Greg.D.
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Everything posted by Greg.D.
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It would be an unacceptable risk if the Wuhan coronavirus spread among those people all in one hall. Don't let that hair dye fool ya: there are a lot of people over 60 in that bunch!
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Thanks to NY Times for putting their videos on YT. This 9 minute video is as good as any high budget doc you might see. This video conveniently answers two questions: 1) why might some Chinese women marry a partner from the West? and 2) why don't Chinese men (for the most part) marry women from the West? (Does not answer the question "What's up with that?")
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The article states: "The Virginia Department of Health has received report of 442 pneumonia and influenza-associated deaths during the 2019-20 flu season." i don't know why cdc does that: throws all pneumonia cases in with flu cases. When they say 60,000 deaths per year from influenza, they are including all pneumonia cases. The article also cites CDC as saying only 25% of tested "virus specimens" are actually influenza. I literally don't know anyone who died from the flu. Obviously people do and even a greater number die from non-specified pneumonia. But they want everybody to get a flu shot, so maybe they massage the numbers. I dont kow what to believe.
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In the movie “Spinal Tap”, Nigel Tufnel had the standard knobs on his guitar amplifier replaced with knobs that went to 11. Or, the faceplate, actually.
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i’m Sure you long ago decided you want to get home ASAP. Hoping for a quick and simple diagnosis and you can get out of there. Did they turn it up to 11?
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Somebody's been watching too much Wolf Warrior: Taiwan again scrambles jets to intercept Chinese planes, tensions spike TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s air force scrambled for a second day in a row on Monday to intercept Chinese jets that approached the island claimed by Beijing as its own, as tensions between the two took on a potentially dangerous military dimension. Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said Chinese jets, accompanying H-6 bombers, briefly crossed an unofficial mid-line in the Taiwan Strait that separates the two, prompting its air force to rush to intercept and give verbal warnings to leave. The Chinese aircraft then withdrew to the western side of the line, the ministry added, without identifying the jets. ....... On Sunday too, Chinese jets, including J-11 fighters, flew into the Bashi Channel then out into the Pacific before heading back to base via the Miyako Strait, located between Japan’s islands of Miyako and Okinawa, to the northeast of Taiwan. ..... There was no immediate comment from China on Monday’s incident. This is only the second time since 2016 that Taiwan has said that Chinese jets had crossed the strait’s median line. Their military aircraft tend to keep to their own sides. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, though, urged Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “not to play with fire”. The DPP have been “adopting a stance that increases cross-strait confrontation, intensifying new moves for Taiwan-U.S. collusion, using the opportunity to seek independence and openly carrying out dangerous provocations”, it added.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-taiwan-china-defence/taiwan-scrambles-armed-jets-as-chinese-air-force-flies-around-island-idUSKBN2030AE Taiwan scrambles armed jets as Chinese air force flies around island TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan’s air force scrambled armed fighters on Sunday to intercept Chinese jets that flew around the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced by Taiwan’s Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability. China has been flying what it calls “island encirclement” drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office. ........ China’s Eastern Theatre Command, in a statement late on Sunday carried by the official People’s Liberation Army Daily, said the aircraft carried out “real combat-oriented training”. “Taiwan and its island are sacred and inalienable parts of China. The Chinese military’s combat ready patrol was a completely legitimate and necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and safeguarding national sovereignty.” TAIPEI-BEIJING RELATIONS The fly-by came as Taiwan’s vice-president elect, William Lai, was returning from a visit to Washington, where he attended the high-profile National Prayer Breakfast, at which U.S. President Donald Trump spoke. China has denounced Lai’s trip. ...... But in one small diplomatic breakthrough for Taiwan, the WHO said Taiwanese experts will participate this week in an on-line meeting of experts about the virus. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said this was a “good start” and that they would strive to take part in more WHO events. Taiwan’s WHO troubles last week became another flashpoint in Sino-U.S. ties, with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva telling the agency to deal directly with Taiwan’s government, drawing a sharp rebuke from China.
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Which do you prefer among Subaru, Honda and Toyota ?
Greg.D. replied to Catherineli's topic in Ask a Chinese Woman
If your tomatoes were healthy and tall but gave you no tomatoes, you gave them too much nitrogen. There are lots of ways for vegetable plants to fail, though. Re: cars When my wife came here, she left her Hyuandi in China, of course. Soon, my Toyota was totaled by hail, and we chose a Subaru for best safety in snow. We still have it, though she added a Toyota Prius for herself When it snows, I take her 2WD Prius since I grew up driving in snow and she drives the Subaru. Subarus' aren't as reliable as Toyota's. Going to pick up Junior at preschool yesterday would not have been possible in the Prius. If we could only have one car, it would be a Toyota. If we were buying the forever car, it would be Toyota. If we won the lottery, we would buy Toyota. Good luck! -
Since the Wuhan doctor died, the billion home-bound people looking at their phones have had their mini-Tianamen moment. Chinese cinema has been pap and basically a platform for party-glorifying the last few years since Uncle Xi took control. Suddenly, people FELT real feeling and recognized a REAL hero. And, it happened at a time when the party was trying not to appear to be stifling conversation between people. Finally, of course, they had to resort to censoring everything that didn't fit the crippled life view the party wants people to have. I don't know that this genie can be put back in the bottle (bad metaphor?) - this yearning for free speech and rights of the individual. Finally, there was a real hero (not a droll party figure) and that hero looked like THEM. That he died put the Hollywood finish on it. There were interesting comments and views getting out on wechat - you can go find them.. they've all been scrubbed by the party now. The party doesn't want people talking to EACH OTHER - it wants communication to be one way and one on one from the party to the citizen. The party will win, just like the students and fellow reform seekers were crushed. But, maybe this is how this generation's character will be forged. "He said kill it before it grow"
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Re: feeling and mobility in the legs ..... you have shared some of this before. Just offering my opinion that if you keep moving, circulation and strength (and even lower back pain) can improve. If work or other events enforce sitting, muscle tone and circulation suffer. You're either spiraling up or sprawling down after a certain age. I was able to ride my bike to work for about 4 months before the winter and I aged backwards at least ten years. The lower legs felt normal at night, zero back issues. Now, slouching at a desk or in a car, I have that cold numb feeling return to my lower legs. I know you have your ideas about your condition and have noticed that being bed-bound is making certain things worse. Hope you can get out of there and re-take control I had a pyriformas injury once. It's a muscle that runs across the butt and about 7-10% have our sciatic nerves passing through it. Despite being in great shape prior to the injury, I was bed-bound for 2 weeks and barely mobile for the next 2-3. At other times, I clearly have a bulging disc. So, you did your MRI? Wasn't the news you wanted to hear?
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So, you had a spinal epidural? Aren't all epidurals "spinal"? And, now you have an infection at that site? You would be in danger of meningitis, then. Or, you're just educating yourself in advance of a surgery? In the meantime, you are resting the back and that should have improved the situation some, I hope. And good that Mrs W is on your team.
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Xi is the second coming of Mao. He doesn't mind a good purge now and then. Medical doctors are merely tolerated right now and will be punished when this has quieted down. Seen or heard and lawyers representing citizens in citizen rights cases lately? They were disappeared while the whole world was watching. The court ruling served a purpose and will be forgotten soon enough. That opinion piece was wishful thinking. In the meantime, let's hope this virus spread slows and China can get back to work.
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I saw an article a few days ago about a 21 year old dual U.S./German passport holder who was offered a flight out (on the second?) for which the embassy said it would cost $1100 and he had to get himself to the airport which was 43 km from the city center. Only all mass transportation is shut down, so somebody else got his ticket. Might be another side to that story.
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Re: desktop functions, I am almost always on an iPad when I visit here and "mobile" browsers turn off the Tiny editor, so, those tools are not available to me. Or, on second thought, did I find away to identify the browser as a desktop browser and trick the site into giving me the editing options? I have a browser called "iCab" that I think allows spoofing.I'm just not using it, Greg
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Presumably, we've offered help since the beginning - in the form of sending disease experts there - maybe they wanted some other kind of help. And, the U.S. response is not significantly different than any other country's response, including that of their great friend Russia. Personally, I think travel should be allowed in and out, seeing as how only 0.00007% of the Chinese population is infected. (By the way, Xi called it the "demon" they have to defeat, but they accuse the U.S. of causing panic) "China accuses U.S. of scaremongering over coronavirus" https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-usa/china-accuses-u-s-of-scaremongering-over-coronavirus-idUSKBN1ZX0QR BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing on Monday accused the United States of spreading fear over a coronavirus outbreak by pulling nationals out and restricting travel instead of offering significant aid.. The United States was the first nation to begin evacuations, issued a travel warning against going to China, and from Sunday barred entry to foreigners recently in China. Washington has “unceasingly manufactured and spread panic”, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) had advised against trade and travel curbs. “It is precisely developed countries like the United States with strong epidemic prevention capabilities and facilities that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions contrary to WHO recommendations,” she added, saying countries should make reasonable, calm and science-based judgements. In China, 361 people have died with more than 17,000 infected from the virus, which originated in the central city of Wuhan. At least another 171 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, from the United States to Japan. Conducting her daily news briefing via the WeChat app rather than in person, Hua also chided the United States for lack of help. “So far, the U.S. government has yet to provide any substantial assistance to China,” she said. That contrasted with President Donald Trump’s weekend comments that U.S. officials had offered “tremendous help.” However, his national security adviser Robert O’Brien told an interviewer China had not yet accepted U.S. offers of aid. Tensions over the coronavirus come after the two world’s largest economies have only just started to patch up relations from an 18-month trade war. Trump said over the weekend the United States had “shut down” the coronavirus threat. “We can’t have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem,” he told broadcaster Fox. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam have also announced restrictions on travel from China, while numerous nations have been evacuating citizens.
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Sorry to hear about your continued stay. Would be curious why you got 4 Likes and 35 Dislikes on your Facebook post above. I have lower back pain ... but it comes and goes. Months between episodes. I figure it is a bulging disc. Re: your comment about bed sores - it got me thinking about what kind of mattress you have there. Is it Chinese firm like a bag of Quikrete? I would have bed sores in 5 minutes in that case. There's no place like home and I hope you will be there soon enough. And put on your mask!
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Influenza virus is a different beast from the coronavirus but when you're coughing your brains out, who cares? The Wuhan coronavirus is killing between 3 and 4% of infected persons; influenza might kill around 0.1%. The 60,000 deaths in the U.S. per year might be a crude overestimate, it's an estimate and may include everyone who died from pneumonia. My toddler got a flu shot this year and a month later got a flu - they did a rapid flu test (got virtual nothing on a nasal swab) and said it was negative for influenza, but they'll put it down as an "influenza like virus" - but, we as a country don't bother to identify most pathogens, which is one reason we make crude estimates. Because of the prevalence of influenza viruses in China, you are still more likely to die from the flu than from the new coronavirus. However, coronavirus is a better killer should you get it - though it is still rare to get it. Coronavirus will get you in the lungs and kill you via pneumonia. (I used to teach microbiology to nursing students). The flu shot this year is quadravalent, meaning it is targeting only 4 H1N1 influenza strains. That's standard operating procedure. It would be great to eradicate this new coronavirus just as SARS was gone within a year.
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Finally, an article with real details about testing and reporting and whose illnesses are NOT tested or even considered under observation. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-testing-insight/confusion-and-lost-time-how-testing-woes-slowed-chinas-coronavirus-response-idUSKBN1ZQ21K Confusion and lost time: how testing woes slowed China's coronavirus response
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Allon, your comment is correct re surgical (not N95 rated) masks, but the link you provided seems to say an N95 mask - when fitted correctly - can prevent infection (even if not in every experimental design). Unfortunately, it doesn't discriminate between full face, fitted masks and the fiber mouth/nose masks. I do think the N95 face mask (with elastic straps) can do a good job of keeping fingers out of mouth and nose - and that is hugely valuable. And, I think a well-fit fiber mask over the mouth and nose can protect significantly more infection than a non-N95 surgical mask. Probably a lot of people don't think about the fit and making motions that break the seal, or even keeping their fingers out of their masks.
