Journalists Scrutinize QAnon's Role in Capitol Hill Mob -- And Its Hosting Infrastructure (krebsonsecurity.com) 171
On Thursday Axios tried to assess QAnon's role in the mob that stormed America's Capitol building:
Adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, who imagine a vast deep-state cabal of pedophiles arrayed against Trump, have for years insisted that a moment of reckoning for their enemies is imminent. QAnon believers have largely accepted that Trump is waiting for the right time to bring a hammer down on his enemies (or already has, in secret). But time is running out. Because Congress was slated to officially certify Biden's victory on Jan. 6, the day became the focal point of a new conspiracy theory — that Trump would, on that date, reveal mountains of evidence of electoral fraud, somehow invalidate Biden's win, and secure a second term.
The catch: That evidence does not exist. Instead, Trump Wednesday addressed the followers who came to Washington by reeling off a familiar list of grievances... Determined to play their part in the foreordained events of Jan. 6, the mob descended on the Capitol... The bottom line: The pro-Trump internet willed into being a siege on the Capitol that successfully delayed the certification of Biden's victory.
But Tuesday, KrebsOnSecurity was already arguing that QAnon's infrastructure might have a legal vulnerability (according to this article shared by Slashdot reader aaltmann): In October 2020, KrebsOnSecurity looked at how a web of sites connected to conspiracy theory movements QAnon and 8chan were being kept online by DDoS-Guard, a dodgy Russian firm that also hosts the official site for the terrorist group Hamas. New research shows DDoS-Guard relies on data centers provided by a U.S.-based publicly traded company, which experts say could be exposed to civil and criminal liabilities as a result of DDoS-Guard's business with Hamas...
A review of the several thousand websites hosted by DDoS-Guard is revelatory, as it includes a vast number of phishing sites and domains tied to cybercrime services or forums online. Replying to requests for comment from a CBSNews reporter following up on my Oct. 2020 story, DDoS-Guard issued a statement saying, "We observe network neutrality and are convinced that any activity not prohibited by law in our country has the right to exist." But experts say DDoS-Guard's business arrangement with a Denver-based publicly traded data center firm could create legal headaches for the latter thanks to the Russian company's support of Hamas... Hamas has long been named by the U.S. Treasury and State departments as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization. Under such a designation, any U.S. person or organization that provides money, goods or services to an SDGT entity could face civil and/or criminal prosecution and hefty fines ranging from $250,000 to $1 million per violation.
Sean Buckley, a former Justice Department prosecutor with the law firm Kobre & Kim... said companies can incur fines and prosecution for violating SDGT sanctions even when they don't know that they are doing so.
The catch: That evidence does not exist. Instead, Trump Wednesday addressed the followers who came to Washington by reeling off a familiar list of grievances... Determined to play their part in the foreordained events of Jan. 6, the mob descended on the Capitol... The bottom line: The pro-Trump internet willed into being a siege on the Capitol that successfully delayed the certification of Biden's victory.
But Tuesday, KrebsOnSecurity was already arguing that QAnon's infrastructure might have a legal vulnerability (according to this article shared by Slashdot reader aaltmann): In October 2020, KrebsOnSecurity looked at how a web of sites connected to conspiracy theory movements QAnon and 8chan were being kept online by DDoS-Guard, a dodgy Russian firm that also hosts the official site for the terrorist group Hamas. New research shows DDoS-Guard relies on data centers provided by a U.S.-based publicly traded company, which experts say could be exposed to civil and criminal liabilities as a result of DDoS-Guard's business with Hamas...
A review of the several thousand websites hosted by DDoS-Guard is revelatory, as it includes a vast number of phishing sites and domains tied to cybercrime services or forums online. Replying to requests for comment from a CBSNews reporter following up on my Oct. 2020 story, DDoS-Guard issued a statement saying, "We observe network neutrality and are convinced that any activity not prohibited by law in our country has the right to exist." But experts say DDoS-Guard's business arrangement with a Denver-based publicly traded data center firm could create legal headaches for the latter thanks to the Russian company's support of Hamas... Hamas has long been named by the U.S. Treasury and State departments as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization. Under such a designation, any U.S. person or organization that provides money, goods or services to an SDGT entity could face civil and/or criminal prosecution and hefty fines ranging from $250,000 to $1 million per violation.
