Steeleballz

Think about that one some more. The answer is right their in your question.

Someone who responds to years old posts made by members who no longer visit the site should probably avoid bringing up the subject of not aging well.

Someone who responds to years old posts made by members who no longer visit the site should probably avoid bringing up the subject of not aging well.

This case has been floating around the news for a while. Apparently a couple had unprotected sex in his 2014 Hyundai. (Classy). He knew he had HPV but said nothing. So logically she submits a claim to Geico. They denied it and sent it to arbitration. The arbitrator found that "the man and woman had sex inside his vehicle that “directly caused, or directly contributed to cause” the HPV infection. The man was found liable for not disclosing his infection status and the woman was awarded $5.2 million for damages and injuries to be paid by GEICO." https://www.kansascity.com/news/article262267902.html
 
 
Geico promptly filed a motion to vacate the judgment and was denied. Court said nope, it was all proper.  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10897967/Woman-claims-got-STD-ex-awarded-5-2-million-insurance-company.html
 
So how in the world does this happen? Apparently Geico had poor wording and IDK forgot to include some key words in their policies in that region like 'auto accident'. But to be fair the company is run by a 5 inch talking lizard so I guess he tried his best? 
 
Very strange case. 

I'm not a big fan of his, but I truly wish that we get an update soon that he is at home and resting. An infection that lands you in the hospital is no laughing matter at all.
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/599010-justice-thomas-misses-oral-argument-due-to-illness

It sure was. It was fun. Much better than the 2 posts a day it has become. 

Val reached out to me today and said to tell yall all high. It's been at least 2 years or more since I heard from her.
 
I told her I would but I didn't think many were left that would remember her, especially since the great purge started. 
 
 
On edit. She said she is not a Nazi lol 

One weird thing with Covid is I haven't seen anyone I know quit smoking yet. Most of the people I know who smoke are coworkers, and they are all on the wrong side of 50. I was sure this would motivate at least one person I know to quit. I guess it must be a hard thing to do.

But I was referring to the statement that Japan's use of ivermectin had brought its numbers down so precipitously. With all due respect, none of what you just said has to do with that point. Do you disagree with the article's point that ivermectin never has been an authorized method of combatting COVID in Japan? 
 
It is, to me, being a jerk if someone asks you to wear a mask to be around them and you refuse. It's not paranoia when (deep breath) the science does support the wearing of masks to combat transmission. I spend most of my days unmasked. We don't wear masks in the office, I don't wear a mask on the street, I don't wear a mask at home, and I rarely visit people who haven't been boosted, let alone had both doses of Pfizer/Moderna. I need to wear a mask to go to the supermarket here, but I rarely shop other places anyway. Unless someone's working in a public-facing job, I'm not sure why they would spend much time wearing one. On an average day, I think I wear mine for 15 minutes, maybe 45 if I go shopping. I wear one wherever required by law and wherever requested. It's a simple courtesy that doesn't affect me in the slightest.
 
I was in Mississippi earlier this month for a funeral, and the funeral home required us all to wear masks. We wore them. I will tell you that crying behind a mask for two hours was not pleasant. But that's what it took to be present and I would never say, "oh, I won't patronize your business" because of that. Would you refuse to make your farewells to a loved one because the funeral home required you to wear a mask for a couple of hours? 
 
How difficult is it to fit an N95? I wore them in the four airports I have been in this month (LAX, SLC, ATL, MEM) because masks are required. Not hard to get a good fit, hardly requires brain surgery. I've switched to KF94s because I prefer loops over the ears, but they're also easy to fit. 
 
When you say no social distancing, will you not respect someone's request that you not get close to them? It's kind of rude to invade someone's personal space. I don't know what there is to gain.
 
I won't even try asking you to get vaccinated because I know there is a small minority of people in this country who never will. You have staked your ground, fine. I stake mine and that is I don't like to be around unvaccinated people unless they have a medical condition that bars them from getting the jab. That's my preference. 
 
No, that has never been true. And that's been debunked a bunch of times. Here's an article from 2018 talking about mRNA vaccines: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.243
 
And here's an article from the Agence France-Presse which specifically talks about the current mRNA vaccines: 
https://factcheck.afp.com/us-doctor-makes-false-claims-video-about-covid-19

Actually, that's not correct. https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-japan-ivermectinandmandate-idUSL1N2TX1GK Japan has never authorized ivermectin as a treatment for COVID.
 
Personally I cannot wait for all of it to end but I don't believe we're there yet. I am living my life responsibly and without fear. I also follow sensible precautions and wear a mask where required or requested (because I'm not a jerk). I have been doing what I've been doing all along -- not freaking out, listening to my doctors and medical professionals who have a background in the relevant scientific areas, adjusting my behavior in line with what's happening in terms of community spread, and understanding that the sooner we all pull together the sooner this will end. I still see too many people dying and getting very, very ill to believe that a week from now poof! it will all be over. I had to go to a funeral just over two weeks ago (death not from COVID) and half the family who intended to attend were diagnosed with COVID just a day or two before we had the viewing and burial. That was very, very hard, for everyone involved. 
 
I share your enthusiasm for the end but I'm being cautious.

Ha. Ha.
 
6 Republicans on the Supremes.  They are out to get orange glow.  

Funny how the only Justice who would have blocked it is married to a person who has ...  problematic ties to the events of January 6th but hey, I guess he's ride or die so there's that. Gotta respect a man who loves his wife.
 
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/19/trump-supreme-court-records-527421
 
Order here: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21182369-order-21a272
 
I have no doubt some interesting tidbits shall reveal themselves in the coming weeks.

May I interject a helpful hint here:
 
Correlation does not equal causation. I remember this distinctly from sixth grade science class. That may have been in the 16th century, but I believe it still holds true.

It's not effective. Nor is snorting Betadine. Nor is another new trend of basically huffing benzyl peroxide and ammonia, but they are doing that too. Can't wait for the brain, liver, and stomach damage which doctors will dutifully have to treat and the person will keep insisting it's all a conspiracy.

You must not know many people.  I know many that have died including the owner of my company. 
 
His grandson who is about 35 or so and the owner was in the hospital for a week. 4 weeks later still has o2 sat problems , weakness etc

What a nice in depth "truthful" analysis. As Tbone said, It's nice to have someone  who posts well thought fact backed analysis (like me), instead of cut and pasting random stuff just to stir the pot.  I catch heat for refusing to embrace one ideology instead of my careful middle of the road non emotional analysis 
 
I at times feel I am the only Middle of the road poster here 
 

I read through the presentation from Steve Kirsch and honestly, there were several things that didn't sit right with me. This is going to be lengthy, but there was a lot there to process, so it's necessary.
 
He cites 3 studies (a term he uses liberally in this presentation) : the Pfizer vaccine 6-month clinical trials, the VAERS data on reports of death prior to the Pfizer vaccination, and a story about 4 people dying in a nursing home in Ontario, Canada after getting covid booster shots. 
 
Let me point out that he marks the Pfizer clinical trials & the nursing home deaths with asterisks, deeming them "not statistically significant" even though he cites all three as evidence for his thesis.
 
He begins by pointing out an isolated statement from a report on the Pfizer clinical study where during Phase 3 (the blinded phase) 15 patients that actually received the vaccine died during the trial phase, compared to 14 patients who were given the placebo. This is where I paused and looked up the study myself to verify this. The context that Kirsch fails to provide is that both the placebo group and the vaccinated group included a number of individuals who were 75+, had pre-existing health conditions, or began the trials with symptomatic COVID-19. It's also important to note that the study only states that these individuals died during the trial period- not that they died due to complications from the vaccine. In fact, it states that none of the deaths during this phase were considered to be vaccine related by investigators. 
 
As for the nursing home report where 4 people allegedly died after receiving a covid-19 booster shot... again, I searched for an outside source for his claim. Despite my efforts, the only thing I could find was a Twitter post with no link to anything, other than the nursing home's official website (like that's supposed to add credibility). The post inferred that the news media is not reporting on it, due to some type of collective agenda.
 
When I attempted to dig deeper for an actual source, the trail led right back to Steve Kirsch's presentation, citing him as the original source. Kirsch left a comment on the post, claiming he got the information from a whistleblower that works at the nursing home who wishes to remain anonymous. That's convenient.
 
As far as the VAERS reports Kirsch cites as his one & only "statistically significant" source, I again looked outside of his presentation for verification. This was the disclaimer I found on VAERS' official website:
 
"VAERS accepts reports of adverse events and reactions that occur following vaccination. Healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers, and the public can submit reports to the system. While very important in monitoring vaccine safety, VAERS reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness. The reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. In large part, reports to VAERS are voluntary, which means they are subject to biases. This creates specific limitations on how the data can be used scientifically. Data from VAERS reports should always be interpreted with these limitations in mind."
 
In his presentation, Kirsch first compiles all deaths reported to VAERS to have occurred some time following a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination. He then multiplies that number by 41, due to what he refers to as the "Under Reporting Factor". His conclusion is that the Pfizer vaccine has caused 99,507 deaths. As to what reputable means he cites for achieving this URF estimate of 41X? He came up with it himself. He cites his own paper for this, which I tried to make sense of, to no avail.
 
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but from what I can tell, the document explains that since the vaccines have been known to cause anaphylaxis reactions in some people, he's justified in taking all instances of reported anaphylaxis reactions (vaccine related or otherwise), attributing them as being caused by the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, and then counting them as deaths in order to come up with a reasonable estimate for how many cases have been under-reported.
 
Here's an excerpt:
 
"The point of this paper is not to find the exact number of deaths, but merely to find the most credible estimate for deaths. We think that anaphylaxis is an excellent proxy for a serious adverse event that, like a death, should always be reported so we think 41X is the most accurate number. Our hypothesis is that this number will be applicable to deaths as well. In order to confirm our hypothesis, we must derive the death count in different ways and see if we come up with the same answer. When used for less serious events, such as a headache, it’s likely that 41X is going to be low since such events are less likely to be reported. So our hypothesis is that 41X is a safe, conservative factor useful for all types of event."
https://www.skirsch.com/covid/Deaths.pdf
 
Yeah, I uh... don't know what he's talking about. Anyways, when I looked at the data from VAERS, it showed that amongst those reported to have died  at some point after the Pfizer vaccination (2,927 is their number), nearly 70% were age 65 and over. Another 10% were of "unknown" age, and the remaining 20% were under 65 (mainly 44-65). I'll refrain from attempting to estimate the likelihood of other potential causes of death within that higher age range, but do with that data as you will. 
 
As for the rest of Kirsch's presentation, it consisted mainly of random Twitter and Facebook comments and other anecdotal testimonials, which I don't take much stock in the veracity of, personally. As a whole, Steve Kirsch's claims lost another notch on the credibility scale every time I looked for an external source for verification.
 
I've heard nothing about him previous to this, but apparently he and his whole family are vaccinated and haven't personally experienced any negative health affects from it. However, he heard bad things about it from friends, and friends of friends, so now he's convinced it's unsafe. Interesting.

Humility and understanding the limits of one's aptitude really don't apply in this forum...but the thought was nice.

My own (limited) experience of dealing with very bright, sometimes iconoclastic people is that when no one is telling them they're as infallible as we all are, they tend to believe their brilliance is portable to any area of knowledge. That isn't to say that people can't be talented in multiple pursuits, of course. Humility and understanding the limits of one's aptitude and intelligence are really underrated virtues these days. 

With 30% of the population still without 1 dose, how can looking at an entire country prove where the spike came from?  
 
As per your Dutch study
 
"Our results indicate that vaccination confers protection against onward transmission from vaccinated index cases, albeit somewhat less for Delta than for Alpha. Vaccine effectiveness against transmission to unvaccinated household contacts is stronger than to vaccinated household contacts, with the latter already largely protected from infection, and especially from severe disease, by their own vaccine-induced immunity, but differences in risk behavior may also play a role. Possible waning of vaccine effectiveness against infection and against onward transmission could result in increases in SARS-CoV-2 circulation among populations with high vaccine coverage. As full vaccination remains highly effective in preventing severe disease, also for Delta, a high vaccination coverage remains the key to control the COVID-19 pandemic [10]."
 

Data without causation is useless. The biggest spike is among unvaccinated kids. Also over 70% of  people required intensive care are unvaccinated.  The Netherlands has a very very low booster rate.
 
If 85% of the population is vaccinated and 70% in intensive care are unvaccinated I would say the shot is helping.  

Well technically you have seen me. My avatar is a favorite from our wedding photos, but you cannot tell much about me from that.
I just booked myself the superboost extravaganza magical pew pew for next week. May the power of Pfizer flow through us all.
 
Aww very sweet! I'm too shy to post closeups I'm afraid.

I just want to say that all your talk of being old farts means I am now getting ads like this: 
 
I also got one that I will not post a pic of that is for a very intimate massage tool for men.  
 
(Note: I am interested in the Net-a-Porter stuff to the right.)

Yes, she does. We all do. We're not morons. However, the risk of contracting COVID after vaccination and transmission of the virus is significantly lower than if a person is unvaccinated. There's some useful data in this article from last month's New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2294250-how-much-less-likely-are-you-to-spread-covid-19-if-youre-vaccinated/
 
We want to mitigate risks and we want her to be able to interact with her grandparents who are fully vaccinated and in their 70s. (My husband cannot stand his ex-in-laws but wants her to be part of that family anyway.) We aren't so worried about having her see my husband's mum, who's still only in her 50s and in great health and vaccinated. So we weigh risks, and so do the awful in-laws. There is no perfect here. That's kind of in the nature of viruses and vaccinations. But there are very good but informed about risks ways of approaching life. We do that all the time in so many other areas of life.  

by the way I wasn't smiling. I was grimacing trying to hold my gut in