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These guys can tend towards the insuffferable but there is some useful (though soon to be dated) info in this vid. As they are now based in SoCal, we can hope they eventually move away from their one note songs re China. We, too, hear from doctors known to my wife and, so sorry to say, only hear reasonable and predictable stuff like pretty much all doctors are on call for the duration and, once infected patients are in your realm, you yourself will be encouraged to stay away from your family so as not to "bring your work home". They also give anecdotes about how face masks are sold out even in the U.S. I have already mentioned that we sent masks to our family last week but now I am skeptical they will arrive, will wait and see. Still working through the vid, though. They definitely see more of the in-China videos being passed around than I do (and share them).
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No, since several days now, the appropriate authorities in China have confirmed person-to-person transmission. The giveaway was when health care workers were getting the virus. That would be the only reason to keep people from traveling from Wuhan, too. NY Times says "By evening, officials planned to close off Huanggang, a city of seven million about 30 miles east of Wuhan, shut rail stations in the nearby city of Ezhou, which has about one million residents, and impose travel restrictions on the smaller cities of Chibi and Zhijiang as well." I just bought a case (of 20) of 3M N95 face masks at Grainger and will go do a counter pickup this afternoon to send to China tomorrow. With the week long new year holiday, delivery should be even slower than usual but there is nothing else I can do from here to help family there. Acactually, chance of infection is vanishingly small at this time ... but, I've seen my wife's China brain come to the fore in the last few days, so I yield. SARS was virulent but it lasted a year (at most) perhaps because it was too virulent. If this was killing children, it would be disaster, but, for now, it's just older people losing the battle. The Spanish flu of 1918 killed 50-100 million people (3-5% of the global population) - they think 500 million peolpe were infected. In the U.S., more than half a million million died from it.
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"Crazy" for trying to smoke NEXT TO YOU! Hope this just a temporary setback.
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It's been about 4 years since I used Western Union to do this. Set up an account online and did it from my computer. Really it only worked if I sent it in dollars, too, because one of the security answers the receiver had to give was the exact amount sent ... and it was changing all the time (if I sent rmb) because the exchange rate was changing. Rural? Your Spanish speaking rural neighbors are using it all the time - probably from your nearest grocery store
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Yeh, yeh ... China says won't change position on Taiwan after landslide election TAIPEI (Reuters) - China will not change its position that Taiwan belongs to it and the world will only ever recognize that there is “one China”, Beijing said on Sunday after President Tsai Ing-wen won re-election and said she would not submit to China’s threats. China’s ramped up efforts to get democratic Taiwan to accept Beijing’s rule under a “one country, two systems” model, as well as anti-government protests in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, dominated the election campaign. China says Taiwan is its territory. Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name. Tsai won another four-year term by a landslide, and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also gained a majority in parliament.
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Less interest in independent films one of the reasons cited (is total party mind control working?): https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3045420/mainland-chinese-spectators-participants-walk-out-names China’s biggest independent film festival forced to suspend operations indefinitely The China Independent Film Festival (CIFF), which provided a platform for films covering a range of sensitive topics that were not covered by mainstream festivals, released a statement on its official WeChat account on Thursday announcing that it would be suspended indefinitely after 17 years. “We believe it is impossible to locally organise a film festival with a purely independent spirit, and even film festivals as a mechanism need to be reflected on,” it said. ................ Zhang Xianmin, a professor from Beijing Film Academy, has been its core organiser for 16 years. “The closure is normal. We are just back to the usual rule under the party. We just went back to 20 years ago, when there was no room and opportunity for independent films.” Zhang told the South China Morning Post. ............. The filmmaker recalled that when his film entered the festival in 2015, he found that getting a public screening was like “a guerilla fight” with all the movies being screened in different locations. He also described the secrecy organisers had to adopt, deliberately putting the wrong address on fliers to avoid censorship. When one of his films was first entered in the competition he was told to go to an address on the East Third Ring Road in Beijing but found there was nobody there when he arrived. He called the organisers, who told him to go to a different floor, where he found a crowded conference room waiting to see the film. The following year when his second film– about a severe nationwide police crackdown in the 1980s – was screened he was told to go to a burger restaurant in the capital and crawl into a storage area on the second floor, where his film was shown on a laptop.
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