Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

[lineygoblue]

So Trump slipped on a banana peel, and Hogan fell out of a tree.

I don't see a winner here.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Even Giuliani & Trump now distancing themselves from Powell.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Bloomberg saying Biden's pick for Secretary of State is Tony Blinken. Will be announced tuesday.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Two COVID stories of interest to me. The first is AZ announcing that it's trials are completed and that a two dose regimen is 90% effective with no side effects. The advantage of this vaccine is that it does not require refrigeration. AZ has also pledged to provide the vaccine at around $3/dose while it's competitors are in the $30 range. The AZ product awaits approval from regulators in each country that has placed orders - a lot of them. Recall that the AZ product is not an mRNA based vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna have the edge in this new technology. The AZ product uses an inactive chimpanzee vector to stimulate an immune response in humans - a more traditional vaccine approach. Info on the AZ product here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...we-know-so-far

A well known bar in Fort Lauderdale called the Wharf, opened on Friday. It was mobbed with no one distancing or masking and the proprietors not limiting attendance. The bar was cited 3X over the weekend by Broward Co. officials. Recall that Desantis ordered that county officials could cite and recommend but could not fine or enforce. The bar announced it was closing UFN on Sunday. First, the cohort that frequents establishments like this - under 40s - don't care about the CDC's warnings. They may have looked at Broward Counties seroprevalence (% + around 6%) and correctly judged that the risk of being exposed is low and the risk of having serious symptoms is less than 2%. I doubt that though. This crowd just doesn't want to be ordered by some distant set of "experts" to restrict their activities. This phenomena is being labeled by people that study human behavior as a rejection of governance by so-called experts or ruled by a class of elites that are not elected officials and are accountable to no one.

I don't think the young people in Fort Lauderdale are alone in giving the finger to this supposed group of experts from the elite class. See Dane County in Wisconsin and a shit-ton of other counties in the mid-west labeled as "hot-spots" or "red-zones" - such places directed by the so-called expert class to stay inside and don't' travel. Hah ....so much for that advice. Millions are expected to issue the middle finger to the expert class and hop on planes this week.

Right now, we don't know what the cost of such behavior is going to be in terms of deaths and serious illness/hospitilizations going forward. We do know the numbers show both of these data points on the rise. TBH, I don't think the under 40 crowd cares about grandma ..... .and I'm not entirely sure what to make of that. Some of us here have taken the position that if you are in an at-risk population, protect yourself. If you aren't, go about your lives pretty much normally and hope officialdom doesn't order places you work or recreate to shut down. Interesting times.

[Dr. Strangelove]

lol...my doctor, a so-called expert, says I need to avoid alcohol because my liver is shot, but I say...who the fuck put YOU in charge? I don't remember electing you to anything, asshole. I punched him in his dumb face and went out and drank a fifth of bourbon

Now they say I have 48 hours. Pffft, experts.

[iam416]

The correct analogy is that the your doctor says you've drunk enough alcohol that you have a neglible risk for liver complications and should therefore cease drinking forever.

[iam416]

That said, I do appreciate that Dr. Strangelove kneels before his Department of Health superiors.

[AlabamAlum]

Every day I wake up and say, “John, you’ve gotta quit drinking.”

Thank god my name’s not John.

[AlabamAlum]

The correct analogy is that the your doctor says you've drunk enough alcohol that you have a neglible risk for liver complications and should therefore cease drinking forever.

Actually, a better analogy is that the surgeon general says, “We have found that a small percentage of people die of alcohol so we’re shutting down all alcohol sales for everyone.”

And interestingly that got the juice it needed to pass in 1920 in part because the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak made lawmakers more amenable to public health edicts.

[iam416]

That is, in fact, a better analogy. Frankly, I'm ashamed of my rushed, sloppy work.

But, yes. EFZ.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I've quit drinking so many times...but then tomorrow happens and well...I begin again...

[Dr. Strangelove]

Where do people believe the spread is happening since people here have ruled out bars, restaurants, gyms, theaters, stores, workplaces, schools, airlines, and cruise lines?

Do the majority here truly believe that so long as you're young, you shouldn't be concerned about contracting and helping to spread the disease?

[Jeff Buchanan]

Greate analogues, esp. AA's. Nice to see reasonable people questioning the emergence of the ruling "expert class" in America. Hopefully the résistance to it will be stronger than it was in 1920.

Here's another: in the great COVID battle of 2020, Wiz was wounded on the front lines. He was awarded a Purple Heart. He recovered quickly, returned to the battle, leading the charge having been granted a powerful shield of immunity against COVID and the bastards that collaborated with the enemy to strike fear in the hearts of the troops.

[AlabamAlum]

Sure, you should be concerned, DSL. And common sense mitigation strategies should be in place: however, you shut down the economy for any extended period and you will cause a larger catastrophe (cue the Zimbabweans).