What would happen if we ignored COVID? (treated it like a cold)

GamemasterJeff · 2022-10-17T21:35:54+00:00

It is already the fifth (or, depending how you calculate, 6th) worst plague in the history of mankind. It is the second worst "flu-like" plague to ever hit mankind.

If we ignored it and had tens of millions more casualties, it might move up one spot in the rankings.

1918 is the best comparison, and that killed 50-100 million worldwide. With our greater population density and transportation networks, Covid is estimated to have beaten 1918 in terms of megadeaths should vaccine/other measures not be implemented.

PiLamdOd · 2022-10-17T23:08:49+00:00

To quote the ACLU:

Voter ID Laws Deprive Many Americans of the Right to Vote

*Millions of Americans Lack ID. 11% of U.S. citizens – or more than 21 million Americans – do not have government-issued photo identification.1

*Obtaining ID Costs Money. Even if ID is offered for free, voters must incur numerous costs (such as paying for birth certificates) to apply for a government-issued ID.

*Underlying documents required to obtain ID cost money, a significant expense for lower-income Americans. The combined cost of document fees, travel expenses and waiting time are estimated to range from $75 to $175.2

* The travel required is often a major burden on people with disabilities, the elderly, or those in rural areas without access to a car or public transportation. In Texas, some people in rural areas must travel approximately 170 miles to reach the nearest ID office.3

* Voter ID Laws Reduce Voter Turnout. A 2014 GAO study found that strict photo ID laws reduce turnout by 2-3 percentage points,4 which can translate into tens of thousands of votes lost in a single state.5

Voter ID Laws Are Discriminatory

*Minority voters disproportionately lack ID. Nationally, up to 25% of African-American citizens of voting age lack government-issued photo ID, compared to only 8% of whites.6

* States exclude forms of ID in a discriminatory manner. Texas allows concealed weapons permits for voting, but does not accept student ID cards. Until its voter ID law was struck down, North Carolina prohibited public assistance IDs and state employee ID cards, which are disproportionately held by Black voters. And until recently, Wisconsin permitted active duty military ID cards, but prohibited Veterans Affairs ID cards for voting.

* Voter ID laws are enforced in a discriminatory manner. A Caltech/MIT study found that minority voters are more frequently questioned about ID than are white voters.7

* Voter ID laws reduce turnout among minority voters. Several studies, including a 2014 GAO study, have found that photo ID laws have a particularly depressive effect on turnout among racial minorities and other vulnerable groups, worsening the participation gap between voters of color and whites.8

Voter ID Requirements are a Solution in Search of a Problem

*In-person fraud is vanishingly rare. A recent study found that, since 2000, there were only 31 credible allegations of voter impersonation – the only type of fraud that photo IDs could prevent – during a period of time in which over 1 billion ballots were cast.9

* Identified instances of “fraud” are honest mistakes. So-called cases of in-person impersonation voter “fraud” are almost always the product of an elections worker or a voter making an honest mistake, and that even these mistakes are extremely infrequent.10

* Voter ID laws are a waste of taxpayer dollars. States incur sizeable costs when implementing voter ID laws, including the cost of educating the public, training poll workers, and providing IDs to voters.

*Texas spent nearly $2 million on voter education and outreach efforts following passage of its Voter ID law.11

*Indiana spent over $10 million to produce free ID cards between 2007 and 2010.12

https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet

Really the question you should be asking, is why should people present an ID to vote? They already have to prove they are eligible in order to register in the first place. So why should they have to represent all that information again?

MrdrOfCrws · 2022-10-17T05:01:08+00:00

Then you're solid! You've suggested an activity that you know you're both interested in, watching the show. Plus, they don't have access to the show and you do, so it makes sense that you'd offer (this part isn't mandatory for inviting friends over, but it's a bonus when you're feeling things out for a new friend).

Ideally you'd have snacks, perhaps chips, dips, or frozen pizzas (these are great when you're trying to keep things casual because they don't really go bad, so if y'all are feeling hungry you throw one in the oven, but there's no pressure if they've already eaten or something).

