Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer, Study Shows - Bloomberg
Some good news for those who have taken the 2-shot Moderna vaccine.Moderna Creates Twice as Many Antibodies as Pfizer, Study Shows - Bloomberg
https://apple.news/Ajr0IExTFRQ-plhfGnostFA
It appeared that people had more reactions to the Moderna vaccine, so I wanted Pfizer.The number of antibodies isn't the whole story. Your body creates memory T-cells that provide long-term immunity.
From: Albert
7 Ways To Pull Carbon From The Atmosphere
However, all this fuss over CO2 fails to understand the history of CO2 on this planet. If you look at the atmospheric CO2 level over the last 40 million years, you will see that it is nosedive. (https://www.pnas.org/content/99/7/4167 Figure 4.) This is because natural processes sequester CO2. We were actually running out of atmospheric CO2. During the last period of glaciation, the CO2 level dropped almost to the level where all terrestrial plants die. The entire history of the Earth is one of massive CO2 decline.
All this fuss over global warming fails to understand the temperature cycle on planet earth. Every 100,000 years the temperature of the planet quickly shoots up 8 to 15 degrees celsius. Then it remains stable for 10,000 years after which it goes into rapid decline and then we get 80 to 90 thousand years of massive glaciation where half of North America is covered by ice. All of the human civilization arose during the brief 10,000-year warm period that we are currently in. Science has said that no matter what we do, we will be back to an ice age in another 10,000 years. The period from 1500 to 1850 was actually known as "The Little Ice Age." The earth appeared to be cooling until we interfered with all that pesky CO2.
What causes these changes? The Milankovich cycles. The other planets tug on the Earth's orbit and affect its tilt. We are currently halfway between the maximum tilt (which melts ice near the poles) and the minimum tilt. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles)
Sunday, August 29, 2021
COVID
COVID is real. People tend to not take it seriously.
CNN: “There is no room to put these bodies,” Alabama health official says as COVID-19 deaths climb
The rate of Covid-19 deaths has increased in 42 US states in the last week, according to new data, as the spread of the more virulent coronavirus Delta variant has upended a spring of reopenings and led to increasing concern headed into autumn.
Read in CNN: https://apple.news/AWTntWpaaQOGf5U7Ub2n_fQ
Shared from Apple News
N95 masks
If you can smell a fart through your mask, how is it going to stop a microscopic COVID-19 virus? It's not. Your most likely to get covid by touching a covid infected surface and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
US Coronavirus: 'There is no room to put these bodies,' Alabama health official says, as Covid-19 deaths climb - CNN
Antibodies waning? The immune system has a backup plan for that
Afghanistan: British Army surgeon used new parenting skills to comfort baby passed over barbed wire
Friday, August 27, 2021
Reeducation
"Settler" is a disparaging term for white Americans (even later white immigrants are considered settlers, since they eventually assimilated into settler society). Its popularity owes a lot to Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat, a 1983 polemic by the American Maoist J. Sakai. If you "read Settlers," you'll learn that all white people, regardless of their class position, are oppressors and enemies of the "true" proletariat, i.e., black people, indigenous people, and other people of color. In other words, according to this view, the majority of Americans are illegitimate occupiers whose interests, opinions, and preferences can be safely dismissed with a wave of the hand (pending their reeducation).
It's difficult to wrap your head around what any of this might mean in practice. In an influential essay, the academics Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang insist that "decolonization is not a metaphor." It is not a grandiose way of talking about reading more authors of color, for instance. It is a literal demand for the decolonization of the United States, which presumably entails the abolition of all its existing political, cultural, and economic structures.
