Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield (Post 532405)

Put a pin in this and see what the reaction of the Progressives will be if the GOP takes Congress in November. ETA: It’ll lash out at moderate Ds and Rs viciously.

The Democrats are already, in Trumpian fashion, setting up an argument that elections will be illegitimate because Trump, evil genius, is taking control of state election officials and instrumentalities.

You could take this same argument and switch some words and it’d match up perfectly with the silly argument that Trump stole the election in 2016 and equally silly argument that Biden stole it in 2020.

No white hats. Blue pigs, red pigs, same mud. Sure, the blue are more reasonable. But in a game where winning is the only thing that matters, that’s a liability. And so they all go just as deep, just as ugly. And differentiating between their tactics is, intellectually, a dry handjob. It embarrasses those who do it. Telecasts naïveté. (ETA2: Not that a dry handjob is naive. If there’s no lube, one must make due with what he has…)

Originally Posted by Paisley (Post 532408)

I know I'm really late reading this, but this statement is ridiculous. What about all of the people who need hospital care that can't get in because there's no room? I was diagnosed with breast cancer this past year. I along with many others (heart attack, stroke and car accident victims, to give a few examples) needed access to medical care that might not be available because it was being consumed by people who didn't want to get a readily available vaccine.

Originally Posted by Paisley (Post 532413)

Less likely to require hospitalization, yes, but still consuming much needed resources. Non-COVID patients are absolutely being impacted.

I was diagnosed about 10 months ago. I've had 3 related surgeries since then. All 3 had scheduling issues because of COVID. The cancer center I go to (which houses oncologists, surgeons, and provides chemo) has reduced its patient capacity. Cancer patients need these appointments, and timing matters.

It's not just hurting the people who decline to get vaccinated.

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski (Post 532414)

Dude, my local hospital said, at the height of Omicron, unless you have a life threatening problem do not come to our ER, go to urgent care. I’m not one to denigrate docs, but urgent care isn’t always good care. I’m sure this problem is not limited to Detroit. It is not a minor thing.

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy (Post 532412)

Oh god make it stop.

Please acknowledge the woman's pain and harm and apologize for your error.

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower (Post 532424)

So Sebastian completely fabricates statistics in order to support his completely fabricated factual assertions that happen to back up his pre-conceived biases? Astounding. On one day its inaccurate prognostications, on another its rhetorical hyperbole. But no matter how you dress it up, it still smells the same.

The part where Sebastian got so miffed that Paisley would dare to challenge his complete fabrications with her own actual experiences that he doubled down on his made-up facts, while totally ignoring that she had just revealed that she had been diagnosed with and was battling a terrible disease? And then claimed it was out of “respect”? Well, “painfully awkward” does not quite capture it, but that’s what I’m gonna go with.

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield (Post 532425)

“if you're infected during the omicron surge, the risk is lower for all the outcomes I just mentioned. For example, the risk of an ER visit drops by 70%.

PAMELA DAVIS: Hospitalization's a 56% reduction, ICU admissions, 66% - and mechanical ventilation, gosh, that's 84%.”

“Davis and her team believe about 60% of the people in this study were vaccinated. So some of this could be due to vaccination, but the data altogether also suggest that omicron inherently in some way causes less severe disease compared to delta.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/05/10707...delta-study-sa

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield (Post 532425)

“if you're infected during the omicron surge, the risk is lower for all the outcomes I just mentioned. For example, the risk of an ER visit drops by 70%.

PAMELA DAVIS: Hospitalization's a 56% reduction, ICU admissions, 66% - and mechanical ventilation, gosh, that's 84%.”

“Davis and her team believe about 60% of the people in this study were vaccinated. So some of this could be due to vaccination, but the data altogether also suggest that omicron inherently in some way causes less severe disease compared to delta.”

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/05/10707...delta-study-sa

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski (Post 532400)

Was this Texas wide, or Houston local? Would be interested in similar surveys outside Texas.

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower (Post 532429)

Staying in the 70s, but moving to Africa. Specifically, Zimbabwe, which of course at the time was Rhodesia. Zimbabwean chimurenga music was associated with the struggle against the Rhodesian government, and one of the best of these bands was the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band, featuring Thomas Mapfumo, later of Blacks Unlimited. When you have a name as spectacular as the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band, I imagine it is hard to make music that wont suffer by comparison, but they did it. Mapfumo suffered for his art and political resistance, including a prison sentence under the Rhodesian government. I don’t know if this song, Sekai, is specifically about rebellion or resistance to the white government, because I don’t speak a lick of Shona. But musically, it is one of the most infectious, joyous songs I know. Perfect for those times when dark clouds are gathering on your mental horizon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ukOzBFzniI

Originally Posted by Icky Thump (Post 532422)

Oh just wait two years when we will still be paying thousands month for insurance that rations care so that it is nonexistent. My GP, in her 40s, just retired. In the last two years the three GPs I had retired, died, retired.

I am guessing smart, sane people just don't want to do this any more.

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield (Post 532432)

I can't think of a single doc other than a derm (who is killing it) who would do it again. Two I know got MBAs to go into the mgmt side, and two others I know left completely for finance gigs in pharma and biotech sectors.

Lawyers make more than most GPs I know.