Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

So what should we make of the WHO calling for wearing masks indoors and the CDC saying not here in America, people?

Well, the CDC is spot on, for a change. After 3 solid months of down trending case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations, on a global level these numbers are trending up again. It is highly regional though with countries in the Southern Hemisphere experiencing the worst increases. The other huge factor, and it is absolutely huge with no valid arguments to suggest it isn't (and I've heard them elsewhere - idiots) is that vaccination rates are, if anything, the primary determinate of R(0) in specific regions/locales. Other factors are climate. The link below has some really cool charts. It's worth looking around this site if it interests you.

http://hsmap.rice.edu/map/gds

[iam416]

Thank god the Supreme Court gets the Arizona voting law decision right and the California disclosure case.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Why all the hand wringing about the Deltas?

It gets worse every day. The Brits, the Israelis, almost all of Asia are reportedly "struggling with surges." There are, infact, increases in case numbers but in Irael, for example, they went up from something like 393 to 407 in one day. OMG!!!

I don't want to make light of these small increases. From an epidemiologic standpoint, even small upticks can turn into unwelcome trends in R(0). So, the appropriate response is to surgically implement mitigation measures. The Israelis are good at this. First, just behind the UK, they are global leaders in genomic sequencing and identifying hot spots involving the Deltas - which are more transmissible among the unvaccinated/immune naïve people and worth aggressively reacting to.

So far, there is little evidence that the vaccines aren't protective. In fact, quite the opposite. The news, however hysterically covers the 3 reinfections of vaccinated people out of millions of vaccinated that seem to be fine. As well, nobody that is vaccinated and is getting re-infected is dying or even getting very sick. Yo'd never know that by listening to or reading the morning news.

One thing is accurate though: Not enough of the globe is getting vaccinated and without that the numbers aren't going to go down in any meaningful way like they did in the first half of the year, TBH, they will probably go up and politicians making PH mitigation measures policies are going to overreact. That's bad and we're already seeing it in, no surprise, CA.

As far as the US goes, according to the graphics available at the Hope-Simpson web site that I linked to in the previous post, I just don't get the hand wringing. If you go to the home page then click on the tab "Playing WIth GDS, you can look at individual states in the US. I looked at Missouri, N Dakota and Mississippi - all places where, yes, vaccination rates are low, but no, nothing terrible is happening and I don't see a "surge." I see an uptick over the last month, albiet comparative small, and I have no doubt it is because of low vax rates which in my view are getting addressed.

Here in the US, we'll be fine, you can go about living a pretty much normal life and just shut out all the negative Nancy shit. I'd say if you're vaccinated, want to travel internationally and the places you want to go to haven't locked down again, do it. I'd take normal precautions - like maybe don't go a soccer match in Africa with 10K screaming fans in the stands.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Thank god the Supreme Court gets the Arizona voting law decision right and the California disclosure case.

Nothing surprising in either one. I do wonder how much Alito and Roberts get along behind the scenes, heh

[Hannibal]

Why all the hand wringing about the Deltas?

It gets worse every day. The Brits, the Israelis, almost all of Asia are reportedly "struggling with surges." There are, infact, increases in case numbers but in Irael, for example, they went up from something like 393 to 407 in one day. OMG!!!

I don't want to make light of these small increases. From an epidemiologic standpoint, even small upticks can turn into unwelcome trends in R(0). So, the appropriate response is to surgically implement mitigation measures. The Israelis are good at this. First, just behind the UK, they are global leaders in genomic sequencing and identifying hot spots involving the Deltas - which are more transmissible among the unvaccinated/immune naïve people and worth aggressively reacting to.

So far, there is little evidence that the vaccines aren't protective. In fact, quite the opposite. The news, however hysterically covers the 3 reinfections of vaccinated people out of millions of vaccinated that seem to be fine. As well, nobody that is vaccinated and is getting re-infected is dying or even getting very sick. Yo'd never know that by listening to or reading the morning news.

One thing is accurate though: Not enough of the globe is getting vaccinated and without that the numbers aren't going to go down in any meaningful way like they did in the first half of the year, TBH, they will probably go up and politicians making PH mitigation measures policies are going to overreact. That's bad and we're already seeing it in, no surprise, CA.

