Sonic Youth Gossip - Coronavirus

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Woman Responds To Companies Failing Because Of Coronavirus By Saying The Same Things Poor People Hear

https://www.boredpanda.com/boeing-sa...eople-in-need/

From The Wire:

Quote:

In praise of resilience
In the midst of the coronavirus crises, The Wire’s publisher Tony Herrington hails the response of the global experimental music community

Like every other member of the global independent experimental music community, The Wire, and the individuals who work for it, have been left reeling by the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

All around us, musicians and organisations, industry friends and acquaintances, fellow workers and travellers are suffering – without exception. For most of those who work in this particular cultural sector, life has always been marginal and precarious. Now, all the things that supported even that level of day to day existence have collapsed. Festivals and tours have been cancelled or postponed; workshops and teaching gigs have been suspended; the social spaces where music is transacted, from venues to clubs to record shops and beyond, have been forced to close their doors. As in every other sector of society, the community feels like it is under siege, taking one hammer blow after another. Nowhere is safe, no one is immune.

As events have accelerated in recent days, however, that initial sense of bewilderment and helplessness in the face of the various official responses, and their draconian effects, to the rapid spread of the virus has been overtaken by a new sensation.

Now, despite overwhelming levels of fear and anxiety, we see these self same individuals and organisations, this global independent experimental music community, rallying and working together, responding mutually and collectively with practical, positive solutions, utilising online tools and networks to fill the void opened up by the new protocols of social distancing and self-isolation, and the paralyzing effects of mass state lockdowns.

We feel humbled and galvanised by the levels of resilience and resourcefulness we are witnessing, and by the speed in which the community has responded, and how it is already starting to formulate new models and initiatives to support musicians and industry workers financially, as well as adapting existing networks to build new infrastructures through which the music can travel.

Like many other music and media organisations worldwide, we have been using our social media channels to post news and information on these remarkable and empowering community responses to the old world going into meltdown: go to @thewiremagazine on Twitter to find links to this emerging brave new world of live concert streams, DIY radio shows and podcasts, petitions, fundraisers and multiple online resources designed to give succour to embattled musicians, labels, venue runners, promoters, shop and festival workers worldwide.

No one is pretending that any of this is enough to replace what is being lost. Like every other sector of society, in the coming months and years the experimental music community will have to find new ways to adapt to this new state of being in the world. But it is a start, and the psychic and emotional benefits of all this combined activity and communal generosity are doing much to strengthen the resolve of all those affected.

For our part, we are attempting to maintain our sanity by ploughing ahead with work on the forthcoming May issue of the magazine. Needless to say, we have never had to produce an issue of the magazine in such straitened circumstances. All 434 issues of The Wire to date have been made by various generations of staff coming together in small offices for days and weeks at a time, collating the contributions of sundry writers and photographers and advertisers that have always been distributed globally.

Now we are having to find new ways to work together, not sitting side by side at desks in cluttered rooms, but remotely, separated from each other physically, but in many ways more connected than we have ever been. And so, taking courage from the example of our peers and contemporaries in this global experimental music community that we have never been prouder to be a part of, we carry on, we will prevail.

It’s sheer coincidence, but it seems entirely appropriate that the cover story of the May issue will take the form of a new interview with that great storyteller of hard times, Diamanda Galás, who is rising again with the reissue of her 1982 debut album The Litanies Of Satan and the release of a new piano and vocal piece titled DE-FORMATION. Like so much of Diamanda’s previous music, this new work concerns itself with how to confront the causes and consequences of plague and infection head on.

We have never felt closer to the music we report on, and the individuals and organisations that make it happen. We look forward to intensifying those relationships, drawing strength from them, in the coming months, online and in future issues of the magazine.

for all you fans of Ron Paul ( ?!? ) I give you his spin on the virus

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives...onavirus-hoax/

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

We can multi-task. Dotard fucking up fight against Covid-19, here. Dotard on its way to four more years (Joe, you and your phonograph better get those 90K votes from the Rust Belt back, DO IT), on the Dotard thread. Dotard saying Kim Gordon is no longer a 10, Sonic Gossip. ;)

Incidentally, you guys know Isha Sesay? She's a journalist who was mainly an anchor on CNN International (International Desk, NewsCenter, etc.) but also appeared on AC 360º. In mid-2018, she quit CNN saying basically that she'd had ENOUGH of talking about the motherfucking Dotard day in day out and that she'd actually DO SOMETHING, so she started a non-profit and has participated in several campaigns and events which actually, well, do stuff:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isha_Sesay#Leaving_CNN

Yeah, I'll try to do Dotard fucking up against Covid-19 here, of which there is a truckload of material, and Dotard being at 50% in the polls there. Inbetween these two threads there is some kind of alternate universe which inverses everything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilduclo

for all you fans of Ron Paul ( ?!? ) I give you his spin on the virus

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives...onavirus-hoax/

Wow. Dotardness is very infectious.

Edit:

1) I'd love to ask him about how other countries of the world are treating this. Is it also hoaxism?

2) I did not know that Rand Paul is his son. This explains things further.

he was big sauce with the ignorant cynics back in the day, you know, the ones who don't know much but are ready to tell you all about it (libertarians)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

And Bytor, no amount of back pedalling will erase your Trumpian attitude/outlook in this thread from two weeks ago, when even then, others here were shaking their heads at you. (Thank you for not deleting those early posts.) So, how are things looking for Easter?

I haven’t back pedaled, my perspective changed based on what was happening around me! And I don’t delete!!!

We’ve had to cancel/postpone our families day before Easter get together because of the pandemic. This would be the third straight year for us to host it at our new home......we had 50+ last year.

Well, I now know someone who has DIED from coronavirus. We shared a mutual friend in High School, played pick-up basketball games together several times......he was a great guy with a wife and kids. This might be the death that forces local judges to lock everything down.

So thankful _slavo_ has made it home!

VIRGINIA: Pastor Who Denounced Virus Response As “Mass Hysteria” To Hurt Trump Dies Of Coronavirus

https://www.joemygod.com/2020/03/vir...f-coronavirus/

what is he going on about? just fucking put him on ignore.

Bytor, your perspective changed when the TRUTH became obvious. Previously, you posted misinformation. I'm not letting you off the hook on this. We can do this all day.

I did a long hike today and thought about how preposterous that Ron Paul thing is/was. I mean, here is a fucking physician, and a POTUS wannabee, spreading that bullshit to a vast audience that is willing to buy it. Has he had some recourse in the days since? Who was it that said the GOP is the most dangerous organization in the world? Propogating such stupidity has consequences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Schunk

I would have to agree with Secretary Ross, as the entire world will have to rethink the system in which all supply chains lead to China and adopt more nationalistic trade policies.

Fucking hilarious.

Here's a newsflash: USA is now the epicenter of Covid-19. Meanwhile, China is getting back onto its feet.

How do you think this will work out?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Schunk

I think it will work out with a lot of countries realizing they need to diversify their supply chains, with critical production taking place within their own borders to the extent possible.

That's basing it on the idea the businesses decide to stop going for the cheapest method of production. You think Trump will suddenly stop getting his hats made in China? Fuck no. Whatever makes the big wigs the biggest profit is all that matters.

Your idea of an isolationist Utopia just isn't going to happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

Bytor, your perspective changed when the TRUTH became obvious. Previously, you posted misinformation. I'm not letting you off the hook on this. We can do this all day.

Quote and reply!

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issues executive order to quarantine individuals flying in from NY, NJ, CT and New Orleans

Boris Johnson's been tested positive.
Too bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Boris Johnson's been tested positive.
Too bad.

just red it.

Also the singer of Rammstein is reportedly recovering at the IC in a Berlin hospital

Quote:

Originally Posted by _tunic_

Also the singer of Rammstein is reportedly recovering at the IC in a Berlin hospital

this is a little funny? and best wishes to the guy for a speedy recovery

--

meanwhile, in the usa, financial stress tests show some states are woefully unprepared to weather the current recession/ upcoming depression.

https://www.moodysanalytics.com/-/me...tates-2019.pdf

journo's take (paywalled, but clear cookies & see):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...3f0_story.html

Coronavirus dress from the Ikaka Trimp collection, WallMart $3.99 (imported from Wuhan)

But everything will be fine by Easter!! Hang in there for just two more weeks!!

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-ho...be-far-fetched

Clearly, Dotardism is spreading faster than Covid-19, especially in Texas. The facts just do not support this outlook. Let's bump this at Easter, shall we?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Boris Johnson's been tested positive.

