COVID-19

[I'm Ron Burgundy?]

I don’t think anyone here is living in a constant state of paranoia or suspicion.
what I’m getting at is it seems when any evidence is presented that contradicts the main stream narrative it’s immediately dismissed as conspiracy.

I try to keep my mind open in critically think about what is going on in our world. These are stressful times. I do appreciate everyone’s point of view.

 

[CarolKing]

@Baron I mis spoke it’s down by about 50% - 75% each day from a few weeks ago. Thank you for the heads up friend. Getting over the holiday surge, I think.

 

[Baron23]

Reputable journalists source their work, and their sources hold up to scrutiny.

In my opinion, reputable journalists do indeed expose their sources. And, they don't use words like "may", "might", "possibly", etc as this is the hallmark of speculation and not journalism. And, reputable journalists strive to present both sides of a story/issue, on an equal footing, as there always two sides.

20 years ago, hardly a front page headline or article in...for example WaPo...would be anywhere but in the editorial pages.

I continue to maintain the veracity of Couric's friend...there is no journalism anymore, just advocacy.

Cheer

 

[Vitolo]

I don’t think anyone here is living in a constant state of paranoia or suspicion.

I don't think so either, at least not constant, but evident nonetheless. Similarly, I believe that some individuals use a tone that makes "light" of opinions that reflect the absence of plots, plans, and conspiracy. These comments are spoken often in a tone that could be interpreted as demeaning.

I mis spoke it’s down by about 50%

When you said 100% I read it to mean that the numbers were down drastically, but not gone.
Pima County has dropped from 29.6% positivity rate, down to 18%, following police issuing citations for refusal to wear masks in public buildings a couple of weeks ago.
After 2 weeks of fines, the violations decreased, and then we went down about 2% each day to present.
It is a good feeling to see the percentages go down, as communities cooperate.

 

[CarolKing]

Where I live in the beginning a lot of the cases were from restaurants and bars. Those cases that weren’t in prisons, jails and nursing homes. In Eastern WA was the food processing companies where the cases surged. We’ve learned a lot over the past year. It’s been very difficult with the isolation for some.
We want to have some sense of normalcy. I’m hoping by the end of summer.

 

[Marlon Rando]

I continue to maintain the veracity of Couric's friend...there is no journalism anymore, just advocacy

Absolutely! it's all editorialized, and if something doesn't fit their narrative it must be BS. Journalism, honest unbiased journalism died a long time ago.

@CarolKing, I take it all with a grain of salt, fwiw I don't trust wiki, bunch of twats running that pump, But thank you for the input.

 

[Baron23]

When you said 100% I read it to mean that the numbers were down drastically, but not gone.

hahaha....sorry, I was originally educated as an engineer and that is NOT what 100% means. LOL And yes, I am the King of the Pedantics! haha

 

[CarolKing]

Some people when they see false claims, like masks cause lung cancer will believe conspiracy theories like that. Even though we may know better. Most of us don’t truly believe that here. Right?

 

[Vitolo]

fact:In the 60s during the Rubella outbreak, it took 18 months for them to develop the Rubella Vaccine.
That was over 50 years ago.
fact: in 1796 it took 2years to develop the Smallpox vaccine.That's over 200 years ago.
fact: Changes and improvements to the vaccines were added over a few years in both cases.
opinion: It seems that the Covid Vaccine will get tweaks and improvements over time.
opinion: Those timelines for vaccination development were much more amazing than the 6 months that the Covid Vaccine was developed.
fact: Currently and since about 1950, certain vaccinations have been required by law.
fact: Parents can skip these mandatory inoculations, by not enrolling their kids in school.
fact: This is where the laws for all states enforce mandatory vaccinations... at school enrollment when a child is 5 y.o..
fact: This leaves parents with a choice: Home School and accept the risks or Get vaccinations for your child, and cooperate in keeping
disease controlled.
How States enforce Mandatory Vaccinations
fact: As a child in the early 1955, no choice was given.. Polio Vaccine was made mandatory.
fact: The only choice was an injection, or Vaccine on a sugar cube (after 1956)
fact: Thanks to mandatory Vaccinations, there have been no cases of Polio since 1979.
opinion: While an unpopular notion, especially with a few participants in this thread, I have no
problem admitting that I believe Vaccinations should be mandatory.
opinion: I am delighted that the law says I must wear a mask to enter a public building.
I dislike people walking close to me, while not wearing a face covering....
In a supermarket is where they do it a great deal.
They enter the store masked, and then remove it to shop.
While I have been victim of a horrific raid on my home by Law Enforcement, and have no love for the police... they lie and cheat....
...and it took 2 years to prove my innocence and move on with life...
I feel the same relief seeing a no masker getting a citation as I do when I see dangerous driver getting pulled over. One more loose cannon being emptied of it's ammo!

