Corona Virus

[Sour Masher]

I am reading and seeing other sources say some of the same things as Dr. Campbell is saying. Preliminary, non-peer reviewed results do seem to indicate more deadly and contagious strains are developing that will likely become the dominant strains. Preliminary evidence also shows that these strains can infect those who have already gotten another variant previously, and that vaccines are less effective. It does seems like this is going to be an arms race, and Moderna is already developing a booster for the variants. The most important step we can all take to combat these mutations is to all get vaccinated as soon as possible, as less infections means less mutations. I am eager for the roll out to continue and for more and more people to get vaccinated ASAP.

And, of course, it goes without saying, I'd hope, that homeopathic treatments for COVID, like for all things, are useless. It would amaze me that folks still have to debunk such absurd quackery in the 21st century, but then I remember QAnon is a thing, so carry on debunkers. You will not be believed but fight the good fight.

[Bene Futuis]

That's the thing: he is a talking head, certainly not an "authority" by any reasonable understanding of the word. He may be on TV, like Dr. Oz or Dr. Phil or Dr. Pepper, and he may even stumble onto correct analysis and insight. However, that's not because he possesses any expertise, training, or particular knowledge on the topic of epidemiology or anything remotely related. He's a nurse with a Youtube channel. These kinds of fallacious appeals to pseudo-authority have been happening with relative frequency in this thread and have not been called out as such, which is concerning to me.

[GwynnInTheHall]

Anti vaxxers and Anti maskers shut down covid vaccination site at Dodger Stadium today.

WTF is wrong with these people? I get it that THEY don't believe or want these shot, but stopping others? Time to jail em or fucking beat then till they can't function--they are a danger, like the virus itself--they need to go.

[Hornsby]

Anti vaxxers and Anti maskers shut down covid vaccination site at Dodger Stadium today.

WTF is wrong with these people? I get it that THEY don't believe or want these shot, but stopping others? Time to jail em or fucking beat then till they can't function--they are a danger, like the virus itself--they need to go.

Get your SUV sunshine, let's ride!

[GwynnInTheHall]

Stimulus bill moves on, Manchin changes mind and votes for it.

Who could have seen that coming?

[GwynnInTheHall]

Nullnor.

Hope you are staying warm. Hope you are doing well.

Don't cook the cat.

[nullnor]

I quit drinking. it's been about 2 weeks now. I definitely did a little damage. it was fun being out of control though, heh. the cats are doing great. they've done everything I expected/wanted. it's getting near that time where I should take my HVAC, class B driving license, oil burner license, and then I need to get a Hazmat/Tanker endorsement, and I need to get a pipefitter/natural gas license and buy a house and take the cats with me.

when it comes to interacting with animals, the other day I thought, I am the George Clooney of the animal world. I am always calm, I always do the right thing, and see the big picture. my cat has a semi-feral daughter. it's taken me over a year but she now sleeps with us in the RV.

the RV/homeless life is kind of a trap. not in a financial sense for me, but in a lifestyle one. it has it's perks. but, for example, whenever you enter a new place, you always wonder if you are going to make it out or am I going to get trapped. also, one of the disappoints has been that I never found the 'good' community. like the ones depicted in movies like Nomadland. all I've found were con artists. except for the cats, there's really no-one to sit down and has a good conversation with, heh.

I still can't believe the coronavirus happened. it seems so surreal. like wow, we really fucked ourselves. yet, in a grand wisdom sort of way, we probably have always fucked ourselves; so eventually how this all plays out is uncertain. I would feel a lot better if I knew if this was a natural virus from nature and not one that escaped accidentally from a lab.

my number one rule now is don't underestimate the social chaos resulting from the virus. we are in uncharted chaos territory. every crazy thing happening in the world right now can be attributed to it. and I always try to keep that in mind- especially when interacting with people locally.

[nullnor]

I put bird videos on for the cats. I googled 'videos for cats'. they sit in front of the screen like kids watching sesame street. I have to turn it off after about 10 minutes once they look like they might knock stuff over, and to keep their interest. the feral one had her paw up for a while like she wanted to touch it, and then when she finally did, it was like she was expecting her paw to go through the computer screen or something, like in the movie Deja Vu.

there are times, even for me, interacting with animals where it sort of freaks you out and am like, did I just see that. it's happened like 5 times in my life. for example, the other day I was filling the old guys water tank with buckets of rain water, and the cat came over and put her paw up on the outside of the RV (that's her tell) where the water was going, and then looked underneath to see if it was leaking.

but they'll go sit in front of the computer when it's off waiting for the birdies to show up. the other day I was watching Seinfeld, that was a nice world once when people were actually worried about social mores, and the cat was watching it. that sort of freaked me out. I attributed it to them just being interested now (the TV) in anything I am interested in.

it's the way the world works, in every aspect. people with open minds believe the universe is an open system. people with closed minds think the universe is a closed system. in an open system anything can happen and is unknowable. in a closed system everything is predictable and knowable. as Godel said if it's false it's true and if it's true it's false. but a more apt reference to explain the universe would be Morpheus from the matrix- Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

if the universe was a sentient being, one might ask, why create a world where you are only interacting with yourself. but then if you think about it everything you will ever experience, every perception, every whoosh of the wind blowing or every red apple you eat in life is within your own body and your own mind.

[chancellor]

I quit drinking. it's been about 2 weeks now. I definitely did a little damage. it was fun being out of control though, heh. the cats are doing great. they've done everything I expected/wanted. it's getting near that time where I should take my HVAC, class B driving license, oil burner license, and then I need to get a Hazmat/Tanker endorsement, and I need to get a pipefitter/natural gas license and buy a house and take the cats with me.

