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I'm writing this today, but it really takes place last Monday evening. (Today being Wednesday.)
In a nearby town about 45 min away is where some of my wife's family lives. Some of them run a small coffee shop that is closing (now closed) because of landlord of the large commercial building doesn't want a coffee shop there. Probably have other use ideas for the floor space more profitable than the lease money they earn now. Nobody knows for sure.
For the last three Sunday's some of us have gone there because it would soon be gone. On the first two Sunday's my wife and I went. Wore masks. Social distance. Etc.
On the first Sunday. One of the relatives, who is my friend, introduced me to his older brother. (we're all old men, fyi) After talking a bit, we fist-bumped instead of shaking hands as we parted.
On the 2nd Sunday. Nothing eventful. Talked with a few people including my friend whose brother I met the week prior. Didn't see the brother I met the week prior.
On the 3rd Sunday we didn't go because covid cases were on the increase in the local area. Sad because that was the final day the shop would be open. But hey we're now used to spending holidays alone in our house. Very sad. But no covid.
Next day, which brings me to last Monday evening. I get word through my wife that the person (the brother of a family member friend) I had met two weeks and a day ago has died from covid-19.
My first reaction was: WOW That was fast! I just met the guy. He seemed careful enough. (of course, I don't know vax status and don't ask unless people are coming into my home)
Second reaction between my wife and I were that if we had been exposed we would probably have symptoms by now. Of course, no symptoms as of the day I'm writing this. We rarely go out of our house. We even have groceries delivered to our door. Do Target pick up orders that get loaded into the vehicle trunk, etc. Amazon deliveries. Etc. (I do go to a deserted office every day because quiet and well lit.)
Some thoughts.
In the past I had posted that 1 in 500 Americans have died of covid-19. I know it is a joke to some people here.
Recently I googled and recalculated it to be 1 in 412 and posted that here.
As the numbers of dead go up and up, we will arrive at 1 in 400. Eventually 1 in 350. Etc.
The numbers don't lie. They are not fake news. They are statistics. And they represent real people who died of covid-19. The reasons don't matter so much.
Eventually everyone will know of someone within some small number of proximate connections who will (or has already) died from covid-19.
Once again, just to keep beating a dead horse: it is not vaccinated people who are filling up hospitals and taking up all the ICU beds. Wearing a mask is to protect other people more than yourself. Social distancing protects you both.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 22 2021, @06:48PM (45 children)
Given time, every American alive today will be dead. COVID or not. It sucks. We can empathize and sympathize with each other, but it doesn't change any facts. I am sorry you lost a new found potential friend. But, that's life.
If it makes you feel better to beat that dead horse, beat away. The horse doesn't care, after all.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday December 22 2021, @06:58PM (23 children)
The word "Christian" has so much baggage, but as a believer in Jesus and student of the bible, I actually look forward to the next life. It will not suck. I will eventually get there and have no fear of it. When the time comes, I won't even look back. Just a personal opinion.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:15PM (22 children)
One thing alone am I sure of, regarding the next life. A lot of people are going to be terribly surprised when they get there. My dad, for instance, may have sat on a marble bench, strumming on a harp (more likely a home made guitar, but he might try a harp) for a short while - then he ran off and got into some kind of trouble with the local constabulary. When it comes my turn, I'll have nothing to do with marble benches and harps. There's going to be an entire universe of creation to explore, and I'll only have one eternity to get it done in. I wonder if Kawasaki has a dealership in Heaven? A motorcycle will do - for starters.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:25PM (21 children)
I like the first five versus of Rev 22. Not only the part about reigning with him, but also the part about serving him.
I'll be happy to play musical instruments. And have plenty of time to learn them.
We won't want things that aren't good. Anything we will want we can have.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:45PM (20 children)
Ahhhhhh - you subscribe to the idea that God is going to remake all of us? He's going to twist, bend, refold, and reform all of us so that we don't have our current dreams, desires, etc? Then, it won't be me. It isn't my dad, it isn't my mom. God could have saved a lot of trouble by creating more angels or android servants, instead of creating Man.
