Covid-19 miscellany

[crazyfingers]

I've been sitting here thinking about my wife stuck in Canada. The US recently issued a travel advisory elevating Canada to level 3 Reconsider Travel due to risk of Covid.
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Canada.html

Canada currently is at 10 cases per 100,000. My wife is in Ontario which is 5 cases/100,000. The US is at 44 cases/100,000. The lowest state in the US is Connecticut at 15/100,000. Massachusetts is 24/100,000. My county is 15/100,000.

This data is available in lots of places but I'm sourcing from the NYT. I don't know off hand if they are making their covid news free or not.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/canada-covid-cases.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

But my point. Does anyone notice something strange?

When is the US going to post a travel advisory to the US?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

It's unlikely he would have survived anyway. If they can transport him 200 miles he's reasonably stable. This is almost certainly someone who didn't get help fast enough. Your heart stops and nobody sees it, you might make it to the hospital but your chances of getting out neurologically intact are very close to zero.

Da fuck? We have no idea what kind of cardiac event he had. People can and do have cardiac events and survive and do quite well after. Prompt treatment is extremely important and having to try four different hospitals and drive 200 miles does not increase the chances of survival.

Why am I getting "George Floyd" vibes from LPs position on this? "He would have died anyways", as if the thing that apparently killed him wasn't entirely preventable and the product of continuing human decisions

I think this is a case of the news going for an angle whether it's relevant or not.

The fact that they had to look at so many hospitals to find an ICU bed is relevant. However, I doubt it caused his death. I have seen actual doctors express the same opinion elsewhere.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Few children will be in a situation where a test is required. Thus those are tests done because of symptoms.

I don't care enough to research it.
But it wouldn't be a surprise if, even in Louisiana, kids were tested around the first day of school. I would expect a big bunch of asymptomatic positives in that age group.
Tom

Louisiana, required testing????

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I've been sitting here thinking about my wife stuck in Canada. The US recently issued a travel advisory elevating Canada to level 3 Reconsider Travel due to risk of Covid.
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr...-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Canada.html

Canada currently is at 10 cases per 100,000. My wife is in Ontario which is 5 cases/100,000. The US is at 44 cases/100,000. The lowest state in the US is Connecticut at 15/100,000. Massachusetts is 24/100,000. My county is 15/100,000.

This data is available in lots of places but I'm sourcing from the NYT. I don't know off hand if they are making their covid news free or not.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/canada-covid-cases.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html

But my point. Does anyone notice something strange?

When is the US going to post a travel advisory to the US?

After we shoot the Republicans.

Oops, then we won't need a travel advisory for the US.

 

[TomC]

Few children will be in a situation where a test is required. Thus those are tests done because of symptoms.

I don't care enough to research it.
But it wouldn't be a surprise if, even in Louisiana, kids were tested around the first day of school. I would expect a big bunch of asymptomatic positives in that age group.
Tom

Louisiana, required testing????

Who said required? It wasn't me.
Tom

 

[ZiprHead]

Ruth, of course you are correct, but we can't ignore the fact that the virus has become a political football. ...

Reminds me of If Today's Politics Had Been in WW2 from 2012

Like economic conservatives saying "Roosevelt is a Communist who is taxing us to death to pay for his war with our German brothers while Uncle Stalin pulls the strings, wasting our nation's wealth defending Bolsheviks while doing their bidding at home." Religious-Right types saying "To all God-fearing Americans, the signs are clear: The Beast has arisen, and his name is Franklin Roosevelt, leading his demonic hosts in the War of Armageddon." Xenophobic right-wingers saying "It makes me sick how soft on the Jap infiltrators this administration is." Republican Congressmembers obstructing the war effort while saying that its difficulties are all FDR's fault. Mealymouthed-centrist pundits saying "In the ongoing controversy between Nazism and democracy, the rhetoric on both sides has gotten quite heated, with some independents and moderates bemoaning the acrimonious tone of the war." The far left saying "Down with Poservelt! Down with the capitalist shill who forces workers to make concessions to Big Business for the sake of his war machine!"

Seems to me that right-wing politicians are doing what that page describes Republican Congressmembers as doing.

I actually had a similar thought this morning. It's like we're fighting WWIII and the "patriots" aren't willing to sacrifice and fight for their nation.

During WWII, women donated their silk stockings, scrap drives were common, gasoline and food was rationed, people were told to dress warmer to conserve fuel oil, Rubber was scarce, and numerous other sacrifices and very few complaints. Today the "patriots" refuse to wear a mask, social distance and get a couple shots.

They're not patriots. They're spoiled children.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Ruth, of course you are correct, but we can't ignore the fact that the virus has become a political football. ...

