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The ultimate in stupid COVID news
Mar. 21st, 2020 12:38 pmWell, there is some encouraging news, but some amazingly blitheringly stupid stuff first. And you'll never guess who it's about.
The amazingly stupid news is about Our Beloved Leader. I had hoped that during this emergency he was taking advice from smart people, but no. He's still shooting from the hip and listening to his gut, which has an IQ approximately that of the temperature of the surface of Mars.
Remember those two hospital ships? They aren't going fucking anywhere. They're both undergoing major refit and have no medical personnel assigned to them. They won't be sailing for MONTHS. Apparently President Dumbass heard the Navy had hospital ships and thought "Great! We'll send them!" and didn't bother asking if they could be deployed. Well, they can't be. Ships have to go through maintenance cycles, and as it happens, these two are both undergoing maintenance cycles right now.. Odds are that under normal circumstances they wouldn't simultaneously be undergoing refit, either the Navy didn't have berth space at the same time, or they were both too busy to refit at their normal pace, or budget cycles didn't permit, or who knows. Regardless, they're both out of service right now and won't be helping anyone at the moment.
Hopefully they may be putting extra shifts on the refurb and they may come back in to service sooner, but that brings up a second problem: personnel and equipment. Chances are those medical personnel are going to be put to use in other Navy hospitals, they're hopefully not on a beach in Florida sitting on their collective butts. And gear? Any personal protective equipment is going to be moved out to other places the Navy is going to need it!
No, I tend to doubt those ships are ever going to sail.
Let's talk about Our Idiot-In-Chief's second massively stupid statement. There's a drug used to treat malaria called chloroquine. Our Chief Moron said it was going to be widely available. Only problem is that it hasn't been studied and tested and, most importantly, approved by the FDA for use. It seems to be effective in preventing viral replication, which is something that COVID-19 does rapidly. And I'm sure the FDA is studying it. But studies take time, and they're not going to rush this because drugs have nasty side-effects. Like blindness. Like blindness TEN YEARS AFTER YOU STOP TAKING THE DRUG. Like blindness symptoms, you stop taking the drug, and you still go blind! This is not casual shit!
Instead, our Idiot-In-Chief seems to think you can take one pill and it'll all be better.
*sigh*
You would not believe the amount of profanity I was spewing last night.
Networks need to stop carrying his press conferences live, and instead do a delayed broadcast with a live fact-checker. Show a clip of him speaking, then cut to the fact-checker saying "No, these ships are in re-fit and can't sail for at least two months, assuming personnel and equipment haven't been redeployed." "No, this drug is not available as it has not been tested nor approved by the FDA."
****
In other White House news, a Pence staffer has tested positive for COVID.
****
Oh, and COVID is probably going to disrupt the 2020 United States Census. Well, that's a big DUH.
****
Offering proof that the Flying Spaghetti Monster has a wonderful sense of humor, the new movie Cats apparently is available for purchase online for $20. My wife was telling me that an effects company was hired to remove the cats' buttholes. Which means there's a butthole edition of the movie somewhere....
I find it amazing that no one was capable of going to the producers early in the production before they spent a bazillion dollars (proverbially) and saying "You know, you might want to rethink the direction. This looks really ugly."
At least they did well at the Razzie Awards.
****
GameStop, the video game store, finally closed up for the duration. Apparently they believed everyone should buy new games to self-isolate. Did they think no one could re-play old games? It really stuns me how many companies just can't let that last dime pass by.
In other gaming news, lots of Friendly Local Game Stores are providing mail-order and online/phone order and curb-side pickup and sometimes free local delivery.
****
There's a tech web site called iFixit, which has all sorts of information and videos on repairing your personal electronic gear, I've used it many times. They also sell tools and parts. They are crowd-sourcing repair manuals for hospital equipment, focusing on ventilators and BiPap equipment! They're going to reformat them to make them more accessible for search engine optimization so the information is more easily found with a Google search. No idea if they're going to try to source parts.
So if you know any medical equipment repair techs who hoard manuals, point them to this site and ask them to help out.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21187981/ifixit-medical-device-repair-database-guides-ventilators-coronavirus-covid-19
****
I think I've mentioned Elon Musk has said he's prepared to manufacture ventilators. He really needs to start that right fucking now.
****
This is a truly scary technique, but it might come down to this and it could save a lot of lives. There's a simple fact: we do not have enough ventilators. Eventually manufacturing will gear up, but there's a serious risk of a lot of people dying due to this shortage. In Italy, people are dying because of this shortage. Doctors are being forced to make life and death decisions as to who gets a ventilator or not. Also, as heavily as these devices are going to be used, they're going to break down.
In 2006, two doctors had an idea: one ventilator doing the breathing for FOUR PEOPLE. It's very risky. They have to be similar people: similar lung volume (tidal capacity), same diseases, etc. For example, you couldn't hook up a child with a large adult: vastly different tidal capacity.
You hook up a T splitter, then two more T splitters off of each branch. Boom, four people on one ventilator. All of the tubing has to be the same length, and there's a huge risk of cross-contamination if, for example, one of the patients has an undiagnosed bacterial or fungal lung infection - the other three will get it. But it could save lives. It's been tested on artificial lungs, and the technique does work. And it has been done in real life when the Las Vegas shooting happened and emergency rooms were swamped and didn't have enough ventilators.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdm53/this-risky-hack-could-double-access-to-ventilators-as-coronavirus-peaks
****
Eight free streaming services! Some have opened their networks for 30 days, and some biggies! Showtime, Acorn, The Met, Shudder, etc!
https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/streaming-services-free-trial-coronavirus-pandemic.html
The amazingly stupid news is about Our Beloved Leader. I had hoped that during this emergency he was taking advice from smart people, but no. He's still shooting from the hip and listening to his gut, which has an IQ approximately that of the temperature of the surface of Mars.