Sean Buckley, a former Justice Department prosecutor with the law firm Kobre & Kim... said companies can incur fines and prosecution for violating SDGT sanctions even when they don't know that they are doing so.
Too late (Score:5, Insightful)
Its too late. QAnon has metastasized into the GOP. Excision and amputation may be the only option at this point.
https://nyegop.org/2021/01/08/... [nyegop.org]
Re: Too late (Score:3, Interesting)
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The question is who gets the amputation. We've seen a few amputated out of the GOP and thrown under a bus and others who are busy chewing their own arm off to get away.
Some seem to have self-lobotomized so they wouldn't have to think about it any more.
Re:Too late (Score:4, Funny)
Excision and amputation may be the only option at this point.
Followed by a high dose radiation therapy.
It's the only way to be sure.
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Excision and amputation may be the only option at this point.
Followed by a high dose radiation therapy.
It's the only way to be sure.
Well, Trump does still have the football :/
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Those QAnon GOPs who got elected are there for 4 years now, assuming they don't get impeached. The internal struggle within the GOP isn't going to end any time soon.
Hosting infrastructure? (Score:2)
QAnon is an ideology, not an organization.
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An ideology that is presented and expanded by people who _organize_ using infrastructure. Not exactly difficult to figure out.
You sound like the "antifa is an idea, not a group" morons. Sure, OK but who are those little freaks running around in black bloc with umbrellas and larping as guerillas and posting under various "Antifa of XYZ" type organizations? Nobody is fooled.
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You sound like the "antifa is an idea, not a group" morons.
That was my point. I just forgot the <sarcasm> </sarcasm> tags.
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The internet allows for these leadless organisations though. Antifa, BLM, the classic Anonymous. There's no formal hierarchy, and certainly no one in charge to call the shots - instead the entire group is connected through constant online communication. A mass of people united by that connection and a mostly-shared ideology, constantly splintering and reforming. It's a collective,but not an organization in the conventional sense.
Re: Hosting infrastructure? (Score:2)
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It's most probably more than one organization. Internet research agency and accelerationists both come to mind. I don't doubt there are at least half a dozen more. Lot's monkey see monkey do going on here. But primarily I think it's foreign state actors amplified by stupid Americans. And there is just no shortage of stupid Americans. Sure, America can't manufacture enough N95 masks but it can manufacture more than enough stupid people. This is America.
Oh, the FBI/NSA will make it one. :) (Score:2)
Remember how Anonymous suddenly were a "group". With a freaking spokesperson! ....anger. ... People With A Common Interest, for a very close analogy.
Which is like somebody saying he is the spokesperson for
Or for
Because the damn TLAs did not get one bit, that it is not an organization, when "injecting" their moles, and those effectively *becoming* Anonymous "the group". :D
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I remember stories about the SDS [wikipedia.org]. And how Hoover was after it's leadership. So a bunch of them got together and made up a name (I forget what it was). And the Feds spent years chasing this guy around.
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Adam Selene
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QAnon is an ideology, not an organization.
I prefer to use a more descriptive term, like "delusion".
They have no charter, rules, platform, standards, ideals, principles, doctrine, or defined goals. If it's an ideology it's a 'one size fits all' kinda thing.
They have no understanding of the world around them, they're just happy to go on believing in demons and dark forces, huge secret plots everywhere and shadowy cabals of evil doers.
They have nothing other than a misdirected sense of purpose fostered by the people that wind them up and let them go.
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Drummed up by the media?
So all of your yokels were CGI?
Top notch renderer.
Not very lifelike, but top notch drumming up.
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Even Trumptards aren't stupid enough to storm the capitol
Well, actually they are.
Look, if they're dumb enough to inject bleach and drink aquarium cleaning chemicals, they're dumb enough to storm the Capitol Building.
Given my experience with rape victims... (Score:2, Insightful)
...there definitely is a lot of organized child rape out there, going up real high.
The rest of what it is tied to, is obviously bullshit though.
So I'm afraid of this being yet more fuel for not believing abused children. (Which is /the/ main problem.) ... "poisoning the well".
You know
Thanks to fuckin Trump. And likely pedo "anon"s themselves.
(Please believe kids! Especially the ridiculous stories like strange dresses and rituals, and masks to make them look like somebody else, are quite common in these rank
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Given my experience with rape victims...there definitely is a lot of organized child rape out there, going up real high.
What on earth are you talking about?