Reminds me of If Today's Politics Had Been in WW2 from 2012

Like economic conservatives saying "Roosevelt is a Communist who is taxing us to death to pay for his war with our German brothers while Uncle Stalin pulls the strings, wasting our nation's wealth defending Bolsheviks while doing their bidding at home." Religious-Right types saying "To all God-fearing Americans, the signs are clear: The Beast has arisen, and his name is Franklin Roosevelt, leading his demonic hosts in the War of Armageddon." Xenophobic right-wingers saying "It makes me sick how soft on the Jap infiltrators this administration is." Republican Congressmembers obstructing the war effort while saying that its difficulties are all FDR's fault. Mealymouthed-centrist pundits saying "In the ongoing controversy between Nazism and democracy, the rhetoric on both sides has gotten quite heated, with some independents and moderates bemoaning the acrimonious tone of the war." The far left saying "Down with Poservelt! Down with the capitalist shill who forces workers to make concessions to Big Business for the sake of his war machine!"

Seems to me that right-wing politicians are doing what that page describes Republican Congressmembers as doing.

I actually had a similar thought this morning. It's like we're fighting WWIII and the "patriots" aren't willing to sacrifice and fight for their nation.

Women donated their silk stockings, scrap drives were common, gasoline and food was rationed, people were told to dress warmer to conserve fuel oil, Rubber was scarce, and numerous other sacrifices and very few complaints. Today the "patriots" refuse to wear a mask, social distance and get a couple shots.

They're not patriots. They're spoiled children.

...and causing the deaths of those that did during the second world war.

 

[ZiprHead]

Reports are that this video has convinced some to get the shots.

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/ThOyyQjC0aY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Jarhyn]

Reports are that this video has convinced some to get the shots.

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/ThOyyQjC0aY[/YOUTUBE]

I actually watched that. I blame you for the fact that I won't ever be able to hear that sound now and not cry.

 

[ZiprHead]

Sorry.

 

[lpetrich]

Ruth, of course you are correct, but we can't ignore the fact that the virus has become a political football. ...

Reminds me of If Today's Politics Had Been in WW2 from 2012 ...

Seems to me that right-wing politicians are doing what that page describes Republican Congressmembers as doing.

I actually had a similar thought this morning. It's like we're fighting WWIII and the "patriots" aren't willing to sacrifice and fight for their nation.

During WWII, women donated their silk stockings, scrap drives were common, gasoline and food was rationed, people were told to dress warmer to conserve fuel oil, Rubber was scarce, and numerous other sacrifices and very few complaints. Today the "patriots" refuse to wear a mask, social distance and get a couple shots.

They're not patriots. They're spoiled children.

I'll quote the Republican-Congress part in full:

News article: "For the sixth time in as many months, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has refused to approve the Roosevelt administration's federal budget requests except their own salaries - which they have increased by 715% - despite immediate consequences for American troops overseas and the citizenry at home. They have also continued to block every judicial and regulatory appointment, bringing the machinery of the United States government effectively to a halt in the midst of a World War. As a result, supply ships are idling in harbor, aircraft lay abandoned on airfields for lack of replacement parts, tanks deployed to Europe are without gasoline, and a number of divisions overseas have been without food for weeks.

When asked, the Republican Speaker of the House had this to say: "Look, we made it very clear to President Roosevelt - if he does what he's told, reduces upper-income taxes from 90% to 0 like we demand, ends all laws restricting the power of business owners, and stops punishing our campaign contributors for doing business with the Nazis, we'll consider passing a budget. All the bad things happening to our troops overseas as a result of this impasse are his fault - if he would just do what we say, our troops might get some supplies. Besides, we're not here to coddle weak soldiers who need to suckle at the taxpayer's teat: Let them forage, or eat the enemy, or start a battlefield business and pull themselves up by the bootstraps. His accusation that we are "holding America hostage" is the most divisive, irresponsible rhetoric, and shows how out of touch this President is with the American people.

Seems very familiar, doesn't it?

 

[jab]

Is it still the case, as it was in the early months that men are more likely to get very sick and die from this infection than women?

 

[Jarhyn]

I actually had a similar thought this morning. It's like we're fighting WWIII and the "patriots" aren't willing to sacrifice and fight for their nation.

During WWII, women donated their silk stockings, scrap drives were common, gasoline and food was rationed, people were told to dress warmer to conserve fuel oil, Rubber was scarce, and numerous other sacrifices and very few complaints. Today the "patriots" refuse to wear a mask, social distance and get a couple shots.

They're not patriots. They're spoiled children.

