Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19
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@FarmerJayhawk
I’m staying home until my post op dental appointment. Will be staying home as much as possible after that. Thankfully I have enough spare cash to ride this thing out.
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Just saw where France is closing all restaurants, movie theaters, cafes, and clubs.
Unfortunately for me I can not work from home and I am sure there are many more millions like that cant. I guess the best thing is for those that can do and for large gatherings to not exist for now. However, I saw a picture online of Bourbon a street that was thousands of people out and about after they cancelled schools there so who knows how well this social distancing will work.
I’ll admit I’ve been out and about all day yesterday and today.
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I’m blown away that we are not mandating a social distancing policy. I hope the labs start testing soon.
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
I’m blown away that we are not mandating a social distancing policy. I hope the labs start testing soon.
true getting tested but like they said really all gonna do is confirm - -with increased testing we all know the confirmed cases gonna spike. - -Kansas has it’s 8th confirmed virus – Franklin County - -Another in Johnson county that is associated with Johnson County Community College
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
I’m blown away that we are not mandating a social distancing policy. I hope the labs start testing soon.
I think it’s already happened. Schools are shutting down, all sporting events are cancelled, and many places of business are shutting down.
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@DoubleDD this is where having a president as a thoughtful leader matters.
My neighbors, good people all, are still standing in the cul de sac as we speak talking to one another at close distance while their kids play together. If we had a president whom they respected mandating that they not do this, they would not be doing it.
He’s both stupid and malicious and it’s some combination of ignorance and narcissism that had led him to avoid mandating social distancing. The path we are on will not lead to flattening the curve, as Director of Institute of Infectious Disease, Dr Fauci would like to do. This thing will still “flow through the country like a wave” as Trump said but the casualties and strain on the health system will be bad. And if he realizes this, then he is ok with many more deaths than are necessary when the health system is overwhelmed. Maybe he thinks the strain on the economy will be less? He had a “natural talent” for being a heartless moron and many will likely needlessly die because of him.
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@DoubleDD this is where having a president as a thoughtful leader matters.
My neighbors, good people all, are still standing in the cul de sac as we speak talking to one another at close distance while their kids play together. If we had a president whom they respected mandating that they not do this, they would not be doing it.
He’s both stupid and malicious and it’s some combination of ignorance and narcissism that had led him to avoid mandating social distancing. The path we are on will not lead to flattening the curve, as Director of Institute of Infectious Disease, Dr Fauci would like to do. This thing will still “flow through the country like a wave” as Trump said but the casualties and strain on the health system will be bad. And if he realizes this, then he is ok with many more deaths than are necessary when the health system is overwhelmed. Maybe he thinks the strain on the economy will be less? He had a “natural talent” for being a heartless moron and many will likely needlessly die because of him.
I’m sorry that is your opinion. All I have heard from the Dem party is we do what the scientist say we should do. It Appears that trump has done what his team of professionals that dealt with the aids outbreak have suggested. What else can he do? He didn’t create this virus. So why the hate? What you think a government official will do better because they have a D beside their name? They have brought nothing to the table. In fact Pelosi tried to sneak in funding for plant parenthood on the financial help for coronavirus victims.
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An organization that kills more black babies than any other color.
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This isn’t about ds or rs it’s about human lives.
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You are not alone. Key points that many Americans will have to get better at:
- discerning the difference between facts, opinions, and deception.
- understanding a person’s or organization’s motivations.
- understanding the difference between winning and being good.
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Trump’s bravado in the face of the crisis has been irresponsible… and his administration’s decision to cut funding to the CDC and dismiss the pandemic response team 2 years ago — well, let’s just say it hasn’t aged well (he eschews responsibility and denies culpability – Shocking).
That said, people have to make their own decisions. If they are gathering in the street, that’s their decision. Trump didn’t make them do that.
It should surprise NO ONE after 3 years that the president isn’t providing adequate leadership and does not have our best interests in mind.
So we need to rely more on ourselves for common sense and diligent research. Know what is and isn’t a good source of health information (CDC: yes, WHO: yes, WH: no). It’s disappointing, but we all have to adapt.
Ultimately, the great arbiter is natural selection. Darwin will sort the stupidly cavalier from those fit to survive (with lots of collateral damage to those in the at-risk populations). It’s pretty indiscriminate between republican and democrat.
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The last few years have basically made me tune out almost all media. I don’t read “mainstream” outlets for the most part, don’t watch cable news exception on election days (and even then, count results on my own), and have sort of bunkered down into my own group of folks. I have a very well-curated Twitter feed without a lot of nonsense, mostly academics and other smart people who really understand the issues, not journos that don’t know their multiplication tables, yet decide to become economists and epidemiologists all the sudden. I just want facts and some context, not filters from press folks with an agenda, whether right or left. I know my personal ideology backward and forward and of course judge particular issues through that lens but always start with the facts then evaluate from there. I’m lucky because I’ve worked for and studied with some absolutely stupid smart people so maybe I’m better at sniffing out crap than most, but even having some basic skills about critiquing news and reading with some well-informed skepticism is a really good skill.
