Thursday morning links

re COVID fear

We have been packing football stadiums for a couple of weeks now.

Why have they not become 'super spreader' events as we were told they would be a year ago?

#1 feeblemind on 2021-09-16 10:08 (Reply)

Because over half the population is vaccinated. Infections among vaxxed people rarely require hospitalization. But in places like Idaho, infections among the unvaxxed are reaching a critical point for hospitals which don't have available critical care beds.

This isn't news. You are misrepresenting what vaccinations do. Are a covid denier?

#1.1 R.C. Evans on 2021-09-16 11:15 (Reply)

And then there is the UK where there are eight times more hospitalizations compared to last year (https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/hospital-strain-test-uks-vaccine-based-winter-covid-plan-2021-09-15/) in spite of the fact that almost 9 in 10 of people over 16 have had at least one shot (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55274833). That is not to mention the problems Israel has been having with Wuhan flu infections in spite of the fact that they are the most vaxxed country (https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/israel/).

And further, today Democrats in the Judiciary committee rejected a motion to add a provision in the budget bill to include vaccinating all immigrants seeking to remain in the US. So I forgive anybody who thought this vaccination business was more about politics than health.

#1.1.1 mudbug on 2021-09-16 11:43 (Reply)

Great! Let's cherry-pick.

In my county, which is near Idaho, less than 1% of hospitalizations are breakthrough cases. In Idaho, with one of the lowest vax rates in the US, 91.1% of the hospitalizations are among unvaxxed. https://www.kxly.com/idaho-continues-to-struggle-with-covid-19-surge-says-majority-of-hospitalizations-and-deaths-are-unvaccinated/ What part of this does not mean cause and effect?

Nevertheless, I'll forward the UK statistic to the Idaho Dept. of Health and Welfare, I'm sure they'll appreciate your insight and immediately end the exporting of patients to other states and triage and stop the call for vaccinations.

The fact that Biden is an immigration idiot has nothing to do with this problem.

#1.1.1.1 R.C. Evans on 2021-09-16 12:17 (Reply)

Immigration is probably at the center of the recent uptick in covid.

As for the various news stories and statistics regardless on which side of someone's personal opinion they fall on I suspect it is mostly fake news. We have seen considerable evidence of the media and the government making up stats and stories to bolster their own biases. While it is unarguable that covid is serious and may be with us for a long time it is also unarguable that with the exception of the vaccine NOTHING our government overlords have done has prevented or lessened covid. In fact there is considerable evidence that masks are making people sick.

#1.1.1.1.1 Anon on 2021-09-16 12:53 (Reply)

re 1.1.1.1

I have been vaccinated but I am not immunized. Being immunized means you will never contract what you were vaccinated for, like smallpox and polio. Indeed, I have been told I will require a third shot to remain "immunized".

The story we are being told is that I can still catch and spread the COVID.

The story is that it won't be so bad after getting the shots.

OK.

COVID Delta variant, according to the story we are being told, is an order of magnitude more contagious than the original COVID virus. We are not vaccinated for COVID Delta. We can contract it, likely with reduced symptoms, yes?

So.

Why aren't vaccinated people catching the COVID Delta in these packed stadiums and spreading to the vaccinated/unvaccinated? If there was a fear of that wouldn't we still be banning large crowds?

The story we are being told is not now and never has been consistent.

BTW.

Criticizing someone for cherry picking the UK while cherry picking Idaho is an irony that I guess is lost on you.

#1.1.1.1.2 feeblemind on 2021-09-16 13:08 (Reply)

plain English and a grasp of statistics isn't your strong point, but at least "feeblemind" is truth in advertising. How do you explain the overwhelming percentage of hospitalized covid patients being unvaxxed. And I don't care about India or the UK.

You didn't say if you're a covid denier, but, being feebleminded, you probably are.

#1.1.1.1.2.1 R.C. Evans on 2021-09-16 14:23 (Reply)

feeblemind: I have been vaccinated but I am not immunized. Being immunized means you will never contract what you were vaccinated for, like smallpox and polio.

Immunization means you have resistance to an infectious agent. No vaccine offers perfect protection. The smallpox vaccine was 95% effective, decreasing over time. That means you could still become infected if exposed. It's only because of widespread vaccination that smallpox was eventually eliminated.