Free will. If God removes my will to explore the universe, it won't be me, and that whole promise of paradise is a lie. If you see me sitting on that marble bench with a harp, it will most certainly NOT be me.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday December 22 2021, @10:35PM (18 children)
I think it is as simple as God is going to fix our sin problem.
While we might have forgiveness in this life, every believer I know still struggles with it. I look forward to not wanting anything that is not good. I think that is how it was originally intended to be.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:38AM (17 children)
So, why is there a "sin problem?" Could we have been created such that we would not fall victim to a "sin problem?" And if so, why were we not so created?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @06:18AM (1 child)
Are you familiar with the Star Trek TOS episode Return of the Archons? The society is controlled by a computer that was programmed millennia ago by someone named Landru. The society is peaceful and tranquil because the computer imposes its will on the people living there. Other than the red hour, there is no violence, no disorder, no hatred, nor any other evils like that. However, the people exist in a state of mindless bliss, devoid of free thought and creativity. The computer refers to the people under its control as the body. It insists that the body is healthy, but that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are disrupting the peace and tranquility. The computer compares them to an infection that must be eradicated. Kirk argues with the computer, saying that it is evil, that it is killing the body because of the lack of creativity, and that the computer must be destroyed.
Do you want to live in a society where free thought and creativity are absent, reserved only for the one who oversees the society? It's one thing to live a particular way. It's totally different to have that imposed upon you.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @04:45PM
Not what I'm asking. I'm asking if free will necessarily entails sin or the possibility thereof. Please refer to my reply to DannyB down below for why "butbut MUH FREE WILL!" isn't an answer to this.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:45PM (14 children)
I'm not the right one to ask. But I think it may have something to do with free will.
Happy holidays!
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @04:41PM (13 children)
Oh, but you are definitely the right one to ask, since you're making all these grandiose claims with eternal consequences. You DO understand your own religion, right? You don't just scroll to the end like an EULA and click "I accept?"
Okay, free will, let's go with that. We now have a 2 by 2 matrix or truth table. What is the state of affairs in heaven?
1) There exists free will in heaven, to at least the extent we have it here, but no sin
2) There exists no or reduced free will in heaven, but no sin
3) There exists free will in heaven, to at least the extent we have it here, and also sin
4) There exists no or reduced free will in heaven, and also sin
Be careful how you answer this. Remember, there was one rebellion already...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @05:52PM (8 children)
The answer is #3. There most certainly is sin in Heaven. Those who sin are cast out of Heaven.
The three realms described in the Bible are Heaven, Earth (the universe in which the Earth resides), and Hell. I believe it was Paul who said that to God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. Linear time is a property of the Earth and the universe in which it resides. Heaven and Hell don't follow the linear time that Earth does. Paul wasn't making an asinine claim that the Earth (the universe) was 4,000 years old when he wrote that. Paul was saying that God isn't bound by linear time as we are, so what seems like a long time to us is not perceived by God in that manner.
I'll put it another way. Linear time is an emergent property of our universe. A being outside of our universe would not experience the linear time that we experience because linear time is a property of our universe. They might see the totality of our spacetime: our past, present, and future.
I object to the idea that there was a rebellion in Heaven, because that imposes Earth's linear time on Heaven. More accurately, there is sin in Heaven, there is a rebellion in Heaven, and those who sin are cast out of Heaven. There is free will in Heaven. There is sin in Heaven.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 24 2021, @03:54AM (7 children)
Has it occurred to you that this is very much a classic power struggle of the sort seen all across the various ANE pantheons? Of which, note, Yahweh was a part (Ugaritic), and not even the supreme god-figure, at that! A truly all-good, all-powerful, and all-knowing being wouldn't *have* enemies to begin with. I've never understood why so few people seem to cotton on to these simple little logical gaps in the myth...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 24 2021, @06:28AM (6 children)
As formulated, that seems like a non-sequitur. If I inserted a benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient being into a universe containing evil, unless the being would instantly eradicate the evil, I think it follows that the being might well have enemies. As posed, what you're saying does not seem logical.
I think what you're getting at is a bit different. In the creation story, the creator is good and pronounces all of creation as good. Even with free will, if the creator and all of creation is good, why would evil spontaneously come into existence? I think that's what you're actually trying to get at.
