All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (8 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[UriUT]

Amazing side effect of covid.

 

[MT15]

That’s really cool, thanks for that. The flu season of 20-21 was one of the lightest we have seen all during my career at the hospital. It was like the flu had disappeared.

I also noticed that I went that entire year without having any colds or other respiratory viruses. It was nice, and we all attributed it to being masked all day at work and whenever we went into a store.

 

[Dragon]

That’s really cool, thanks for that. The flu season of 20-21 was one of the lightest we have seen all during my career at the hospital. It was like the flu had disappeared.

I also noticed that I went that entire year without having any colds or other respiratory viruses. It was nice, and we all attributed it to being masked all day at work and whenever we went into a store.

Same here and I usually always get the flu due to spending 2 hours on the train every day commuting to work

Will be getting my second booster shot next week. This one will be one with the special modifications against Omicron. Everyone age 50 or over and those who are immuno compromised has been notified that it is time to get the next shot now.

 

[MT15]

Both my husband and I got the new booster for Omicron as soon as we could. We’re very grateful to have it and that Medicare pays for it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Both my husband and I got the new booster for Omicron as soon as we could. We’re very grateful to have it and that Medicare pays for it.

Got mine recently

No effects, not even a sore arm

 

[Booker]

Got mine recently

No effects, not even a sore arm

Got it Friday night. Sore arm and felt a little crummy yesterday as the day went on. Feeling better this morning.

 

[superchuck500]

Can anyone explain to me what Rand Paul's theory is on why Fauci is a demon and should be investigated by a special counsel?

Not being facetious, I just haven't kept up with what his angle is.

 

[MT15]

Honestly, I think Putin told him that. And he’s running with it.

 

[superchuck500]

Honestly, I think Putin told him that. And he’s running with it.

I think Rand Paul is somewhat structured in his agenda - yeah, it's often based on some pretty outlandish ideas or suppositions, but it seems to me that if he thinks a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Fauci, and knows that the basis to appoint special counsel under the regulations is to investigate possible federal criminal activity - he has a view of what the possible federal criminal activity is. I'm curious what that is.

EDIT -
I think this is the basis:

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress when he denied in May that the National Institutes of Health funded “gain of function” research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential impact in the real world — at a virology lab in Wuhan, China. Cruz has urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Fauci’s statements.

Fauci fires back at Cruz over COVID claims: ‘I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?’

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress.

www.pennlive.com

 

[SystemShock]

Can anyone explain to me what Rand Paul's theory is on why Fauci is a demon and should be investigated by a special counsel?

Not being facetious, I just haven't kept up with what his angle is.

Simply put, he nutz.

Such statements are now par for the course; the more outrageous, the more cheers they get from the base. There is no need for a "theory", other than demonizing the other side.

 

[MT15]

I think Rand Paul is somewhat structured in his agenda - yeah, it's often based on some pretty outlandish ideas or suppositions, but it seems to me that if he thinks a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Fauci, and knows that the basis to appoint special counsel under the regulations is to investigate possible federal criminal activity - he has a view of what the possible federal criminal activity is. I'm curious what that is.

EDIT -
I think this is the basis:

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress when he denied in May that the National Institutes of Health funded “gain of function” research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential impact in the real world — at a virology lab in Wuhan, China. Cruz has urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Fauci’s statements.

Fauci fires back at Cruz over COVID claims: ‘I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?’

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress.

www.pennlive.com

From what I understand they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s pretty complicated, but as per usual, I think they are taking a phrase and making it into a buzz word that means something different than reality.

 

[superchuck500]

From what I understand they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s pretty complicated, but as per usual, I think they are taking a phrase and making it into a buzz word that means something different than reality.

Yeah, it could be that - could also be that when Fauci said NIH didn't fund 'gain of function' he was speaking literally about the trail of funds (because the NIH grant was to a US program that then, in turn, used some of funding for that purpose - but it wasn't direct NIH activity).

Either way, if the purpose of what Paul is after is simply to get a perjury charge on Fauci, that seems like a damn foolish waste of time and money. If he wants to investigate NIH funding of gain of function viral research in China, fine.

 

[coldseat]

Yeah, it could be that - could also be that when Fauci said NIH didn't fund 'gain of function' he was speaking literally about the trail of funds (because the NIH grant was to a US program that then, in turn, used some of funding for that purpose - but it wasn't direct NIH activity).

Either way, if the purpose of what Paul is after is simply to get a perjury charge on Fauci, that seems like a damn foolish waste of time and money. If he wants to investigate NIH funding of gain of function viral research in China, fine.

Has that ever stopped Republicans from doing anything? Since at least Ken Starr, they have a long list of damn foolish things that waste time and money.

 

[where yat brah]

where are all the "anti-mandate" cries after DeSantis issued "MANDATORY" evacuations this morning?? How dare he "MANDATE" that people leave their homes with no "proven" science that this storm won't fizzle out before it hits land?? How does he "know" that the effects of the storm will be severe enough that it will deleteriously effect "ALL" those within the "mandatory" evacuation zones??