#1.1.1.1.2.2 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 10:52 (Reply)

Cherry picking? Are you serious? You said:

QUOTE:

Because over half the population is vaccinated. Infections among vaxxed people rarely require hospitalization...

The strong implication being that the vaccines hare keeping people out of the hospital and referred to statistics in Idaho I noted two whole countries who are massively vaccinated and are now having more problems with Wuhan flu than they had a year before without the vaccines.

Let's go a bit further. The CDC defines a vaccinated person as one who has gotten his second jab more than two weeks ago. Well, if you get the Wu flu within two weeks of your second jab, you are part of the problem of the unvaccinated. Similarly, if you had a side effect within two weeks of your second jab, those would not be relatable to the vaccine.

It's not that Biden, whom I did not mention, is an idiot about immigration, it's that Democrats who are so intent on vaccinating every US citizen have displayed no similar interest in vaccinating immigrants who want to stay in the US permanently (much less all the illegal immigrants who have entered the country in the last eight months). Surely, if our response to the Wuhan flu were driven by health and the vaccines were safe and effective, everybody should be vaccinated yet that's not the case. Why?

#1.1.1.1.3 mudbug on 2021-09-16 13:26 (Reply)

mudbug: Democrats who are so intent on vaccinating every US citizen have displayed no similar interest in vaccinating immigrants who want to stay in the US permanently

• COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone in the U.S. regardless of immigration status.
• Workers in the U.S. will be covered by the new OSHA regulations concerning COVID-19 regardless of immigration status.
• People applying for immigration status will have to show they have been vaccination against COVID-19 as part of the required medical exam.

#1.1.1.1.3.1 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 10:46 (Reply)

mudbug: I noted two whole countries who are massively vaccinated and are now having more problems with Wuhan flu than they had a year before without the vaccines.

See Antonelli et al., Risk factors and disease profile of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app: a prospective, community-based, nested, case-control study, The Lancet, September 2021: "Vaccination (compared with no vaccination) was associated with reduced odds of hospitalisation or having more than five symptoms in the first week of illness following the first or second dose, and long-duration (≥28 days) symptoms following the second dose."

In the UK, the hospitalization crisis is largely among the unvaccinated.

#1.1.1.1.3.2 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 11:22 (Reply)

Ivermectin vs Covid in a poor, high density state. (India) Can be found at Karl Denningers place at market-ticker.org.

#1.1.1.1.4 indyjonesouthere on 2021-09-16 14:14 (Reply)

mudbug: And then there is the UK where there are eight times more hospitalizations compared to last year

UK Cases
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/2E7A/production/_120589811_optimised-uk_daily_cases_with_ra_16sep-nc.png

UK Deaths
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/A3AA/production/_120589814_optimised-uk_daily_deaths_with_ra_16sep-nc.png

#1.1.1.2 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 10:40 (Reply)

mudbug: And then there is the UK where there are eight times more hospitalizations compared to last year

You might want to refine your position somewhat.

UK Hospitalizations
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exports/uk-daily-covid-admissions.svg

#1.1.1.3 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 11:13 (Reply)

Texas looks like it may have just passed the peak of this latest wave, (I guess 'Delta'), but I know nurses and doctors who staff the local hospital facility and we are still at capacity here. I had dinner with a surgeon a few hours ago. The ICU is still full and other areas have been re-purposed to provide ICU care temporarily. A nurse told me in church last week that 95% of the admitted COVID patients are not vaccinated. 97% of the COVID patients in ICU are not vaccinated. 99% of the patients on ventilators are not vaccinated. The cold hard truth of the numbers, here.

#1.1.2 Aggie on 2021-09-16 21:34 (Reply)

Putting the “War” Back in War Colleges

Our nation’s senior-officer educational institutions no longer teach warfighting

QUOTE:

The system is broken because the theory at its heart—that wars can always be avoided, and that it is the responsibility of professional soldiers to do the avoiding—was wrong. Preparing not to fight wars has neither averted nor won America’s wars.

https://www.city-journal.org/putting-the-war-back-in-war-colleges

#2 feeblemind on 2021-09-16 10:15 (Reply)

Genetics:
Read Nicki Minaj tweets. I can remember when people insulted the "inbred" mountain people of Appalachia. Or the Southern red necks. They were considered dumb, ignorant, genetically inferior. But read Nicki Minaj tweets. Just saying...