I'll quote the Republican-Congress part in full:

News article: "For the sixth time in as many months, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has refused to approve the Roosevelt administration's federal budget requests except their own salaries - which they have increased by 715% - despite immediate consequences for American troops overseas and the citizenry at home. They have also continued to block every judicial and regulatory appointment, bringing the machinery of the United States government effectively to a halt in the midst of a World War. As a result, supply ships are idling in harbor, aircraft lay abandoned on airfields for lack of replacement parts, tanks deployed to Europe are without gasoline, and a number of divisions overseas have been without food for weeks.

When asked, the Republican Speaker of the House had this to say: "Look, we made it very clear to President Roosevelt - if he does what he's told, reduces upper-income taxes from 90% to 0 like we demand, ends all laws restricting the power of business owners, and stops punishing our campaign contributors for doing business with the Nazis, we'll consider passing a budget. All the bad things happening to our troops overseas as a result of this impasse are his fault - if he would just do what we say, our troops might get some supplies. Besides, we're not here to coddle weak soldiers who need to suckle at the taxpayer's teat: Let them forage, or eat the enemy, or start a battlefield business and pull themselves up by the bootstraps. His accusation that we are "holding America hostage" is the most divisive, irresponsible rhetoric, and shows how out of touch this President is with the American people.

Seems very familiar, doesn't it?

That's just a parody right? Like, reframing the behavior of today in the vein of WW2's context instead of the pandemic?

I'm vibrating at Poe's Law frequencies right now.

 

[ZiprHead]

The covidiots don't like being told what to do so they do the opposite. I suggest this:

Show

[YOUTUBE]https://youtu.be/G4yuiIFLEpQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[jab]

I really don't care about unvaccinated adults. They get what they sow. But you do understand that children under 12 can't get vaccinated in the US yet?

Yes, but they're also the least at risk group. At some point we need to weigh pros and cons and decide what cost is worth paying for limited returns.

Every child that dies is a tragedy. Locking down and killing the economy also kills children. How many more children do you think dies from that?

I think it's important to acknowledge that the western lockdown crowd are about as crazy as the anti-vaxxers. It's people so caught up with supporting their side, vilifying the other side, that they fail to understand this isn't a black-and-white question. It never was.

I'm with you in not wanting to lock up the economy again. But how does wearing a mask hurt the economy?

Indeed, it helps the economy by hugely driving up demand for an otherwise very narrowly marketable item.

 

[jab]

Women are not forbidden to get routine vaccinations during pregnancy and in fact, are strongly encouraged to receive the flu vaccine during pregnancy

OK.

My experience with pregnant women in the last year has been nearly zero. And I haven't asked personal questions, like, " Does your pediatrician recommend C19 vaccination while pregnant?"

What I do know is that fetal children are dependent and developing humans at a crucial stage in life. Medical treatments that carry minor risks, if any, to fully developed humans can have vastly different effects on humans who aren't fully developed.

I see very good reasons for putting the young, including the unborn, into a different category from adults.
Tom

I do, as well. However, one must also consider that fetuses stand very poor chances of survival if their mother becomes extremely ill, such as with COVID19. This is the reason that women are encouraged to be vaccinated against influenza while pregnant (to protect them, and through them, their unborn child) and pertussis (so that their unborn child will be protected until old enough for its first vaccinations).

We also know that rubella can have devastating consequences for a developing fetus. Chicken pox can be fatal to both fetus and mother. Women are urged to be up to date on all routine vaccinations while pregnant and to get the flu vaccine. It protects them and it protects their child.

We know that antibodies pass through the placenta and protect unborn children. Those antibodies persist for months after birth-- longer, if the child is largely or exclusively fed breast milk. These antibodies protect infants until they are able to acquire their own antibodies through vaccination or through exposure (normal colds, etc.).

It is prudent to be concerned about the long term effects of medications and chemicals on the development and health of fetuses and of children. It is also prudent to be concerned about the long term effect of various viruses on fetuses and young children. We have some evidence that COVID19 has negative impacts on some people's cognitive function, among other long term effects some seem to experience as a result of infection. We need to do our utmost to protect the very young from such infection that may have lasting negative impacts on them for the rest of their lives.

good points

 

[Swammerdami]

I think it's important to acknowledge that the western lockdown crowd are about as crazy as the anti-vaxxers. It's people so caught up with supporting their side, vilifying the other side, that they fail to understand this isn't a black-and-white question. It never was.

"Important to acknowledge" a blatant and obviously false mistruth? You do you, Dr. Z. I prefer fact-based reasoning, though it is increasingly uncommon among Amerika's bat-shit right-wing (and whatever peculiar "wing" Dr. Z represents).