Maybe there is a god.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilduclo

for all you fans of Ron Paul ( ?!? ) I give you his spin on the virus

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives...onavirus-hoax/

From The Washington Post:
One factor coronavirus modelers failed to predict? Accusations their work is a hoax.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

From The Washington Post:
One factor coronavirus modelers failed to predict? Accusations their work is a hoax.

Doesn't Pence think the world is 6000 years old?

I might start calling this the GOP Virus. I'm convinced that the GOP are going to be at fault for it being worse than it needs to be.

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/03/17-...ing-insurance/

17 fucking years OLD. no doubt some "pre-existing condition" like thin wallet syndrome. That's fatal in the USA

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-en...id-coronavirus

surprised? not me

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration:

“This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future. It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic. And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was."

Everyone crowded together behind Trump as he signs the Bill......once again showing the world what NOT to do during this crisis.

Fuck me.

Like Katrina in 2005, this is exposing the brutality in both depth and quantity of the United States' "hidden" poverty. From The Guardian:

Quote:

'It's what was happening in Italy': the hospital at the center of New York's Covid-19 crisis
Elmhurst hospital, located in one of the poorest areas of New York City, is 'overwhelmed' as people line up outside for tests and treatment

The U.S.' number of cases has now surpassed China's and Italy's. As far as the land of the free and the home of the brave goes, this is not getting better by any stretch of the imagination.

From The New York Times:

Quote:

As schools shut down, parents and students struggle to keep up.
This week New York City’s public schools began remote learning. But for the more than 100,000 students who are homeless, virtual education may be out of reach.

Allia Phillips, a fourth grader on the honor roll, was excited about picking up an iPad from her school in Harlem last week after her school was forced to close. But the shelter she lives in with her mother and grandmother does not have internet. And her mother worries that she will be left behind.

An estimated 114,000 children in New York City live in shelters and unstable housing, and many worry that school closures will hit them the hardest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

Everyone crowded together behind Trump as he signs the Bill......once again showing the world what NOT to do during this crisis.

Fuck me.

that's fucking fantastic, maybe they all get it :D

--

ok, moving on, i am about the break down and buy a big fucking tv

i held on as long as i could but this lockup is a bit much

What about chess?

P-K4. Go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

What about chess?

P-K4. Go.

lml...

can i cheat? :D

--
pk3

Quote:

Originally Posted by _tunic_

Also the singer of Rammstein is reportedly recovering at the IC in a Berlin hospital

The story about the Rammstein singer has been corrected: he had stayed in the ICU in Berlin, but was tested negative for Corona according to a statement by the band.

GOP holding with the Trumpy line: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...ouple-of-weeks

If, by Easter, things are turning around in USA, I fully expect to be attacked/harangued.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

GOP holding with the Trumpy line: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4...ouple-of-weeks

If, by Easter, things are turning around in USA, I fully expect to be attacked/harangued.

well, social distancing will take a few weeks show its effect because lacking tests we have no way to detect the infection rate. so yes maybe we will slow it down and see results, but also, the percentage of the infected population at that point will be much greater, so...

the classic growth curve goes like this:

that works for a bacterial population or some other organism but we can assume the same here. works with humans too. some scientists have theorized our population on earth will stabilize around 11 billion (we're currently 8)

first the organism reproduces at an exponential rate-- the upward curve. then it's still exponential but the exponent is reduced. growth begins to slow down as resources (space, food, infectable hosts, etc) are less available, they growth becomes more or less asymptotic with the limits of the environment.

so in the case of covid, that would be when 80 or 90% or more of the population has been infected.

then comes the decline phase which is when we start to develop herd immunity due to antibodies in individuals who were exposed but recovered.

social distancing should work, but we can't see results until patients stop coming in because we don't actually have tests to track who is actually infected. but we will also have more absolute numbers of people infected by the time we know how the rates are doing.

so yes, the curve will inevitably bend, either because of preventive measures or because we all got infected. the question is if it will bend soon enough for the number of sick not to use up all the ventilators.

the ventilators are the problem.

speaking of which, after spending all day saying new york didn't need the respirators it had requested, el dotardo finally ordered gm to start making them.

thanks obama for saving gm.

Sure, I get that. I just don't get the part where the exponent is reduced/declining by Easter, based on everything I see/hear from science. The GOP must have access to Alternative Science.

The GOP have investors to answer to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skuj

Which brings me to Fareed Zakaria's Washington Post column this week. (Don't misread the line below the title; he doesn't let him off the hook ;)):

Quote:

US Has Met Crisis With Incompetence
It’s easy to blame Trump for this fiasco. But there’s a much larger story.

