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The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

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Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#51

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #34
chmod775 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think spending more on military than the next 10 countries combined can be described as "only" in any way. The highest spender are the US, with $732.0 billion, followed by China with $261.0 billion, then India and Russia with $71.1 and $65.1 billion respectively.

Militaries are reliant on domestic production and labor. (Paying Chinese solider costs the government a fraction as much as an American soldier.) So instead of an exchange rate conversion, you should be doing a purchasing-power conversion. For these three countries, that means multiplying by 2x to 4x. Also, the US is particularly inefficient at capital spending. It costs us a billion dollars to build a mile of subway…

[deleted]

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#52

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

chasing wrote: post #24

At the moment we're well beyond the CDC. We have a President and his various acolyte governors who have so utterly botched and politicized our COVID-19 response that many people won't take the most basic steps to protect themselves and those around them. It's maddening and leaves those of us who are trying to do the right thing feel totally unprotected and unsupported, especially in states like Texas and Florida. The…

Of course there'll be politics on an issue of great social importance. That's supposed to be the point of having a CDC, that they can offer respected, apolitical advice on what we need to do. When they fail catastrophically, we inevitably fall back to the normal strategy for resolving disputes about what our society should do, which is politics.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#53

Post by hourislate »

Woulda,shoulda,coulda...

We live in a very different world today where someone can get on a plane and spread a virus across the planet in a matter of days. The only hope in containment was that the virus didn't spread easily.

The best solution that I can think of that may have stopped the spread of the virus would've been giving everyone as many N95 masks as needed and make wearing them mandatory. Unfortunately it was far easier to spend 5 trillion $$$ on everything but that. These masks should have been free and available at every street corner of the USA, Subways, Buses, Airports, Supermarkets, etc.

This isn't over and I don't know how it ends, but hopefully we'll come out the other side a little smarter and more prepared for the next one.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#54

Post by jupp0r »

rayiner wrote: post #34
chmod775 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think spending more on military than the next 10 countries combined can be described as "only" in any way. The highest spender are the US, with $732.0 billion, followed by China with $261.0 billion, then India and Russia with $71.1 and $65.1 billion respectively.

Militaries are reliant on domestic production and labor. (Paying Chinese solider costs the government a fraction as much as an American soldier.) So instead of an exchange rate conversion, you should be doing a purchasing-power conversion. For these three countries, that means multiplying by 2x to 4x. Also, the US is particularly inefficient at capital spending. It costs us a billion dollars to build a mile of subway…

> So instead of an exchange rate conversion, you should be doing a purchasing-power conversion.

Are soldiers with greater purchasing power more effective on the battlefield?

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#55

Post by DanBC »

ed-209 wrote: post #39

"Believing people without symptoms didn't spread the virus, the agency limited testing, discouraged masking..." This is false by Fauci's own account (see below interview) in which he states mask wearing was discouraged in order to secure availability for health workers. This is no small distinction as it raises questions about the importance of public trust/credibility during a health crisis. https://m.youtube.com/wa…

Can you link to the meta-analysis or RCT of mask wearing that were already published in March, or April, or June?

But also, see this: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/world/europe/coronavirus-...

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#56

Post by Icedcool »

ed-209 wrote: post #39

"Believing people without symptoms didn't spread the virus, the agency limited testing, discouraged masking..." This is false by Fauci's own account (see below interview) in which he states mask wearing was discouraged in order to secure availability for health workers. This is no small distinction as it raises questions about the importance of public trust/credibility during a health crisis. https://m.youtube.com/wa…

This is critical. Personally as a result I’ve lost trust with the organization, and the statements they make.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#57

Post by icegreentea2 »

CydeWeys wrote: post #50
rayiner wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Militaries are reliant on domestic production and labor. (Paying Chinese solider costs the government a fraction as much as an American soldier.) So instead of an exchange rate conversion, you should be doing a purchasing-power conversion. For these three countries, that means multiplying by 2x to 4x. Also, the US is particularly inefficient at capital spending. It costs us a billion dollars to build a mile of subway…

The majority of DoD's budget is not salaries. Only the salaries should be scaled in this way. E.g. many other countries are buying our F-35s at the same price we are. Other countries simply can't get equally effective jet fighters, aircraft carriers, etc., at a third to a quarter of the price.

You're correct, personnel costs is not the majority of DoD costs. However, their "pay and benefits" take up 40% of it's budget (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_...)

Procurement (the most visible part of the budget we hear about) is 20% of the DoD budget.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#58

Post by mschuetz »

watwut wrote: post #40
gipp wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's this strange phenomenon on HN sometimes -- or at least I've noticed it here several times -- where people will somehow manage to condemn the article while arguing for exactly the thesis of the article . That's what you're doing here.

Given that a lot of people dont read articles and go straight to comments, comments that challenge title are valuable if the title is at odds with article content.

I literally can't read most articles due do adblock blocker or because they block european visitors.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#59

Post by rootusrootus »

andreareina wrote: post #46
dmix wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is Buzzfeed after all.

I've found the Buzzfeed content that makes it on here to be pretty good. Which is weird, it is Buzzfeed after all. I don't think it's just the HN selection effect, as P(liked|Buzzfeed) > P(liked|HN).

BuzzfeedNews in particular makes a regular appearance because it is a world-class journalism organization. It does not seem to share much with Buzzfeed.

Re: The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared

#60

Post by jupp0r »

Robotbeat wrote: post #26
vikramkr wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hydroxychloroquine study I'm referring to has less to do with the data and more to do with how the FDA behaves regarding the drug, where they gave the drug an emergency use authorization based off of what seemed like pretty blatant interference from the executive branch. If the drug had ended up working, maybe their reputation would have taken less of a hit, but that wouldn't have changed how inappropriate that a…

There was some early evidence it could be effective. I’m actually supportive of the FDA’s move to do both the emergency approval and the retraction. Without the ability to take calculated risks in a situation where either approving or unapproving can cause harm, the agency could be a hindrance more than a help. And that means some emergency measures will prove wrong. If none prove wrong, the agency is being too cauti…

HCQ was authorized to be used as a treatment, not merely authorized to be used in trials or for compassionate use (as remdesivir was). That’s the scandal in the face of lack of evidence at that time.
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