot of people of every race who embrace a culture that doesn't. Like the white kid who wants to be the "real redneck" and ends up a trailer trash methhead or the black kid who wants to be the "real thug" and ends up a ghetto crackhead.

I really wonder where people who decry charter schools and always point out their scandals stand on this. Like a guy who worked with teacher's unions and other teacher's advocacy groups a political science professor I took in college brought in to discuss state education policy (this was a PoliSci class on state politics, the professor was pretty cool BTW and would force us to research both sides a lot and even argue against our personal beliefs in papers). He gave a lot of good points about teacher salaries and the issues they face and mentioned a fraudulent charter school in a shithole inner city in the state and another issue with corrupt politicians supporting an online textbook scam, each of which cost a bunch of kids a whole semester of their education. I think something like that is horrifying because, yeah, those kids will never get back that time to at least be presented with learning. I'm sure being left-leaning/left-wing people like him are supporting this obstruction of education in the name of "protecting kids and teachers from coronavirus" which is an utter joke if you genuinely hold to the idea kids deserve an education.

 

[F/lying Frankenstein]

You guys should do another revolution, preferably without the whole Great Terror bit (and ending up with a fucking overrated ruler who immediatly censored the press when he got power).

The issue being that a form of the Terror is usually unavoidable during a revolution. And let's not even consider the insane amount of instability that it would bring.
I'm more for a renovation of the existing system, with an emphasis on rebuilding the industry and reaffirming French values. The issue is that no current politicians have the kind of vision required to do that. The last one who could was De Gaulle.

Now, about Napoléon..
The reason why he became who he was in the military was because most of the officiers of the royal army fled the country during the revolution.

His rise to fame, which allowed his subsequent rise to power, only happened because all European monarchies wanted to crush Revolutionary France and failed to do so. ( Napoléon, at that time, was a young general and lead his men into Italy )

The army is much more locked today than it was during the 18th century, so a modern-day Napoléon is unlikely, but not impossible.

About the qualities of Napoléon as a ruler...Yes, he was very authoritarian, established a secret police, jailed his opponents and fucked the press.
He even imagined a system which looked like a democracy but where power belonged to him. And he also was very skilled when it came to propaganda.
He also restored slavery in the colonies.

However, he also established several key French institutions during his reign: High School ( Called Lycée, which gave a very militaristic upbringing at the time ), the Banque de France ( France central bank, which controls the currency ), the Code Napoléon or Code Civil ( A set of laws which was a the bedrock from which French laws developed ).
His myth remained very powerful, even after his abdication and exile. The Bonapartists ( His political supporters ) may have waned after the end of the Second Empire ( Led by his nephew ), but his legacy remains, even today.
Even in current year, he cannot be ignored nor reduced to his racist views or his tyrannical tendencies. ( l'Arc du Triomphe, on the Champ-Elysées, still celebrates his military victories )

Sorry for the sperging, but the man is that complex.

 

[Beetus Knuckles]

You can really tell their dedication to their profession when they refuse to do their job and teach kids. If they were really dedicated to helping kids, they'd suck it up, assume the risk, and teach, because a tiny risk of death or permanent lung damage/whatever outweighs the risk of millions of kids not receiving an education or receiving a subpar education via failed distance learning programs. And this goes double for elementary schools, since those kids benefit the most from receiving that education. At one point I wanted to be a teacher and I know teachers and I'm well aware of how necessary it is for kids to get an education, and the younger they are the more important it is. Kids don't get back those months lost, ever. Unless it's an active fucking warzone with bombs falling overhead or something with an obscene death rate, then there's zero reason to close schools. Kids are more likely to die during an average flu season than they are of this virus.

And many school districts get so much money thrown at them (most of which is absorbed by the school boards and superintendents) they could EASILY afford to let the teachers actually at risk like Mrs. Jackson the hamplanet English teacher or Mr. Johnson the ancient math teacher who's been there for 50 years take a break and keep them paid (plus the benefits they get from the government).

But hey, nobody gives a shit about long-term consequences anymore.

The thing that gets me is that teachers, making $50-60k a year with full benefits and retirement are refusing to work, but then a grocery store cashier making $9.00 an hour is expected to heroically stay on the job so the public can consoom at its leisure. Of course, the risk factors between the jobs are somewhat different, but it shows the disparity. If you have a big enough union backing you, like cops and teachers, you can get anything you want.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Midwest US personally gathered info - teacher friend of mine plans to quit his job if they open schools back up, and he may not be the only one. Granted, he's got weak lungs and catches every sniffle that goes around no matter how careful he is, so he might be a tiny bit dramatic. He and his fellow teachers have been talking and they feel school openings are being pushed due to the economy, not for education purposes. I for one was not surprised.

Tell the school I will do his job, waive the requirement for A college degree and I will do it for 40K a year.

 

[Beetus Knuckles]

What do you guys and gals think about the subject of liability protections for businesses, healthcare providers, and government officials related to COVID-related lawsuits? The US Senate wants to broadly protect against liability while the House wants to allow OSHA to regulate. IDK. I think businesses should take reasonable steps to protect their employees and customers. However, given that about 40% of TV commercials in the US are for ambulance chasers, I can’t imagine the shitshow that’s about to unfold.

 

[Fanatical Pragmatist]

...teachers are basically telling kids to fend for themselves right now.

Considering the major roots of collectivist and authoritarian thought all derive from dependency and relying on others, could this have unintended and might I say, based, consequences in the long run?

 

[eternal dog mongler]

Unless it's an active fucking warzone with bombs falling overhead or something with an obscene death rate, then there's zero reason to close schools. Kids are more likely to die during an average flu season than they are of this virus.

The problem isn't really with the kids. They're fine. The problem is when little Billy gets COVID-19 and gives grandma a hug.

The staff? They can just wear N95s and undergo PPE training. I'm sure they can dig up the money for that somewhere.

 

[ZMOT]

The goalposts just keep moving.

March: "We need lockdowns because we need to 'flatten the curve' in order to prevent overwhelming the hospitals."

April-May: "We can't open up anything until we have more testing. Testing is the key to the lockdowns ending!"


June-now: "Haha we're locking down everything again. Who knows how long it'll last. Getting a paycheck is bad and evil and you want to kill grandma because of it, but rioting and burning cities down in the thousands is A-OK, and doesn't play any factor in any of this."

Fuck all of this.

don't forget the whole "OMG WHERE IS THE TESTING TRUMP DIDN'T BUY ENOUGH TESTS WHEN NO ONE GAVE A FUCK I NEED TO GET TESTED SO I DON'T DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" before march

 

[Return of the Freaker]

don't forget the whole "OMG WHERE IS THE TESTING TRUMP DIDN'T BUY ENOUGH TESTS WHEN NO ONE GAVE A FUCK I NEED TO GET TESTED SO I DON'T DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" before march

Out of all the bullshit from this virus, the "I fucking love science" crowd acting like tests are the same as vaccines was probably the funniest. Same with the people wailing about anti-vaxxer Karens before covid suddenly treating herd immunity as some sort of insane right-wing conspiracy theory.