Moderators: $iljanus, LawBeefaroni
One of my co-workers is letting his 6 year old decide for himself.Unagi wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:44 am Yeah. I’m pissed. And frustrated.
My daughter’s school district announced they were going optional as a result of the temporary ruling on the mandate in schools.
I want to write the superintendent a scathing email, but I know it’s pointless.
Well, at least it's an apt metaphor for how the US is handling the situation.Archinerd wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:30 am What could go wrong when each individual kid gets to make a "personal" public health decision?
It all feelings based. There is nothing substantive about it. Folks don't like masks or whatever axe they have to grind because they are uncomfortable or minorly inconvenient. Or their political universe was against them to begin with. Perhaps it makes them feel like things aren't "normal". And from that pool of feelings they can find entire social media platforms/communities that'll validate that feeling and harden them against the people who don't feel the same way. And I wish it was only masks. The future feels pretty grim as we watch this get worse and worse.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 12:03 pmBut masks? WTF is your actual objection to wearing a mask? I know we've joked about it, but is handwashing next? Masks FFS!I can't today.
After being denied several million dollars raised on GoFundMe, organizers of a trucker-led protest disrupting life in Canada’s capital have found a new platform: a Christian crowdfunding site where they raised more than $3.5 million in two days to demonstrate against the country’s vaccine mandate.
The new fundraiser hosted by GiveSendGo, which describes itself as the “#1 free Christian crowdfunding site,” reported Sunday that the “Freedom Convoy” campaign had raised several million dollars two days after GoFundMe announced that it was freezing more than $8 million in donations to the cause, a move that led Republican officials in the United States to announce investigations.
The rapid influxes of donations have prompted questions about the origin of the funds and sparked concerns among analysts about the use of the online platforms for financing fringe organizations that could allow the interference of foreign entities.
.Paramedics asked for police escorts over the weekend after at least two ambulances were pelted with rocks and protesters who appeared to be part of the truck convoy yelled racial slurs at one paramedic when he got out to check for damage.
...
In addition to throwing rocks, she said some apparent protesters were belligerent and tried to slow ambulances down.
“For the first couple of days (of the protests), they felt, not that their lives were threatened, but they didn’t feel safe like in a Canada Day situation,” she said.
Once paramedics got a greater police presence around their vehicles and escorts for those on foot, things improved, she said
Yeah, I spoke with my daughter before school. I'm sure kids are going to be asking each other why they are or are not wearing masks... I told her we have three main reasons we are still going with the masks (and she agreed): they are not that big of a burden, they absolutely do help stop the spread of covid, and we do care about other people.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 12:03 pm I totally understand (but don't agree with) people railing against vaccinations, particularly newly developed ones and certainly when kids are involved. But masks? WTF is your actual objection to wearing a mask? I know we've joked about it, but is handwashing next? Masks FFS!
I can't today.
As mentioned last year, I was wearing a KN94 during my treadmill heart stress test. It sucked, but I I had it on the entire time - including the 10 minutes it took for me afterwards to get back to a normal breathing rate.So let me get this straight: The Canadian women's hockey team wore N95 masks while easily beating Russia 6-1 at the Olympics...but some people are so inconvenienced by having to wear a mask that they're holding the city of Ottawa under siege & claiming it's all about "freedom?"
It is pretty mind boggling. And I already got a NYT app alert on my phone about it which read essentially "The NJ Governor, a Democrat, Has Ended the Mask Mandate in His State". So it won't just hurt NJ, it'll also wind up putting pressure on other states, as people will say "See? Even Democrats admit that we don't need a mask mandate."Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 3:04 pm Unofficially if you go on social media for NJ, there are quite a few parents saying this is madness. I don't think it will be as black and white as I originally thought in our Red area. It will, however, require that parents speak out and speak up. Superintendents are about to earn their 185K+ (average) annual salaries, that's for sure. And can't wait to see how bonkers the hundreds NJ BOE meetings will be.
I don't know who has the Governor's ear, but F that person (or group). This is easily one of the worst decisions he could have made.
That's why I think this is coordinated and you're going to see other NE states announcing the same this week. I think they're getting pressure from (D) facing midterms and the 2024 elections - that "holdouts" in charge are making their chances of re-election (local all the way up to federal) more difficult. So take the least evil option and kick it down to locals, and let them fight each other over it so the larger (D) party can maintain political distance.El Guapo wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 3:14 pm It is pretty mind boggling. And I already got a NYT app alert on my phone about it which read essentially "The NJ Governor, a Democrat, Has Ended the Mask Mandate in His State". So it won't just hurt NJ, it'll also wind up putting pressure on other states, as people will say "See? Even Democrats admit that we don't need a mask mandate."
