GaryPinC

Trump ignored plenty of the science, even mocked some of it. I can personally tell you Ohio followed the science. It appears most of the governors in this country did also. Right from the CDC. If you can rail on Trump but fail to see how the MSM has little to no journalistic integrity on political issues, then you are a larger problem than Trump. Mistrust in our media is shared by middle-of-the-road people such as myself and facilitated widespread acceptance of the alt right media. It's one of our largest challenges as a nation, and crucial for bringing us back together, IMO.

Trump didn't castrate anything. The science was very much a mess when lockdowns were initiated, science takes time and numbers then more time and repeat. He failed badly in setting a cohesive national response encouraging consistent precaution and civic duty. But then you had the left wing and MSM panic-***** every facet of this in a lecturing tone. Equally helpful.

I'm don't know how much, if at all, China fudged their numbers. I believe they did with the Wuhan outbreak. I just feel strongly that they did beat it as it would be impossible to hide at this point. Strict lockdown? Well, studying China's methodology would be valuable. I have no expertise, just some snippets I heard. Isolating infected cities, villages, neighborhoods from travel in or out, aggressive contact tracing and isolation of contacts and Covid positives in large indoor public buildings (arenas, theaters, etc) with medical personnel for observation/medical care. My in-laws weren't allowed to leave their condo and neighborhood area for nearly 1 1/2 months except one person to shop once a day. If someone in your building tested positive, the entire building was restricted to their homes and mandatory Covid testing until all negative. Strict penalties for precaution violations when out of house. Mandated testing by the government if deemed necessary.

Sure, but in a free country I wish we had more wisdom and foresight to recognize a pandemic and step up to do what's needed to eliminate it quickly rather than having it forced. Sadly a communist government was the only one to succeed. Keep in mind this is not over yet. Asymptomatic spread with the wrong mutations can change everything. You take a chance leaving it in circulation hoping natural immunity will prevail. It will in time, but normally very deadly mutations burn themselves out because it can't spread easily when the symptomatic host is quickly dead. But the asymptomatic spread truly worries me.

Well, my wife's Chinese with family still there and the mutual friend who introduced us is back in China also. We talk to both regularly. They have been full normal since April 2020, over the summer my friend said they require masks on public transportation but nowhere else. I haven't yet asked him since then if they require masks at all now. They still have infrequent cases, according to the NY Times tracker. As in, a breakout is 30 to 100 new 24 hr cases for the entire 1.3 billion people. They immediately contact trace and lock that area down. To those who might suggest China is fudging/hiding numbers I would simply say you can't hide a pandemic for long in a nation with that size and population density. Especially with few precautions. They beat it. 2 months of true lockdowns and aggressive contact tracings and they beat it. Compare that to our situation now. Which is preferable? I would argue the 2 months of strict lockdowns with aggressive contact tracings. But many there don't trust Chinese science and haven't gotten their vaccines. They're hoping for the Western vaccines. 😂

Yes, I agree completely. We lost the ability to stop the spread in the first two months on when we had no solid infrastructure or cohesive response to contract trace. For as bad as lockdowns were, we didn't take them far enough, China did though. But, even if the majority of citizens had been receptive to this, I doubt we could have done the rapid contact tracing necessary. Again, many people fantasize that masks and distancing are going to knock this thing out but that's simply fallacy. They do offer good protection though. Even today this virus is still showing in India and Brazil the ability to overwhelm health systems. That's what it all was really about and why the numbers even out over time. You can't ask people to take these precautions forever, it's coming to an end, hopefully enough get vaccinated and natural immunity can control Covid. Vaccination is up to the task if everyone would just get it done. Plus, large vaccination should greatly reduce viral mutation.

Ohio has about 11 million people. Oregon has about 4, and has had some of the strictest quarantine rules, on a level with NY, maybe more (I have a buddy outside of Portland). Their worst outbreak (fall) topped out at 1,500 new cases. Ohio's worst (fall) topped out around 11,000. Oregon had far less cases than the population difference can account for. New cases, hospitalizations and death numbers are only partly affected by precautions. Show me the numbers on compliance, unprecautioned house parties, gatherings, apathy, etc and maybe we could draw some larger conclusions. The efficacy of masks and distancing are readily apparent to those of us who have kids attending schools or work in hospitals. While some people fantasize the precautions can squash this, we would have to replicate what the Chinese enforced. Since we aren't, it's simply about slowing spread. It always has been. Sad that politics hides that reality.

Good article on Pfizer's production process: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Yeah, it's confusing as hell. I think it was introduced and unanimously passed in the Senate and then went to the house where it hasn't been voted on. Your first link states in one spot it died in committee but somewhere else it says in recess so who the hell knows? That's why no journalists are writing about it!😂

It appears to me it hasn't passed or been voted on in the house yet.