When a crisis hits the United States, the country’s general instinct is to rally around the flag and wish the best for its leaders. That’s probably why President Trump has seen his approval ratings rise, even though he has had a delayed and fitful approach to this pandemic. But at some point, we Americans must look at the facts and recognize an uncomfortable reality. The United States is on track to have the worst outbreak of coronavirus among wealthy countries, largely because of the ineffectiveness of its government. This is the new face of American exceptionalism.

The United States now has the highest number of cases of covid-19 in the world, outstripping both China and Italy. The first line of defense against the disease is testing. On this key metric, the U.S. experience has been a fiasco: We started late, using a faulty test, and never quite recovered.

Trump’s claim that “anybody that wants a test can get a test” is a cruel hoax. Access to tests remains much worse than in most advanced countries. His assertion that the United States has tested more people than South Korea is nonsense because it doesn’t take into account that South Korea has less than one-sixth America’s population. Per capita, South Korea has done five times more testing than the United States, as of Wednesday. But forget about South Korea. Italy, a country not known for the smooth workings of its government, has tested four times as many per capita as the United States.

The United States has shortages of everything — ventilators, masks, gloves, gowns — and no national emergency system to provide new supplies fast. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) says his state will need 40,000 beds for critical care. It has only 3,000. That means many patients will die simply because they lack access to care that is available under normal circumstances. Not even three weeks into this pandemic, health-care workers are reusing masks, sewing their own and pleading for donations. In a searing essay in the Atlantic, Ed Yong writes, “Rudderless, blindsided, lethargic, and uncoordinated, America has mishandled the COVID-19 crisis to a substantially worse degree than what every health expert I’ve spoken with had feared.”

Why did this happen? It’s easy to blame Trump, and the president has been inept from the start. But there is a much larger story behind this fiasco. The United States is paying the price today for decades of defunding government, politicizing independent agencies, fetishizing local control, and demeaning and disparaging government workers and bureaucrats.

This was not always how it was. America has historically prized limited but effective government. In Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton wrote, “A government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the modern federal bureaucracy, which was strikingly lean and efficient. In recent decades, as the scope of government has increased, the bureaucracy has been starved and made increasingly dysfunctional. In the 1950s, the percentage of federal civilian employees compared with total employment was above 5 percent. It has dropped to under 2 percent today, despite a population that is twice as large and a gross domestic product that is seven times higher (adjusting for inflation).

Federal agencies are understaffed but overburdened with mountains of regulations and politicized mandates and rules, giving officials little power and discretion. The Food and Drug Administration’s cumbersome rules and bureaucracy — which have proved a huge problem in this case — are just one example among hundreds. The scholar who has long studied this topic, Paul Light, notes that under President John F. Kennedy, the Cabinet departments had 17 “layers” of hierarchy. By the time Trump took office, there were a staggering 71 layers. Both political parties have contributed to the problem, making the federal government a caricature of bureaucratic inefficiency.

Most of these dysfunctions are replicated at the state and local levels with their own smaller agencies. The challenge of creating a national strategy is complicated by the reality that the true power in public health lies with 2,684 state, local and tribal systems, each jealously guarding its independence. We like to celebrate American federalism as the flourishing of local democracy. But this crazy patchwork quilt of authority is proving a nightmare when tackling an epidemic that knows no borders, and where any locality with a weak response will allow the infection to keep spreading elsewhere. What happens on Florida’s beaches doesn’t stay on Florida’s beaches.

It’s an easy cop-out to say the United States can’t mirror China’s dictatorship. The governments that are handling this pandemic effectively include democracies such as South Korea, Taiwan and Germany. Many of the best practices employed in places such as Singapore and Hong Kong are not tyrannical but smart — testing, contact tracing and isolation. But all these places have governments that are well-funded, efficient and responsive. In today’s world, with problems that spill across borders at lightning speed, “well executed government” is what makes a country truly exceptional.

I'd be very interested in how we weave the whole Obamacare / "Trumpcare"* / medical insurance aspects into this whole thing, as a Canadian.

*I'm not really sure what Trump has done on this front, other than trying to kill Obamacare. Bytor, please help me out in this regard. Thanks.

Prediction: once this is all over (if it ever is...), Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson will inevitably be invited to a late night talk show. Host: "So you guys were quarantined together for a long time... You MUST have made a LOT of monkey love, right?"