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Posted
50 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Both lived alone, both relied on people outside of their personal dwelling for human connection, both fared terribly during their period of isolation, which is a vastly different experience than that of someone who is isolating with a full house.  Going to SuperCuts, eating at Chilis, shooting the shit with locals at the bar, playing bridge with the other matrons on your floor may seem insignificant to you.  I mean, it did to me.  To some people in a vastly different living context, these insignificant social interactions are what keeps them sane on a daily basis.

17 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I saw similar happen to a couple of men who from my knowledge pretty well sync with the above description.  Regulars at a couple of sportsbar/tavern establishments I will stop at, no family, drank themselves to death during pandemic.  No way to prove they wouldn't have died otherwise, they didn't eat a bullet.  Just my read on their demises.

In my mind, the tragedy isn't that COVID happened and these people lost their last creature comforts - but rather that their lives were so sparse and barren that fuckin CHILIS was the thing making it worth living. We've made ourselves a lonely but extremely profitable nation

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Posted (edited)
50 minutes ago, Captainant said:

In my mind, the tragedy isn't that COVID happened and these people lost their last creature comforts - but rather that their lives were so sparse and barren that fuckin CHILIS was the thing making it worth living. We've made ourselves a lonely but extremely profitable nation

I totally agree that America has jumped the capitalistic shark, you won't get an argument against that from me.  But there were choices to be made in how we reacted to COVID happening, and societally, we made the choices we thought best given the information available at the time.  Those decisions were messy, with no real consensus achieved, and yielded results that were very mixed at best.  If ever an event deserved a post-mortem, it's our response to COVID.  But collectively, we don't seem interested in that.  People who trusted the response just want to move on and not look back.  Those who hated it want to dismantle public health entirely.  Neither position will help us "get better" at responding to pandemic threats that are only going to get more likely to happen over time.

Edited by Goredho
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Posted
2 hours ago, Goredho said:

One was my mother in a posh independent living facility that basically shut down all of its communal spaces and cruise ship activities and severely limited access to people from outside the facility.  Sure, we talked to her on the phone and such (FaceTime and zoom were beyond her ability), and visited as we could, but she went from having a full daily life to one where she was alone, in her room, essentially having meals pushed under the door.   She became unable to manage meds by herself, and the facility limited access to help.  She went bananas, and I won't go into all the specifics, but suffice to say she shortened her life by a handful of years, though it was not an overt suicide.

The second was a guy that lives up in the Colorado mountains.  He was divorced, lived alone.  Spent a lot of his time holding down a stool at a bar, and was a funny dude, until that went away when our town shut down hard.  He was stuck there in his cabin with little interaction like my mom.  He committed suicide barely a month into lockdowns.  Sure, you can say that he was at risk anyway given his life context, but he was hanging on.  But in the isolation, he decided the best path forward was to eat a bullet.

Both lived alone, both relied on people outside of their personal dwelling for human connection, both fared terribly during their period of isolation, which is a vastly different experience than that of someone who is isolating with a full house.  Going to SuperCuts, eating at Chilis, shooting the shit with locals at the bar, playing bridge with the other matrons on your floor may seem insignificant to you.  I mean, it did to me.  To some people in a vastly different living context, these insignificant social interactions are what keeps them sane on a daily basis.

So you're excluding posters here.  ?

Posted
59 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I totally agree that America has jumped the capitalistic shark, you won't get an argument against that from me.  But there were choices to be made in how we reacted to COVID happening, and societally, we made the choices we thought best given the information available at the time.  Those decisions were messy, with no real consensus achieved, and yielded results that were very mixed at best.  If ever an event deserved a post-mortem, it's our response to COVID.  But collectively, we don't seem interested in that.  People who trusted the response just want to move on and not look back.  Those who hated it want to dismantle public health entirely.  Neither position will help us "get better" at responding to pandemic threats that are only going to get more likely to happen over time.

I would've liked to see how the National Security Council's previously prepared pandemic playbook, which was scrapped, would've panned out. Instead, we got all kinds of conflicting and confusing messages from the powers that be while they were making up shit on the fly and pitting states against one another from the outset.

In hindsight, it'd be a bit easier to prepare the next one if we could see what actually happened and worked (or didn't) and tinker with that existing plan.

