Monday, December 28, 2020


8 comments:

  1. Where did you take the picture? It almost looks familiar.

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  2. People moving from areas of less freedom to areas of more freedom, Swiss Jante Law version: "I don't blame them for leaving": how British skiers fled Covid quarantine in Verbier.

    "Rather than staying cooped up in their hotels or chalets, they decided to take flight. While some chose to cross the border by train, others left in the dead of night, fearful that hoteliers would report them to police. Britons not subject to the quarantine restrictions said they felt they had to speak in 'hushed tones' when out and about in order to avoid a grilling. The ensuing chaos prompted a blame game amongst local authorities on Monday about who was responsible and whether border controls should have been tighter."

    This situation got so cringey and overblown that the locals were afraid of anyone who was speaking English.

    I'll skip the skiing crowds in the near future and hang around Appenzell. :-)

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  3. The Albany Bulb Rob. They bumrushed all the homeless, cleaned the place up and now it sucks. Never thought I'd say that...but..

    Texas Refugee - I thought the Swiss didn't lock people down. Said in the most sarcastic way.

    But honestly, this is the thing the Swiss had right. Restricting movement only creates more of the problem you are restricting. You see it in every single country, they announce a lockdown and people immediately run. This only creates forward spread.

    I have said it since the beginning. If Dr. Nancy Sniderman would break quarantine over ebola - you truly can not lock people down. It's just impossible. And people lie about everything so... here we are.

    Having said that - the things that we truly know which seem to work have been vilified and conspiracied to death, that cat is kinda out of the bag and people have to learn the hard way now.

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  4. I don't think I've ever made it to Mt. Tam.

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  5. The Swiss have been learning from the wrong people, and of course this shows they're not really very good at this kind of thing.

    Hence why this "lockdown" was a lot more down and a lot less lock.

    If they'd have done the very Swiss thing of throwing money at the problem, such as possibly making subsidies available for all of those British ski enthusiasts to stay a bit longer, this could have been contained a lot less dramatically.

    Come to Switzerland, enjoy your quarantine in a visitor-restricted ski resort with full amenities so you can actually enjoy what you went to Switzerland for ... it has a lot less awful feel to it, doesn't it?

    But you have to do more to make someone want to stay than you do to make someone want to leave.

    The Suisse Romande had an opportunity and blew it.

    Also, this is really about class.

    "You see it in every single country, they announce a lockdown and people immediately run. This only creates forward spread."

    I'm predicting the early retirement of a lot of doctors who become secretly rich with cash because of all of the under-the-table payoffs related to people not taking the vaccine but having the records to show that they did.

    The biggest bank note in circulation here is 5000 CHF, but there's also a 1000 CHF as well.

    How many payoffs of this size each day does it take for a doctor to hit early retirement?

    Given what happened to that nurse somewhere in the Southeastern US, I think 5000 CHF is a bargain compared to taking that vaccine.

    I'll remind you that I got through a closed border with a rented cargo plane loaded with my belongings, so yes, class does in fact matter.

    You didn't think I loaded up a fucking U-Haul to move here, did you? :-)

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  6. "If they'd have done the very Swiss thing of throwing money at the problem, such as possibly making subsidies available for all of those British ski enthusiasts to stay a bit longer, this could have been contained a lot less dramatically."

    I actually do not agree. It is a small sliver of people who can ~on the spur~ put their lives on hold. People have to still pay rent. Maybe they have pets, or whatever obligations. I'd bet for at least half it wouldn't matter how much money you threw at the problem. When people tell you that you can't leave - I think most people have an automatic, unconscious reaction to run. It's primal.

    For example I HATE to stay in hotel rooms. So paying for my stay doesn't make me care much at all. And if you force me to not leave I feel it's the least you can do.

    "Given what happened to that nurse somewhere in the Southeastern US, I think 5000 CHF is a bargain compared to taking that vaccine."

    I've seen you say this a couple of times. I'm a little exhausted by everyones competing conspiracy theories so I don't even track these down at this point. Do you have any links?

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  7. There were some links earlier (probably labeled with "shot" and "chaser" because of the shot pun).

    But let's stay up-to-date.

    Now the problem is in Switzerland.

    Doctor's Money Printer goes BRRRRRRRRRR. :-)

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