JMR

1 hour ago, AustinBike said:

This statement will not wear well. Let's revisit it in a couple months.

Someone else said this whole thing was overblown back when there were only a few cases.

Yes. Let’s revisit this in a couple of months. Let’s see if the experts were right that this virus can’t survive over a certain temperature. Let’s see if UV light helps prevent the virus. Let’s see if the people who are looting and setting stuff on fire catch the virus. Let’s see if we have another surge this fall (right before elections).
 

I am truly curious. 

One might think that covid is yesterdays news. People are getting back to work. They're not getting sick, despite what the news is trying to make you believe. It's time to move on to the next distraction. What was once fear has been replaced by violence.

So, do the riots mean that covid is over? 

Just remembered: A few years ago some friends had a canopy that kept blowing over. After repairing it a few times, someone discovered you could buy mesh "walls" that attached to the frame under the canopy. The high winds still provided a breeze, but, it never blew over again.

Might identify yourself as one of the trail stewards (whether you are or not) and explain that you're usually one of the only people out there fixing trail damage.

2 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Problem is, "only the old, poor and incarcerated will get it" attitude from state and federal governments is overlooking one crucial detail. Children.

The people infected have children, which will go to school, maybe your kid's school, and spread the virus to students, parents, faculty or other staff members, who also have families. The state leaders are aware that places like elementary schools are one of the largest vectors of virus transmission, but are marching forward with business as usual plans even though they were advised to do otherwise. Schools are the daycares of the working class, and they have to get kids butts in seats in order to get the cash rolling again (which it wont). 

Just wait till' suburban taylor or tyler or sklyer and kyler gets covid. These attitudes will change real fast.

Totally agree on the mismanagement and misinformation. It's certainly been amateur hour at best

I agree it is odd that they have really only broadcasted about nursing home deaths. If they're releasing prisoners, are there actually prisons elsewhere that are packed with people with covid? Why don't we ever hear about children coming down with it?

I bought one years ago and it came with stakes and tie down cords. Similar to a tent. maybe the newer ones hide their anchors better?

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 10:29 AM, ATXZJ said:

The truth is stranger than fiction.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/opinion/dave-eggers-coronavirus-questions.html

This is one of the most impressive things I have read in a long time.

Strangest COVID-19 stuff I witnessed?....homeless people aren’t dying all over the city. They might have a hard time finding a mask, or have a difficult time washing their hands. How do you tell them to stay home? Would the news report this? Or just celebrities that have it?

I was asking about the death rate. Like, fatalities? Dead people don’t come back to life due to social distancing. Seriously asking if that is what was rumored to have been cut in half...

Also, I’m implying people are misinformed. By Facebook, local media, national media, the government, Twitter. That’s why people are sitting together. Maybe it’s not as big of a deal as we thought? Maybe there’s some genetically superior hornet gonna kill us all. I saw it somewhere. 

Plus, in reference to my earlier post: Could we say that we flattened the curve by sheltering in place, just like we've prevented another mass shooting in Vegas by banning bump stocks?

Cause and effect!

People just don't care. Didn't the CDC just cut the death rate practically in half the other day? Who knows the real numbers? Keep in mind, this is the same government/media that told us a 64 yr old retired accountant with no military training hauled 400 lbs of weapons up 30 floors, disabled cameras and fire alarms, set up two sniper posts, and shot random concert goers at an outdoor festival in Vegas. I'm sure the numbers will spike in the next few weeks. Of course they will! You'll see it all over the news.

Well, that's my view from my side of the fence.

14 hours ago, 4fun said:

It was a rat snake, no rattle. Nearly ran him over

It’s a hognose. They’re pretty cool!

31 minutes ago, RidingAgain said:

Big man... I wasn't referring to your riding prowess... I was speaking to your poor dishonest disposition exposed in your comment about me.

As to what you "...distinctly remember..." about how I dealt with a curb... Having been riding for some 25 years, I've confronted many curbs and therefore have a whole lot of experience with them. And for sure, even if I stopped to deal with one, I certainly would not have dismounted "...off [my] bike climbing over the curb...". I would have simply stopped, put my feet on the ground while still straddling the bike, and lifted the bike up, as I've done many times in the past, and will do many times in the future, especially where crossing streets is concerned. So here we have you again being dishonest in your suggestion.

Try and get this clear... I don't have anything to prove to me, you, or anyone else about my bike riding skills. So if I feel like stopping and lifting my bike up on a street curb, I'll do exactly that. If it bothers you, that's your problem, not mine.

Thing is, your dishonesty is in your suggesting that I don't have the skill level to ride my bike over a curb... That's just you speaking ignorantly, and in doing so, speaking dishonestly.

As for this other stuff...

"...scolded me for not warning you about that feature..."... You must be off your meds my brother.