There's certainly no easy answers to real time life or death situations. The thing about that Columbus girl I keep wondering is, did they have to pump 4 slugs into her? Couldn't they have tried one or two? I get the situation and support the police decision on the necessity of lethal force in that situation, but was that many shots truly necessary? Maybe with one or two she recovers. George Floyd. He allowed himself to be cuffed. He started freaking out about going in the back of the car, he wasn't directly assaulting or attacking the cops, just resisting their efforts. Not even one of them attempted to de-escalate the situation, back off on forcing Floyd, talk to him, exchange names, humanize the situation and give him the chance to calm down while working through needing to get him in the vehicle. The many good officers we are blessed with understand humanizing and de-escalating the situation then asserting authority, bad cops enjoy blindly forcing the situation under their authority. More thorough training and reassessing police protocols is needed. Then you've got jackass Lebron jumping to conclusions, demanding accountability while displaying zero for his own mistakes. We need our media (right and left) to acknowledge the gravity of the issue and find the integrity to publish all the facts, not just the ones that support a certain narrative. It's a mess and I hope everyone that wants to judge these situations do their very best to discover all the facts out there.

Yep, I've never abandoned my car but my family used to swear by AAA. Waited 2 hours one time, talked to the tow truck driver and he said AAA pays at a discount and often takes a good 90 days to get it so they put AAA calls last on the priority list. The few times I've needed a tow, I come out ahead just paying the guy on the spot instead of yearly AAA. And they get there within 30 minutes!

For the record, immunity and mutation to a less virulent form is the strong working/accepted theory. It started out in the spring of 1918 not being exceptionally lethal but went across the world thanks in large part to troop movements. It picked up it's more lethal mutation in Europe and went back around the world in large part to troops coming back home in the fall of 1918. It exists as a large part of the seasonal flu now for over 100 years. They were able to reconstruct the virus from preserved lung tissue in 1918 and validate it against a 1918-buried Inuit woman's permafrost-preserved lungs around 1998. In reconstructed form, it's 100 times more lethal to mice than seasonal flu. A bit long but easy to read article: https://www.history.com/news/1918-flu-pandemic-never-ended?li_source=LI&li_medium=m2m-rcw-history Detailed CDC article delving more into the sequencing story: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html "What’s even more remarkable about the 1918 flu, say infectious disease experts, is that it never really went away. After infecting an estimated 500 million people worldwide in 1918 and 1919 (a third of the global population), the H1N1 strain that caused the Spanish flu receded into the background and stuck around as the regular seasonal flu." Really interesting that the Spanish flu variant was a combination of avian and human flu that we passed on to pigs in 1918 that adapted then later recombined with avian and human strains to give us the Swine flu in 2009.

Sure, you must continue your valuable work!😉 https://www.amazon.com/3M-142-5303-Facepiece-Disposable-Respirator/dp/B01HMF80O8/ref=asc_df_B01HMF80O8/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309707611836&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13199722352912629504&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015308&hvtargid=pla-569957100225&psc=1 I use something like this, you can find them at Lowe's/HD or a hardware store. Even though bulky and ugly, they work. In your situation this is what I'd do: wear disposable gloves and mask, use a damp wiping cloth and afterwards immediately rinse down/wash the wiping cloth and hands/arms before removing mask. Definitely outdoors/open area (very important) with a fan. If I still had congestion issues, I'd shower off immediately afterwards too. Hopefully that would take care of the congestion. I'd do 6 months of max precautions then forego only the mask and see if my immune system has now desensitized to the mold. I'd minimally continue to do it well-ventilated outdoors with a damp cloth to avoid a recurrence and would probably keep the fan/gloves also. Regarding Covid, last year it quickly showed the ability abroad (and in NYC) to overwhelm health care systems. Our medical professionals had no concrete, proven ways to treat this novel virus. We were absolutely trying to slow down infectivity and unintentionally herd immunity to gain time to enable scientific and medical knowledge, and for successful treatments to become available. For me as a scientist, there are 3 scary things about this virus: 1) It utilizes the ace-2 receptor, which is ubiquitous to all parts of the body including the brain 2) asymptomatic spread 3) The number of bizarre and/or debilitating effects on people of all ages who survive and never appear in the "death" statistics. Simply put, the more Covid circulates, the more it mutates and you risk young people becoming more afflicted or these non-lethal effects amplifying in number and intensity. Might it not happen? Sure, but there is no one who can say how a freely circulating and mutating Covid will change but the warning signs are frightening. It's too bad most just fixate on past statistics.

Surgical and basic cloth masks primarily filter (trap) and slow down what is coming out of your nose and mouth. They offer little to some protection from incoming air (depending on a number of factors), which would be further reduced if you're developing an allergic reaction to the mold. Get a real sealing mask with filters and wipe them down outdoors is an open, well-ventilated area. Use of a fan, also. https://www.amgenbiotechexperience.com/seeing-not-necessarily-believing Despite its official-looking source and format, this article appeared in the journal Medical Hypotheses. This journal’s purpose (according to the publisher) "is to publish interesting theoretical papers.” They go on to say that the journal will “consider radical, speculative and non-mainstream scientific ideas provided they are coherently expressed.” When you search for Medical Hypotheses on the internet, you’ll find that it is not conventionally peer-reviewed (reviewed and fact-checked by a team of experts in the field to avoid publishing misinformation). I think this about covers it, especially if you choose to read the article. Of course the right wing tweetards will pump it as a gospel study.