As far as the US goes, according to the graphics available at the Hope-Simpson web site that I linked to in the previous post, I just don't get the hand wringing. If you go to the home page then click on the tab "Playing WIth GDS, you can look at individual states in the US. I looked at Missouri, N Dakota and Mississippi - all places where, yes, vaccination rates are low, but no, nothing terrible is happening and I don't see a "surge." I see an uptick over the last month, albiet comparative small, and I have no doubt it is because of low vax rates which in my view are getting addressed.

Here in the US, we'll be fine, you can go about living a pretty much normal life and just shut out all the negative Nancy shit. I'd say if you're vaccinated, want to travel internationally and the places you want to go to haven't locked down again, do it. I'd take normal precautions - like maybe don't go a soccer match in Africa with 10K screaming fans in the stands.

Translation...

WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!! 😭😭😨😨😰

960x0.jpg?fit=scale.jpg

[THE_WIZARD_]

So what should we make of the WHO calling for wearing masks indoors and the CDC saying not here in America, people?

Well, the CDC is spot on, for a change. After 3 solid months of down trending case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations, on a global level these numbers are trending up again. It is highly regional though with countries in the Southern Hemisphere experiencing the worst increases. The other huge factor, and it is absolutely huge with no valid arguments to suggest it isn't (and I've heard them elsewhere - idiots) is that vaccination rates are, if anything, the primary determinate of R(0) in specific regions/locales. Other factors are climate. The link below has some really cool charts. It's worth looking around this site if it interests you.

http://hsmap.rice.edu/map/gds

I really don't think THE WHO should be making any medical policies or recommendations. I mean they were a great band in their day...but that's been awhile.

[Jeff Buchanan]

LOL

[Dr. Strangelove]

Other than Wiz and Crash, is anyone here even a vaccine skeptic? I mean crash claims to receive Pittsburgh Pirate baseball games any time he's near a microwave. And Wiz still fires his blunderbuss at "dragons" he sees passing in the sky (aka Frontier's daily flight between Omaha and SLC)

[iam416]

I think there's a difference between being a vaccine skeptic and thinking Covid isn't a big enough risk to warrant whatever costs are associated with getting the vaccine. If I were 20, then I would have definitely put off getting vaccinated until it was ultra-convenient.

IIRC, Wiz got his ass kicked a bit by Covid. But, eh, whatever.

[Tom W]

I really don't think THE WHO should be making any medical policies or recommendations. I mean they were a great band in their day...but that's been awhile.

Yeah, half of them are dead anyways- from the effects of unhealthy uses of various substances. So their credibility is pretty much nil.

[THE_WIZARD_]

EFZ

And I'm assuming when I see CDC they really mean CCR?

[Hannibal]

I think there's a difference between being a vaccine skeptic and thinking Covid isn't a big enough risk to warrant whatever costs are associated with getting the vaccine. If I were 20, then I would have definitely put off getting vaccinated until it was ultra-convenient.

IIRC, Wiz got his ass kicked a bit by Covid. But, eh, whatever.

yeah that's the thing. It's one thing to get the vaccine if you are 60 years old and your chances of dying from Covid-19 are greater than .1% but children are more likely to die of the seasonal flu than Covid-19. I have a retarded set of in-laws who specifically won't travel because their kids aren't old enough to get the vaccine yet and they are terrified of them coming into contact with other unvaccinated kids. It's almost as embarrassing as the paranoia "Bill Gates microchip" stuff that the crazy anti-vaxxers are worried about.

[Tom W]

But, you do have to hand it to the ChiComs, though. They can't design planes, ships or tanks to save their lives, but they've sure got this virus thing pretty well taken care of.

Who else would have thought that the way to bring down human civilization wasn't outlined by Marx, Alinsky and Orwell, but by H.G. Wells?

[THE_WIZARD_]

I kicked Covid's arse...fuckers...

[Kapture1]

Other than Wiz and Crash, is anyone here even a vaccine skeptic? I mean crash claims to receive Pittsburgh Pirate baseball games any time he's near a microwave. And Wiz still fires his blunderbuss at "dragons" he sees passing in the sky (aka Frontier's daily flight between Omaha and SLC)

I don't know what you mean by skeptic. If you mean hesitant to inject a substance that is not FDA approved, with unknown longterm side effects, that was developed in a pure rush, when the mortality rate for me is .056... is that what you mean by skepticism? The fact that if I get asshole cancer in 5 years from this, I can't sue the drug maker.....


Then count me in as a skeptic.