#3 Anon on 2021-09-16 10:30 (Reply)

Loved the marbles up your a$$ anaology. She sure has a way with words.

#3.1 Exasperated on 2021-09-16 10:43 (Reply)

She has a foul mouth. But words? I don't know, many are misspelled or are words I have never seen nor heard. My gut feeling is she was made for silent movies. She is attractive but makes the word "inarticulate" seem inadequate.

#3.1.1 Anon on 2021-09-16 12:56 (Reply)

Re: A way with words. Perhaps that is why she is a rapper?

I see that she has been banished from Twitter.

#3.1.2 B. Hammer on 2021-09-16 12:58 (Reply)

B. Hammer: I see that she has been banished from Twitter.

Nicki Minaj ✓

#3.1.2.1 Zachriel on 2021-09-17 11:06 (Reply)

The Chinese are doing racial genetics research already, and lots of it. They don't care what leftist journalists in the US and Western Europe think.

As long as academic and employment success is related to genetics, status will be related to genetics. This might be sad, because human beings have value in their own right, and traits such as gentleness, generosity, and forgiveness might be considered better qualities to have than what we praise now. But it is very natural to praise success, not only from envy, but from recognising that it is associated with providing goods that help us all to prosper and live safe lives. (It is true that some use intelligence to become successful in unsavory ways. But the association with usefulness is much stronger.)

So without a complete reordering of societal values about what is important, I don't see how we rectify the racial gaps in intelligence. We may hope that few other useful qualities, such as determination, resilience, cooperation, or adaptability are found to be as deeply influenced by genes. We might hope that schools get smart enough to use methods that work especially well for minority populations (phonics, drill and kill math, for example). But I see no large-scale interventions of use, and certainly none that I think have any likelihood of being adopted. Only individual efforts of treating all other human beings as valuable are likely to do good.

#4 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-09-16 10:47 (Reply)

QUOTE:

As long as academic and employment success is related to genetics, status will be related to genetics. ... So without a complete reordering of societal values about what is important, I don't see how we rectify the racial gaps in intelligence.

I disagree with much of this, and I suspect I'm coming from a very different point of view, being neither white, nor male.

Status depends on success. While there may or may not be a causal connection between success and genetics, elevating this issue to the point where it is now is, in my experience, not helpful, except as an excuse for some to quit. You have no choice into what circumstances you were born, so you have no choice except how to play the cards you were dealt. Life's unfair and from personal experience, it sucks. But there are always choices and opportunities even if the odds are long. I observe that personal responsibility and initiative is rarely a part of the genetics debate (is there a gene for initiative?). My family came from nowhere, and the only benefits were an intact family, public education and the GI Bill. I don't bear hostility to anyone who had a easier beginning, what would that accomplish? And after all that, this: as for "racial gaps in intelligence," you would not want to face me in a trial or appellate court.

I don't define success by changing the world or by saving society or making things more gentle, generous or forgiving. I define it by a high standard of living and ensuring my kids get a huge advantage in reaching the top of this heap.

#4.1 R.C. Evans on 2021-09-16 11:56 (Reply)

You sure write about yourself a lot plus demean others who might not feel the way you do.
Why is that?

#4.1.1 Zachinoff on 2021-09-16 17:16 (Reply)

I don't think you quite caught my meaning. Ah well. On to your points.

Genetics is not elevated to any importance in formal academic discourse about outcomes. It occupies a spot of moderate prominence in the popular imagination, but in the academy, you will hear a brief mention "of course genetics plays some role," but almost no studies in the social sciences even take it into consideration as a possible explanation for any behavior. Mentioning it is merely an incantation. Similarly, on conservative sites all attention will be given to determination, gumption, presences of fathers, church attendance, old-fashioned schooling, or nearly anything but genetics as a cause. The role of genetics is not privileged and favored, it will be attacked as soon as it is mentioned nearly everywhere. Try it yourself and see what I mean.

