C R Y P T - Mystery deck n.3

[hsbc]

I try to avoid politics here but the issue isn't just the name...

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/art ... 144295.php
"In one case, said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, an Asian American child in the San Fernando Valley was accused of having the virus and beaten up."

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/20/us/coron ... index.html
"In New York City, a man assaults a woman wearing a face mask, calling her a "diseased b****."
On a Los Angeles subway, a man proclaims Chinese people are filthy and says "every disease has ever came from China.""

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... -asian-man
"An east Asian man who was violently assaulted and robbed by two teenagers shouting “coronavirus” at him... A global poll by Ipsos Mori on Friday found that 14% of respondents said they would avoid contact with people of Chinese origin or appearance."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/backlash-asia ... d=69556008
"Then he noticed, while his son waddled around and babbled about, a man was staring at his child. "Then he basically said, in German ... 'He looks a little bit corona,'""

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/n ... terference
"A 23-year-old Asian woman told police she was walking hear Herald Square in Manhattan shortly before 10:30 a.m. Tuesday when she was approached by a woman who then punched her in the face, an NYPD spokesperson told FOX Business. “Where is your (expletive deleted) mask, you’ve got coronavirus, you (expletive deleted),” the stranger told her, according to sources within the department."

[hsbc]

But yes, back to cards!! I'm curious about how many people took advantage of the 50% deposit

[Bradius]

Negative. Paid in full.... [MURRAY]

[OVSUB]

Paying in full was the better choice tbh at least from what I see, cheaper and without the anxiety of having to remember to pay again.

[OVSUB]

HSBC I do notice that people are starting to distance themselves from me as well, but I'll place the blame on China, they've undone years of progress that Asian Americans have made... I will also not blame the majority of people of taking 'precautions' it looks bad but it's risk analysis, I will also not call the US a racist country as those who do those evil acts are few and far between. In fact, I've had more people come up to me to ask if I was doing well and what my take was on this situation, it's easy to point at the crueler parts of humanity but I personally have seen a lot more decency arrive during this time. I just hope you all stay safe, remember not to panic, buy a little extra food, and make sure you're happy, because at the end of the day politics doesn't matter nor does whatever petty squabbles the partisan people are doing. Happiness and safety is what matters at the end of the day. Stay safe I'll be praying(?) for you guys in my own non-theistic way.

Back to the deck, I wonder how gorgeous Lotrek will make it? Will the Crypt surpass the shining Arabesques? (I forgot what the others were. I think it was Damask? I need to catch up on older decks.)

[shermjack]

I'll place the blame on China, they've undone years of progress that Asian Americans have made)

WOW! Where did that statement come from? What has China done to undo years of progress that Asian Americans have made? As a Chinese American living in China, I think that China has done an exemplary job with the Corona virus situation, unlike the bumbling of the current US government, which is trying to label the virus as 'foreign' and thus creating more fear and racism. As for politics and the petty partisan squabbles, it does matter as it is ripping the US apart and it sucks! We all need to stand together as one to fight this threat and stop pointing fingers.

[OVSUB]

I just don't like China as a Taiwanese American. They are an authoritarian regime that has done terrible things and I will accept that I am extremely biased. I personally dislike that they lied for months about this outbreak, are suppressing the numbers, locked and welded people into their own homes. Not to mention HK, Tibet, Taiwan, etc. The US has been bumbling, yes, we can all agree that we could've handled it better. Much, much better, but it's the best we could've done without rioting.

For the most part ignore me on politics if I mention them, keeping up with the news and trying to know what is real and what is opinion has me very confused. I've also noticed that foreign media is much better than US media.

[OVSUB]

Again off of politics, do you guys think that these will be delayed due to Kung Flu?

[aznh]

Again off of politics, do you guys think that these will be delayed due to COVID-19?

Ah, yes for obvious reasons.

If you think once this is done everything goes POP! and the world gets back to normal the next day think again. Expect at least 3-6 months before things are back to normal if you can even call it that.

But again, only the man can tell us ultimately the impact this brings on this mystery deck. It's not like he hasn't been late before.