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Posted
53 minutes ago, bolverk said:

I would've liked to see how the National Security Council's previously prepared pandemic playbook, which was scrapped, would've panned out. Instead, we got all kinds of conflicting and confusing messages from the powers that be while they were making up shit on the fly and pitting states against one another from the outset.

In hindsight, it'd be a bit easier to prepare the next one if we could see what actually happened and worked (or didn't) and tinker with that existing plan.

I don't disagree, but we now have something better than the best information available in 2016 that was the basis of that plan.  We have the best information available in 2025 after having been through a modern pandemic on the scale of the Spanish Flu.  The best possible plan could be crafted today using the lessons of COVID  -- if we were collectively interested in it.  We are not.  Like so many things, we seem to be more preoccupied with defending our predisposed positions (or undermining those of the people we disagree with) than we are at doing anything meaningful to "get better".

Posted
Just now, Goredho said:

I don't disagree, but we now have something better than the best information available in 2016 that was the basis of that plan.  We have the best information available in 2025 after having been through a modern pandemic on the scale of the Spanish Flu.  The best possible plan could be crafted today using the lessons of COVID  -- if we were collectively interested in it.  We are not.  Like so many things, we seem to be more preoccupied with defending our predisposed positions (or undermining those of the people we disagree with) than we are at doing anything meaningful to "get better".

 

I absolutely agree.

But the fact of the matter is that the entire thing has become so fucking toxic and conspiracy filled, primarily due to the previous chaotic bungling with uncredentialed “doctors”, scammers, snakeoil salesmen, and various other ne’er-do-wells who “do their own research” filling the void, that the powers-that-be are/have been treating the topic as the proverbial hot potato that no one has the balls to handle. Or, alternatively, they are diligently working against it.

In my opinion, the entire notion of pandemic planning, preparedness, and response (utilizing the best tools we have at our disposal, including vaccines) has been fundamentally undermined for the foreseeable future. Simply put, what you’re correctly asking for is a nominally functioning society in which smart people who study and know things can help guide us through crises. What we have is decidedly not that right now.

Twenty years ago, that wasn’t the case. Or, at the very least, we kept up appearances and muddled through with generally good intentions for promoting the general welfare, in principle.

I can only hope and pray it gets better someday.

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Posted
1 minute ago, bolverk said:

 

I absolutely agree.

But the fact of the matter is that the entire thing has become so fucking toxic and conspiracy filled, primarily due to the previous chaotic bungling with uncredentialed “doctors”, scammers, snakeoil salesmen, and various other ne’er-do-wells who “do their own research” filling the void, that the powers-that-be are/have been treating the topic as the proverbial hot potato that no one has the balls to handle. Or, alternatively, they are diligently working against it.

In my opinion, the entire notion of pandemic planning, preparedness, and response (utilizing the best tools we have at our disposal, including vaccines) has been fundamentally undermined for the foreseeable future. Simply put, what you’re correctly asking for is a nominally functioning society in which smart people who study and know things can help guide us through crises. What we have is decidedly not that right now.

Twenty years ago, that wasn’t the case. Or, at the very least, we kept up appearances and muddled through with generally good intentions for promoting the general welfare, in principle.

I can only hope and pray it gets better someday.

Here here.

Posted (edited)

Trump/Musk/RFK Jr shut down a big contract with Moderna for a bird-flu vaccine

https://news.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2025/Moderna-Announces-Update-on-Investigational-Pandemic-Influenza-Program-/default.aspx

The Company had previously expected to advance the program to late-stage development with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); however, today Moderna received notice that HHS will terminate the award for the late-stage development and right to purchase pre-pandemic influenza vaccines.

"While the termination of funding from HHS adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis of the Phase 1/2 study of our H5 avian flu vaccine and we will explore alternative paths forward for the program," said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats."

The Phase 1/2 study evaluated a two-dose regimen of Moderna's investigational avian influenza vaccine. mRNA-1018 demonstrated a rapid, potent and durable immune response. At baseline, pre-existing immunity was minimal, with only 2.1% of participants showing hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody titers ≥1:40, an HAI titer considered to correlate with protection. At Day 43, three weeks after the second vaccination, 97.8% of participants achieved titers ≥1:40 with a 44.5-fold increase of titers from baseline.

