Omicron Covid

[MelroseHawkins]

Yeah, there are a whole lot of people who are not clear about which lawmakers put handcuffs on very good institutions like the Postal Service and Social Security. I am almost positive it was during the Bush 2 admin and a republican congress when they passed the new laws/bills that made the Post Office fund their retirement system to a level unheard of anywhere else. That move has slowly crippled the Post Office as well as Trump's double dealing head of the post office.

And the Social Security system's problems are based on two things. One, that most of us know, is that people live longer than was thought when they were first paying into SSec going back 45 years and the dollars they take out in retirement have lost a lot of value through inflation against each dollar they put into the system going back many years. Hell some people who started paying into social security in the mid-1930s died before they could take out any money. Not know. You have a lot of people withdrawing SSEC for 20+ years.

And the other thing is that the ceiling where wage earners and income earning people stop having to pay SSec taxes on has not kept up with inflation. The ceiling now is what about $140,000 dollars. Hell make that ceiling $400,000 a year and raise more money.

People that make that much money will not hardly miss paying some more SSec tax.

#1) Dude, what has more crippled the post office over the years is less mail with the advent or more electronic mail. It's just less. HOw many times do you go to the post office in a year. Prob about as much as one goes to the bank. Maybe 3 times. Hell, there is less junk mail. Now more junk email, junk texts. All digital. Add into that the ascension of FedEx and other private mail services. All together is what has crippled the US Post Office.
#2) I'm not completely going against your point that people are living longer draining the SS funds. Prob truth to that. The baby boomer families had multiple kids who are now baby boomers and the size of families has gone down over the years. But, people are also working more years and paying in more as SS has increased the age for full benefits. But, add into that, that over the years illegal individuals have flooded our country which prob plays into the decrease in SS funds by people who haven't been paying into it, since they are receiving social benefits even though illegal.
#3 I agree with your last point. I am not super elite rich by any means, but I am positioning my retirement that I don't have to rely on SS at all. I hope to fund my retirement with my retirement savings and the SS is a bonus that I hopefully will be able to help my boys or grandchildren. That is the safest way I can plan. My retirement plan was rocking it until this last year and Biden's first year in office. Now it's flatlined. Thanks Brandon!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

You must’ve missed how Covid is almost completely nonexistent now.

Well the midterm elections are coming. It was predicted a couple months ago.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, all those conservative Repubs, who throw the label "entitlement" around when talking about social security and medicare, are a bunch of total liars and spreaders of false info to brainwash their sheep.

Workers have paid into social security and medicare or some type of pension all their lives. Social Security payments and Medicare health insurance are earned. Medicare is totally proven to be a very well run organization with much lower overhead costs, by about 10 times lower than private insurance. FDR wanted SSec to be bought and paid for by the workers because he knew american citizens did not want handouts (this is in his words).

I am amazed at the number of lower middle class and poor white working sheep who vote against their interest when they vote for Repubs and their failed Supply Side trickle down theory tax cuts to the rich and to business shit.

You make it sound like 75% of the US population is low middle class or poor. It simply is not the case. The US prob has the largest middle class of most developed countries or at least one of the healthier as far as numbers and percentages go. You make it sound like the US is a third world country in many of your posts.

Explains why everybody is flooding over the border to Mexico or Canada. Seriously think about it, if it is so bad and skewed here, why are there caravans of people migrating from South America and Mexico. Just doesn't make sense.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

While I am waiting for you to tell me why you think Covid is 'almost completely nonexistent now' I will relate that the Johns Hopkins Covid Tracking app shows that a week ago, Feb 27th, the global weekly total of covid cases was 11 million. If that amount levels off at about that level then we are talking about 500,000,000 million, 1/2 a billion new cases over the next year to Mar 1, 2023. Wow that is a lot of chances for a new variant that is bad to develop.

One half billion or 1/16th more of the global population getting covid. Yeah you must be right that covid is almost non existent now. NOT.

And the US on Feb 27th for that week had 470,000 cases and if that stays about the same level or a little less then that is about 20-25 million more americans getting infected by Feb. 28th, 2023 or about 1/15th to 1/20th of our population.

But like you said , it is nonexistent and no one is getting sick in the US.

But we're all vaccinated!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

But here is my take on why, with no more bad variants for awhile, we might be ready for some fairly low infection rates. The numbers are about 200 million people have some vaccine in them. A lot of people have had covid prior to last Aug 1 when Delta variant started to hit hard. I did the numbers on Delta in the US from Aug 1 to end of Nov when it was really dropping down and about 60 million people were infected in the US during that time but let's just say 50 million if some people's tests were duplicated. Then from late Nov. to late Feb 2023 another 60 million people were infected as the numbers under the curve add up to.

So that is 200 to 220 million people who are vaxxed plus 100 to 120 million people who are recently, last 6-8 months, infected. That totals up on the low end to 300 million americans vaxxed or infected with some level of antibodies to fight off covid. That is out of 330 million total americans.

So we are close to herd immunity I would say. Now a lot of people who had covid in 2020 and survived may have caught it again but that is the way it will be.

So after two years, you finally summarized we are basically dealing with a coronavirus, which we have done for hundreds of years.

 

[Northside Hawk]

If you honestly thing these 10 year olds are going to comment suicide in 10 years due to the fact that they had to wear a mask to protect themselves and there families from a deadly virus you are to far gone to help.

Well a good friend of mine died in December 2020 and he wasn't 10. He was 56. He was reluctant to get a procedure checked because the stigma existed that hospital beds should be left open to care for covid patients. So he put it off. And dropped dead, a heart attack. His guilt ridden widow still grieves.