Quantum tunneling, perhaps? Given an infinite amount of time, anything that could possibly occur will occur.
All joking about quantum mechanics aside, it's a question I've pondered over many times. I don't have a good answer to why evil should spontaneously arise from those conditions.
I think, therefore I am. Why should anything exist at all? Why should something be preferred over nothing? The answer seems unknowable, so I postulate that there is a god. I propose that good and evil may be as they are because god defines them as such. If the god allows for free will instead of making mindless automatons, what are the requirements to truly have free will? Even if evil is possible, if the creator and all of creation is good, if beings are fully unaware of the ability to choose evil, is that truly free will? Does a being need to be aware of both the option of good and the option of evil to truly have free will to choose between good and evil?
I do not know. These are questions for minds greater than mine. When one's imagination cannot provide an answer, one must seek out a greater imagination.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday December 24 2021, @05:14PM (4 children)
If you don't truly understand the question, then don't just choose answers. Notably, your idea of suddenly inserting an omnimax being into a pre-existing universe is internally inconsistent.
You do raise another important point, though: given the definition of God, the most perfect universe is the one in which ONLY this God exists. By definition, perfection does not create imperfection. This class of God-figure is already perfect, lacking nothing, needing nothing, wanting nothing. As such, all of creation is not only utterly superfluous, but actually serves to disprove the existence of such a being.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 24 2021, @06:28PM (3 children)
You say many of these things as if they are self-evident. They are not and require justification, such as the internally inconsistent nature of the situation I described.
How carefully have you read the creation account in Genesis? The first few verses of the first chapter might explain the existence of evil.
Those verses don't say that God created something from nothing. It's quite the opposite, in fact. Genesis says that in the beginning, the Earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters. Again, by Earth, it doesn't mean the planet, but the universe. But it doesn't say that God spontaneously brought it into existence. Genesis implies that the universe already existed and that God was modifying it like a sculptor molding a formless blob of clay. The language of the first few verses, with words like darkness and abyss, are words that could be used to describe a state of evil. When God said let there be light, God said that the light was good and separated it from the darkness. Again, it could be viewed as a distinction between good and evil. Notably, God said the light was good, but did not say that of the darkness.
The creation account in Genesis does not say that God created something from nothing. Instead, it describes transforming something that already existed, or at least part of what already existed. A careful reading of the creation story implies that the evil may have always been there, not spontaneously arising from good or being created by God.
In some respects, that's a bit of an allegory for the nature of humanity. At our core, we have visceral urges, the desire to satisfy our basic needs perhaps by any means necessary, and rage and violent tendencies lurking. It's not to say there is nothing good, because many people do find intrinsic value in doing kind works. But none of that eliminates the rage and the animal instincts that exist within all humans. We learn to suppress those darker tendencies and hide them with a veneer of civility that is frighteningly thin.
We can try to suppress part of our nature, to hide it whether insincerely or genuinely, and to mold ourselves into something that is better than the evil that lurks in all of us. Some of us succeed to a degree, masking the more visceral and evil tendencies within each of us, but they never fully go away. Given the opportunity, they will readily surface and displace the thin veneer of decency. Frankly, some of us don't even bother trying, which is how you get posts like what started this thread. It's a thin line between order and chaos, a line that must be continually reinforced or it will rapidly break down. We lack the ability to change our nature but we can choose not to commit evil today.
I know, I've gone way off-topic. Be well. Have a wonderful holiday.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday December 25 2021, @04:22AM (2 children)
So you know the mythology well enough to know that what most believers think of God isn't actually what his earlier worshipers did, interesting. That puts you lightyears ahead of, well, basically every Jew, Christian, and Muslim on the planet.
Unfortunately, it also destroys the idea that Yahweh is omni-*anything.* The being you're describing is not ontologically prior to the universe; it is therefore, if not a creation or part *of* the universe, an invader from elsewhere. In theological terms, this God-concept of yours is lacking what is called "divine aseity" and so does not quality to be called God.
Sounds a lot more like Shin Megami Tensei than anything in mainstream Christianity, really :) Hope someone on your team knows Dekaja...!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 25 2021, @03:52PM
Different AC here with nearly 2 cents...
I have a dog - something of a rescue. I don't need him, but life is sure more interesting having him around. He knows that I feed and care for him, and if I am late with the kibble he begs me to provide for him. I do and I don't mind. It is something I choose to do.
No matter how I try, I will never be able to explain Maxwell's equations or the theory of relativity or the rules of baseball to him. He will never understand the things that are clear to me. I do not expect such things from him.
I have a son - something of an accident. I didn't intend to sire him, but life is sure more interesting having had him around. He knows that I am his father and whatever he lacks, he can call on me to help him with. I do and I don't mind. It is something I choose to do.
Without my trying, he seems to have learned nearly all the things that I know, and other things that I have never known. He will likely come to understand things that have never been clear to me. I find this unsurprising.
--
Now somewhere in this word soup there is surely an analogy that might instruct.
--
Some humans vainly imagine that the universe is their bailiwick, and that if they are unable to make sense of a thing with their limited perception and understanding then that thing is nonsense. These ones may be mistaken, and rather wander in a trackless wilderness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 26 2021, @12:16AM
That different AC rambling on here...
The other day I was pondering practicing a random act of kindness, but couldn't decide whether I should or shouldn't. I uttered a short prayer, "Lord, send me some confirmation." Around 30 seconds later, this message popped into my head, "Go read the lyrics to Desperados Waiting for a Train." So I did, and, while this is not the green site, the imagery was so apropos, it looked like a confirmation to me. The rest, as they say, is history now.
But the big picture is a mystery to me still, and I have never used the word "bailiwick" in a sentence before, but sometimes I do take dictation. Then from what I can see, there is love permeating the universe, and we should not ignore this.
This is but a glimpse into my world. Then again, I probably need professional help. Opinions vary.
Hope your Christmas was merry!
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday December 24 2021, @11:59PM
As 'Zumi says, you don't understand the question, so you are unable to form an answer.
Maybe I can help some. God wasn't "inserted" into an existing univers. He created the universe. He created everything in the universe. God created Lucifer. God created evil.
That's it - no more help from me. You take it and run.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 26 2021, @07:15PM (3 children)
Anyone who has been to heaven could explain to you that, while there is no free will in heaven, you do get to do all the things you love, and there is no inclination in you to sin any more than someone on earth were inclined to cut out his own eyeballs. There are better ways to say this, but none as terse.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday December 27 2021, @04:36PM (2 children)
...wow. Do you understand what you just did?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 27 2021, @05:40PM
Not really, although the following are distinct possibilities:
1) Made you say 'underwear'
2) Failed to garner a "funny" moderation
3) Flunked philosophy
4) Described an experience I once had
5) Regurgitated some dogma
6) Pulled the tiger's tail
7) Contributed to SN
8) Wandered completely off-topic
9) Enjoyed myself immensely
10) Hoped you could save me from the error of my fallacy
Unitasking was never my forte. For a more oblique but flowery scriptural treatment, look here [bahai.org]
--
/ Well, I've never been to heaven / But I've been to Oklahoma / -Three Dog Night
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 28 2021, @02:43AM
Better sign-off...
--
And you may say to yourself, "My God! What have I done?" - Talking Heads, Once in a Lifetime
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Thursday December 23 2021, @08:09AM
There's much we don't know, but accept, which is part of faith and trust in God. I see no problem with curiosity, exploration, learning, knowledge, science, etc., of everything.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22 2021, @11:54PM (14 children)
Because an apparent bug in the site's code prevents me from giving your comment the -1 asshole mod it deserves, I'll just reply to tell you that you're an asshole for posting this. Seriously, fuck you.
Yes, I get it, death is inevitable. But it doesn't mean that we should hasten those deaths by refusing to protect against easily preventable conditions. None of us knows for sure what happens when we die, no matter how much we might want to believe that there is life and consciousness after death. Even the most devoutly religious person believes in an afterlife as a matter of faith, not hard evidence. Even if there is an afterlife, an early and unnecessary death cuts short something that need not be cut short, and deprives others of a loved one.
