Alabama students hold COVID-19 parties with prize for first sick person wfla.com/community/health/coronavirus/…

> Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students hosted the parties to intentionally infect each other with the new coronavirus. McKinstry said party organizers purposely invited guests who tested positive for COVID-19.

> Alabama has reported about 39,000 coronavirus cases, and its death toll is approaching 1,000.

It's really going to suck when Trump gets reelected

On the one hand, I dislike state stereotypes (partially because Texas is the most stereotyped state in the US), but I'm frankly not surprised this was in Alabama.

@Yuuki I'm pretty sure you're a cowboy, therefore proving all Texas stereotypes.

Am I the only one who's thinking that this is literally Darwin in action?

What, the "pandemic"?

@TheMattbat999 the pandemic affecting people who are fighting against lockdowns and mask requirements more.

oh

Those that say that they're safe due to various reasons (ranges from "it's fake"/"5g causes it" to "hot weather means it won't spread", all of which are incorrect) then catch it for believing and acting on that

It's wild out there. People are crazy

Honestly as much as I disagree with many other beliefs that most of those people have, these requirements are for public health.

That means their health AND of those they interact with. Their coworkers. The service workers that serve their food, public servants that deliver their orders, this, that.

I kinda get social distancing, but the mask thing is silly, mainly cause most people won't wear them properly.

@TheMattbat999 That doesn't mean that it hurts the most to wear them though.

Even if you can't put it on perfectly, it's going to help, at least a little bit

I guess so

and the "little bit" really scales up when you consider that there's billions of people alive

It hurts me to see people who don't cover their noses, those that take off their mask when speaking, those that don't wear them in crowded but indoor spaces etc too, but especially the former are a minority over here.

those are the majority here.

Educating them would be a lot better than fighting against masks tbh

Yes.

it is

I hardly go out, but I need to start going out into town for frequently, I want a plague doctor's mask

I want a full on gas mask tbh, lol.

That would be epic also, but I would enjoy the doctor one more, since it would unsettle people and therefore force them to subconsciously social distance

getting ot, but important note: If you do get one, I'd recommend looking into the actual protection it provides. I don't think they provide much at all. You might want a proper mask under that, just in case.

yyyeeeaaahhh doubtful i'll go back into town anyways. While i was away, they had a flood of cases.

Stay safe.

I shall.

might chop up a goat for meat if it gets extreme in town

@Frank and like with the Tide Pods we are still spitting in his face by protecting them

if only COVID-19 could infact based on stupid levels

Virus: lets see, oh, you have remnants of Bleach in your stomach, you're getting infected

@TheMattbat999 if everyone wore them, it would get R down to below 1. if continued for long enough, we could basically go back to normal with an very low chance of infection (even without a vaccine)

businessinsider.com/…

oki.

of course, it is unlikely everyone would

but if more people wore them it would at least work to make less people die (even if we still had to wait for a vaccine/effective medication)

^, please read up on herd immunity

it's amazing

quick link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_immunity

Ah well, I'm sure this won't get extremely dumb and dangerous

> Washington Post editorial board: "China has imposed a new national security law of six chapters and 66 articles that will criminalize dissent and install a system of secret police, putting the territory under the same authoritarian boot as the mainland."

@TimStone SPLC considers that group an anti-Muslim hate group, for good measure

Okay but really though the dead people aren't reanimating

What about younger people who get better much easier and faster

just, also us?

The Young, They Exist!

> Mary Trump argues in an affidavit that the non-disclosure agreement is VOID because her family, including President Trump, defrauded her into signing the settlement, citing the NY Times investigation

Seems hard to believe because the President is in no way known for checks notes defrauding people for his own advantage …hmm, well

@Wipqozn That story doesn't seem to have any solid evidence, it really sounds more like an urban legend

twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1278904549718331392

@MadScientist the fire chief and a city councilor said it happened

@Stormblessed the original article quoted a city councilor saying that the fire chief said that. There's not real evidence there, and there really should be some if this were real

@MadScientist the NY Post article has a video of a fireman saying the state, doctors, found the same thing

> We did some additional research … not only did the doctors’ offices help confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information.

That is still only one source, everything else is hearsay.

If this were real, I'd expect at least one newspaper digging up an actual case of such a party

@MadScientist Damn it. I didn't notice the source was the NYP. They make up shit all the time.

@Wipqozn the actual source is ABC news

I still have no trouble believing it though. America isn't taking this seriously at all, especially the GOP states.

I posted it on Skeptics now

My suspicion is that this is similar to most of the stupid Youtube challenges articles, with maybe a single case or two where it is unclear if it was a joke or a fake, blown up to a widespread thing without evidence

@MadScientist The article I posted made it sound like a single case, although that was just quoting a quote apparently.

@MadScientist Probably, though I wouldn't put it past bored teenagers to bet on the weirdest shit possible

@MadScientist Wired claims this was essentially the case

> The latest version of the tale, from Alabama, follows the same pattern as the others. It appears to be the product of a weird game of telephone mixed with loose talk from public officials and disgracefully sloppy journalism

@TimStone yeah, someone replied to Mad's question. Closest thing they can find is callouts for immunity parties from ignorant parents who think COVID works the same as Measles in that getting it means you're safe for the rest of your life, which may not even be the case anymore

I am not a lawyer but this seems like poor legal strategy

@Unionhawk one of the core tenets of Rule of Law: it should apply to everyone regardless of their politics or how much evidence there is before the case

let the courtroom decide whether the evidence is enough.

I don’t like it either, but it is the foundation of a a Fair justice system

I mean for Alan Dershowitz, if I were his lawyer I'd advise talking as little about his relationship with Jeffery Epstein's operation as possible

@Unionhawk Oh hah I had to look him up and now I get the reference.

okay. Can’t say much about him, don’t know the guy.

They said his name so often in that Epstien doc but I only recognize his face.

But as we all know since the law is fake this doesn't actually matter and Alan will continue to just complain that people don't invite him to parties anymore

@Nzall Personal friend and legal advisor to Epstein, and also directly implicated in some accusations against Epstein.

Also yeah I completely missed that subhead

My eyes immediately went from headline to byline to date