opinion: Proving one's independence whether to themselves for ego, or for others (also for ego) by not complying with State and Federal regulations does not make one a "free thinker" or hero, it is selfish and makes them a safety risk to those around them.

​

 

[LesPlenty]

There are few reputable journalist now days.

there is no journalism anymore, just advocacy.

That is because of all the 'opinion-based reporting' pretending to be real news, take that Tucker Carlson, many try to sue for defamation but FFox news uses the defense that it is not news and people should know not to take anything he says seriously...so why make it look like the news? We have a similar problem in Australia with Sky News (also a Murdock lackie) but hardly anyone watches them unlike Fox news in the US.

Also in Australia, people expect politicians to flip flop and backflip depending on the popularity of the topic but we do not put up with straight-out lies, they are usually made to resign if caught out misleading the public or even worse misleading the government (prosecuted).

 

[Disrupt]

Such a lively discussion!

So....the process of peer reviews is good but not perfect. I'm not at all sure that there is any better way to do it and I do believe that peer reviewed science is probably the most sound and valid information we have. But its not perfect.

The peer-review process may not be immune to the crisis. Anecdotally, the usually rewarding exchange between reviewers and authors over revisions is not what it used to be. Who has time? Don't forget predatory journals. Multiple offers, everyday, like boner pills. Publish anything you'd like in a journal no one reads. Present at conferences no one attends.

Suspect the root of the problem is that people are generating far more data than they can possibly analyze. (Raw data can be made available as supplemental material, but few even read the articles, let alone dig into the data.) Everyone is overwhelmed. No one can possibly read a tenth of what they should, even in a language they understand, and still do any work of their own. In science, the solution is to have machines do more and more of the analysis, and astounding progress continues. In the broader culture, we also trust machines to sort and prioritize information for us, but not necessarily with the same intent.

Predict that if we used machines to feed us the most reputable news we're interested in, not only would people have a better idea of what is actually happening, they would be drawn to the politcal center.

Addition: Might need another dab...

The only choice was an injection, or Vaccine on a sugar cube (after 1956)

fact:In the 60s during the Rubella outbreak, it took 18 months for them to develop the Rubella Vaccine.
That was over 50 years ago.
fact: in 1796 it took 2years to develop the Smallpox vaccine.That's over 200 years ago.

The approved vaccines are built on an existing platform. It's inherently simpler and safer. That's also why updates should be quick pending expedited approval. It's a feature, not a bug.

But fine, what about the Novavax and J&J vaccines? They're protein and double-stranded DNA. Are those better? If not, what about an old-fashioned heat-killed virus vaccine? You're still getting some RNA amid all that viral stew. There are more than 200 vaccines in progress. Surely, one of those must be acceptable?

 

[Riverrat]

The approved vaccines are built on an existing platform. It's inherently simpler and safer. That's also why updates should be quick pending expedited approval. It's a feature, not a bug.

I don't know enough to disagree. In fact I hope your right. However with an aunt to be removed from a ventilator to die mom & dad & many others coming through with out a vaccination... What good reason should I or any other be vaccinated.

 

[Riverrat]

Mod note: Warning point issued for breaking the 'Be Nice' rule.

Does being a hemorrhoid come naturally for you ? Your quite successful at it Some contribute others others belittle.

 

[LesPlenty]

He is an Aussie, I took what he posted as...I am enjoying a vape while watching something interesting, but I am worse than an Aussie, I am a Tassie.

 

[felvapes]

Does being a hemorrhoid come naturally for you ? Your quite successful at it Some contribute others others belittle.

*You're

Belittle?

I haven't even started to do that buddy, but please continue to direct your shite at me and you may see such behaviour

Wow.......