I love Jerry Hughes but I'd argue he doesn't have very good instincts. So many times I watch him pushing to get to the quarterback and the ball goes right by him (sometimes WITH the quarterback). Passion and commitment can count for something, especially at a less complicated position like DE.

I think Oweh should have stayed in another year, transferred if not satisfied with his development at PSU. With so little on tape I question his motivation for the game as well as his intelligence for the game. He started football his junior year of HS and never blossomed after 3 years (albeit a shortened 3rd). That should be enough time to shine for a passionate, motivated DE, it's not overly-complicated from a schematic viewpoint. Not saying all-world shine, just some consistent "whoa" plays like Allen showed, commensurate with his raw abilities. Meh. I'm sure Bills will kick the tires and figure him out in the interview. 3rd round for me.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/rare-blood-clots-tied-to-j-js-covid-19-shot-are-similar-to-issues-with-astrazenecas-vaccine-fda-official-says-11618350086 Primarily in 18-48 year old women. Rare, but people have died. Made sure my 18 year old daughter got mRNA (Pfizer). Told her to refuse the J&J if offered. At her age and gender, the relative "rarity" of the side effect isn't worth it compared to Covid IMO. Definitely thankful for the mRNA vaccines. Yeah, I don't know how they'll handle these types of situations. My neighbor is in a similar situation. But, I think the greater point of the vaccine requirement is they worry about liability for/from the unvaccinated. While the mRNA vaccines have amazing efficacy it is not 100%. Bills/Erie county want to say they took every reasonable precaution but not get dragged down into excessive logistics (Covid tests, distancing, etc).

I understand you strive to be a pragmatic person but the minute you believe people in power were taking precautions simply to subjugate their citizens, then you are a cynic. Kneel before the science? Cynical. Actually, the biggest problem with Covid was the amount of unknown science fed into precautions to allow the science to catch up to it and until vaccines became available. Frustrated by the variable response between states like New York and states like Florida, Ohio, etc? A large portion of that rests squarely on Trump deferring to the governors rather than some firm federal guidelines. Only affects the weak or co-morbid? My neighbor is late 50's, pilot, outdoorsman, suburban house but also runs his farm in his spare time. Almost lost his life to Covid and was on oxygen for 3 months while his daughter had only mild symptoms. No one would think of him as weak. My nephew, 18, 6'4" soccer player. Skinny, perfectly healthy. Covid in January, mild symptoms. A couple weeks later, his finger tips and nail beds are dark red and purple. Better known as "Covid toes" except in his fingers. Has had to apply topical steroid daily until just recently. What happens if he contracts it again? That's an odd and disconcerting side effect. The cynical cling to the fact that this isn't the bubonic plague and therefore we should just suck it up and "virus gonna virus". The pragmatic realize that most of us luckily only suffer minor effects, but that this thing is Russian roulette and you don't want to take a chance on a bullet. And yes, age and the co-morbid suffer more but between asymptomatic spread and mutations, the best thing is to prevent spread and do everything we can to tamp it down. As the vaccines gain steam, here in Ohio events and concerts are being advertised like crazy and life is going to return to at least mostly normal this summer. And even the most cautious people will rejoice as NO ONE has enjoyed the last year +. Please everyone get your vaccine and help push normal back to stay again.

Good one, but not quite there for me. Twittiots was my number 2. But I have to stick with my number 1 as Tweetarded and Tweetardation are just too useful to ignore.

I hear ya, but let's be real. Not like the NY political BS just suddenly appeared with Covid.

Yes, I call them tweetards. The whole lot of them.

There's no doubt some kids have had a rough time with the lockdowns, especially states that didn't do limited openings last fall. More unfortunate when parents can't recognize the seriousness of the situation in some individuals, especially those that revel in the social structure within the schools. But speaking as a divorced father, kids are resilient. Especially when parents bury their own negativity and put in the extra effort to show their kids a positive new reality to an otherwise bleak event. There's nothing like family. Even when family is forced to change. My 18 year old daughter got her first Pfizer today. She can't believe how many adults are freaking out over the emotional toll on kids. Some of her friends have already gotten the vaccine and she says the lockdowns suck but all the kids she knows her age and younger (in high school) really want to get the vaccine and move forward to end this thing. So nice when politics doesn't kill common sense.

Berenson's pretty good at pandering to right wingers by going to legitimate information sources, picking a minor fact and blowing it out of proportion to spin a new reality while ignoring the more numerous facts that tell a different story. People at both extremes do this, he happens to be the far-right's hero.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/researchers-are-hatching-a-low-cost-coronavirus-vaccine/ar-BB1fjndQ?li=BBnb7Kz Fantastic article on the American scientist who built and continues to build a better Covid vaccine and the side effort in helping third world countries easily produce their own. Just a perfect example of how most of us scientists are wired!