phoenixvoice
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@ Zerosum – “The social/economic systems have worked for all of us here.”
After a fashion…
They have not worked much at all in the way that I was led in my youth to believe that they would function. I have a somewhat adversarial relationship with these systems. To survive and provide for myself and my children I essentially hack these systems. I’ve become somewhat adept at this hacking. Totally “above board,” but I have abandoned many of the “social consensus” guiding principles of these systems and had to find alternate guiding principles that function effectively.@ madamski
“The old me dealt, occasionally, with such things via intimate private conversations where I explained that if I were reported for threatening to shave off someone’s nipples with a jigsaw, I would most likely be released from prison and would then find that person and complete the job. Generally with a foretaste of the horrors awaiting them. It surprises people to suddenly find themselves under their desk with a foot on their mouth.”
Damn…the “old you” sounds like my 13 year old daughter. (And I mean no disrespect…this particular personality quirk of my daughter is a part of her innate strength. However, I sometimes wonder where it will lead her! If she eventually passes to someplace akin to where you are now, I will be pleased…except I suspect by then I will be no more than a thought on a butterfly’s wing.)
Because it is a *Covid vaccine religion* there is no need to point out that there is no scientific basis for excluding the unvaccinated from outdoor social gatherings…or that 80% have partial immunity pre vaccination/pre infection…or that asymptomatic folks (some probably false positives) are highly unlikely to spread Covid indoors with poor ventilation. No need to point out that the vaccinated can still contract the disease (especially variations) and spread it to others.
For equity, all we need to do is have gatherings out of doors or in well-ventilated spaces. (Mostly impossible in Phoenix, AZ in the summer…..). And most folks who feel ill and have symptoms of a transmissible disease are going to stay home from social gatherings anyhow. (Which is not always the case for work or school.)
But most religions are not interested in equity.
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@ Dr D
Regarding government transfer payments, NO, they do not automatically result in folks refusing to work. That is a gross oversimplification. Your beliefs rely on faulty data.My children and I have had SNAP and Medicaid for nearly 9 years. I have worked gainfully during this entire time and actually have tripled my income (I work more hours) in 9 years. How did this happen? When we were still married, the kids’ father became an alcoholic, lost his job due to alcoholism, and came down with a mysterious illness — this basically occurred over the course of 1 year. I “stood by” him nearly two years, while the illness was cured, he left off booze for a while, and didn’t bother working much for pay. When the boozing returned, and he attempted suicide in front of me, I kicked him out. Due to all that happened I have PTSD. The kids father finally became employed after I kicked him out, but because he knew that child support would be expected, he found work as a mis-classified independent contractor with a small business willing to compensate him in cash, rather than via check or direct deposit. This has enabled him to lie about his income (he eventually became completely “unbanked.”). The commissioner in charge of child support hearings was lazy and didn’t bother looking at all the evidence (banking records, recordings of hearings that proved perjury, etc.) and set his income at 1/3 of what I had hard evidence of — so I get $40/month in child support even tho my income is no more than 1/4 of what he makes.).
Because of Medicaid I was able to get treatment via psychotherapy for the PTSD. Because of Medicaid the children have had consistent dental care, eye exams, medical and behavioral health treatment when they need it. I have a child on a prescribed diet, mandated by a pediatric endocrinologist…because of SNAP I am able to comply with this diet. My daughter has been skirting the edges of anorexia for years…because of SNAP I am able to feed her whatever she will eat. (Having a father like theirs leads to all sorts of funky behaviors…but since the courts in AZ love joint legal decision making, love giving parents “second chances,” I can’t get them into behavioral health services without his full agreement.)
BECAUSE of “government transfers” I have had the mental and emotional space to stabilize my life, maintain the basics and stability for my children, and as a result my income is rising. I could not have done this without help. Seven years ago when I kicked out my ex I had been through the wringer for years and I was on the verge of falling apart.
So THINK before you assert that recipients of government transfers are all sitting back, enjoying the good life, not bothering to work.
(Now, if you want to propose that the *federal government* should not be the source of these helps because it gives the federal government way too much power and control — I will agree. The actions of my ex should not consign myself and my children to perpetual poverty. We need to have our societies structured in a way that we lend support to those who need it. I have needed “scaffolding” to be able to get back to full functioning. I continue to need some, although as I continue to heal I will gradually leave that scaffolding behind. Personally, I believe such scaffolding should primarily fall upon the local community, rather than the federal government…but that is not how the current structure works. And the level of human suffering that would exist without scaffolding for the vulnerable is immense.)
@ mr house
“Grieving the end of progress”
Thank you for this.