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QAnon, mostly. Once they started trying to evade keyword detection. This is part of their coded language. This person apparently believes most of what QAnon says, while acknowledging that QAnon themselves are untrustworthy.
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I don't know that he's QAnoning so much, as much of the "this is QAnon:" in the media has been "an organization that believes there is "a cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibalistic pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against US president Donald Trump, who is fighting the cabal" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon [wikipedia.org]). So, what he's saying is that since QAnon is obviously batshit crazy, people may think that there's actually no such thing as groups that run child sex-traffickin
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"Especially the ridiculous stories like strange dresses and rituals, and masks to make them look like somebody else, are quite common in these ranks... Also, yes, big meetings where kids are sold like slaves, are a thing too."
Uh huh...and you know this how, exactly? Youtube 'research'?
Sounds more like a fantasy you have that you're eager to participate in.
About time (Score:2)
About fucking time. What is wrong with America?
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What is wrong with America?
Oh, we're 31 flavors of All Fucked Up.
Re: About time (Score:2)
*puts on reading glasses* :D
*rolls out list, dropping on the floor, unrolling rolling down the stairs...*
You tell me when to stop reading, okay?
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about time "Journalists" scrutinized something? you're funny, agenda driven hacks like CNN or whatever other mainstream propaganda organ you prefer aren't going to change anything.
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Get lost asshole
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Nothing that won't be fixed in approximately 250 hours. Okay,it won't be fixed then. But in about 250 hours, we'll have someone in charge who wants to fix it, not make things worse. And that's a start.
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About fucking time. What is wrong with America?
Oh honey, we'd be here all night if I started listing all of the shit that's "wrong with America".
Free speech. (Score:2)
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The antidote to speech is more speech. I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
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It's a reference to the philosophy of Voltaire, but I don't expect you to have read it.
Censorship fans never do.
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If we censor to save democracy, what democracy is left?
My answers to your earlier question were clear. Respond to speech with more speech, not with censorship.
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Pray tell what speech would counter a president telling people to storm Capitol Hill? What speech would counter someone shouting fire in a theatre? "Simplistic" is not "clear". Your "answers" could mean anything. You may as well have said "send your thoughts and prayers". Both are useless, non-descript slogans for simpletons.
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I get what you're saying, but frankly, some things cannot be tolerated.
No one would "tolerate" a tumor, and the parallels between cancer and the crazy-ass QAnon people and the nutjob righties are unmistakable. If given free reign, it will kill you.
Many of the QAnon types and the extreme righties should be in mental hospitals, not roaming the street armed to the teeth.
Speech is great but there's a point at which it no longer matters because the other side isn't listening, or worse they take everything you sa
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The antidote to speech is more speech.
That only works if someone can hear it. The last several years of social media have broken that paradigm. The Internet becomes a personalized echo chamber and that "more speech" will never reach you. Unless the listener makes active effort to understand multiple viewpoints, it's a lost cause.
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There is speech you don't like, combined with a technical problem, and the conclusion you jump to is censorship? Something is wrong with you. Come up with a better solution.
That only works if someone can hear it. The last several years of social media have broken that paradigm. The Internet becomes a personalized echo chamber and that "more speech" will never reach you.
Facebook has come up with a solution to that. They put a fact-check message on factually incorrect posts.
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Not sure where you get censorship out of what I wrote. I'm placing the blame on the listener here.
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There is speech you might not like but is true. So depending which side of the political divide you are on "Donald Trump won the 2016 election" and "Donald Trump lost the 2020 election".
Then there is speech that is just false and bat shit crazy quack science. For example "5G causes coronvirus", "Bill Gates is going to microchip you with the vaccine", "the COVID vaccines will 'dereligous' you", "the COVID vaccines are going to sterilize black people", "COVID-19 is fake".
The facebook solution needs to be expa
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The antidote to speech is more speech.
No, that is only true in civil discourse where all participants act in good faith. Dishonest actors that try to disrupt the discourse with a neverending flood of lies and disinformation cannot be countered with "more speech". They can deliver more lies than you can counter in the same time and drown out your "more speech" so that it is effectively buried and never seen by anyone.
Disinformation and lies spread purposefully has no place in a democracy. See Karl Poppers paradox of tolerance.
You can attribute t
When someone shows them who you are, believe them. (Score:5, Insightful)
Not enough characters left to put quotes. Apologies.
