COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[cg41386]

Exactly! This forum has seriously lost its mind on the subject of COVID. They claim to be "pro-freedom", but they've already won that battle in the US; there are no government policies causing any business shutdown or restricting any behavior.

There's mask mandates all over the place now.

For the thousandth time, mask mandates don't prevent anyone from doing anything. Exceptions are always carved out for food/drink serving establishments.

I am so whiny and entitled I can't tolerate minor inconveniences to contain a deadly pandemic.

Fixed it for you.

Wearing mask for two years is not a minor inconvenience.  That's a huge life change for someone that wears a mask for 8 hours a day.

I'm listening to the Democrat arguing with Justice Alito, because she won't answer any questions.  Alito asks him to repeat the question and she says something completely different.  Then he gets her to admit that the vaccines have side effects, because she can't lie in court.   

It is a minor inconvenience. There are so many other things that are inconveniences, this isn't one of them. And, god willing. it won't be necessary sooner than later.

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience.  If you are vaccinated, so is getting covid.   And I’d much rather experience a minor inconvenience for a week than for two years.

I'd rather not take that very small chance

Exactly! This forum has seriously lost its mind on the subject of COVID. They claim to be "pro-freedom", but they've already won that battle in the US; there are no government policies causing any business shutdown or restricting any behavior.

There's mask mandates all over the place now.

For the thousandth time, mask mandates don't prevent anyone from doing anything. Exceptions are always carved out for food/drink serving establishments.

I am so whiny and entitled I can't tolerate minor inconveniences to contain a deadly pandemic.

Fixed it for you.

Wearing mask for two years is not a minor inconvenience.  That's a huge life change for someone that wears a mask for 8 hours a day.

I'm listening to the Democrat arguing with Justice Alito, because she won't answer any questions.  Alito asks him to repeat the question and she says something completely different.  Then he gets her to admit that the vaccines have side effects, because she can't lie in court.   

It is a minor inconvenience. There are so many other things that are inconveniences, this isn't one of them. And, god willing. it won't be necessary sooner than later.

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience.  If you are vaccinated, so is getting covid.   And I’d much rather experience a minor inconvenience for a week than for two years.

It's a freaking piece of cloth, and you're not wearing it *everywhere*. Good lord.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Waah! I don't want to wear a tiny bit of cloth on my face! Waah!

What offends me most about the mask requirements is that it disproportionately impacts people that are out trying to do their jobs, which are disproportionately the lowest-paid people in the country. Why should a waiter have to wear a mask while AOC gets to take hers off at the table? It's totally arbitrary, unless leftists just can't bear to let their servants breathe the same air as them.

Okay then, mandate masks for everyone instead of just employees if that makes you happy. Oh wait it doesn’t because you are just making up a b**ls**t point to justify your irrational anger.

You know what also hurts the lowest paid people?! Getting sick from Covid and having to take days off work because working class hero DullCooper just had to go into the local Walmart without his mask (gotta show off your absolutely stunning face!) on his run to buy another tub of pork rinds.

F**k off with your fake populism, you are less of a working class hero than the billionaire from New York.

[Aurelius]

Exactly! This forum has seriously lost its mind on the subject of COVID. They claim to be "pro-freedom", but they've already won that battle in the US; there are no government policies causing any business shutdown or restricting any behavior.

There's mask mandates all over the place now.

For the thousandth time, mask mandates don't prevent anyone from doing anything. Exceptions are always carved out for food/drink serving establishments.

I am so whiny and entitled I can't tolerate minor inconveniences to contain a deadly pandemic.

Fixed it for you.

Wearing mask for two years is not a minor inconvenience.  That's a huge life change for someone that wears a mask for 8 hours a day.

I'm listening to the Democrat arguing with Justice Alito, because she won't answer any questions.  Alito asks him to repeat the question and she says something completely different.  Then he gets her to admit that the vaccines have side effects, because she can't lie in court.   

It is a minor inconvenience. There are so many other things that are inconveniences, this isn't one of them. And, god willing. it won't be necessary sooner than later.

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience.  If you are vaccinated, so is getting covid.   And I’d much rather experience a minor inconvenience for a week than for two years.

I'd rather not take that very small chance

You have the right to make that choice of risk assessment. You do not have the right to force it on the rest of us.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Exactly! This forum has seriously lost its mind on the subject of COVID. They claim to be "pro-freedom", but they've already won that battle in the US; there are no government policies causing any business shutdown or restricting any behavior.

There's mask mandates all over the place now.