Murphy has spent his whole life serving the oligarch class and getting filthy rich in the process. I am not surprised. He is emblematic of the rot. On top he has been awful at getting anything done. Maybe this will buy him some capital to get any of his failed initiatives to move forward but I doubt it. He is awful.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 3:04 pmI don't know who has the Governor's ear, but F that person (or group). This is easily one of the worst decisions he could have made.
California just announced Feb 15th. People who are vaccinated must still wear a mask. But who is going to check?Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 11:10 amWhat an absolute shitshow.Blackhawk wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 9:56 am Finally, Smoove can breathe a sigh of relief.
N.J. Governor to End School Mask Mandate in Move to ‘Normalcy’
Thankfully the virus also follows a structured timeline, so using a calendar date to remove mask requirements makes total goddamn sense.New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will announce Monday a timeline to end the state's school mask mandate next month, his office told CNN. The policy will allow students and school officials to be unmasked as of March, two years after the pandemic gripped the country and the region.
Murphy first spoke to the New York Times about his planned announcement. The governor and officials are scheduled to hold a 1 p.m. coronavirus briefing Monday.
For reference, only 1 out of 3 kids in NJ (school age) has received at least a single COVID-19 vaccination.
I wrote a...polite email to my local superintendent back in December, urging him to consider a temporary school closure. He never wrote back.Unagi wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 10:44 am I want to write the superintendent a scathing email, but I know it’s pointless.
What I'm hearing is that he did it because the very serious people in the administration and the DNC are pressuring all Dem governors to lift mask restrictions in preparation for the ... mid-terms. I've only heard it from some small fish but I wish I didn't think that was possible.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 4:10 pm Yeah, he's helping me figure out who has been filling his ear by incorrectly characterizing public health's goal as trying to reduce COVID-19 to zero. I am confident if that's what he's been hearing from the "Urgency of Normal" crowd, of course that position seems unreasonable.
Also, trying to normalize 900K+ deaths and ~2500 daily deaths in the U.S. is really something.
To be fair, they weren't laughing at you because you were wearing a mask, they were laughing at you because you didn't wear anything else other than your underwear in your dream.Kraken wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 5:22 pm Last night I dreamed that I walked into the grocery store and was the only person wearing a mask. Half of the people pointed at me and laughed, half started shouting threats, and half turned their backs and shunned me.
Exhibit Bmalchior wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 7:48 pm What I'm hearing is that he did it because the very serious people in the administration and the DNC are pressuring all Dem governors to lift mask restrictions in preparation for the ... mid-terms. I've only heard it from some small fish but I wish I didn't think that was possible.
We’ve made considerable progress against Covid. Infection rates have dramatically dropped and folks across CT have many tools on hand to keep themselves safe. That’s why, as of February 28th, school and childcare mask mandates will be decided by school districts, not the state.
Seventeen Georgia state senators have proposed a new bill aimed at getting rid of all routine childhood vaccination requirements.
The bill was drafted on Jan. 14 and in it, the senators hope to make it illegal to check proof of vaccination. Right now, there are eight vaccines required by the Georgia Department of Health. This includes shots to prevent diseases like measles, mumps and chickenpox.
If you're vaccinated (or unvaccinated purely because of immunocompromised reasons) you get access to hospital care?Kasey Chang wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:27 pm Latest Aussie study shows that antivaxxers value "purity" and "liberty" with low respect for "authority".
Conclusion is we should provide incentives for vaccination rather than punish those who don't.
Locally, some dude was denied heart transplant eligibility because he refuses to get vaccinated. The hospital doesn't want to waste an organ on somebody whose post-surgery immunosuppressants will put him at high risk of dying from covid. He just doesn't believe in vaccines and would literally rather die than take one. Which would be fine with me, but of course he's drawn a group of supporters who are out protesting in front of the hospital every day.raydude wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:37 pmIf you're vaccinated (or unvaccinated purely because of immunocompromised reasons) you get access to hospital care?Kasey Chang wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:27 pm Latest Aussie study shows that antivaxxers value "purity" and "liberty" with low respect for "authority".
