Althouse: At the Tuesday Night Cafe...

February 16, 2021

At the Tuesday Night Cafe...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

175 comments:

Ken B said...: So Kamala has been taking phone calls “for” Biden. Trudeau and Macron.
Either 1) he's not able to do the calls
Or 2) he’s giving the finger to Canada and France; 2/16/21, 8:17 PM
Kai Akker said...: What will the Fed governors do when investors begin dumping stocks? What's the Fed's ace in the hole? They only have one answer and even Wall Street is danced out on that one.; 2/16/21, 8:19 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: No one is dumping stocks until some time after the spending spree ends.; 2/16/21, 8:24 PM
Original Mike said...: We dumped my mother's stock portfolio today. It was time.; 2/16/21, 8:28 PM
Michael McNeil said...: Carried forward from last night's cafe….

“Now imagine a world where the power is out for days and days and all the vehicles, emergency and otherwise, run on batteries?”

I'm not a stock aficionado, but I think I will look into manufacturers of big generators. Hospitals and such already have backup power, but looks like the need is going to explode. Texas is the canary in the coal mine.

The (or a major) solution to this onrushing (under the Biden Administration) issue is hybrids. Any hybrid (gasoline-electric) vehicle potentially holds the capability of providing up to tens of kilowatts of power (quiet power!) from its engine and battery system.

This site — PriUPS.com (“the Prius as a UPS” — uninterruptible power supply) — describes the basic principle (which up till now after-market manufacturers have had to address), but now Ford as a major automotive manufacturer is offering their new F150 pick-up truck hybrid with built-in usable generator capability.

Even without directly tapping the batteries of our hybrid (as PriUPS.com above describes), however, during PG&E's deliberate blackouts of the past few of years in California, my partner and I got through those inconvenient multi-day no-power periods in very comfortable shape, for instance, by simply tying the stock 120-watt output of our hybrid's electrical system, via an inverter along with extension cords, into our house.

So set up we could and did run our iPhones, internet and cable TV, our local gigabit network, laptops, file server, printer, together with big-screen TV, all off that inverter — to be sure, not all at the same time. Nevertheless our hybrid(s) — we only used one (our Highlander Hybrid) for this role, though probably the Prius-C would have performed just as good — got us through all those outages very well.

Beyond that, equipped with a hybrid (such as the new hybrid Ford F150) which does provide many kilowatts (rather than just over a hundred watts) of power, basically an entire house (provided that minor adjustments to the house wiring are performed) can be supplied with power at need — automatically maintained for as long as the vehicle contains gasoline — and with no necessity for using extension cords to carry power into the house!

Moreover, that relatively huge power capability is also available out in the field, wherever you happen to be with your vehicle.; 2/16/21, 8:29 PM
narciso said...: I know its not new information, but very pertinent

https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individuals/kamala-harris; 2/16/21, 8:35 PM
chickelit said...: Ken B said...So Kamala has been taking phone calls “for” Biden. Trudeau and Macron.

It's a "party line" phone call (remember those?). Barack is on the line as well.; 2/16/21, 8:37 PM
Whiskeybum said...: Good Grammar rule for Feb. 16:

It is incumbent on us to avoid archaisms.; 2/16/21, 8:40 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Ken B said...
So Kamala has been taking phone calls “for” Biden. Trudeau and Macron.
Either 1) he's not able to do the calls
Or 2) he’s giving the finger to Canada and France

Or C) they asked to speak to the person in charge.; 2/16/21, 8:40 PM
Mark said...: The White House isn't even trying to hide it.

The press release says that (Real) President "Kamala Harris spoke today with President Emmanuel #Macron of France, and expressed HER commitment to strengthening bilateral ties between the United States and France and to revitalizing the transatlantic alliance."

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/02/15/readout-of-vice-president-kamala-harris-call-with-president-emmanuel-macron-of-france/

"Her" commitment. Not President Biden's commitment, not the United States' commitment, but HER commitment, as if she were head of state.; 2/16/21, 8:43 PM
Mark said...: Or C) they asked to speak to the person in charge.

Clearly Biden is NOT in charge.

But you can be sure that Macron and Trudeau took it as a personal and national insult to be speaking to someone other than the President.; 2/16/21, 8:46 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Some Texas power outage links:

TPPF's Chuck DeVore on the reasons behind the blackouts

Dispatches from the Snowpocalypse.; 2/16/21, 8:47 PM
Kai Akker said...: There is no spending spree, Rebel.; 2/16/21, 8:59 PM
Mutaman said...: Continue to have major problems with PO delivery. That Trumpster Dejoy is still running things and Biden does not have the power to replace him- only the Republican dominated Post Office Board of Governors has that power.
So the incompetence with the mail will continue until Biden can replace the Know Nothings on the Board.; 2/16/21, 9:06 PM
Francisco D said...: Why have we received such an influx of trolls in the last month?

It is not a coincidence.; 2/16/21, 9:07 PM
narciso said...: They are all unoriginal thats the common element.; 2/16/21, 9:11 PM
I Callahan said...: Nope, it is not a coincidence. They're hired bots who go to conservative sites and pollute the comments. Every single site I read has this problem.; 2/16/21, 9:12 PM
Achilles said...: Ignorance is Bliss said...

Or C) they asked to speak to the person in charge.

It isn't Kamala either.; 2/16/21, 9:14 PM
narciso said...: The trolls run the place in some instances

http://patterico.com/2021/02/16/allahpundit-on-the-bipartisan-betrayal-of-jaime-herrera-beutler/#comment-2500276; 2/16/21, 9:15 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "There is no spending spree, Rebel."

That's the problem with this Covid, there's no real spending.; 2/16/21, 9:20 PM
narciso said...: Well we spent about 4 trillion poorly before this

https://mobile.twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1361862724419014657; 2/16/21, 9:21 PM
stephen cooper said...: If anyone here is a friend of Jill Biden's, please call her and ask her how she feels about Kamala Harris trying to take credit for American foreign policy less than a month after the inauguration of her poor dementia-ridden husband.

Leave out the part about her husband having dementia, she knows it already, and it would be unkind to remind her.; 2/16/21, 9:21 PM
narciso said...: Well which part stephen cooper. Groveling to the houthis putin xi, she wouldnt have amy problem with that.; 2/16/21, 9:25 PM
FullMoon said...: Macron and Trudeau should put their wives on the phone with Kamala.; 2/16/21, 9:29 PM
rcocean said...: Trump trashes McConnell. Wonderful. And accurate.

As for our thief-in-chief, who cares? Unlike the R's - the cookie-cutter D's all think and act alike. If senile Biden leaves, we get Kamala harris, who in terms of policy, differs from Biden, in absolutely nothing. Besides, everyone paying attention knew Biden was never going to last 4 years. He might as well go now. But if he hangs on till age 80, so what?

One thing I've noticed about National Google Review, Mitch McConnell, and the whole gang of RINO's is they're perfectly happy being out of power. They have no agenda to change things, no desire to pass any great legislation, and don't really disagree with Kam Harris/Biden on much of anything. If Biden wants to 50 MPH over the Cliff, McConnell and National Google Review and the other "conservatives" want to go 25 MPH over the cliff.; 2/16/21, 9:31 PM
I'm Not Sure said...: "Macron and Trudeau should put their wives on the phone with Kamala."

Or their side pieces.; 2/16/21, 9:32 PM
rcocean said...: As shown by the election, the 80 million Democrats simply DO NOT CARE. They didn't care who Biden was, whether he could do the job, was honest or corrupt, or anything else. He has (D) after his name and is socially liberal and hates average white people. That's all they care about. They'd be perfectly happy to have "fake moderate" Joe from WV or Bernie or Oprah as President. Hell, Mitt Romney could turn Democrat and Run and win in 2024. The Democrat votes just do what they're told. complete sheep.

same with the media and the congress. They simply DO NOT CARE. As long as whoever is the Democrat President does what he's supposed to do - everything else is irrelevant. They do not care about Competence, honesty or anything.; 2/16/21, 9:36 PM
narciso said...: We're about 20 minutes behind

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/uk-citizens-with-learning-disabilities-will-not-be-resuscitated-if-they-contract-covid-19; 2/16/21, 9:37 PM
mockturtle said...: Rcocean, you're right. These professional politicians care about only one thing: Being reelected.; 2/16/21, 9:38 PM
Mark said...: We're about 20 minutes behind

Actually, we were already there more than 20 years ago.; 2/16/21, 9:39 PM
narciso said...: Over the flu not yet,; 2/16/21, 9:40 PM
mockturtle said...: Stephen Cooper, IMO, Jill Biden doesn't give a hoot about her husband. If she did, she would have moved heaven and earth to keep him from running for President and humiliating himself. Instead, she goaded and facilitated it for her own self-interest.; 2/16/21, 9:42 PM
narciso said...: You bought him, no returns

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Uf_55lrJSg&feature=youtu.be; 2/16/21, 9:45 PM
Mutaman said...: "They do not care about Competence, honesty or anything."

That’s the first thing I think of when I reflect on the last four years -"competence and honesty". And hair dye running down Rudy’s face.; 2/16/21, 9:45 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: "These professional politicians care about only one thing: Being reelected."

That's the gig and to be expected. Most highly educated and credentialed people seeking work are not in it for just 2 or 4 years. Perhaps one of the greatest flaws of the Constitution.; 2/16/21, 9:50 PM
narciso said...: From an impartial source

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-rough-start-with-the-world-11613430041?reflink=desktopwebshare_facebook; 2/16/21, 10:00 PM
stephen cooper said...: Mockturtle, I humbly disagree.

To understand that unusual old couple, it helps to know how much the Liberal Catholic of today is in love with his or her self.

The worst example I ever saw was from one of the Liberal Catholics who is not really all that bad a guy. Bruce Springsteen, one day, in what I now realize was a drunken speech, was praising Clarence Clemmons, and he said that, by "performing boring rock and roll hits" that they had been doing "God's work".

The people who are imposing the lockdowns, causing pain and misery, inveigling young black women into aborting babies ---- they all think people like me (anti-lockdowns, pro-life) are the bad guys, and their imposition of pain and misery and childlessness on the poor and on minorities is justified because it is "for their own good".

As a Catholic, I have to say one of the hardest things to realize is that the Pope and the Bishops, while they once in a while say the right thing about the sinfulness of abortion and contraception, are on the side of the Jill Bidens of the world. IT IS SAD BEYOND BELIEF, but the fact is, it is not really the fault of poor Jill Biden. Not completely, anyway.

The shepherds who should have been there for her have led her astray, and as many old people do, she glories in her idea of her own goodness. That being said ....

I Know more about Leonid Brezhnev (the closest 20th century analogue to poor demented Joe) than most Russians do, and I know God can bring bad people back into the fold of goodness, EASILY. (I am not in a really good mood tonight, otherwise I would describe some really interesting recent Russian history, where good overcame evil, but not in a way that any famous Western news organization will tell you about....)

Pray for our poor nation, ruled by evildoers, pray for their repentance.; 2/16/21, 10:06 PM
Narr said...: I tried that PriAPS thing on the Googleybox and didn't see any trucks.

Oh. Never mind.

In a world full of ironies, at the very time when the very concept of citizenship and voting is more contested, the practices involved more complex, law-fogged, and questionable (recent Immaculate Election excepted of course), and the people in charge more nakedly power-mad than in anytime or place in history, the Right To Vote itself becomes increasingly fetishized.

Narr
Thoughts?; 2/16/21, 10:13 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: About a week ago, I saw a FB news alert from some affiliate news site that I must have clicked on at some time in my life that Texas was in for some shit with this weather system, and the power grid was the chief concern. Kudos to whoever wrote that. Imagine reporters predicting events instead of rewriting them.; 2/16/21, 10:14 PM
narciso said...: Yes ive been caught in the mime boxonce ortwice.; 2/16/21, 10:21 PM
Ken B said...: Linus Pauling, two time winner of the Nobel prize, John Bardelbeen, two time winner of the Nobel prize, and Jill Biden walk into a bar.
“Call me Linus.”
“Call me John.”
“Call me Doctor.”; 2/16/21, 10:22 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: stephen cooper said...
If anyone here is a friend of Jill Biden's, please call her and ask her how she feels about Kamala Harris trying to take credit for American foreign policy less than a month after the inauguration of her poor dementia-ridden husband.

...and don't forget she is to be addressed as Dr. Biden, because she surely won't forget it.; 2/16/21, 10:23 PM
MartyH said...: Michael Podhorzer is the “architect” and hero of Molly Ball’s Time article about “fortifying the election.” He is a vile man.

First, he conceived a malicious idea: national protests on election night if the election is going against your preferred candidate.

Second, he attributed that idea to Trump, claiming that Trump would incite his supporters to protest on election night.

Third, and worst of all, he then did the exact malevolent act he accused Trump of doing. He organized an army of protestors mobilized to hit up to four hundred locations around the country. On election night they were debating when and whether it was the “right time to call for moving masses of people into the street” before the order came to “stand down.”

For months his “shadow campaign” had told the American people that the election results would not be known on election night-yet his troops were ready to hit the street in a coordinated, national protest that he, himself, expected to be violent:

“Podhorzer credits the activists for their restraint. “They had spent so much time getting ready to hit the streets on Wednesday. But they did it,” he says. “Wednesday through Friday, there was not a single Antifa vs. Proud Boys incident like everyone was expecting. And when that didn’t materialize, I don’t think the Trump campaign had a backup plan.””

The reason Trump didn’t have a backup plan is because there was no upfront plan to protest on election night. It took ten days to organize the Million MAGA March.

Again, Podhorzer conceived a wicked idea, projected it onto Trump, and was prepared to start a national insurrection on election night, all in the name of protecting democracy.

Having proven that Podhorzer is a vile man, one can reasonably ask, “Was this the only time he conceived of an evil idea, projected it onto Trump, and executed that plan?

A year before the election, he thought the most likely way for Trump to win was by “corrupting the voting process in key states.”

Did Podhorzer himself corrupt the voting process in key states? The article states “They got states to change voting systems and laws…” What states? Which laws? What voting systems?

They sent out fifteen million postcards to potential absentee voters. Did they have those cued up while lobbying legislatures or judges to allow greater absentee voting?

They “helped” election officials select vendors. Etc., etc., etc.

And if Podhorzer believed “America’s decentralized election system couldn’t be rigged in one fell swoop” why did he say Trump could rig it?

There’s more-“steer media coverage and control the flow of information” sound exactly like a disinformation campaign.

How about this sentence, speaking about the Chamber of Commerce and the Shadow campaign joining forces:

“Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.”

Podhorzer is the only one with an army; he’s the only one capable of destroying the peace.

This election was not “fortified.” This article makes one question where the line between rigged and stolen is.; 2/16/21, 10:23 PM
Ken B said...: I'm kinda with Mockturtle but kinda not.
It is true I think she is in on the game and knows he’s not up to the task. But he wanted to be called President even more than she wanted to be called Doctor. So she is indeed helping him fulfill his fondest wish.
But 100% she is in on the charade.; 2/16/21, 10:26 PM
Original Mike said...: John Bardeen; 2/16/21, 10:28 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Anyone who actually listened to Biden in the last year understands that he isn't capable of interacting with a world leader in any meaningful way, and the other world leaders know this, but you can't ask them to play along because that is simply too big an admission to make. So, you send out Kamala.

I think the lady is in way over her head, but the country would be better off if Joe Biden died of a stroke tomorrow. You really can't have a figurehead with dementia as the president of the country- the rest of the world will take advantage of this in a way they won't quite be able to if we have a non-demented person as president, despite her being a complete non-entity.; 2/16/21, 10:28 PM
Readering said...: Written on the day it is revealed that Steve Bannon believed Trump had early dementia and was working behind the scenes to get 25th Amendment invoked.; 2/16/21, 10:31 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Wow, you know it is bad when someone on the left has to use a Steve Bannon opinion as evidence of anything.; 2/16/21, 10:34 PM
I Callahan said...: Written on the day it is revealed that Steve Bannon believed Trump had early dementia and was working behind the scenes to get 25th Amendment invoked.

So now you believe Steve Bannon? Why so selective?; 2/16/21, 10:35 PM
stephen cooper said...: Yancey - I agree one hundred percent with what you said, but I would like to point out that the true fact which you described (and it is a fact we will never hear on the MSM) that the poor old decrepit man is "completely incapable of acting with other world leaders in a meaningful way"

does NOT meant that Kamala, with her honorary title of vice president, is the obvious stand-in, the way Mrs Wilson was for Woodrow after his stroke, or the way Leonid's pals were in his last couple of years.

you know, there is no "science of swamps" --- there are herpetologists, there are those guys who catch catfish in the mud by hand, there are botanists who specialize in the types of plants that flourish in swamps .... but there is no "science of swamps". Me or you can try and predict what will go right or wrong, but when foolish people are guiding the ship, nobody can predict where the ship will be the next morning.; 2/16/21, 10:36 PM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/16/21, 10:46 PM
Ken B said...: The USA has had more than half a million covid deaths now. And climbing.

Yancey Ward predicted 7500 total,
Michael K predicted 20K.
One poster, maybe Achilles, guessed about 1000.
This blog is filled with denialists. Some of them sound like fluffers for the poor maligned virus.

Despite the toll they never rethink. This is their real failing. Anyone can get a risk wrong, and covid is complex. But they double, triple, quadruple down. You'll see more of it in replies to this comment.

The denialists here know who they are. They're moral failures.; 2/16/21, 10:47 PM
max said...: I am hung up on the shooting of Ashli Babbitt. Was the shooter justified in what he did? Perhaps. Was her shooting necessary? Did her death result in the prevention of a greater evil? I have watched the videos over and over. Some of this is just inexplicable. There were three policemen at the door. They moved away. There is something else. There is a fourth guy. I will call him suit man. He was there the whole time. He was beside Ashli Babbitt before and after the shooting. He shepherds the policemen down the stairs as the tactical came up. There was no immediate danger here. An unarmed woman comes through a window into the empty speakers lobby. Within six feet of her are tactical officers with rifles. There was no mob pushing against the doors. The three instigators had recoiled. If she had made it through the window she would have been alone and no danger to anyone.

What makes this even more fascinating for me is the fact that of the four deaths that day, this is the one with the most video. We can see what happened from many points of view. Perhaps pictures are not worth a thousand words, since they cannot tell us what is in the minds and hearts of the actors.; 2/16/21, 10:49 PM
Sally327 said...: I think Kamala Harris speaks French. And she did live in Canada for awhile when she was growing up so there is also that connection as to the Trudeau call.

Joe Biden was a VP himself and I'm sure he has fairly specific ideas about that role and what he wants from it now that he's President. Of everything he's done in the last few weeks having Harris talk to some world leaders is probably the least troublesome.; 2/16/21, 10:50 PM
stephen cooper said...: Ken B ----you have no idea how ignorant you are, so you are not culpable.; 2/16/21, 10:52 PM
StephenFearby said...: rcocean said...
Trump trashes McConnell. Wonderful. And accurate.

No, just reverting in character to the slime job he did on Ted Cruz in the 2016 primary season. Trump has a problematic tic for sliming people who disagree with him.

DM:

Politico reported that aides persuaded him to remove a section saying that McConnell had 'too many chins but not enough smarts.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9267659/Donald-Trump-trashes-Mitch-McConnell-dour-sullen-unsmiling-political-hack.html

But Mitt was smart enough to make sure that all of Trump's Supreme Court nominations were approved by the Senate by extending Harry Reid's 2013 nuclear option (a 50 instead of a 60 vote threshold) for federal court judicial nominations also to the Supreme Court.

There may well have been evidence to show that the 2020 election was rigged in certain battleground states but Trump hired Rudi Guliani and Sidney Powell (who said she was going to release a "Kraken" that wasn't and also worked with the nutcase Lin Wood). The result was a total embarrassment, with Trump in the role of Captain Queeg.

Trump really needed the likes of Roy Cohn as his lawyer, but Cohn has been 6 feet under since 1986.; 2/16/21, 10:52 PM
stephen cooper said...: Ken B - now do India and Manchuria

You can't because you are ignorant

that is why you are not culpable

Tonight in your prayers tell God you are thankful that he created you ignorant; 2/16/21, 10:53 PM
Ken B said...: I had an argument with friends. I told them Biden is senescent (a very precise choice of words, he is not yet senile) and they all thought I was nuts.

The Kamala phone thing is actually big. The VP is NOT an assistant or deputy president. She is not, technically, even a member of the administrative branch. She is part of the senate, who happens to be first in the line of succession. It’s unprecedented, and it simply must give foreign leaders pause.; 2/16/21, 10:54 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Wow, Ken, you just won't let it go will you? Nothing I predicted affected anything, and most of what I predicted turned out to be true about the virus- I am absolutely guiltless because I killed no one, nor supported policies that killed anyone. The true denialists are the people who enacted all the idiotic policies followed by the blue states and most of the countries on the European continent. Those are the people with blood on their hands, and you supported them.

Have you finally changed your mind and agree that the Swedes were right all along, or are you still in denial. When do we get your mea culpa, K(ar)en B? Are you ready to admit that the Swedes were right and you were wrong?; 2/16/21, 10:55 PM
stephen cooper said...: Ken B - the man is senile.; 2/16/21, 10:55 PM
Ken B said...: Cooper
I pray that I never become a man who steal flowers from graves.; 2/16/21, 10:56 PM
stephen cooper said...: Yancey (Karen) is an ethnic slur, I wish people would not use it.

Otherwise, you are completely right, and Ken B is completely wrong on this issue.

Tomorrow, on another issue, maybe he will be right, but that is tomorrow.

To be fair, Nassim Taleb, Greg Cochran, and lots of other big brains got it wrong, too.; 2/16/21, 10:57 PM
Yancey Ward said...: The idiotic policies followed will kill millions over the next decades, they just won't show up on the COVID tracking sheets.; 2/16/21, 10:58 PM
stephen cooper said...: Ken B --- read more poetry, and try harder to understand that the real poets of this world think of people like you as real people, and give them, in return, the respect they deserve.

(Thanks for reading, by the way ---- sorry if you missed the point!); 2/16/21, 10:58 PM
narciso said...: Indeed there was violations of the hypocratic oath in the belt of states, than begins in virginia and ends up in california this includes governors like hogan and baker, the failure to apply therapeutics that ampted up the numbers; 2/16/21, 10:59 PM
stephen cooper said...: Cuomo and Whitmer will likely be prosecuted within the next 24 months; 2/16/21, 11:01 PM
Ken B said...: Cooper
Actually read more poetry is good advice. I keep meaning to get to Orlando furioso. I have it on my end table.; 2/16/21, 11:01 PM
narciso said...: If you say so, the us atty is his aids mother inlaw.; 2/16/21, 11:02 PM
Ken B said...: Where are the more egregious trolls? No Ch*ck. No Mich@el K. Has Google finally given Althouse a blocking tool?; 2/16/21, 11:03 PM
Ken B said...: “ Cuomo and Whitmer will likely be prosecuted within the next 24 months.”

I will take that bet. It is more likely that people will be prosecuted for criticizing them than that they will be prosecuted. Elections have consequences.; 2/16/21, 11:05 PM
max said...: thanks ken b. the deaths are cumulative. they will always climb. unlike cumulative vote totals which inexplicably can go down. perhaps a little perspective is useful. here is something from march 2020.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/dr-deborah-birx-predicts-200-000-deaths-if-we-do-n1171876

according to birx if we do perfectly we could see 100,000 to 200,000.

if not we could see
Birx said the projections by Dr. Anthony Fauci that U.S. deaths could range from 1.6 million to 2.2 million is a worst case scenario if the country did "nothing" to contain the outbreak, but said even "if we do things almost perfectly," she still predicts up to 200,000 U.S. deaths.

the virus is real. the hysteria is not.; 2/16/21, 11:07 PM
narciso said...: As you see from my trevor loudon link above choices have consequences; 2/16/21, 11:07 PM
Readering said...: Steve Bannon had a lot more interaction with Trump than AA commenters have had with Biden.; 2/16/21, 11:10 PM
narciso said...: You know i never got into this series

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pe01SHMxduI; 2/16/21, 11:11 PM
stephen cooper said...: Ken B, the rhyming hymns from the Spanish Golden Age are also good.

Leopardi's short lyrics are a beautiful gateway to Renaissance Italian poetry.; 2/16/21, 11:16 PM
Achilles said...: Ken B said...

The USA has had more than half a million covid deaths now. And climbing.

Yancey Ward predicted 7500 total,
Michael K predicted 20K.
One poster, maybe Achilles, guessed about 1000.
This blog is filled with denialists. Some of them sound like fluffers for the poor maligned virus.

Despite the toll they never rethink. This is their real failing. Anyone can get a risk wrong, and covid is complex. But they double, triple, quadruple down. You'll see more of it in replies to this comment.

The denialists here know who they are. They're moral failures.

What is your source for this Ken B?

Are you counting Pneumonia and Flu deaths? And Lung Cancer? And Heart disease?

Of course you are.

You are a dishonest piece of shit.; 2/16/21, 11:24 PM
max said...: more on covid.
the chinese are crazy.

https://brobible.com/culture/article/anal-swab-coronavirus-test-covid/

anal swabs! what fun!

on the other hand there is this.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32401374/

here is my take on this. while covid may be primarily a respiratory disease, that does not mean it is not transmitted in other ways.; 2/16/21, 11:26 PM
Achilles said...: Readering said...

Steve Bannon had a lot more interaction with Trump than AA commenters have had with Biden.

So Steve Bannon is a horrible racist Nazi trump supporter that lies about everything.

Then some second hand information comes out about something Bannon tried to do or said.

So now that one thing that someone else said about something Bannon did or said is instantly truth because it fits Readering's preconceived notions and agenda.

What is truly impressive is that Readering is too stupid to realize how pathetic this level of reasoning appears to everyone else of average or better intelligence.; 2/16/21, 11:36 PM
Ken B said...: Achilles
As I have repeatedly told you, I always use Worldometer. That way I cannot cherry pick amongst sources.

You are right of course we cannot be certain of every death. The toll might be higher.; 2/16/21, 11:42 PM
Hey Skipper said...: “Ken B: Despite the toll they never rethink. This is their real failing. Anyone can get a risk wrong, and covid is complex. But they double, triple, quadruple down. You'll see more of it in replies to this comment.”

I have no earthly idea why anyone thinks COVID is complex. It isn’t, it is simple. It is a upper respiratory tract infection the trajectory of which is exactly like all other URTI viruses. Its trajectory is climatically dependent, and mandates are pathetically ineffective. Restrictions and masks didn’t prevent a single infection or death. Case rates have plummeted across North America and Europe over the last couple months for one simple reason alone: Winnie Xi Flu is running out of susceptible people to infect.

This was knowable from the outset. And it is completely obvious now. Maoist Lung Pox is fundamentally simple, it is the details that are harder to discern. How many viral particles are sufficient to result in an infection? How many people in an epidemiologically similar population are susceptible? What is the case:infection ratio?

Google [Johns Hopkins University Covid critical trends]. Then apply Occams Razor. Then provide an explanation how mandates and masks made any difference. Expand your horizon, and look at UK case rates.

For people like you is that The Science is available to anyone willing to pursue rational inquiry.; 2/16/21, 11:49 PM
Hey Skipper said...: I predict the Ken B’s here will go radio silent.

Because they always do when asked to respond on point.; 2/16/21, 11:50 PM
Joe Smith said...: Biden is bought and paid for by the commies:

https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1361892148543508481

There needs to be a 9/11-type commission looking into the relationship between the CCP and our new president and his family.

Talk about the Manchurian Candidate...; 2/16/21, 11:54 PM
Joe Smith said...: Watching old re-runs on a nostalgia TV network just now.

A commercial comes on showing a tatted up black woman shaving her pubic area in the shower.

Mercifully she had panties on.

What the fuck has happened to this country?

This is acceptable now?; 2/16/21, 11:58 PM
max said...: zachary alam aka helmet boy. this is the guy who got ashli babbitt killed. watching the videos of the riot he is the most interesting character. in the charging documents he is first seen coming through a window into the capitol, while others are coming in by a door. that is very curious. in the sullivan video, his first appearance is also odd. it is in the capitol. there are protesters on one side and police on the other. he just kind of shows up behind the police. he gets in a shouting match with someone, i think is a police supervisor. they call each other names. he acts kind of crazy. skip to the main incident. at the door to the speaker's lobby he is very much in charge. he controls the crowd on one side and the cops at the door on the other. when the cops move away he is the center of the action. after ashli is shot he goes down the stairs as the tactical cops go up. there is a moment, in one of the videos where i wonder if he thought that he was responsible. he goes down the stairs and at the bottom changes some of his clothes. somehow he seems to be invisible to the cops. what is even more strange to me is the seeming total lack of interest in him by the media in this country. they report what is in the charging documents, but nothing beyond.; 2/16/21, 11:59 PM
max said...: is there a single video inside the capitol on jan 6 that does not include a policeman?; 2/17/21, 12:20 AM
max said...: what is wrong with this article?

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/10/us/remember-miriam-carey-us-capitol-police/index.html

hint: miriam carey = ashli babbitt; 2/17/21, 12:29 AM
readering said...: Achilles, trolls just mindlessly attack. That's you.; 2/17/21, 1:04 AM
J. Farmer said...: @Hey Skipper:

I have no earthly idea why anyone thinks COVID is complex. It isn’t, it is simple. It is a upper respiratory tract infection the trajectory of which is exactly like all other URTI viruses.

What the fuck are you talking about? The "trajectory of" SARS-Cov-2 is "exactly like" rhinoviruses, syncytial viruses, influeza viruses, and coronaviruses? How does it even make sense to refer to it as a "URTI virus"?

This was knowable from the outset. And it is completely obvious now.

Please explain how the pathogenesis of SARS-Cov-2 was "knowable from the outset." If it's "completely obvious" does that mean you understand how the virus enters the body, interacts with targeted cells, elicits cytokine dysregulation and coagulopathy, the mechanics to explain the disease spectrum, and whatever potential there is for late sequela?; 2/17/21, 1:31 AM
Largo said...: Ken B said...
//The USA has had more than half a million covid deaths now. And climbing.//

Does this number include those who died with Covid, but not of Covid?

(I ask because the answer is probative to how the significance of the statement should be construed.)

Cheers; 2/17/21, 1:41 AM
Mr. Forward said...: "Biden had no real answer how he could personally heal the country as president, but during his first extended remarks since his inauguration, he did make significant progress in making the presidency boring again. Maybe that is how he will do it."
James Pindell MSN News Milwaukee; 2/17/21, 2:03 AM
Breezy said...: Kamala on video whining that there is no vaccine stockpile. Lord help us.; 2/17/21, 2:36 AM
Hey Skipper said...: “@Farmer: What the fuck are you talking about? The "trajectory of" SARS-Cov-2 is "exactly like" rhinoviruses, syncytial viruses, influeza viruses, and coronaviruses? How does it even make sense to refer to it as a "URTI virus"?

Here info it makes sense. Some viruses gain entry through the eyes, nose and throat. Which means their infection path is through the upper respiratory tract by piggy-backing on the air we breathe. They are all, SFAIK, seasonal, in that the rate they spread is dependent upon how much people congregate inside.

Did you look at Johns Hopkins depiction of infection rates by state?

With regard mandates and masks, the only thing that matters is infection, not sequellae. Regardless of their ultimate effects, URTI follow a seasonal pattern. In the US, there is an increase in cases during the summer, when some people retreat to air conditioning, then in the fall as heating becomes important. This is obvious by visually correlating climatic regions in the US.

This was knowable from the outset. Roughly half the population isn’t susceptible in the first place. Of the remaining half, the case to infection ratio is somewhere between 1:3 and 1:6.

Covid is very infectious. Therefore, as people retreat into heated spaces, the case rate is going to skyrocket, and the infection rate (which is a surmise) also will, but even more. The consequence is simple: if half the US population isn’t susceptible in the first place, then multiply the number of cases by the surmised case:infection ratio, summed over time, and the result is the number of Americans who are both susceptible and not yet infected.

As that number gets smaller, R gets smaller. For a very infectious URTI, the daily case rate will very quickly increase, and just as quickly fall.

Doesn’t matter much what URTI virus you wish to consider — they are seasonal, meaning their trajectories are very similar.

That is what is easy, and relevant to mandates. Across the US, regardless of mandates and masks, the case rate today is roughly 1/5th of what it was two months ago. That dramatic drop had nothing to do with masks and mandates, but rather that, despite those impositions, the virus is rapidly running out of susceptible people to infect.

Just like all URTI viruses do. The concept is simple, the infection rate (which is all mandates can hope to affect) is solely dependent upon how infectious the virus is.

As must be obvious by now, this disease is very close to running its course. In Idaho, were restrictions are minimal, today’s case count is less than one tenth what it was two months ago. It was probably in October sometime when I predicted here that COVID would be reduced to background noise sometime around mid-March.

The case:infection ratio and susceptibility portion are a guess, but guesses that are confined by unintended natural experiments. In confined spaces, 40-60% of people have existing immunity. Of the remainder, the ratio of cases to infections is between 1:3 and 1:6.

I picked the smaller ratio, and came up with mid-March.

Looks like I missed by two weeks.

That’s why I say this is simple. Infections themselves are driven by just a few parameters, and follow predictable paths.

The goal of mandates and masks is to prevent or delay infections.

The Johns Hopkins data clearly shows masks and mandates were completely useless. Moreover, as quick as vaccines have arrived, they are at least four months too late to have any discernible effect.

At this point, at least 80% of shots are going into arms that aren’t susceptible, or have acquired their immunity in the old fashioned way.

This was knowable from the outset. Covid is unusua, it isn’t unique.

The question before us know is why the answer is so apparent to a glorified heavy equipment operator, yet so opaque to the experts.; 2/17/21, 2:55 AM
gadfly said...: Hey Skipper, the glorified heavy equipment operator, steps up to tell us that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is totally predictable mathematically. Yet Johns Hopkins studies found different risk rates for different location in the world ranging from 5 to 88 percent of the population. The Baltimore-based study also inferred that herd immunity is attained or otherwise affected by any and all actions taken to change the rate of infection including contracting the virus, taking anti-virus vaccines and other medications to slow the spread . . . and ta-da . . . improving societal behavior to better prevent disease spread.

OMG no! Not that awful social distancing, mask-wearing, wash your hands bullshit again! Do you suppose that the Brain Fog after-effect from contracting the virus has gotten to our medical scientists?; 2/17/21, 3:53 AM
Humperdink said...: A gun without ammo is only a club. A wind turbine frozen in place is only an eyesore. A subsidized at that.; 2/17/21, 5:30 AM
Humperdink said...: "So Cuomo lied. He hid the grim data from a media all too eager before November 3 to comply. He lied to the New York state legislature. He lied to the U.S. Department of Justice. He lied to the public. And he assumed these were all “noble lies”—necessary for the good cause of ending Donald Trump." (Victor Davis Hanson)

Pretty much sums up the lefty position for the last 4.5 years.; 2/17/21, 5:35 AM
Ralph L said...: The Greenies want more blackouts to "encourage" people to buy home battery packs without subsidies. Once you do that, you might as well get solar panels. Low income people can freeze and bake and stop reproducing.; 2/17/21, 5:42 AM
Inga said...: “A gun without ammo is only a club. A wind turbine frozen in place is only an eyesore. A subsidized at that.”

Wind turbines in Canada and northern states work just fine in winter.; 2/17/21, 5:45 AM
J. Farmer said...: @gadfly:

This was knowable from the outset. Covid is unusua, it isn’t unique.

The question before us know is why the answer is so apparent to a glorified heavy equipment operator, yet so opaque to the experts.

Because it's not what you don't know; it's what you do know that ain't so. For example:

"Doesn’t matter much what URTI virus you wish to consider — they are seasonal, meaning their trajectories are very similar."

No, they are not "very similar." Some respiratory viruses have peak incidents in the winter, some in the summer, some are present year-round, some have seasonal peaks for infection rates but a different seasonal peak in severity of illness.

Just like all URTI viruses do. The concept is simple, the infection rate (which is all mandates can hope to affect) is solely dependent upon how infectious the virus is.

The mechanics of viral seasonality and periodicity are not well understood. Environmental effects on the virus, on people's behavior, and on people's immune resistance have been proposed as potential explanations. Innate properties of the virus and the susceptibility of the population are other confounding factors.

That’s why I say this is simple. Infections themselves are driven by just a few parameters, and follow predictable paths.

So why is influenza forecasting so challenging?; 2/17/21, 5:51 AM
Inga said...: “Hey Skipper, the glorified heavy equipment operator, steps up to tell us that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is totally predictable mathematically.”

Right? He expects people to accept his version of Covid science and it’s trajectory. Very impressive....not. Don’t question Hey Skipper!; 2/17/21, 5:54 AM
tim in vermont said...: It’s McConnell, not Trump who picked a fight with the Republican base. McConnell thinks we are all sheep to be sheared and nothing more. If that’s really what he believes, he should switch parties to go to his natural home.; 2/17/21, 5:58 AM
tim in vermont said...: "The concept is simple, the infection rate (which is all mandates can hope to affect) is solely dependent upon how infectious the virus is.”

This is one of those “begin by implicitly assumig I am right” proofs.

"Then provide an explanation how mandates and masks made any difference. “

First we can look at the experiment done in March that shows that simple surgical masks block a large percentage of coronavirus aerosols, then we could look at the observational studies that show that controlling for seasonality, areas with mask mandates early on had lower rates of growth of the infections than non mask mandates. Of course now mask compliance is so high that the mask mandates hardly make a difference, since mask wearing is as mask wearing does.

If you are claiming that masks don’t work, the onus is on you to show why all of the observational studies on mask mandates on scholar.google.com are wrong, or even why one of them is wrong. I have linked them enough times to know that you won’t read them or you would have accepted that you are wrong on this issue by now. When somebody shows me I am wrong, I accept it and move on.

For instance there was a study done in Canada that compared districts with mandates against those without mandates during the same period, which rules out seasonality unless you are imagining some kind of seasonality with some very bizarre properties location wise and it shows mask mandates were effective.; 2/17/21, 6:11 AM
gilbar said...: So why is influenza forecasting so challenging?

because there's new influenza Every year? And people have more residual resistance to some; 2/17/21, 6:20 AM
Humperdink said...: I said: "“A gun without ammo is only a club. A wind turbine frozen in place is only an eyesore. A subsidized at that.”

Inga responded: "Wind turbines in Canada and northern states work just fine in winter."

Please forward your response to the residents of Texas. I am sure it will comfort them.; 2/17/21, 6:27 AM
Kai Akker said...: ---No Mich@el K.

I forget what you have against him, but Michael K is one of the very best commenters here, for my money. I miss his comments and the stories from his long career. I saw he weighed in briefly on one post yesterday so he must still be reading.; 2/17/21, 6:27 AM
Inga said...: “Please forward your response to the residents of Texas. I am sure it will comfort them.”

Maybe their Governor will tell them the truth about the type of wind turbines that Texas chose to use instead of going on Fox News to spread disinformation as to the efficacy of wind turbines in winter weather.; 2/17/21, 6:30 AM
tim in vermont said...: I am reading one of those posthumous novels of Hemingway’s where others took the notes of an unfinished novel and tried to turn it into finished product. It’s called The Garden of Eden and maybe it should have been left unpublished as it is very uneven, meaning that the master had not finished with it yet.

Anyway, it has to do with a man and a woman on their honeymoon, and halfway through it the man discovers that his wife wishes she were a boy. Right in the middle of the honeymoon she gets her hair cut really short at a barbershop, starts bringing it up in bed, etc. It has some funny dialog though for Hemingway:

She lay there a long time and he thought that she had gone to sleep. Then she moved away very slowly, lifting herself slightly on her elbows and said "I have a wonderful surprise for myself for tomorrow. I’m going to the Prado in the morning and see all of the pictures as a boy.”
“I give up.” David said.

Later he notes that the wormwood in absinthe makes it taste exactly like remorse. I will say one thing for it, I have zero idea where it is going, though the fact that they appear to have made a recent movie of it suggests that David probably comes to accept it.

The only posthumous Hemingway novel that was worth anything in the reading was Islands in the Stream, BTW. True at First Light only went to show that Hemingway’s son did not inherit the gift. Bill Shakespeare’s kid never made it either, thank goodness Shakespeare didn’t leave behind any unfinished plays for his progeny to butcher.; 2/17/21, 6:31 AM
Humperdink said...: Travelling through the western United States a few years back, the spouse and I were stunned at vistas. In was incredible, until you come around a sweeping bend and see a ghastly array of wind turbines scarring the mountain tops. Half of which are sitting idle.; 2/17/21, 6:32 AM
stevew said...: Gaslighting and The Narrative as told by the NYT overnight:

"A Glimpse of America’s Future: Climate Change Means Trouble for Power Grids. Systems are designed to handle spikes in demand, but the wild and unpredictable weather linked to global warming will very likely push grids beyond their limits."

Global Warming is the culprit in the Texas power grid failures; 2/17/21, 6:34 AM
Humperdink said...: Emmy award winning Andrew Cuomo killed more NY residents than the terrorists did on 911.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama dropped more bombs than any other Peace Prize winner in history.; 2/17/21, 6:36 AM
Michael McNeil said...: here is my take on this. while covid may be primarily a respiratory disease, that does not mean it is not transmitted in other ways.

No it doesn't. However, it does appear that “other ways” are not very significant.

As a short piece in last week's scientific journal Nature recently put it: [quoting…]

Update guidance on how coronavirus spreads

Catching COVID-19 from surfaces is rare. The World Health Organization and national health agencies need to clarify their advice.

A year into the pandemic, the evidence is now clear. The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted predominantly through the air — by people talking and breathing out large droplets and small particles called aerosols. Catching the virus from surfaces — although plausible — seems to be rare (E. Goldman Lancet Infect. Dis. 20, 892–893; 2020).

Despite this, some public-health agencies still emphasize that surfaces pose a threat and should be disinfected frequently. The result is a confusing public message when clear guidance is needed on how to prioritize efforts to prevent the virus spreading.

In its most recent public guidance, updated last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) advised: “Avoid touching surfaces, especially in public settings, because someone with COVID-19 could have touched them before. Clean surfaces regularly with standard disinfectants.” A WHO representative told Nature in January that there is limited evidence of the coronavirus being passed on through contaminated surfaces known as fomites (see page 26). But they added that fomites are still considered a possible mode of transmission, citing evidence that SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been identified “in the vicinity of people infected with SARS-CoV-2”. And although the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says on its web-site that surface transmission is “not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spreads”, it also says that “frequent disinfection of surfaces and objects touched by multiple people is important”.

This lack of clarity about the risks of fomites — compared with the much bigger risk posed by transmission through the air — has serious implications. People and organizations continue to prioritize costly disinfection efforts, when they could be putting more resources into emphasizing the importance of masks, and investigating measures to improve ventilation. The latter will be more complex but could make more of a difference.

The New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority alone estimates that its annual COVID-related sanitation costs will be close to US$380 million between now and 2023. Late last year, the authority asked the US federal government for advice on whether to focus solely on aerosols. It was told to concentrate on fomites, too, and has so far directed more resources towards cleaning surfaces than tackling aerosols.

Now that it is agreed that the virus transmits through the air, in both large and small droplets, efforts to prevent spread should focus on improving ventilation or installing rigorously tested air purifiers. People must also be reminded to wear masks and maintain a safe distance. At the same time, agencies such as the WHO and the CDC need to update their guidance on the basis of current knowledge. Research on the virus and on COVID-19 moves quickly, so public-health agencies have a responsibility to present clear, up-to-date information that provides what people need to keep themselves and others safe.

[/unQuote]; 2/17/21, 6:37 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Maybe their Governor will tell them the truth about the type of wind turbines that Texas chose to use...”

He probably relied on climate forecasts which said this kind of thing was not going to happen. Like when they replaced the Great Lakes icebreaker, The Mackinaw, with a lighter ship based on less anticipated need and to save fuel, and then a few years back had to call in a Russian heavy hitter to do the job when the ice was too much.; 2/17/21, 6:37 AM
tim in vermont said...: "Emmy award winning Andrew Cuomo killed more NY residents than the terrorists did on 911. “

And he did it to avoid any actions that might make Trump look good, like using that hospital ship that Trump sent to NYC, which had no patients despite the fact that hospitals there were overflowing at the time with COVID patients. He sent the COVID patients to nursing homes rather than make Trump look good.

Just like the vaccine was held up for weeks by various actions of the FDA and while the evaluation process for it did not restart until the day after the election, and it was approved in less than a week.

If it weren’t for the FDA, we could be weeks ahead in the vaccination project, so if you haven’t gotten yours yet, at least be comforted in knowing that the delay helped Biden get selected.; 2/17/21, 6:42 AM
Kai Akker said...: There are surprisingly few templates for the ChiCom virus experience. I learned this because my wife caught it. I was reading anything I could find that had concrete information on what to expect, and it was at best vague and often useless. She had no respiratory issues, fortunately, but days of bad nausea. That hit on days 9, 10, and 11. The dreaded word "hospital" began to be spoken aloud, but she reached one of her doctors on Saturday and he was able to reassure her that her situation was common and would resolve. Day 12 she showed a little improvement and Day 13 a lot of improvement. He says she's no longer contagious. She never had any fever. This is Day 15; she's still more tired than normal, but she's eating and living. What little I could find in the way of a template made Days 13 and 14 sound like the window for probable improvement. And that is what happened to her. I have tested negative, fortunately, although I experienced a number of potential symptoms along the way, such as a day of headaches, several days of GI problems, and something else, can't recall what right now.; 2/17/21, 6:43 AM
tim in vermont said...: At the same time, agencies such as the WHO and the CDC need to update their guidance on the basis of current knowledge. Research on the virus and on COVID-19 moves quickly, so public-health agencies have a responsibility to present clear, up-to-date information that provides what people need to keep themselves and others safe.

Don’t you know that all of the recent research is politically tainted and can’t be trusted and that we knew everything we needed to know about coronavirus before the pandemic ever started? Try to keep up with the high level of discourse and sophisticated analysis of COVID here at Althouse!; 2/17/21, 6:46 AM
Kai Akker said...: It is a great relief seeing her get through the virus attack. Now I'm having trouble with the aftermath. I was so geared up to take care of her, while also protecting myself, that her sudden recovery has taken away some of the meaning I was deriving from those days. I can't quite let go of my self-protection, either. All of a sudden, everything's great? No precautions needed? I guess I should be able to accept that!; 2/17/21, 6:58 AM
320Busdriver said...: On the basic studies I am doing on Covid. I believe that if you have a sufficient vitamin D3 level you do not need to worry about WUFLU.
In addition, Ivermectin can be used as a prophylactic or as an early treatment to prevent disease altogether or ensure you don’t get more than the sniffles. That along with vitamins C,K2, and Zinc.; 2/17/21, 7:22 AM
Kai Akker said...: We have been taking D3 all along for the past few months. It had no bearing on my wife catching the virus. It supposedly reduces the extremity of the symptoms -- perhaps that is what you mean? Watching her course, I have great doubt that the virus can ever be reduced to mere sniffles.; 2/17/21, 7:26 AM
iowan2 said...: The mechanics of "green" electricity generation, has always been the problem of reliability.

If you have peak demand of 100 and generation capacity of 150, all is great. But you are never at 150, because of maintenance and breakdowns.so maybe 110-120, Now add in the extremely notional "green" portion. making up 40 of the 120, loose 1/2 of the "green" and here we are.

For the last 24 months Australia has been suffering rolling brown outs because of the top down mandate of "green" electricity generation.

We know the problems, leftist intentionally ignore reality, keep pushing a top down mandated system. Let the market figure it out and we will be fine. Ideology pushes out good management, and shifts the goal from market based decisions to unworkable desire based decisions.; 2/17/21, 7:27 AM
jaydub said...: As I have said before on this very blog, the Diamond Princess told us much of what we needed to know about this virus a year ago:

- 2666 mostly elderly passengers (average age 68) locked in a steel tube for weeks on end.

- 1045 mostly younger crew members (ages 20 to 50,) most living in shared quarters and also supporting the passengers.

- 712 of the total 3700 passengers and crew were infected (19%) and 13 died (0.35%.) 47% of the infected showed no symptoms. None of the deaths involved the crew members, just the passengers. All of the passengers who died had other health issues and all were in their 70's and 80's.

So, what did we with this information? We closed all the schools and shut down the US economy. What should we have done? Isolate the elderly and infirm and go about our business. Why did we not do this? Because we had lots of Ken B's and Ingas in charge of the bureaus involved, and we had opposition politicians and a media obsessed with Wuflu porn and bringing down the then president. So, did we follow the science? Fuck no. We didn't even follow the statistics from the Diamond Princess. I guess we deserve what we got.; 2/17/21, 7:39 AM
Kai Akker said...: Retail sales did jump in January, so the stimulus must be working a little, at least. Three down months before that. If we can keep printing money out of nowhere and handing it out, the economy could be strong.; 2/17/21, 7:55 AM
iowan2 said...: but the wild and unpredictable weather linked to global warming will very likely push grids beyond their limits."

I've related this more than once, but it keeps being more relevent with the increase effort of setting the narrative.

Back in the 80's I attended an annual agronomic training update. One session was always the ISU climatologist Elwyn Taylor. His focus was looking at his climate models and predicting Iowa corn yield. The known variable of acres planted, multiplied by yield as influenced by weather predicted by climate models. is presentation always included past history and how he could overlay climate with yield.

This one particular year he went back 150 - 200 thousand years. Using proxy data to define the climate, and identifying climate cycles. 4000 years, 800 years, 11,000 years, and so on. The gist of his presentation showed that what "we" have grown up experiencing as it pertained to weather was an anomaly, a fluke out of place. What we had experienced was calm predictable weather patterns. Thunder storms in Omaha, rolling across the state in 4-8 hours and moving across the Mississippi river. That predictability was not normal. Chaos was normal. Wild swings of weather was the normal climate profile, backed up by 100,000 years of data.

Now here we are. "climate" shills telling us unexperienced weather is the result of CAGCC. When it is actually normal (ie, not influenced by outside factors)

We are all guilty of intuitively thinking that the totality of history is our lived experience. (But its not.)

That's one of the tactics of the climate shills. telling us what we are experiencing is not what we are accustomed to, therefore abnormal, therefore the result of (insert todays talking point); 2/17/21, 7:55 AM
Rusty said...: Blogger Inga said...
“A gun without ammo is only a club. A wind turbine frozen in place is only an eyesore. A subsidized at that.”

"Wind turbines in Canada and northern states work just fine in winter."
Even when they're not turning it takes electricity to keep them ready to turn. in other words they require electricity to operate. Not very efficient.; 2/17/21, 8:09 AM
320Busdriver said...: Blogger Kai Akker said...
We have been taking D3 all along for the past few months. It had no bearing on my wife catching the virus. It supposedly reduces the extremity of the symptoms -- perhaps that is what you mean? Watching her course, I have great doubt that the virus can ever be reduced to mere sniffles.

I believe Ivermectin with the other vitamins and Zinc would prevent or reduce symptoms greatly. There are lots of studies around the world showing it’s effectiveness. I would recommend watching Dr Kory testimony in the Senate on Dec 5th. https://www.c-span.org/video/?507035-1/medical-response-covid-19

I am considering it as a prophylactic or at a minimum, if I should get sick will take it upon confirming diagnosis. Am getting a blood test today for annual physical and requested vitamin D level just to see where it’s at. Since I’m back to work I expect my chance of exposure is much higher. Airports are becoming quite busy from my experience the last few days.

Out of curiosity, Are you another case of 2 spouses where one has it but doesn’t pass it to the other??. I’ve seen a lot of that over the last few months and find it very strange.; 2/17/21, 8:35 AM
alan markus said...: @ Ingragurb

"Wind turbines in Canada and northern states work just fine in winter."

Until a once in a century weather event happens, like a major ice storm.

Here is an example - Wisconsin 1976, 45 years ago. A northern state. I lived in a rural area - my power was out for 10 days. The whole grid came down - trees falling on lines, major transmission lines went down as the pylons collapsed like dominos, etc. In this case, loss of electricity was not the problem, it was the distribution side that went down.

Photos: Remembering the Great Ice Storm of 1976; 2/17/21, 8:36 AM
320Busdriver said...: Watching Dr Kory testify makes one wonder why the CDC,NIH, etc have not looked seriously at repurposed drugs to battle covid. Fauci has beclowned himself now to the extent that he can no longer be trusted no matter what he is talking about. He’s a card carrying swamp lizard.; 2/17/21, 8:42 AM
Francisco D said...: Kai Akker said... Michael K is one of the very best commenters here, for my money. I miss his comments and the stories from his long career. I saw he weighed in briefly on one post yesterday so he must still be reading.

I was concerned about his absence, thinking there may have been a health crisis. He is currently posting on Chicago Boyz.

I think he has backed away from the site because of the troll influx and the increasing personal nastiness of the usual suspects.; 2/17/21, 8:49 AM
Original Mike said...: "Out of curiosity, Are you another case of 2 spouses where one has it but doesn’t pass it to the other??. I’ve seen a lot of that over the last few months and find it very strange."

I am. I got it, my wife didn't. We took no precautions against her getting it, yet she didn't. My hematologist said that kind of thing is very common.; 2/17/21, 8:52 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Farmer:

“ No, [URTI’S are] not "very similar." Some respiratory viruses have peak incidents in the winter, some in the summer, some are present year-round, some have seasonal peaks for infection rates but a different seasonal peak in severity of illness.”

There’s a reason winter is called cold and flu season. And the experts warned us of a resurgence starting in the fall.

“Hey Skipper, the glorified heavy equipment operator, steps up to tell us that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is totally predictable mathematically. Yet Johns Hopkins studies found different risk rates for different location in the world ranging from 5 to 88 percent of the population.”

You do know that there are great regional epidemiological variations, right? And that I was talking of the US?

HS: That’s why I say this is simple. Infections themselves are driven by just a few parameters, and follow predictable paths.

Farmer: So why is influenza forecasting so challenging?

Because they have to guess which 2 or 3 types will be most prevalent. But the basic dynamics are no different: infect people at a an increasing rate commensurate with their virulence, until it starts running out of susceptible targets, whereupon its rate will decrease at a rate similar to its increase.

“The Baltimore-based study also inferred that herd immunity is attained or otherwise affected by any and all actions taken to change the rate of infection including contracting the virus, taking anti-virus vaccines and other medications to slow the spread.”

You don’t understand Herd Immunity. The infection will continue until the virus runs out of susceptible targets.

Did you actually look at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/new-cases-50-states?

Explain why the entire US went from sharp increase to sharp decline in a matter of weeks.

Here in Idaho, daily infections are 1/9th of what they were just two months ago, despite super spreader events and new variants from near and far. The simplest explanation is that despite masks and mandates, the virus is quickly running out of people to infect. Which is readily apparent doing the analysis jaydub did above.

Idaho has 137,000 cases out of a population of 2-ish million. About 50% of the population isn’t susceptible. No one knows what the infection to case ratio is, but four is probably in the ballpark. So that means around 650,000 have acquired immunity the old fashioned way, leaving fewer than 250,000 targets. (Probably much fewer.) There has been no change in mask behavior over the last three months, unless you count increasing disregard, and the relatively relaxed mandates have further relaxed over the last month.

Referring once again to that link, note the strong similarity among all the states, which gets even stronger within climatological zones. Plains states look like plains states, southeast like southeast, etc. Despite the wide variation in mandates and mask policies, the infection curves peeked in all states within about a three week period. In other words, there is very high correlation with season, and the correlation gets even higher within regions.