 

[CarolKing]

I was reading about the covid vaccine and they have been working on that type of vaccine for years. Thank you @Disrupt for helping us to understand. Most of us didn’t take the science classes like you did. They inject the spike protein and can modify it. It maybe something they can use for other types of viruses using a different type of protein.
That’s why they were able to make the vaccine so quickly. I hope I got that right.

I think the presidents of New Zealand and Australia did it right, as well as Canada too. The lock downs sounded extreme but well worth it because so many lives were saved. Yes people were out of work. It sounded like the government helped out the citizens.

 

[Marlon Rando]

That’s why they were able to make the vaccine so quickly. I hope I got that right

Did the CDC isolate the virus?? Did anyone?
'Experimental' MRNA Gene therapy injections are not vaccines.

I think the presidents of New Zealand and Australia did it right, as well as Canada too

A 'Cluster' in Melbourne to 13 cases, 5 million people in Melbourne and they lock it down a 3rd time! Lunacy.
Victoria going in a 5 day Lockdown Friday,
Google Health.Gov.au by age group and sex..
People under 70, 12 females and 26 males died, a country of 25 million total.
No one under 20 died,
0.0128% of the people died in a year 'allegedly' it adds up to nothing.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) case numbers and statistics

This page provides updates about the current situation, latest case numbers and related information. It is updated every day by 9 pm AEST and reflects the previous 24 hours.

www.health.gov.au

And we call VA the loony house?!

 

[Disrupt]

What good reason should I or any other be vaccinated.

You? None, you've already had COVID. Achieves the same thing.

People who haven't yet had COVID? Self-interest: it's the most effective way to prevent getting COVID, especially severe disease.

Community-interest: to reduce the number of hosts available for the virus to infect. Once the number is low enough, most infections run their course without ever spreading to a new host. The number of new cases in the population continues to drop. With so few unresolved cases in the community, the risk of anyone becoming infected is soon negligible. People return to shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, etc. and support capitalism. (They also return to church to be told what to believe without evidence, but you take the bad with the good.)

That low number of unresolved cases also means that the virus has less opportunity to evolve and evade immunity against its parent, effectively becoming a distinct virus. Since many communities chose to let the virus spread unimpeded, several progeny strains (variants) have already been observed. At least three appear to be more contagious than their parent; one of these is expected to dominate new infections in the US by next month. Even if this variant hasn't evaded immunity, the fact that it's more contagious means: another spike in new cases is likely to begin in the next month caused by this variant; and, the proportion of people that needs to be vaccinated/infected in order to continually reduce new cases is higher. A strong argument for the importance of vaccinating as many in the population as possible.

Two variants that appear to have evaded immunity to an extent, and to be more contagious, have also been observed in the US. This complicates predictions in a way that probably needs to be modeled. Approved vaccines are still reasonably effective, especially against severe COVID. More people who have already had COVID or who have been vaccinated will get COVID (again) anyway resulting from infections with these variants.

They inject the spike protein and can modify it.

Ultimately, it comes down to protein, but the currently approved vaccines use the instruction to build the spike protein, mRNA, instead. The platform includes the lipids and buffers that get the mRNA inside a cell where the instructions can be read to build the spike protein. The approach is similar to an infection, but because it's just part of one viral protein, it doesn't produce infectious virus particles, just enough protein to generate an immune response. It's worth noting that instructions for several other viral proteins could also be used. Hopefully, one of these includes a conserved region - part of the instructions that can't mutate without inactivating the virus. A vaccine for a conserved region would protect against all future variants and would never need to be updated.

It maybe something they can use for other types of viruses using a different type of protein.

Absolutely! This new technology is one of the pandemic's silver linings. This is its first broad use, and it appears to be a spectacular success. It should help us deal with future pandemics more effectively.

 

[LesPlenty]

0.0128% of the people died in a year 'allegedly' it adds up to nothing.

Funny how it adds up to nothing is a bad thing, I would have thought the fewer deaths the better which is the result of lockdowns and other measures.

 

[Disrupt]

Funny how it adds up to nothing is a bad thing, I would have thought the fewer deaths the better which is the result of lockdowns and other measures.

But you're forgetting...

Conspiracy theories are reinforced by circular reasoning: both evidence against the conspiracy and for it are re-interpreted as evidence of it's truth.