Covid-19 miscellany

[Metaphor]

Today's right, making their kids sick from vanquished diseases to own the libs.

Have you any idea how incoherent your above statement is?

Seriously, is English not your first language?

I came first in English in high school. I understand English.

But I'm talking from a psychological perspective. Your statement makes no sense. The motivations you ascribe to your intellectual enemies make no sense. The actions you think they would take make no sense to fulfill the goals you think they have.

You said 'the right' is 'making their kids sick' to 'own the libs'. For that to make any sense whatever, you would have to believe 'the right' actually believes in the vaccine for their children and would otherwise give it to them, but somehow not vaccinating their children is a higher calling for the satisfaction of 'owning the libs'.

You do seem to get it.

Before Covid-19, the anti-vax movement in the US would proudly have Chicken Pox parties. The anti-vax movement used to more be woo'y left-wingers. Now the alt-right / anti-authority are part of the anti-vax movement, doing things like Covid-19 parties for little other reason than because it is anti-authority and in cases, because they view it as a partisan choice.

`
No, I don't get it. You are simply extending the false beliefs blastula has imputed. You cannot simultaneously believe vaccines work and are good for your children but withhold them to 'own the libs', whilst at the same time believe they do nothing and don't work and are dangerous, and are withholding them from your children to 'own the libs'.

EDIT: Do you believe that everyone in the anti-vax right (or, as blastula more broadly states, conservatives) actually believes the COVID vaccines to be safe and effective, but are pretending not to believe so because 'the libs' believe them to be safe and effective?

 

[TomC]

What you believe should be supported is irrelevant. The people who donated to the convoy made the donation with the understanding the money would go to the convoy.

I think you're missing the big problem here.

The real problem is that the convoy changed. What was started as a peaceful protest has morphed into criminal behavior. Regardless of what you think about vaccination or mandates or whatever, that isn't the issue. It's the illegality of deliberately shutting down cities and roads that is causing this problem.
Tom

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Today's right, making their kids sick from vanquished diseases to own the libs.

Have you any idea how incoherent your above statement is?

Seriously, is English not your first language?

I came first in English in high school. I understand English.

But I'm talking from a psychological perspective. Your statement makes no sense. The motivations you ascribe to your intellectual enemies make no sense. The actions you think they would take make no sense to fulfill the goals you think they have.

You said 'the right' is 'making their kids sick' to 'own the libs'. For that to make any sense whatever, you would have to believe 'the right' actually believes in the vaccine for their children and would otherwise give it to them, but somehow not vaccinating their children is a higher calling for the satisfaction of 'owning the libs'.

You do seem to get it.

Before Covid-19, the anti-vax movement in the US would proudly have Chicken Pox parties. The anti-vax movement used to more be woo'y left-wingers. Now the alt-right / anti-authority are part of the anti-vax movement, doing things like Covid-19 parties for little other reason than because it is anti-authority and in cases, because they view it as a partisan choice.

`
No, I don't get it. You are simply extending the false beliefs blastula has imputed. You cannot simultaneously believe vaccines work and are good for your children but withhold them to 'own the libs', whilst at the same time believe they do nothing and don't work and are dangerous, and are withholding them from your children to 'own the libs'.

The right-wing is full of contradictory positions.

EDIT: Do you believe that everyone in the anti-vax right (or, as blastula more broadly states, conservatives) actually believes the COVID vaccines to be safe and effective, but are pretending not to believe so because 'the libs' believe them to be safe and effective?

Those people are the ones on TV and Radio, the ones who got shots and telling their listeners not to trust them. Kind of like how Hannity was messaging for Trump to end the insurrection because it was awful... and then going on TV that night and minimizing what happened and claiming it was Antifa.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Full disclosure: I’m not a lawyer so I could be wrong about this but;

I don’t know about how laws work in Australia but here, laundering money for criminal enterprises would get you brought up on RICO charges. GoFundMe is not that kind of organization.

Full disclosure: I'm not a moron so the idea that I would entrust a $600m for-profit, privately held company to determine what is 'terrorist adjacent' instead of the police doesn't seem like something I'ma get behind.

I'm certain there is a liability concern raised by their lawyers in supporting actions that stop well short of "terrorist adjacent".

 

[Jarhyn]

What you believe should be supported is irrelevant. The people who donated to the convoy made the donation with the understanding the money would go to the convoy.

They also agreed to the terms and conditions of GFM prior to making their donations.

Caveat Emptor!*

*Except when it hurts me, specifically.