If decolonization really isn't a metaphor, then you might ask how, exactly, a real-world settler could be talked out of owning a house. But such questions just go to show you're still thinking like a settler. Tuck and Yang finish their essay by advocating for what they call an "ethic of incommensurability," which "stands in contrast to aims of reconciliation." "Reconciliation," they write, "is about rescuing settler normalcy, about rescuing a settler future. Reconciliation is concerned with questions of what will decolonization look like? What will happen after abolition? What will be the consequences of decolonization for the settler? Incommensurability acknowledges that these questions need not, and perhaps cannot, be answered in order for decolonization to exist as a framework."
There is something I deeply admire in this paragraph, something rather wonderful about how smoothly it twists itself out of the way of any incoming questions. The most delightful part is the innocent little "perhaps" hiding in front of "cannot" in the last sentence. As rationalizations go, it's surely one of the more elegant examples you could find. Decolonization and its cousin reeducation are supposed to be opaque, and this is supposed to cause discomfort.
Of course, this vision's combination of vague menace with a total lack of any specifics makes it singularly unappetizing to the average person. But one shouldn't assume that it's intended as a real vision of the future or, indeed, that the Left has any real interest in such a project. Like all dystopian fiction, it is not so much a warning about the future as it is a description of the present, when the vast majority of Americans are already quite "uncomfortable" and subject to constant "reeducation" by their self-styled betters in politics and media.
Words such as "reeducation" and "decolonization," that is, are not descriptions of things that are going to happen but of things happening right now. They drape in romantic and revolutionary garb the dreary reality of human resource struggle sessions, moralizing lectures, and bureaucratic behavioral nudges. "Reeducation" is particularly versatile, as it conjures images of Gulags but can also describe something as innocent as a simple conversation. One can deploy the former meaning as a chest-thumping snarl — "Even some leftists are going to find themselves up against the wall when the reeducation comes" — and then, when the objects of your threats are uncooperative, pretend to be wounded that they don't even want to have a discussion.
This is the real "ethic of incommensurability." Discomfort is at once the mark of guilt and the desired outcome of every behavioral intervention. Our rhetoric and actions are intended to make you uncomfortable, and the fact that they actually make you uncomfortable is proof that you are a deserving target of our aggression. Translated into art, it's like a rather good M.C. Escher drawing. But in the interpersonal realm, it's the hallmark of an abusive relationship.
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Comedy Cancel culture
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Report: CDC Downplayed Scientific Finding that Masks are Not Effective in Schools
Monday, August 23, 2021
What immunity did having COVID give me? Do I need a vaccine? - WHYY
Sunday, August 22, 2021
re: Peak COVID cases
I keep hearing more and more reports of people transmitting the disease unaware that they are infected by COVID. This worries me a lot. I enjoy playing chess, but not at the expense of getting sick while doing so.
From: John
Saturday, August 21, 2021
An evidence review of face masks against COVID-19 | PNAS
Our review of the literature offers evidence in favor of widespread mask use as source control to reduce community transmission: Nonmedical masks use materials that obstruct particles of the necessary size; people are most infectious in the initial period postinfection, where it is common to have few or no symptoms (45, 46, 141); nonmedical masks have been effective in reducing transmission of respiratory viruses; and places and time periods where mask usage is required or widespread have shown substantially lower community transmission.
The available evidence suggests that near-universal adoption of nonmedical masks when out in public, in combination with complementary public health measures, could successfully reduce ReRe to below 1, thereby reducing community spread if such measures are sustained. Economic analysis suggests that mask wearing mandates could add 1 trillion dollars to the US GDP (32, 34).