[Decknowledgy]

OVSUB, Taiwanese American you say?! Same here!!

About this confusion of racial jargon and country of virus origin, I'll just share this excerpt from an article from a scholar in Political Economy at the Department of Sociology & School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University. The title is "Holding Beijing Accountable For The Coronavirus Is Not Racist": https://www.jpolrisk.com/holding-beijin ... ot-racist/

Epidemics know no ethnic boundary. They always spread beyond ethnic lines very quickly. The racial association of disease makes us overlook carriers who happen to be not among the stereotyped groups. We have to combat xenophobic racism at the time of an epidemic as hard as we can.

Having said that, we need to be clear that our fight against racial stereotyping should not prevent us from discussing the China-origins of the virus and blaming the Chinese government for causing this global public health crisis. On February 3, Xi Jinping made a speech to the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee and emphasized the importance of “taking the initiative to influence international opinion” about the epidemics. Since then, Chinese official media has been diligently criticizing foreign governments’ vigilance against the disease as overreaction and racism.. Ironically, Beijing chastised foreign governments for restricting travelers from China while it was itself putting tens of millions of Chinese citizens in lockdown. The WHO, which has been questioned for being heavily influenced by Beijing, kept praising China and telling the world not to overreact instead of warning the world how severe is the disease.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying commented on the same day of Xi Jinping’s speech that the US policy of restricting travelers from China was “violating civil rights,” “excessive,” and “could create and spread panic.” She even spread the misleading and unscientific notion that that the Coronavirus was less severe than the common flu in the US. Streams of English articles in Chinese official media suggested the measures of restricting travelers from China by the US and other countries were as bad as the racist Muslim travel ban. Chinese consulates around the world did not waste any opportunity to criticize any travel restriction measure as overreaction that only increases panic. On February 6, Hua said China “deplore[d] and oppose[d]” countries that suspended flights from China, saying such suspensions are “wrongdoings” that only “sowed panic among the public” and “will not help prevent and control the epidemic.” She complained these measures “have gravely disrupted normal personnel exchanges, international cooperation and order of the international market of air transportation.” When asked about the Chinese government’s response to the Wall Street Journal article discussing China’s financial vulnerability and titled “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia,” Hua Chunying called the article author Walter Russell Mead by name. She suggested that “you [Mead] should be ashamed of your words, your arrogance, your prejudice and your ignorance.” Then she went on to repeat the misinformation that the Coronavirus is less severe than the US common flu.

I've been actively engaged on social media in my circle to tell folks, especially Asian American friends, not to mistake racial discrimination with Chinese propaganda, the latter being extremely evident in these days. There is no doubt the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is painting itself as the savior who provides medical aids globally at this stage while misleading global media that calling "Wuhan Coronavirus" is racist and that there's no proof that the virus started in China, blaming with conspiracy that the virus is artificially "brought into China through US personnel." Worse of all, this propaganda is not just whitewashing itself on the international ground, it's also used against its own people to boost CCP's authority by dramatizing the failures of other countries. I have read several 微信 (Weixin) articles coming from mainland China that criticizes CCP's polarization of the situation but I'll save the Chinese reading for you.

If this is not problematic enough, then I don't know what to say. If using the WHO standards that naming shouldn't be region specific, why not change the name for the Spanish Flu or German Measles? Either way, racism is a problem, and I've personally faced that discrimination during the initial stage of the spread in UK. No one can save people's racial ignorance by simply changing the title of a crisis to be more non-racial. Therefore, if China is the country of virus origin, IT IS, de facto. WHO is just being way tooooooooooo kind towards China in this crisis and backing up everything China has done, including the spread of misinformation (no criticism from WHO on this matter). That's all I want to say.

Coronavirus, COVID-19... call it whatever you like and avoid racism as much as possible, but the virus still comes from China. I'll also recommend another piece by Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus, if you're interested in how power struggles in the world according to this virus may affect our daily lives and how our personal data may be used.