It helps me to understand why I feel so distanced from my “progressive” friends, why their causes don’t fit as my causes…after the craziness in my own life the past 10 years, and efforts to heal from the trauma, I have found that acceptance, looking at what is, and a willingness to “pick up the pieces” and make lemonade from lemons is my strategy. The “wokester” strategies seem pointless and, quite frankly, a waste of my time and energy. Actually getting the dreaded Covid only contributed to this outlook — I didn’t want to be invaded by that damned, human-created virus, but I was, by family I love and trust, and…time to make lemonade.
So…I can understand and empathize with those who are in a different grief phase than the one I inhabit…but my energies I will put into acceptance strategies, as that is what builds meaning for me.
My 13 year is attending school right now. All must wear masks. She saw an unmasked student yesterday. She told me later that when she saw this student’s nose and mouth she felt “grossed out” by seeing this part of the student’s face.
We don’t understand what this masking is doing psychologically.
Best points IMO:
“For example, if the average American knew that almost half of the deaths in America with COVID occurred in nursing homes where less than one percent of Americans live, we would have never ever gone along with this level of subjugation,” Deace told host Jan Jekielek. “These are the sorts of data points that have been kept from the American people, so they have not been given the right to informed consent.”Deace moved on to cite a variety of “counter experts” from prestigious institutions such as Stanford and Oxford Universities, who “got kicked to the curb” because of their skepticism of one particular COVID-19 model used to justify lockdowns that severely affected people’s lives.
“We were told to trust the experts,” he said. “Why weren’t we permitted to get second opinions from counter experts, before we decided to risk a huge drop in cancer screenings, 40 million unemployed, 20 percent of American small businesses that are never going to return, on average, across the country?”
Deace then highlighted an apparent lack of controlled scientific studies proving the effectiveness of masks. He noted that while no domestic studies used a random controlled sample of unmasked people, a Danish study did and found that wearing a mask doesn’t significantly reduce one’s chances of contracting the virus.
Enjoyed the eggplant life cycle…but they missed a step. Eggplant seeds won’t germinate when simply excised from the fruit that way. They have to be fermented for a few days in order to germinate.
Mister Roboto
Participant
“Confederate flag-wavers can be right about things every once in a while just like purple-haired hyper-wokesters can be right about things every once in a while.“Liked
@ Dr D
Enjoyed your expansion on my brief comments yesterday. Much truth there. I didn’t have time to elaborate. Thought about Iroquois influence.
.” The freest states are safest, the lockdown states are worst.“
I’ve been observing this. Other than folks wearing masks in public and places such as retirement communities/care homes having draconian rules, life in Arizona hasn’t changed all that much. I have friends/family in states with stringent lockdowns…there seems to be a pervasive paranoia in lockdown states.
I’m hoping the schools will relax masking rules soon — at the very least, when people are outside. The state has dropped its rules regarding masking for the schools, it is now up to the schools/school districts to form their own policies.
Re: Rick Santorum vid
Might be time to go review high school European and US history before making assertions that US founding documents were based on Judeochristian principles.
Those documents where based rather on principles of the enlightenment. Much of the enlightenment came about because of the influx of Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and writers…most of those were decidedly neither Jewish nor Christian.
The founding fathers of US were mostly Deists, which is a hop, skip, and a jump away from being atheists….
And thus the lies are spread and believed…bleh.
Glass is easy to reuse. And, it is dishwasher safe. When properly closed, it protects food from rodents, insects, and moisture. With some care it can be used in the freezer. Mason jars can be used to store perishable food for years. But then, I reuse most of the glass bottles that food I purchase comes in. I recognize that my habit of doing this is unusual. But it seems so pointless to go out and purchase new containers to put things in when so much of the food I buy comes in serviceable glass containers. The only downside to glass is that it breaks easily when falling from a height onto my tile floor. (But…there are more jars where that broken one came from, so no need to get upset about it.)
“…unproven treatments like Hydroxychloroquine.”
Well, technically neither the Covid vaccines nor HCQ have received FDA “approval” to prevent and/or lessen Covid symptoms. At least HCQ has received FDA approval for other purposes and we know what the long term side effects are.
Interesting perspective:
— So on a mind control level, a new concept would have to be introduced. It was, “morality above freedom”However, the idea of “morality above freedom” is hardly new. The Puritans at Plymouth Rock were quite familiar with the concept. I was raised in mainstream Mormonism…a religion which got its footing in the 1830s. It is sometimes seen as a very “American” religion. As a child I was taught that God had granted us all free will, but if we violated God’s moral code (as outlined by the religions leaders of the Mormon church) and did not sufficiently repent (repentance for major sins intermediated by those same religious leaders) that we would not be able to live with our families in the afterlife. (Ouch! Have been watching The 100 recently. The nefarious AI would get people to submit by causing pain/threat of death to loved ones.)