Well, for all that people love to quote that, and "This is not who we are..." - well, America has shown us who it is. You can quibble and say it's not everybody, but it's a large enough amount for us to unambiguously state that it's inescapably part of what it means to be American.
It's what American is... not what it aspires to be.
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"This is not who we are" is aspirational. The point is not to deny bad things have happened, the point is to signal to bad people that society rejects their actions, so that those actions are less likely in the future.
Oh bullshit (Score:2)
Was the mob that occupied downtown Seattle this summer where seven people died in three days with no consequences "what it means to be American?" How about Portland and its months of continual violence and destruction of private and government property?
How about the rioters who have violently looted and destroyed thousands of small business across various metro areas in various 2020 riots?
And to be absolutely clear, I condemn the tards who stormed the Capitol last Wednesday as much as I condemn the tards w
it's more than just delayed the certification (Score:2, Insightful)
"... Capitol that successfully delayed the certification of Biden's victory."
It was much more than that:
- police officer was beaten with a fire extinguisher, ended up in a coma and later died
- representatives' laptops were stolen
- the Capitol was vandalized
- 2 pipe bombs were found
- there were Molotov cocktails,
- evidence is emerging that the goal was to lynch Pence and some representatives,
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So wait (Score:2)
So Q isn't coming to save us from the global club of canabalistic, Satan-worshiping pedophiles?
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yeah the pedo Bidens are only 33% of that phrase.
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Whatever you say, honey.
You seem to be very, very interested in pedophilia. I wonder why that is.
It won't stop at QAnon or Parler (Score:2)
Mob? (Score:3, Informative)
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The BLM buildings weren't entirely peaceful. There were a few buildings destroyed, and a number of violent confrontations between police and protesters that saw injuries in both sides. But nothing of the scale or the sheer audacity seen in the Washington riot.
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Ugh... that post has so many typos, I am clearly in need of more tea
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More tea is always a good idea.
Journalists? (Score:2)
Ahahaha...
They are narrative writers, not journalists any more.
If something illegal is going down, thatâ(TM)s the domain of the legal system.
'QAnon' is just *chan trolls (Score:3, Insightful)
So let me make it abundantly clear to anyone who 'believes' what these 'QAnon' assholes are telling you: YOU HAVE BEEN TROLLED, HARD, AND THEY ARE LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF AT YOU.
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Bingo.
Fun Fact: QAnon was started by a couple of practical jokers from Seattle, and it took off FAR beyond anything they imagined. They never dreamed people would actually believe this shit and they're horrified at what they inadvertently created.
It was all supposed to be just a one-off joke; they said they wanted to create "the most idiotic, unbelievable conspiracy theory" that "no one in their right mind could possibly believe". They wanted to make it so ridiculously insane and unhinged that people would
Re:Trumptards Unite Against Shadows and Dust (Score:5, Funny)
The Truth: A lot of people who THOUGHT they were true Trumpists and even QAnon followers, like that shaman guy who wears a fur hat and horns, were actually deep cover Antifa agents brainwashed so they didn't even know it. Trump led them there to reveal this truth and cleanse the ranks to just the true believers. By attacking the Capitol they revealed themselves for what they are, everyone knows they are really Antifa because nobody who supports Trump could ever be violent or criminal or anything and thus Trump saved the day again and Congress unanimously elected Trump president in accordance with the secret bit of the constitution that says they can do that.
Re: Trumptards Unite Against Shadows and Dust (Score:2, Interesting)
And how would you tell you're not the one who's brainwashed? ... How would I tell?
Or me?
How could we ever be certain?
My friend, I'm not angry. I get you. I just wonder who hurt you. Each time it hurts, stay in there a bit, and tell yourself what earlier painful event it reminds you of.
Do this until you can not get anything further. Like early childhood or the like.
Interested in actually answering that one?
Interested in finding out what's the past and what is now?
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What's bizarre is that's not too far from what some are now asserting to the media. When Trump finally goes then Biden will become the Antitrump heralding the end times with covid, deficits and whatever else it was okay for Trump to get away with.
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Italians did it (Score:2)
Apparently employees of Italian military contractor Leonardo used servers in Germany and Italy to download data directly from voting machines. They manipulated the data to throw the election for Biden on Barak Obama's orders. They even used satellite data links! News at 11!!
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That's a stupid theory. I hope you feel stupid for having shared that.
