Earl Grey Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to put aside all grievances past and present if but temporarily for the purpose of this thread when posting here. We are in a global crisis now with the coronavirus. Panic buying, lack of access to goods, limitations on movement, and unequal medical care for everyone are but a few of the many things affecting all of us. The food, service, and retail industries are going to be hit hard. There aren't enough tests and some people are not recognizing that this is a serious issue for others if not necessarily for them due to the folly of youth. Some of us may even worry that us individually or those we know and care about are directly affected. This thread has been created with the express purpose of requesting for any help and making offers for what we can give to each other in this time of crisis. If you post here, the first thing I ask is do not talk about theories of its origin, no conspiracies, no politics, no religious condemnations. Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Taoist, Sikh; Democrat, Republican, Labour, Tory; black, white, yellow, red, brown; rich, poor, middle class--we are all humans and must put aside these false dichotomies separating us because all of us are affected. General updates about your country or location can be posted in this other thread instead: If you are posting in this thread, I ask you to please, please offer what you can to others who don't know what they can ask for or that someone care enough to give something, be it comfort or a donation. I also ask that we humble ourselves to be able to ask each other for help too. What I have been offering others around me are emotional support having been a therapist and peer counselor, and have given people some basic techniques from my qigong health practices. One person I know is now thinking about holding group sessions for Fragrant qigong if there is interest in their location. Here is what I, the user known as Earl Grey, will offer others: - Possible connections to other people who can help through referral, via connecting digitally or locally - Peer counseling and limited teaching - Akashic readings If any of you would like to request help or let others know what you can offer, please post here. Remember: we are human beings and this is planet earth--if we still can't get our shit together in a crisis, then how can we do that when we are in far more comfortable and ideal circumstances? Edited March 13, 2020 by Earl Grey 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted March 13, 2020 Great thread, we live better, when we work together. Amazon, love'em or hate'em, is an excellent resource for those isolating themselves. Toilet paper, they got it, though some out of stock, many types and sizes aren't, and the prices don't seem to be gauging. They have small bottles of hand disinfectant, gatorade.. a veritable one stop shop for damn near everything.. baby wipes to coffins. Literally coffins**!? I just ordered some zinc lozenges and garlic oil softgels from them. **They can over night them too. You can get one, stuff your loved one in. Then complain and send it back for a refund. That way you don't pay any funeral expenses. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted March 18, 2020 One thing we can do to help others. If you're brave and feeling healthy- donate blood. Apparently there's a shortage. It can save a life. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/american-red-cross-faces-severe-blood-shortage-cancelations/story?id=69642130 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thelerner Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) This perspective has holes in it, but its kind of optimistic. The 1918 pandemic swept thru the world in 4 months and killed 50 million. This virus is different yet in 4 months it has killed around 8,000 people. Its been in China the longest. China has 1.38 billion people. So far, in China its killed 3,237 human beings. That's bad, but its also a death rate of .00023456. (strange the numbers lined up to 23456). I don't down grade the threat. We need to be vigilant. These things can move up exponentially in infected and fatalities. And the danger that this could continue flare up. The present and very real danger of overloading hospitals limiting vital life saving treatment. Yet on some scale the death rate in the country it hit first has been statistically minute, compared to the whole population. (note odds of me misplacing a decimal are fairly good). And by some reckoning China infection rates have been dropping. Again that claim is fraught with unknowns. I've long considered the fatality rate skewed because its largely from cases who've sought medical attention and those under 60 with milder cases can shrug it off may not be counted. So.. while what I'm saying is probably wrong and full of gross simplifications. Yet sometimes we need it to counter balance the similar probably wrong, gross simplifications on the other side, ie this is apocalyptic. The truth is probably in the middle. But we can point, right now, to a country which has been dealing with it for many months and compared to the population, compared to all the other deadly things we take for granted (like driving in a car), this, death wise, is not world shaking. Not yet and probably won't be. Again thats not to say we should let down our guards and not work to socially isolate and take precautions. This saves lives, predominantly our elderly, since the older you are the deadlier this disease. Its the many unknowns and worst case scenarios that are so scary. Most often the very worst doesn't happen, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't plan and take precautions for it. That also means we should keep some of our attention on the most probably path. Which I believe, in my naivety is the crisis will lost longer then expected due to 'flattening out the curve/social isolation', ie a past summer into fall and that the death rate percentage will be less then expected, way under 1% of the population. Though any number is tragic. <the story isn't written but for a deadly contagious virus with a WHO reported 3% fatality rate, I'd expect after 4 months of contagion a country with 1.3 billion to have millions of deaths, not 8,000. Course maybe the worst is yet to come, or it'll be closer to WWI, a long slow nasty deadly slog. Or I don't understand the numbers. Or it be bad, but as I'm making the case here, not apocalyptic. We won't lose 1.0000% of the population. We will see> Edited March 19, 2020 by thelerner 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