Drinks are good, soda usually, maybe juice, or if you drink a light beer perhaps. You don't want to go to heavy, as they presumably have to drive home. But if you don't drink don't offer, it'll be weird if they're the only one drinking and you really got together to watch the show, so that should be the main activity.

It is generally expected that you clean your place up a little when you have company. This is a casual invite, so make sure the bathroom is presentable, maybe do the dishes, but don't stress about washing the baseboards, or anything.

If you have animals, warn the person. They might be allergic, or have a phobia. I'll admit, this is not necessarily always, or even usually done, but since you've posted this question, I assume you want things to go as well as possible so I want to offer advice on a variety of situations.

I'll end by saying I appreciate your wanting things to go perfectly, but as far as social events go, this is very low stakes. Expectations won't be high (even if you don't like the show! It'll give you something to talk about) so try not to stress too much.

Good luck!

The_Quackening · 2022-10-17T18:10:34+00:00

What are some legitimate arguments against having to present a valid government issued ID

voter taxes are illegal and unconstitutional. Voting is a GUARENTEED right given to all americans.

Unless there is a free, easy to obtain national government ID that is valid across the country, it is unfair to ask for voter ID.

AltLawyer · 2022-10-17T02:53:58+00:00

Because fixed vs variable costs

TheSnackWhisperer · 2022-10-16T14:57:40+00:00

I gave chiropractors little thought, and just lumped them in with the rest of the snake oil if the topic ever came up. However, I hurt by lower back about 15 years ago. I could barely move my left leg. After 4 doctors, 2 were specialist, and two MRIs, the best diagnosis I got was a bulging disk, pressing on a nerve. So physical therapy began. Two years of back and forth with doctors and PT, never really got better.

The last physical therapist, was bending me around, and she seemed confused, and asked what my diagnosis was. I explained and she she didn't think it fit with what she was seeing. Asked if I'd tried a chiropractor. I asked if she was serious. But after 2 years of pain, I figured why not.

I found my own, she wasn't pushing a friend or anything. The cracker-pracker did a full body x-ray, said something about narrow nerve path spaces or something yad-yad. Anyway he spent 20 minutes flexing me around, and then POP. Instant relief.

Of course It wasn't fixed right then. It ended up costing me less than $800 (less then one round of PT with the insurance I had at the time), and about 8 weeks, and I was "fixed". No problems or pain since.

Do I think they can solve your allergies, or diabetes? Hell no. Do I think they are a good tool for specific "structurally issues" with my experience, I can't argue against it. But if you walk in and they're playing whale song and burning aroma therapy stuff, find a different chiropractor.

edit: wall of text

edit 2: wow, thanks for the awards. As a few have pointed out, yes this is indeed anecdotal, it's my own experience. I'm not a medical researcher. Just some dude telling his story on Reddit (the home of anecdotes). That said, had an actual physical therapist not recommended it, I probably would not have considered it.

Did it help me? Yes. Would it help everyone? Who knows. I'm not endorsing it, just telling my story. If the same pain came back would I try one again? I don't know. It certainly cost me less. Although I have better insurance now. But like everything in life, YMMV.

I should hope it would go without saying, if you were in some kind of traumatic accident, don't go going to get bent and twisted until a medical doctor confirms nothing is broken, fractured, torn, prolapsed, or whatever else.

blunun · 2022-10-16T02:32:23+00:00

This is a decent discussion of some of the issues many folks have with chiropractors. It will ultimately come down to the individual practitioner. Many of them attempt to use pseudoscience to explain a wide variety of ailments. Another group will focus strictly on mechanical problems and do their best to treat you with the tools they have available to them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic_controversy_and_criticism

alanthar · 2022-10-16T16:02:26+00:00

I have what looks like a malformed vertebrae so if I twist the wrong way my disc slips. I've done physio and I've done chiro and both have the same result. Physio just takes 2-3 weeks and chiro takes about a day for my back to get back to normal.

