I see graphs on Twitter all the time showing the difference between mask mandated areas and non mask mandated areas. I've also seen that surgeons don't wear masks during surgeries to prevent spreading viruses. People say the particles are so small it's like trying to stop mosquitos with a chain like fence. I'm not smart enough to know if that's true or not. But if that's true and all the graphs I always see are the, then masks don't really help. Which would line up to what everyone said in the beginning.
Omicron Covid
- Thread starter DrKnipe
- Start date
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
Body fluids is completely different than an airborne virus.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Northeast Asia has a masking rate of over 99%. I've corresponded with numerous people in Japan and Korea over the past 2 years and anecdotally I have heard that the mask rate is 100%.
Here are SK's numbers: South Korea COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer (worldometers.info)
See the spike? That is with almost 100% masking.
Here are Japan's numbers: Japan COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer (worldometers.info)
What's that? Another spike?
I'm not going to say masks don't work, but one must ask themselves what exactly does the word "work" mean? I suspect it may reduce your odds of catching the Germ by some very small percentage. So tell us, what do people mean when they say "masks work?" If your kid is in a crowded classroom with a piece of cloth embroidered with a my little pony logo strapped to his face and the kid next to him is blowing hot for 6 hours, that mask isn't gonna do shit.
Same question with the vaccine. Thankfully, we were given a definition of "efficacy" at the outset. Initially, it was said that it was "95% effective." Do you remember that? How did they define efficacy? Well right here in the Pfizer report to the FDA they said "The primary efficacy endpoint is incidence of COVID-19 among participants without evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection before or during the 2-dose vaccination regimen." Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee December 10, 2020 Meeting Briefing Document- FDA
Thankfully people are easily distracted by shiny objects and were able to be quickly reprogrammed into thinking "efficacy" equals "reduces severe cases." Ultimately, in circumstances like this the real time data is usually shit, which it is here. The safety and efficacy of the vaccine is something that will require a long period of observation. I would not say it is not effective, but I would say it is certainly not "effective" as it was originally defined. However, even that requires a caveat. It may actually be totally effective against the original variant, but the problem is coronaviruses mutate very quickly, and that certainly appears to be the case here, as the most recent variant seems to have been "more transmissible" and "less virulent."
You see, in real world data sets there are a number of variables at play, but the media and government have reduced everything to a single variable model. They also speak in absolutes, which concerns me. When you speak in absolutes about a rapidly evolving situation while dealing with imperfect information it makes me question if you are actually smart. It's like the people who were certain of what happened in the Duke Lacrosse case the moment the story broke. Or when Jussie Smollet got attacked by those Trump supporters.
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
Well stated.
Fauci must be a sith.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Don't worry, there are millions of sixty something baby boomers seeing their hard earned 401k's going down the tubes, with not much time to build it back up, because of the bozo that currently sits in the White House.
Maybe @HuckFinn and his fellow "greatest generation" made it safely into retirement without taking a big financial hit, but as for others I would hate to be a year or two from the age where you can withdraw without taking the tax hit. I saw how it affected people in 2008 like my father in law, who lost into six figures, then passed away in 2011 before he had a chance to builld it back.
The way this market is going I would be tempted to take the tax penalty and get my money the F out of there.
To put a quick point on how well off you think everyone in the United States is I google searched "Median household income" of the US and several states. Below is Iowa just a few years ago from US Census Bureau and it is easy to tally in IRS data to come to these numbers.
Please look at the percentage of Iowans in poverty, as in POVERTY. It is 10%.
That is 300,000 Iowans officially fall under the poverty income lines. That is sickening anywhere in the US but Iowa is supposed to be so well off. My gawd Gov. Dimmy and the Repubs in the statehouse say we have a $2 billion dollar budget surplus. Well how about building some training programs etc to help people make more money. So I just laugh when you say everyone is well off.