[RWPPFFShuffle]

Another Taiwanese American here, represent. Thanks for speaking up about that @Decknowledgy. We shouldn't be letting China off the hook because it's a global problem, and the world needs clarity if we're to learn from this. Considering current world tensions though, it'd be foolish to think China would willingly put their government under global scrutiny, but who's gonna make em?

Anyways, while I don't think calling it "Wuhan Coronavirus" is particularly racist, I'd argue "Kung Flu" is kind of racist. Semantics aside though, I get the point that racists are gonna be racists no matter you wanna call it, but I would agree with WHO not wanting global pandemics like this being named after a region since it just doesn't help with the issue. I wish people were open-minded and smart enough to see past it, but obviously humanity's not quite there yet as a whole. Personally I call it Coronavirus, Covid-19, or just "the 'Rona," since everyone knows wtf we're talking about anyways. I don't find adding a race to the name helps at all, nor is it funny, but I get that people are going to keep calling it whatever they like if it makes them feel better about the situation. Sometimes racist people just gotta be racist to feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

[shermjack]

I just don't like China as a Taiwanese American. They are an authoritarian regime that has done terrible things and I will accept that I am extremely biased. I personally dislike that they lied for months about this outbreak, are suppressing the numbers, locked and welded people into their own homes. Not to mention HK, Tibet, Taiwan, etc. The US has been bumbling, yes, we can all agree that we could've handled it better. Much, much better, but it's the best we could've done without rioting.

For the most part ignore me on politics if I mention them, keeping up with the news and trying to know what is real and what is opinion has me very confused. I've also noticed that foreign media is much better than US media.

Just as a preface, I am a Chinese American that lived in a Taiwan for 14 years, married a Taiwanese and then moved to China, where I have been living for another 14 yrs. Yes, the Chinese government is an authoritarian regime that has done terrible things, but seriously, what government hasn’t? It’s just that the Chinese Government is more open about it. I am not condoning them nor do I agree with a lot of their policies, but after living here for 14plus years, I see the good and bad and it really isn’t different than most other countries, including the US.

As for China’s initially handling of the outbreak, let’s not distort the facts too much. Yes, they suppressed the information for about a month, which is pretty bad, but since then, they have taken the virus seriously and have been quite vigilant in reporting numbers of new, existing, and cured cases as well as deaths, by province and even by areas within each province. Whether or not these figures are reliable or not, we will never know, but I think they are believable and at least they are doing something. Once China got serious about the virus, they immediately restricted travel between provinces (including sealing off Hubei) while making sure that there were no shortages of anything, including masks, which are easily accessible to all. What had the US or any other country (other than Taiwan, which has also contained the spread of the virus very well) done to protect its citizens from the virus ? Only recently have they begun to act (after 2 plus months since they were aware of the virus and how easily it is spread) now that they realize that they have a serious situation on their hands.

As for locking and welding people in their homes, I am skeptical. How do you know it really happened as they reported or if it was just conjecture based on a few photos and reports from ‘activists’? We’re all the facts about these incidents checked and confirmed or are they just more sensationalism to villianize China? They could just be people ending up shops so they couldn’t open for business. We can’t be sure. One thing to note that, as with many countries, there are some very remote areas in China with a lot of uneducated people who end up stupid things and this could be one of them. I personally don’t know if it did or did not happen and if it did, it’s pretty bad, but you can’t just use that as a blanket statement of how China is treating all its patients/citizens.

Why don’t people bring up the positive things that are happening in China, like all the tens of thousands of Chinese healthcare professionals that travelled to Wuhan at their own risk to save others and the fact that China has hardly any new cases, most of which are coming from travelers from abroad?

As for Tibet, HK and Taiwan, I wouldn’t put them together in terms of their respective relations with China. I also don’t want to get into the politics of these three countries as it is much more complicated than can be addressed here, but I am assuming you are referring to persecution of others and again, this is not a Chinese monopoly. Isn’t the current US administration basically persecuting Mexicans, Middle Easterners and many other foreign nationals in the US?

