MiMi said:

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I think I have the reason for stall in raw case investigations. With the number of true positive cases and hospitalizations declining, they are waiting for the right time to dump them all at once and declare a 'surge' in Covid cases to keep everyone in panic mode.

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Every time somebody brings up the fear narrative or accuses some group of slicing the numbers a certain way to support a similar agenda, I ask myself why the media or the health dept or our elected officials would do such a ridiculous, disingenuous, immoral, irresponsible thing. NOTE: I'm not saying that it's not happening because the headlines certainly appear to support that line of reasoning.. I just want to know why that would be done. What is the point of attempting to keep everyone in panic mode? More clicks or eyeballs --> more money (or more funding)? Kinda makes sense for the media, but I don't see how some of the actors here would benefit from putting out false or misleading information. Plus, that's not just a one-man job. You'd have to have the cooperation of multiple people to pull it off.. and then an intern comes to your office and says, "um, this isn't factually true, so we're going to lie to the public?" How does that not get out? There's not a single moral compass amongst everyone involved?

The only player I can see benefitting from this is the media because dollar signs are involved for them. But in order for an intentional stall in raw case investigations to occur so that KBTX can report on a huge new surge, there'd have to be some kind of cooperation between the media and the health department behind closed doors.. and I'm just not buying it. But if the data is actually not being manipulated, then there's been a whole lot of slander tossed around here all willy-nilly.

No agenda for me here.. to my knowledge, with the exception of a couple guys I know who don't post on the case count thread, I don't know any of you apart from your usernames, and I don't have any friends who are directly involved or work for the county or KBTX or any other media outlet (and I'm a software developer working remotely for an Atlanta-based enterprise technology company). If my comments spark some useful discussion, great.. If your first impulse is to flame me because I suggested something contrary to the popular groupthink here, then I don't know what to tell you.. knock yourself out, I guess.

Well, I can tell you that her comment was completely sarcasm

They do it for the same reason weather people salivate over hurricanes/tornados etc. It's their world. Myself, I can't walk into a building without inconspicuously looking at the electrical. It's what I do, its my area of expertise.

There is quote I love that I think is very much in play here, especially when it comes to the interpretation of data-

"Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies."

Nietzsche

Control
Being relevant

Fear sells, just like sex does. It drives clicks and that pays the bills.

People, quite simply, are reading into reports and updates what they want to see...and wanting to feel like the media is promoting fear fits a very specific narrative I guess.

I see inconsistency and errors a-plenty on the part of our local media and health department, but the narrative of deliberately trying to keep people panicked is just silly. They are simply updating and providing info as it happens, and yes, making mistakes along the way and leaving important details out.

I really wish people would stop using the term "fear porn" as it is objectively dumb and without value.

The hardest part about the future of all information is the permanent distrust of media and government. Its like we live in separate compartmentalized realities.

I miss congenial conversations that aren't a bunch of people parroting whatever "pundits" in which they prescribe

FlyRod said:

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People, quite simply, are reading into reports and updates what they want to see...and wanting to feel like the media is promoting fear fits a very specific narrative I guess.

I see inconsistency and errors a-plenty on the part of our local media and health department, but the narrative of deliberately trying to keep people panicked is just silly. They are simply updating and providing info as it happens, and yes, making mistakes along the way and leaving important details out.

I really wish people would stop using the term "fear porn" as it is objectively dumb and without value.

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Fear porn on the local level I can generally agree with. On the national and federal level though...I will disagree wholeheartedly. And I know your stance already so I'll just preempt with an agree to disagree but I did want to point out the different levels of COVID reporting and how they are not the same when it comes to motivations and impact. I think most can agree on that. There is nuance to even the "fear porn" and it is not cut and dried.

Eliminatus said:

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FlyRod said:

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People, quite simply, are reading into reports and updates what they want to see...and wanting to feel like the media is promoting fear fits a very specific narrative I guess.

I see inconsistency and errors a-plenty on the part of our local media and health department, but the narrative of deliberately trying to keep people panicked is just silly. They are simply updating and providing info as it happens, and yes, making mistakes along the way and leaving important details out.

I really wish people would stop using the term "fear porn" as it is objectively dumb and without value.