And yet it is the only one of these factors that has a solid body of evidence behind it. It isn't everything, and I have never heard anyone claim it was in 50 years. That is brought up as a strawman by those who want to give it no space whatsoever. BUt it is something routinely being the best single predictor - if you are minded to look for only one - of a wealth of behavioral outcomes.

#4.1.2 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-09-16 22:04 (Reply)

Woke Colleges Have No Tolerance for Freedom or White People: And "white people" should have no tolerance for Woke colleges.
I got mine at my local state U.

For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls: Well worded!

#5 Sam L. on 2021-09-16 11:27 (Reply)

General Milley: Guilty As Charged

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/09/general-milley-guilty-as-charged.php

#6 feeblemind on 2021-09-16 11:39 (Reply)

“Conventional woke wisdom” Huh? Woke and wisdom, is that supposed to be funny? Two words that do not belong in the same sentence. It gave me a chuckle.

I must admit that discussion of intelligence quotient bores me to sleep, perhaps because I am not on the right side of the curve, but I did read through the Taki article. The Matthew 25:40 quote, being the favorite of Harden, piqued my interest. I’ve always viewed the Matthew passage as applying to anyone down on their luck, or even if self inflicted, circumstances inflicted by nature, anyone asking for help, deserves help. I’ve never viewed the passage as an intelligence quotient: I have a high IQ, so everyone with a lower IQ deserves my help; except those nasty republicans, they deserve only scorn.

It would seem, that perhaps that is how most intellectual lefties view their fellow humans: in desperate need of help. However, a lefty will rarely help on their own, they demand a government program.

I’m more of a wisdom type person. Wisdom is spoken of throughout the Bible. Is intelligence? Do you suppose, finishing out the Matthew passage, as it is telling of the judgement of nations, that Jesus will send the government program supporting individual with the sheep, or with Satan and his angels?

#7 B. Hammer on 2021-09-16 12:26 (Reply)

Food fraud - Someone needs to ask Jimmy Savile about the "Torso in the Thames".

Gee, why do those crazy right extremists believe there is a cabal of people engaged in trafficking, pedophilia and perhaps human sacrifice? It's not like there's any evidence.

#8 DrTorch (Link) on 2021-09-16 12:30 (Reply)

Well, I just made the mistake of looking that up. My God.
Thanks for the nightmares.

#8.1 Jm01 on 2021-09-17 13:17 (Reply)

On climate anxiety:
I grew up in the 1970s and 80s. We were regularly told that the city we lived in was perpetually 17 minutes or so away from vaporization, totally at the whim of a foreign despot or even a drunken technician who installed a relay backwards and caused a missile launch instead of a circuit test. When we spoke about things getting warm and windy, we weren't referring to a global change in circulation that had the potential to raise local temperatures by the difference between 10:00 am and noon.

Sure we had the occasional nightmare and anxious moments, but the overriding response was "Hey, that's the price of living in the United States in the 20th Century. Get over it and keep on living."
It seems to me that a culture of validating anxiety serves more to reinforce the idea that there is something to be feared than relieve any tension.

#9 Another Guy Named Dan on 2021-09-16 12:49 (Reply)

Yes, every generation has it's struggle. But I have 3 children between 21 and 15. All of them have FAR more anxiety and anxious issues than I did at that age. I think the biggest reasons are: A) the universal internet that didn't exist in my day. They are deluged with information non stop. They also know that if they are caught on camera doing something foolish, their lives will be ruined as they become a world-wide viral victim.
B) they have been told by the media and teachers since they were in kindergarten that they world is going to bake soon because of climate change. My own kids have been educated that this is baloney, but it is stressful to be hammered with it constantly.
C) As white kids it has been implied in a lot of their classes that they are the ultimate problem with America. Nevermind that both their and my generations have virtually no racial hatred. The race hucksters like Al Sharpton have a job to do and they are doing it with the media megaphone on a daily basis.

It isn't a surprise to me how many suicides their generation has. Nor is it a surprise how many of them need therapy. It is like they have PTSD.

#9.1 Dangerous Dean on 2021-09-17 09:32 (Reply)

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Thursday, September 16. 2021

Thursday morning links