Models suggest that public mask wearing is most effective at reducing spread of the virus when compliance is high (39). We recommend that mask use requirements are implemented by governments, or, when governments do not, by organizations that provide public-facing services. Such mandates must be accompanied by measures to ensure access to masks
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118
During past national crises, persons in the US have willingly united and endured temporary sacrifices for the common good. Recovery of the nation from the COVID-19 pandemic requires the combined efforts of families, friends, and neighbors working together in unified public health action. When masks are worn and combined with other recommended mitigation measures, they protect not only the wearer but also the greater community. Recommendations for masks will likely change as more is learned about various mask types and as the pandemic evolves. With the emergence of more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants, it is even more important to adopt widespread mask wearing as well as to redouble efforts with use of all other nonpharmaceutical prevention measures until effective levels of vaccination are achieved nationally.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2776536
Peak COVID cases
It's just a matter of perspective. If you've been following the fall of Afghanistan, you may have noticed, no one in that country seems to be worried much about COVID-19 nor its variants. No one in Afghanistan seems to be wearing masks. Just saying. The C-17 cargo jet had 600+ Unmasked passengers. There wasn't a single mention about mask mandates, vaccination requirements, social distancing, etc. Oh, wait a minute maybe I'm confusing this with Obama's 60th birthday party at Martha's Vineyard. He had 600+ unmasked guest, no social distancing, unvaccinated, etc. What about the plane load of Texas Democrats who went to Washington DC ? - the same: unvaccinated, no social distancing, a COVID-19 spreader event, etc. Nearly, a million illegal immigrants from our southern border, unvaccinated, untested, unmasked, no social distancing, transported throughout our country by our government, etc.I'm sure the government appreciates you and I taking COVID-19 seriously. However, it's easy to see why people don't take the government seriously. Rules for thee, but not for me. The government's shotgun approach to requiring vaccines isn't going over very well the anti-vaxers.I'm in no hurry to get the booster. While other people are fearfully waiting to get access to the COVID booster shot. I'll just wait a few weeks and let the anxious ones get their booster and observe. If there are no apparent side effects and it proves useful in slowing the spread of COVID-19, I'll take the booster.
From: John
To: Albert
John Coffey
Friday, August 20, 2021
Hospitals pen letter to unvaccinated Tennesseans
Our clinical leaders strongly support the vaccine. They have studied the science behind it, and it is safe and effective. The likelihood of getting seriously ill, becoming hospitalized or even dying as a result of COVID-19 is greatly diminished if you are fully vaccinated.
Peak COVID cases
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
Rate of death
Heart disease | 1 in 6 |
Cancer | 1 in 7 |
All preventable causes of death | 1 in 24 |
Chronic lower respiratory disease | 1 in 27 |
Suicide | 1 in 88 |
Opioid overdose | 1 in 92 |
Fall | 1 in 106 |
Motor-vehicle crash | 1 in 107 |
Gun assault | 1 in 289 |
COVID Pedestrian incident | 1 in 520 1 in 543 |
Motorcyclist | 1 in 899 |
Drowning | 1 in 1,128 |
Fire or smoke | 1 in 1,547 |
Choking on food | 1 in 2,535 |
Bicyclist | 1 in 3,825 |
Sunstroke | 1 in 8,248 |
Accidental gun discharge | 1 in 8,571 |
Electrocution, radiation, extreme temperatures, and pressure | 1 in 13,394 |
Sharp objects | 1 in 29,334 |
Cataclysmic storm | 1 in 58,669 |
Hornet, wasp, and bee stings | 1 in 59,507 |
Hot surfaces and substances | 1 in 63,113 |
Dog attack | 1 in 86,781 |
Lightning COVID Vaccine | 1 in 138,849 1 in 62,400,000 |
MAWA
Monday, August 16, 2021
Fwd: Booster shots
Most of the people I've spoken with have shown little interest in taking a booster. In their minds, the benefit of getting a booster is: you still wear a mask, you social distance, and you still get sick. So there are no benefits? What the heck!?
From: John
To: Albert
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Delta variant: Pfizer Covid vaccine 39% effective in Israel, prevents severe illness
That Time a Science Fiction Writer Accidentally Almost Revealed the Manhattan project.
Fwd: COVID-19 argument
Jess,
I mean no offense, but I think that everything that you have assumed about this issue is wrong. You have it all backward. You way overestimate the danger of the vaccine, which is essentially harmless, and you way underestimate the danger of the virus. You assume that your immune system will protect you.