For the thousandth time, mask mandates don't prevent anyone from doing anything. Exceptions are always carved out for food/drink serving establishments.

I am so whiny and entitled I can't tolerate minor inconveniences to contain a deadly pandemic.

Fixed it for you.

Wearing mask for two years is not a minor inconvenience.  That's a huge life change for someone that wears a mask for 8 hours a day.

I'm listening to the Democrat arguing with Justice Alito, because she won't answer any questions.  Alito asks him to repeat the question and she says something completely different.  Then he gets her to admit that the vaccines have side effects, because she can't lie in court.   

It is a minor inconvenience. There are so many other things that are inconveniences, this isn't one of them. And, god willing. it won't be necessary sooner than later.

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience.  If you are vaccinated, so is getting covid.   And I’d much rather experience a minor inconvenience for a week than for two years.

I'd rather not take that very small chance

Exactly! This forum has seriously lost its mind on the subject of COVID. They claim to be "pro-freedom", but they've already won that battle in the US; there are no government policies causing any business shutdown or restricting any behavior.

There's mask mandates all over the place now.

For the thousandth time, mask mandates don't prevent anyone from doing anything. Exceptions are always carved out for food/drink serving establishments.

I am so whiny and entitled I can't tolerate minor inconveniences to contain a deadly pandemic.

Fixed it for you.

Wearing mask for two years is not a minor inconvenience.  That's a huge life change for someone that wears a mask for 8 hours a day.

I'm listening to the Democrat arguing with Justice Alito, because she won't answer any questions.  Alito asks him to repeat the question and she says something completely different.  Then he gets her to admit that the vaccines have side effects, because she can't lie in court.   

It is a minor inconvenience. There are so many other things that are inconveniences, this isn't one of them. And, god willing. it won't be necessary sooner than later.

Wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience.  If you are vaccinated, so is getting covid.   And I’d much rather experience a minor inconvenience for a week than for two years.

It's a freaking piece of cloth, and you're not wearing it *everywhere*. Good lord.

It’s okay, these looting anarchists aren’t used to living in a society. See, this is why we need better education, schools that teach children basic community values. This is why we need Pre-K for all!

[Donerail]

It's worth paying careful attention to what's happening in this thread. The lockdowners are arguing that there are NO costs associated with wearing a mask, that it "isn't a burden," that masks aren't "preventing you from doing anything." At most, they concede it's a "minor inconvenience," a cost that we all must bear to control the pandemic.

What they're doing here is laying the groundwork for permanent cyclical mask mandates. Several members of Biden's transition team have said as much in JAMA, arguing that we need to "retire previous public health categorizations . . . and focus on a new category: the aggregate risk of all respiratory virus infections," with masking and distancing enforced by OSHA rules. The chair of UCSF Medicine has mentioned a resurgent threat in December 2022, and other epidemiologists have suggested canceling college classes in January 2023.

The logic is, after all, identical: The flu stretches the healthcare system "to the breaking point" just about every year, with ~30,000 deaths in an average flu season. If "masks aren't a burden," why shouldn't the state mandate them to mitigate those costs? If they're no big deal, why are they temporary? The argument that masks are costless is an argument for continued public health mission creep, asserting ever-greater control over our lives and over society.

[Zohranism is OUR future]

It's worth paying careful attention to what's happening in this thread. The lockdowners are arguing that there are NO costs associated with wearing a mask, that it "isn't a burden," that masks aren't "preventing you from doing anything." At most, they concede it's a "minor inconvenience," a cost that we all must bear to control the pandemic.

What they're doing here is laying the groundwork for permanent cyclical mask mandates. Several members of Biden's transition team have said as much in JAMA, arguing that we need to "retire previous public health categorizations . . . and focus on a new category: the aggregate risk of all respiratory virus infections," with masking and distancing enforced by OSHA rules. The chair of UCSF Medicine has mentioned a resurgent threat in December 2022, and other epidemiologists have suggested canceling college classes in January 2023.

The logic is, after all, identical: The flu stretches the healthcare system "to the breaking point" just about every year, with ~30,000 deaths in an average flu season. If "masks aren't a burden," why shouldn't the state mandate them to mitigate those costs? If they're no big deal, why are they temporary? The argument that masks are costless is an argument for continued public health mission creep, asserting ever-greater control over our lives and over society.

Yeah no…Covid killed 200,000 in the past few months alone and the extent to which hospitals are overstrecthed is far worse than flu seasons.

