Open Thread 18 MAR 21
Submitted by QMS on Thu, 03/18/2021 - 3:00am
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![winston-churchill-at-sea-war-is-hell-store.jpg](/sites/default/files/user_images_3/winston-churchill-at-sea-war-is-hell-store.jpg)
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The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
Winston Churchill
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Welcome all to another edition of the Open Thread. Haven't much to bring to the table today, so just sort of winging it.
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Picture of Winston Churchill at sea by war is hell store.
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A place to post your observations
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Comments
Good morning
Hope this day finds you well.
Am off to do battle with the boats.
Carry on!
question everything
Wild night in Alabama
Several tornadoes hit the state yesterday and last night. Fortunately they missed us.
Got another 1.85" of rain bringing the total since Monday to 6.65". However this is the first rain we've had all month. Water is running everywhere on the mountain. You can hear many waterfalls when you step outside this morning. I dread seeing the road. It was holding fine yesterday, but most of the rain last night came down in a couple of hours. Oh well I've got the box scrape hooked up, but it will be afternoon before it soaks in enough to grade. The joys of country living as we say.
On a positive note, spring is exploding and there is a flush of color and blooms. Just a couple of days of winter left and they will be relatively cool here with about 60 today and mid fifties tomorrow for highs.
Hope all goes well with the boats QMS. Lots of maintenance with 'em.
Have a good one everybody!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
There IS something worse than snow!
Flood
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Whales: hypercommunicative with a millions-of-years-old culture?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/17/sperm-whales-in-19th...
It’s like a Gary Larson cartoon — “Spread the
wordwhistle, this new human variant is baaad news.”My number finally came up
in the Covid-vaccine queue, so I'll be heading off to get my first dose of the Pfizer jab tomorrow, and the second on April 9th. My wife will be getting her first on Saturday, and her second on the 10th. So this household will be fully participating in the experimental gene-therapy process soon. Woohoo, I guess. Who knows what will happen next?
Have a great day, everybody...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
My older sister was scheduled for J&J
I'm holding out for it here. Especially since it seems the mRNA vaccines are totally ineffective against the new strains and require new vaccines.
Will the Fed's ever spend a few paltry millions on developing treatments in addition to the billions for vaccines?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
I would have preferred
the J&J jab, for sure. However, beggars can't be choosers, as screwed-up as the rollout has been here- nobody who has the J&J vaccine available will admit to it, apparently. Among the 20 or so waiting lists I got myself on, the choices were Pfizer for most and Moderna for just a couple. So I'll just screw my courage to the sticking-place and hope for the best that I don't develop any autoimmune issues, or get dead from it, or whatnot.
Bottom line: I'd rather have the credential that says that I've been poked twice and can therefore participate in society again, than not have it- so there's not much choice but to take the risk... It's a sad state of affairs.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
There are quite a few people who
Real world data will show actual efficacy.
Trials submitted to the FDA, and efficacy numbers, are not comparable. Pfizer and Moderna trials did not include any of the variants currently of greatest concern simply because the variants had not appeared yet. The later J&J trials did include a significant number of the variants, which undoubtedly contributed to a lower overall efficacy score than they would have had against only the early Wuhan strain.
We’re all part of an huge ongoing vaccine trial. Only with hindsight will we have a perspective to compare with real world data. Any of the available vaccines we are being offered in the US are better than no vaccine, as far as we have been told. Certainty and indubitable facts, will be in short supply for the foreseeable future, I’m afraid
“The story around the world gives a silent testimony:
— The Beresovka mammoth, frozen in mud, with buttercups in his mouth…..”
The Adam and Eve Story, Chan Thomas 1963
"as far as we have been told"
I don't trust the US government as far as I can spit.
And I spent half my working life working for them.
Between Trump/McConnell and Biden/Pelosi/Schumer, I trust Trump more. And I know Trump is a lying sack of shit.
They are so urgent about my getting vaccinated. Why? Because they value my life? BAWWWWAAAHHHH!
Good One. Tell me another joke.
I can't get over the number of people here that hate the USA but trust the US Government.
I love the USA, but hate the crooked scum that front for the real owners.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Caveats are always warranted
on what passes for official
newspropaganda andinformationinfomercials these days.I do not hate the US, but I surely do hate the way our government subsists on disinformation, force and blatant lies. We deserve better.
“The story around the world gives a silent testimony:
— The Beresovka mammoth, frozen in mud, with buttercups in his mouth…..”
The Adam and Eve Story, Chan Thomas 1963
I don’t hate the USA
I do abhor what it does. I do not trust the good either. And don’t forget that Kamala told the world that she won’t get the vaccine because she didn’t trust Trump.
It’s a stink fest between her and McCain's spawn.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meghan-mccain-kamala-harris-vaccine_n_605...
Somehow this was only tenuous, not something she actually said. My gawd they’re going to run out material soon with all the cover they’re giving president Harris for doing the same damn things Trump did.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
I have no love for the USA.
I always try to improve it, but always to no avail.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
But do you trust the government?