Heck, all you need is your HVAC, I'd think. They're just throwing money at HVAC people - certified installers, designers, engineers - since so many places are upgrading their systems due to COVID and CARES funding. Glad to hear you're reasonably well.

[Gregg]

I found this covid piece interesting:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/the-twisted-messy-hunt-for-covid-19-s-origin-and-the-lab-leak-theory/ar-BB1cT7mj

[madducks]

Tampa Bay bars, restaurants, and the surrounding streets have been packed with maskless people this Super Bowl weekend. It's like spring break 2020 all over again.

[Bene Futuis]

Republican Congressman Ron Wright (R-TX) has become the first sitting member of Congress to die from COVID. He was battling lung cancer as well and had announced only a couple weeks ago that he had contracted the coronavirus. RIP.

Wear a mask, please!

[Teenwolf]

We are in such tragic times. at head of the table is literally the worst person with the most self-serving gross world view is in charge. The difference between hearing what a president should sound like, as in Cuomo and his daily briefings and his leadership while being fact based, to this trump monster is so stark.

Anything to say about the discovery that Andrew Cuomo allowed people with Covid to be admitted to nursing homes, which led to an explosion in deaths that were only revealed in the last few days? Any concern about Cuomo covering up these deaths for almost a year, or using the excuse that Trump would have used these numbers as political attack points, therefore covering up the deaths is justifiable?

This is fucking criminal. But the real insidious thing is the media. You've got Chris Cuomo giving warm and fuzzy interviews on CNN months ago, complicit in the coverup and the bullshit media coronation of Cuomo as a saviour.

Where's the stark difference now? If Trump is a murderer, so is Cuomo. Will the media cover this appropriately now, or will they sweep it under the rug? CNN headlines make me believe the latter.

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus...osecution.html

[Sour Masher]

Anything to say about the discovery that Andrew Cuomo allowed people with Covid to be admitted to nursing homes, which led to an explosion in deaths that were only revealed in the last few days? Any concern about Cuomo covering up these deaths for almost a year, or using the excuse that Trump would have used these numbers as political attack points, therefore covering up the deaths is justifiable?

This is fucking criminal. But the real insidious thing is the media. You've got Chris Cuomo giving warm and fuzzy interviews on CNN months ago, complicit in the coverup and the bullshit media coronation of Cuomo as a saviour.

Where's the stark difference now? If Trump is a murderer, so is Cuomo. Will the media cover this appropriately now, or will they sweep it under the rug? CNN headlines make me believe the latter.

https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus...osecution.html

I agree. I have made this point with my wife for months--that his initial decision was a grave error and that the continued excuse making by him and media on the left was wrong. The recent revelation is no surprise to me at all, as media on the right has hammered him for this since the beginning. So, when you say media, I assume you mean left-wing mainstream media.

Where we differ is in comparing Trump and Cuomo. Yes, both made mistakes that killed people. However, Trump continued to do that throughout his presidency, doubling down again and again, showing he did not care about the lives being lost. Cuomo made a mistake early on in this pandemic--a bad one that cost lives. But he learned from it, adapted, and began doing what should be done. After initially mishandling things (and he and his defenders quickly point out that NY was hit earlier than others, so did not have the benefit of learning from other states' mistakes, which is true, but still an excuse), Cuomo did become a model governor in terms of how the pandemic was handled and how he informed the public on things.

Does that change the fact that he made the wrong call on nursing homes early? No. But given the newness of all this and his actions and words since then, that error could be forgiven in my estimation. However, the cover up should not. As is often the case, I think the cover up is less forgivable than the initial mistake. Even though that mistake cost lives, again, he learned from them and adapted. But his arrogance in not owning that grave error in judgment (and that is what it was in his case, not a willful murdering of thousands like it was with Trump) is egregious.

[Teenwolf]

I agree. I have made this point with my wife for months--that his initial decision was a grave error and that the continued excuse making by him and media on the left was wrong. The recent revelation is no surprise to me at all, as media on the right has hammered him for this since the beginning. So, when you say media, I assume you mean left-wing mainstream media.

Where we differ is in comparing Trump and Cuomo. Yes, both made mistakes that killed people. However, Trump continued to do that throughout his presidency, doubling down again and again, showing he did not care about the lives being lost. Cuomo made a mistake early on in this pandemic--a bad one that cost lives. But he learned from it, adapted, and began doing what should be done. After initially mishandling things (and he and his defenders quickly point out that NY was hit earlier than others, so did not have the benefit of learning from other states' mistakes, which is true, but still an excuse), Cuomo did become a model governor in terms of how the pandemic was handled and how he informed the public on things.

Does that change the fact that he made the wrong call on nursing homes early? No. But given the newness of all this and his actions and words since then, that error could be forgiven in my estimation. However, the cover up should not. As is often the case, I think the cover up is less forgivable than the initial mistake. Even though that mistake cost lives, again, he learned from them and adapted. But his arrogance in not owning that grave error in judgment (and that is what it was in his case, not a willful murdering of thousands like it was with Trump) is egregious.

Thanks for all of the added context.

You're right that in general, the politicians on the left have been more consistently following and advocating for measures that enhance public safety while right wingers are using it to rile up their base with conspiracy theories and politicizing health and safety guidelines that lead to extra deaths. This is just one case of Cuomo doing both of the worst things the right have done: politicization and an extra 4K dead.

I see the exact same thing in Ontario with brother of former Toronto crackhead mayor, Doug Ford. He royally fucked Ontario cutting health services and particularly cutting senior home guidelines leading into the pandemic, and everything he says is politicized spin, where he attacks his enemies for his own failures. But still, he has seen a boost in support from dumbasses who never used to follow the news, but now find this Ford fucker a strong leader just as a typical human response to a crisis, the Giuliani effect. It's an indictment of the people of Ontario that they fall for such phony bullshit. I see the same with Cuomo.