Trains.com

Interesting virus theory on the News Today

2511 views
15 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Canterlot
  • 9,575 posts
Posted by zugmann on Friday, March 27, 2020 12:44 PM

alphas

Fox's actual news department is as good as any other.   Of course, if you only watch CNN or MSNBC you will be under the impression that all of FOX is idiots or liars.    

 

And vice versa. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Friday, March 27, 2020 11:13 AM

The problem I have with Fox News (and with many other departments of News Corp. and Sky, as well) is that they share an enthusiasm to slant their presentation of the news ideologically.  This is nowhere near as bad, or as self-consciously manipulative, as much of the typical 'mainstream' broadcast media, but simply because I often agree with the Fox News slant does not mean I justify it as 'news' coverage.

There's a place for that, and it's called "op/ed" not journalism.  Ed Murrow got screwed for not wanting to cross that line with that miserable Paley.

Manwhile, I can specifically date the point at which 'news' became the same kind of entertainment programming as 'meteorology', and what euphemistically was called 'color' material before that term became unusable in context became a ratings tool.  It was when Roone Arledge, who effectively ruined sports programming as a discipline, was allowed to turn his unique 'talents' to news (which at the time, in the '70s, was as boring and languishing as Pontiac sales in the pre-de-Lorean era).  He quickly got a perky girl and a white-toothed hunk, dressed 'em up, and had them doing vivacious stories, hang journalistic integrity.  This was not quite as bad as it got; Ted Turner had a mistress that he set up on one of his outlets (might even have been CNN) doing a 'Good News' show that, while commendable in redirecting focus away from 'bleeds it leads' agony and schadenfreude excuses for news coverage, didn't really involve any hard subjects either.

As I've said before: one thing we need is more Walter Lippmanns in investigative or interpretive journalism ... admittedly flawed though some of us might think Lippmann's own views might have been ... and instead we are treated to a remorseless dumbing-down and concerted effort at spin that would dismay even before it is demonstrated to be wrongheadedly successful in its cozening.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • 575 posts
Posted by alphas on Friday, March 27, 2020 10:28 AM

Fox's actual news department is as good as any other.   Of course, if you only watch CNN or MSNBC you will be under the impression that all of FOX is idiots or liars.    

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • 6,952 posts
Posted by CMStPnP on Thursday, March 26, 2020 6:25 PM

charlie hebdo

Fox News is  not known for having a very knowledgeable staff to research and report stories,  whether it's the national team or local broadcasters. 

As others have done on other news channels.   Because it is no longer clearly marked on the screen of the TV as it once used to be.    I think you are mixing up their entertainment programming with their news division.     I see that a lot on the internet.     I found their news department to be pretty good.    Thier entertainment division is roughly the same as with other cable channels and no better than listening to Jimmy Fallon for the news.    Problem is we have people that lump the two together and use the entertainment division as an example of journalism....and the folks that do that really have no clue they are using the entertainment division vs the news division as an example they hold up.

Easiest way to tell which your listening too is one makes on air aggressive sales pitches for additional purchases of FOX News products (entertainment division) and the other does not do that (news division).

  • Member since
    September 2014
  • 376 posts
Posted by GERALD L MCFARLANE JR on Thursday, March 26, 2020 5:19 PM

It's a scientific fact that this version of the coronavirus lasts on stainless steel surfaces for 72 hours, just like it hangs around on cardboard for 24 hours.  It's been tested and verified by several different labs, so it's a plausible buy unlikely theory.

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 1,686 posts
Posted by Erik_Mag on Thursday, March 26, 2020 3:01 PM

Presume you mean De Blasio as Trump's first action wrt COVID-19 was late January. Not to mention the NY director of public health to ignore requests of people leaving the NYC area to self quarantine for 14 days.

  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Canterlot
  • 9,575 posts
Posted by zugmann on Thursday, March 26, 2020 1:39 PM

The ball was dropped on all levels.  But one level seems intent on leaving it on the ground. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: Flyover Country
  • 5,557 posts
Posted by York1 on Thursday, March 26, 2020 1:15 PM

charlie hebdo
Is that the latest excuse du jour? 


zugmann
Be nice. It's all they got. 

 

Excuses:

 

New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot, 2/9/20 7:10 am:

"Today our city is celebrating the #LunarNewYear parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in our city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinformation spreading about #coronavirus."

 

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, 3/2/20, 6:16 pm:

Since I'm encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions. Here's the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see “The Traitor” @FilmLinc. If “The Wire” was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film.”

