Coronavirus pandemic

[SEWIGuy]

OK, so I wasn't supposed to share my opinion of the article on here?  Why did you post it on a forum, then?

I posted it on the forum to show that those who thought the Sweden approach was valid, is proving to be wrong.

[Bruce]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

[Roadgeekteen]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

Agreed, don't know why the US doesn't have national ID's. We have driver's licences and other stuff like that, but it's not good enough.

[Max Rockatansky]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

Agreed, don't know why the US doesn't have national ID's. We have driver's licences and other stuff like that, but it's not good enough.

There is kind of a couple forms of that for Department of Defense employees in the form of CAC cards.  CAC cards even have chip reader security features which are a huge step up from MDOT state IDs.  They are an acceptable form of identification in most situations akin to how a Driver's License is.  A passport similarly is pretty much universally accepted as an common form of identification. 

[Roadgeekteen]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

Agreed, don't know why the US doesn't have national ID's. We have driver's licences and other stuff like that, but it's not good enough.

There is kind of a couple forms of that for Department of Defense employees in the form of CAC cards.  They are an acceptable form of identification in most situations akin to how a Driver's License is.  A passport similarly is pretty much universally accepted as an common form of identification.

But most Americans don't have a passport.

[Brandon]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

We don't need a national ID for things like this.  Washington screwed up by using the SSNs in the first place.  One can make an effective system with passwords and unique PINs.

[Bruce]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

We don't need a national ID for things like this.  Washington screwed up by using the SSNs in the first place.  One can make an effective system with passwords and unique PINs.

That's exactly how we have it set up, but SSNs are the main form of verification.

A proper national ID system is the exact solution to this kind of situation.

[oscar]

A fraud ring from Nigeria has managed to steal "hundreds of millions" out of Washington's unemployment system because we don't have two-factor authentication or other forms of verification beyond the ever insecure SSN system.

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/washington-adds-more-than-145000-weekly-jobless-claims-as-coronavirus-crisis-lingers/

We need a national ID program like most other developed countries that is secure and harder to crack. But of course the obstructionists don't like the idea of following in the lead of better countries.

We don't need a national ID for things like this.  Washington screwed up by using the SSNs in the first place.  One can make an effective system with passwords and unique PINs.

That's exactly how we have it set up, but SSNs are the main form of verification.

A proper national ID system is the exact solution to this kind of situation.

Is it the only solution?

Anyone know, or has an intelligent guess, why Washington states's unemployment system, rather than some other state's, was targeted? A dozen other states are larger, and some are much larger. If their systems were similarly vulnerable, the Nigerians might've targeted them (maybe they did, but the other states haven't yet noticed), since their fraud would be less noticeable. 

[jakeroot]

As someone who is currently using Washington State's unemployment system ("self-employed" Uber driver while I'm in school), I think part of it might be that it has never experienced this level of demand. Washington was not hit nearly as hard by the Great Recession as many other states, and I don't know how much investment there has been post-recession in a more fool-proof unemployment payout system.

As an example, judging by how badly the state fared during the Great Recession, and how many people were likely on unemployment, California probably has a very well structured unemployment system. Simply because it has dealt with this level of craziness before.

On national ID's: this shouldn't even be a discussion. The fact that we don't have them is downright insane.

[US 89]

On national ID's: this shouldn't even be a discussion. The fact that we don't have them is downright insane.

We don't have national IDs because that sort of thing has generally been reserved to the states. Any attempt to implement them would be quickly criticized as federal overreach.

As such, SSNs were never intended to be used as a national identification number.

[webny99]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

[Roadgeekteen]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

[ftballfan]

Dine-in restaurants open tomorrow at 50% of capacity in the county I live in.

My county hasn't had a new case in over a month.

[Max Rockatansky]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

I always think it's weird when someone tells me that they haven't been outside of California or only to a handful of states.  The number of people who travel a long distance, especially regularly is actually pretty slim.