There is no correlation with mandates and masks.

Under Critical Trends, select Impact of Closings and Openings by state. You will find no correlations between increasing mandates and infection rates, save through occasional sheer dumb luck.

The absence of correlation means the absence of causation.

Unless you have another explanation.; 2/17/21, 8:54 AM
Original Mike said...: "I think he has backed away from the site because of the troll influx and the increasing personal nastiness of the usual suspects."

Me too. I don't understand the nastiness.; 2/17/21, 9:02 AM
iowan2 said...: Out of curiosity, Are you another case of 2 spouses where one has it but doesn’t pass it to the other??. I’ve seen a lot of that over the last few months and find it very strange.

I gave blood a month ago, and the sample came back positive for antibodies. They called and set me up for a convalescent plasma donation. I did have a head cold about 10 days before Thanksgiving, and my wife came down with a worse case a week later.
My wife gave blood and hers came back with no antibodies. We were always living like we always do. No extra special care given. Still shopping, traveling, dining out. (not when I had a cold, I suspected I might have been exposed by co-worker). Supposed to be highly contagious, but by personal experience tracked with the cruise ship experience.; 2/17/21, 9:06 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Tim in Vermont
“ First we can look at the experiment done in March that shows that simple surgical masks block a large percentage of coronavirus aerosols, then we could look at the observational studies that show that controlling for seasonality, areas with mask mandates early on had lower rates of growth of the infections than non mask mandates. Of course now mask compliance is so high that the mask mandates hardly make a difference, since mask wearing is as mask wearing does.”

I did read that study. Perhaps unlike you. At around page 17 it specifically states that masks had no effect on aerosols. Which seems to be the primary transmission mode for C-19, from pre- and asymptomatic people.

“If you are claiming that masks don’t work, the onus is on you to show why all of the observational studies on mask mandates on scholar.google.com are wrong, or even why one of them is wrong. I have linked them enough times to know that you won’t read them or you would have accepted that you are wrong on this issue by now. When somebody shows me I am wrong, I accept it and move on.”

First, if you remove the weasel words from the studies, there is very little left.

Second, look at the infection rate data I cited above. If there is an explanation involving masks for the near synchronous collapse in case rates over the last two and a half months, I’d love to hear it. Empirical data, and Occam’s Razor, point directly at the virus having quickly infected the vast majority of susceptible targets, masks be damned.; 2/17/21, 9:10 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Farmer:

“ Please explain how the pathogenesis of SARS-Cov-2 was "knowable from the outset." If it's "completely obvious" does that mean you understand how the virus enters the body, interacts with targeted cells, elicits cytokine dysregulation and coagulopathy, the mechanics to explain the disease spectrum, and whatever potential there is for late sequela?”

Please explain why you don’t use direct quotes. Had you done so, you likely would not have missed that I was specifically talking about the trajectory of infections.; 2/17/21, 9:13 AM
Kai Akker said...: ---Out of curiosity, Are you another case of 2 spouses where one has it but doesn’t pass it to the other??. I’ve seen a lot of that over the last few months and find it very strange. [320Busdriver]

Yes. As soon as we had an inkling that we might have been exposed, we segregated from one another. Sure enough, in a few days she had a couple symptoms, got tested, positive. She stayed in one bedroom and was able to work from there -- and for a few days, she could still work.

I took a lot of precautions. Rubber gloves even for rinsing her dishes; washing my hands multiple times daily. Ventilating the house.

I assumed I was going to catch it, so when I had some of the symptoms, I figured it was just a matter of time. I waited a week to be tested and was pleasantly surprised to be negative. Pleasantly, an understatement.; 2/17/21, 9:17 AM
Michael K said...: I think he has backed away from the site because of the troll influx and the increasing personal nastiness of the usual suspects.

Yes. I skim for the valuable comments and links, especially.; 2/17/21, 9:18 AM
Hey Skipper said...: @Inga: “Right? He expects people to accept his version of Covid science and it’s trajectory. Very impressive....not. Don’t question Hey Skipper!”

Did you look at the link I provided?

If you have an alternate explanation that includes masks and mandates and the near synchronicity of case trajectories across the US, then by all means provide it. Don’t forget the striking lack correlation with mask and mandates policies within and among states.

But since you never provide a substantive answer, I’ll bet I won’t be seeing one here, either.; 2/17/21, 9:19 AM
Original Mike said...: The trolls seem to sleep in.; 2/17/21, 9:25 AM
mockturtle said...: Kai Akker: What are your wife's and your blood types? I've read that can be a factor.; 2/17/21, 9:34 AM
Kai Akker said...: Mockturtle, I am an A-positive and she is different, I think type O.; 2/17/21, 10:02 AM
mockturtle said...: And was she actually tested as positive?; 2/17/21, 10:14 AM
Original Mike said...: We did no precautions at all and my wife never tested positive. I, OTOH, tested positive both with the nasal swab and antibodies.; 2/17/21, 10:21 AM
Kai Akker said...: Mockturtle, yes. She tested positive, and she was sick. The first week, it seemed manageable; maybe like the flu. Those days 9, 10, 11 (counting from first day of symptoms), they were bad. Of course, the flu is bad, too. But these got worrisome.

Our original exposures had been simultaneous, although she had a little more time in the exposure than I did. There was no question about the exposure, later. So I don't know if my precautions meant anything; I am reading Original Mike's experiences, too. One problem with this virus is that we still know so little. Was I lucky? Was I careful? Was I protected from some past experience? Who knows. But there was the original exposure, and then there was whatever degree of exposure I couldn't avoid while my wife was sick.; 2/17/21, 10:41 AM
320Busdriver said...: I will pass along this info from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. This was forwarded to me by my friend and neighbor, a family practice doc. He and his wife both contracted covid and utilized the I MAST protocol for early treatment and both had a very mild course of infection. They are in their mid 50’s.

https://aapsonline.org/early-treatment-saves-lives-aaps-testifies-before-u-s-senate/

You can access the pdf file of Dr Kory testimony that contains the specific protocols for the use of Ivermectin as either prophylaxis or early treatment here:

https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Testimony-Kory-2020-12-08.pdf

You can also download a home base treatment guide for covid here:

https://aapsonline.org/covidpatientguide/

Inform yourself, be proactive, especially if you have concerns or co morbidities.; 2/17/21, 10:45 AM
Gospace said...: Kai Akker said...
---Out of curiosity, Are you another case of 2 spouses where one has it but doesn’t pass it to the other??. I’ve seen a lot of that over the last few months and find it very strange. [320Busdriver]

Ofttimes my better half will get some URI or another and I won't- sleeping in the same bed. I also can't convince her to perform nasal irrigation daily as I do. Might have something to do with it, might not.

Two of our children were diagnosed with dreaded covid. One wasn't tested, the other tested negative twice. The test at the time was known for false negatives, and his symptoms were worse, requiring an overnight hospital stay on oxygen. Red Cross said his blood was positive for covid antibodies.

My wife had dreaded covid symptoms back in February, including the tell tale loss of taste an smell, you know, back when the health establishment was telling us the dreaded covid wasn't here yet., and there was no test.

And we learned multiple lessons from the Diamond Princess, every one of which was ignored in order to generate panic in order to control the population. The dreaded covid wasn't nearly as deadly as advertised. The dreaded covid isn't nearly as contagious as advertised. And a large number of people appear to have natural immunity to it- in an absolutely ideal setting for virus spread- a ship - close to 75% didn't get it.

Since the Diamond Princess we're learned something else- the health establishment and the MSM absolutely refuse to recommend or publicize and treatment or prophylactic that appears to lessen the chance of getting the dreaded covid to begin with or lessen the deadliness or severity of the disease should you get it. No recommendations for widespread Vitamin D blood level testing, with supplements prescribed as needed. The Vitamin D blood test is cheap if you live in a non-nanny state and want to get yourself tested. I live in the People's Republic of NY, where subjects are forbidden to order and get their own medical tests. But an adequate level of Vitamin D for everybody would result in lessened severity of virtually every URI- including tuberculosis. The studies go back over 2 decades showing this. Everyone reading blog comments here knows that taking quercetin, zinc, and Vitamin D ahead of time will help. No one who relies on mainstream media or the professional medical establishment knows this. Budesonide appears to be an effective treatment after infection. There has been some MSM mention of this. But still, it's not generally prescribed to people diagnosed with the dreaded covid. Ivermectin or HCQ, with zinc, and azithromycin, given early, reduce death and ICU admissions. Do you know anyone who has been given that combination early? Everyone I know to date- go home, isolate, if it gets worse, go to the ER. That's it- no treatment.

Anyone who believes that lockdowns and masking is or was for our collective health is a deluded fool.; 2/17/21, 11:09 AM
mockturtle said...: It seems safe to say that widespread pandemic panic is in the interest of the Deep State.; 2/17/21, 11:13 AM
Original Mike said...: "It seems safe to say that widespread pandemic panic is in the interest of the Deep State."

Clearly it is. Hell, it got them rid of Trump.; 2/17/21, 11:28 AM
tim in vermont said...: I guess that your assumption regarding Pacific Princess is that nobody changed their behaviors and locked themselves in their rooms once it was announced that COVID was on board... OK, How do you apply your “findings” to what happened in Italy and NYC, oh yeah, and France when the pandemic first hit and nobody knew what it was and nobody was taking any precautions. Which I guess is your prescription.

"It seems safe to say that widespread pandemic panic is in the interest of the Deep State.”