Finally, if you really think the US government did its best in handling this outbreak, then I really don’t know what to say. The situation in the US is a complete FUBAR and will only get worse with the blaise faire attitude taken by the current administration. I truly worry about the US and the implications of the late and poor response to this pandemic.

One thing I can agree with you that the media is making things worse and you really have to consider where your information is coming from because a lot of it is based on uncircumstatial information. Foreign news is much less biased than the US (I prefer BBC), but should still be taken with a grain of salt.

In the end, though there are definite problems in China, it really isn’t any different than anywhere else you live as every country has its issues.

Now, back to the cards...

[kem-collector]

Seriously...this is a thread about the Lotrek Crypt deck, not your sounding board for current events. Hey badpete69 - how about you actually mod instead of thanking people for derailing threads? Move this to the General category.

[badpete69]

Hey Kem how about you calm down and stop barking orders

[kem-collector]

Hey Kem how about you calm down and stop barking orders

Well someone has to alert you to your incompetence.

[shermjack]

Seriously...this is a thread about the Lotrek Crypt deck, not your sounding board for current events. Hey badpete69 - how about you actually mod instead of thanking people for derailing threads? Move this to the General category.

It isn’t like this is the first time a thread was derailed, but you are right and I apologize for contributing to the derailing of this thread, though I did think it was important to express my opinions on the matter.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait for Crypt, though I will have to since I am stuck in China for the foreseeable future due to travel restrictions and quarantines and my decks are being shipped to the US

[badpete69]

Very mature... Maybe a 1 hour break will cool down things here... And yes for those who want to continue the political discussion, they can do so in IM or general chat... I blame Lotrek for this hehe

[Bradius]

There is a great big PANDEMIC! We are all going to die. I need my crypts now more than ever!

There. Back on topic. Your welcome.

[Decknowledgy]

We were basically de-CRYPT-ing the underlying messages of this crisis, so technically not off topic?

[CommentNameHere]

So since Hollywood is pushing up release dates and going straight to home release, how 'bout Lotrek do the same!

[shermjack]

So since Hollywood is pushing up release dates and going straight to home release, how 'bout Lotrek do the same!

I have heard of Lotrek pushing back release dates, but pushing them up

[OVSUB]

I have heard of Lotrek pushing back release dates, but pushing them up

Perhaps there will be a miracle!...Though I have a feeling I'd be fooled in April.

[Adonael]

I'm not surprised to see some of the usual blind morons crawling out of the dark crevices in the woodwork to attack others and/or spread ignorance, never change . 500 decks is a very high print number for a Lotrek limited deck, I'm blown away! Also being his most expensive deck, that's really just insane, are we seeing peak Lotrek hype? Or in a few years will he literally own his own factory and be on his way to the level of T11 as a household name? I don't want the whale I've been keeping an eye out for to move completely out of my reach either in price or simply no longer changing hands, but EndersGame's post about the effects of the pandemic on collecting has me thinking I still have a chance for now.

[theCapraAegagrus]

I'll place the blame on China, they've undone years of progress that Asian Americans have made)

WOW! Where did that statement come from? What has China done to undo years of progress that Asian Americans have made? As a Chinese American living in China, I think that China has done an exemplary job with the Corona virus situation, unlike the bumbling of the current US government, which is trying to label the virus as 'foreign' and thus creating more fear and racism. As for politics and the petty partisan squabbles, it does matter as it is ripping the US apart and it sucks! We all need to stand together as one to fight this threat and stop pointing fingers.

Sorry not sorry, but...

China intentionally suppressed information about the virus that could've given the rest of the world a head-start at protecting their people.

The only people fear-mongering in America is mainstream media. That's their platform, though. They exist to divide the population. The virus came from China - that is a fact. It has nothing to do with prejudice.

[theCapraAegagrus]

Very mature... Maybe a 1 hour break will cool down things here... And yes for those who want to continue the political discussion, they can do so in IM or general chat... I blame Lotrek for this hehe

Wtf was that all about?

Sorry - read your post after my last reply.