My critiques of the President have nothing to do with his party, though I worked my arse off to beat him in 15 and 16. I sometimes fantasize about having Jeb! run this show instead of Trump since he developed such a great reputation for being an effective governor in a purple state. Would I like to see him lose in 2020? Sure. Do I love Biden? No. We probably disagree on 90% of issues. But I think he’s a competent manager and someone with good character.
tl;dr: get the facts, not the filter. Understand the facts. Make decisions accordingly.
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wow. same wavelength. @BShark @approxinfinity @FarmerJayhawk
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@FarmerJayhawk love the competent manager and good character! I feel like he’ll surround himself w/those people of the same qualities! Plus qualified and experienced! Won’t be firing and hiring every month. Earn back respect we lost w/the rest of the world too!
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@FarmerJayhawk interested in some good follows. Twitter can be rough sometimes, had to unfollow a KU guy that was just non-stop conspiracy tweeting since the corona stuff ramped up.
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@BShark said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@FarmerJayhawk interested in some good follows. Twitter can be rough sometimes, had to unfollow a KU guy that was just non-stop conspiracy tweeting since the corona stuff ramped up.
Off the top of my head: Tyler Cowen, Sue Dynarski, Megan McArdle, Tom Nichols, Wojtek Kopczuck, Chris Arnade, Noah Smith, Luke Thompson, Scott Cunningham, Bad Econ Takes. It skews heavily toward economists (sorry, job hazard) but you’ll get everyone from very liberal to Never Trump Conservative to price gouging is good libertarian.
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@bskeet Natural selection won’t work on this one because the people at greatest risk are post-reproductive. This outbreak won’t change gene frequencies. Stupid behavior, the people who transmit the virus, won’t be selected against.
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@bskeet @tundrahok good point. but if you believe ideas are alive, we may see a natural selection of ideas here.
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@approxinfinity And yet bad ideas can become more common also. Good/bad, of course, is a value judgement. I’m really not sure what currency is used to evaluate the genetic fitness of ideas.
Richard Dawkins introduced the idea of memes in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, to illustrate how ideas can spread similar to genetic variants - way before the term was appropriated by the internet. Internet memes might be a great illustration of how we can’t rely on natural selection to solve our problems! I was never a big fan of grumpy cat. But I remember being fascinated by the idea of memes back in my grad school days, and am a bit chagrined that my own grad students in evolutionary ecology have no idea what the source of that term is.
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I agree with every word https://americanmind.org/features/the-coronacrisis-and-our-future-discontents/how-covid-radicalized-me/
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@FarmerJayhawk good article
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@tundrahok said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@bskeet Natural selection won’t work on this one because the people at greatest risk are post-reproductive. This outbreak won’t change gene frequencies. Stupid behavior, the people who transmit the virus, won’t be selected against.
Yeah, that was tounge-in-cheek – Anytime I see someone take a stupid risk, I shake my head and say “Darwin”. It’s a sort of inside joke that doesn’t translate well here… Sorry.
COVID-19 has claimed lives at all ages and even people who were considered healthy, but at a much lower rate.
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Looks like someone hacked the best statistics site:
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@bskeet @tundrahok good point. but if you believe ideas are alive, we may see a natural selection of ideas here.
Feeling a bit Anrwy. Like eliminating all those people that voted for Biden for president? Because we all know he’s not actually going to be the president. The guy doesn’t know who he is taking too, or where he is half the time. Hey this is let’s blame trump for everything website. Can you imagine Biden if elected telling a world leader to step outside? Lol you guys are unbelievable.
We will go from Obama trying to kiss every world leaders arse to his Vice President Biden trying to challenge them to a fight. Well done guys. Yep let’s bring on the natural selection.
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@DoubleDD did you watch the Democratic Debate last night? If you did not, it calmed all my fears about Biden’s mental state. He was very strong.
As for your other accusations about people blaming Trump unfairly, please give it two weeks and then reassess how you should feel about Trump. Then rinse repeat, reevaluate 2 weeks after that, and so on.
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@DoubleDD Also, nobody said anything about eliminating Biden voters and I’m trying to understand what you meant by that. If you’re suggesting that you’re feeling awnry and want to eliminate Biden voters, let me be
clear. If you threaten other members of the board you will be banned. There is no place for that here.If you are considering violence as a viable solution because other people don’t love Trump as much as you then you should seek professional help.
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Hey @approxinfinity you have been so fair to trump voters. Not. No hard feelings. Do what you must. I’m watching the Dem debates right now. I’ll let you know if I’m still around. Had to work through them
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Oh and what did Everybody mean by natural selection? Ummm
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I will say Biden so far doing good for himself
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Sanders not doing well with his socialist speech, but I’m bias
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Oh one more thing @approxinfinity the violence seems to be coming from the left, not the right. I mean a person can’t even wear a maga hat these days. Good news though Biden doing better than I thought.
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But will it last
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You know here today gone tomorrow
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This post is deleted!
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This should make all you happy?
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@DoubleDD actually, I thought Bernie got clobbered in this debate and that remark didn’t answer the question, which is what he would do.
