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Oh come on. No reasonable person can make that assertion. Our demographics and ethnicities don’t come close to Sweden. There are various treatments for this virus and every single recent death has had underlying conditions. They are so secretive about these deaths as if when you die you have some expectation of privacy.
The lack of transparency on these underlying conditions makes the data even more suspect.
"..One takeaway from this (widely misinterpreted) article is that if COVID deaths in Sweden had continued forever and ever at their peak pace from early April, then life expectancy in Sweden would be...
...still greater than in the U.S. without COVID. (Bold added by this CD poster)
This is not to excuse excess COVID mortality in Sweden (or general mortality in the US!) but to caution against a tendency to quickly misinterpret numbers in ways that support one's own perspective..."
So, clearly Sweden has a much healthier population than U.S..
Also, it seems to me that when some people look at Covid death tolls they are assuming that they're all happening in a Covid vacuum, as if none of them would have occurred if it weren't for the virus.
Well, consider that the highest number of these deaths in both Sweden and U.S. has been in age range 80+. If/when I reach that age group it would seem to me that there's no real value in distinguishing what I'll eventually die from. Heart failure, pneumonia, Covid, cancer, whatever.. I'm old and proud of it!
But I'm definitely not saying, "Oh, all those fatalities, they would have died just then anyway."
Excess deaths are occurring due to the virus, for sure, and will continue to do so. It's certainly a nasty bug, not a hoax.
There are probably no countries in the world ignoring it completely. Every government is trying to slow its spread.
Hawaii sought to be another Vietnam or New Zealand but it looks as if that opportunity has been lost. So maybe it should look at coping as just another U.S state?
Josh Green interview this morning on Hawaii News Now at 7am
When pressed on the cases and asked why no action until now - he essentially threw everyone under the bus and said he called for action earlier
Said a Big Island resident flying to Maui shouldn't have to quarantine. Then the interviewer said, so and so from DLNR says you do. Green says it makes no sense. Kind of threw up his hands and said there would be a clarification. (On a side note, at the Gov press conference yesterday - Gov should take no questions, he totally blew the quarantine question and was all flustered)
School reopening and State reopening Sept 1, in "extreme jeopardy" (duh)
Of course, nothing on the economy, financial assistance programs, etc
When you reach 80+ let’s not kid ourselves. Life is day to day.
Yeah. My mother lived “day to day” for 19 years ... independently ... hiking and swimming daily. Her ‘Tanta Anna’ lived 24 years “day to day”, independently (did neighbors’ laundry for a living until 97). My father’s mother lived 18 years “day to day”, baking pies up to nearly the end. Two of Dad’s uncles farmed “day to day” for near a dozen years.
I can go on ... with family “day to day“ living, but I’ll spare you ...
It will be middle ground between what the democrats and republicans are arguing about. Keep in mind hawaii seems to be hurting a lot more than other states. Other tourist locations that have opened up like vegas are faring a lot better economically. The Cares act was super aggressive because the situation was dire across the country, now things are changing.
If it stays at $600, I'm guessing that's only short duration. Itll either step down or be a flat lower amount at $200-300. Republicans are NOT going to agree with $600 until end of the year at all. I'm not sure if the "get back to work" bonus is feasible, haven't heard much about it recently so guessing not. Trump is pushing a payroll tax waiver hard, I'm guessing it'll be partially waived. Senate republicans pushing for one time stimulus for incomes under $40k. My guess is the limits may end up being similar to the original stimulus checks. $1000 with complete phaseout between 80-100k. They'll likely do a second round of PPP for businesses. The original cares act was $3 trillion. My guess is they'll try to keep this one under $1.5
all my personal swags of course.
Trump just signed an executive order for $400/week relief. Although it's not clear on how the state is supposed to cover $100 of the $400 weekly aid. Trump is requiring that states cover 25% of the $400 benefit. But if you are already receiving state benefits in excess of $100/week, maybe you will only get $300 from the feds.
In either case, this should eliminate some anxiety as it will guarantee for those unemployed another $1,305/month min in benefits on top of what they are receiving from the state.
Trump just signed an executive order for $400/week relief. Although it's not clear on how the state is supposed to cover $100 of the $400 weekly aid. Trump is requiring that states cover 25% of the $400 benefit. But if you are already receiving state benefits in excess of $100/week, maybe you will only get $300 from the feds.
In either case, this should eliminate some anxiety as it will guarantee for those unemployed another $1,305/month min in benefits on top of what they are receiving from the state.
Um... what's going on right now is political games between the republicans and democrats, with the american people as the pawns.
Same thing is playing out on the state and county level. Democrats advocating for excessive shutdowns to keep people safer, but more reliant on government handouts. This justifies advocating for excessive welfare and unemployment to play to their base since the virus is extremely deadly and people need government regulation to survive.
Republicans advocating for more openings so businesses and people can get back on their feet. They want smaller amounts and less welfare to play to their base, which is taking the position that the virus isn't as deadly as people make it out to be.
Both sides pretend to want to meet in the middle, but in reality, not really. Trump is playing captain-save-a-ho and trying to win election points with his exec order. Also he's forcing congresses to move quicker by promising a level of benefits near what most people can agree to be a reasonable compromise. It's a level that trump will support with the legislation.
People are just too dumb and gullible to see any of this.
Apparently, Council Member Kymberly Marcos Pine is pandering for votes as part of her mayoral campaign. She wrote a letter to Admiral Davidson, Commander, US Indo-Pacom Command, to complain about and seek "serious reprimands on any and all military members" who violated quarantine during some large gathering the other day. Apparently, HPD merely made the military members clean up and then disperse.
Pine says that the party goes against efforts to "flatten the curve" (true) and that it risked "further sacrifice and another potential shut-down" (as close to false as it can be).
This is a classic example of how loony some of the Hawaii response has been. Having island residents who have been under quarantine for months in a state that has virtually zero covid cases does not pose any real risk of covid making a comeback. Moreover--and going to the clear pandering of her letter--given that the crowd was asked to clean up and leave (and no arrests were made), Pine knows full well that there is no realistic way that PACOM will ever find out who was at that party. So no one is getting "serious reprimands" As a "military spouse," which she so freely notes in the letter, she should have some idea of how the military works. Plus, just common sense. And why would she seriously want "serious reprimands"--which would likely include expulsion and subsequent joblessness for many--for such a low risk gathering
If people liker her continue to govern the islands, maybe Hawaii deserves all of the economic harm that its going to get (and has already received).
Edit: from what I'm reading, it wasn't just military folks there either, but local non-military residents as well.
I was glad to see that Marcos Pine was defeated in the primary and won't be going to the runoff. Her remarks here, alone, were enough for me to believe that she wasn't up for the job.
Trump just signed an executive order for $400/week relief. Although it's not clear on how the state is supposed to cover $100 of the $400 weekly aid. Trump is requiring that states cover 25% of the $400 benefit. But if you are already receiving state benefits in excess of $100/week, maybe you will only get $300 from the feds.
Assuming it survives court challenges, to get the $400 per week, the State needs to ask the Feds for the $300 - the legislature will need to approve the extra $100 and Ige sign it - then it kicks in. It is above and beyond your normal unemployment.
The payroll tax cut, for those under $100,000 year is a gamble, as it is a deferral. You need to pay those taxes later unless it is forgiven at some point.
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As a "military spouse," which she so freely notes in the letter, she should have some idea of how the military works. Plus, just common sense. And why would she seriously want "serious reprimands"--which would likely include expulsion and subsequent joblessness for many--for such a low risk gathering 
