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Oh, see? Told you. Not much gets past MikeD, and he's big and ugly and mean. So don't pester him off. He eats gremlins, trolls, and little children who misbehave. Don't misbehave, children.

I suppose you think that’s acute answer, but without knowing what your angle is it’s hard to be on your side.

Well I don’t agree. But I try hard to keep those opinions to myself. Because I understand this forum is no place for politics. This is a place to escape politics. So I don’t appreciate it.

You were losing sleep over drum corps post age-out? How unimportant is your job man? It's band, previous placement has no effect on placement the next year. Quit spilling your grievances on a discussion board about a season that hasn't even started.

Interesting DCI may have bigger response to coronavirus than response to sexual predators on Corps staff abusing Corps members.

I'm thinking of school administrators who are trying to disinfect whole, communal areas, spending thousands, and now some band-thing wants to come in and sleep in the gyms and sweat all over everything in the showers? "But, really, I'm not kidding! They clean up after themselves! I'm serious!"

As one of my Louisiana friends suggested - 'Wash your hands like you need to remove your contacts after you just finished eating crawfish'.

And considering how schools are already taking precautions in terms of trying to contain whatever exposure may exist, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a lot of drum corps start to see more difficulties in securing housing while on tour. Those tour buses are essentially traveling petri dishes (one of the reasons most corps go thru a round of sickness while on tour). School districts may not be too keen on opening their doors to that kind of thing, even if school isn't in session. The folks running WGI will be meeting tomorrow night to discuss the upcoming championship events at Dayton. Lots of groups are already pulling out. I think their response to what's going on will go a long way in giving us clues as to how DCI might respond about events this upcoming summer.

You might want to take a gander at the guidelines. 🙂

Well, in that case, I’m screwed.

Yes, they were absolutely pi$$ed..

I'll have to try that. I also have those clorox wipes, I wipe everything in the cockpit down with those before I touch anything. Call me paranoid, but I don't want to catch this thing and I have to spend a lot of time in JFK and LGA airports in New York, where they have the most cases.

BD domination on all levels. Shine bright like a diamond Devils...........shine bright.

Well thanks, that is appreciated. That said, I don't think anyone is saying that every single person in authority in every government is above human imperfection, particularly in countries where people who provide bad news might just disappear. However, in this country and at this point, the team of people leading this effort is hardly a political monolith, and they have to know that if they get it wrong, they will be harshly blamed, so I don't think they have a lot of incentive to understate the problem. Even those so jaded as to believe those in authority care about no one but themselves should understand that they will be harmed themselves if they get it wrong. Even with a strong incentive not to understate the problem, however, responsibility dictates that they balance the potential harm of the virus with the potential harm of overreaction to the virus. If people panic and shut down the country and the economy collapses, a lot more people may get sick, die, and/or suffer all kinds of other miseries. The people leading this effort are in a very difficult position. I am all for paying attention and calling for explanation when things are not understood and for clarification if they sound contradictory. The public should be free to do this and the media should help ensure the best questions are asked. Every moment, however, that is spent sniping at individuals, twisting people's words, claiming that every decision is the wrong one for whatever reason, and so forth, will take away from those positive functions that communication can provide.