The real choice is to get the vaccine or get the disease. The Delta variant has an R factor of 8 to 9. Among the unvaccinated, it is spreading like wildfire.
I have a close friend in Farmington who is anti-vax, and he said that he would rather get the disease than take a chance with the vaccine. Well, he and his wife have had the Delta variant for 4 weeks and they have found it completely debilitating. He is sleeping 15 hours a day and his wife is worse. He doesn't respond to emails, phone calls, and texts because he feels so bad.
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Determining truth
People, in general, have a defect in their logical thinking called Confirmation Bias. If something fits with what a person already believes or wants to believe, then that person will take this new information as gospel. For this reason, you can't really determine the truth unless you are willing to question everything you know.
To determine if something is true, it must also be falsifiable, which is a fancy way of saying that it must be testable. For example, I could say that there is a parallel dimension where Leprechauns exist, but if we have no way of detecting this dimension then we have no way of determining if it is true. I could speculate all day about Leprechauns, but it would be meaningless.
I would have thought that a worldwide deadly pandemic would have brought us all together and unified our thinking somewhat. Actually, the reverse has happened and we have never been more splintered. In response to a youtube video emphasizing the need to vaccinate, the vast majority of comments in the comment section were anti-vaccine. The comment ranked most popular, claimed that a rare blood clot that happens in one out of million vaccinations proves that the vaccine is unsafe. The dumbest comment I saw claimed that the vaccine causes the disease.
Another almost universal human defect is that people overestimate their own competency. People who know very little about biology, or virology, think that they are experts on the subject.
Friends have sent me incredibly wild claims about COVID-19 vaccinations. There are no microchips. It is not going to permanently rewrite your DNA. It is not going to damage your organs. It is not going to cause infertility or miscarriages. You can't pass the spike proteins to other people. It is not the Mark of the Beast. Every single anti-vax claim that has ever been made, including the ones about the COVID-19 vaccines, has been disproven.
These vaccines are no longer experimental. They passed all three phase trials, and hundreds of millions of doses later we have a pretty good safety record.
The bottom line is that there is a minuscule risk with any vaccine. Your risk of catching COVID and having serious illness or death is far greater. The COVID-19 vaccines are incredibly successful at lowering the risk of illness, and are almost 100% effective at preventing death from COVID.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Friday, August 13, 2021
CNN: 'Screw your freedom': Schwarzenegger
Read in CNN: https://apple.news/Awv-lFYwqR7WoEtib0F4y3A
Longer version:
Danish WHO chief says Wuhan lab employee may be patient zero
Thursday, August 12, 2021
The Genesis of the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic
AMA, JAHA, JAMA, et all go CRT
Placebo instead of Vaccine
"I am totally shocked by this episode," Sven Ambrosy, a local councilor, said of the alarming switcheroo, which reportedly occurred in March and April in Friesland in northern Germany.
It's unknown why the shot-blocker — reportedly a Red Cross nurse — had injected people with blanks; however, she had reportedly broadcast anti-vax views on social media, investigators reported.
And while the faux jab was harmless, it may have disproportionately affected elderly people, who are at a greater risk of contracting the virus.
Anti-vax nurse gave 8,600 people saline, not COVID vaccine: police (nypost.com)
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
MIC: These are the wildest vaccine conspiracy theories, debunked
Read in Mic: https://apple.news/AToXrZlHtSJyt6hT55qaWNg
Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Free Cuba!
COVID-19
Embarrassed! Hundreds Show Up In Support Of Star Wars Shop Owner & Hilariously Dwarfs Protestors
This store owner had a sign that read, "If you are born with a dick, you are not a chick."
I couldn't agree more, but I probably would not mix politics with business.
If men want to pretend that they are women, it is a free country, but that doesn't mean that they are allowed to make other people feel uncomfortable or threatened. There was an incident where a naked man was in a female locker room in California along with women and girls.