I'm pretty sure your answer is "Np", if not "Hell no", but only you can answer that for sure.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
No, I do not trust the government.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
to "on the cusp" "Np" was
"Np" was a one key off typo for "No"
In case there was any doubt.
My own disdain for the government starts at the top with the politicians, descends through the revolving door upper management, lessens for the ass-kissing middle management, pretty much gone for direct management and changes to respect for non-management. Some lazy foul balls like in the (R) narrative (but more likely to to be WASP than minority), but mostly hard working much abused people trying to do a job for their country.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
The MRNA vaccines do work against variants
One-and-done for me on the ninth.
It’s true that the J&J (Janssen) trials had significant portions of British, South African and Brazilian variants (B1.1.7, B1.351 and P.2). Efficacy was less with the variants, but still significant. The current Brazilian variant of greatest concern is the P.1, which was not present in these trial data.
Both Pfizer and Moderna trials were completed before these variants appeared so there is no variant data from the trials. Recent reassurances that they are “expected” to be effective with current variants are from in vitro tests using a “pseudo-virus” in place of the actual variant viruses, so real world data may or may not correspond to the in vitro data.
There is a recent paper in nature.com (Antibody Resistance of SARS-CoV-2 Variants B.1.351 and B.1.1.7) that goes into some details of variants and efficacy of vaccines if you want a full immersion experience including some stark warnings.
“The story around the world gives a silent testimony:
— The Beresovka mammoth, frozen in mud, with buttercups in his mouth…..”
The Adam and Eve Story, Chan Thomas 1963
The Edmond Fitzgerald
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6DUFPNILvM]
Few are guilty, but all are responsible.”
― Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Prophets
Hey philly
survived a few hurricanes in GOM and western Atlantic.
Scary shit, those churning walls of water.
Steering with throttles to keep the nose pointed to the next
crushing blow. Oh wow. Running light without cargo. Lost a
couple crew to injuries. A big freighter would not do so well
as we did in running out the storms. Turned my hair white.
Made a pact with god, since been broken...
If you get me thru this alive...
I'll never run a boat again. HA!
PS. grew up in MI, was there for the wreck.
Too young to learn but got educated anyway.
question everything
"I'll never run a boat again. HA!"
I'm not a boater but I think that's like "... I'll never drink whiskey again." or "... I'll never run with loose women again." or "... I'll never bet on a horse again."
Gotta do what you gotta do.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
like a jones
gluten for punishment
![Wink](https://caucus99percent.com/sites/all/modules/smiley/packs/kolobok/wink.gif)
question everything
It was touch and go, now yes, then no, all night, but she did it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvana_Simons
Simons went and started her own political party and now it looks like it got enough votes to put her in the Dutch House of Representatives, as the seventeenth party to garner at least one seat.
That’s what’s nice about the Dutch political system. Other countries talk diversity but they don’t really mean it. In the Netherlands any enterprising person and their friends can start, not just a rock band, but a real political party in their home or garage, and take a swing at making themselves heard on a national stage.
Caring for the oceans.
A new study suggests ways humanity can protect the oceans;
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210317141645.htm
That is an evocative photo of Churchill.
Hope your battle with the boats went well. Thanks for the Satie and the OT.
Take care & have a good evening.
This guy
https://be.linkedin.com/in/geertvandenbossche
Who would appear to know a little something about vaccines, has put out an open letter calling for a halt to mass vaccination for Covid. Not on grounds of efficacy (to the original Covid strain) or safety (not that there are not plenty of concerns there) but because he believes (as I understand it) that the mass vaccination itself will drive the production of variants that, instead of combining greater infectivity with decreased virulence - as is usually the case, may cause deadlier ones.
He is also (I gather) concerned with lockdown measures weakening innate immune response - isolation is known to weaken immunity and if the immune system is not stimulated by exposure to pathogens it starts to shut down or weaken.
Suggest a stroll through the comments to the video where he is interviewed, especially that of "Daniel" about the situation in Israel and mandatory vaccination there (Pfizer)
Quick and dirty summary, but am off to catch the rest of a beautiful (vaccine-free) spring afternoon.
India and Bangladesh win with Ivermectin and HCQ
https://trialsitenews.com/an-unlikely-nation-is-kicking-this-pandemic-guess-which-then-why/
Canadian Doctors Speak Out (and are censored for it)
https://rumble.com/veg3uf-canadian-doctors-speak-out.html
Vaccine Death/Injury VAERS
https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/79388/facebook-posts-back-up-vaers-reports-linking-covid-vaccines-to-injuries-including.html
How vaccines can accelerate hot virus strains PBS 2015
The article the quote below is from discusses the situation in Israel and considers the claims of Geert Vanden Bossch that the current mass vaccination programs may lead to spread of hotter virus variants and actually contribute to their spread. The experience with the deadly (to chickens) Marek virus suggests that the scenario Vanden Bossch is warning about appears credible and potentially disastrous on a monumental scale.
Article from newsfromtheperimeter.com is here.
Original PBS article here “This chicken vaccine makes its virus more dangerous” PBS
"It is easier to con people than to convince people they have been conned." - Mark Twain