I propose that if we are going to pit freedom vs. morality-defined-by-authority that both sides of the coin have been in this country since it was colonized by religious zealots in the 1600s. It ain’t new. Perhaps it is “newer” that the politico-economic Titans are the ones pulling the strings, rather than dominant religious leaders?
And, technically, there is a benign side to this. Humans have empathy. Our minds are wired so that when we see suffering in others who are deemed similar to ourselves that we feel some measure of their suffering. This can be seen as the biological underpinning of morality. There is nothing wrong with choosing to curb one’s own desire if the expression of that desire causes distress to another. The freedom is in the choice one has to act or refrain from acting.
Of course, when an authority dictates to us what our actions should be, creating a “meta-morality” this subverts our freedom — we lose the ability to choose.
(However…it is not necessarily malign for an authority to dictate morality…parents need to do this for their young children, as their minds are not developed sufficiently to do it on their own. The difference is in the relationship — emotionally healthy parents are strongly invested in the well-being of their children, and in close communication with them. This helps parents to navigate minding their children. I do not propose that this is foolproof — it is not — but it does work much of the time. However, in the case of adults…an authority dictating to them a moral code is anathema to freedom, it is treating adults like children.)
I am confused about how anyone could consider the state of Arizona “in lockdown over the winter.” Over the winter the state allowed localities to have rules about masking. The state mandated schools use masks, and recommended remote learning for much of the winter. In the summer there were strict rules about number of people in stores and such, but the rules had been relaxed during the winter, as compared to the summer — and the government imposed rules regarding masking and number of people in stores are gone now. (I believe there are still rules for care homes for the elderly and vulnerable.) There have been a few minor rules…the local libraries are still curbside and online service only…that was a local, city decision. What lockdown during the winter?
And if the graph is wrong about Arizona, how many other states is it wrong about?
A friend recently suggested that I should get vaccinated to “help herd immunity” and for “increased protection” against Covid.
I patiently replied that as a Covid survivor I already AM contributing to herd immunity, and there is no data nor studies performed to suggest that vaccination can improve upon my current immunity. He also explained that if I just get vaccinated, then I will avoid the social displeasure that I am currently experiencing. *sigh*. He is my friend, and I value his insight in other areas, but he…just…doesn’t…get…it.I am invited to teach a music class at the retirement community in the fall…but if I am unvaccinated it must be online, not in person. Found this out from a different friend. She assured me of her affection, even if I don’t get vaccinated. This will make the class inaccessible to easily half or more of the residents who are not familiar enough with technology to join a Zoom meeting.
The groupthink among folks that I otherwise generally enjoy and respect is mind boggling. (They are intelligent in many other areas.). I went to a rehearsal at the retirement community yesterday. There were two passersby who sat in the audience area and watched. It was outside. I wore the damn face-diaper (as the only unvaccinated person present). At a brief pause in the singing (I was the lead singer) my friend suggested I remove my mask. “I don’t want any more nasty emails,” I explained. (It is more nuanced than that…I derive a sizable chunk of (non-musical performance) income from this place and a few residents there…I cannot afford jeopardizing that.). He responded that they are allowed to have up to 5 people in their apartments that are unmasked, I was his guest and this was rehearsal. Nice to have the clarification. Off goes the mask.
On the electronic marquee outside of the retirement community it states : “We stand with all who want equality and justice.” I know that they truly believe that they do this….but…no…they…do…not.
I generally like standing up against injustice…but I cannot jeopardize my income and I choose not to jeopardize the only performance venue currently available. Oh, how it galls me.
@Dr D
“ stall and claim to be completely cooperative. It’s irresponsible to do it before all elderly have one.”
Thanks for that bit…I will need to brainstorm along those lines.
I am very concerned that I will be forced to vaccinate my three teens with an mRNA vaccine before there is more than 6 months data available on the long term effects. If their father insists and it is FDA approved for their ages…I have no legal grounds to fight it. If I fight it, I will lose, and I risk losing custody…and I don’t have the money for another legal battle.
From Craig Murray
“ The idea of people without Covid-19 antibodies being treated as second class citizens should be anathema to anybody with concern for human liberty. ”
It’s worse than that. The bar IS NOT whether a person HAS antibodies/immunity against Covid, it is whether or not the person has been vaccinated. It seems so many people have completely *forgotten* that vaccines are not the only way to develop antibodies/immunity.
I got sick, cleared the damn virus, have PCR proof of both states, AND get treated like a second class citizen.
Thanks to Doc Robinson for responding to my question yesterday regarding long Covid.
The most interesting observation thus far from looking through the materials provided is how easy it is to transmute a cough still lingering after 3 weeks into scary-sounding long Covid. I can’t count the number of times over the years (especially during periods of high stress) that I had a bad cold/flu and then found myself with a lingering cough for weeks and weeks, often exacerbated by seasonal allergies. Enough people have long Covid that I do not doubt that it is real. And I have no doubt that studies are being presented in the MSM such a way to make it seem that the problem is much more prevalent than it is in actuality. And ivermectin will be hidden as a treatment for as long as possible.
Which makes me think about the culture that Covid wave in the UK, with so many folks AZ vaccine recipients sick….at what point will doctors turn to ivermectin, etc.? At what point will the knowledge that we have viable treatments spread? How many will be allowed to die so that pharma gets profits, political power continues to consolidate, and medical vaccine experiments occur on the fearful and naive?
A question for this group of critical thinkers:
What are the *legitimate* rates of “long Covid” in various age cohorts?
I met via Zoom with a social group from my church yesterday. I asked the question, “Why vaccinate children against Covid, when we know that the case fatality rate for children is very low?”
The answer came from the only other person in the group with kids under age 18: because about 30% of those infected with Covid have long-term symptoms.
This response defied my personal experience. 10 individuals from my household, my parents, and my siblings’ households have had Covid. None of us had any symptoms beyond 10 days. Granted, that sample size is pretty small — but 30% is very large. It is odd that with “30%” zero out of 10 would have no long-term symptoms.
So I looked it up.
https://www.livescience.com/long-covid-19-most-common-symptoms.htmlAnd this article (https://theconversation.com/long-covid-in-children-what-parents-and-teachers-need-to-know-156185) is geared to educate parents about long Covid, and urge them not to push their long-Covid suffering children to do too much. The article states that this recent Italian paper, not yet peer reviewed (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.23.21250375v1): “ suggests that more than half of children with COVID-19 have at least one persisting symptom over 17 weeks after being diagnosed. Among them, 43% reported being impaired by their symptoms during daily activities.”
It is being suggested that HALF of all children who contract Covid — including those with no or minimal symptoms — may end up with long term problems, possibly neurological problems.
I suspect this is scare-mongering designed to push parents into injecting their children with an experimental vaccine. I would *really appreciate* any information the TAE hive mind has regarding prevalence of “long Covid,” especially in children, and treatments for long Covid. I do remember one American doctor experiencing success treating long Covid with ivermectin.
And, if “Covid-19” infection is essentially a disease whereby a virus exploits nutritional deficiencies of the body to cause severe disease (https://www.primarydoctor.org/covid-19-is-a-lack-of-nutrients ), it is dystopic to suppose that information about adequate nutrition for children is being withheld from parents while they are being herded through scare-mongering tactics to beg vaccines for their children.
Um…so on the nudist beaches clothes are not required, but masks are? What a bizarre world we live in.
At least they aren’t saying that the unvaccinated are required to be masked and the vaccinated can be maskless.
Discrimination for the unvaccinated has begun.
A couple of months ago, SB 1648 was introduced to the AZ Senate in order to make it illegal in most situations to discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. I hope it passes: it is needed.
This past Saturday I received a text message around 11 am from a friend who lives at a local retirement community, letting me know that the rules had just relaxed, off-campus musicians were invited to perform at the retirement community, “masks required,” and would I come to perform at 1 pm? My plans had fallen through that day, so I thought, sure, I’ll come. I decided that one of my “Covid Survivor” T’s was great attire for the performance — the first one with outside musicians in a year. I arrived expecting to wear my mask for the performance, filled out a form, had my temperature taken, and proceded to the entertainment location. It was *outdoors*, performers were spaced *at least 6 feet from one another*, and the *audience was spaced even more than 6 feet from the performers*. None of the other performers were masked — only me. Another of the invited performers, noting my mask, let me know quietly that “performers don’t need to wear masks.” So I removed my mask. (It’s a pain to sing in a mask…when one takes in a deep breath the mask tends to enter the mouth, and doesn’t immediately leave when one starts to sing. Bleh.) After the end of the performance, the friend who had invited me explained that I was supposed to be masked, because vaccinated folks were not required to be masked, but unvaccinated folks are required to be masked.
Whatever — I didn’t know. A peccadillo, I thought, since we were all *outdoors* and *properly spaced.*
The event was filmed, and the video put on YouTube. The next day I, and the other performers, along with a couple staffmembers of the retirement community received an email with a link to the video, along with the caption stating that “one of the performers” had flagrantly violated the rules, performed unmasked and unvaccinated, withheld information about vaccination status from the community, and was an “anti-vaxer.” I had an uneasy suspicion that this was referencing me — but I didn’t know for certain. The next day I met with my friend from the community to jam together — and found out that I was the source of the comment. My “peccadillo” had inadvertently caused me to step on an ant-hill — and now I was being publicly slandered in a closed community where I have several computer business clients, where I have a history of performing musically, and where I am currently teaching several classes (online.)
I have responded to the group email with the video to set the record straight — I was not fully informed before the performance of the particulars of the rule, and I’m certainly not an “anti-vaxer.” I was the youngest person there, and even the vaccine had only been available to my age cohort for 10 days as of the date of the performance! I’ve communicated with the appropriate staff of the retirement community, and they are now going to make sure that off-campus performers are informed — at the very least when they enter the campus — of the specifics of the current rules.
But my (provable with PCR test) immunity to Covid will be ignored by this retirement community. Oh, the irony! It is highly likely that I have lifetime immunity to Covid-19. My immunity is more braodbased than the vaccine-conferred immunity that the majority of the folks at the retirement community have. (Thanks to Germ for the articles today, quite appreciated.) But I get socially slandered as being “willfully dangerous” to the people who attended the OUTDOOR performance.
With the current guidelines in place, off-campus musicians must visually broadcast their vaccination status (via mask/no mask) to all who are at a performance. (What happened to PHI? — “protected health information” — mind, the retirement community has a medical facility, nursing facility, memory care, and therefore is governed by HIPAA regulations.)
And what about the fact that vaccinated individuals are still able to become infected with Covid-19 and able to infect others? They want to mask the person with broadbased immunity — who probably can’t contract Covid-19 anymore, and probably can’t infect others — and unmask the peopole who *can* contract Covid-19 and *can* infect others? This is lunacy.
And, although the concept is not (yet!) mainstream, it looks like asymptomatic Covid-infected folks are highly unlikely to infect others, even when in close quarters. So, as long as an off-campus musician is “feeling well” and doesn’t have Covid symptoms, the possibility of infeacting anyone present is very low.
Argh. If I weren’t already immune to Covid, I think that I would have a T-shirt printed up that states “my maks protects me from the unmasked vaccinated folks.” I’d wear my mask and emphasize that it was to protect me from *them.* But that would be a little ridiculous, considering that I’m post Covid. And considering that all Covid did was make me rather ill for 2 days, temporarily lose taste and smell, and feel like I was slowly “getting better” for about 4 days.
If I had other venues to perform in, I’d probably take the high road and simply avoid the place. But, at the moment, I don’t have other venues. My desire to hone my performance skills is high — and they are a very forgiving audience (when it comes to music…not always so forgiving when it comes to vaccination status.) I had not performed for over a year.
Come on, AZ Senate, get SB 1648 passed, send it to the other legislature, send it to the govenor…this is ridiculous and we need this. I can’t be the only person dealing with this sort of discrimination.
Regarding my comment yesterday
I’m aware that mrsa came about through overuse of antibiotics.
I only referred to “pharma” and didn’t throw “medical” in there because what I was responding to only encompassed “pharma” and I didn’t want to generalize.
I’m aware that brief uses of pharmaceuticals is very different from long-term use.
(There is a reason why I refused to medicate my son, accurately diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, DMDD, and Anxiety. I know that my decision was seen as odd by multiple medical and behavioral health and school professionals.)
I wish my father didn’t use statins, but he trusts his doctor over all of his adult female family members.
However…
I also acknowledge that there are many individuals with chronic conditions that are alive only because of maintenance medicines or whose lives are greatly improved through use of maintenance medicines.
There are no simple answers.Or, for me, there are *some* simple answers:
The profit motive. The profit motive is generally incompatible with the Hippocratic Oath.
The desire for “power over” others. “Power over” implies controlling access to information and resources, and is incompatible with the Hippocratic Oath.We live in a world where “profit is king,” and that corrupts our medicine. We live in a world where “democracy” has been subverted to mean “behavioral control” of the masses by an elite group, which corrupts our medical science. Sure, those are both over-simplifications, but as generalizations they are largely accurate.
Covid passports in UK
It’s the frog in the boiling water.
Vaccine passports for ALL pubs and restaurants is making the water too hot, too quickly, hunh?
Okay! No problem!
We’ll just roll them out for larger venues.
(That way we can work out the kinks, make it more convenient, get the masses to accept this as “normal.” Oh, and don’t worry — we won’t let the passports expire in two years. Or, we only will if there is enormous public pressure. But that public pressure is unlikely to materialize. And it doesn’t matter…because by then we’ll know how to implement these passports EVERYWHERE. When the next crisis hits, we’ll expand the program.)(Kind of like how we got everyone to accept the TSA stuff in the US as “normal.” )
I remember meeting my father as he got off the plane for his once a year business trip when I was a child. I remember when I flew home for a break from college and one of my parents meeting me at the gate. I remember bidding someone farewell as they boarded a plane. I remember….
But that has been taken from us. After nearly 20 years, will it ever be returned to us? Is anyone even bothering to clamor for it?In 20 years when Google and the government know our every move, every location, will we see that as “normal,” shrug it off, and think nothing of it? Like the serfs of old, many of whom never thought to question their place in life?
“…why we trust pharma at all…”
Because *often* pharma saves us. It is difficult to know when to trust, when not to trust. I once had a fire ant bite my knee — not a big deal, working in my garden this happens hundreds of times a year. But *this* bite became horribly infected with MRSA and I ended up in the emergency room when the pain was so bad I could hardly walk. It had to be surgically cleaned out, and I was put on IV antibiotics for a couple of days. Now, I’m fine with a nasty scar and a numb patch of skin on my knee. Appendicitis used to be often deadly. My daughter’s appendix ruptured before the appendectomy…five days of IV antibiotics, and she went home with quite a tale to tell her classmates. In both cases, I was confident that the hospital would be able to clean up a medical mess that without such intervention might have been fatal.
Sometimes the reason we shouldn’t trust is because of the profit motive. And experimental treatments should always be met with a degree of skepticism. But having complete lack of trust in pharma/medical establishment is also foolhardy.
@ Absolute Galore
Re: yesterday’s request for opinions regarding your situation & Covid vaccines.
I’d like to answer in regards to custody issue.I have 3 teens. I have legitimate reason to believe that their father will press the vaccine issue once they are sixteen. (Two are nearly 15 now.). They have no health issues that would exacerbate a Covid infection. My preference is that they not be vaccinated — there is no need. We have no data on long-term effects from the vaccines.
My sister shared the following with me a few days ago:
https://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/covid-19-restoring-public-trust-during-global-health-crisis“ …the Moderna/NIH clinical trial does not end until October 27, 2022, and the Pfizer/BioNTech clinical trial does not end until January 31, 2023, the experimental COVID biologics (vaccines) are considered to be under investigation for safety and efficacy until the trials conclude.”
You would need to consult with a family law attorney, but I think that it would be considered reasonable for a parent of a child who is at no measurable risk from Covid to decline the vaccine for the child based on the fact that the original clinical trials to accomplish FDA approval have not, in fact, been completed.
The longer the vaccine can be delayed for people who are at no risk from Covid, the more time is available for any long-term effects to be well-known.
I’m going to save myself the time typing and figure you all can see how the study doesn’t support the conclusion. I am reminded of the old ads showing a doctor expressing his preference for a particular brand of cigarettes.
@ Madamski
“ “Human creativity flourishes best with limits, not when there are no limits.”
It isn’t something I was taught, but rather an observation. I am a creative type, and I’ve noticed that when I place no limits on myself that creating can meander somewhat aimlessly. When there are limits, then creativity has to find ways to express itself in spite of the limits. It is when there are obstacles to deal with that break throughs tend to come. Obstacles kickstart the creative process.
I am not advocating for “authorities” to place limits — although they often do. Life itself limits us in myriads of ways. Lack of funds often limits me, but I find a way to live my life in spite of lack of funds. Daylight limits humanity — so we tamed fire, then incandescent lights, now we are moving towards LEDs. If there was no night, would humanity have ever invented artificial light? Instead, we might have simply used windows and skylights and light tubes.
@ Dr D:
Theists often fail to realize that one can be spiritual and moral without belief in a deity.
And religion has very often been used as a tool to put “the fear of God” into folks so that they are easier to control.
For this reason I don’t find the divisions of theist/atheist and religious/irreligious to be so helpful.
In order to build a better world we do need hope and vision and community and quality communication. We need critical thinking and patience and slowness to jump to conclusions. We need faith in ourselves, in other humans, in the potential of attaining a better world — we can describe this better world in the language of Christianity or Buddha or of the Deist Founding Fathers of the USA, with the myths of many cultures, or in the words of Thoreau, etc., or through the media of poetry, visual art, music, dance, and theatre.
If I’m remembering my theology correctly, the Universalists were seeking to create “heaven on earth” rather than waiting until the afterlife or “millennium with Christ” (as described in Revelations). I have always liked this tenet. Let’s work together to create “heaven” today, here, now.
Regarding pipeline activists…
When one’s homestead is rendered unlivable due to pipeline leaks…
Oil is a finite resource, if all we do is pump ever larger quantities from the ground, eventually we run against a brick wall. (I.e. run out.) Living organisms that last must achieve a “steady state” with their environment — must achieve homeostasis. Living organisms die when they can no longer achieve homeostasis. (Don’t I know. I lost my plucky little six year old black frizzle bantam hen 4 days ago — she succumbed to entropy and died.). If we want a better life for all the humans on this planet, then we need to figure out how to achieve homeostasis with the planet and each other as well.Human creativity flourishes best with limits, not when there are no limits.
