Random thoughts/comments

[Zinjanthropos]

Considering the unintended consequences of lock downs, I'll trust my own immune system until a vaccine has proven long-term efficacy without serious side effects. God forbid years from now we find this vaccine making people sterile or something.

You may have more time then me. I just had my first flu shot ever...my wife was grinding me so much about it that I finally relented just to restore peace in the household. Until that moment I had always relied on my own immune system. Don't know if I was to feel something within days of the shot but nothing happened. I still think there is better vaccines to come plus I don't like the thought of a double injection vaccine. Wonder if govts will mandate that you must take it.

[Syne]

Considering the unintended consequences of lock downs, I'll trust my own immune system until a vaccine has proven long-term efficacy without serious side effects. God forbid years from now we find this vaccine making people sterile or something.

You may have more time then me. I just had my first flu shot ever...my wife was grinding me so much about it that I finally relented just to restore peace in the household. Until that moment I had always relied on my own immune system. Don't know if I was to feel something within days of the shot but nothing happened. I still think there is better vaccines to come plus I don't like the thought of a double injection vaccine. Wonder if govts will mandate that you must take it.

Yeah, different math for those under and over 50.

[Leigha]

I’ve been hearing that Republicans are wary that Biden will lead the US into wars. Thought the left are made up of peacemakers or is that just a front?

[Zinjanthropos]

I’ve been hearing that Republicans are wary that Biden will lead the US into wars. Thought the left are made up of peacemakers or is that just a front?

If you worry more about hurt feelings than you do America's Global interests, allies & business then I think you may be asking for trouble. Do you think Biden scares any world leader out there?

[Secular Sanity]

I'll take it as soon as it's available. Better to deal a few short term side effects than the actual virus.

I posted this video back in April explaining the spike protein.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are lipid nanoparticles containing mRNA for the spike protein. The messenger RNA is released into the cell’s cytoplasm. It will interact with ribosomes and then translate into spike proteins. Your immune system will recognize the protein as a foreign invader and you’ll start producing antibodies and T-cell responses.

It’s not a new concept. They’ve been working on nucleic acid vaccines for decades. The problem hasn’t been with their safety, rather their efficacy, but they’ve been making considerable advances.

One of the hurdles is that mRNA is a highly unstable molecule. The Pfizer vaccine remains stable at 25 degrees Fahrenheit for close to 5 days. At the same temperature, the Moderna can last for up to one month. If they’re kept at -94 degrees Fahrenheit they can last for up to six months, but ultra-cold freezers are too expensive for most facilities. However, Moderna just announced that theirs can remain stable at -4 degrees Fahrenheit for up to six months. This will facilitate wider-scale vaccination in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

[Zinjanthropos]

SS.... you have your lab coat on today. Like the something better than nothing philosophy

[C C]

I’ve been hearing that Republicans are wary that Biden will lead the US into wars. Thought the left are made up of peacemakers or is that just a front?

Unlike what it nervously viewed as the "mixed-message clown" that preceded Biden, the world now has a predictable and manipulable administration that it can feel comfortable buttering-up and pinning the "patsy sheriff" star to once again. Which is to say, Biden doesn't need to have the US directly involved in a new war to still get tangled-up diplomacy, confrontation, and aid-wise with various conflicts sprouting up after the pandemic -- or older ones garnering renewed attention/emphasis.

[Zinjanthropos]

I’ve been hearing that Republicans are wary that Biden will lead the US into wars. Thought the left are made up of peacemakers or is that just a front?

Unlike what it nervously viewed as the "mixed-message clown" that preceded Biden, the world now has a predictable and manipulable administration that it can feel comfortable buttering-up and pinning the "patsy sheriff" star to once again. Which is to say, Biden doesn't need to have the US directly involved in a new war to still get tangled-up diplomacy, confrontation, and aid-wise with various conflicts sprouting up after the pandemic -- or older ones garnering renewed attention/emphasis.

I think the Mexican drug cartels are ramping up in anticipation.

[Syne]

I’ve been hearing that Republicans are wary that Biden will lead the US into wars. Thought the left are made up of peacemakers or is that just a front?

Obama got/kept us in more conflicts than most remember or realized. It was him pulling out of a peacekeeping mission in Iraq that led to ISIS taking over. Trump has been all about bringing all our troops home. So yeah, anti-war leftists are just a front. If anything, Democrat presidents need to take more military action because enemies know they can get away with more without retaliation (like Russia taking Crimea under Obama), and then they're forced to take more action than a strong threat of force would have. Being thought to be string is often more effective than having to prove it.

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Do you think Biden scares any world leader out there?

Not a single one. After all, many have already bribed him. He'll side with China on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and trade deals, let Russia "annex" more of its neighbor's territory, re-empower Iran's nuclear ambitions, and just talk a blue streak in the UN about economic sanctions and impotent, rubber-stamp nuclear inspections.

I think the Mexican drug cartels are ramping up in anticipation.

There's already reports of new immigrant caravans prepping, and that's a good place to hide human and drug trafficking.

[Syne]

It is difficult to keep track of all the available information.
Looking at
Norway with a population of 5 million - 300 deaths
Sweden with a population of 10 million 6,000 deaths
So death rate from C19 in Sweden seems to be a factor of 10 higher than Norway.
Scource
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105...in-norway/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105...in-sweden/

30 years ago I worked in the traffic industry. Looking back I'd say the value of a life was about £100,000 - that is to say if there were 10 deaths on a stretch of road the authority might consider spending £1 million on changes/improvements to that stretch of road. Allowing for inflation $1 million per life seems a sensible guess. On that basis Norway has saved around $2.7 billion by not copying Sweden's approach (6,000/-2,300=2,700), alternatively Sweden's approach has cost $5.4 billion compared to Norway's way of doing things. Sweden's GDP is around $600 billion so losing roughly 1% ($5.4 billion) isn't going to hurt much. Whatever Noway did is likely to have had a far greater effect on their GDP than 1%  so I'd say Sweden have chosen the best path. In fairness nobody knew how this would pan out - Sweden could have lost 6% of the population which would have been more noticeable. On the basis of (what I hope are) reasonably reliable figures I'm with Syne on this - forget lockdowns - let the virus run through the population - but don't moan afterwards about what happens.

Just to put a final nail in this ignorant argument, which seems to be claiming that Norway did better than Sweden due to MORE Covid restrictions:

How Finland and Norway Proved Sweden’s Approach to COVID-19 Works
Data show that the policies of Finland and Norway have been even less restrictive than Sweden's for most of the pandemic.

The opposite is actually true.