I know Reddit hates chiro but my quality of life would be shit without it.

evohans · 2017-08-09T15:09:08+00:00

try this

Realistic_Caramel · 2022-10-16T15:07:26+00:00

Funny how some of the comments will talk about sexism / misogyny / being possessive, but wouldn't consider for one second that the opposite is just as true :

Mothers are overprotective of their sons too, because they're always afraid to see them badly influenced by other boys, become violent, end up in jail or ending up with the " wrong girl ".

I know more mothers that get hysterical when with their daughter-in-law than fathers with their son-in-law, which in my experience shows that mothers are way more overprotective than fathers, but some of you probably have the opposite experience, not everyone is a cliché parent.

Most parents are afraid for their children, get over it and stop blaming men for everything.

Mr_Night78 · 2022-10-16T07:09:56+00:00

That works. And I just did it, thanks dude.

SometimesIArt · 2022-10-15T22:42:59+00:00

Trainer here, I've dealt with a few of these. Two scenarios seem to cause it. First, a lot of horses who are deprived of oxygen, usually during birth, can get these tendencies for creepy stalking and dangerous attacking of anything that moves. It could be lifelong and start right away or it could develop as they age. The other scenario is orphan foals/bottle babies who weren't properly socialized when they were growing up. Both instances seem to be because they lack the social awareness to back off and become obsessed with protecting their space and pushing everything around/being in charge. Everything becomes a threat and sometimes there's little to no concept of "back off" to be found. There was a doc on Buck Brannaman on Netflix that at some point featured a horse like this. If you happen to watch it, you'll know which one I'm talking about as soon as you see him interact with something because he has the same creepy obsessive stalking stare you're describing.

To answer OP's question as well as keeping with the topic of horses, I've dealt with many legitimate cases of PTSD in them. Mostly racehorses, but other abuse cases as well. They have the same symptoms and reactions a human would have. They can see, hear, smell, or feel a trigger, and it's like they're not even present anymore. Whether that be in the form of freaking out and desperately trying to get away, freezing and developing a sort of "thousand mile stare," or anything in between, you often can do nothing but try and distract and soothe them, calm them down, and often remove them from the situation. You have to work to avoid their triggers and desensitize to them slowly and kindly. Many of them have repetitive nervous habits like chewing, swaying, pawing, pacing, or even huffing air to get high. They can develop habits like obsessively gorging on food or not eating enough at all.

Some examples I have seen in racehorses include an ex racer off the track for 3 years melting down in his stall because some students were watching a racehorse movie nearby. He started rearing and kicking the walls, screaming, and shaking. I had to run him out of the barn and into an arena with his best friend to calm him down, and after that those movies were banned from inside the barn. Another example, I was listening to a local radio station while riding a different ex racer and a commercial for the track came on. They played the race trumpet and he immediately started shaking and started prancing nervously, snorting and spinning around in circles. I had to get down it got so bad. He was so scared, and it was like I wasn't even there. He always had a relaxed fun time working with me after his initial rehab, he loved his new job and he was my favourite personal horse at the time. We were best buds. He hadn't been on a track in 8 years. But all of that went out of the window with that one trumpet, and it was an hour before he came down from that.

Going to shoehorn a "fuck horse racing" into the end here.

notextinctyet · 2022-10-15T15:47:44+00:00

File an insurance claim, paradoxically, for stolen items, often with homeowners or renters insurance rather than vehicle insurance.

be-like-water-2022 · 2022-10-15T14:40:40+00:00

"Some people think it's because they all got killed. But I happen to think it's because of the decimation of the manufacturing base in the urban centers.

An energized optinistíc population throws up energized, optimistic leaders. And when you shift manufacturing to the Sun Belt in the Third World, you destroy the blue collar core of the black activist population.

Higher domestic employment means jobs for African Americans.

World War meant lots of jobs tor black folks: That is what energized the community for the Civil Rights movement of the 50s the 60s.

An energized, hopeful community will not only produce leaders but more importantly it'll produce leaders they'll respond to."