Studies show that polities that DO lock down do BETTER economically than those which don't! This is mainly because the epidemic can be terminated earlier with proper countermeasures. (In contrast, the U.S., mainly due to "red" Trumpist governance, now has a higher death rate than any other developed country; some states like Mississippi now have a higher death rate than during the January surge.) Another reason that encouraging the disease lowers economic output is employee satisfaction: people get demoralized when they see co-workers getting hospitalized; they also need time off to tend to aging relatives and to attend funerals.

 

[DrZoidberg]

If there isn't he's a fascist totalitarian bully.

Fascism isn't ordering people to do safe things during a pandemic. That's not what fascism is.

It depends if the order is practical or not. If it ends up making the lives of the unvaccinated unmanageable then it's not about safety, then it's about controlling people.

Fascism is using an external threat as a tool to grab power and remove people's freedom. Fascists, in all times, have always formulated their power grabs as being for the good and protection of the people. Yet, somehow it always ends up benefitting the leaders and his cronies. Leading to a nepotistic mess. The problem with it is that once it gets started, without opposition, it will rapidly spin out of control.

The fact that Biden's government was preceded by Trump, the most corrupt fascist asshole in American politics since... (for ever?) is likely to have shifted the American people's tolerance for corruption. So they need to be more vigilant than ever. So it's entirely appropriate to pay lots of attention to the details.

And lastly, it doesn't matter if we like Biden more than Trump. All leaders of any country are corrupt assholes. Only corrupt assholes are ever attracted by power to the point where they think it's worth it to be the president. Being in command of any large organization is a lot of extremely hard work and very stressful. You need to be very well motivated to want the job.

 

[Swammerdami]

It depends if the order is practical or not. If it ends up making the lives of the unvaccinated unmanageable then it's not about safety, then it's about controlling people.

Fascism is using an external threat as a tool to grab power and remove people's freedom. Fascists, in all times, have always formulated their power grabs as being for the good and protection of the people. Yet, somehow it always ends up benefitting the leaders and his cronies. Leading to a nepotistic mess. The problem with it is that once it gets started, without opposition, it will rapidly spin out of control....

So in your opinion, vaccinations and mask mandates aren't about health, but are a fascist power-grab by Biden? Does your newsletter have details?

Most on BOTH sides of the aisle agree that Biden is too mild-mannered, incompetent, and good-natured for such a "power grab;" so presumably he's being used as a puppet by the Soros-Rothschild axis. Does your newsletter give details? How does this connect to the murder of Vince Foster?

And what is the power-grab for anyway? Yes, yes, we know the vaccines contain Bill Gates' microchips, but what precisely is the purpose of those microchips? If it's just brain control they're after, don't they already have that capability with the Sino-Israeli-Taliban control of 'Net and cell-phone networks?

 

[DrZoidberg]

It depends if the order is practical or not. If it ends up making the lives of the unvaccinated unmanageable then it's not about safety, then it's about controlling people.

Fascism is using an external threat as a tool to grab power and remove people's freedom. Fascists, in all times, have always formulated their power grabs as being for the good and protection of the people. Yet, somehow it always ends up benefitting the leaders and his cronies. Leading to a nepotistic mess. The problem with it is that once it gets started, without opposition, it will rapidly spin out of control....

So in your opinion, vaccinations and mask mandates aren't about health, but are a fascist power-grab by Biden? Does your newsletter have details?

Most on BOTH sides of the aisle agree that Biden is too mild-mannered, incompetent, and good-natured for such a "power grab;" so presumably he's being used as a puppet by the Soros-Rothschild axis. Does your newsletter give details? How does this connect to the murder of Vince Foster?

And what is the power-grab for anyway? Yes, yes, we know the vaccines contain Bill Gates' microchips, but what precisely is the purpose of those microchips? If it's just brain control they're after, don't they already have that capability with the Sino-Israeli-Taliban control of 'Net and cell-phone networks?

It depends entirely about the details. My first point with bringing this up is that mandating weekly testing is great if it's practical for people to do it. If the plan doesn't include a method by which people can get tested, then it's bullying, and not about health and safety.

Power grabs doesn't have to be absolute. There's tiny steps. It can be a new law set into place. The law needs to be monitored. A new agency is created. The new agency needs to be chaired by someone. That someone might be a person who at some point did Biden a favour, rather than anyone competent. Unscrupulous politicians can use these situations to enrich themselves and place their cronies in positions of power. You know... like Trump did. This isn't a conspiracy theory. This actually happens. This is the mechanism by which representative democracies tend to grow and swell over time and become massively bloated. Swelling the government is easy. Making it smaller is politically hard. That is NOT a conspiracy theory. That's a true fact about how representative democracies have always worked in the west.

That is why the details are important. The same policy can be benign or nefarious depending on the details. We didn't have the details in the BBC article that I shared.