I strongly disbelieve that everyone in authority has consistently been doing this. And as Jim says, admitting this doesn't have to be read as a political comment. People have great capacity to be both incompetent and malicious, and government officials are no different in that respect than anyone else. And it's usually incompetence rather than malice -- or a preference to remain ignorant if the facts might be disturbing. The town council in Amity didn't want people to be eaten by a great white shark, but the evidence wasn't conclusive, so why interrupt business by closing the beaches? Or as Upton Sinclair put it: "It is impossible to get a man to understand something if his livelihood depends on him not understanding." If the government of China hadn't covered up what was going on there, this dangerous disease might never have left that country--or at least other countries would have had better information sooner with which to respond. And the governments in Iran and Italy both apparently weren't aggressive enough, and now both countries are in a pretty bad way. In the case of Iran, the screw-up reached comical levels, with the deputy health minister coughing and visibly fever-sweating his way through a public statement in which Iranians were assured that everything was under control. Nobody here says I'm being political for criticizing Xi Jinping, or Ali Khamenei, or Giuseppe Conte, the leaders of those three countries. But because almost everyone here is American, this forum's rules, for the sake of comity, strictly restrict our ability to to criticize specific Americans. That said, we shouldn't kid ourselves that nothing like that could possibly have happened in this country. And we should at least have our eyes open for that possibility, so that we can act accordingly. Even if we can't talk about it here. It may be. Likewise in South Korea, the number of new cases seems to be slowing down: But in both countries (and in China only after the government, to put it charitably, mishandled the problem for six weeks), that's because of extraordinary efforts. In China, they imposed draconian quarantine measures that are only now being partially lifted even far from the epicenter. Yesterday I read a report from someone living in Shanghai, more than 500 miles from Wuhan, who is not infected, and he described how he's been confined to his apartment building for a month, and only now is allowed out for a few hours each day. Also, as noted at your link, they built large makeshift hospitals. In South Korea, they've tested close to 200,000 people and meticulously worked to trace as many connections as possible to identify and isolate the infected. In northern Italy, on the other hand, the public apparently took the attitude of, "Eh, it's just another flu" and apparently they ran out of hospital beds in Lombardy. And now the whole country has travel restrictions, and all schools and universities are closed, and all events are cancelled, and all restaurants and bars close at 6 p.m. each day. We can beat this thing, but it may take enormous and very disruptive measures. Surveys find that roughly half of Americans say they're not making any adjustments (not even washing their hands more!) in response to the coronavirus. One of the most important steps now is encouraging people to take those basic steps. I will note that one of the first posts in this long thread is by George Dixon. George has generally been skeptical about the seriousness of this outbreak. But to his great credit, in that early post, almost two weeks ago, he noted that the large company he works for was updating its emergency preparedness plans and taking other active steps to reduce risk. More of that, please! Well said. (The whole post, not just that part.) - - - - - - - - - - Anyway, right now I am confronted by these facts: one of the three local cases of COVID-19 announced yesterday was a man who traveled to and from Washington for AIPAC (March 1-3), apparently on the same bus as a number of students from seven local schools. Those students are apparently all asymptomatic but self-quarantining through March 17. (Nobody knows yet whether the disease is spread by people who don't exhibit symptoms.) The schools aren't closing but are being extra thorough with their cleaning, and they have advised parents of unaffected students that if they choose to take their kids out as a precautionary measure, the schools will help them make up their lessons. Among our staff are parents of children in those schools. We have a longstanding family-friendly policy that allows parents to bring their kids to the office when they can't make other arrangements and put them in a room we set aside for that purpose. Now we have to decide what the implications of the new situation are for that policy. Edit: And now six caregivers at the hospital where these three cases were being treated are themselves self-quarantining and awaiting test results. - - - - - - - - - - Edit: Here's the lede of a new article on the local paper's website: "To minimize the spread of the coronavirus, health experts have recommended canceling in-person college classes, banning spectators from sporting events and concerts, and temporarily keeping away visitors to Ohio prisons, among other measures, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday. DeWine said it’s now a 'critical time' for responding to the virus, which so far has infected nearly 117,000 people worldwide, including three Ohioans. 'The next several weeks will really determine how many lives are going to be lost in Ohio,' the governor said." Speaking as someone who didn't vote for the guy: I think he's saying and doing the right things.

Something can be very serious and blown out of proportion at the same time. The latter is a relative concept. I don’t think anyone is (or many people are) suggesting we not use precautions. Some people are concerned that panic could do more harm than the virus itself. FDR had something to say about that, I believe.

It appears he's been here about 16 years longer than you have. But I'm still wondering what your bad sarcasm and his long tenure have in common besides being able to sniff out a troll. (I'll leave it to you to decipher who is sniffing.)

Your reasoning is logical and therefor must be met with public scorn from certain individuals.