Nina (Halle Berry) , Bulworth, 1998

https://youtu.be/f5umSa_YYX0

basicbatchofcookies · 2022-10-14T20:17:04+00:00

No idea if you have kids but as a father with two young kids, yes I absolutely would appreciate it. However, I didn't push a baby through my vagina and lose a ton of blood to the point where I was white and shaking and couldn't hold my newborn and have to have stitches in said vagina and asshole from tearing on first kid. I didn't then require a lot of time to heal since my body was still pushing out afterbirth for days and take a month to get back to feeling healthy and strong.

My wife had a c-section with our second kid which was even worse. It took her months to heal from the c-section before she could not be worried about tearing her stitches open doing physical things. A year later and she could still feel numb spots and occasional pain in her belly from where the surgery happened.

None of that even takes into account breastfeeding. I had to get up in the middle of the night to take care of diapers and comfort babies back to sleep sometimes, but my wife had to continuously get up every 2-3 hours in the beginning to breastfeed our kids. Ignoring the overnights, during the day pumping adds so much work which women would have to do if they want/are able to breast feed their kids. Plus stress is bad for milk production.

Kids are beautiful and amazing. Birthing and caring for newborns is hellish. It's essential for men/non birthing partners to get the time to bond with their children and to be there to help their partner who had the baby recover, but I personally believe the person who had the kid needs to be given even more time to recover and feed.

vulpinefever · 2022-10-13T16:37:38+00:00

The way my political science professor answered this question when I asked it many years ago was "In the countryside, you have the right to swing a baseball bat around so long as you don't actually hit anyone, that's your god-given right. In the city where there are a lot more people who you need to coexist with, you want the freedom to not get struck by some maniac swinging a baseball bat around."

It's a difference in how these regions interact with government services and society in general. People living in cities are used to problems being solved collectively. Your garbage is collected by the city, you walk to the subway station on a city sidewalk, take the city run subway system to work everyday alongside a million other people, etc. I mean, even the housing is done more communally with apartments instead of large individual homes.

In a rural area, it's very different, the government doesn't have anywhere as much of a presence in your life, public services in rural areas amount to a (maybe) paved road and the promise that if you call for help, they'll send the fire department within an hour. Problems within the community are solved on an individual level, don't own a car and need to find a way to work? I hope your neighbour can drive you or else you're walking (and there won't even be a public sidewalk for you to use!). This extends to politics, rural areas tend to prefer policies that favour individualism.

There's also the fact that cities are less homogenous which means you are exposed to a greater variety of people from a greater variety of backgrounds which encourages inclusion and tolerance.

OccludedFug · 2022-10-14T20:55:40+00:00

Coins can be sorted by size pretty easily, and modern bills have identifying strips in them that can be detected by machines.

SgtMajMythic · 2022-10-14T18:35:12+00:00

Not trusting a company that’s received the largest fine in US history for misleading people and violating FDA rules is dumb?

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-largest-health-care-fraud-settlement-its-history

psychosis_inducing · 2022-10-13T16:09:37+00:00

Rural people tend to think they're totally independent, that you earn everything you get, etc. When you live in relative isolation, it's hard to see the whole world as interconnected.

Urban people, because they encounter different people with different lives every day, are more likely to realize we are all in this together.

fuck_spies · 2022-10-13T23:16:06+00:00

You are missing the point. Anti spending people don't want to GIVE money to anyone, they just want to keep it with themselves by not paying taxes. So if you say that instead of spending it on war, let pay student loans off, they will be equally pissed cause you are taking their money and giving it to someone else, doesn't matter who that someone else is.

the-truthseeker · 2022-10-14T02:47:42+00:00

The problem is that he's going to be moving his funds around in Shell corporations to where no one can find them so you can't garnish what you can't find. I hope to God that someone rules for a forensic accountant to find his money when he claims he's "broke."

CeleryQtip · 2022-10-14T01:20:08+00:00

which won't actually happen, since xyz company can hire him to do segments or videos and will not be held liable for past damages - meaning he can and will still be a prominent figure in media - he will have a bankruptcy on his record though.

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