Day of Chaos 2: a.Covid-19 thread.

[The Legendary Shark]

Funt:

1: I'll reply in PM.

2: I guess there's the "Truth...?" thread but I feel, and think, posting there would be just as bad as your suggestion. It simply shifts the problem instead of addressing it.

3a: The definition of terms is used in many arguments. It's not a way of imposing a definition by one upon another but of choosing a mutually acceptable definition for the purposes of a specific discussion so that participants don't end up arguing past one another. I make no apologies for requesting or suggesting a definition or context.

3b: I've gone back through my last ten posted links on this thread (going back to October) and found 2 links to the BBC, one each to the Times of Israel, simplepsychology.com, the World Economic Forum, an archive.org copy of a deleted JHU web page, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Wikipedia and one mammoth collection of a couple of dozen official scientific mask studies. I do not see how any of these are "pseudo-scientific drivel links." Nor, I think, is ten links in five months particularly dominating (though it could be argued, at a push, that the mammoth mask studies links post drives the average up considerably if taken individually).

4a: What result do you imagine I'm after? It's an ongoing conversation, a fluid situation with no last word. I think we've disagreed about this kind of thing before - the differences between arguing to advance knowledge and understanding and arguing to win, and all the other reasons. I have no result in mind, no goals beyond (admittedly selfishly) using counter-arguments to test my own beliefs. I would like nothing better than to believe that lockdowns and masks and all that will save civilization, it would be so comforting. I wish you could convince me.

4b: I'll reply in PM.

5: In the absence of any specific guidelines as to how misinformation, disinformation, and information are to be assessed, the idea of a list of Government Approved Facts is as valid as Donald Trump's Book of Wisdom or Tony Blair's Book of Honest to God Truths as the hypothetical basis upon which decisions are made. (I should stop trying to use sarcasm - it never works.)

[Funt Solo]

Shark - to keep it brief, I would suggest we move this side conversation to a different thread. I think it's an edge topic around ideas of free thought and expression, and not really much to do with Covid, when all is said and done. You might disagree, but let's not dominate here with an extended back and forth.

(It probably isn't possible to PM me - I locked some of those functions out months ago because I was being harassed by an ex-boarder through his spy-account.)

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Meanwhile, the BBC has Covid: US on verge of exceeding 500,000 deaths. It notes that deaths due to Covid are at least ten times that of the previous year's flu.

[The Legendary Shark]

Agreed.

[JayzusB.Christ]

My brother in Leicester had his first shot yesterday - he was sick as a pike for the whole day afterwards and probably still is now.  Must be a bit of a relief, though.  He works in a prison and with underprivileged communities, see, and is needed back at work asap. 

While I'm delighted for him, I really wish they'd get their shit together over here - my parents, in their late 70s, still haven't had any news and probably won't for a while yet.

[TordelBack]

While I'm delighted for him, I really wish they'd get their shit together over here - my parents, in their late 70s, still haven't had any news and probably won't for a while yet.

My 93 year old aunt only had her first jab today (thank jovus), so I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Funt Solo]

I hope your folks get their chance soon, JBC. My folks and folks-in-law have all had their first injections (in Glasgow and Washington state, respectively) - and my wife got her first injection rather by happenstance due to the local native reservation having spares that were going to go off if they didn't use them up. They opted to gift them to the local school staff.

Hurt her arm for a few days, quite badly, but no other side effects.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Thanks, Funt.  Glad to hear so many of your family are nearly out of the woods.  Long may it continue.

TB, yeah, I know.  We're going nowhere fast.  Good news about your aunt, though; hope all goes well for her.

[Funt Solo]

The colourful fridges popping up on American streets - helping to tackle food poverty exacerbated due to economic impact of Covid.

[The Legendary Shark]

Alarm bells have been ringing for months that COVID-19 could push fragile African countries "closer to the abyss" of famine as jobs are lost, local markets close, and poverty deepens.

[shaolin_monkey]

A paper on COVID19 transmission amongst children.

Even a quick skim of this shows how foolhardy and irresponsible it is to re-open schools without transmission mitigation measures (masks, ventilation, reduced class sizes etc etc) to prevent transmission to the wider community.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja2.50823

[IndigoPrime]

Mm. The new variant blazed through a junior school class a friend's kid goes to. And the government's latest that it will "hope" secondary schools do the right thing is yet another abdication of responsibility. Mandate masks for the rest of 2021! It's not difficult. But no. So I don't doubt we'll soon have another letter from our school's headteacher, responding to arseholes who've complained over her head about having to wear a mask when picking up their children.

[Tjm86]

My 93 year old aunt only had her first jab today (thank jovus), so I wouldn't hold your breath.

I thought the boxing gym's were still closed ...   

[Funt Solo]

My 93 year old aunt only had her first jab today (thank jovus), so I wouldn't hold your breath.

I thought the boxing gym's were still closed ...   

Reminds me of Bill Hicks bit about opportunities in movies for the terminally ill.

[Dandontdare]

I had my jab on Saturday - I was surprised to be called so early, but apparently the combination of asthma and angina ticked enough boxes to get me in this group, so I'm a happy bunny.

[TordelBack]

My missus came up with a plan for us to stuff our faces until our BMIs get us moved nto a higher-risk cohort. I see no downsides.