 

 

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, 3/11/20:

If you’re not sick, you should be going about your life”.  He said the city is “telling people to not avoid restaurants, not avoid normal things that people do.”

 

Of course, here's the excuse:

 

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, 3/20/20:

 

He’s [Trump's] not acting like a commander-in-chief because he doesn’t know how,” de Blasio said of the president. “He should get the hell out of the way.”

 

York1 John       

  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Canterlot
  • 9,575 posts
Posted by zugmann on Thursday, March 26, 2020 11:49 AM

charlie hebdo
Is that the latest excuse du jour? 

Be nice. It's all they got. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

  • Member since
    September 2017
  • 5,636 posts
Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, March 26, 2020 9:10 AM

Gramp

I think it is called "impeachment trial".

Back to the present.  

 

Is that the latest excuse du jour? 

  • Member since
    September 2017
  • 5,636 posts
Posted by charlie hebdo on Thursday, March 26, 2020 9:08 AM

Fox News is  not known for having a very knowledgeable staff to research and report stories,  whether it's the national team or local broadcasters. 

  • Member since
    October 2014
  • 1,139 posts
Posted by Gramp on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 10:22 PM

I think it is called "impeachment trial".

Back to the present.  

  • Member since
    September 2011
  • 6,449 posts
Posted by MidlandMike on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 9:53 PM

South Korea never closed entry to people from China, but still quickly beat back the epidemic with rapid testing, quarantining, and following up to find people who had contact.  They did all this while the US administration was still in denial that there was a problem

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 6:35 PM

CMStPnP
So they are now saying on FOX News this morning the reason suspected that the virus is so strong in NYC is it survives so long on a stainless steel surface and their subway system interiors are all stainless steel...

Just like Fox News to garble the actual payload of a story's message.

The virus remains infectious 18 to 48 hours on a hard surface that preferentially holds organic contamination containing the virus.  

Stainless steel is very good about holding fingerprints and smears, as anyone who has ever suffered through having 'stainless-steel' appliances is probably aware.  It is also difficult to actually remove all the organic material from a brushed stainless surface as most solvent cleaners only act to smear to a thin layer which then doesn't preferentially 'attach' to cleaning rags.  It is possible to sanitize this at any particular time in a way that inactivates the virus genome ... but any subsequent virus particles from breath or hands or casual contact can be ground into the film even a few minutes later...

How this in fact differs from contamination on other hard surfaces in a New York subway car --  which is full of hard surfaces, including the standee 'supports' (there's good reason why subway riders have been referred to as 'straphangers' in the past) -- probably remains to be seen.  I would certainly have ranked hard-surface transfer as a likely and perhaps severe concern, and it does bring up at least the further concern of 'soft-surface' transfer by brushing against surfaces with clothing, and then brushing later against a surface with a 'receptive' film.  But I'd think these are concerns for hard surfaces in transit vehicles in general, not just for stainless in New York cars.

Having ridden the Dallas light rail, I think there are plenty of hard surfaces contacted by hands and other body parts that would potentially 'qualify' for this kind of latent transfer.  Gloves are only a 'solution' to the greater problem if they are repeatedly, and effectively, sanitized on their contact surfaces each time they have gripped or contacted a potentially 'infective' surface.  With the current chronic shortage of both effective hand sanitizers and good wearable gloves ... this might be a problem, or at least an issue to be addressed with further advisories and orders, for more than the next few days.

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 5:35 PM

And do you believe everything you see on FOX NEWS?

Do people do a lot of touching of the walls of the NYC trains?

May I suggest that that was/is FAKE NEWS. Or did the man my daughter calls CHETTO say it?

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2009
  • From: Dallas, TX
  • 6,952 posts
Interesting virus theory on the News Today
Posted by CMStPnP on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 7:09 AM

So they are now saying on FOX News this morning the reason suspected that the virus is so strong in NYC is it survives so long on a stainless steel surface and their subway system interiors are all stainless steel.......that and they really cram people into the subway during rush hour.    Plus Europe did not close flights to China until long after we did so we had Europeans interacting with folks that had flown from China to Europe and then some flew into NYC.     Interesting theory and I am not sure how true it is but kind of scary because stainless steel is a common interior in mass transit cars............well except for Dallas and some other cities.     Maybe this is rumor or maybe found via testing people not sure I guess it will pan out in the next few days if that is true.

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy