Octopus Overlords

Paingod wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:23 pm I'm intensely curious to see if/how COVID reshapes the political map when so many "Blue" people are working to stay alive while so many "Red" people are fighting to kill themselves.

YellowKing wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:16 am I think a lot of us have grown tired of pulling all the weight in this group project (still the best analogy I've read).

A Texas man who helped organize protests against pandemic restrictions is fighting for his life after being hospitalized for nearly a month with COVID-19, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported.

His wife, Jessica Wallace, wrote Wednesday on Facebook that she had a “heartbreaking update” about her husband, Caleb.

“He’s not doing good. It’s not looking in our favor,” she said. “His lungs are stiff due to the fibrosis. They called and said they’ve run out of options for him and asked if I would consent to a do not resuscitate. And it would be up to us when to stop treatments.”

“My heart just can’t. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Caleb Wallace, a 30-year-old father of three, has been unconscious, ventilated and heavily sedated in the ICU at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo since Aug. 8, the Standard-Times reported. His wife said on a GoFundMe page for household and medical bills that he was was intubated multiple times, had high fevers, infection and bleeding in his chest.

...

When he first felt symptoms on July 26, his wife told the Standard-Times, he refused to get tested or seek medical care. He instead began treating himself with a cocktail of Vitamin C, zinc, aspirin and ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that has been falsely promoted as an effective treatment for COVID-19 by conservative media. He was taken to the hospital on July 30.

Jessica Wallace told the Standard-Times that she was “less conservative” than her husband and personally wears a mask.

“Caleb would tell me, ‘You know masks aren’t going to save you,’ but he understood I wanted to wear them,” she said. “It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I’m either protecting someone or avoiding it myself.”

YellowKing wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:16 amAnd I'm really sad and frustrated to be driven to that point, because it's exactly the mindset the Republican party wants me to be in. I've become what I hate.

malchior wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 1:01 pm

YellowKing wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:16 amAnd I'm really sad and frustrated to be driven to that point, because it's exactly the mindset the Republican party wants me to be in. I've become what I hate.

I think you're onto something here. I've become very, very hard on this subject as I related and was talking to someone about it. They pointed out something that escaped me. We're so starved of any accountability and justice in this country that when faced with people getting laid low it is hard not to feel relief that there might be some "justice" in the universe. And the reason we at this absurd low in this country is because of the GOP which has made it a mission to tear this country apart to loot it.

Alefroth wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 1:40 pm I dread whatever the next pandemic is. All the incalcitrance, paranoia, and selfishness that has built up over the last 18 months will be there on day one next time.

Florida school districts can legally require their students to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a judge ruled Friday, saying Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his authority when he issued an executive order banning such mandates.

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:32 pm If one million people die, we've lost about 1/3 of 1%.

It's a million kids without parents, or parents without kids, or widows, or widowers, but it is irrelevant in the 'grand scheme.' I can promise you that if it looked like the deaths would affect the elections that Republican part would all sound like Smoove.

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:19 pm I'm just waiting for the first prominent right-wing talking head to get Covid sick to the point where he/she changes their tune.

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:26 pm

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:19 pm I'm just waiting for the first prominent right-wing talking head to get Covid sick to the point where he/she changes their tune.

You're going to be waiting a long time. The face of the pandemic has shifted significantly. The people suffering and dying now are typically marginalized. Wealthy white elites (i.e. the prominent right-wing talking heads) have access to care and treatments that 99% of the people in America won't ever see.

It's beyond disgusting what is unfolding.

I mean...we're living in a country where a school district in Wisconsin just opted out of free-school lunches because someone on the BoE indicated they didn't want kids to become "spoiled".

He didn't want hungry kids to get "spoiled" by having reliable access to food. And I'm supposed to have a serious conversation with someone like that about the benefits of vaccination. DIAF is all I can muster.

malchior wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:53 pm Anti-vax protest leader on death bed

A Texas man who helped organize protests against pandemic restrictions is fighting for his life after being hospitalized for nearly a month with COVID-19, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported.

His wife, Jessica Wallace, wrote Wednesday on Facebook that she had a “heartbreaking update” about her husband, Caleb.

“He’s not doing good. It’s not looking in our favor,” she said. “His lungs are stiff due to the fibrosis. They called and said they’ve run out of options for him and asked if I would consent to a do not resuscitate. And it would be up to us when to stop treatments.”

“My heart just can’t. I can’t imagine my life without him.”

Caleb Wallace, a 30-year-old father of three, has been unconscious, ventilated and heavily sedated in the ICU at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo since Aug. 8, the Standard-Times reported. His wife said on a GoFundMe page for household and medical bills that he was was intubated multiple times, had high fevers, infection and bleeding in his chest.

...

When he first felt symptoms on July 26, his wife told the Standard-Times, he refused to get tested or seek medical care. He instead began treating himself with a cocktail of Vitamin C, zinc, aspirin and ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that has been falsely promoted as an effective treatment for COVID-19 by conservative media. He was taken to the hospital on July 30.

Jessica Wallace told the Standard-Times that she was “less conservative” than her husband and personally wears a mask.

“Caleb would tell me, ‘You know masks aren’t going to save you,’ but he understood I wanted to wear them,” she said. “It gives me comfort to know that maybe, just maybe, I’m either protecting someone or avoiding it myself.”

The cult of personal irresponsibility at its best. That said I feel terrible for this poor woman having to deal with the fallout of her husband's choices.

Parents flocked to the meeting to protest against the school district’s proposed COVID-19 testing protocols. There, they spouted disinformation about a chemical used to sterilize most medical devices, including nasal swabs.

Hysteria about the chemical compound used in the tests has blown up in recent weeks as videos falsely claiming that the chemicals will cause cancer went viral on TikTok and Instagram. According to the Sun Sentinel, school board members had to repeatedly mute parents’ microphones or cut them off when they started spreading disinformation, and at least one particularly unruly parent, who called the board members “disgusting,” was escorted away.

...

n Ottawa, Michigan, dozens of anti-maskers showed up to a Board of Commissioners meeting to protest their recent adoption of a mask mandate for the school district. In a video that’s since gone viral, one anti-masker railed against the mandate.

“If you have that diaper on your face,” he shouted, gesturing toward the commissioners, “If he farted, could you smell it? That’s how stupid this is. We’re all playing games here with people's lives, and I'm sick of it.”

Then he continued. “There’s hell coming. There’s hell coming, and I’m not doing it to threaten anybody. But there’s a lot of good guys out there ready to do bad things soon,” he said. “Watch what’s coming.”

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:26 pm

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:19 pm I'm just waiting for the first prominent right-wing talking head to get Covid sick to the point where he/she changes their tune.

You're going to be waiting a long time. The face of the pandemic has shifted significantly. The people suffering and dying now are typically marginalized. Wealthy white elites (i.e. the prominent right-wing talking heads) have access to care and treatments that 99% of the people in America won't ever see.

It's beyond disgusting what is unfolding.

I mean...we're living in a country where a school district in Wisconsin just opted out of free-school lunches because someone on the BoE indicated they didn't want kids to become "spoiled".

He didn't want hungry kids to get "spoiled" by having reliable access to food. And I'm supposed to have a serious conversation with someone like that about the benefits of vaccination. DIAF is all I can muster.

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 4:43 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:26 pm

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:19 pm I'm just waiting for the first prominent right-wing talking head to get Covid sick to the point where he/she changes their tune.

You're going to be waiting a long time. The face of the pandemic has shifted significantly. The people suffering and dying now are typically marginalized. Wealthy white elites (i.e. the prominent right-wing talking heads) have access to care and treatments that 99% of the people in America won't ever see.

It's beyond disgusting what is unfolding.

I mean...we're living in a country where a school district in Wisconsin just opted out of free-school lunches because someone on the BoE indicated they didn't want kids to become "spoiled".

He didn't want hungry kids to get "spoiled" by having reliable access to food. And I'm supposed to have a serious conversation with someone like that about the benefits of vaccination. DIAF is all I can muster.

This I don't get. What's his motivation? I mean, I get GOP politicians passing laws to protect the rich. They get a cut. I get GOP politicians passing laws to restrict voting - they get to stay in power. But this? THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE? What the fuck does he gain by screwing over hungry kids? It's not like the people who vote right are even looking at school lunches!

pr0ner wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:44 pmJFC, Drazzil.

gbasden wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:34 pm

pr0ner wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:44 pmJFC, Drazzil.

I'm not one to throw in with Drazzil often, but I'm getting there on this issue. These fucking morons are undermining vaccination as a whole. They are going to put us in a place where eradicated diseases can gain a foothold again. I want these stories to be broadcast as loudly as possible so that they can be an object lesson to the other mouthbreathers who would rather take animal deworming agents than get a fucking vaccine.

El Guapo wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:39 pm

Smoove_B wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:26 pm

raydude wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:19 pm I'm just waiting for the first prominent right-wing talking head to get Covid sick to the point where he/she changes their tune.

You're going to be waiting a long time. The face of the pandemic has shifted significantly. The people suffering and dying now are typically marginalized. Wealthy white elites (i.e. the prominent right-wing talking heads) have access to care and treatments that 99% of the people in America won't ever see.

It's beyond disgusting what is unfolding.

I mean...we're living in a country where a school district in Wisconsin just opted out of free-school lunches because someone on the BoE indicated they didn't want kids to become "spoiled".

He didn't want hungry kids to get "spoiled" by having reliable access to food. And I'm supposed to have a serious conversation with someone like that about the benefits of vaccination. DIAF is all I can muster.

Also there have been a couple right wing types to encourage vaccination after getting it. But at this point it's beyond the ability of any one figure to limit or control anyway.

Kraken wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:49 pm

gbasden wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:34 pm

pr0ner wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:44 pmJFC, Drazzil.

I'm not one to throw in with Drazzil often, but I'm getting there on this issue. These fucking morons are undermining vaccination as a whole. They are going to put us in a place where eradicated diseases can gain a foothold again. I want these stories to be broadcast as loudly as possible so that they can be an object lesson to the other mouthbreathers who would rather take animal deworming agents than get a fucking vaccine.

I would be fine with overburdened hospitals denying beds to unvaxxed covid sufferers in order to preserve access for those who need intensive care for other afflictions. That probably violates all kinds of medical ethics codes, but when they're down to doing triage, the unvaxxed should be bottom priority.

An unvaccinated elementary school teacher who took off their mask to read to students ended up infecting more than half of them last May -- and they went on to infect other students, family members and community members, California public health officials reported Friday.
It's a prime example of how easy it is to undermine efforts to protect children too young to be vaccinated, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
The teacher came to work even though they had Covid-19 symptoms and then took off their mask to read to the young students, a team at Marin County Public Health reported in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease. The teacher assumed the symptoms indicated allergies, not infection, the investigators found.

In the classroom of 22 students, 12 became infected -- including eight out of 10 students in the two front rows.

Anti-masker Caleb Wallace dies after organizing 'Freedom Defenders' against COVID mandates: report

Smoove_B wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:43 pm Died what he loved doing.

https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/1431749001267879941

Anti-masker Caleb Wallace dies after organizing 'Freedom Defenders' against COVID mandates: report

Kasey Chang wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:13 am The Superintendent of a school district in Georgia decided that he will NOT order a mask mandate. But since 900 out of his 11000 students have tested positive is a bad thing, he'll make the students feel better by letting them wear jeans to school for the next month.

Kraken wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:38 am

Kasey Chang wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 9:13 am The Superintendent of a school district in Georgia decided that he will NOT order a mask mandate. But since 900 out of his 11000 students have tested positive is a bad thing, he'll make the students feel better by letting them wear jeans to school for the next month.

So they were right: the vaccines will alter your jeans.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:33 pm My cousin just got put into medically induced coma.

LordMortis wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 8:04 pm

LordMortis wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:33 pm My cousin just got put into medically induced coma.

He's been pulled from him coma and they are working on weening him off the ventilator, whatever that means. I'm not sure how things progress when you are hospitalized. I can only assume he's "lucky" so far, as vents have seemed like a death sentence everywhere I've read and being induced into a coma seemed like the last stop.

Sixty-nine studies were included, describing 57,420 adult patients with COVID-19 who received IMV [invasive mechanical ventilation]. Overall reported CFR [case fatality rates] was estimated as 45% (95% confidence interval [CI], 39-52%). Fifty-four of 69 studies stated whether hospital outcomes were available but provided a definitive hospital outcome on only 13,120 (22.8%) of the total IMV patient population. Among studies in which age-stratified CFR was available, pooled CFR estimates ranged from 47.9% (95% CI, 46.4-49.4%) in younger patients (age ≤40 yr) to 84.4% (95% CI, 83.3-85.4%) in older patients (age >80 yr).

At protest in Santa Monica today before the vote on mask-mandate, Jason Lefkowitz has the home addresses of each LA City Council member on his sign. He says they are going to the homes of whoever votes for it, and if it passes, it’s “civil war, get your guns.”