fip & jim

@laylalex , @Nature Boy 2.0 logistically it's very difficult to travel with the potential for lockdown status to change, even if there was somewhere to quarantine when visiting. I'm the same as you, @Nature Boy 2.0, I don't expect anything to change before next summer. 
 
The Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine interim results are due in the next few weeks. Moderna interim results due soon too. Moderna CEO said it's unlikely that their vaccine would be widely available in the first quarter of 2021.  Novovax predict if phase 3 goes well for their vaccine doses may be available by third quarter of 2021. The same goes for Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Valneva. It looks like it's a race between Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna. 
 
Huge demand for horseshoe crab blood for the vaccination programs worldwide:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/07/covid-vaccine-needs-horseshoe-crab-blood/

Parmesan cornbread and roasted tomatoes. The next day I make French toast with the leftover cornbread, topped with chili jam and mascarpone cheese for breakfast. 
 
 
 

You know the definition of a theory versus a hypothesis, right? 

It's got to be even more difficult than usual in these circumstances. I'm a couple of years ahead of you so I'm not up to speed on the current situation with getting the essentials sorted. I got a Verizon cell phone early on, it's too much hassle otherwise. Drivers licenses vary by state so it's best to check locally. You should get a SSN sent to you with the visa you entered on. If it hasn't arrived in the mail in the next few weeks then call your local office. The subforum for everything SSN is here: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/156-social-security-numbers/
 
 

Do you even understand how the world views your "freedoms"? They pity the US. They laugh at the president. They rejoice that he will be gone if Americans protect some semblance of democracy. 
 
You said it yourself. The right to offend. The right to be stupid. And the tragedy is that in by believing that you have the right to be offensive and stupid Americans will suffer. Be offensive. Be stupid. And don't be surprised if in the end that's all you have left. 

Do you even understand how the world views your "freedoms"? They pity the US. They laugh at the president. They rejoice that he will be gone if Americans protect some semblance of democracy. 
 
You said it yourself. The right to offend. The right to be stupid. And the tragedy is that in by believing that you have the right to be offensive and stupid Americans will suffer. Be offensive. Be stupid. And don't be surprised if in the end that's all you have left. 

Do you even understand how the world views your "freedoms"? They pity the US. They laugh at the president. They rejoice that he will be gone if Americans protect some semblance of democracy. 
 
You said it yourself. The right to offend. The right to be stupid. And the tragedy is that in by believing that you have the right to be offensive and stupid Americans will suffer. Be offensive. Be stupid. And don't be surprised if in the end that's all you have left. 

Do you even understand how the world views your "freedoms"? They pity the US. They laugh at the president. They rejoice that he will be gone if Americans protect some semblance of democracy. 
 
You said it yourself. The right to offend. The right to be stupid. And the tragedy is that in by believing that you have the right to be offensive and stupid Americans will suffer. Be offensive. Be stupid. And don't be surprised if in the end that's all you have left. 

Pretty sure freedom of speech is robustly protected in the UK. Pretty sure privacy is robustly protected in the UK. You're hilarious. 

dont worry, you are not alone. and dont let those guys get you down.

I don't let them get me down, I just honestly despair that I even have to think about dealing with that mentality. This is like my township and that's the reality of where I am at. 😔 Thanks for saying that though. I appreciate it. 

If I stick around you may call me either. Only back here because ROC filing is due next month. Checking processing times and whatnot and before I know it I'm getting in to all sorts of pickles about things I wish I was still blissfully unaware of. Ignorance is indeed bliss. 

People need to take personal responsibility for their actions and not pin their choices on what leader x or y does. He is just one man.
 
Would it be nice to have a president that could model adult behavior and promote mask wearing, listening to medical professionals and not politicizing this topic? Yes and if you were ever expecting moral leadership from him, you should have known better.
 
Trump has done what he could to shepard the vaccine through, not a failure there. There were missteps on ppe and equipment, recovering there. I give him an F for showing leadership in most of the other areas that would help get this disease under control. Am I shocked? Yes, Surprised? No.
 