/s

 

[TSwizzle]

Not that I pay much heed to Fauci;

Dr Anthony Fauci said the United States is almost past the 'full-blown' stage of the pandemic and predicted there would soon be an end to all Covid-related restrictions, which includes the mandatory use of face masks. His comments come as polls show Americans are reaching a breaking point on Covid with a majority of voters, including many Democrats, describing themselves as 'tired,' 'frustrated,' and arguing 'we just need to get on with our lives.' But Fauci's words of hope contradict with the message being given by the CDC, who is standing by the face coverings rule even as growing number of states - including blue ones with Democratic governors like New York, New Jersey and Illinois - are starting to lift their mask mandates. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walsensky said now is not the time to change or loosen the requirements.
a poll from Monmouth University Polling Institute found that 7 in 10 Americans (70%) agree with the sentiment that 'it's time we accept that Covid is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives.'

Daily Mail

And for some strange reason, the control freaks are still trying to force school children to wear masks in class.

 

[Elixir]

And for some strange reason ...

...might have something to do with it. Strange, eh?

 

[Elixir]

Globally we now have more than three times as many daily COVID cases as highest volume we experienced under the Delta surge.
The current death rate is over 2/3 of Delta's highest.

But the real killer here may be the plague rats. A virus reservoir that is 3x larger than that largest created by Delta, is at least 3x as likely to bring us yet another new variant.

@Metaphor is convinced in advance, and not without reason IMHO, that any such subsequent variant will continue the trend of being more contagious and less deadly than its predecessor, as evolutionary principles would predict over a long period of time with numerous trials.

But there are no guarantees. For all we know, the next variant might be 80% lethal within 2 weeks of contracting it.

The one certainty is that the plague rats* are going to force us to find out.

* "Plague rats" is not dehumanizing people, but condemning the dangerous dehumanizing behavior of those with utter disregard for the welfare of other individuals and humanity as a whole.

 

[repoman]

Pfizer must be kicking itself for not having the Omicron vaccine out earlier.

Omicron variant cited as part of the reason for dropping vaccine mandate

 

[TSwizzle]

The mask fetishists will disagree;

Masks are starting to become a thing of the past in the U.S. as the Omicron variant-fueled Covid surge continues to falter and experts are largely standing by the decision to drop mandates and instead allow people to choose for themselves whether they - or their kids - want to use face coverings. Dr Kavita Patel, an MSNBC contributor who works as a primary care physician and director of policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement in the Obama administration, told CNBC's Squawk Box that mask mandates in schools should not be around forever, and instead parents should choose whether their child needs to wear one based on a variety of factors. ‘If you told me there’s a future where we’re wearing masks in perpetuity I'd say that’s ridiculous, the science doesn’t support that if we see that cases are coming down,' Patel said. Patel joins an ever-growing group of health officials and experts calling for mask and other mandates to be phased out as cases continue to drop.

Daily Mail

This morning I saw someone out jogging wearing a mask. None of my business of course, each to their own but how mental is that?

 

[Ruth Harris]

This morning I saw someone out jogging wearing a mask. None of my business of course, each to their own but how mental is that?

My son has masked for years now when outside due to severe allergies and cold intolerance which causes asthma episodes. That includes when he is exercising. I would not call that mental. You don't have any idea why this person was masked.

Ruth

 

[Trausti]

 

[Trausti]

Pfizer must be kicking itself for not having the Omicron vaccine out earlier.

Omicron variant cited as part of the reason for dropping vaccine mandate

 

[TomC]

This morning I saw someone out jogging wearing a mask. None of my business of course, each to their own but how mental is that?

I still wear a mask in lots of places.

My personal situation has changed enormously. I'm not much worried about my own risk. It's largely a political statement, solidarity with people who want the disaster to be over with and people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

I'd probably wear one that says "Fuck the Plague Rats" if I could find one. Because I'm difficult that way. I want to free of C19. Plague Rats won't allow that and it makes me angry.
Tom

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Globally we now have more than three times as many daily COVID cases as highest volume we experienced under the Delta surge.
The current death rate is over 2/3 of Delta's highest.

But the real killer here may be the plague rats. A virus reservoir that is 3x larger than that largest created by Delta, is at least 3x as likely to bring us yet another new variant.

@Metaphor is convinced in advance, and not without reason IMHO, that any such subsequent variant will continue the trend of being more contagious and less deadly than its predecessor, as evolutionary principles would predict over a long period of time with numerous trials.

But there are no guarantees. For all we know, the next variant might be 80% lethal within 2 weeks of contracting it.

The one certainty is that the plague rats* are going to force us to find out.

* "Plague rats" is not dehumanizing people, but condemning the dangerous dehumanizing behavior of those with utter disregard for the welfare of other individuals and humanity as a whole.

The State of Ohio surpassed the previous peak in deaths with this Delta/Omicron wave. The previous peak was before widespread availability of the vaccine. It is unbelievable.