“ global stupidity reaching a paroxysmic peak” — bingo!
A friend posted to Facebook yesterday that she had “made antibodies” due to her vaccination. One commenter on her post said that she was thinking of getting an “antibody test” after her vaccine series. Ignorance. Stupidity. Pseudoscience. I couldn’t resist commenting that the “Covid antibody test” detects corona virus antibodies generally, and can’t detect Covid spike protein antibodies created from inoculation with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Is it that my left leaning friends were always this credulous? Is it just because so many are stuck in these digital media bubble silos that surround our minds in cottony propaganda? Because we are not interacting face to face and it this is preventing many from obtaining accurate bearings on what is going on in the world?
@ Dr D (and anyone else who has a hard time believing an allegation of sexual harassment when it was kept quiet for a long time)
Have you ever been bullied? After you were bullied, was your natural instinct to then publish that fact far and wide?
To be a victim of bullying is to be framed as a victim…victims are seen by society as weak. The last thing one wants after being bullied is to be seen as weak by one’s peers.My family law attorney made sexual advances towards me nearly two years ago. I told no one for nearly 24 hours. It was psychologically traumatizing — I trusted this man, and he tried to twist my trust into an obligation to accept sexual advances in a time when I was terrified that I might lose custody of my children — this man was supposed to be my means to maintain custody. Due to this happening, I fired the attorney and tried to postpone the child support hearing the next week. I did not include in my motion to postpone the trial the reason for dumping the attorney — I was advised that to do so could be used by my ex’s attorney to besmirch my reputation and make it more difficult to maintain custody of my children. I went to the hearing with no attorney. It is difficult to clearly say that the end result (my ex attributed an income that was 1/3 of what I had hard evidence of, my own income attributed to be 33% higher than it was in actuality) was because I had no attorney, but one has to wonder. I should have appealed that ruling, but because I had no attorney and few funds and another court date that I had to prepare for (alone) in a few weeks, I did not appeal.
I also did not report that attorney to the AZ bar. It was scary to contemplate doing that. In normal times, I could have overcome the reticence, but I needed to focus on the court case winding its way along that was attempting to wrest custody of my children from me. In the time since, life is very busy, and I still have not reported it. He is retired now, so he is less likely to have that access now, I tell myself. Instead, I wrote a song about what happened, and shared the song with friends. The music went a long ways towards helping heal from the traumatic incident. My new attorney (I eventually got one) sent me a notice from the AZ Bar that a woman last year made a similar accusation to the Bar. Knowing that someone else got up the courage to make the accusation makes it easier for me to do the same. Reading words of skeptics who doubt a woman just because she did not report it immediately after the fact again urges me to make the call to report it. But not today. I am on vacation with my kids today. Maybe next week.
And so it goes.
It is very difficult to announce private trauma publicly — it tends to compound the trauma.
I do, however, believe that UBI is unlikely to work in the long run without other structural adjustments to the current system. (Btw — such structural adjustments do not need to be imposed “top down.”). In the current system, giving UBI would likely over time result in higher “rent” payments across the board for basic resources, because of the power of the financial elites, wiping out the benefit of UBI.
Stockton experiment
What is the use of decrying government leaders twisting “science” to maintain power over citizens when we ignore the scientific method when we encounter ideas that happen to clash with our own cherished beliefs?
There is a widely held belief that people are impoverished because they are lazy, indolent, stupid, inept, etc. This is a myth. I should know. I have been raising 3 kids on an income well under the federal poverty limit for nine years. My income is low because (1) I place motherhood as being more important than a “normal” income, (2) the children’s father obtained a job about 7 years ago that made it easy for him to hide the bulk of his income resulting in him paying minimal child support (currently $40/month), (3) the actions of the kids’ father (alcoholism, attempted suicide, etc.,) resulted in trauma to myself and the children…the kids have required more attention and I have had to cope with the aftermath. It has been very difficult raising children on such a low income. Oh, how much easier it is when money is plentiful! The last year has shown me what that is like as well — between pandemic stimulus checks and a flood in my home resulting in a payout from the homeowner’s insurance, my income has remained flat, but I’ve had more money to spend.
Poverty is a systemic problem of individuals not having enough access to resources needed to sustain what is considered a basic lifestyle, which results in various types of deprivation. Thus, the Stockton Experiment shows what has played out in my own life in the past year — give impoverished folks more money, and they often then have the resources needed to better their situation. (What makes the Stockton experiment unique from typical “charity” or “anti-poverty” measures is that the money is given with no strings attached. It presumes that the recipients are capable to manage their own lives — most charitable and anti-poverty measures assume that those in poverty are incapable of managing their own resources, assuming that their poverty stems from this mismanagement.)