That said, I agree that the Presidents response has been amateur hour narcissism and he needs to shut up and stop getting in the way of competent health professionals like Dr Fauci.
I’m glad you watched the debate. I think it’s important for Trump supporters to see with their own eyes what the other guy looks like, and not rely on someone else’s description of him.
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@DoubleDD said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
This should make all you happy?
It’s an upgrade over the guy that decided not to enhance our testing capability a month ago because low numbers are good politics. https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-high-infection-rate-dent-reelection-report-2020-3
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@FarmerJayhawk don’t worry. He said it’s under terrific control. That must mean it is, right?
Edit: tremendous control. Got my Trumpisms mixed up. (See how when I mess up I acknowledge the mistake and try to correct it?)
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Here is an idea , can we please stop with trying the political blame game ? - -can we be mature enough for that. - this is not a time to blame - -this is a time when w need to Unite as a Nation not play the Dem & Rep he did it - - she did it - - he didn’t do it – she didn’t do it, Bottom line is - - IT"S here we need to deal with this as one, it’s the type of blame game that is going to turn what’s been said about our Country come to real time if we don’t stop
Been said that the demise of our Country , our country will be taken over WITHOUT A SINGLE SHOT BEING FIRED - get’s kind of old. - -At this point there is NOT ONE person that is good for the Presidency - -they all are idiots, radicals just you take the lesser of the evils. If you think Sanders could do better - then dam I feel sorry for you - - Biden ? - - Psssssst please/ Yet this is not the time to argue over that. you best cinch up your britches -let’s worry about winning this battle before we tackle the war.
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@jayballer73 you just stated your opinion about candidates while telling others not to state theirs. Lol.
This is the thread to discern fact from opinion, and it was my expectation that it would be the more political of the threads, given that the president has been deceptive about the truth from the outset. This guy is a train wreck who has spread misinformation and it’s important to recognize that for everyone’s safety.
We absolutely need elected officials who have a concern for the common man so that this doesn’t happen again.
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The impetus towards bipartisan action has to come with a swell towards the center. Consider Biden an olive branch from the Democrats. A centrist. Now it’s time for the rational Republicans to unite behind Biden and restore unity to the land.
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@jayballer73 you just stated your opinion about candidates while telling others not to state theirs. Lol.
This is the thread to discern fact from opinion, and it was my expectation that it would be the more political of the threads, given that the president has been deceptive about the truth from the outset. This guy is a train wreck who has spread misinformation and it’s important to recognize that for everyone’s safety.
We absolutely need elected officials who have a concern for the common man so that this doesn’t happen again.
we all know that there are people hee trying to place blame on Trump I’m not for Trump- BUT I’mnot for Sanders or Biden either. yet I’m not going to sit here and place blame on anyone at this time and as you say ( LOL ) I’m glad you can see humor in this situation - time to laugh giggle when out Nation at risk - -this is not a place to be talking politics - -let’s talk about the problem - - CORONA VIRUS -that’s the problem. - -I’m not going to get into a long drawn out back and forth banner on this shit just seemspretty petty to be trying to place blame on an individual right now - Hell there is plenty of blame that can be paced all over the place concerning the Govt. - but thanks anyways - come on let’s focus on the REAL PROBLEM - -the president is not the real problem we are dealing with here
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@jayballer73 what about seeing Coronavirus as a force of nature? SARS and MERS were strains of coronavirus and they were contained. Are sharks a problem? Are glaciers that melt the problem? Or is it the humans that cause it? I think it’s important to not let someone blow shit up and then walk away like he did nothing wrong.
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I do get where you are coming from and we can refrain from being political on some thread. I just don’t think it’s appropriate to say we shouldn’t talk about Trump’s botch at all.
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
@jayballer73 you just stated your opinion about candidates while telling others not to state theirs. Lol.
This is the thread to discern fact from opinion, and it was my expectation that it would be the more political of the threads, given that the president has been deceptive about the truth from the outset. This guy is a train wreck who has spread misinformation and it’s important to recognize that for everyone’s safety.
We absolutely need elected officials who have a concern for the common man so that this doesn’t happen again.
HOLY SHIT MAN – truth ? - - - truth ? - -you want the truth ? - -the truth is this govt ha been so corrupt and full of lies for so dam long and you want to thump your chest about how this president has been dishonest and not told the truth ? - -NOW THAT’S FUNNY holy crap man where have you been the last 30 years or so? Come on man give me a fricken break that’s just sad You one of the people that’s not willing to give Credit for what this train wreck has done for this country? - -bet you are - that’s just disappointing don’t try and say there is a canidate that in this upcoming election that is more honest - -even you have to laugh at that - -This country was in sorry shape LONG BEFORE Trump was elected -LONG BEFORE he sure the hell isn’t the one who put this country in the shape it is in now. - It’s going to take years to get us out of this mess , and Sanders SURE THE HELL is not the one that is going to pull us out - believe that
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@approxinfinity said in Differentiating fact from opinion on COVID-19:
I do get where you are coming from and we can refrain from being political on some thread. I just don’t think it’s appropriate to say we shouldn’t talk about Trump’s botch at all.
OK done now lets agree to disagree