The investigational vaccine was generally well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting tolerability concerns observed. Most solicited adverse reactions were Grade 1 or 2 and did not increase significantly with number of doses or between first and second doses. Further data is expected to be submitted for presentation at an upcoming scientific meeting.

Moderna will explore alternatives for late-stage development and manufacturing of the H5 program consistent with the Company's strategic commitment to pandemic preparedness.

Edited by atomheartbevo
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Posted (edited)

We traveled Colorado one summer in an RV and I had an active law practice but not without high stress from the pandemic, kids at home, and some volunteer orgs too, and so while we weren’t the family with driveway happy hours we weren’t lacking completely and covid lock downs did nearly break me. I honestly don’t feel like I snapped out of it until this year when I recovered from long covid.  
 

I don’t know what the right answer is, I would probably isolate voluntarily until we knew more on the next pandemic but I do know this public health policy even when implemented perfectly stands in direct opposition of individual freedom (though in the end saving the public has a long term positive impact on individual life and therefore individual freedom). So it is destined to fail in the US.

Edited by troph
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Posted

We had less than adequate uptake on the vaccine.  We had less than adequate mask usage.  People who could not sustain the "isolation" were more often than not susceptible to that lack of connection regardless of the cause, and I am most certainly not diminishing mental health issues, etc.  It was very real.  That said, there were plenty of things we could have improved upon but we were given highly conflicted messages and it had a real toll -- a death toll.  Those are the fact.s

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Posted

Hermit by nature. Charming crowds a developed skill. 
 

You know what else stands in opposition to individual freedom? 
The draft. Conscripting citizens to fight a war. 
 

Given that we lost more citizens in a year to COVID than any year of War, ever, I wonder why folks talk about lockdown as contrary to freedom. Doesn’t follow. To me.

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Posted

Can't imagine why they are release this on a friday afternoon.

Brace Yourself Here We Go GIF by MOODMAN

6 cases of measles confirmed in Williamson County, DSHS report says | KXAN Austin

Six cases of measles have been confirmed in Williamson County, according to an update from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Friday.

Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) wanted to highlight that the DSHS update includes both confirmed and epidemiologically linked measles cases.

“The CDC defines epidemiologically linked case: a case in which the patient has/has had contact with one or more persons who have/had the disease, and transmission of the agent by the usual modes of transmission is plausible,” a press release from WCCHD said.

---

Williamson County health officials said the county has had two confirmed cases that were verified by a test. The rest are considered epidemiologically linked cases.

“At this time, we are unable to provide additional details about the cases other than they are epidemiologically linked cases,” WCCHD said.

Earlier this month, on May 22, Williamson County confirmed its first measles case this year. The case involved a school-age child from Leander who attended Bar W. Elementary School, according to officials.

In the Friday update by DSHS, there were no changes to the number of measles cases in Travis County (2) and Hays County (1).

“At this time, 738 cases have been confirmed since late January. This is an increase of nine since the May 27 update,” DSHS said in its Friday update.

----

If you check the map, while the numbers are still low, it's reached all of the major population centers in Texas.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

You know what else stands in opposition to individual freedom? 
The draft. Conscripting citizens to fight a war. 

Yeah, that last draft was horrible, unethical, and a total shit show. We should probably not do that again. 

Posted

"The science has not changed" may be one of the most misleading and totally nonsensical statements made by someone that is trying to influence public health regarding to covid boosters. Just total garbage rhetoric that contributes nothing to the public health debate. 

Posted

LOL the last time I heard people complaining about COVID lockdowns and facemasks, it was a bunch of MAGA boomers complaining about all the shut down playgrounds. They just want something to be aggrieved over so they can claim victimhood.

They don't give a shit about "freedom", they're just oppositionially defiant shitheads.

 

It's gonna be a hoot when they do the same fuck fuck games with measles. Sure am glad my daughter has her first MMR dose

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Posted (edited)

When they shut down parks for a minute I was pretty irritated. No they didn’t know for sure but it was a step too far. But it wasn’t Dems, that was straight up Trump and Abbott around here.

Edited by troph
Posted
6 hours ago, Captainant said:

It's gonna be a hoot when they do the same fuck fuck games with measles. Sure am glad my daughter has her first MMR dose

If Williamson County/state of Texas says there's six confirmed cases, I wonder how many that really is.

