PhineasC

LOL you clearly don’t know the area at all.

Packed church in Berlin and then out to eat somewhere, usually in Conway area. Thanks for asking!

Hey, they still gotta eat (and buy meth).

Yeah, the hate on him seems mostly directed at his personality. I mean, the guy does literally have cars on the road and rockets flying people into space. He's doing real things. There are far worse charlatans out there who peddle nothing but vaporware.

The "all is back to normal" crowd usually forgets the millions of invisible people who are the bottom of the ladder who are most affected by something like a closed movie theater or 50% capacity restriction at a restaurant. Cleaners Caterers Security Suppliers Subcontractors Even pediatricians have had their hours cut.

I have been traveling non-stop since the pandemic started. I have probably logged more flight hours in the last 12 months than ever in my life. LOL There are still large segments of the economy that are crippled. Large parts of the tourism industry are still in terrible shape as is the in-person entertainment industry. Ask anyone who runs a theater or sports venue how things are going. Ask any restaurant owner who can't open over 50% capacity or hire the overseas staff he needs to handle summer surges in business how it's going. Ask anyone in construction how it's going with huge increases in costs for basic materials. A drive through a beach town will reveal many restaurants and entertainment venues permanently closed. Ask any parents dealing with hybrid schooling how it's going. I can see how a homebody who spends most Saturday nights watching Netflix and ordering DoorDash would think all is back to normal. Don't know if that is you, but it's possible.

You must not know people who travel overseas, attend concerts, attend sporting events, go to movie theaters, or have school-age children in many places. Or anyone who runs a business associated with these things. Otherwise, yeah it's normal aside from the masks.

I am already out here. Whenever you are ready to "enjoy life" again you will find me and many like me already doing so. We'll make room for you at the bar, and you can still wear your mask, we won't make fun of you (too much).

Geographically tiny nation. Not really comparable to North America or Europe in any way.

The US has done much better with the vaccines than nations with socialized medicine such as Canada.

The only thing the govt learned is that people will meekly comply with basically any emergency order they put in place, I'm afraid.

The govt generally involves itself in the worst possible way now. It stifles competition and buries small innovative businesses in taxes and regulations while making certain large businesses essentially an arm of the Federal govt. The fact that Congress is basically terrified of the big tech companies is a great example of this. How have Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Google not faced anti-trust action yet? Those companies have the power to remove a citizen from the Internet for all practical purposes. They need to be regulated.

Right now we basically have the worst parts of socialism and capitalism at play in our economic system. We somehow manage to simultaneously have the very weak personal rights of overbearing socialism and the oppressive corporate largesse and abuses of rampant capitalism, for example. It’s really not a good setup.

Yes, like they have been for over a year now... If you turn off the TV, fear over COVID quickly fades.

Just get it all out, man. Then go back to lurking.

Just checked my PWS and it’s 27 in Randolph? WTF

The public messaging on the rationale for why people should get the vaccine has been terrible.

My post was only about 2020. I won’t open more of a can of worms than that.

9/11 and the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan did not occur in 2020.

I can't find anyone specifically talking about masks, but there is plenty of talk about how the "whole world" needs to be vaccinated before we can return to normal from loud voices in the COVID dialog: https://ktla.com/news/coronavirus/fauci-global-coronavirus-vaccination-effort-needed-or-this-is-not-going-to-go-away/ https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-56123487 https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/bill-gates-coronavirus-outbreak-vaccine-pandemic

The worst thing that happened to most Millennials in 2020 was that one time the Internet went out and they couldn't order DoorDash. So brave!

I still encounter restaurants that can't/won't sit parties greater than six together, even if the entire party is from one household or family. Does COVID spread less effectively with 3 at one table and 4 at the other versus 7 all together? It makes no sense. Little nonsense restrictions like this are still all over the place out there and are getting old now.

But then everyone who was jabbed in December will be up for their six month boosters and the cycle will start again. We aren't getting out of this with mass vaccinations, clearly.

Protecting yourself from colds and the flu does not require a govt mandate. Simply wear your mask and stay home. If you must go out, wear gloves and/or use hand sanitizer religiously. Perhaps also wear a face shield. I am pretty sure they still get colds and the flu in Asia despite regular mask-wearing, however. So your results may vary.

You have the power to make that happen. I can assure you society will survive without seeing you. Stay home, stay safe is the best bet.