Coronavirus in Context is a weekly newsletter where we bring you facts that matter about the COVID-19 pandemic and the technology trying to stop its spread. You can subscribe here.
Hi-diddly-ho corona-rinos,
Nobody talks about the 8 billion people who haven’t died from COVID-19 amirite?
This week’s newsletter is dedicated to everyone who hates how biased the mainstream media is against lies and misinformation.
So, to appease the “alternative facts” crowd, I present: Coronavirus in the Context of Talking to People Who Think COVID-19 Isn’t Real: A Happy-Go-Lucky Newsletter Full of Spin: Part 2: COVID Boogaloo.
It’s a working title.
So, what’s happening out there? Hm. Oh, the Sturgis rally in the US last month! A bunch of really cool people got together to enjoy libations and the company of like-minded individuals.
So far, it’s only been linked to 250,000 COVID-19 cases. Haha! Awesome right? I mean, look at it this way: an estimated 462,000 people attended this year’s event. So nearly twice as many people got to have fun with motorcycles for a few days than caught the COVID from it. Bully!
What else, what else? Oh yeah! Multiple studies have demonstrated that populations around the globe are suffering from a huge mental health crisis based on the extended pandemic which is likely to have long-lasting effects.
But mental health is just another liberal conspiracy right? So we can just choose not to care and dismiss those claims outright. Fantastic!
Honestly, it’s so much easier not caring about other human beings and pulling the “fake news” card every time I read something I don’t like, I think I’m going to extend that philosophy into everything I do…
Gender reveal parties are not only wonderful ways to celebrate heteronormative culture, but they’re also the perfect opportunity to impress your friends and family with a top-notch s’mores recipe!
Unemployment? More like… amazing global economic recovery. Worst global catastrophe in modern history? Uh, that would be the delay of Big 10 football in the US.
Wow! I’m so much happier now that I’ve decided journalistic integrity is silly and misinformation is good. Thank you conspiracy theorists and anti-science people for showing me a better way.
/sarcasm
By the numbers |
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| Last week we revisited the COVID-19 infection numbers.
This week, since we’re drinking the Kool Aid, we’re just going to update those numbers, but when you read them you have to shake your head, mutter “Obama” under your breath, and then loudly say “this is fake news because I don’t like it.” |
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Lol totally stable Tweet of the week
My Campaign spent a lot of money up front in order to compensate for the false reporting and Fake News concerning our handling of the China Virus. Now they see the GREAT job we have done, and we have 3 times more than we had 4 years ago – & are up in polls. Lots of $’s & ENERGY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 8, 2020
What to read |
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| Everything is fine. Don’t read these links, they’re full of real information and actual, verified reporting. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Commercial break |
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sponsored content Freshworks for Startups is organizing a highly curated virtual startup summit called Against All Odds for startup founders, VCs, and senior functional leaders – on September 17th. Join 800+ founders & 20+ amazing speakers including Philippe Botteri of Accel, Tao Tao of GetYourGuide, Johnny Boufarhat of Hopin, Andrey Khusid of Miro, Anna of Zizoo, and several other leaders for inspiring hours of keynotes, on 1:1 networking, roundtable discussions, and VC connections.
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¯_(ツ)_/¯ |
| In this little section, we’d like to talk about the tech that’s getting us through the pandemic. This week I want to vent.
Covering COVID-19 every single week is deflating. It can be depressing and scary. To compensate and keep my spirits up, I like to write about less serious topics sometimes. And if you’ve been following along, you’ll know I’m an avid gamer who covers Xbox, PC, PlayStation, and Switch news whenever I get the chance. Before Labor Day weekend I set myself up to have the most gamer-iffic holiday imaginable. My play schedule included reviewing NBA2K21 and a brand-spanking-new Logitech G steering wheel with my favorite racing games. How’d it go? It sucked. My gaming weekend was absolutely ruined. I spent the majority of it troubleshooting and putting in support tickets before I finally gave up and just binged Parks and Recreation on Netflix again. NBA2K21 was essentially broken for me and millions of other gamers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great game (based on what I was able to play) and I look forward to writing my review once it’s working properly. But the launch problems — bonuses for the deluxe edition don’t work and many people can’t get into multiplayer games — made it impossible for me to enjoy over the weekend. And the steering wheel? Well, it doesn’t actually work with any of the numerous racing games I own despite them being listed as compatible with this model. I’m confident that all of these problems will be resolved, which is why I’m not publishing ranting articles (show me a game or piece of hardware that has zero launch problems and I’ll show you a company that’s hiding something). But, dammit it sucks! I’m a grown person with a family, a job, kids, and myriad responsibilities. This weekend was supposed to be one of the two or three times a year I get to really hunker down and get some hardcore gaming accomplished. I think it’s time the entire gaming industry collectively decided to end “crunch time.” It feels like gamers are shelling out hundreds of dollars for the privilege of being a stress tester instead of paying for finished, working products. I’m sure NBA2K21 (still not working as of today) and the admittedly awesome new Logitech G923 (working finally!) will eventually be top-notch and I’ll review them both based on their full, working capabilities. But that won’t give me my Labor Day weekend back. |
Well, bye
We’re all in this together. Even if it feels like everything is completely partisan right now… because it kind of is… we’re still members of the same human race.
Maybe 2021 will be different. But the only way that’s going to happen is if we all collectively decide to look out for one another no matter what.
The good news is that doing so is easy peasy lemon squeezy:
1. Wear a mask.
2. Stay 2-3 meters away from others in public spaces.
3. Support government officials who take the pandemic seriously.
Adios amigos,
Tristan
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