Coronavirus: Threat Beyond Politics [For Political Discussions of CoV]

**Gistok** · August-13-20, 05:47 PM

Originally Posted by jcole

Actually, I read about a quarter of every 4th or 5th rant you post. I can find enough to roll my eyes out in that amount.

I thought it was just me doing that... I just read the first and last sentence... and that's usually enough to determine if even a response is necessary... or futile.

**Maof** · August-13-20, 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

I thought it was just me doing that... I just read the first and last sentence... and that's usually enough to determine if even a response is necessary... or futile.

The Evelyn Wood speed reading course I took in high school sure came in handy

**Honky Tonk** · August-14-20, 07:10 AM

Whitmer's being called out...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gretchen-...094502576.html

**Dan Wesson** · August-14-20, 07:14 AM

I saw that. Yahoo no less, WTF?

**Honky Tonk** · August-14-20, 11:18 AM

Originally Posted by Dan Wesson

I saw that. Yahoo no less, WTF?

Dan, I'm not sure if your Yahoo comment was a slap or not, but here's an editorial from the Detroit News:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/op...cy/3300487001/

And another from mLive:

https://www.mlive.com/public-interes...emergency.html

19 Democrats also supported Senate Bill 899. So, yeah, "WTF?"

**Dan Wesson** · August-14-20, 11:51 AM

Yahoo is on the left side of the spectrum..,

No slap intended. Just a WTF cause a decidedly left leaning site publishing negative stuff on one of their own.

Dude...

**Wheels** · August-14-20, 03:27 PM

She is so disturbingly horrible even they have to expose it!!!

**Zacha341** · August-14-20, 03:29 PM

Hah! Many Detroiter's [[within the city proper) have been calling her out on several issues for some time. She tried to make it out, or perhaps think it was just the protestors up north. Nope.

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Whitmer's being called out...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gretchen-...094502576.html

**Gistok** · August-16-20, 04:00 PM

Well I was somewhat of a supporter of hers, but after reading this, I can agree that she has really bungled it. However... I put her in the same category as the governors of Florida, Georgia, Texas and Arizona... all idiots.

I'm still not sure about Newsom of California... whether he's bungled it, or the people there are idiots...

**Maof** · August-16-20, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Whitmer's being called out...

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gretchen-...094502576.html

Funny thing, that piece was written by this guy....

https://catholicherald.co.uk/wp-cont...-Supporter.jpg

**Gistok** · August-16-20, 08:08 PM

Originally Posted by Maof

Funny thing, that piece was written by this guy....

https://catholicherald.co.uk/wp-cont...-Supporter.jpg

Thanks for that Maof... it did raise my level of respect for Whitmer somewhat... obviously a biased opinion piece... but the nursing home fiasco was troubling.

Plus she is fixing the damn roads. I-94 3 blocks from me got an entire resurfacing of black top a few months ago. And I have seen many road repairs throughout my neck of the woods [[southern Macomb County). I can't speak for the rest of the state, but the neglect didn't happen overnight, so it won't be fixed overnight.

**Honky Tonk** · August-16-20, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by Maof

Funny thing, that piece was written by this guy....

https://catholicherald.co.uk/wp-cont...-Supporter.jpg

How about the other two articles Maof? Written by other guys wearing Trump t-shirts too? And if they were, did Frau Whitmer send the elderly to their deaths or not, that's the important question. How's Flint doing? Midland? So far I hear nothing but crickets from the media since the election.

**Honky Tonk** · August-16-20, 08:46 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Thanks for that Maof... it did raise my level of respect for Whitmer somewhat... obviously a biased opinion piece... but the nursing home fiasco was troubling.

Plus she is fixing the damn roads. I-94 3 blocks from me got an entire resurfacing of black top a few months ago. And I have seen many road repairs throughout my neck of the woods [[southern Macomb County). I can't speak for the rest of the state, but the neglect didn't happen overnight, so it won't be fixed overnight.

Glad to hear you got your 30 pieces of silver, Gistok. Elderly be dammed, they're just exhausting SS for all the "immigrants" anyway. Why the hell would anyone buy a house next to a freeway?

**Gistok** · August-16-20, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Glad to hear you got your 30 pieces of silver, Gistok. Elderly be dammed, they're just exhausting SS for all the "immigrants" anyway. Why the hell would anyone buy a house next to a freeway?

Well Honky Tonk, since you asked... here's the scoop... unlike Livonia along I-275 where the cement freeway with the grooves in it makes for freeway noise up to a half a mile away, over on the east side, I-94 has been asphalt paved for the last 20 years, and it greatly reduces the sound coming off the freeway... especially since the western edge of SCS has a 12 ft. brick wall along the freeway from 8-12 Mile Rd., with lots of trees to help eradicate noise coming off the freeway, and 3 blocks away it's only noticeable late at night.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4878...7i16384!8i8192

As I mentioned, they just repaved it and it's smooth and quiet. And living within a 1 minute drive of both I-94 and I-696... makes for a quick 20 minute drive downtown or Southfield [[the zoo is only 10 min.), as well as points eastward towards Port Huron. In fact I can get downtown faster that folks living out in farther NW Detroit. And homes in our neighborhood rarely come up for sale, and are so popular [[due to freeway closeness) that many sell without a realtor. And being a long time homeowner, my property taxes are about 40% lower than new neighbors would pay.

Now getting to Whitmer... AS I ALREADY POSTED... what she did was disturbing [[sending patients to nursing home, and vetoing that bill). But she has been adamant about social distancing and mask wearing... something that states that governors that like to kiss Trumps ass [[Florida and Georgia for example)... Michigan has a 3.08% positive test result, while Florida has 9.1% and Georgia has 10.7%. Their death numbers are rising by the hundreds daily, while Michigan's is doing so at a trickle [[5-18 daily).

So your blind loyalty to the Trumpster may be making you prejudiced against Frau Gretchen... since he hates her... and most Trumpsters seem to like to follow his lead, regardless of all the facts.

Is she perfect... not even close... but she has flattened the curve here in Michigan... despite all the non-social distancing folks in our state, and despite the fact that Trump doesn't even remotely give a rats ass how many die of the disease. And that is the positive that I like about her... despite all her negatives.

**Honky Tonk** · August-16-20, 11:06 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Well Honky Tonk, since you asked... here's the scoop... unlike Livonia along I-275 where the cement freeway with the grooves in it makes for freeway noise up to a half a mile away, over on the east side, I-94 has been asphalt paved for the last 20 years, and it greatly reduces the sound coming off the freeway... especially since the western edge of SCS has a 12 ft. brick wall along the freeway from 8-12 Mile Rd., with lots of trees to help eradicate noise coming off the freeway, and 3 blocks away it's only noticeable late at night.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4878...7i16384!8i8192

As I mentioned, they just repaved it and it's smooth and quiet. And living within a 1 minute drive of both I-94 and I-696... makes for a quick 20 minute drive downtown or Southfield [[the zoo is only 10 min.), as well as points eastward towards Port Huron. In fact I can get downtown faster that folks living out in farther NW Detroit. And homes in our neighborhood rarely come up for sale, and are so popular [[due to freeway closeness) that many sell without a realtor. And being a long time homeowner, my property taxes are about 40% lower than new neighbors would pay.

Now getting to Whitmer... AS I ALREADY POSTED... what she did was disturbing [[sending patients to nursing home, and vetoing that bill). But she has been adamant about social distancing and mask wearing... something that states that governors that like to kiss Trumps ass [[Florida and Georgia for example)... Michigan has a 3.08% positive test result, while Florida has 9.1% and Georgia has 10.7%. Their death numbers are rising by the hundreds daily, while Michigan's is doing so at a trickle [[5-18 daily).

So your blind loyalty to the Trumpster may be making you prejudiced against Frau Gretchen... since he hates her... and most Trumpsters seem to like to follow his lead, regardless of all the facts.

Is she perfect... not even close... but she has flattened the curve here in Michigan... despite all the non-social distancing folks in our state, and despite the fact that Trump doesn't even remotely give a rats ass how many die of the disease. And that is the positive that I like about her... despite all her negatives.

Concrete vs. asphalt. Concrete is not only more durable, it dries faster and the grooves help drain excess water and increase stopping power. Asphalt absorbs water, which makes it slicker, especially in the winter months, so it has to be salted to prevent icy conditions and collisions. The State has cut back on it's salting budget, so make sure you're carrying enough auto insurance, you don't want to end up in a nursing home. Next time you come into Detroit, take Kerchaval instead of 94, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. Every bar and restaurant, from the Hill to Alter Rd. has an outside dining / gathering area, and they're packed, elbow to elbow. Hardly anyone is wearing a mask. Gretchen can advocate anything she wants, but in practice, few seem to be following her advice. If they're all "Trumptards", then I think he's got a good shot at getting reelected. I'm glad you agree killing the elderly is "troublesome". It shows you have heart. Anyway, now that your freeway is as dead quiet as a MI nursing home, get some rest.

**Gistok** · August-17-20, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by Honky Tonk

Next time you come into Detroit, take Kerchaval instead of 94, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. Every bar and restaurant, from the Hill to Alter Rd. has an outside dining / gathering area, and they're packed, elbow to elbow. Hardly anyone is wearing a mask.

Hmmmm, I know one bar owner who does maintain social distancing outdoors [[he has a large enough parking lot), and he said the state has been by his bar twice [[once on a Friday night, the other time on a Saturday night) to double check that social distancing guidelines are followed, or he would be shut down. When was the last time you checked those crowded bars? Some may have violated the state guidelines and may have been shut down.

You do realize that the state has set up guidelines for bar and restaurant owners to follow before they are allowed to open [[especially after that East Lansing bar got over 100 people infected). Here in SCS they have been pretty good at following the guidelines...

https://www.candgnews.com/news/st-cl...-dining-117931

Also... the Grosse Pointes all have police departments that are VERY vigilant in following the law. You can't even drive thru the Pointes with a car tail light out, without getting ticketed.

Did you actually see crowded bars? Or are you going on 2nd hand anecdotal evidence?

**Bigdd** · August-17-20, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

As I mentioned, they just repaved it and it's smooth and quiet. [[I-94)

Gov Whitmer will NOT be fixing the dam n roads. Not even possible,.. certainly not in the next 30 years.

Asphalt has a very short lifespan on a freeway. I-94 has been re-surfaced many times before.

The ONLY way one can fix the damn roads is to re-do each freeway, major surface street etc to a much higher standard when IT DOES get redone,... and after decades of doing that, the number of road projects that need to happen each Summer will start to drop. So thicker road beds, thicker cement surfaces, better drainage, etc,.. and eventually the orange barrels will be half of what they are in a normal year.

Resurfacing a freeway in asphalt DOES NOT COUNT as fixing the damn roads. It is just regular maintenance.

And even if someone gave the Gov a trillion in cash,. the roads STILL wouldn't get fixed in 8 years. [[Not that there's any chance she'll be in office that long). There are only so many companies that can properly redo a freeway,.. and it's not like 1/2 of them are sitting around doing nothing each Summer.

Secondly,.. you can't close down all the freeways and major surface streets at the same time,.. for a decade. Just the widening of I-75 is scheduled to take 17 years. If we did I-94 correctly,.. that would take 5 years easy.

Originally Posted by Gistok

Now getting to Whitmer... AS I ALREADY POSTED... what she did was disturbing [[sending patients to nursing home, and vetoing that bill)............................ Their death numbers are rising by the hundreds daily, while Michigan's is doing so at a trickle [[5-18 daily).

Well,.. some would argue that it's easy to get the numbers to drop when you've killed off the most vulnerable to the disease. They can only die once.

Her handling of this is certainly 100x worse than people accuse Trump of. The president built massive hospital tents, sent ships, provided funding to convert stadiums etc to hospital / recovery centers. We didn't even bother to use them. Are we seriously believing that there was NO WAY to put covid pos people into empty Cobo for a week or two until they tested neg? $100 says if Trump had been the governor, he would have signed an executive order to do just that [[even if it contradicted some health-department rule),.. and we would have saved those lives. Some Satan worshiper would have challenged it in court of course,.. and the presidents lawyers could have fought it out, stalling for time in order to save the lives of thousands of seniors.

He would have taken a beating,.. but thousands of seniors would still be alive. Our governor simply has no guts or compassion.

**Honky Tonk** · August-17-20, 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by Bigdd

Gov Whitmer will NOT be fixing the dam n roads. Not even possible,.. certainly not in the next 30 years.

Asphalt has a very short lifespan on a freeway. I-94 has been re-surfaced many times before.

The ONLY way one can fix the damn roads is to re-do each freeway, major surface street etc to a much higher standard when IT DOES get redone,... and after decades of doing that, the number of road projects that need to happen each Summer will start to drop. So thicker road beds, thicker cement surfaces, better drainage, etc,.. and eventually the orange barrels will be half of what they are in a normal year.

Resurfacing a freeway in asphalt DOES NOT COUNT as fixing the damn roads. It is just regular maintenance.

And even if someone gave the Gov a trillion in cash,. the roads STILL wouldn't get fixed in 8 years. [[Not that there's any chance she'll be in office that long). There are only so many companies that can properly redo a freeway,.. and it's not like 1/2 of them are sitting around doing nothing each Summer.

Secondly,.. you can't close down all the freeways and major surface streets at the same time,.. for a decade. Just the widening of I-75 is scheduled to take 17 years. If we did I-94 correctly,.. that would take 5 years easy.

Well,.. some would argue that it's easy to get the numbers to drop when you've killed off the most vulnerable to the disease. They can only die once.

Her handling of this is certainly 100x worse than people accuse Trump of. The president built massive hospital tents, sent ships, provided funding to convert stadiums etc to hospital / recovery centers. We didn't even bother to use them. Are we seriously believing that there was NO WAY to put covid pos people into empty Cobo for a week or two until they tested neg? $100 says if Trump had been the governor, he would have signed an executive order to do just that [[even if it contradicted some health-department rule),.. and we would have saved those lives. Some Satan worshiper would have challenged it in court of course,.. and the presidents lawyers could have fought it out, stalling for time in order to save the lives of thousands of seniors.

He would have taken a beating,.. but thousands of seniors would still be alive. Our governor simply has no guts or compassion.

Bingo! It'll last about 3 years then will need to be resurfaced again. Years ago when I lived near 94 in Detroit resurfacing was a regular thing. Granholm was asked in an interview once why it's not being repaired properly, her reply was it would cost too much. She didn't offer that the gas tax dollars that were supposed to be used for repair, had long since been moved into the general fund and are now being used for other things.
But this thread is about Covid-19. Last week I spoke with two friends, my age, who's mothers had died in nursing centers. Both had gone in for none Covid related illnesses, contracted the virus, and died. Well, one for sure. The other had tests done, but they were "lost" after her passing, and he doesn't want her exhumed. It's a scary sore spot with me right now. I don't find Whitmer's veto amusing.

**Gistok** · August-17-20, 03:20 PM

One quick note on the asphalt resurfacing... it took them about 3 or 4 weeks of night time and weekend work to redo I-94. From a commuter perspective it's much better than the shutdown of one direction I-696 all of last year [[into November) for cement replacement. Besides the inclement weather issues, I am perfectly happy with the asphalt. I wonder what a cost of one long term [[cement) vs occasional recovering [[asphalt is). I've driven the German Autobahn... and it's all asphalt [[or something similar)... and if it were all a safety issue, I would have thought that all roads would have been concrete. But I'm not an expert in this area... just wondering.

Getting back to Covid-19... I don't disagree with your assessments that putting Covid patients into nursing homes was a bone ass stupid idea.

But now we look at the suffering going on in states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and Georgia. They are going thru a different type of stupidity... governors who refuse social distancing and mask wearing MANDATES... Texas had 10.5K deaths and Florida 9.5K [[granted they already have an aging population). But not mandating some of the safety issues means that Covid-19 is just going to continue spreading around the USA with new hot spots showing up all the time. I have several hundred European Facebook friends who keep asking me why Americans are so stubborn [[or stupid)... and I just tell them that many get their directions from the top...

**Honky Tonk** · August-17-20, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

One quick note on the asphalt resurfacing... it took them about 3 or 4 weeks of night time and weekend work to redo I-94. From a commuter perspective it's much better than the shutdown of one direction I-696 all of last year [[into November) for cement replacement. Besides the inclement weather issues, I am perfectly happy with the asphalt. I wonder what a cost of one long term [[cement) vs occasional recovering [[asphalt is). I've driven the German Autobahn... and it's all asphalt [[or something similar)... and if it were all a safety issue, I would have thought that all roads would have been concrete. But I'm not an expert in this area... just wondering.

Getting back to Covid-19... I don't disagree with your assessments that putting Covid patients into nursing homes was a bone ass stupid idea.

But now we look at the suffering going on in states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and Georgia. They are going thru a different type of stupidity... governors who refuse social distancing and mask wearing MANDATES... Texas had 10.5K deaths and Florida 9.5K [[granted they already have an aging population). But not mandating some of the safety issues means that Covid-19 is just going to continue spreading around the USA with new hot spots showing up all the time. I have several hundred European Facebook friends who keep asking me why Americans are so stubborn [[or stupid)... and I just tell them that many get their directions from the top...

I don't want to argue with you, because I rely a lot on life experience, and I've never been to Germany or driven the Autobahn. I do have a number of well traveled friends, and this is the first time I've heard of some kind of surface on the Autobahn other than concrete. Here is a link to one of the German paving machine companies, and a brief description of how they maintain and pave the Autobahn.

https://www.worldhighways.com/index....ncrete-surface

As far as "Americans" go, and Covid-19, that's a generality. It ain't everybody. I know Europeans as well, and some of them can be real boneheads. Is it all off them? Of course not. Most of them are like the European family I grew up in, they still wash the sidewalks in front of their homes. And Europe has also had some severe bouts with Covid-19. I think people are getting tired of the quarantines, and are letting their guard down. Take me up on my offer and drive Kerchaval from Provencal Rd. to Alter some Friday or Saturday evening. It's frightening to see the clusters of people at the sidewalk cafes partying like it's 1999. Gretchen can make all the mandates she wants, but if no one heeds them and they're not enforced, it's not going to matter. Drive Mack back. It has fresh asphalt on it and I can spot more flaws then I can count.

**Wheels** · August-17-20, 07:18 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

One quick note on the asphalt resurfacing... it took them about 3 or 4 weeks of night time and weekend work to redo I-94. From a commuter perspective it's much better than the shutdown of one direction I-696 all of last year [[into November) for cement replacement. Besides the inclement weather issues, I am perfectly happy with the asphalt. I wonder what a cost of one long term [[cement) vs occasional recovering [[asphalt is). I've driven the German Autobahn... and it's all asphalt [[or something similar)... and if it were all a safety issue, I would have thought that all roads would have been concrete. But I'm not an expert in this area... just wondering.

Getting back to Covid-19... I don't disagree with your assessments that putting Covid patients into nursing homes was a bone ass stupid idea.

But now we look at the suffering going on in states such as Florida, Texas, Arizona and Georgia. They are going thru a different type of stupidity... governors who refuse social distancing and mask wearing MANDATES... Texas had 10.5K deaths and Florida 9.5K [[granted they already have an aging population). But not mandating some of the safety issues means that Covid-19 is just going to continue spreading around the USA with new hot spots showing up all the time. I have several hundred European Facebook friends who keep asking me why Americans are so stubborn [[or stupid)... and I just tell them that many get their directions from the top...

More miss information.

Have you really been on an Autobahn? I have driven thousands of miles on Autobahns and have never seen asphalt. From what I was told over there it’s as much as 8 “ thick. Here is some info.

https://www.businessinsider.com/germ...ompared-2016-3

**Zacha341** · August-17-20, 07:23 PM

^ I've dreamed of driving the AB with a fast Audi... ah what joy that must be!

**Honky Tonk** · August-17-20, 07:55 PM

Just as an FYI, if you're thinking of going to one of those Audubon Society meetings on Belle Isle, they have nothing to do with speedlimitless highways or fast cars. All they talk about is birds.

**Zacha341** · August-17-20, 08:38 PM

^ Yeah somehow I knew that : ) Maniac thinking they were on the AB drove down my street up onto the grass, mowed down a city planted tree and took off.

No insurance I AM sure [[considering how high it is). Fancy muscle car or course!