COVID-19 ... how we cope :)

[Pargat Perrer]

I guess Tom may respond for himself, but from knowing him as a good human being, I believe he's saying one can do what one wants without infringing on others' rights to do what they want.

Ok, I wasn't calling Tom's character into question, I hope you didn't think I was.

But Aris, just HOW does your idea work? If I'm about to do something that I want to do, how do I decide whether its going to infringe on other's rights to do what THEY want to do? And who is going to stop me from just doing what I want to do anyway?

Keep in mind that ANY limitation on what anyone can do is …. government.

I believe you are, as Americans like to say, "pissing in the wind". Meanwhile, my question to Tom remains: where does (personal freedom and liberty) end? given that totally unrestricted personal freedom and liberty leads to annihilation of humanity as I described, because it is guaranteed there is going to be someone who wants to kill all others.

And of course, the reason I ask is because even though Canada has many immigrants who would say that what Canada has now is like heaven compared to where they came from, it isn't nearly enough for Tom O'Donnell and others like him. So.... where does it end?

This approach reminds of Libertarianism, which is essentially built on what we learn in the schoolyard:

1) you don't hit others
2) you don't take from others
3) you keep your promises to others

[from my personal viewpoint, I've added]:
4) you don't litter

(1) government, police, lawyers
(2) government, police, lawyers
(3) government, police, lawyers
(4) government, police, lawyers

[Brad Thomson]

They got the virus from a cave hundreds of miles away from a bat or bats.The Wuhan market was always just a deflection to keep people from looking at the lab. The market did not sell the type of bat that the virus came from. The market was reopened once people were looking the other way which seems unlikely if they thought it was really the source of the outbreak.

Do you believe it was accidentally let loose, or deliberately? And if deliberately, by one maniac, or by way of a conspiracy ?

[Brad Thomson]

Here's an image of the Leafs back in the day when the Leafs actually made it to the playoffs...

Here's another one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqTtPDw5rbg

[Alex Starks]

Some realtors no longer using "master" to describe bedrooms and bathrooms

I spoke to my wife about article and my son, who is chess player, asked: Are there any plans to stop using IM, NM, FM, CM, GM, WGM, WFM, etc. chess titles?

[Tom O'Donnell]

I wrote somewhere that there should be no government? Of course civilization requires laws and enforcement mechanisms.

I object to laws that:

1) Protect me from my own (potentially) bad decisions.
2) Violate my natural rights.

I don't have a right to break into your business and loot.
I have a right to walk down the street without wearing a mask.

Seems Communist thugs get these two confused.

My personal view is that any politician who passes a law that they then violate should have to experience a penalty of at least 10x the one a random person would experience. Politicians serve the citizens, not the other way around. A politician implementing a draconian law, particularly one they then feel they can violate, is no less dangerous than a police officer incapable of judicious use of his power.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Do you believe it was accidentally let loose, or deliberately? And if deliberately, by one maniac, or by way of a conspiracy ?

I think it was accidently let loose (a lab worker became infected and even died if news stories are to be believed) but once it was let loose it was deliberately spread to the rest of the world. Travel in China from infected areas was restricted. Travel to the rest of the world was allowed and even encouraged. Travel bans were met with charges of racism and were the main reason that places like New Zealand were largely unaffected.

I believe the lab was flagged as very lax in handling dangerous pathogens by the U.S. intelligence community. That didn't stop them from getting a contract to carry on research from the Obama admin.

[Pargat Perrer]

…………...

I don't have a right to break into your business and loot.
I have a right to walk down the street without wearing a mask.

Seems Communist thugs get these two confused.

………………...

Well, we are getting closer to (hopefully) defining how exactly determine what laws infringe on your personal liberty and freedom, to the point that you would object to.

Even if you yourself don't care to have the personal freedom to loot businesses, some people would. So if we grant you YOUR version of personal freedom, why aren't we granting THEIRS?

The point being, who's version of personal freedom and liberty do we accept and whose do we reject, and what mechanism do we use to determine if certain FUTURE laws are too extreme in violating personal freedom?

See, the whole phrase "personal freedom and liberty" is ambiguous. There's Tom O'Donnell's perosonal freedom and liberty, and there's Donald Trump's version, and there's someone else's version, etc etc etc.

What if someone points to the evidence that not wearing a mask is a form of potential assault with a deadly weapon (the virus) and uses that to decide to shoot you dead? Didn't you in effect loot their business? It's just a different form of violence.

And please.... don't dispute the evidence! Don't be a Trump!

[Brad Thomson]

I think it was accidently let loose (a lab worker became infected and even died if news stories are to be believed) but once it was let loose it was deliberately spread to the rest of the world.