Remember those two hospital ships? They aren't going fucking anywhere. They're both undergoing major refit and have no medical personnel assigned to them. They won't be sailing for MONTHS. Apparently President Dumbass heard the Navy had hospital ships and thought "Great! We'll send them!" and didn't bother asking if they could be deployed. Well, they can't be. Ships have to go through maintenance cycles, and as it happens, these two are both undergoing maintenance cycles right now.. Odds are that under normal circumstances they wouldn't simultaneously be undergoing refit, either the Navy didn't have berth space at the same time, or they were both too busy to refit at their normal pace, or budget cycles didn't permit, or who knows. Regardless, they're both out of service right now and won't be helping anyone at the moment.
Hopefully they may be putting extra shifts on the refurb and they may come back in to service sooner, but that brings up a second problem: personnel and equipment. Chances are those medical personnel are going to be put to use in other Navy hospitals, they're hopefully not on a beach in Florida sitting on their collective butts. And gear? Any personal protective equipment is going to be moved out to other places the Navy is going to need it!
No, I tend to doubt those ships are ever going to sail.
Let's talk about Our Idiot-In-Chief's second massively stupid statement. There's a drug used to treat malaria called chloroquine. Our Chief Moron said it was going to be widely available. Only problem is that it hasn't been studied and tested and, most importantly, approved by the FDA for use. It seems to be effective in preventing viral replication, which is something that COVID-19 does rapidly. And I'm sure the FDA is studying it. But studies take time, and they're not going to rush this because drugs have nasty side-effects. Like blindness. Like blindness TEN YEARS AFTER YOU STOP TAKING THE DRUG. Like blindness symptoms, you stop taking the drug, and you still go blind! This is not casual shit!
Instead, our Idiot-In-Chief seems to think you can take one pill and it'll all be better.
*sigh*
You would not believe the amount of profanity I was spewing last night.
Networks need to stop carrying his press conferences live, and instead do a delayed broadcast with a live fact-checker. Show a clip of him speaking, then cut to the fact-checker saying "No, these ships are in re-fit and can't sail for at least two months, assuming personnel and equipment haven't been redeployed." "No, this drug is not available as it has not been tested nor approved by the FDA."
****
In other White House news, a Pence staffer has tested positive for COVID.
****
Oh, and COVID is probably going to disrupt the 2020 United States Census. Well, that's a big DUH.
****
Offering proof that the Flying Spaghetti Monster has a wonderful sense of humor, the new movie Cats apparently is available for purchase online for $20. My wife was telling me that an effects company was hired to remove the cats' buttholes. Which means there's a butthole edition of the movie somewhere....
I find it amazing that no one was capable of going to the producers early in the production before they spent a bazillion dollars (proverbially) and saying "You know, you might want to rethink the direction. This looks really ugly."
At least they did well at the Razzie Awards.
****
GameStop, the video game store, finally closed up for the duration. Apparently they believed everyone should buy new games to self-isolate. Did they think no one could re-play old games? It really stuns me how many companies just can't let that last dime pass by.
In other gaming news, lots of Friendly Local Game Stores are providing mail-order and online/phone order and curb-side pickup and sometimes free local delivery.
****
There's a tech web site called iFixit, which has all sorts of information and videos on repairing your personal electronic gear, I've used it many times. They also sell tools and parts. They are crowd-sourcing repair manuals for hospital equipment, focusing on ventilators and BiPap equipment! They're going to reformat them to make them more accessible for search engine optimization so the information is more easily found with a Google search. No idea if they're going to try to source parts.
So if you know any medical equipment repair techs who hoard manuals, point them to this site and ask them to help out.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/20/21187981/ifixit-medical-device-repair-database-guides-ventilators-coronavirus-covid-19
****
I think I've mentioned Elon Musk has said he's prepared to manufacture ventilators. He really needs to start that right fucking now.
****
This is a truly scary technique, but it might come down to this and it could save a lot of lives. There's a simple fact: we do not have enough ventilators. Eventually manufacturing will gear up, but there's a serious risk of a lot of people dying due to this shortage. In Italy, people are dying because of this shortage. Doctors are being forced to make life and death decisions as to who gets a ventilator or not. Also, as heavily as these devices are going to be used, they're going to break down.
In 2006, two doctors had an idea: one ventilator doing the breathing for FOUR PEOPLE. It's very risky. They have to be similar people: similar lung volume (tidal capacity), same diseases, etc. For example, you couldn't hook up a child with a large adult: vastly different tidal capacity.
You hook up a T splitter, then two more T splitters off of each branch. Boom, four people on one ventilator. All of the tubing has to be the same length, and there's a huge risk of cross-contamination if, for example, one of the patients has an undiagnosed bacterial or fungal lung infection - the other three will get it. But it could save lives. It's been tested on artificial lungs, and the technique does work. And it has been done in real life when the Las Vegas shooting happened and emergency rooms were swamped and didn't have enough ventilators.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjdm53/this-risky-hack-could-double-access-to-ventilators-as-coronavirus-peaks
****
Eight free streaming services! Some have opened their networks for 30 days, and some biggies! Showtime, Acorn, The Met, Shudder, etc!
https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/streaming-services-free-trial-coronavirus-pandemic.html