[Roadgeekteen]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

I always think it's weird when someone tells me that they haven't been outside of California or only to a handful of states.  The number of people who travel a long distance, especially regularly is actually pretty slim.

I like traveling, and I've traveled extensively in the Northeast, but I've only left the Northeast a couple of times. I've taken a few trips to Canada, one to Florida, a couple to Charlotte, and one to Hawaii.

[jakeroot]

On national ID's: this shouldn't even be a discussion. The fact that we don't have them is downright insane.

We don't have national IDs because that sort of thing has generally been reserved to the states. Any attempt to implement them would be quickly criticized as federal overreach.

As such, SSNs were never intended to be used as a national identification number.

Maybe we don't need to go straight to national ID's, but some form of compulsory identification at the state level would go a long ways too.

[qguy]

The article does include an anecdote about a nursing home resident dying of the virus after untested patients were admitted, with the author referring to it as "a failure to protect the old and infirm in a country famed for its welfare state".  Well, let's not forget that it was the state policy of New York to require nursing homes to accept patients with the virus, clear up until just a couple of weeks ago.

Pennsylvania did a similar thing, with the result that 69% of covid deaths in the state have occurred in nursing homes. It has become a real scandal here. Since it was learned that the state Secretary of Health pulled her mother out of a nursing home and placed her in a luxury hotel two days before issuing the order forcing nursing homes to accept covid patients, there have been substantial calls for her resignation.

[jeffandnicole]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

Another country is only an airplane flight away.

Another reason is the size of our country. The US is unusually large. The average European country is the size of PA.  Massachusetts is the 6th smallest state in the US, yet there's 15 countries smaller than Massachusetts in Europe!  Since you can travel so freely around the US, a passport isn't necessary. No so in many other countries.

[Max Rockatansky]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

I always think it's weird when someone tells me that they haven't been outside of California or only to a handful of states.  The number of people who travel a long distance, especially regularly is actually pretty slim.

I like traveling, and I've traveled extensively in the Northeast, but I've only left the Northeast a couple of times. I've taken a few trips to Canada, one to Florida, a couple to Charlotte, and one to Hawaii.

You'll be surprised how many people really don't have much travel experience.  I recall flying out of Phoenix one time to Houston with one of my investigators.  We traveled pretty extensively in Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico but I noticed he was extremely nervous.  Apparently it was first time flying (he was 31 at the time) and I come to find out that he had never been outside of the Los Angeles Area before he started.  Another one of my investigators in Orlando was from Palm Beach Counties.  Apparently she had lived in Florida her entire life and had never been north of Daytona.  Those are some pretty extreme examples of lack of mobility, but I think in the road world we tend to over estimate how much the average person travels in their life time. 

In my case, my brother is the only person I am aware of in my immediate family who has a passport.  My Dad was the only other person I know of in my family who traveled anywhere close to the level that me and my brother do.  I have an Uncle who is so mortally terrified of freeway traffic that he won't travel outside of the Tri-State area unless it is by a form of mass transit.  My Wife's family has far more passports, but that largely induced by family trips to Jalisco. 

[Roadgeekteen]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

I always think it's weird when someone tells me that they haven't been outside of California or only to a handful of states.  The number of people who travel a long distance, especially regularly is actually pretty slim.

I like traveling, and I've traveled extensively in the Northeast, but I've only left the Northeast a couple of times. I've taken a few trips to Canada, one to Florida, a couple to Charlotte, and one to Hawaii.

You'll be surprised how many people really don't have much travel experience.  I recall flying out of Phoenix one time to Houston with one of my investigators.  We traveled pretty extensively in Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico but I noticed he was extremely nervous.  Apparently it was first time flying (he was 31 at the time) and I come to find out that he had never been outside of the Los Angeles Area before he started.  Another one of my investigators in Orlando was from Palm Beach Counties.  Apparently she had lived in Florida her entire life and had never been north of Daytona.  Those are some pretty extreme examples of lack of mobility, but I think in the road world we tend to over estimate how much the average person travels in their life time. 