Posted

She really went off the deep end when her dad died. She was insufferable before, but she's gone full blown down the rabbit hole now. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Js1 said:

She really went off the deep end when her dad died. She was insufferable before, but she's gone full blown down the rabbit hole now. 

There’s a lot that I didn’t agree with Senator McCain on, but I believe he was an honorable man and deeply cared about his country, the State of Arizona and his family. I voted for him several times when I lived in Arizona. It makes me sad for him posthumously to see what a wretched human being his daughter has turned into.

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Posted
1 hour ago, Goofyboy said:

That’s real?? Holy shit.

There is nothing -- not a single thing -- in 2025 that doesn't come back to "oh.....so it's a grift."

We've made snake oil great again.

Buy your spike protein detox with Trump coin crypto today!  And get a special coupon for Jim Baker food survival buckets when you order!

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Posted
1 hour ago, Js1 said:

She really went off the deep end when her dad died. She was insufferable before, but she's gone full blown down the rabbit hole now. 

I cut her slack for a lot longer than I should have because I am a simple, lizard-brained man who is a sucker for chesty women.  But goddammit, she's blown past my affinity for boobage.  She's a contemptible piece of trash.

Still kinda wanna see 'em, though.

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Posted
4 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Cindy McCain has also done really good work throughout her life. 

She’s been a pillar of the community in Phoenix for a very long time.

Posted
9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Way to call for a "final solution," asshole.  There will be like 17 Americans left after that.

Ill Allow It GIF

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Posted
12 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Way to call for a "final solution," asshole.  There will be like 17 Americans left after that.

So, what's the problem?

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Posted
13 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Look, assholes, it was approved by the Chief Medical Board:

image.thumb.png.51f72fa158a6d6f44585662b55907eeb.png

Sorry, I only buy treatments approved by the "A#1 Top Board of Medicine."  Everyone knows the Chief Medical Board is a bunch of charlatans.  A#1 Top Board of Medicine for life!

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Posted (edited)

so here's the deal on COVID vaccine injuries - they are real.  I'll give you the straight dope on the situation...

- COVID vaccine injuries occur at a greater prevalence than other vaccine injuries. unfortunately, the MAHA movement has extrapolated that this means all vaccines are bad. terrible conclusion.

- The reason for COVID vaccine injuries is not mRNA technology, it's actually the copy of the spike protein from the COVID virus. If you ask COVID clinic practitioners how they treat Long COVID and COVID vaccine injury, they will whisper, "exactly the same". The primary theory is that the spike protein in the virus and the copy of the spike protein in the mRNA vaccine causes micro-vascular clots. This is well supported in the medical community.  the MAHA movement has used this to say mRNA vaccines are especially bad. terrible conclusion.

- if you are at risk for Long COVID, you very well could be at risk for a vaccine injury as well. now there are several sub-types of Long COVID and doctors and researchers are still trying to figure things out, but if your Long COVID as a micro-vascular clotting component, you're squarely in the risk profile. progressives often dismiss the risk of the COVID vaccine, but this patient is heavily weighing whether I will get the vaccine again given my history with Long COVID. dismissing the risk is ignorant.

- if you have micro-vascular clots they may not be easily detectable and you likely deep into specialists to find them. your symptoms can show up a lot of different ways, but suffice it to say, when you show up to the cardiologist with unspecified angina they may just call it costochondritis when your simple heart tests come back clean. take 2 advil and don't call me in the morning is a very common script.  these micro-vascular clots can impact other organs as well. terrible medicine, leaving many very frustrated.

- treatment for micro-vascular clotting varies, but for my second cardiologist opinion, I saw the chair of internal medicine at the medical school in Fort Worth, a cardiologist, researcher and teacher and he determined I likely had a significant micro-vascular clot injury from COVID. He's prescription? baby asprin, L-arginine and L-citrulline. I was not given heavy pharmaceuticals, just asprin and amino acids that have a significant impact on cardiovascular health. many progressives assume natural remedies are not the gold standard for treatment when heavy pharma has their own solution. terrible conclusion.