[Donerail]

What they're doing here is laying the groundwork for permanent cyclical mask mandates. Several members of Biden's transition team have said as much in JAMA, arguing that we need to "retire previous public health categorizations . . . and focus on a new category: the aggregate risk of all respiratory virus infections," with masking and distancing enforced by OSHA rules. The chair of UCSF Medicine has mentioned a resurgent threat in December 2022, and other epidemiologists have suggested canceling college classes in January 2023.

Yeah no…Covid killed 200,000 in the past few months alone and the extent to which hospitals are overstrecthed is far worse than flu seasons.

I'm just telling you what the public health people are saying, man. What you choose to conclude from that information is obviously up to you, but the signs are pointing in the same direction — unless, I suppose, enough of us vote for some real awful candidates with Rs next to their names between now and next winter.

[TheReckoning]

How long has this thread had Star War references as it’s titles?

[DaleCooper]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Waah! I don't want to wear a tiny bit of cloth on my face! Waah!

What offends me most about the mask requirements is that it disproportionately impacts people that are out trying to do their jobs, which are disproportionately the lowest-paid people in the country. Why should a waiter have to wear a mask while AOC gets to take hers off at the table? It's totally arbitrary, unless leftists just can't bear to let their servants breathe the same air as them.

It's ironic that you mention Ocasio-Cortez, because she tested positive for coronavirus today. She was recently seen vacationing with her boyfriend in Florida, maskless and among large crowds of people.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wish her the best and hope that she does not have any symptoms. I didn't single her out knowing that she had contracted the virus.

[Pericles]

Obviously masks have a cost, and they shouldn't be legally required forever. It's a pretty mild cost, and it's fine to wear it for many hours at a time. It has so far provided a much greater benefit in terms of the reduced spread of Covid and lives saved to the cost. It's the wrong time to abandon all measures when it's still sensible to spread out how many people get infected and use the easy measures to prevent infections if possible. Once the death toll is not in the thousands every day and hundreds of thousands every year, then it will be sensible to cautiously take the final steps out of legal restrictions. I have mixed feelings about what people should do with their personal responsibility-it would be good for public health if we wore masks more than in 2019 but I don't actually like wearing masks and once I don't need to I'd prefer to not wear them.

[YE]

Still have not heard a rational argument against using hospital capacity as the primary metric in determining whether we need restrictions or not in certain areas.

Biggest problem these days though may not even be capacity, it could be just that so many staff are infected that they can’t go in (and having infected healthcare workers treat already at risk patients is…not really an option for obvious reasons lol)

In early 2021? Sure. During delta? It was debatable but that was mostly an issue for the unvaccinated. Now? Are restrictions even accomplishing anything meaningful with something so contagious? Western Europe is having less severe cases due to high vaccination rates but their cases are just as steep as ours except they are a week or so ahead of us in terms of experiencing the wave.

[Can't Bear]

This week will be the 4th week since Omicron surged in US, which means the first Omicron deaths will be seen now. Real world data from US about how mild it is.

The current deaths # is likely ~95% due to Delta.

[Oakvale]

Obviously masks have a cost, and they shouldn't be legally required forever. It's a pretty mild cost, and it's fine to wear it for many hours at a time. It has so far provided a much greater benefit in terms of the reduced spread of Covid and lives saved to the cost.

Is this even true? I'm skeptical that masks have anything but a marginal benefit (particularly the normal cloth masks everyone wears, and particularly with omicron).

[Calthrina950]

The last few pages are seemingly an exercise in collective sociopathy and lack of any coherent idea part from rubbishing anyone who says that restrictions are still necessary, even if the evidence backs them up.

So I see we've reached the point where the zero COVID crowd just calls anyone who understands transmissibility and basic science a sociopath.

Waah! I don't want to wear a tiny bit of cloth on my face! Waah!

What offends me most about the mask requirements is that it disproportionately impacts people that are out trying to do their jobs, which are disproportionately the lowest-paid people in the country. Why should a waiter have to wear a mask while AOC gets to take hers off at the table? It's totally arbitrary, unless leftists just can't bear to let their servants breathe the same air as them.

It's ironic that you mention Ocasio-Cortez, because she tested positive for coronavirus today. She was recently seen vacationing with her boyfriend in Florida, maskless and among large crowds of people.

This is the first I'm hearing of this. I wish her the best and hope that she does not have any symptoms. I didn't single her out knowing that she had contracted the virus.

I didn't think you implied anything against her, with regards to that.

