D&D and the rising pandemic

[Retreater]

At my annual physical this morning, the doc said "1.5 years" until we can even start to think about normal.
I believe her, even if I am less optimistic.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not even 100% on who the mayor of Auckland is... I tend not to vote local either, I just don't have enough information for an informed vote and I tend to be too lazy to look for it.

Phil Goff?

I know my mayor's face, I just don't recall his name.

I think mayor's in US are a bit more important with control over police.

That's all centralized government funded here.

 

[Zardnaar]

At my annual physical this morning, the doc said "1.5 years" until we can even start to think about normal.
I believe her, even if I am less optimistic.

It's what I figure. One way or another things should improve end of 2021 or in 2022.
My panic phase lasted about two days in March, sat down with the wife and laid out what's probably gonna happen.

 

[Hussar]

Something to remember when you start comparing elections between countries is that the Americans elect EVERYONE. NZ, like Canada, is parlimentary isn't it? We don't even elect our PM directly. Just vote for your local MP.

But, we certainly don't elect our police chief, school superintendent or the host of elected positions that the Americans do.

 

[cbwjm]

Phil Goff?

I know my mayor's face, I just don't recall his name.

I think mayor's in US are a bit more important with control over police.

That's all centralized government funded here.

You're probably right, I know he was mayor but wasn't sure if he still was.

 

[Zardnaar]

Something to remember when you start comparing elections between countries is that the Americans elect EVERYONE. NZ, like Canada, is parlimentary isn't it? We don't even elect our PM directly. Just vote for your local MP.

But, we certainly don't elect our police chief, school superintendent or the host of elected positions that the Americans do.

Proportional, we do vote on local MP but it doesn't matter in terms of who forms the parliament or even whose it it to some extent.

It pretty much just guarantees that individual makes it in. The parties select the leaders in a variety of ways and the parties write the party lists.

Local MP can matter for strategic voting but that's only one Electorate atm

 

[Eltab]

Presidential only every hits the 66 percent I think local is less but would have to look it up.
Also Mid terms are like 40 percent here (these do not include the President)

I regularly get to read local post-midterm newspaper articles bemoaning the 20% (1 in 5) show-up-to-vote rate.
On the plus side, I do show up and vote, so it's like my vote counts 5 times as much.
OTOH, I have to vote in uncontested elections to raise my "I voted for the winner" rate above 50% ...

 

[Cadence]

Something to remember when you start comparing elections between countries is that the Americans elect EVERYONE. NZ, like Canada, is parlimentary isn't it? We don't even elect our PM directly. Just vote for your local MP.

But, we certainly don't elect our police chief, school superintendent or the host of elected positions that the Americans do.

I think most of America doesn't get to elect the police chief or local school district superintendent. I think they do elect the county sheriff and the local school board (who picks the superintendent) and the city council and mayor (who pick the police chief), and the county coroner and treasurer and assessor, and maybe some judges and magistrates, and then we get to the state level ...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re: convalescent plasma therapy

This is an established treatment that has a historically shown varying degrees of effectiveness versus a wide range of pathogens. So it’s not junk science and snake oil.

The C19 study itself showed it does have some pronounced effects against the bug...in certain patients...within a certain time window. The problem is the WH hype machine. Looking beyond the small demographic group who got CPT withkn the therapeutic time window, the overall positive effect of the therapy across the board was only 3-4 percentage points.

Sooooo, not a silver bullet, but also not a sham, either. It’s a tool that will be useful to some but not all C19 patients.

 

[Hussar]

I think most of America doesn't get to elect the police chief or local school district superintendent. I think they do elect the county sheriff and the local school board (who picks the superintendent) and the city council and mayor (who pick the police chief), and the county coroner and treasurer and assessor, and maybe some judges and magistrates, and then we get to the state level ...

Sorry, I didn't get the exact terms right. My point is, you guys vote for a whole host of positions that those of us who live in parliamentary countries don't. Heck, compared to Canada, we don't vote for anyone really. Your local MP at the federal level, your local MPP at the provincial level, and your local mayor/reeve/whatever at the municipal level.

That's it. That's the sum total of the people we vote for in Canada. Our senators are appointed, not elected. Our PM isn't directly elected, but is simply the leader of whatever party wins the election. Judges? Nope. Police officers of any stripe? Nope. Vote for my school board? Nope. You guys elect SO MANY people.