You watch a horror movie and think, why would someone do something that stupid. You've got the idiot that is making stupid decisions getting people killed, and the idiots following the idiot. They make dreadfully poor decision after the other... and it never seemed reasonable.

And then the Covid-19 pandemic tells us, horror films are disturbingly accurate. Thousands of Americans are dying a day in the US right now, for no good reason at all and their deaths were mostly preventable.

 

[Trausti]

It's largely a political statement,

And it has been for awhile.

 

[TSwizzle]

This morning I saw someone out jogging wearing a mask. None of my business of course, each to their own but how mental is that?

You don't have any idea why this person was masked.

He's wearing it because he wants to signal his piousness or he has been scared shitless into wearing it. If I see him tomorrow I'll maybe ask him. It's as mental as driving in your car wearing a mask or worse yet, on a motorbike.

 

[TomC]

It's largely a political statement,

And it has been for awhile.

I want to be free from the ugly effects of plague rats. I want my freedom back.
Tom

 

[Toni]

Believe it or not, in the US, charitable organizations and such have a legal responsibility to do what they claim they are doing: To use the money they collect for the things they say they will. They can get into big trouble for doing otherwise.

There's nothing 'charitable' about GoFundMe. It's a privately-held, for profit corporation.

Imagine if they discovered that a drug cartel was using GoFundMe to launder funds. Would that merit turning names over to authorities in your mind? What if it were a militant black group? What if it was a group that was running a human trafficking ring (not necessarily sex related)?

GoFundMe should 'turn over names' that they are legally required to turn over and that the Proper Authorities have asked for. Don't worry, refunding people automatically won't erase their names from The List. The List of Names of Dissenters can always be created at the appropriate time that you wish to persecute them.

You may see this as an organization striking out on a group you support (or don't. I don't care) but I see this as not truly an issue of whether or not Canada or any other country/state/municipality, etc. has a right to mandate mask wearing or vaccination during a deadly pandemic. But I see it as an attempt to undermine democracy--a very calculated attempt. I don't think that should be supported.

What you believe should be supported is irrelevant. The people who donated to the convoy made the donation with the understanding the money would go to the convoy.

Now, I know the majority here love when large corporations make decisions for them, like Facebook fact checking the British Medical Journal, but I would not want to have GoFundMe as trustee for anything I donated to, given it can and does make unilateral decisions about who is worthy of receiving funds after the fact. So, and forgive me if my withholding of my own money from a $600m corporation offends you, but I will not be donating money via GoFundMe in the future and I would encourage others to refrain from doing so as well.

If I were to donate via GFM to the rescue of cats made homeless by a hurricane and then later found out that this charity (using GFM to raise funds) was really a front for making coats out of cat fur or drug trafficking or what

Believe it or not, in the US, charitable organizations and such have a legal responsibility to do what they claim they are doing: To use the money they collect for the things they say they will. They can get into big trouble for doing otherwise.

There's nothing 'charitable' about GoFundMe. It's a privately-held, for profit corporation.

Imagine if they discovered that a drug cartel was using GoFundMe to launder funds. Would that merit turning names over to authorities in your mind? What if it were a militant black group? What if it was a group that was running a human trafficking ring (not necessarily sex related)?

GoFundMe should 'turn over names' that they are legally required to turn over and that the Proper Authorities have asked for. Don't worry, refunding people automatically won't erase their names from The List. The List of Names of Dissenters can always be created at the appropriate time that you wish to persecute them.

You may see this as an organization striking out on a group you support (or don't. I don't care) but I see this as not truly an issue of whether or not Canada or any other country/state/municipality, etc. has a right to mandate mask wearing or vaccination during a deadly pandemic. But I see it as an attempt to undermine democracy--a very calculated attempt. I don't think that should be supported.

What you believe should be supported is irrelevant. The people who donated to the convoy made the donation with the understanding the money would go to the convoy.

Now, I know the majority here love when large corporations make decisions for them, like Facebook fact checking the British Medical Journal, but I would not want to have GoFundMe as trustee for anything I donated to, given it can and does make unilateral decisions about who is worthy of receiving funds after the fact. So, and forgive me if my withholding of my own money from a $600m corporation offends you, but I will not be donating money via GoFundMe in the future and I would encourage others to refrain from doing so as well.

GFM has stated that it will streamline its process and refund all of the donations in 7-10 days.

 

[TomC]

This morning I saw someone out jogging wearing a mask. None of my business of course, each to their own but how mental is that?

You don't have any idea why this person was masked.

He's wearing it because he wants to signal his piousness or he has been scared shitless into wearing it. If I see him tomorrow I'll maybe ask him. It's as mental as driving in your car wearing a mask or worse yet, on a motorbike.

Fact remains.
You don't know what you're talking about, but continue talking anyway.
Tom