In my case, my brother is the only person I am aware of in my immediate family who has a passport.  My Dad was the only other person I know of in my family who traveled anywhere close to the level that me and my brother do.  I have an Uncle who is so mortally terrified of freeway traffic that he won't travel outside of the Tri-State area unless it is by a form of mass transit.  My Wife's family has far more passports, but that largely induced by family trips to Jalisco.

Never leaving the LA area in 30 years? I would get stir crazy!

[Brandon]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

You (and me to a lesser extent) live close to Canada. People from Kansas and Missouri don't live near any other country.

I always think it's weird when someone tells me that they haven't been outside of California or only to a handful of states.  The number of people who travel a long distance, especially regularly is actually pretty slim.

I like traveling, and I've traveled extensively in the Northeast, but I've only left the Northeast a couple of times. I've taken a few trips to Canada, one to Florida, a couple to Charlotte, and one to Hawaii.

You'll be surprised how many people really don't have much travel experience.  I recall flying out of Phoenix one time to Houston with one of my investigators.  We traveled pretty extensively in Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico but I noticed he was extremely nervous.  Apparently it was first time flying (he was 31 at the time) and I come to find out that he had never been outside of the Los Angeles Area before he started.  Another one of my investigators in Orlando was from Palm Beach Counties.  Apparently she had lived in Florida her entire life and had never been north of Daytona.  Those are some pretty extreme examples of lack of mobility, but I think in the road world we tend to over estimate how much the average person travels in their life time. 

In my case, my brother is the only person I am aware of in my immediate family who has a passport.  My Dad was the only other person I know of in my family who traveled anywhere close to the level that me and my brother do.  I have an Uncle who is so mortally terrified of freeway traffic that he won't travel outside of the Tri-State area unless it is by a form of mass transit.  My Wife's family has far more passports, but that largely induced by family trips to Jalisco.

Never leaving the LA area in 30 years? I would get stir crazy!

There are a lot of folks who never leave their respective areas.  Here, near Chicago, there are a lot of people who never venture beyond the Tri-State Tollway.  In fact, when Katrina hit, and New Orleans had to be evacuated, a number of people there had never even left Orleans Parish.

[GaryV]

It has always seemed incredibly weird to me that many US citizens don't have a passport.

Because they cost money.  If you have no plans of foreign travel, why spend it?

Despite being less than 20 miles from the Canadian border, we simply didn't go to Canada for a number of years after the 9/11 border restrictions.  It was only when we planned a Canadian vacation a few years ago that we got them.

[SEWIGuy]

Growing up in southern Wisconsin in the 70s and 80s, I didn't go west of the Mississippi River until my 20s (outside of switching planes once in St. Louis).  Never north of the US-10  corridor between Stevens Point and Appleton.  Never south of the I-80 corridor except for a high school trip to Washington DC.  I went to New England regularly because my grandparents lived there.  But even though we flew into LaGuardia, we never went to Manhattan and I think only twice left the state of Connecticut.

I think I was in my mid teens before I slept in any other state but Wisconsin and Connecticut.

I don't recall my friends travelling much either so I never felt I missed out on anything.

[Max Rockatansky]

Fresno's emergency order is being lifted on Tuesday (I suspect Sequoia/Kings Canyon will open that day also) and the City/County will be moving into the so called "Phase 2.5."    Apparently that will mean that dine in restaurants can reopen service if so desired.  My friend's business is planning on starting dine-in and we'll probably go at the first real opportunity on a day off. 

I'm to understand my local gym is ready to reopen too but won't be able to until the State moves to Phase 3.  I'll probably be spending some time picking up more weight sets after the reopening just in case things get nutty with lockdowns in the fall. 

[tradephoric]

The 7-day moving average in percentage positive tests is now below 6% nationally.  Testing has definitely been ramped up with over 400k tests being performed per day and 13 million total tests reported.


https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/individual-states/usa