Using those figures, the fatality rate for this year's influenza has only been 0.06%, which is below the usual death rate for seasonal influenza. The current numbers from China, Iran, and Italy are painting a much more frightening picture. For the age group 70-79 the calculated fatality rate for COVID-19 is 9.8%. For ages 80+ it is 18.0%. Thankfully, the death rate for children and infants is almost zero. But this particular coronavirus is proving exceptionally lethal to the elderly. There are 50 million Americans aged 65 and over. If just 1% of them contract coronavirus we are looking at ~50,000 deaths. This will largely be in addition to, not instead of, influenza deaths. The fatality rates will come down as humanity gets better at identifying the disease and flagging asymptomatic carriers, but it will still be shockingly high for some age groups. Plus, there is a definite (and justified) fear of the unknown at play. Influenza requires larger water droplets to transmit. Thus, flu can be spread by the large water droplets in coughs or sneezes, but not the smaller water droplets in breath/exhalation. Does COVID require large water droplets, too? We don't know yet. How, exactly, virulent is COVID? We don't know yet. How long does the COVID virus survive on surfaces like doorknobs and tables? We don't know yet. We do know which drugs treat influenza-caused pneumonia the best. Will these drugs be as effective against COVID-pneumonia? We don't know yet. Will the processes and procedures in our healthcare system that are already in place for influenza be as effective against COVID? We just don't know. The cancellation of public events and current operational lockdowns occurring across societies right now are certainly very cautious, but also prudent. The goal is to SLOW the spread of the disease as much as possible, to prevent healthcare systems from getting overwhelmed (nurses and doctors will get sick, too, and will be forced to avoid work, potentially stressing a healthcare system at the worst possible time). There is a massive difference in the survivability of an epidemic when 10 million people are infected over an eight month span as opposed to 10 million people getting infected across six weeks. This will be a marathon, not a sprint. Don't panic, but be concerned, and take the necessary precautions.

How interesting would it be if that turned out to be the cure? AP: In unexpected turn of events, the CDC is now urging all citizens to turn on, tune in, and drop out.

And, apparently, the most beautiful hallucinogens.

So beautiful, like the most beautiful flower, in the most beautiful garden, in the most beautiful meadow. In the most beautiful country, on the most beautiful continent, in the most beautiful hemisphere. On the most beautiful planet, in the most beautiful solar system, in the most beautiful galaxy.

I think they are doing their best to provide helpful information as the situation unfolds in real time. And as important as it is to heed their advise in general, we are all individuals with unique circumstances and should not become so dependent on the letter of their statements that we stop applying our own best judgement to our own unique situations.

Here's something we can pray about: a potential cure. https://www.fox46charlotte.com/news/university-of-tennessee-scientists-may-have-found-coronavirus-cure?fbclid=IwAR1j0HEGJknUmdcMc7eQxx0NXLnuQ3l33r-ZRFA6_byr1VKPByaehAkO5VI

CDC Data as of 29 Feb says in the US of A there have been 34,000,000 cases of influenza this (2019-20) season, 350,000 hospitalizations, and 20,000 deaths. But, as a society, we are used to that 'background noise (sort of like the thunderous goo from the synthesizers)'. When the current Gov. of New York and Pres. of US are saying the same thing (keep calm - this is not the ebola virus), maybe we should listen?

I wonder if anyone is thinking this through. We are in such a nanny state mentality we want “somebody” to take care of us while we hide under the covers and hope it all goes away. Ok. And so the nanny state responds. Example - close schools. Ok. School is closed. Now what? Where do the kids go? Do they have to stay inside their homes? Can they play together? Do they need adult supervision? Who will do that? And - when will you reopen the school? What criteria will you use to decide? When no new cases exist? What if that means school remains shuttered until the end of the school year? Ugh. Yes it’s bad. The flu is bad. There are deaths. That’s horrible. So is the panicked reaction. How about - Wash your hands. Stay home if you’re sick. Stay away from people if you’re sick. Avoid large crowds if you’re at risk. And if you’re at risk you know it. You know what to do. Stop panicking.

Are you in the medical industry now? I’m losing track of your area of expertise

Well, if it’s going to spread logarithmically, then the entire population will have had it before the end of April, and it will all be over well before the DCI season starts. End of problem. #math

But the sound quality would be bad with dropouts and the video would be like needing to move the tinfoil on the antennas except we wouldn't have any...unless we committed to an annual subscription of course

If BD keeps to their schedule of when they release their 2020 program, we are about eight weeks out. So excited to see what our beloved Devils come up with. Here's to another decade of BD dominance!!! DO IT UP DEVILS!!