Interesting. I neither agree nor disagree. What might have been China's motivation for not warning the world immediately, and for not taking appropriate actions to mitigate the spread? Why would China want to cause such a world-wide pandemic? What would China believe it stood to gain?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Interesting. I neither agree nor disagree. What might have been China's motivation for not warning the world immediately, and for not taking appropriate actions to mitigate the spread? Why would China want to cause such a world-wide pandemic? What would China believe it stood to gain?

Not sure of the why. Communist regimes have their own logic and it is not always logical from our point of view. Had the pandemic not happened, they would have carried on pretty much as before and they would have dominated the world shortly. Their trajectory has changed. Manufacturers will be more closely regulated. Manufacture of critical supplies will come back to the U.S. Drugs will be manufactured here and not in China.

[Brad Thomson]

Not sure of the why. Communist regimes have their own logic and it is not always logical from our point of view. Had the pandemic not happened, they would have carried on pretty much as before and they would have dominated the world shortly. Their trajectory has changed. Manufacturers will be more closely regulated. Manufacture of critical supplies will come back to the U.S. Drugs will be manufactured here and not in China.

This suggests that whatever their motivation, it will backfire. Is it possible that they were simply embarrassed and did not want to admit to their own people that they could have screwed up do badly?

[Vlad Drkulec]

This suggests that whatever their motivation, it will backfire. Is it possible that they were simply embarrassed and did not want to admit to their own people that they could have screwed up do badly?

It will backfire. They are going to lose big time.

That cover-up to avoid losing face certainly factored into it but the part about putting people who were infected on planes and sending them to Italy and the rest of Europe and the decision to squeal like stuck pigs about the blocked flights to other places makes them look bad and will cost them dearly and made them lose more face. Trump actually stopped the spread directly from China. He didn't stop the secondary spread from places like Italy because it happened very quickly.

[Brad Thomson]

the part about putting people who were infected on planes and sending them to Italy and the rest of Europe and the decision to squeal like stuck pigs about the blocked flights to other places

If the outbreak was initially an honest accident as you suggest, you will have to admit that if what you say is true then they certainly did some curious and strangely diabolical ad-libbing once the cat was out of the bag. If what you say about Italy, Europe and pigs is true, and it may well be, then is it not more likely that this "accident" was a part of the plan in the first place? I do not know the answer to this question. But if it was truly an accident, then only mad evil psychopathic monsters would react as you suggest China did. I would prefer a plan worked out from the inception. Either way this is scary shit, and we are in trouble as a species, for this and for reasons of overpopulation and unchecked exploitation of the limited resources that our planet has to offer.

Trump will at times make the right choices, but he will never do so for the right reasons.

If I were a member you would have my vote. But I am retired.

[Vlad Drkulec]

If the outbreak was initially an honest accident as you suggest, you will have to admit that if what you say is true then they certainly did some curious and strangely diabolical ad-libbing once the cat was out of the bag. If what you say about Italy, Europe and pigs is true, and it may well be, then is it not more likely that this "accident" was a part of the plan in the first place? I do not know the answer to this question. But if it was truly an accident, then only mad evil psychopathic monsters would react as you suggest China did. I would prefer a plan worked out from the inception. Either way this is scary shit, and we are in trouble as a species, for this and for reasons of overpopulation and unchecked exploitation of the limited resources that our planet has to offer.

Trump will at times make the right choices, but he will never do so for the right reasons.

If I were a member you would have my vote. But I am retired.

You would have to be a voting member or what used to be the governors but thank you. I think most of the sensible people will vote that way. If I lose, I lose. Most of the feedback that I have been getting is that I will win though you never know until the election is over. Hopefully whether there is a new administration or a return of the old we will avoid messing up badly. The margin of error for mistakes is greatly reduced thanks to the Covid pandemic.

I would not say that it was an honest accident. It was an entirely predictable screw-up due to incompetence. They were the sorcerer's apprentice caught in a situation out of their depth. The whole point of that lab and going to a cave to find exotic viruses to study was to develop or find a biological weapon which might be developed further into something more dangerous. If they left those bats and their virus and their cave alone, none of this would have happened. When you play with the devil's tools don't be surprised about the unintended consequences.

I am not sure where the pigs came from. That was a different pandemic. There are those who do think that this was part of a plan. They also tie the Deep State, Bill Gates, George Soros and WHO and others into the plot. I don't follow Q anon too closely as I think they are wrong about a lot of things and right about a few things.

Trump is an imperfect vessel which is perfectly formed for this moment in history.

[Hans Jung]

Peru and Mexico over 500,000 cases each.

[Hans Jung]

I like how the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are managing covid. Minimal cases (roughly 2000 each) and no rapid spikes.