"...Unfamiliarity shouldn't translate into an f'n guided tour of a beginner trail."... I wasn't there for a guided tour... I was there to have fellowship with a brother in Christ. But it seems you've conveniently forgotten how exactly we came to have our ride together my brother.

And this...

"...Brotherhood? Let's talk about that. I've ridden countless hours with people who have made me a better rider at the expense of their own enjoyment. In all of those instances, I've expressed my gratitude for their willingness to make sacrifices on my behalf. You on the other hand? I can't even describe it. You seem to want to portray yourself as something you are not. Posting jump videos and asking for critiques? Are you seriously considering getting air? Please do it on that antiquated bike - you'll be my hero! If you are sincere about honesty / dishonesty, let's just get it out in the open. An Austin Mountain Biking Skills challenge for all to witness."

"...An Austin Mountain Biking Skills challenge for all to witness."... LOL... What are you... 13 years old?

"...my brother..." is related to you coming to me and telling me that you're a Christian. Remember that... You telling me how much you appreciated my speaking openly about my being a Christian?

"...In all of those instances, I've expressed my gratitude for their willingness to make sacrifices on my behalf."... But I never asked you to sacrifice anything for me... You asked me if I'd like to go ride with you. My brother — in Christ — it never once crossed my mind that there was some sort of sacrifice being made on your part to teach me how to ride better, as I never asked you to. The most I thought you might do is show me parts of the trail system that I wasn't familiar with, which you did, and for which I appreciated your time and effort and thanked you for. What more were you expecting... Should I have sent you a flower arrangement?

As for "...Posting jump videos and asking for critiques? Are you seriously considering getting air? Please do it on that antiquated bike - you'll be my hero!..."... I have no desire to be anyone's hero. But I certainly am thinking about trying to do higher jumps than I do now... And maybe I will, or maybe I won't... Who knows... But honestly... For you to get all emotionally twisted about a middle aged man riding an "...antiquated bike..." inquiring about what it takes to jump 2 or 3 foot jumps... Dude... Come on now... Surely there's more to your life.

"...Out!..."... Honestly... You should never have come in in the first place.

My brother... Holding to your offended feelings is surely poor form before the Lord. Perhaps one day, when you get over them we can have fellowship on how to take them captive so as not to let them rule you.

Stay safe my brother... And as I've said before... Try just riding instead of whining. 

While we’re being distracted with the mortality rate, while you’re distracted figuring out what percentage of us are dying, what is going on? What is our elected officials (not leaders) doing? What are they doing? We panic because of a “highly contagious virus” with a mortality rate of 0.0018. What is the big picture? Hooray for you for protecting your neighbor!! Meanwhile, what are “they” up to?

1 hour ago, notyal said:

A better analogy is drinking and driving. One beer, good to go. Three beers, four, six, ten? Hell, you can drink enough to barely be conscious and still make it home...sometimes. It's all about increasing the level of risk.

Now, let's pretend you could get drunk by just driving too close to someone else who's drunk and you would have no clue that you were drunk for up to 2 weeks or maybe not at all. During this time, you are spreading your drunkenness to countless others. Then, factor in how drunk everyone else on the road is. If this ridiculous scenario could actually happen, would you just continue commuting through traffic everyday and taking road trips (maybe give a little more space between cars)? Fuck no. That would be terrifying to think that drunk people are driving all over the place and don't even know it. I'd stay off the roads as much as possible. 

What if 98% of the drunks didn’t have symptoms, didn’t drive all over the roads? Would you still not drive? If 2% of the people showed symptoms? I don’t know the statistics, but I would think that in a 24 hour period, there’s more drunks than 2%. I risk it everyday. 

19 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

OK , Curious-- How is it tyranny to ask people to stay home so they don't get sick and spread a virus? Seems to me that this common sense. Now if the military was rolling through the hood and using force  --that to me would be tyranny. 

 

Just my opinion but, wouldn’t it be too obvious if tanks were rolling down our streets? They made us think it was common sense by calling it shelter in place. Or self quarantine. If it’s really about keeping our distance from each other to not spread a virus, why do they arrest a man playing ball with his son in a deserted park? What about the guy paddle boarding alone at the beach getting arrested? 
 

Would a government start tyranny with guns ablazin’ when we’re all armed? Or, would they convince us that it’s a good idea? That it’s for “the greater good”? Does the government really have our best interests in mind?

Maybe my head is cooking inside this tinfoil hat.....

17 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

The greater good? 

Lol! I’m sorry. The answer we were looking for is “Tyranny”. 😂

8 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

I disagree with your statement about opening things being tied to paychecks, it is tied to how willing you are to have other people die. Some of us are willing to stay inside so that our other neighbors have a better chance. 