[Meclazine for Israel]

It will be interesting to see how the US fairs with Omicron.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/africa/south-africa-offers-clues-to-life-after-omicron-1.4772352

South Africa are near finished and they are saying a lot less pressure on hospital beds, but rapid and high transmissibility.

The World just dodged a bullet with that variant.

[pbrower2a]

How long has this thread had Star War references as it’s titles?

COVID-19 is the "Evil Empire" of respiratory diseases.

[Can't Bear]

Normal people:
https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1480347156196249604

Democrat Evil Empire unleash School Death Star once more:

https://twitter.com/Reporterroblang/status/1480364564134961156

[ProudModerate2]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Still have not heard a rational argument against using hospital capacity as the primary metric in determining whether we need restrictions or not in certain areas.

Biggest problem these days though may not even be capacity, it could be just that so many staff are infected that they can’t go in (and having infected healthcare workers treat already at risk patients is…not really an option for obvious reasons lol)

In early 2021? Sure. During delta? It was debatable but that was mostly an issue for the unvaccinated. Now? Are restrictions even accomplishing anything meaningful with something so contagious? Western Europe is having less severe cases due to high vaccination rates but their cases are just as steep as ours except they are a week or so ahead of us in terms of experiencing the wave.

Fair enough, and given the ability of omicron to spread super fast, there will obviously be many missed "preventable" cases due to simple data and policy lag. The reduced incubation period makes this worse and is probably a huge reason why the rise was so sharp. That being said, omicron still is bound by the basic rules of respiratory virology and physics. Although it is early, the suggestions of very early studies show the main reason for omicron's increased transmissibility in immune escape (vaccinated people can and do spread it at high levels now) and potentially a lower dose of omicron being required to infect a human. However, omicron still is a tangible object that must spread physically. High quality masks do likely protect against omicron, and even cloth/surgicals reduce dosage of virus, which has been strongly correlated with how severe a case is (and thus whether hospitalization is needed or not) The same logic applies to capacity limits (but I would not implement those in 99% of the country in my own plans)
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/12/31/1067702355/omicron-is-spreading-like-wildfire-scientists-are-trying-to-figure-out-why

[Zohranism is OUR future]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

Do you have to even ask if she is?

[MT Treasurer]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

Anyone, and I mean anyone who is worth their salt and possesses even a modicum of psychoanalytic knowledge knows that you’re inevitably going to get cases like that if you ceaselessly (quite literally every single day) subject an entire populace to fear and hysteria in a manner that’s completely, utterly disproportionate to the matter at hand. You don’t need a PhD in Psychology or have read Gustave Le Bon or George Orwell to predict how certain individuals will behave in an environment like that! Now, of course we’re supposed to react to this story the same way Gotfan, computocomp, etc. want us to react to other cases of this kind, mask mandates, school closures, businesses going bankrupt, families being torn apart, mental health disorders in general proliferating during this pandemic, etc.: classify it as "collateral damage" amidst a broader good cause and a slight incovenience/outlier in a "necessary new normal" borne out by and in fact necessitated by science.

When the same people indifferent to and supportive of this gradual erasure of empathy, critical thinking, and levelheadedness call those who dare entertain a return to a normalcy which at least allowed us to breathe normally "sociopaths," it’s not that hard to figure out where their fondness for the designation "sociopath" comes from. I sincerely don’t mean this in any polemic way when I say that many of these individuals are very, very sick — this, while of course very tragic, frankly wouldn’t be any of our business if it were confined to three or four individuals on an obscure online forum and not of a mindset that likewise pervades some of the highest positions of government. As evidenced by this thread, the former will have no qualms about displaying their abject views and (for once in their lives) feel worthy/listened to/in control as long as they feel protected by the latter, which is why the only way to deal with both is to strip enough of the latter of their power (which, one can only hope, will happen in this year's elections). I mean, I’m just a Manic Montanan who’s fine with killing all his grandmas, but trust me, I very much prefer that to any of their issues.

[compucomp]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

Anyone, and I mean anyone who is worth their salt and possesses even a modicum of psychoanalytic knowledge knows that you’re inevitably going to get cases like that if you ceaselessly (quite literally every single day) subject an entire populace to fear and hysteria in a manner that’s completely, utterly disproportionate to the matter at hand. You don’t need a PhD in Psychology or have read Gustave Le Bon or George Orwell to predict how certain individuals will behave in an environment like that! Now, of course we’re supposed to react to this story the same way Gotfan, computocomp, etc. want us to react to other cases of this kind, mask mandates, school closures, businesses going bankrupt, families being torn apart, mental health disorders in general proliferating during this pandemic, etc.: classify it as "collateral damage" amidst a broader good cause and a slight incovenience/outlier in a "necessary new normal" borne out by and in fact necessitated by science.