$60,523
Table
| Population | |
| Income & Poverty | |
| Median household income (in 2019 dollars), 2015-2019 | $60,523 |
| Per capita income in past 12 months (in 2019 dollars), 2015-2019 | $32,176 |
| Persons in poverty, percent | 10.2% |
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Iowa
Glass1/2fullguy
Well-Known Member
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
I grew up in poverty in Iowa. Coalville, to be exact. Trailer park you can see on P59 on Google maps. I lived in suburban Tokyo for a couple years with my old lady's family. Her dad was a c-level exec at an oil company. Did pretty well for himself. I've also lived in Chicago and New York. I'd live in the trailer park again before being well to do in any American city or any Asian city. The standard of living in the US is incomprehensibly high by comparison. Access to hydrocarbons has a monstrous, absolutely monstrous, impact on your day to day quality of life, which people will soon find out once all of Jim Crow Joe's policies really kick into high gear. Population density also plays a major role in quality of life.
What, precisely, would these "training programs" accomplish? There is some percentage of people who simply don't want to work. And Iowa is not exactly a hot bed locale for sinking capital for anything other than agribusiness that is symbiotic with the existing economy. States like South Carolina and Alabama can woo capital and foreign direct investment because they have things like ports and have spent decades building an industrial ecosystem and environment where people who drop huge dollars know the government isn't going to turn around and F them in the ass. It ain't an accident that the Rust Belt turned rusty. And the rich gene pool that once existed in Iowa is drying into a gene puddle really fucking quickly.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
CuckFinn has a taxpayer funded pension. The market could go to 0 and he'll be fine. They can just raise taxes!
Anyway, never withdraw funds from a 401K or IRA unless you absolutely have to or get hit with required minimum distributions. You can pull the funds out of the stock market and put them in a money market fund or some lower risk investment. You will get absolutely skullfucked on taxes if you take out your entire 401K in one tax year. People should scale back risk as they age.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Yeah. You should do that. Go for it. In the mean time, my financial advisor and tax account have taken care of me. With social security, Medicare and supplement, my Wisconsin Retirement package, my Iowa farm rental property, my investments, I will sit on my cash and then move to tax free municipal bonds with a 2-3% return and enjoy my comfortable retirement, which has been great for 16 years. Just keep up with smart money management and quit whining. BTW, I have zero debt. Smart, huh?
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HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
How about election 2020? Bye bye dump trump…
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Honestly, you need to learn to write with attention to clarity and accuracy.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I love it when the “some people don’t want to work” bull shit is used as a reality. Mostly those who are not working are early retirements, having taken care of their finances, and females who can’t get paid enough to afford child care. And yes, many need to upgrade education/skills. You are the master of lying by omission.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Taxpayer funded pension? Nope. Deferred compensation. WI retirement fund is 50% supported by employees. Pension is taxed as real income when you retire, and the system is the most actuarially sound in the US. Confused by facts much? You are a joke.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
"riGhT wiNgeRs Can'T pr0Vide EvidEnce."
"Here's some evidence."
"iF It tAkeS moRe thAn 9 sEcondS to Pr0Cess I am 0uT of tHe diSCusSion."
People like you are why US media has concision limitations. If an idea takes too long to explain and present evidence, people such as yourself lack the mental capacity to process it. Hence, the media becomes nothing other than a regurgitation device for conventional thoughts. Any issue that introduces any degree of complexity is off limits.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
But it is reality. Have you never come across a person who just didn't want to work? Not even one?
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Pension? As in a fixed amount guaranteed each month with an annual COLA? And 50% supported by the employees? Where's the other 50% come from? What happens if the investments in it drill by 78%? Does the state still have to pay you? Someone is likely underwriting the investment risk of the portfolio. Do you know who? Is it some magical deity other than the taxpayers?
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Happy that you've invested smart and done well for yourself. I know people your age who aren't, or are still forced to work when they'd prefer to retire.
I would never advocate taking the tax hit on a 401k in anything less than dire circumstances. If your 60 or 61 or 62 and could lose more of your 401k than you would lose in taxes, this may be dire circumstances.
My post was aimed at people who are nearing retirement retirement age and seeing the market take a dive. As for me and my spouse we are doing OK. We are still 10-12 years from retirement and can weather this storm, just like we did in 2008-2009.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I was talking about people who could lose more value in their 401k than they would by withdrawing, taking the tax hit, and reinvesting. That could be a grim possibility for some.