We've established that you're an anti-vaxxer and an anti-masker. You've been vaccinated, but not because you care about preventing the spread of COVID or even protecting yourself from serious illness. No, you did it to silence those around you who correctly told you that you should get vaccinated. You're a selfish and nasty person who doesn't care about those around him. Then again, that seems to be a necessary condition to post a comment like this. Surely even a psychopath like yourself can find it in you to fake compassion for someone who's expressing shock at someone in their life dying so suddenly from COVID.
Fuck you.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:53AM (10 children)
Would you care to compare notes on selflessness and caring? Feel free to tell us a story in which you relieve and/or prevent the suffering of others, giving freely of yourself. Cash donations to the Salvation Army at Christmas time don't count here. You, personally, stepped into a situation, and took action to save a life, prevent injury, prevent a crime, or some such. Extra points if you put yourself in danger to do so, more extra points if you were never rewarded in any fashion beyond the sense of having done good.
You tell your tale of selflessness and caring first, and I'll repay your story with another story.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:10AM (5 children)
Go to hell you sick sack of shit.
I retract all my theories about non-toxic masculinity. Clearly I was mistaken. Any time men become a majority of the population, it's like some switch gets flipped in all their heads. Kind of like Gurren Lagann or Xenogears but now I can see that the trope of menstrual mind control by the moon is merely patriarchal projection. When men become the majority of the population, they runaway into madness.
We need to eliminate the Y chromosome.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @06:06AM (3 children)
Men are a little less than half the population, if only because people over 70 skew heavily female. My guess is that's because men don't care for themselves properly since apparently it's unmanly to see a doctor? Or it could be one too many "hold my beer" moments. Or, who knows, maybe men are just plain unstable and the price they pay for higher muscle mass is reduced immunity and longevity.
I don't think getting rid of the Y chromosome is a solution, since if the human race wants to propagate itself, we still need males. Lesbian love is not an option for more than maybe one in 50-100 of us, either. But the problem here is cultural, not something innate to males, I think. So the solution is also cultural, isn't it?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DannyB on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:52PM
There is nothing unmanly about seeing a doctor. I have a primary care doctor, and she gives me the narcotic pain meds, boner drugs, and other common "old man" maintenance drugs. Then I have an arthritis specialist and he gives me drugs specific to my arthritis condition. I make sure both doctors get all lab results and complete list of drugs I'm on. That has worked out pretty well for many years now.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Friday December 24 2021, @03:28AM
The human race needs *a* [fxnetworks.com] male. And a whole bunch of jars [youtu.be], apparently.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 26 2021, @09:28AM
Its not unmanly to see a doctor in the world of toxic masculinity. You cannot show weakness of any kind. You also cannot ask for help with something you should be able to take care of yourself. Going to the doctor is to admit defeat on both of those. That is why men, especially older men, will often concoct stories to explain the "real reason" or will provide some other exit ramp to safe face when they do finally go. Often people will blame ego, but it is deeper than that because men, as social animals, have internalized those mores and it can be hard to break out of that. The real problem is that because the negative traits are so ingrained in the sociocultural fabric that attempts to attack those traits are interpreted as an on the entire fabric itself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:56PM
Good luck, lemayo
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @05:54AM (3 children)
No thanks. The point of a kind act is to do a kind act, not to have something to brag about. As Jesus said, when you do kind acts to be seen, you already have your reward.
This journal was about the shock of just meeting someone who seemed to be in good health, then that person suddenly dying from COVID. Your response was effectively that COVID deaths are no big deal because we all die eventually, anyway. It showed a complete lack of compassion and empathy.
Anyway, the purpose of doing good deeds isn't for points. This isn't like a baseball game, where we keep score.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:21PM
If in order to move your biological death to a later calendar date, you refuse to live -- you are as good as dead already. A walking corpse with a mask on its face.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:54PM
translation:
I got nothing.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:59PM
Yes, there was something shocking about meeting someone new. Who seemed to be reasonably careful. Talking for an hour. Then they got sick and died incredibly fast. Before I ever saw him a second time.
WOW that was fast.
And thanks for pointing out the "you already have your reward" part. It's not about bragging rights.