When the same people indifferent to and supportive of this gradual erasure of empathy, critical thinking, and levelheadedness call those who dare entertain a return to a normalcy which at least allowed us to breathe normally "sociopaths," it’s not that hard to figure out where their fondness for the designation "sociopath" comes from. I sincerely don’t mean this in any polemic way when I say that many of these individuals are very, very sick — this, while of course very tragic, frankly wouldn’t be any of our business if it were confined to three or four individuals on an obscure online forum and not of a mindset that likewise pervades some of the highest positions of government. As evidenced by this thread, the former will have no qualms about displaying their abject views and (for once in their lives) feel worthy/listened to/in control as long as they feel protected by the latter, which is why the only way to deal with both is to strip enough of the latter of their power (which, one can only hope, will happen in this year's elections). I mean, I’m just a Manic Montanan who’s fine with killing all his grandmas, but trust me, I very much prefer that to any of their issues.

Here's the problem with the anti-restriction mob on this forum; they're intransigent ideologues and there's no middle ground possible with them. You give them an inch, they demand a mile. I've already conceded that you have won the battle for NPI's in the US, and the government is doing and will continue to do absolutely nothing despite 1m cases a day and hospitalizations about to exceed the winter 2021 peak. But no, you can't be gracious about this, reduce the temperature, and look for compromise, instead you demand unconditional surrender and insist that we pretend that COVID doesn't exist and we're back to 2019. You're even bitching about entirely voluntary business closures as if it were some kind of injustice, when it is the result of grassroots action by virtuous people who consider COVID a threat and adjust their behavior to protect themselves. You claim to be on the side of freedom but yet it is you who is authoritarian for you would deny us the right to take COVID seriously. When faced with this why would I do anything other than stand my ground and dig in?

[Aurelius]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

Anyone, and I mean anyone who is worth their salt and possesses even a modicum of psychoanalytic knowledge knows that you’re inevitably going to get cases like that if you ceaselessly (quite literally every single day) subject an entire populace to fear and hysteria in a manner that’s completely, utterly disproportionate to the matter at hand. You don’t need a PhD in Psychology or have read Gustave Le Bon or George Orwell to predict how certain individuals will behave in an environment like that! Now, of course we’re supposed to react to this story the same way Gotfan, computocomp, etc. want us to react to other cases of this kind, mask mandates, school closures, businesses going bankrupt, families being torn apart, mental health disorders in general proliferating during this pandemic, etc.: classify it as "collateral damage" amidst a broader good cause and a slight incovenience/outlier in a "necessary new normal" borne out by and in fact necessitated by science.

When the same people indifferent to and supportive of this gradual erasure of empathy, critical thinking, and levelheadedness call those who dare entertain a return to a normalcy which at least allowed us to breathe normally "sociopaths," it’s not that hard to figure out where their fondness for the designation "sociopath" comes from. I sincerely don’t mean this in any polemic way when I say that many of these individuals are very, very sick — this, while of course very tragic, frankly wouldn’t be any of our business if it were confined to three or four individuals on an obscure online forum and not of a mindset that likewise pervades some of the highest positions of government. As evidenced by this thread, the former will have no qualms about displaying their abject views and (for once in their lives) feel worthy/listened to/in control as long as they feel protected by the latter, which is why the only way to deal with both is to strip enough of the latter of their power (which, one can only hope, will happen in this year's elections). I mean, I’m just a Manic Montanan who’s fine with killing all his grandmas, but trust me, I very much prefer that to any of their issues.

Here's the problem with the anti-restriction mob on this forum; they're intransigent ideologues and there's no middle ground possible with them. You give them an inch, they demand a mile. I've already conceded that you have won the battle for NPI's in the US, and the government is doing and will continue to do absolutely nothing despite 1m cases a day and hospitalizations about to exceed the winter 2021 peak. But no, you can't be gracious about this, reduce the temperature, and look for compromise, instead you demand unconditional surrender and insist that we pretend that COVID doesn't exist and we're back to 2019. You're even bitching about entirely voluntary business closures as if it were some kind of injustice, when it is the result of grassroots action by virtuous people who consider COVID a threat and adjust their behavior to protect themselves. You claim to be on the side of freedom but yet it is you who is authoritarian for you would deny us the right to take COVID seriously. When faced with this why would I do anything other than stand my ground and dig in?