Yeah, they took advantage of it, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t mean that they were behind it. This is the same kind of logic that has Democrats to this day believing that Bush was behind 9-11. Cui bono gives you things to think about but it doesn’t prove anything.; 2/17/21, 12:10 PM
Inga said...: “I don't understand the nastiness.”

I don’t understand Michael K’s nastiness. He was very good at handing it out, but just couldn’t handle getting it back.; 2/17/21, 12:16 PM
Inga said...: “Do you know anyone who has been given that combination early? Everyone I know to date- go home, isolate, if it gets worse, go to the ER. That's it- no treatment.”

Trump?; 2/17/21, 12:18 PM
Original Mike said...: "but it doesn’t mean that they were behind it."

No one in this discussion said they were.; 2/17/21, 12:19 PM
Kai Akker said...: Original Mike -- how bad was your experience with the virus?; 2/17/21, 12:31 PM
tim in vermont said...: "No one in this discussion said they were.”

Was this part of the discussion? I got it right upthread from a “the science begins and ends at the Pacific Princess” guy.

"Anyone who believes that lockdowns and masking is or was for our collective health is a deluded fool.” - Gospace; 2/17/21, 12:48 PM
Gospace said...: Inga said...
“Do you know anyone who has been given that combination early? Everyone I know to date- go home, isolate, if it gets worse, go to the ER. That's it- no treatment.”

Trump?

Do you know Trump? I don't.

Does it surprise you that politicians (not only Trump) are receiving treatment and early intervention that the peasants aren't? Do you think Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and others of their ilk might be treated differently than the hoi polloi? Doesn't surprise me.

Everything about the dreaded covid from the beginning has been political- it has had nothing to do with the general health of the population. Petit tyrants who issue their dictatorial edicts restricting travel and worship, large groups, and mask wearing in public routinely ignore them. Why? Because they KNOW they're nonsense.; 2/17/21, 12:53 PM
Original Mike said...: Kai Akker - It wasn't bad, even though I have a bad co-morbidity. I have chronic lymphocytic leukemia, so cancer of a component of my immune system. There is evidence that CLL patients have a 32% mortality rate from covid. But in my case, I was "pretty sick" for only 2 days, and then got mostly better. With CLL I'm pretty used to getting sick so I didn't think too much of it. But after 2-3 weeks I still had fatigue (which is common for me) and elevated temperature (which is unusual) so I went in and got tested. When I came back positive my wife got tested and she was negative. Because of that and my atypical symptoms I suspected my test was a false positive, but 2 weeks ago I was tested for antibodies, which came back positive.

Perhaps not passing it to my wife can be attributed to the fact that I didn't have significant respiratory symptoms. A weak cough for 3 hours at onset and a stuffed up head, but that's it. Maybe I wasn't spreading a lot of virus around? Also, I suspect the viral load I was exposed to was slight. We were both very careful, living like hermits because of my CLL, so wherever I was exposed it probably wasn't a lot of virus. If my immune system were normal maybe I never would have gotten sick at all.

That said, I was talking to my hematologist a couple of weeks ago and he said there are a lot of cases where only one person in a couple gets sick. There are so many things we don't know about this thing.; 2/17/21, 12:55 PM
Original Mike said...: Oh, and last summer when I got it I was told there was nothing they could do for me. "If you're in respiratory distress come to the ER immediately" were their only instructions. ('Gee, I could have figured that out on my own'.) Now I'm told, at least for CLL patients, they do give a drug treatment. Not sure what it is.; 2/17/21, 12:59 PM
Kai Akker said...: Thanks, Mike. Glad you came through so well.; 2/17/21, 1:03 PM
Original Mike said...: Glad you two came through it as well, Kai.; 2/17/21, 1:09 PM
mockturtle said...: OM observes: There are so many things we don't know about this thing.

That's about the only thing we know for sure. ;-); 2/17/21, 1:18 PM
Original Mike said...: It's really a shame covid got politicized.; 2/17/21, 1:26 PM
tim in vermont said...: "Because they KNOW they're nonsense.”

LOL. I have liberal friends who “KNOW” they are right about everything too. So don’t feel like you have some kind of rare cognitive disability.; 2/17/21, 1:28 PM
Hey Skipper said...: Inga: But since you never provide a substantive answer, I’ll bet I won’t be seeing one here, either.; 2/17/21, 1:43 PM
TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...: Is anyone aware of some place that is publishing contact-tracing data? We keep hearing anecdote after anecdote about families where one person gets the Wu Flu and the others don't, but I can't find any actual studies or data. I suspect my search skills are lacking.; 2/17/21, 1:49 PM
Hey Skipper said...: @tim in vermont: I guess that your assumption regarding Pacific Princess is that nobody changed their behaviors and locked themselves in their rooms once it was announced that COVID was on board..."

Which was how many days after it arrived?

And you forget about aircraft carriers, prisons, meat packing plants, etc. All come up with roughly 50% natural immunity to Winnie Xi Flu. Interestingly, The Experts at the beginning of this whole schlamozzle, and some still, assumed 100% susceptibility. Which has never been true of any virus ever.

Oh, and perhaps you shouldn't accuse me of not reading your studies.; 2/17/21, 1:50 PM
320Busdriver said...: @Kai

If you are comfortable saying, what was your particular circumstance for you and wife’s exposure?

Most people I know generally are not sure who/ how they were exposed so your case is interesting..TIA; 2/17/21, 1:53 PM
mockturtle said...: 320Busdiver, I'd be interested to know that, too. Seems like we never hear how people are actually catching the virus.; 2/17/21, 2:51 PM
Original Mike said...: I'm pretty sure I got mine at my health clinic's lab when I had a blood draw before my virtual annual checkup. It's the only place I went.; 2/17/21, 3:24 PM
mockturtle said...: I'm pretty sure I got mine at my health clinic's lab when I had a blood draw before my virtual annual checkup. It's the only place I went.

:-O I had two dental appointments a week or so ago and it was the only place I went [I pick up my groceries outside]. So if I get it, I'll know whom to blame.; 2/17/21, 3:30 PM
mockturtle said...: And I assume, Original Mike, that everyone was wearing masks, right?; 2/17/21, 3:35 PM
Original Mike said...: mock: Oh, the whole nine yards of protection. Masks, interview at the front door, temperature taken.; 2/17/21, 3:39 PM
mockturtle said...: I'm of the opinion that this thing is spread via the ventilation systems, like Legionnaire's disease. It would explain why the outbreak here in AZ peaked in summer, when A/Cs were in full use, rather than winter.; 2/17/21, 4:13 PM
320Busdriver said...: Gospace said:

“ Since the Diamond Princess we're learned something else- the health establishment and the MSM absolutely refuse to recommend or publicize and treatment or prophylactic that appears to lessen the chance of getting the dreaded covid to begin with or lessen the deadliness or severity of the disease should you get it. ”

If you watch the videos from the Dec Senate hearings you will hear those Pulmonologists plead, to the point of nearly breaking down, for something to be done wrt CDC/NIH and these early treatments. So far they seem to be completely ignored. Many of these Docs have been silenced by their “ admins” as well. I believe YouTube also censored the actual videos of the Senate hearings. Dr Kory seems especially upset that the groups taking the brunt of the carnage are elderly, POC, Hispanic etc.

Just what the devil are these supposed leaders trying to do to us?
Withholding treatment information is criminal. We should not stand for it.; 2/17/21, 4:19 PM
Gospace said...: mockturtle said...
I'm of the opinion that this thing is spread via the ventilation systems, like Legionnaire's disease. It would explain why the outbreak here in AZ peaked in summer, when A/Cs were in full use, rather than winter.

And if you lock yourself in a cabin aboard a ship- you're breathing air sent through the HVAC system. Out on deck, you're breathing fresh air.

And we missed a great opportunity at the beginning of the covidiocy to find out how long it's been here. Every crew member of every submarine returning from a deterrent patrol or SPECOP should have had a blood sample drawn for testing before leaving the vessel. If antibodies existed in any sample- the virus would have been here 72 days earlier than that. How long have I been saying this? About a year now. But I'm just a nobody on the internet, not an educated and intelligent doctor like Fauci who one day can say, "Masks are useless!" and follow it up the next day with "Everyone must wear masks to prevent the spread of this deadly disease!" and be treated as an infallible expert for both pronouncements. I've been consistent all along. General population mask wearing is virtually useless, as more and more metastudies are showing.; 2/17/21, 5:09 PM
mockturtle said...: Gospace: Yes, but see my remark @11:13. There was never any real effort to stop the spread or to get at the root of the disease. The pandemic panic is so much more useful to the PTB.; 2/17/21, 5:42 PM
Kai Akker said...: ---If you are comfortable saying, what was your particular circumstance for you and wife’s exposure?

You sensed correctly that I was avoiding it. The answer is, visitors to our house. Who should most certainly have known better. They stayed in our house for a long several hours. Part way through I realized, this person is probably sick. I should have asked them to leave the instant that thought crossed my mind and I am sorry I didn't.; 2/17/21, 6:35 PM
Meade said...: The John Bardeen story is fascinating, Original Mike. Thanks for that link.; 2/17/21, 6:52 PM
Original Mike said...: You bet, Meade. I posted it when Ken B mangled his name.

Years ago I worked in the basement of "Bardeen", which is a building on Charter St. connected to the old hospital. I started out thinking it was named after him, but it's actually named after his father, first dean of the UW medical school.; 2/17/21, 7:25 PM