When it really happens: SHTF...

[ssgross]

walks on my side of the street and I see he or she wears a mouth protection,

Yes. Respectful of others I am. I move to the other side of the street, or aside a safe distance and let them pass with a smile and greeting.
I'm noticing the reporting on the "spikes" citing only positive tests...no one is talking about hospitalization rates - go figure because they certainly are not increasing.
On a more positive note...I caught two mostly ignored gunbroker auctions last night - a mas 36 and enfield No 4 mk 2. I'm excited! hopefully they ship fast. My dog likes to buy such gifts for me. She puts them under the tree with a pretty bow and a tag "To dad...love Dog".

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I'm feeling very dispirited for the first time.

Don't. I had it and recovered with no medical treatment. A couple of weeks of misery and still a bit fatigued.
Not a pleasant experience even with no known co-morbidities. I would rather die free than survive as a slave. Exigent circumstances is no excuse to disregard the constitution.
Don't let them get you down.

[browningautorifle]

"To dad...love Dog"

I shoulda tried that...

I had it and recovered with no medical treatment.

Glad you're OK.

[Atticus Thraxx]

Reading through all these posts I’m struck by something and I’m struggling to find a way to express it while remaining respectful to all view points. But I fear the nuns at Our Lady of Grace lacked the skills to instruct me to properly do so. And it wasn’t from lack of trying. But I’ll give it a shot and if I stamp on your toes, well you were warned.
Grow up. Simply put, if you’re being real vocal about your freedom without first off and most off being equally vocal about your responsibilities you have entirely missed the point and need to go re-train. America isn’t about what you get. It’s about what you give. It’s about what are you willing to do to have a safe, healthy community. We have cemeteries all over the planet filled with good men and women who believed that. Believed it enough to die for it. So if that means a little discomfort, well I can’t speak for your forefathers, but mine would not stop slapping me if they caught me going on like I’m reading here. All of you should know, better than most, history favors the wise over the proud, the prepared over the clueless, and the lucky over the...well unlucky. So be wise, be prepared and be ready to exploit good luck. And keep anyone who’s in your ear with words of division in the same company as liars, cheaters and thieves and you’ll be just fine even if everything ain’t. Values matter, now more than ever. Cheers. 😎🇺🇸

[oldpaul]

Hospitalization rates are not increasing? Since November 14th to today, December 14, the reported U.S. hospitalization rate has gone from 505,715 to 618,576. That is an increase a 112,861 person increase in the last month. I don't know the specific numbers from Virginia but the charts show about the same average increase as most other states. I am a retired RT and my wife is still employed as an ICU specific RT. Most of our friends are Nurses, Respiratory Therapists and Physicians and everyone is overworked, stressed and just about at the end of their frayed ropes. Anyone who thinks this virus is a political hoax or no worse than the common flu needs get their head out of whatever dark place it is in and start listening to the scientists, virologists and quit hearing people with a personal agenda or a 'gut' feeling. Deaths for December 11th were 3300 but has gone down to 1311 today. Break out the Prosecco glasses!

[mrclark303]

I shoulda tried that...



Glad you're OK.

Excellent idea, do you guys think I've got enough time to buy a dog and train it to retrieve 'the right' type of rifle in the time left before Santa arrives?

[mrclark303]

Here in the UK national lockdowns have given way to regional measures.

Rates are increasing, UK deaths are over 60,000.

Still, 'so' many people here are taking the p*ss and not protecting the vulnerable.

Certain areas of the country have been worse than others for this ...

[Aragorn243]

The wars between the dying businesses and the Governor are heating up. He has his agricultural department cracking down on the restaurants that refuse to close. Threatening them with fines, etc. The only real power he has is to take away their liquor licenses but even that isn't as easy as He'd like them to think. And plenty of the restaurants don't sell liquor. Meanwhile, in California, they actually admitted they have zero evidence indoor dining is increasing the rate of spread. They simply want to keep people home.

Last night on the evening news, the vaccine was explained. It does not stop you from getting covid 19, it does not stop you from spreading covid 19. So what's the point. What it can do is reduce the severity of the virus symptoms. Considering the majority of people have almost no symptoms or no symptoms this seems like it's only beneficial to those at high risk. Apparently, I fall into that as our state is rationing it to those over 55. I'm not all that inclined to get it.

[Aragorn243]

Have to second the hospitalization rates. They are going up significantly. I don't think they are near as bad as the media or the politicians are portraying them to be but they are going up. This was the excuse to close the businesses in the state once again. 1 in 5 hospitals is at 75% capacity in the ICU. Now this isn't all Covid which they don't tell you and these 1 in 5 are in more densely populated areas.

And once again, a lot of hospitals are forced to lay people off again. They claim they are overworked yet they are laying off nurses, doctors and support staff that don't work in the Covid field. Pretty sure they are all cross trained that they could work with Covid patients to give the primary care workers a break but that's what's going on.

Something really weird with my "insurance". I don't have real insurance, I have Medi-share which is a sharing program. I pay a "premium" every month and this goes towards paying other's medical expenses. It goes into an account and they send me a statement every month. I also get notices saying this much went to so and so for this. Yesterday I got my statement and it currently holds almost three month's worth of "premiums". This is really odd as my balance has been near zero or just at my premium depending when they sent it out. So they aren't paying my funds out. Obvious interpretation of this is there has been no one in need of my funds for the last two months. Could be supportive of the notion that people are not going to see their doctors for non-covid issues which in turn increases their risk to other problems.

Some other anecdotal "evidence", a friend of mine is friends with several grave diggers in the state capital region. One is contracted with 16 cemeteries, he's buried 4 people who died of Covid since March. A second one said he's handled less than 10 since March and accidental deaths are way down because people aren't out doing stupid stuff like driving, etc.

[ssgross]

Hospitalization rates are not increasing? Since November 14th to today, December 14, the reported U.S. hospitalization rate has gone from 505,715 to 618,576

check (or compute for yourself if they aren't reported) the relative numbers against reported positive cases. This was the point I was making.
https://dataschool.com/misrepresenti...solute-change/
Ok. I'll take the bait just this once.

It’s about what you give. It’s about what are you willing to do to have a safe, healthy community

So if that means a little discomfort

Kind of sounds like something Lenin said just before he confiscated all the farms and took over all food supply. "Hunger is just the mildest of discomforts, and well worth the safe, healthy community we are creating."

history favors the wise over the proud

Certainly. This is why the constitutional convention happened in the first place. The goal of the revolution was so that we could be left alone in our liberty, and one reason the convention was called was because it was becoming clear that no other foreign power would ever simply leave us alone. Seems like powers within don't want to leave us alone in our liberty either. "Eat here but not there, shop here but not there...and whatever you do, don't go to church". The irony in this is so obvious, I fear some people, and governors, are intentionally blind to it. Read what Madison says about power and corruption, and their fears of despotic government. They were wrong in assuming the legislative branch was the most dangerous - they never imagined the bureaucracy we have now.

in your ear with words of division in the same company as liars, cheaters and thieves

You mean the liars and cheaters locking the country up and then going out for a party with all their friends? Encouraging people to pack together in the streets to riot, but arresting people for going to church? The only people seriously talking about division are the ones forcibly inserting themselves between, nay dividing, us and our constitutional liberty - given by God and supposedly guaranteed by government. Yes. People offered their lives for this...and they still do, and certainly will.