How many f**king times do we have to tell you no one is denying you the right to take covid seriously? You have the right to never leave your house again. You have the right to avoid all businesses and shop through instacart. You have the right to shut down a bar or restaurant out of poor risk/benefit analysis, and I will cheer its demise as a new restaurant takes its place. You do not have the right to force others to do the same.

[Roll Roons]

Texas mother allegedly put son in trunk of car to avoid being exposed to Covid-19.

A Texas mother has been charged with endangering a child after she allegedly placed her 13-year-old son, who had Covid-19, into her car's trunk to avoid being exposed to the virus, according to a warrant from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Sarah Beam, 41, was charged after authorities arrived at a Houston-area Covid testing site on January 3 following a report that a health services official had found the child in trunk of Beam's car. According to the warrant, the director of health services stated she was gathering information from cars in a line for Covid testing when "she found a female driver, later identified as Sarah Beam, having her child in the trunk of her car."

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/10/us/texas-mother-son-trunk-covid-19/?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

What the hell is this?
Is she nuts?

Anyone, and I mean anyone who is worth their salt and possesses even a modicum of psychoanalytic knowledge knows that you’re inevitably going to get cases like that if you ceaselessly (quite literally every single day) subject an entire populace to fear and hysteria in a manner that’s completely, utterly disproportionate to the matter at hand. You don’t need a PhD in Psychology or have read Gustave Le Bon or George Orwell to predict how certain individuals will behave in an environment like that! Now, of course we’re supposed to react to this story the same way Gotfan, computocomp, etc. want us to react to other cases of this kind, mask mandates, school closures, businesses going bankrupt, families being torn apart, mental health disorders in general proliferating during this pandemic, etc.: classify it as "collateral damage" amidst a broader good cause and a slight incovenience/outlier in a "necessary new normal" borne out by and in fact necessitated by science.

When the same people indifferent to and supportive of this gradual erasure of empathy, critical thinking, and levelheadedness call those who dare entertain a return to a normalcy which at least allowed us to breathe normally "sociopaths," it’s not that hard to figure out where their fondness for the designation "sociopath" comes from. I sincerely don’t mean this in any polemic way when I say that many of these individuals are very, very sick — this, while of course very tragic, frankly wouldn’t be any of our business if it were confined to three or four individuals on an obscure online forum and not of a mindset that likewise pervades some of the highest positions of government. As evidenced by this thread, the former will have no qualms about displaying their abject views and (for once in their lives) feel worthy/listened to/in control as long as they feel protected by the latter, which is why the only way to deal with both is to strip enough of the latter of their power (which, one can only hope, will happen in this year's elections). I mean, I’m just a Manic Montanan who’s fine with killing all his grandmas, but trust me, I very much prefer that to any of their issues.

Here's the problem with the anti-restriction mob on this forum; they're intransigent ideologues and there's no middle ground possible with them. You give them an inch, they demand a mile. I've already conceded that you have won the battle for NPI's in the US, and the government is doing and will continue to do absolutely nothing despite 1m cases a day and hospitalizations about to exceed the winter 2021 peak. But no, you can't be gracious about this, reduce the temperature, and look for compromise, instead you demand unconditional surrender and insist that we pretend that COVID doesn't exist and we're back to 2019. You're even bitching about entirely voluntary business closures as if it were some kind of injustice, when it is the result of grassroots action by virtuous people who consider COVID a threat and adjust their behavior to protect themselves. You claim to be on the side of freedom but yet it is you who is authoritarian for you would deny us the right to take COVID seriously. When faced with this why would I do anything other than stand my ground and dig in?

Just saying that I don't know of any college students or parents who are happy to pay $80K a semester to effectively go to the University of Phoenix. Especially considering that most campuses are almost uniformly vaccinated.

[Donerail]

Here's the problem with the anti-restriction mob on this forum; they're intransigent ideologues and there's no middle ground possible with them. You give them an inch, they demand a mile.

After two years of delegating ever-expanding power to public health officials to dictate rules for society, what do you expect? The tactical lesson here is clear: Public health officials are loathe to withdraw a regulation, even when the science clearly supports doing so. How else can you explain the continued devotion to plexiglass barriers and obsessive surface cleaning, the widespread opposition to the CDC's shortened quarantine requirements, or the insistence on masks for populations that face basically no risk from the disease? It only makes sense that opponents of such excessive measures are unwilling to compromise — when we've compromised, we got burned. Not gonna make that mistake again.