Conclusion is we should provide incentives for vaccination rather than punish those who don't.
We will never manage ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION to zero. We have to learn to live with ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION as we move from a pandemic to endemic phase of this social ill.LawBeefaroni wrote:We may or may not get a next "wave" and/or a new varient. To prematurely declare that we are at the end[emic] already and rule out any future mitigation is weakfuckingsauce.
Here's one: "We will never manage CRIME to zero. We have to learn to live with CRIME as we move from a pandemic to endemic phase of this social ill." Replace with whatever you want. It's absurd.
Over 70% of Americans who died with COVID, died on Medicare, and some people want #MedicareForAll ?
It’s interesting that David Leonhardt took a somewhat opposite view on The Daily the other day re vaccine/boosters/masks, offering the perspective that for many Americans, vaccines and boosters are (or should be) a no-brainer, but masks impact them in a real way and present real costs.Smoove_B wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 12:03 pm I totally understand (but don't agree with) people railing against vaccinations, particularly newly developed ones and certainly when kids are involved. But masks? WTF is your actual objection to wearing a mask? I know we've joked about it, but is handwashing next? Masks FFS!
I can't today.
I coach a high school mock trial team. They’re a great group of kids, and they’ve really done well in the past. Last year, our scrappy group of public schoolers went up against the usual elite private schools in our region, and they excelled. They won the regional competition, and then they went on to win the state competition and were sent to Nationals representing Oregon. Of course, they weren’t really “sent” anywhere because everything was remote, but they were psyched nonetheless.Communal risk
If you scroll through social media, you will find no shortage of people proclaiming that mask wearing is easy for them. I don’t doubt it. But it is not so easy for many other people, including young children, people with learning disabilities and people who are hard of hearing.
The poll found that many Democrats, especially younger Democrats, seem to be overstating their personal risk from Covid. In response, some readers argued that exaggerating individual risk is actually a good thing, because it leads to more support for Covid mitigation policies, like mask mandates and limits on public gatherings.
The real problem, according to this view, is that the U.S. has done too little to protect people from Covid; if exaggerating individual risk can reduce Covid’s communal risk, isn’t that a good thing?
There is some logic to this line of thinking, because the U.S. has indeed done too little to battle Covid. But the argument depends on the assumption that almost all Covid restrictions improve public health, and that isn’t necessarily true. Nearly every restriction has both benefits and costs. The question is, when do the benefits outweigh the costs?
With the vaccines and boosters, the answer is clear. The benefits (a huge reduction in the risk of death, hospitalization and other symptoms) vastly outweigh the costs (a day or two of potentially feeling crummy). With many other mitigation strategies, however, the answer is murkier. The disruption and isolation of the past two years have contributed to increases in educational inequality, mental-health problems, blood pressure, drug overdoses, violent crime and other serious ills.
Masks are an intriguing tool because they allow people to be together while also protecting themselves. Yet a growing number of Americans are nonetheless deciding that the costs of masks often fall short of the benefits, especially in schools.
. . .
The bottom line
The evidence suggests that the benefits of mandated school masking are modest and that the costs are meaningful for some children, particularly after two years of pandemic life. This combination suggests that the removal of statewide mandates will probably do more good than harm, given that Covid cases are now plummeting.
But there is an important caveat: If another big Covid wave comes — and it may — the argument for a temporary return of masking will become stronger. When hospitals are overwhelmed, even small differences in caseloads can save lives. Different moments call for different Covid policies.
I'm taking this to mean he's saying "Fuck those fucking takers! No Medicaid for anyone!" Which is really horrendous.Skinypupy wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:48 pm It hurts to be this blindingly stupid, right?
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/sta ... re-edition
Over 70% of Americans who died with COVID, died on Medicare, and some people want #MedicareForAll ?
Amen. I don't think that the end result of that discussion will be 'yeah, it's pretty clearly time to remove masks.' Not while we still have positivity rates where they are. But it's absolutely something that should be discussed.Kurth wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:51 pmI know that relative to death, these are not significant costs. But they are costs. There are costs to wearing masks, and it’s dishonest to make like that’s not the case. Even if you don’t feel those costs personally, a significant number of other people do. I feel like debating whether it’s time to take off masks makes sense. Look at the data, analyze the trends, examine the case studies and examples from other populations. But the debate needs to take as a given that continuing to mandate masks is not a cost-free decision.
#pleasedonthatemesmoove