The CDC lost control of the coronavirus pandemic, then the agency disappeared • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by tsimionescu » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #89

jupp0r wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

Thats a really interesting question. My brother was a Colonel in the airforce, Commander of the 10th Medical Wing. He is a really successful doctor who then led the VA for the state of alaska... He is now CEO for a hospital in Idaho. The point is that his life path was truly successful for him through the military and he has added great value to the nation through that experience. Had he been a minion in a more oppre…

I can only applaud your brother's accomplishments!

That said, why do you believe that he succeeded because of the military and not in spite of it? Is his story in any way typical for veterans? From my understanding, not at all.

Also, why do you assume that Russian or Chinese military service is less valued or constructive for their service members than US service? Are you basing this on something, or just the general image created by US media about the Chinese and Russian armed forces?

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

#112

Post by rayiner » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

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.

Why would only salaries be scaled that way? It costs China a fraction as much as the U.S. to build a train line. Do you think it costs them the same amount in nominal dollars to build a landmine?

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

#113

Post by throwaway062820 » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

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…

Which is crazy, because in March the U.S. was shipping more masks overseas than at any point in the past decade[1], masks started getting recommended while there still was a PPE shortage, and after masks were recommended it seems like very few were N95 masks. So why were leaders at the time discouraging Americans from even wearing homemade cloth masks?

It's hard to tell whether or not they were lying to us at the time in order to pursue a poorly thought out strategy or if they're lying to us now to defend their poor decisions (I'm guessing the latter).

[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/05/0...

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

#114

Post by rayiner » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

jupp0r wrote: post #54

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…

> 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?

They're not, and that's the point. If a software company in the U.S. was spending 5x as much as one in India (where are experienced developer might make 1/5 as much or less), would you say the U.S. company was spending to much?

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

#115

Post by mobilefriendly » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:32 PM UTC

icegreentea2 wrote: post #22

vikramkr wrote: post #5

Over the past few years a series of American agencies have lost their reputation and world standing. The FAA with the 737 max, the CDC with the test, the FDA with testing regulation and hydroxychloroquine. Its important to have institutions that work, but we've spent years deliberately gutting them and undervaluing them. All that money spent on the military and homeland security, and in the end we were caught utterly…

I think you'd make a stronger argument by instead of making a military or other things argument, and just make a 'fund other things more' argument. The reason I think you should stay away from pointing fingers, especially at a relatively divisive issue like military or especially aircraft carrier funding is because then you shift a question of "should American be world leading in commercial air travel regulation, pan…

$35 billion is an EXTRAORDINARY amount of money. It's the economic output of Vermont, a state with 630,000 people.

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

#116

Post by darkerside » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:37 PM UTC

ReticentVole wrote: post #102

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…

There are a minimal number of excess deaths now associated with COVID, so what is the problem? Allowing the community to acquire immunity naturally during Summer is a good way to minimise the spread of the virus come Winter. COVID severity seems heavily linked with Vitamin D levels, so lockdown during Summer would possibly have been counter-productive for the general population. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/cov…

In a theoretical world this makes a ton of sense. In a world where people grow accustomed to life as usual, fail to make adjustments BEFORE flu season, and we end up with the virus having a kick-started boost to start flu season, we're heading full speed into a brick wall.

If we can slow down beforehand, yes, we probably make beneficial progress towards herd immunity (albeit minimal). But in a leadership vacuum with an election ahead, this doesn't look good to me.

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

#117

Post by tsimionescu » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

ReticentVole wrote: post #102

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…

There are a minimal number of excess deaths now associated with COVID, so what is the problem? Allowing the community to acquire immunity naturally during Summer is a good way to minimise the spread of the virus come Winter. COVID severity seems heavily linked with Vitamin D levels, so lockdown during Summer would possibly have been counter-productive for the general population. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/cov…

> There are a minimal number of excess deaths now associated with COVID, so what is the problem?

I don't usually use such language on HN, but this is absolutely delusional. Covid19 has killed more people in 6 months, with lockdowns, than Malaria did all of last year. More than a third of those deaths are in the US.

How can you possibly in good conscience claim this is even remotely comparable to the Flu?

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

#118

Post by bjlorenzen » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

ethanbond wrote: post #109

x86_64Ubuntu wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that "military" is a "divisive" issue proves the point of how we got to this point in the first place.

People are divided on what the US military‘s role in the world should be and how much money it should take to uphold that role. Sitting atop the longest stretch of global stability (largely enforced/maintained by the US military), it’s very hard to think clearly about what variables we can or should fiddle with.

The globe might feel stable while sitting inside the US and reading domestic media sources, but it sure hasn’t been easy for the dozens of countries we’ve been invading/occupying for the past decades.

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

#119

Post by darkerside » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

emmelaich wrote: post #79

ausbah wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump, Trump did. Edit: Trump's administration did request funding to the "pandemic response team", set up by the Obama administration, be cut. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-fire-pandemic-team/

Obama cut it too. Until Ebola.

Which was handled before it made its way to the US in any significant capacity. Imagine Trump had taken clear and decisive action against COVID in January.

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

#120

Post by mudsnail » Sun, Jun 28, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

vikramkr wrote: post #5

Over the past few years a series of American agencies have lost their reputation and world standing. The FAA with the 737 max, the CDC with the test, the FDA with testing regulation and hydroxychloroquine. Its important to have institutions that work, but we've spent years deliberately gutting them and undervaluing them. All that money spent on the military and homeland security, and in the end we were caught utterly…

Or maybe instead of throwing more money at the problem we can face up to the fact that our democratic system is broken. That these institutions have been politicized over the years and are being run by people who are good at playing the game versus being good at their jobs.