[Obdigore]

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:03 PM, said:

What’s not to like about squadrons of iconic jets flying in precision formation?

Waste of taxpayer money?

A distraction to attempt to placate people who should be aghast at the federal and local governments coronavirus response?

The fact that we pay these 'heroes' (nurses and grocery store employees and truckers) such little wage to do such an important job, while asking them to keep doing it and some of them to die, so in response we're going to have our pew pew jets go zoom zoom over cities as a "thank you"?

I could go on but I think I've got my point across.

[Aptorian]

I now have a mental image of public servants hanging out the window of an ambulance spraying an uzi at pedestrians.

[Tiste Simeon]

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:20 PM, said:

And do you feel the same way with the police and firefighter drive by’s?

I mean, very different things for obvious reasons.

We do NHS drive past things but it's only part of the shift. Everything else is continuing as normal. Spending thousands to distract the masses is very different to emergency services taking a short part of their shift to do something nice.

This post has been edited by Tiste Simeon: 28 April 2020 - 05:48 PM

[Obdigore]

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:20 PM, said:

And do you feel the same way with the police and firefighter drive by’s?

NWA recorded a pretty good song about my thoughts on the US police. While I respect firefighters a helluva lot more, these pitiful 'displays' are relatively useless.

[amphibian]

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:03 PM, said:

What’s not to like about squadrons of iconic jets flying in precision formation?

A flyover for one F-16 costs $20,000. We're talking two squadrons here in the busiest cities in the nation. What if we just spent that several hundred thousands of dollars on properly fitting masks for the essential workers?

Would be a lot more supportive of them than a one minute flyover.

[Malankazooie]

The jets flying over major cities is more Trump self-aggrandizing bullshit. Lets not forget, his 4th of July parade was to have a full on 'dear leader' pomp with missiles and tanks on show and goose stepping military procession before his overlook on high, all footed by the tax payer. And oh golly, oh gee, is there any coincidence it just so happens to be during an election year? Complete drivel and a waste of money, but the ignorant, racist Trump supporters will eat it up and tell everyone what a great morale boost it is for the country. U-S-A!

[Obdigore]

Hey hold on.

I thought that neg-repping people in the discussion forum was a bannable offense now? Wasn't there a whole kerfuffle about neg-repping in the discussion forums?

[amphibian]

So you're advocating for the cessation of parades, especially ones that involve emergency response people, while this is going on? I'm right on board with that too.

It is also not the responsibility of private companies and people to supply protective equipment to medical staff and other people. It's nice that they do so, but the government on the federal, state, and local levels should be doing so in sufficiency such that private efforts are nice, appreciated, but not necessary. That's not happening here.

In fact, the federal government is seizing PPE, which is forcing hospitals and states to go as far as smuggling the supplies to where they need to go: https://www.salon.co...-jared-kushner/

I've spoken before about how the federal seizures seem mostly so that the supplies are given to people politically connected to Kushner and Pence to sell to the highest bidders - which often turns out to be other states and so far, it's seeming like states that are election battlegrounds are being given better deals than states that are not.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 28 April 2020 - 08:42 PM

[Imperial Historian]

Mod notice of quit it lest we have to start banning people again. You've both been warned about this.

[Macros]

Im still fucking baffled as to how the federal government can sieze stuff and sell it.

like, what?

[Puck]

stone monkey, on 27 April 2020 - 04:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 26 April 2020 - 05:37 PM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 26 April 2020 - 02:23 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 26 April 2020 - 07:40 AM, said:

Briar King, on 26 April 2020 - 12:07 AM, said:

Cell phone tracking is scary to. Just saw a report a few days ago that Louisiana received a failing grade for social distancing by tracking the gps's of our phones.

And that's why people would turn off Location services.

That and the amount of data/battery those services hog.

Turning off location services doesn't disable location tracking. Cell carriers can — and do — track your location via the pings your phone makes to cell towers.

This. They don't track through GPS. The phone service providers also collect and sell that movement data whether there's a pandemic going on or not. Here they generously donated that data when our shut down started to government agencies to enable them to track how many people were complying, but what it actually did was have people finally go "You sell what normally?".

To be fair to the phone companies (I'm sorry, I won't do it again) they quite literally have to track your movements - in order to send you a signal via the nearest tower (or the one with the best reception), they must know where you are. One of the downsides of having a phone/personal computer that you can carry around without trailing wires behind yourself, I'm afraid.

Whether they should be keeping and/or selling this location data is, of course, another issue entirely.

Yeah. I didn't mean to come off as having an issue with that, was just pointing out that it doesn't use GPS to do that and people still seem surprised how easily it is to track them. I'm not even per se against the data being collected (provided it's anonymous) and given/sold to agencies that use it for scientific purposes. That's the price I'm willing to pay for the convenience of a mini computer, though there should definitely be lines that shouldn't be crossed when it comes to data collection.

I actually had that conversation with my mom yesterday, who was horrified at the idea of her movement being tracked, but keeps all settings enabled for convenience. So much about "sticking it to the government".

(To be fair, she's pretty smart when it comes to her phone for someone who's 69 and just got her first smartphone a year ago and has friends who jump at every conspiracy theory without even so much as reading it through. She actually listens when I try to teach her about fake news and other internet funsies. I almost had a heart attack when she informed me the other day that she'd found her way into the Youtube app, but so far she seems to be watching cat videos and interviews with actual doctors, so we're good for now. Sorry for the off-topic, but I'm actually proud of her.)

This post has been edited by Puck: 28 April 2020 - 10:32 PM

[Primateus]

Macros, on 28 April 2020 - 09:25 PM, said:

Im still fucking baffled as to how the federal government can sieze stuff and sell it.

like, what?

Yes, how the hell does that even work? Isn't that sort of like, y'know, fencing stolen goods?

We've got a saying about how the fence is as bad as the thief.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'the notorious traffic jams of Beijing and Shanghai have intensified as many shun the close confines of urban transit.'

https://www.japantim...ave-infections/

'Will COVID-19 Sound The Permanent Death Knell For Public Transit?

[...] To a large extent, those taking public transit will be those without much of a choice. (That's partly true already in many towns, but the factor will be multiplied.) Public transportation has been on its way to a crisis and revolution, and the pandemic lockdown will hasten that and put it into sharp relief.

America will awake to a harsh reality that all transit advocates will still deny — public transit is broken in most of North American and even lots of Europe. It's not pleasant, convenient or quick unless it gets its own dedicated tracks and lanes, and shocking to most, in almost all cities it's not even energy efficient, using more energy per passenger mile than efficient gasoline cars and way more than electric cars, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy.

[...] Coming soon are self-driving vehicles.

[...] As noted, the idea that U.S. public transit is energy efficient is simply false, with a few exceptions in places like New York. To the shock of many, the average transit bus burns more fuel per passenger-mile than the average car. Some electric trains burn less fuel than gasoline cars, but more than electric cars.

[...] The private taxis, particularly the robotaxis, have an expensive but possible option: They can be cleaned very frequently, even after each rider. In particular, they can be designed to make that cleaning easy, quick and cheaper. Interiors can be replaced with easy to clean, virus destroying surfaces (as will also happen in public transit if it has the budget for it) and passengers can wipe down seats on their own if they have to, with a supply of wipes. This is much harder on a bus or train, which can't wait for you to clean it, and may only offer you a pole or loop to grasp rather than a seat. Capacity of transit vehicles is greatly reduced if people can't pack tightly together — and they don't want to pack tightly together.'

https://www.forbes.c...d8#39c063f03bfa

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 29 April 2020 - 06:13 AM

[Macros]

I'd be surprised if a bus carrying 40 people burns much more diesel than 2 SUVs carrying 3/4

So that's utters bullshit.

But yah, I see this as a big knock for public transport

I see you lurking cougar, don't think I don't

[Tiste Simeon]

This is for BK...

[Puck]

Macros, on 29 April 2020 - 12:08 PM, said:

I'd be surprised if a bus carrying 40 people burns much more diesel than 2 SUVs carrying 3/4

So that's utters bullshit.

But yah, I see this as a big knock for public transport

I see you lurking cougar, don't think I don't

You know, since he's talking about the US... I wouldn't be surprised by ANY statement about ANYTHING over there being not efficient, ESPECIALLY if it's got the word "public" in its name.

[Malankazooie]

The evening local news has been good for some positive emotions. The local leader in weather accuracy is needing a hair cut, posthaste. It's been fascinating to watch his coiffured journey over the last month and half.

[Kanese S's]

Obdigore, on 28 April 2020 - 05:13 PM, said:

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:03 PM, said:

What's not to like about squadrons of iconic jets flying in precision formation?

Waste of taxpayer money?

A distraction to attempt to placate people who should be aghast at the federal and local governments coronavirus response?

The fact that we pay these 'heroes' (nurses and grocery store employees and truckers) such little wage to do such an important job, while asking them to keep doing it and some of them to die, so in response we're going to have our pew pew jets go zoom zoom over cities as a "thank you"?

I could go on but I think I've got my point across.

Exactly. There's a PPE shortage in a lot of places, lack of emergency equipment, essential workers in most places still aren't getting hazard pay (in addition to the fact that a lot of them could use a fucking raise in general), shitloads of people are laid off, and the federal government chooses to spend money on... jet fighter flybys, apparently.

Tiste Simeon, on 28 April 2020 - 05:47 PM, said:

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:20 PM, said:

And do you feel the same way with the police and firefighter drive by's?

I mean, very different things for obvious reasons.

We do NHS drive past things but it's only part of the shift. Everything else is continuing as normal. Spending thousands to distract the masses is very different to emergency services taking a short part of their shift to do something nice.

Totally agree. A squad car or firetruck swinging by the hospital during their shift that they're doing anyway is a huge fucking difference from flying military aircraft around for no real reason. And "thousands" is an understatement. It's incredibly expensive to fly those aircraft.

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 06:05 PM, said:

Lol I could ev posted this part in the happy thread but I just saw a serious shit paper Charmin commercial with the family of blue bears watching tv while a voice over says they are working the clock to ensure we will continue to get the shit paper. It was amusing and lacked the impact of any other corona emergency commercial I've yet seen. Fail

27,286 cases 1,758 deaths 17,303 recoveries.

Stay at home officially extended to 5/15 with hopes to meet for Phase 1 criteria by 5/11.

Honestly I fucking hate commercials that even reference Covid-19. Stop trying to monetize this. I was relieved last night to see a normal, generic pickup truck commercial with a guy driving on a dirt road to do some work or whatever, because I've been so annoyed with companies making their commercials be about the pandemic.

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 08:29 PM, said:

amphibian, on 28 April 2020 - 07:35 PM, said:

Briar King, on 28 April 2020 - 05:03 PM, said:

What's not to like about squadrons of iconic jets flying in precision formation?

A flyover for one F-16 costs $20,000. We're talking two squadrons here in the busiest cities in the nation. What if we just spent that several hundred thousands of dollars on properly fitting masks for the essential workers?

Would be a lot more supportive of them than a one minute flyover.

And the same could be said for police or firefighter parades going by on a daily basis nation wide. I don't see the ra ra s going on for that. And plenty of people and business are donating to corona relief.

Calling police/firefighter vehicles making a quick detour to go past the hospital a "parade" is a bit hyperbolic, no?
That's quite a bit different (seeing as how police are on patrol anyway... and seriously, I'm normally the last person to defend police, and firefighters are on alert anyway) than scrambling enormously expensive fighter jets with obscene fuel costs.

Macros, on 28 April 2020 - 09:25 PM, said:

Im still fucking baffled as to how the federal government can sieze stuff and sell it.

like, what?

Something something freedom something America something something the free market.

Primateus, on 28 April 2020 - 10:38 PM, said:

Macros, on 28 April 2020 - 09:25 PM, said:

Im still fucking baffled as to how the federal government can sieze stuff and sell it.

like, what?

Yes, how the hell does that even work? Isn't that sort of like, y'know, fencing stolen goods?

We've got a saying about how the fence is as bad as the thief.

What's the saying? Honestly don't think I've heard it.

Malankazooie, on 29 April 2020 - 03:34 PM, said:

The evening local news has been good for some positive emotions. The local leader in weather accuracy is needing a hair cut, posthaste. It's been fascinating to watch his coiffured journey over the last month and half.

Haircuts are easy to do at home if you just buzz your hair super short.

This post has been edited by Kanese S's: 29 April 2020 - 05:17 PM

[amphibian]

Another part of the dumbassery of Blue Angel/Thunderbird flybys:

"Other people noted the size of the crowds that had gathered earlier in the day across the region to watch a military flyover by pilots from the Navy’s Blue Angels and the Air Force’s Thunderbirds honoring essential workers." - https://www.nytimes....-de-blasio.html

Crowds gathering at a time like this is wrong and shouldn't be encouraged passively or actively.

[Malankazooie]

amphibian, on 29 April 2020 - 05:28 PM, said:

Another part of the dumbassery of Blue Angel/Thunderbird flybys:

"Other people noted the size of the crowds that had gathered earlier in the day across the region to watch a military flyover by pilots from the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds honoring essential workers." - https://www.nytimes....-de-blasio.html

Crowds gathering at a time like this is wrong and shouldn't be encouraged passively or actively.

Thing is they knew this would be the case. Trump got this idea (flying fighter jets over the country) when VP Pence attended the graduation for the the Air Force Academy on April 18, which had strict protocols in place to keep the graduates apart. And there was no family in attendance (the graduation was live streamed for family and friends). Pence gave the commencement speech. At the end of the ceremony the Thunderbirds flew over, which is a tradition. Well soon after, there were news reports of people gather at popular viewing spots to view the jets - on balconies and at park gazebos and similar viewing spots. This was not a local story and was reported widely. So they knew flying jets over major cities would encourage people to break social distancing guidelines.