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That's a stupid theory. I hope you feel stupid for having shared that.
Show some sympathy. It's most likely the brain damage showing through since he's been refusing to wear a mask [slashdot.org].
OHH SUCK DEEZ NUTZ (Score:2)
Seriously? That's the best you've got while it's killing thousands of Americans every day? So limp. So, so limp.
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By that logic, 9/11 practically didn't happen and the 737 Max had safety issues but still didn't kill significant numbers of people.
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The mortality is a bit higher this year because of a bad strain of coronavirus.
"A bit"? 20% is not "a bit" higher [jamanetwork.com].
It's not the apocalypse.
Who said it was the apocalypse? Why are you listening to religious kooks?
The suspicion that many people have is that this recoding of deaths was done for political reasons. Including me.
In fact we know that the number of deaths is higher than reported, because several states are deliberately underreporting covid deaths [usatoday.com]. We figured it out by counting excess deaths. And deaths from the usual causes are actually DOWN right now because of all the people staying home.
The most important takeaway from covid, though, is that if something really deadly comes along, we're fucked. Really well a
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Did he appear to you in your mom's basement along with his friend Beetlejuice?
Re: OHH FUCK OFF (Score:2)
What you saw was the result of a cult like devotion to a man lacking the mental and emotional maturity to be in any position of authority or power, physically incapable of comprehending a world where he doesn't win at everything he does.
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Mind if I weigh in too? You're stupid.
Frankly, that is a GOOD THING.. (Score:2)
I always said the problem with the world is that people do not get to have time to *THINK*.
The part I did not think about, was that they may me guided by somebody crazy. Especially those not very skilled at thinking for themselves, understanding the world, and solving problems.
But them finally getting to think is *not* the problem here.
Them having to learn how to wield that power, is.
And somebody abusing that, is.
Just like people who whore shoes their whole life, hurting after a barefoot day e.g. in the tro
Re:OHH FUCK OFF (Score:4, Insightful)
So, just to clarify, which covid craziness are you blaming for this? People who were told "it's no big deal", "it'll be gone by spring", "don't wear masks, they might save your life"? I mean, seriously-- there's a segment of the population who refuses to wear masks on patriotic grounds-- because apparently, helping to kill your fellow Americans is somehow patriotic.
Wearing a mask is an irritating, but trivial thing to do to limit the spread of covid. Social distancing is inconvenient-- but helps. Closing down businesses truly sucks, but at least, there might be some customers when they reopen.
Crazy is pretending that a virus that "only" kills 1% of it's victims is "nothing to worry about". Worldwide, 90 million cases, 2 million dead. In the USA alone, more people are dying per day than died on 9/11. Globally, figure another 3 to 5 million who will have permanent health issues for the rest of their lives. Been to an emergency room lately? I have. A lot of very tired, very stressed out infrastructure. And then there's the staff. Now *any* kind of emergency you might have, that you might survive normally, could result in your death. And it's going to get worse for the next two months.
But here's how to tie it all together-- the guy who's anti-mask, who downplayed the virus, who bungled the response, who crippled the CDC ahead of the virus, who removed the US liaison from the Chinese health ministry, who insists he didn't lose, insists the election was stolen, stokes conspiracy theories, weakened the security at the US Capitol, and then fired an angry mob at Pence, Pelosi and Schumer-- is all the same batshit crazy narcissistic jackass he's always been, Donald J. Trump.
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Both NS and Aus have a very sparse population density. A good portion of their population are well spread from other nodes of concentration.
Basic epidemiology points out that this is a huge indicator that diseases simply will not spread well through that kind of population even with minimal intervention.
Both countries did what everyone else did, but because it was a relatively simple task for them (compared to countries with large, dense and urbanised populations), they came through it quickly.
America has
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Then you have the commercial medical care/investment. It's built as a business, so copes very well with what it always encounters. It doesn't cope that well with mass events that are expensive to maintain and be used once per several generations. That's generally what Governments do as social protections, and do well. Private entities.. Not so much.
I agree with most of your comment, just want to point out that mostly our healthcare system and doctors have done good work. It's the people who refuse to wear masks who are the problem.
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There is so much evidence that masks stop and slow pandemics (in addition to the obvious intuition that germ spreading from the respiratory system would be stopped by a mask), that if you haven't found it by now, something is wrong with your information gathering skills. Fix that.