Why doesn’t your neighbor just stay inside? Why does everyone have to be punished for a few being scared? Why does my decision to provide for my family mean that I don’t care if someone dies? When I drive, I have a chance that I could get in a wreck and kill someone or myself. Should I not drive? If you wanna stay home, stay home. 
 

Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people. What is it called when the government restricts the movement of people who are not sick?

35 minutes ago, The Tip said:

"None of those things are communicable. "

You missed the point of my post entirely.

Even quoting Sweden's COVID STATISTICS vs their neighbor's misses the point of my post. How many in Sweden are NOT dying from the shut down related things I listed?

The point is that the big picture needs to be taken into consideration. This is not just about preventing the virus spreading versus people's economic needs. A big consideration of course. But that is an apple's to oranges thing in a way. Much harder to debate as opinions vary. I am trying to compare apples to apples. That being deaths. Deaths by virus or deaths by other shut down related reasons. 

Edited to say after reading ATXZJ's post, I have discovered that people's opinion on the shut down varies in correlation with their financial situation. Those receiving regular paychecks seem to favor continued shut down. Those that haven't a clue how they are going to pay for groceries are much more willing to take a chance on opening things up. Funny how that works!

I have received a regular paycheck and I don’t favor staying shutdown. This is what makes me wonder what the deal really is. Walmart is packed with people. So is HEB. Seeing videos of nurses dancing in the hallways of their hospitals while they are “overrun with patients”? Seems like people are ready to get back to work because the news doesn’t reflect what we actually see in our communities. Scare tactics 101?

10 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

When I was in 6th grade, my history teacher made us a promise to get our quiz scores up: if everyone got a 100% on the next quiz, she would buy a king size Snickers bar for each student. The quiz was a "matching" format where you have to match the numbered question with the lettered answer. She arranged the answers so that it was totally idiot-proof: 1=a, 2=b, 3=c. I think there were 12 questions.

Once you answered the first few questions, it was obvious how it worked and it was nearly impossible to get any of them wrong. I checked my work to make sure it was not a trick and every question followed the pattern. Everyone got a 100% except for ONE student, so no one got a candy bar. I think I know who that student was and he was indeed an idiot. (No, it was not me.)

There's a metaphor in there somewhere that relates to the current state of this country.

I couldn’t agree with you more! I think it’s ridiculous that everyone should suffer because of one persons decision. It makes no sense to me that the economy shut down because of a few people. Why should I not go to work because someone has the ‘rona? I saw a video yesterday where they were discussing how they got the mortality rate wrong. Seems like everyone overreacted! Seems like I knew it all along. Tin foil hat on!

3 minutes ago, crazyt said:

I feel that way about CNN, new york times, and the washington post. Every single story is a way to bash trump. For those who despise trump it is the epitome of confirmation bias. I think they are quite good at finding facts, but they routinely stray into interpretation or the use of adjectives/adverbs that inject tremendous negative connotations for people their readers hate, and the opposite for those their readers love.

epoch, info wars, daily kos, etc are just not legit at all.

 

Thank you!!

32 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

"Peer reviewer science" is EXACTLY what the Deep State, the reptile people, and George Soros and his cabal of Jews at NPR and the Southern Poverty Lawless Center want you to think by pulling the strings of the Lame Stream Media!

Now you’re making sense!! Lol!!

29 minutes ago, June Bug said:

From the WIKI for Epoch Times: "The Epoch Times is a multi-language newspaper. It was founded in 2000 by John Tang and a group of Chinese Americans associated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Though the newspaper is known for general interest topics with a focus on news about China and its human rights issues, it has become known for its support of  U.S. President Donald Trump and favorable coverage of far-right politicians in Europe; a 2019 report showed it to be the second-largest funder of pro-Trump Facebook advertising after the Trump campaign...The group's news sites and YouTube channels have spread conspiracy theories such as QAnon and anti-vaccination propaganda."

Lots more at the link. Falun Gong is a whole 'nother rabbit hole, as it European far-right populism/nationalism. 

 

I'm not saying you're wrong. But, using wiki to prove something? Really?

I read somewhere that its easier to fool someone than to convince them that they've been fooled.

48 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

sorry to jump down your throat about this, but it hit a nerve with me. as someone who used to work in newspapers and knows how hard it is make money AND tell the truth, it chaps my ass to no end to see shysters like Infowars and Epoch gain a foothold in the media landscape by selling gullible people their own fears and biases back to them in the form of "news." Liars tell the truth sometimes, but if the primary MO of their platform is to lie, they have forfeited any credibility in my mind. they don't deserve the clicks, even if it is to laugh at how absurd they are. they should be lumped in with Weekly World News and History Channel specials about UFOs, not promoted in serious discussions about world events that have fatal consequences to all of us.

I hate to get into this. But, are you implying that the networks listed above always tell the truth? Just because you worked in journalism in the past? You say its hard to make money AND tell the truth. What does that mean? Is CNN going broke because they don't lie?