And to veer slightly off . . . the next life is not about getting to live forever in my sin. I've had plenty of that and can't seem to escape it. I think it is about not ever wanting to sin, being grateful and thankful, and being able to live forever doing and learning things I cannot even imagine.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:18PM (2 children)
If you spend 20 years of your life to "protect against easily preventable conditions" that would have caused you to die 1 year earlier -- it means you shortened your actual life by 19 years.
The time spent cowering in fear, is wasted.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:05PM (1 child)
So if you spend 20 years of your life "cowering in fear" taking various drugs that treat common ailments of older people, and extend your life, you've wasted 20 years of your life.
I spent decades of my life "cowering in fear" by not smoking (or drinking alcohol), so I've wasted those years. Yet somehow, I don't feel like I've missed out on anything.
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:36PM
You are one inept liar. For shame.
Time spent doing tests, getting prescriptions, buying the drugs, actually taking them, and suffering through the side effects, counts. Still, for most drugs available now, all of that does not take 100% of your waking hours, if for the one simple reason that you need to earn the money you pay for all that.
In case your money comes from another source (inheritance or suchlike) and you DO spend the entirety of your waking life doing the drugs to "prolong" said life, then YES, you HAVE wasted it.
Is this explanation clear enough for you?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Thursday December 23 2021, @08:37AM (3 children)
Fuck you, Runaway. I mean it most sincerely.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:55PM
You've always had a boner for Runaway.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:56PM (1 child)
You must make allowances.
Please consider:
Pre-pandemic cognitive function and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: cohort study [nih.gov]
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @04:48PM
No. Runaway isn't retarded or intellectually lacking, he is *evil.* There is a difference. We are dealing with a secondary sociopath here (at least I don't THINK he was born this way...could be wrong). He sold his soul ages ago. Whatever's left only looks human.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @11:52AM (1 child)
Sociopaths gotta do their thing. The saddest part is so many rightwing nutters like runaway aren't clinically sociopathic. No, they learned it by guzzling down decades of rightwing propaganda telling them to be angry and afraid all the time while feeding them lies to make them stop caring about their fellow human beings. Throw is a heaping serving of gaslighting and projection so the republican suckers blame democrats for everything the gop has done to their own supporters.
There is nothing amazing or clever to the rightwing rhetoric, just a massive amount of money used to control information and buy out the consciences of enough people to build a media narrative. I can already hear complaints forming about "the liberal media" but newsflash, its basically all corporate media and there is no liberal MSM. At best they feed liberals lies as well, the possibility that a liberal agenda might one day be allowed. Never gets here, just nice words conveniently blocked by corporate sellouts.
Anyway, fuck runaway and any other sociopath that so easily dismisses preventable death.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @10:48PM
I wish you rabid leftists could understand this -- it's not anger or fear we feel towards you. It's distain.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by khallow on Wednesday December 22 2021, @06:48PM (2 children)
That's my viewpoint and why I roll my eyes when people speak of hypothetical long term harm from vaccines while ignoring real world harm (some which is long term) from covid. I know hundreds of people who taken the vaccine (and to a lesser degree booster shots) without notable consequence.
It's time to do the right thing.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:05PM (1 child)
Through my sister in law, I have some nieces who are not getting vaccinated. The father "had to do his research" about it. Which consisted of asking relatives for their opinions. They knew of one person, an actual person, who after getting the jab missed her period for five months. A sample size of one. Thus they are afraid of making their daughters sterile by getting them the approved vaccine which has been tested with well known results including any bad effects in children. It is their choice.
On a better note:
US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say [defenseone.com]
U.S. Army develops COVID vaccine effective against all variants, including Omicron [seekingalpha.com]
Army’s Vaccine Could Protect Against All Coronavirus Variants [forbes.com]
What do we know about the US Army’s highly anticipated Covid vaccine? [independent.co.uk]
If a minstrel has musical instruments attached to his bicycle, can it be called a minstrel cycle?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:14AM
FWIW That isn't the only one being researched or in trials. So even if that one doesn't work, the next one might.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:33PM (8 children)
Pandemics aren't a joke, the public health reaction tho...
Neither are vaccinations 100% effective at preventing serious disease or death. [ons.gov.uk] That's been a problem with the vaccine messaging. They obviously don't stop infection or transmission so when politicians claimed otherwise, people concluded they were liars.