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We've known that masks help prevent the spread of disease since the 19th century. If you can't join us in the present, could you at least for some time in the 20th century?
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So you're saying the germs you spew are sentient and know how long you've been standing there?
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So... how do the masks know the difference?
More seriously, the problem in the 19th century was the the mask quality varied greatly-- a well designed surgical mask, kept clean, did in fact minimize mortality. A layer of cheesecloth wrapped around your chin washed once a week, strangely, didn't help.
A lightweight modern "paper" style mask (the most common disposable mask) has multiple layers that are quite capable of filtering out the virus itself, let alone any moisture droplets containing the virus. Is it
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Even a crappy cloth-mask or dust mask is still better than nothing, as they can catch the droplets that carry the virus. Not as good as a properly made surgical mask, true. But not completely useless.
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If it makes you feel better, make your mask out of fine copper mesh between layers of cloth :-) That should help filter out the 5G.
Re:OHH FUCK OFF (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, its not wearing things that dont work that is the problem.
I guess it depends what your definition of 'work' is. Will it work to slow or stop the pandemic? No. Will it work to get more people to be as much of a sheep as you are? Yes.
Actually, Yes, it does. Does it stop you from getting the virus? No. Does it help prevent you from spreading it? Yes.
At the very least, wearing a mask reduces the amount of virus load and the distance that it can travel. So when you are near others, it does help protect them from getting it. Its all about protecting your neighbors and friends. But "freedom" seems to be more important to some people than actually caring about others.
if you are reading or watching something that tells you that masks don't work, listen to the language that is used very closely. The vast majority focus on whether masks protect YOU from the virus. They do this because they know that there is overwhelming evidence showing that it protects you from spreading it to others. But that doesn't fit into their narrative, so they ignore that part.
Re:OHH FUCK OFF (Score:5, Informative)
Wow. I guess the American education system really has failed.
Your ignorance is shockingly apparent.
I mean-- consider all those ER doctors over the *DECADES* who wear masks-- you're saying they don't work? You really want some surgeon standing over your open chest without a face mask?
Because it's the exact same principle. Stop the infected water vapor on the way out of the lungs and throat, and catch the airborne particles on the way into your nose-- which, by the way, is how SARS-CoV-2 attaches to your respiratory system, so if you only wear the mask over your mouth, you're protecting other people-- but not you.
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Nevermind that people in 1918 had much less problem wearing a face mask for the flu epidemic. Sure, there were complaints and op/ed articles and people refusing - but much more compliance. Of course, maybe it was the possibility of prison time in some jurisdictions that helped.
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Sure, its not wearing things that dont work that is the problem.
Fuckwit.
Re:OHH FUCK OFF (Score:5, Insightful)
85% of Australia's population is urban, almost all of that in the capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. And there is, normally, a lot of interstate traffic, so those urbations are well connected. When we've slipped, COVID spreads through Australian populations very well indeed.
One of the first things done was to break those connections and set up hard borders between the states, so that each state, and to some extent each city, could concentrate on cleaning itself up, without worrying about whether more cases were being brought in from outside. Once a city or a state was clean, they kept the borders closed so that they stayed clean. Melbourne got hit hard, and our reaction was to lock down hard, and long. No unnecessary travel. Strict definitions of what "necessary" is, and if visiting your dying relatives if you're not actively a carer for them is not necessary, then neither is a haircut. Curfews. 5km travel limits. Compulsory masks outside the home. And that was kept up for months, until we started seeing double doughnuts: no new local cases, no deaths. Then we relaxed, carefully, and started accepting travel. And when there were new outbreaks, which we knew there would be, we locked down again.
The difference between Australia and the US? We passed the marshmallow test.
The marshmallow test is something given to small children to measure their maturity and self-control. You put them in a room, with a marshmallow on the table. (Or a chocolate, or some other kiddy-crack treat.) And you tell them that they can't have it now, but if they don't touch it, then in five minutes they can have two. Then the experimenter leaves the room. Young children can't control themselves: they see a thing they want now, so they take it now. There is a certain level of maturity where the child realises that for putting up with a bit of temptation, they can get a bigger reward, so they wait. Sometimes they literally sit on their hands to stop themselves taking the marshmallow, but they wait. And after five minutes, they get two marshmallows.
Australia and New Zealand are enjoying our two marshmallows.