 

[UriUT]

That’s really cool, thanks for that. The flu season of 20-21 was one of the lightest we have seen all during my career at the hospital. It was like the flu had disappeared.

I also noticed that I went that entire year without having any colds or other respiratory viruses. It was nice, and we all attributed it to being masked all day at work and whenever we went into a store.

It may be a tough winter for the flu. My nephew has already tested positive for the flu. His brother showed signs and symptoms as well. One teacher at their school claims that a few of her students had it a few weeks back.

 

[UriUT]

I think Rand Paul is somewhat structured in his agenda - yeah, it's often based on some pretty outlandish ideas or suppositions, but it seems to me that if he thinks a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Fauci, and knows that the basis to appoint special counsel under the regulations is to investigate possible federal criminal activity - he has a view of what the possible federal criminal activity is. I'm curious what that is.

EDIT -
I think this is the basis:

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress when he denied in May that the National Institutes of Health funded “gain of function” research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential impact in the real world — at a virology lab in Wuhan, China. Cruz has urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Fauci’s statements.

Fauci fires back at Cruz over COVID claims: ‘I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?’

Some Republicans, including Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have accused Fauci of lying to Congress.

www.pennlive.com

Oh he has had numerous sparrings with fauci during the pandemic. And stressed that wuhan point. At one point fauci had to say he did in fact wrote a chapter on immunology. I cannot believe Paul is an MD.

 

[SaintForLife]

I can't stand Alex Berenson, but this is pretty damning of the Biden administration.


Mr. Berenson sued the company for, among other things, removing him in violation of its own stated policies. In settling the lawsuit last month, Twitter acknowledged it erred in banning Mr. Berenson and agreed to restore his account. As part of legal discovery, Twitter was required to produce documents involving him. Now Mr. Berenson is making some public.

On Friday he published conversations from an internal Twitter Slack channel that show White House officials had met with its employees in April 2021 and targeted Mr. Berenson. One employee noted the meeting overall went “pretty good” but “they had one really tough question about why Alex Berenson hasn’t been kicked off from the platform.”

“Any high level takeaways from the meeting? Anything we should keep an eye out for?” an employee asked. (Employee names are redacted from the documents).

“Yes, they really wanted to know about Alex Berenson,” said another comment. “[White House Covid adviser] Andy Slavitt suggested they had seen data viz that had showed he was the epicenter of disinfo that radiated outwards to the persuadable public.”

Twitter didn’t ban Mr. Berenson until August, but its employees were clearly under White House pressure to do so. This pressure probably increased over the summer of 2021 as the Delta variant surged and waning vaccine efficacy stymied Mr. Biden’s promise to shut down the virus.

Twitter is a private company. But evidence of a direct connection between White House pressure and Twitter censorship bolsters the argument that social-media platforms can be sued as “state actors” for restricting speech in violation of the First Amendment. Courts have been reluctant, and properly so, to allow such lawsuits to proceed without evidence linking specific demands from government officials to censorship.

 

[Lapaz]

I can't stand Alex Berenson, but this is pretty damning of the Biden administration.


Mr. Berenson sued the company for, among other things, removing him in violation of its own stated policies. In settling the lawsuit last month, Twitter acknowledged it erred in banning Mr. Berenson and agreed to restore his account. As part of legal discovery, Twitter was required to produce documents involving him. Now Mr. Berenson is making some public.

On Friday he published conversations from an internal Twitter Slack channel that show White House officials had met with its employees in April 2021 and targeted Mr. Berenson. One employee noted the meeting overall went “pretty good” but “they had one really tough question about why Alex Berenson hasn’t been kicked off from the platform.”

“Any high level takeaways from the meeting? Anything we should keep an eye out for?” an employee asked. (Employee names are redacted from the documents).

“Yes, they really wanted to know about Alex Berenson,” said another comment. “[White House Covid adviser] Andy Slavitt suggested they had seen data viz that had showed he was the epicenter of disinfo that radiated outwards to the persuadable public.”

Twitter didn’t ban Mr. Berenson until August, but its employees were clearly under White House pressure to do so. This pressure probably increased over the summer of 2021 as the Delta variant surged and waning vaccine efficacy stymied Mr. Biden’s promise to shut down the virus.

Twitter is a private company. But evidence of a direct connection between White House pressure and Twitter censorship bolsters the argument that social-media platforms can be sued as “state actors” for restricting speech in violation of the First Amendment. Courts have been reluctant, and properly so, to allow such lawsuits to proceed without evidence linking specific demands from government officials to censorship.

I’ll wait to see what the pressure is. If this guy was essentially indirectly causing deaths, then I think the government is responsible for trying to at least dissuade his speech. It’s similar to dissuading people from indirectly killing people by yelling fire in a theater. That’s actually illegal, but putting out vaccine disinformation indirectly kills even more. I don’t support government censorship, but urging responsibility is fine. Let’s see if the pressure included veiled threats. If so, then I’ll expect accountability.