Single-layer cloth masks offered very limited (often overstated) protection against the original variant. Delta really changed the numbers on that, they're useless. [independent.co.uk]
Distancing rules were introduced to protect against droplet based spread before the WHO accepted the virus was airborne. Well ventilated areas seem more important, ideally outdoors.
Omicron is now accepted as causing milder disease in most people. [bbc.co.uk] The same risk factors for serious disease remain but the optimistic case is still Omicron completely displacing Delta. Potentially fatal viral and bacterial infections have been around as long as humanity, calculate your own risk and behave accordingly.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22 2021, @09:44PM (2 children)
even if no other reason, masks are effective at identfying people who do not care for anyone else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:06AM
No, you take responsibility for your own health - listen up! [youtube.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @10:50PM
Masks are the leftists' MAGA hats.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22 2021, @10:44PM (2 children)
Masks are not perfect but it's not a yes/no result. The combo of masks/sanitiser/distancing must do something, it has apparently driven some versions of the flu and common cold into extinction.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:09AM (1 child)
No, Delta has a viral load 1000x than that of the lab-variant and better adapted to the human ACE-2 receptor. On what fucking planet is a mask effective against an adapted airborne virus when it provided minimal protection to begin with? And for the record, I was cheerleading for masks in early 2020 while Pelosi was encouraging people to go out partying in SF Chinatown. How did that work out?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @09:38AM
You are beyond stupid, but what else is new?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:22AM (1 child)
Yet again, my hard facts modded as troll. I don't want to complain about that - I want to gloat! Here's my comment from 2 days ago, [soylentnews.org] let's break it down...
Figures from Senior SA NICD epidemiologist [twitter.com]
Figures from SA researcher [twitter.com]
From director of UCL Genetics Institute. [twitter.com]
The mod-squad are complete assholes; a bunch of anti-scientific, science-denying, pseudo-religious zealots. The facts (for anyone with a brain who is following) were conclusive 2 days ago. We hope you NPC retards will download the new information and join us here in reality some time. You'll still be retarded but it'll be a start!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @02:57AM
Poor victim!
Don't they know you are entitled?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday December 22 2021, @07:58PM (1 child)
In the event that you were to count other causes of death the same way you count COVID-19 Deaths.
Over the course of 2 years, 2019 to 2018:
1 in 249 people died from Diseases of the Heart.
1 in 273 people died from Malignant Neoplasms (Cancer)
1 in 964 people died from Accidents (unintentional injuries)
1 in 1037 people died from Chronic lower respiratory diseases (80% attributed to Cigarette Smoking)
Data:
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 22 2021, @10:34PM
since CVD and Cancer are really not transmissable, it running down thru 1 in 400 is still scarey shit. Given flu is around 1 in 900 (550 tp 1350)~ish according to last decade estimates [cdc.gov].
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday December 22 2021, @08:46PM
It can be hard to know why, when some want to cover things up, as if dying of COVID was somehow more shameful than dying of cancer. But 2 of my friends died this year, one definitely of COVID. Went out to eat for his birthday in early June, and he was not vaccinated. I totally do not agree with his politics, but we were friends. June 12th he posted that thanks to hydroxychloroquine and God, he was fully recovered from COVID that he probably got at that birthday dinner. Mentioned that the two doctors he was seeing for treatment completely disagreed, by which I suspect only one was a real doctor, the other was a quack. June 13th, he posted some political rant. And that was his last post. Spent the next 2 weeks unconscious, on a ventilator, and died on June 30. The other was suffering from cancer, and before vaccines were available, had to be hospitalized, and that of course guaranteed she'd be exposed. Whether she died of cancer or COVID, or a combination, no one really knows.
A stunning bit of data, and why everyone should get vaccinated, is that over 50% of the unvaccinated who catch COVID are afflicted with long COVID, still suffering from lingering effects 6 months later. From the CDC data I've examined, the percentage who live is, at the very best, 98%. That's only if you figure that all the unknowns are negative. The far right is messing with and miscalculating those stats to get 99% or 99.5% or 99.8%. But suppose they are correct. Still worth getting vaccinated, to avoid losing half a year of your life to long COVID. Seems to me a more powerful argument in favor of vaccination than the death rate.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday December 23 2021, @12:36AM (5 children)
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/bill-gates-pandemic-prediction-2022.html [inc.com]
On this one, In Bill Gates We Trust.