America had to keep having haircuts. And couldn't close unnecessary retail. Had to have sit-down restaurant meals instead of take-out. Couldn't put up with masks. Weren't able to lock down interstate travel, much less inter-city. You, as a society, couldn't stop yourself having the marshmallow in front of you. And now you don't get a second one.
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That anecdote always annoys me. What happened to the kids when the adult comes back in five minutes, takes the marshmallow away, saying "oh, we don't have a second marshmellow, and I will use this one for the next test, goodbye" ? What happens to the kid that goes through this promise-patience-perfidy cycle repeatedly? When does the kid stop being a "good person" and becomes bitter, or called a fool?
How does the researcher know whether the child is already trained to expec
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More than half of New Zealands population is concentrated in its main cities - so why did we succeed in containing the virus there?
New Zealands population density is only sparse if you assume people are evenly spaced out - they arent. Its freaking easy here to drive for an hour and see two or three houses. And thats the North Island - its easier on the South Island to drive for hours without seeing anyone at all.
NZs real population density is much higher if you actually look at where people live - the tow
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Yeah and the US is mostly farmland in the Midwest, punctuated by small towns and minor cities. Very few areas that are nearly devoid of people except in the desert parts of the West. 83% of the US lives in urban areas, but that other 17% is a lot of people.
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Yup, so you actually have a pretty good equivalence of density - large cities with the bulk of the population (heck, Auckland is about 25% of NZs total population alone), and largely low populated countryside.
There are huge areas of NZ where basically no one lives.
So again, back to the “take a spherical cow” example...
Re:OHH FUCK OFF (Score:5, Informative)
Have you ever actually looked at a map of Australia? Close to half the population is concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne. Guess what the hotspots in Australia are.
No, Australia did what certain countries refused to do, and took this seriously, placing restrictions on movement to get community transmission. Australia also implemented quarantine for all international arrivals. The transport/logistics industry tests every worker every time they cross a state border.
Haha, get a load of yourself. The US doesn't have great transport networks. Japan has the shinkansen high-speed train network, as well as dozens of flights between major cities every day, and very nice roads. Australia had an average of about one flight in each direction every ten minutes between Sydney and Melbourne, but that got reduced to less than a dozen a day with state border closures. You could have implemented movement restrictions and quarantine in the US, but you refused to.
What it does well is nickel-and-diming people out of all their money, siphoning off as much as possible into the pockets of middlemen, and bankrupting people when they have medical emergencies. You spend a huge amount of money for poorer outcomes on average.
It's not about medical staff, it's about everyone. You can't get this under control just by treating symptomatic cases, because it has a two-week incubation period. You need to get the spread under control, and to do that you need everyone to be sensible and take reasonable precautions. As has been clearly shown time and again, there are plenty of people who won't do this unless they're forced to. If you insist on taking the "mah freedumb" approach, you'll never get this under control.
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Both NS and Aus have a very sparse population density. ...
Basic epidemiology points out that this is a huge indicator that diseases simply will not spread well through that kind of population even with minimal intervention.
Both countries did what everyone else did, but because it was a relatively simple task for them (compared to countries with large, dense and urbanised populations), they came through it quickly.
America has several problems. One being large populations that are densely packed in highly urbanised areas (very very bad for vulnerability to epidemics). It also has great transport networks allowing fast, easy travel between neighbouring nodes (again, a bad thing when you're fighting an epidemic).
How about Taiwan, which in general is much more urbanized than New Zealand, Australia, or the US? Taiwan also has very good transport networks. Nonetheless, Taiwan's disease containment has been even better than New Zealand's or Australia's.
The reason that some countries have been dramatically more successful at containment is developing and carrying out a national strategy that includes no-excuse masks, quarantines, and contact tracing that is enforced by police and financial penalties. Oh, also nationa
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helped to instigate a false flag operation to falsely implicate Trump supporters
No. It was people like this lunatic [slashdot.org] who thinks there was massive voter fraud. People who are easily manipulated and whipped into a frenzy.
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Oh, ouch. I'm so sorry I posted. You have sure shown me.
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I really don't. Not when that speech is designed to cause violence. Not when that speech is a loon yelling at every car things they are actively trying to avoid hearing. Not when that speech is someone doxxing people or posting the nudes they hacked from their account. There are a lot of things there is no reason to allow.
But yeah, people advocating for obectivism arguing with communists is fine.