@ Madamski
Thank you for the musical idea this morning.
Perhaps I should always read in the morning to beautiful classical piano music…it might provide some perspective and balance when I read about the insanity going on in the human sphere.Mondays I meet with a an older friend to make music. This past Monday I asked whether we truly needed masks indoors? My friend is now “fully vaccinated” with the Pfizer jab (his wife also), my partner and I recovered from Covid, my kids were away. Yes, we must still wear masks indoors, y’see, because his wife (not present) insists that he must because the CDC says that vaccinated folks must still wear masks.
We respected his wishes — don’t want him “in trouble with the missus.”
I always struggle to understand why so many fail to THINK. The CDC guidance appeared mostly based on the fact that, as far as we know, the fully vaccinated can still transmit Covid to others. So if a fully vaccinated person is around others who are not at risk from Covid or unconcerned about Covid, there is no purpose to the mask. This perspective was largely confirmed yesterday when the CDC changed their stance, and now says the fully vaccinated may unmask around those for whom Covid poses little to no risk.
There is a purpose for the CDC, and in some situations I pay close attention to their guidelines. We live in a litigious society and when there is a fair chance that an interaction could proceed to legal issues, following CDC regulations is good for CYA.
I’ve heard (but didn’t bother confirming) that the CDC states that natural immunity wanes after a month. Fat chance that will be fact-checked anywhere…but don’t be surprised if any narrative suggesting otherwise silently sinks to the bottom of the web.
RIM states:
“Fear is a healthy and useful natural reaction to events. It can save your life. But it’s not healthy for an individual to live in fear for a prolonged period of time.”I agree.
I know what happens when humans are fearful for a long time with no apparent means of escape.
I was in a marriage rife with verbal and emotional abuse for 11.5 years. The last 2 years my ex became a full blown alcoholic, was sick and in and out of hospitals for over a year with a mysterious illness (it turned out to be from a lapband eroding into his stomach.) He was taking so many pills as well (most of them psychiatric in nature) that on top of his generally unsavory traits his behavior was even more erratic. I remember so many times when he was in a drunken stupor and I wondered whether I should call an ambulance…fearful what would happen if he died there in front of me, fearful of what would happen if he didn’t require hospitalization and my ex had sobered up, and was angry because I’d called the ambulance. He attempted suicide in front of me, with the chidlren in the house.Constant fear causes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — which is, basically, a central nervous system that has become super-sensitized to specific stimuli, and when exposed to even the smallest portion of that particular stimuli, will mount a very strong, very immediate freeze/fight/flight/fawn response. Up until 6 months ago I was in individual therapy for most of the time for 8 years. It took 6 years for me to realize that the reason why I was making no real progress was because therapy wasn’t helping me address the trauma. The last two years I engaged in trauma therapy, and finally had guidance in dealing with what I’d been through and the psychological aftermath of the experiences. I can now recognize the emotional flashbacks and triggers easily and quickly, I understand what is happening to my mind and body, and can generally manage the PTSD.
No. As a society, we don’t want to have large populations with PTSD. Unmanaged PTSD tends to lead to anti-social results.
Peel Health Guidance:
The information about adults in the graphic reveals the focus: it is designed to enable parents to continue to go to work.
======On Saturday was on a Zoom call with some nearby folks who used to attend my church…back when church meant “going” somewhere. Most are a generation older than I and spent their time chatting about how they had received their vaccine shots and were now deciding that it was “safe enough” to see family in person that they hadn’t seen for a year. It was interesting to observe them listening to what they want to believe, ignoring what they don’t want to believe — believing the “experts” about staying home, not meeting with others, taking a vaccine, but ignoring those same experts when told that their efforts to avoid the virus should not change due to their vaccination status.
I mentioned that I was facing pressure to get vaccinated against Covid in order to perform music. They know that
I already had Covid. The first response, “Why not just get it?” Ah, gee whiz, now I have to explain that although they are fearing a (near-harmless) virus, they are not concerned about the injection of a foreign substance to their bodies that has not been adequately tested for long term effects. And why should I be pressured to inject myself with a foreign substance when my body has already developed an immune response to the vaccine’s target? It was suggested to me that perhaps the retirement community is just following state guidelines…I pointed out that only the “nursing home” portion of that community is under strict state guidelines, the larger independent living section is not so regulated, and the state is not issuing any directives specifically about live music performances.We all do our parts to undo the effects of propaganda, one situation at a time, injecting critical thinking into spheres where it is absent.