For now we know well what he knows about what he did done and why.
---
None of my family members have died so far, about 35 people accounted. Some of them very old and not vaccinated (my mother is 82, aunt 97).
Only couple of youngsters got ever infected. Strangely, only those who took tests... No severe course of the disease either.
What makes the difference? Our cultural difference to America is, we do care for our old people ourselves, not casting them off to "caring" institutions for disposal by strangers.
And discipline and self-discipline. Complete change of life routines and behavioral patterns by all family members. Discipline, an impossible way of life for Americans...
I am pro-safe. Whenever I go shopping, I wear a FFP-2 class respirator, not just a simple useless face rag. For two years. And also I am very pro-safe, so I will never get vaccinated with dubious experimental liquid which even does not satisfy a formal definition of what vaccine is by virology science. Never means never, even if that would be required by law. And I consider such law illegal.
Also, I do not touch vaccinated people. I treat them same as infected. We may discuss this several years later, if you make it so far.
You may remember one of my old journals, from the first week of the Covid affair, when no one yet knew what's really happening, where I mentioned I wear an industrial gas mask with chem/bio filters while shopping and people on the street laughed at me. He who laughs last one laughs the best.
Bill Gates is watching you.
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 4, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:41AM (3 children)
And in other news, world hunger is solved because me and a few friends went out for tacos.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @03:29AM
Those sound like some big tacos. Portion size in the USA really is off the charts! </sarcasm>
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @07:20AM (1 child)
"...a few friends and I went out..."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @09:40AM
Is this what passes for rightwing wit? No wonder you fall for all the scams!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:10PM
In other words, luck. I see, for a glaring example of the problem with your narrative, that you had about 35 family members infected. That indicates insufficient discipline, and change of life routines and behavioral patterns.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @09:43AM (7 children)
One in 115 Americans dies in an year. One in 58 in two years. One in 12 in ten years. Etc, etc, etc.
One in 500 died of cancer in 2019. One in 245 in 2019 and 2020 together. "Eventually we will arrive" at one in 4 if the interval is long enough. Scared yet? You should be.
With COVID, meanwhile, we will arrive at one in 17 even if it never lets up from what it was doing these past 2 years.
To compare, regular pneumonia was taking one in 16 in the pre-COVID weeks of January 2020.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/ [cdc.gov]
Lying with numbers is a valuable journalistic skill, but doing it at a techie site is not a smart move.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @11:54AM (6 children)
Where is the lie?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @12:37PM (5 children)
In presenting the natural increase of cumulative statistic as something exceptional and scary.
The stupid liars lie; the smarter liars mislead.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:14PM (2 children)
Keep in mind that this is with a high level of vaccination and people engaging in masking, social distancing, and other protective behaviors.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:27PM (1 child)
Keep in mind that the things you listed, demonstrably do nothing even medium-term. Look at Sweden, Belarus, African countries. If anything, your "level of vaccination" is correlated with MORE deaths per million.
This is December 2021. We DO have hard data already.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 27 2021, @01:09AM
The obvious rebuttal is that short term actions in epidemics have long term effects. Short term actions that keep covid from overwhelming the hospital system saves lots of lives. That's a demonstrated long term effect. I'll note also that during the 1918 flu pandemic, US cities had a large long term difference (such as overall cases, number of deaths, etc) in how they fared from the decisions they made about policies that affect the spread of the flu.
Let's indeed look at that hard data. But hard data can be misrepresented, such as the AC claiming that a short term study showed vaccination kills more people while ignoring that the study didn't show a difference in mortality for that period (the number of deaths difference was statistically insignificant) and didn't cover most of the period that a vaccination would protect against covid for (two years not a few weeks).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:17PM (1 child)
is not cumulative, merely different deniminator (infections vs full pop). if cumulative would be quoting 1 in 150 via https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html [cdc.gov]
clearly that would be a different comparrison as you assert.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 23 2021, @01:29PM
Do not drink and write.