Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

There's a shit-ton of "bad: COVID news out yesterday evening and this morning. I try to ignore it but some of it is so preposterous and misleading that I need to write about it if not to organize my own thoughts.

Hidden in the bad news is the indisputable reality that some news sources are talking about: Regardless of what the media characterizes as a dangerous "surge" in new cases, straining hospital facilities and staff, everyone is dealing with it. Patients admitted for COVID are recovering faster and getting discharged more quickly. Treatments they are receiving work and more treatments are in the pipeline including prophylactic measures.

The worst part of the media's terror inducing narrative are these cherry picked, isolated personal stories. Young woman dies of COVID after being able to hold her new born for only a few minutes, vaxed politicians get reinfected, cases in school age kids surge in FL while Killer Desantis bans masks in schools. The list goes on.

I can provide background context for any one of the myriad scare inducing stories I'm seeing that mitigates the media's intention to scare the shit out of Americans. On a personal level they are tragic but attempts to generalize these isolated occurrences and imply they are widespread outcomes of Delta infuriates me. Can't do them all. Tired of it. But, I do want to focus on FL in this post.

The Desantis mask ban for schools is headline news in FL and nationally. It's really not a "mask ban" but it is most assuredly being characterized as one that is going to kill "the children." What this order and legislative actions backing it up amounts to for Desantis is enforcing the right of parents to decide if they want their kids to wear a mask or not. He wants to prevent public school boards and elected officials from unlawfully mandating masks. His policy in this matter is consistent with his view in these matters. No mandates from any of FL's government agencies such mandates based on PHEs.

As I posted yesterday, whether or not masks actually prevent the transmission of SARS2 is debatable but I don't care because:

On COVID ....... "experts" trying to correlate refusal to wear masks with rising case numbers fail on the basis that low vax rates are much more powerfully correlated with rising case numbers. This isn't debatable.

Carrying this logic forward, Kapture posted a revealing chart, part of a study in the UK, that assigns an incredibly low risk of death in the school age cohort there to which I posted in response:

One has to ask why "experts" so confidently announce "dire consequences" wrt to Delta and kids when this kind of data exists.

Talent and myself, among others have repeatedly posted here that the one metric that, when reported in a granular, i.e., regional way, appropriately defines pandemic impact is hospitalizations and more directly, deaths..... and unfortunately these metrics have their own issues too. So, yeah, logically, kids are a low risk group for impactful outcomes re COVID yet, we want to allow government officials to mandate behaviors for this group with minimal PH benefits if any at all. Nonesense, and here is why:

At the end of May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a notable, yet mostly ignored, large-scale study of COVID transmission in American schools. A few major news outlets covered its release by briefly reiterating the study’s summary: that masking then-unvaccinated teachers and improving ventilation with more fresh air were associated with a lower incidence of the virus in schools. Those are common-sense measures, and the fact that they seem to work is reassuring but not surprising. Other findings of equal importance in the study, however, were absent from the summary and not widely reported. These findings cast doubt on the impact of many of the most common mitigation measures in American schools. Distancing, hybrid models, classroom barriers, HEPA filters, and, most notably, requiring student masking were each found to not have a statistically significant benefit. In other words, these measures could not be said to be effective.

The whole article is worth a read: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021...uncertain.html

[Dr. Strangelove]

Quick Econ note in a sea of bad news. Reportedly Yellin has told the White House she backs reappointing Powell as Fed Chair. Some progs won’t be happy but I think markets would

[Tom W]

I really couldn't care less that a 4th world cult of goat shepherds/poppy farmers that adheres to a medieval dogma based on intolerance, subjecation of women, pedophelia and genocide has found someone who was willing to barter Photoshop 101 skills to keep their head off of a pike.

I do have a problem, though, with the mindset that somehow we, as a nation, deserved to be mocked by these assholes.

[Obi-Jon]

Brief update for those that care (if any).

Got hit with a staff infection that went septic, attacking every organ in my body. Been in ICU for 2 weeks, TCU for a week, and gen med for a week. There were enough rare complications on top of it all that I will be the subject of a published case study. Several of the hospital department heads have quite bluntly told me there's no way I should have survived. This infection brought about two near death experiences that, to be honest, were transformative in nature. This is not a second chance for me, this is a second life.

