[vtsnowedin]

I'm triple vaccinated by choice but find all mask requirements and vax mandates repugnant. There is precious little evidence that any action by our governments has had a net positive effect on the outcome. Meanwhile they had destroyed thousands of small businesses and the lives of their owners and employees and given a whole generation of school children mental health issues and denied them a useful education.
The costs far exceed the meager benefits and it is time for a change in policy if not a change in leadership.

[JuanP]

"The Coronavirus Will Surprise Us Again"
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/01/coronavirus-variant-after-omicro/621404/

I am curious about how the pandemic's evolution will affect the midterm US elections this year. These past several months I have been working a lot more on my edible landscaping projects, so I haven't kept up with my regular reading on global issues.

We really need to go back to leading "normal" lives, particularly in places like Uruguay or the USA where the pandemic is endemic and completely out of control. I believe lockdowns, mandatory measures, and quarantines cannot be justified in countries where COVID-19 has become endemic, except, temporarily, during crises when medical services are overwhelmed. I do believe those measures are still justified in China, since they've managed to control the virus going on two years now.

[Pops]

The US has the lowest full vaccination rate and the highest death rate in the rich world. NYT

The simple reason is a large portion of people have allowed themselves to be lied to. NPR, KFF

Since trump they have stopped consuming mainstream news and information. Its either believe Republican's casual lies or believe the fake news, they chose lies. "In just five years, the percentage of Republicans with at least some trust in national news organizations has fallen by half – dropping from 70% in 2016 to 35% this year" PEW

Republicans can't stop talking about how skeered the Ds are. I can't figure out who they're trying to convince. I gotta think its just whistle past the graveyard because the Ds I know aren't particularly scared. Why would I be scared? Statistics say I'm 97 times less likely to die of covid than someone un-vaxed, and who is un-vaxed? 67% of republicans v 18% of Ds.

I could understand some swallowing trickle-down, cold-dead-hands, even: ____-will-not-replace-us (insert your favorite goat) but this bout of know-nothing has surprised me... kind of surprised-not-surprised I guess.

Oh well, carry on whistling...
.

[dissident]

Apparently there is some South African bat coronavirus strain that will be black plague level if it migrates to humans. That is a mortality rate of 33%.

Time to lockdown and vax with Alpha strain SARS-Cov-2 vaccines harder!

[Newfie]

It is only a matter of time, if not Corona something else. Humanity and our associated domestic species are the largest underutilized food source on Earth. Entropy will find a way. And it does not have to infect us directly, it could wipeout one of our domesticated crutches, flora or fauna.

i don’t like the idea but no one asked me for input.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', ' ')"In just five years, the percentage of Republicans with at least some trust in national news organizations has fallen by half – dropping from 70% in 2016 to 35% this year" PEW

[dissident]

https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports

The ICU admissions rate in the UK has crashed even as the case rate has exploded. But the fear porn peddlers were and still are trying to paint Omicron to be just as bad as Delta. Omicron is the best vaccination program bar none.

[Newfie]

Dissident,

The chaps I talk to in Canada claim that their ICU admissions are very high.

Damn hard to get any consistent and reliable data that matches country to country. Maybe there is just too much difference in how the data is collected, which makes any analysis difficult.

[Newfie]

I heard from 2 ER nurses in the past week.

The one in NJ had 2 jabs with little reaction. On the booster she had a very serious allergic reaction. She will not be getting another jab.

The one in NC is quitting her job because of over work and low pay and low respect from the MD’s. She is making a fraction of what other nurses are making in PA. She is quitting nursing to stay home with the kidsand do hubbies book keeping, it is more financially lucrative.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'D')issident,

The chaps I talk to in Canada claim that their ICU admissions are very high.

Damn hard to get any consistent and reliable data that matches country to country. Maybe there is just too much difference in how the data is collected, which makes any analysis difficult.

[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'D')issident,

The chaps I talk to in Canada claim that their ICU admissions are very high.

Damn hard to get any consistent and reliable data that matches country to country. Maybe there is just too much difference in how the data is collected, which makes any analysis difficult.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissident', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'D')issident,

The chaps I talk to in Canada claim that their ICU admissions are very high.

Damn hard to get any consistent and reliable data that matches country to country.

[Newfie]

Yeah. I do believe there is a fair bit of mass hysteria. And then there is China, whose story makes no sense to me what-so-ever. It will take years if ever to sort through this mess and understand all the medical and social impacts.

Bewildering.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'Y')eah. I do believe there is a fair bit of mass hysteria. It will take years if ever to sort through this mess and understand all the medical and social impacts.

Bewildering.

[Newfie]

And here we go again.

So IS had some “leader” who was afraid to come out of his house or even use the internet. He made no appearances and gave no direction. So we milled him, martyred him, and his family, and most likely will be replaced by someone more competent.

[vtsnowedin]

What worries me is the posibilty of China taking the distraction of events in Ukraine to launch a full invasion of Taiwan. If that were to happen and Taiwan's military were defeated we might be forced to end all economic activity with China meaning no sales of food or anything else like coal to them, and no purchase of anything produced by them.
This would leave a lot of Western companies now doing business in China (the list is long) with a lot of stranded assets and cause a lot of pain here in the USA as it will take time to develop alternative supply lines. But in the end it will hurt China far more then it hurts us.
China invading Taiwan is them killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'A')nd here we go again.

So IS had some “leader” who was afraid to come out of his house or even use the internet. He made no appearances and gave no direction. So we killed him, martyred him, and his family, and most likely will be replaced by someone more competent.

[Newfie]

VT,

See below. But mostly you are correct, I am off topic.

Hard for me to see China invading Taiwan, not that it can’t happen. As you point out the US/EU and China are deeply tied economically. That is the good part of globalization, we are all economic Siamese twins.

I still feel China is up to something, but it may be a longer range plan.

ONE of my China Covid theories is that they are doing the severe lock downs to get their folks used to seclusion and privation. Maybe once they have “hardened” their people enough they can then be more aggressive militarily.

Or maybe they are testing their folks to see how much they can get away with if they go to war.

Not predicting, throwing ideas around.

If I were a Chinese long term planner I would look at the West and think “Why start a war when they are fighting among themselves, let it be, we are winning.”

I still feel the bigger problem is between China and India. More natural rivals. China has a relatively narrow window to act against India, to take farm land. Or force advantageous food trade deals.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'V')T,

See below. But mostly you are correct, I am off topic.
......
I still feel China is up to something, but it may be a longer range plan.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') expect in their dreams they will take over Taiwan with little military expense and keep the US and other western countries as markets and suppliers to their economy.
Delusional I believe.