[shermjack]

I'll place the blame on China, they've undone years of progress that Asian Americans have made)

WOW! Where did that statement come from? What has China done to undo years of progress that Asian Americans have made? As a Chinese American living in China, I think that China has done an exemplary job with the Corona virus situation, unlike the bumbling of the current US government, which is trying to label the virus as 'foreign' and thus creating more fear and racism. As for politics and the petty partisan squabbles, it does matter as it is ripping the US apart and it sucks! We all need to stand together as one to fight this threat and stop pointing fingers.

Sorry not sorry, but...

China intentionally suppressed information about the virus that could've given the rest of the world a head-start at protecting their people.

The only people fear-mongering in America is mainstream media. That's their platform, though. They exist to divide the population. The virus came from China - that is a fact. It has nothing to do with prejudice.

Even empowered with the information about the virus, though a month late, what did the rest of the world do to prepare? Nothing and that is why the world is in the situation that it is in.

Agree that American mainstream media sucks sand never said that the virus didn’t come from China.

[theCapraAegagrus]

I'll place the blame on China, they've undone years of progress that Asian Americans have made)

WOW! Where did that statement come from? What has China done to undo years of progress that Asian Americans have made? As a Chinese American living in China, I think that China has done an exemplary job with the Corona virus situation, unlike the bumbling of the current US government, which is trying to label the virus as 'foreign' and thus creating more fear and racism. As for politics and the petty partisan squabbles, it does matter as it is ripping the US apart and it sucks! We all need to stand together as one to fight this threat and stop pointing fingers.

Sorry not sorry, but...

China intentionally suppressed information about the virus that could've given the rest of the world a head-start at protecting their people.

The only people fear-mongering in America is mainstream media. That's their platform, though. They exist to divide the population. The virus came from China - that is a fact. It has nothing to do with prejudice.

Even empowered with the information about the virus, though a month late, what did the rest of the world do to prepare? Nothing and that is why the world is in the situation that it is in.

Agree that American mainstream media sucks sand never said that the virus didn’t come from China.

Try 3 months late. Countries could have banned travel to/form China that much earlier. China sent workers to Europe knowing that the virus wasn't contained. They are very much at the most fault here.

Exactly. The virus coming from China has nothing to do with prejudice. It's just a fact. Calling something the West Nile Virus? Was that "racist"? No. Plenty of diseases, etc, are named after their origin. There's nothing prejudicial about calling it China/Wuhan coronavirus. No one is using the words China and/or Wuhan to create an imaginary negative about their people. China's government has earned its reputation for their reactions, though, politically - not culturally.

[shermjack]

Try 3 months late. Countries could have banned travel to/form China that much earlier. China sent workers to Europe knowing that the virus wasn't contained. They are very much at the most fault here.

Where are you getting your facts from? One if the first know Corona virus patients started to feel sick on Dec 10 and on Jan 9, China announced that they mapped the Corona Genome...how is that 3 months. Again, every country in the world had access to this information since Jan 9 and did nothing, including the US. Yes, China is at fault as well for suppressing the information for as long as they did, but the blame for current state of affairs of the rest of the world shouldn’t rest mostly on China.

MODS, my apologies for continuously derailing this thread, but I felt I needed to continue to comment....anyway to move this part of the conversation to the General section?

[theCapraAegagrus]

Try 3 months late. Countries could have banned travel to/form China that much earlier. China sent workers to Europe knowing that the virus wasn't contained. They are very much at the most fault here.

Where are you getting your facts from? One if the first know Corona virus patients started to feel sick on Dec 10 and on Jan 9, China announced that they mapped the Corona Genome...how is that 3 months. Again, every country in the world had access to this information since Jan 9 and did nothing, including the US. Yes, China is at fault as well for suppressing the information for as long as they did, but the blame for current state of affairs of the rest of the world shouldn’t rest mostly on China.

MODS, my apologies for continuously derailing this thread, but I felt I needed to continue to comment....anyway to move this part of the conversation to the General section?

I'll respond in the "Last Person to Post..." thread.

[Kurama]

Just for safety's sake... Don't open the crypt...