I am retiring the Ghengis Jon moniker for this new one. GJ was a bit blustery and edged. This new moniker will reflect my reality rather than an on-line persona. Those that know me socially or from tailgating know that this forum is the only place I talk politics and that will not change. What will change is what I express is what I actually feel without the hyperbole. I will throw no more grenades or taunts. Standing at the abyss of death, knowing its all going to end in the next moment, for me, sent waves of regret through my mind, having not yet done all I wanted to do with my wife of 37 years and my children. I fell backwards onto the ledge not forward into the darkness, something I now ponder why philosophically.

This experience has changed me, administering a new outlook. Be generous to all, be cruel to none, and live every hour as if it will be your last.

[AlabamAlum]

That’s a rough road, Jon. Glad you made it through.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Great story, Jon ...... you need to know you never offended me nor did I ever not read every word of your posts. All of us, and I think in this forum, compared to others, are tolerant of others views, challenge them politely and is a great place to get both sides of the cultural and political differences in this country.

TBH, I often come here first thing in the am when I'm in a hurry and have no time to read my news feeds. A quick review of posts tells me what's important and where the debate is focused.

Anyway, glad you made it. Sepsis sucks ..... I've never had it but have seen patients with presenting symptoms of it in the ER. The regional hospital I worked in after docs, not necessarily ER docs because they rarely missed it, not recognize the sometimes subtle signs of sepsis, implemented a sepsis evaluation protocol. In the ER, the triage nurse executed it. There were 10 items on it. A yes that characteristic was present on 2 of them prompted a rapid check-in and a protocol set of labs processed emergently. If the patient were assigned to me, key indicators on the labs prompted an emergent admission, other specific lab draws and the start of IV broad spectrum antibiotics in the ER. Deaths occurring in the in-patient hospital setting from sepsis went to ZERO.

[iam416]

Very happy you made it, Jon. Sounds completely horrifying.

[lineygoblue]

I fully support America's departure from Afghanistan as well. I'd have supported it right after OBL was killed.

If Afghani's are not willing to fight for their own freedoms, then we shouldn't have to fight for them. We have enough on our plate right now.

The way this exit was handled is fully, 100% in the lap of Trucker Joe. All of the embarrassment, the bumbling, and yes, the blood of ANY US citizen that dies as a result of this bungling is all on Joe. He wanted the job. He said he could do it better than the orange man. He allegedly convinced 83 million Americans that he was the best man for the job. So far, he has failed to prove that. If he can't do the job, he needs to get out of the way. I'm not looking forward to the day that Giggles takes the oath, but I fear that day is close by.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, it's happening, pretty much on schedule. This despite widespread criticism of how FL reports data. Not a big fan of new case numbers in absolute terms but trends can be meaningful. From the evening edition of the Sun Sentinel:

The 7-day trend of new cases has dipped in the past three days to 20,134 and to 35 for new deaths. (Typical worthless caveats) However, because the state releases the number of new cases and deaths by the dates they occurred rather than the date they were reported, both numbers are likely higher than what the CDC releases.
Even the wording here makes me LOL. Just say it like this: new cases are dropping and trends suggest the surge is waning.
Hope it holds.

[AlabamAlum]

I, too, have taken over a much more of a placid persona here, Jon.

I used to pride myself on verbally eviscerating anyone who said something stupid about anything I care about, and I was pretty good at it. Now, people say dumb shit, I laugh, and scroll. It’s not my job here to beat sense into anyone.

[iam416]

I remember when DSL foolishly mocked Vanderbilt’s schedule. He was soon holding in his dainty hands the bulk of his intestines. It was many a week before he was back to garbling down Funyuns.

[lineygoblue]

Welcome back, Jon. I wish I would have known you were in the hospital. You visited with my family when I was hospitalized, and I would have visited you as well, had I been allowed. I am glad to hear that you have recovered. I had a similar experience a little over a year ago. It makes you re-evaluate your life. Some things are just not worth the stress. God bless you and your fine family.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I remember when DSL foolishly mocked Vanderbilt’s schedule. He was soon holding in his dainty hands the bulk of his intestines. It was many a week before he was back to garbling down Funyuns.

I take back nothing that I said about the contemptible Commodes.

[Obi-Jon]

Thank you all for the kind words. I honestly appreciate the support you give.