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Fear porn on the local level I can generally agree with. On the national and federal level though...I will disagree wholeheartedly. And I know your stance already so I'll just preempt with an agree to disagree but I did want to point out the different levels of COVID reporting and how they are not the same when it comes to motivations and impact. I think most can agree on that. There is nuance to even the "fear porn" and it is not cut and dried.

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Agree with Eliminatus. I think there was huge motivation at the national level to help get Trump out of office. The narrative has kind of gotten away from them since then.

"Fear Porn" gets used because of stuff like this.

College Station couple encourages young people to get vaccinated after health scare (kbtx.com)

"Don't confuse progress with victory": Doctor warns of complacency as COVID numbers decline (kbtx.com)

Bryan woman shares story of losing husband to COVID in hopes others will get vaccinated (kbtx.com)

And this is just within the last 2 days.

It is stories/articles put out for no other reason than to scare people into complying with the demand (in this case, the demands of the government and of those who live in terror of the virus) that everyone take the shots, wear masks, stay home, stay apart, avoid holidays etc. etc. etc.

Fear is a the number one behavioral motivator. Way more than reward.

It's all about control.

Shortest answer:

Opposing opinions continue escalating their narratives to drown eachother out.

The issue I have with the last story on your list is that he passed away in April. What reason is there to do the story 6 months later?

Also, in the story she says the hospital called her and said they had to incubate him. That can't be right, can it?

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Also, in the story she says the hospital called her and said they had to incubate him. That can't be right, can it?

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I'm sure it was a typo and was supposed to be intubate

MiMi said:

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Also, in the story she says the hospital called her and said they had to incubate him. That can't be right, can it?

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I'm sure it was a typo and was supposed to be intubate

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I remember seeing that, too, and laughing to myself. It was a direct quote, right? Whoever typed up the article should have used [sic] there. Journalism fail.

Rapier108 said:

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"Fear Porn" gets used because of stuff like this.

College Station couple encourages young people to get vaccinated after health scare (kbtx.com)

"Don't confuse progress with victory": Doctor warns of complacency as COVID numbers decline (kbtx.com)

Bryan woman shares story of losing husband to COVID in hopes others will get vaccinated (kbtx.com)

And this is just within the last 2 days.

It is stories/articles put out for no other reason than to scare people into complying with the demand (in this case, the demands of the government and of those who live in terror of the virus) that everyone take the shots, wear masks, stay home, stay apart, avoid holidays etc. etc. etc.

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Exactly this. Bull**** headlines like these get clicks from both sides, and the media knows it.

They're being divisive on purpose. Way past time for folks to understand the tactics at play here.

As to Mimi's quote in the OP, it's also quite possible that the stall in case counts is due to staff being out, or some perfectly mundane reason, as opposed to some weird control conspiracy (which honestly is attributing far more imagination and creativity to the alleged perpetrators than they deserve).

Pretty sure conservatives no longer watch that, but if it helps you sleep at night

FlyRod said:

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As to Mimi's quote in the OP, it's also quite possible that the stall in case counts is due to staff being out, or some perfectly mundane reason, as opposed to some weird control conspiracy (which honestly is attributing far more imagination and creativity to the alleged perpetrators than they deserve).

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It's always about control and power. Always.

True altruism, service, and statesmanship, if not dead and buried, is on life support at best.

FlyRod said:

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cavscout96 said:

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FlyRod said:

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As to Mimi's quote in the OP, it's also quite possible that the stall in case counts is due to staff being out, or some perfectly mundane reason, as opposed to some weird control conspiracy (which honestly is attributing far more imagination and creativity to the alleged perpetrators than they deserve).

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It's always about control and power. Always.

True altruism, service, and statesmanship, if not dead and buried, is on life support at best.

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Not the most optimistic person, but respectfully disagree that these traits that bring out the best in us are buried or on life support. Look closer and deeper and you'll see them.

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I'm actually extremely optimistic. Almost to a fault. I've been around the block enough times to not trust most elected officials or bureaucrats though.

I should clarify. There is plenty of genuine altruism in the world, but it isn't in any of the governments or media outlets.

Power and money. That's it and that's all.

Fear mongering creates a pathway to enact policy that would otherwise defy logic. It's a method of treating the masses like frogs dropped into a cool pot of water that is slowly brought to boil so that they don't know what's happening.