Why does this remind me of all the China criticisms/suppressions?
It doesn’t really matter where in the world one is. Many folks in power want absolute control to make them look better.
From TWiV - there was an episode where two speakers lamented the loss of them being able to sing with their choir or barbershop group. For the next week, a listener wrote in with a possible solution. Here is that piece from the transcript (the transcript doesn’t show their responses but they were encouraged).
Might I request that we ban the term “magical thinking” from those with opposing viewpoints? It is both insulting and inaccurate to think that intelligent and reasonable adults could not disagree on approaches to the current situation.
No, we should not censor others can say on this forum if it doesn’t violate TOS. I believe that anyone who thinks Coronavirus has gone away and that social distancing is no longer needed is in heavy denial, and engaging in magical thinking. The thinking referenced above is a perfect example of it.
I don’t disagree with what you wrote, but I thought the grammar was interesting. That either “pay if you go” or “pay as you go” mean the opposite of “pay as if you go” 
DH, a retired dentist, requested last Fri that the ADA email him their “toolkit” for reopening your practice for non-essential care. He got that response today. He also got an email from the CT state dental assoc. with the guidelines that the state of CT released yesterday. According to his brief perusal of both, he said that Ct’s guidelines are more detailed and specific than the ADA’s. The ADA is still waiting for updated guidance from the CDC that they requested almost 2 weeks ago.
No need. I’ve heard it used IRL for both sides (virus or economics). Just take it however you want to if you’re one on a certain side.
@Nrdsb4 - I agree with your first sentence. But I interpreted what you quoted as meaning that “there exist 40% of US adults who engage in magical thinking and will return to life as normal”. In other words, I wouldn’t have thought that the poster who said that about 40% of adults, put him/herself in that 40%.
One week after reopening, some schools in France are shutting down again after covid outbreaks led to 70 new cases.
(A misleading CNN headline claims 70 newly reopened schools shut down, but that’s probably not true.)
Besides, it’s good to hear what folks think rather than creating a bubble of approved thoughts only. It’s why I read this thread. I have my own thoughts/beliefs/actions, but I like to know what else is out there (and where). I don’t need everyone agreeing with me. It would be nice, but when in history has everyone agreed with something? Those times are rare.
Our church has seen no decrease in donations. Members are actually contributing extra, to a fund to help people affected by the pandemic.
"numerous indicators that deaths related to the virus have been severely undercounted, largely because of scarce testing…
"Provisional death counts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Texas saw 824 more deaths than usual from March 22 to April 11 of this year. During the same time, Texas had reported just 249 deaths linked to the coronavirus.
Hayward said undercounts were “probably huge”
“In many Texas counties, particularly in rural areas, coroners who mark cause of death have little or no medical training” (!)
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/30/coronavirus-nursing-homes-families/
Long look at the nursing home issue
ps There are disagreements in my own group of neighbors. We’re still a community and I know I could count on any of them if I needed them for something. I’m still not changing how I plan to tackle the future - and they probably aren’t changing theirs.
My mother writes a check for church every week, but doesn’t contribute if she doesn’t go, and doesn’t make up for it, so she is a ‘pay if you go’, not a ‘pay as if you go.’ Before covid, she didn’t miss much so it wasn’t an issue. Her contributions are pretty small so the church isn’t missing her $, but multiply that by all the old people and it adds up (and there are a lot of old people at her church).
There are also churches in vacation areas who depend on all those cash donations in the summer months from ‘one timers’.
@greenwitch thanks for the info. I wasn’t sure how our church managed the singing, I just knew it worked! A former member of our worship team who had moved to California last year joined in, an unexpected bonus.
I absolutely do not believe that the poster who reported the magical thinking and denial was in agreement. They were simply opining that this kind of thinking is pretty rampant. Sorry I didn’t make that clear.
Then again, maybe I misinterpreted @anomander’s comment.
In either case, I stand by my opinion that anyone who thinks it’s safe to “completely abandon all social distancing” or that it’s possible to “return back to normal” without devastating consequences is engaging in magical thinking.
I just got back from the hair salon - cut, color and blow dry. Everyone had masks, chairs were re-positioned to so that you weren’t within 6 feet of anyone but your own stylist. They are allowed to be at 25% capacity and are booked solid at that rate through the week.
This area has not been hit hard, I feel comfortable with the re-opening.
Thank you for that clarification!
You can see from polling that the trend away from social distancing is increasing. From the below quote you can do the math and see that if 58% are socially isolating, then 42% are not.
“Fifty-eight percent of Americans said they are either completely (17%) or mostly (41%) isolating themselves”
“Of the 21 states that as of May 4 lacked stay-at-home orders, 51% of survey respondents said they were either completely or mostly self-isolating. That’s down from 64% in these same states two weeks ago.”
With the President currently strongly and very vocally in favor of ending shelter-in-place rules, I think we’ll see the shift in sentiment start to accelerate.
Just to be clear, while some believe the whole thing is an overblown media hoax, I think many people just either have SIP fatigue or just don’t think they personally will be affected, or very likely they need to get back to work. So instead of “magical thinking” I might classify some of this as “wishful thinking” or in many cases “hoping for the best because you have no choice”.
I think the problem with the “magical thinking” comment is that there was no context. No specific post was quoted, so it was left up to each of us to decide whether you meant us.
eta: this is much more clear…
Somebody beat me to the punch but I was going to say I think restaurant owners are assuming that their customers want to be in a crowded restaurant that is 100% capacity? This might not be the case at all…
Some restaurants are going to have to come to the realization that they are going to have to adapt or “die”. If you are relying on tourists and locals packing your restaurants and bars anytime in the near future, you are greatly mistaken. There isn’t anything the governor or mayors can do about this. The virus is the enemy and until there is a vaccination, these small businesses are going to be in a world of hurt. It’s a shame, its awful, but its what’s going to happen to many of these businesses.