What Newsom did was dumb. It did not violate restrictions, but it looked dumb and tone deaf. He had more people at that stupid dinner than I got to have at my wedding. I am still irritated by this. 
 
But what are we supposed to do here, pretend our numbers aren't going up? Just tell everyone to rip off their masks and breathe free and party on, dude? I follow the science -- the science says masks work (yes, they do, and now there is research saying they protect the wearer, too), social distancing works, hygiene works. I do these things, my family does these things. We feel an obligation to care for each other as we do ourselves. We feel an obligation to care for our neighbors, too. Maybe it's just the way I was brought up, but I was taught to care for my neighbors as I would myself. I would LOVE to have my big reception and dance and sing and get drunk and hug everyone. I'd love that to happen ASAP. But ASAP is not now. I have self-control. Apparently plenty of people around me don't.

There is no political or geographic boundary to this infection. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that a small lack of compliance in a heavily populated area can have dramatic impacts. 
 
You can see a per capita surge in infections in "red statee" that was avoidable, the governor of south dakota is behaving immorally with her virus denialism.  
 
Any rational adult understands that this disease is lethal and that gathering in groups, not wearing masks and not staying 6 feet apart poses a serious threat. People who cannot listen to those basic facts or who hear it and gather in large groups anyway, are acting irrationally, selfishly or both. 

It is bad here, and making jokes about how bad it is in this county isn't very kind. We are having an explosion in cases for the same reasons other areas are -- people are tired of being careful. People are gathering with friends and family, they're holding weddings much larger than mine, they're acting like the virus isn't going to get them because it hasn't yet. This is foolish, but people are foolish. We did a decent job for quite a while in keeping cases from exploding -- people entering from California, Oregon and Washington have been exempt from many of the mandatory quarantines other states have in place -- but now they have. 
 
It's scary right now. Please have some compassion for us. As it stands we have had to upend our Thanksgiving celebrations, but being safe and well and alive for more celebrations next year and the years to come is far more important. Sending the best to you all, wherever you may be.

Pretty sure freedom of speech is robustly protected in the UK. Pretty sure privacy is robustly protected in the UK. You're hilarious. 

Unless you are still living in April, what is the point of looking at the entirety. It's not a historical assessment. It's looking at where the outbreak is worst right now. If Belgium has surged ahead, we don't need to split hairs. It is not a contest. The point is (or should be) there is no reason for ND and SD to be in this mess. They are a rural states with low population densities. They allowed things to get out of control with some needlessly stupid policies and actions. There are a quarter of a million cases linked to a stupid motorcycle rally. I feel sorry for the people who tried, but there were not enough of them, and not much leadership. 
 
  Back when we came out of the first lock down, people were given greater personal responsibility for how they approach the pandemic. Unfortunate display of how lacking that sense of responsibility is in some. 

Did you not read the article either? Belgium is 4th on the chart for the period they were looking at.  

You usually do, but if you actually read the article, it is apparent they are discussing the current mortality rate.

Death will come for us all one day. If one personally tries not to behave in a stupid manner involving practicing good safety measures facing the virus then their chances of dying a normal and dignified death remain better. If however, they die as the result of individuals that believe they have a right to be stupid (thereby their stupidity deprives another of life, liberty, and happiness) that is quite another matter. 
 
I fully expect our governor to return to higher restrictions today, and I fully support that. Most businesses in our heavy red town also supported it. Yes it did cause hardship, but instead of crying about it, they sought out innovative ways to continue to remain open and have been rewarded for their efforts. We can all debate about what the best methods are to mitigate the loss of life, suffering, and business hardship due to the pandemic... but as I've said before pandemics have consequences. Perhaps administrations should have considered this before.

That might be a good platform, regardless of virus or maybe weddings are a virus 

In this context starting with a modern understanding of biology, medicine and civics, and antiquanting our beliefs and attitudes back to the early nineteenth century, with potentially lethal consequences. I am surprised you haven't heard the term.

i thought it was the process of what happens to new furniture in the back of the antiques store.

Well I'd prefer it if my children didn't die, or my husband, just yet.