- research is actually pretty clear on the anti-coagulant benefits of nattokinase, it's really a remarkable substance. I took it and consider it a major factor in my recovery.  dismissing substances that have research to support them is a really bad decision.

- research is actually pretty clear on the benefits of curcumin and quercetin though it's not easy to absorb (note that curcumin is the pigment in tumeric and quercetin is one of the primary phytochems that give plants their color). They both have significant and wide ranging benefits including on heart and vascular health.  Bromelain actually helps with absorption of these compounds. dismissing the use of bromelain with them is a bit ignorant.

- hydroxychloroquine is the odd one, research does not support it but the anecdotal stories are everywhere. It does have the effect of modulating the immune system in some which is how it became a thing but in the end I didn't ask for it, I wasn't offered it, I don't support its use as there is no research to support its benefit even though the theoretical underpinnings could be there.  I don't know what to say about this one, it definitely is a flag waiving MAHA treatment and I don't get it.

- in the end, there are quite a few natural remedies that are truly quite powerful in the battle against Long COVID and vaccine injury.  others include full spectrum hemp oil, the triad of vitamin C (high dose), quercetin and zinc and several others.

- the biggest problem with Long COVID and vaccine injury illnesses is that the vast majority of pharmaceutical treatments either don't work, they only mask the symptoms or worse the side effects make you miserable. so when people come to me and ask how to treat Long Covid, I tell my story - at first I was on harsh pharamceuticals but in the end, there were three traditional treatments that helped - none of which were harsh long term pharma treatments. they were the stellate ganglion block, ketamine (for PTSD, anxiety and depression), and EECP (a mechanical heart disease treatment).  EVERYTHING ELSE was natural - strict diet, no alcohol, no exceptions, traditional supplements like B complex, D, etc., nerve tonics (yes herbs), some of the treatments ridiculed on this string of posts and some not mentioned yet (most focused on brain health as I had to endure a significant neurological injury), and it was the combination of medical treatments other than harsh long term pharma and natural remedies that let my body HEAL.

- so while some of these people are fucking crazy, I'll tell you this, I fucking nailed the approach. It's traditional, alternative, and natural remedies and diet with an express goal of avoiding the harsh pharma drugs that require long term use if at all possible (gabapentin, all the Z drugs for sleep, SSRIs, benzos, low dose naltrexone, etc.).  and if anyone for a minute thinks plant based medicine has no value, I feel really sorry for you, and if any of you think for a minute that some of these substances MAHA are advocating for are smoke and mirrors and can't have a substantial positive impact on your health well then I don't know what to say. 

- I'm absolutely pro-vaccine, and anti-RFK, I'm pro-paxlovid (and metformin to reduce Long COVID risk) but I am also 100% anti-pharma if possible (not always possible) and 100% all in on diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, stress and cognitive health as the path to true wellness and when you're ill it's often the same path back to wellness.

- I'll add that my post may come off as ableist a bit because I got well, and I know of several on this site that are still suffering from Long COVID or more specifically injuries caused by Long COVID and when that happens and there is permanent damage, the course for treatment is much different and much more difficult where the long term use of harsh pharmaceuticals may be the best treatment available.

 

 

 

 

Edited by troph
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Posted

RFK Jr is effectively disbanding the ACIP, which could result in recommendations for immunizations changing drastically. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/09/rfk-jr-cdc-panel-vaccines.html

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he is "retiring" all 17 members of a crucial government panel of vaccine advisors, a shocking step that could help to sow doubts about immunizations in the U.S.

"A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science," Kennedy said in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Kennedy is removing all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations that determine who is eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, among other efforts.

ACIP members are independent medical and public experts who make recommendations based on rigorous scientific review and evidence. The CDC director has to sign off on those recommendations for them to become official policy.

It is unclear who Kennedy will appoint to the new group. In a release, HHS said ACIP will still hold a planned meeting from June 25 to 27 to make recommendations.

The advisor overhaul is the latest move by Kennedy – a prominent vaccine skeptic – to change and potentially undermine vaccinations in the U.S. since he took the helm at HHS. Under Kennedy, HHS stopped recommending routine Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children and healthy pregnant women and canceled programs intended to discover new vaccines to prevent future pandemics, among other changes.

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Posted
Quote

"A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,"

I'm pretty sure a large majority of the public is confident about vaccine science, but here we are.

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