Wow. Let’s not entirely lose it over this.

This year i really wanted to experience Dci Live, But i have to push it back to next year. I wanted to be up close and personal with those Devils. My dream will come through some day (looking up in the clouds🙄☁).

Well said CIX. The most disgusting thing that I have heard was the Twitter mob wishing that all of the CPAC attendees get the Corona virus. Just sickening.

First off, thanks for the insults about my personal life. That said, my posts about this season are based off previous seasons. Oh and sorry for caring about things that are important to me and judging me, you’re a real class-act.

I haven't heard anyone say they consider it a hoax, but I agree with everything you said otherwise.

Let’s all take twenty seconds to take a deep breath and wash our hands. Considering it a hoax will not make it go away. We all share different views of what’s going on here but there is one thing we all can do to get us ALL past this. Listen to and follow the recommendations of scientists who study this sort of thing. The precautions they suggest just might save lives.

You do keep that political drumbeat going.

To be fair, one big driver of the events of 40 months ago was that a lot of people said the economy had never recovered and that's why change was needed. And when shown numbers like the one you share above, which show a recovery seven years earlier, from sources just like that, they typically would respond in one of these two ways: 1. You can't trust what the government is telling us. That's not the "real" number. 2. Oh sure, the stock market recovered and GDP recovered and unemployment recovered, but the first two aren't helping "regular" folks, and the last one is illusory because the new jobs aren't as good as the jobs before 2008. The first argument was pure garbage, especially since those people often point to the exact same sources now as being trustworthy. The second one had, and continues to have, *some* merits. I may not agree with the decision people made in response to their feelings of economic anxiety, but they had valid reasons to feel that way.

Ditto: pushing 76 - 2 OHS's - 1 kidney - could go on but I already fit the Over the Hill Gang category. The difference is you have all those years of "Fifth Ouarter" experience that should serve you well. Did some YouTube this weekend (if I have the right person) found out you can fly, quite the showman. We got this one, just exercise recommended precautions, watch your "6" and "Thanks for the Memories".

Which, if recent vernacular is any indication, will soon be considered “elderly”.

He also said not to panic. You left that part out. 🙂

According an epidemiologist I heard on the radio,there will most like be some recurrence of the virus next fall/winter. That's what has happened with similar virus strains in the past. He also anticipates that,by then,a vaccine will be available.

I am capable of reading materials published by actual experts. It is not in any way controversial to say that staying home is the best course of action, because it is. I realize that people will not stay home -- I myself am currently at my office, for instance -- but that's a choice.

George bringing the snark. Attaboy!

Sorry ,double post. Shows what even thinking about log/log does to you.

IMO, 70/30 in favor of BD losing. But I will say this........looking back I am glad 2008 worked out the way it did. I dont think we get the *** kicking Devils that boat raced DCI in 09-10 if the 08 results dont happen the way it did. It sure would have motivated me to the max to come out swinging the following year and take out anything in my path. And till I hear otherwise, I think it motivated BD.

GH publishing a book would be just the dumbest thing he could do. Which means, of course, that he will do it and open himself up to all kinds of civil charges because he's a narcissist who can't keep his stupid mouth shut and I know he's reading this and smoke is coming out of his ears because he can't respond or his lawyers will withdraw.

With a side dish of being pithy.

There are always contingency plans but this is the worst case scenario. I would not be surprised if multiple events, if not, the entire season is canceled. My sons senior band trip to Walt Disney World was just cancelled tonight, just two weeks prior to the trip. The kids have been saving up for this for two years and they’re heart broken. if DCI does have to cancel the season, I would hope they allow this years ageouts to have an additional year and March in 2021.

Fellinieqsue got a 99.65 if I recall. I understand it was amazing execution (of a boring show), but you have to pay off judges to get a score that high. 😉 And how was that little girl in a book entertainment? 😆 They didn't succeed in making it particularly cute or heart-warming. She added about as much to this show as tap dancers, an electric viola or a sousaphone. I need to go watch "Channel One" now I think. haha-just exaggerating my exasperation a little bit.