Deadly as the virus is, it is just one way to go. And if you don't think there is potential to mess up kids for life because we denied two or more prime years of their childhood than you are too far gone. Masking was only a small part of what we did to kids and you know it. We locked them down, isolated them from other children, prevented them from going to school. playing sports, choir, band activities, shut down County fairs, state fairs, no family vacations, holiday gatherings, weddings,, church activities, community activities, bake sales, 4-H, FFA.

Do you want me to go on? The stuff we took from children is stuff they can't get back. Or perhaps your own childhood wasn't rewarding enough for you to remember.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Overall pretty accurate obviously, but a couple flaws in the math. One is there's a pretty big number of people vaxed that had positive tests. Two is there's a pretty big number of people who have had it and never bothered to get tested. But overall, your final number is probably pretty close.

In addition, I think people are pretty over even getting tested at this point. Many are getting illness and just getting thru the symptoms without ever testing. This is what it's been like in our house and people at worked who I've talked with, even those friends and co-workers who are pretty liberal. Remember, I work at a university. People aren't getting tested much anymore. Just living life.

It would be interesting to know the number of test completed over the last few months, regardless of outcome. I bet they have significantly gone down. Most people realize they've prob had it at some point and are now more comfortable with the disease and less scared about the unknown.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

You should know better then to present the facts to these people that is the quickest way to end the conversation. I like trolling them for awhile just to see how dumb and brainwashed some people are then when my head hurts from there stupidity boom throw the facts at them and they go back to putting there head in the sand.

Yep, everybody who doesn't align with your view is an idiot.

At least you have uihawk82 on your side.

 

[Northside Hawk]

This is a great example of bull shit based on speculation and bias. You are not worth arguing with.
As to the mystical conclusions that masks and vaccines are useless, at least it confirms my decisions to not get any medical advice on HN.

At least I don't go around telling people what do to, demanding it's my way more no way.

I don't approve of smoking or drug use, alcohol excepted. But if you want to indulge, go ahead. This isn't Russia.

I don't approve of earing yourself to death. But if eight Big Macs and a loaded taco pizza make your day, then by all means knock yourself out.

I hate motorcycles. But if that's your thing, do it with every bit of passion you can muster.

I don't go into the woods and shoot things. But understand the lifetime lessons, values, and family bonding it can create.

Et cetera, et cetera. From my early childhood I've followed my arrow, stuck to what I believe in, took copious amounts of shit if it didn't comply with the masses, and hit the pillow at night with a clear conscience.

Unfortunately I can't speak for everyone.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

They’re useful to the geriatric crowd and the tiny, tiny population of folks who have compromised immune systems.

Those demographics ate not worth destroying an economy and closing schools down. And I’d say that just the same if I was 75 years old.

You don’t wanna get COVID? Stay home. The rest of us have lives to live and kids to raise.

Exactly. If one is that scared, stay the F home. I go back to the first summer of COVID. Our boys were still playing youth baseball as they had it but limited the fans to immediate family (parents and siblings) of the team members. At that time it was told that the infection rates would go down in summer because would burn off and it was fairly safe to be outside.

So, we go to the field, and inevitably, there are tens of grandparents there because there are only so many games in a youth player's years to play and grandma and grampa love their grandchildren.

I remember going across the grass to the seating areas at the field and hearing some old bitty granny bitching to her husband how people didn't have masks on and it was so rude. She said her statements loud enough so everyone around could hear her as she tried to make her point. The fact was by rule, she wasn't even supposed to be there in the first fucking place. So, the rules didn't apply to her but she sure wasn't shy about bitching loudly about people not wearing masks affecting her.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Well the midterm elections are coming. It was predicted a couple months ago.

Winner winner! See post 113 of this thread.

 

[Northside Hawk]

In addition, I think people are pretty over even getting tested at this point. Many are getting illness and just getting thru the symptoms without ever testing. This is what it's been like in your house and people at worked who I've talked with, even those friends and co-workers who are pretty liberal. Remember, I work at a university. People aren't getting tested much anymore. Just living life.

It would be interesting to know the number of test completed over the last few months, regardless of outcome. I bet they have significantly gone down. Most people realize they've prob had it at some point and are now more comfortable with the disease and less scared about the unknown.

Some people have forgotten how to live their life. They're full of confusion and fear. I still see it when I deliver FedEx to remote areas. They may no longer know how to leave the house but they know how to hit a few strokes on a computer keyboard and order copious amounts of junk. Some of them are in such a fog they don't even remember what they ordered.

This is exactly when the government wants, needs, demands,, craves. If there are people so full of fear that they can't shit without the government telling them how or what color the it is perfect dry tinder for the government to burn through.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Some people have forgotten how to live their life. They're full of confusion and fear. I still see it when I deliver FedEx to remote areas. They may no longer know how to leave the house but they know how to hit a few strokes on a computer keyboard and order copious amounts of junk.

This is exactly when the government wants, needs, demands,, craves. If there are people so full of fear that they can't shit without the government telling them how or what color the it is perfect dry tinder for the government to burn through..

Yep, nailed it. Suppress the people so they are more reliant on government resources and so they can think for people and tell them what they need to think.

 

[PCHawk]

My head hurts reading these post why do i bring myself here. I just cannot believe how uneducated people have become because of one orange head. I just cannot wrap my head around it. I hope for the best from people but by comments on here i can tell some people are so far gone there is no hope. Sad deal.

People have a tendency to believe everyone thinks like they do. I can't imagine how much you eat up what your politicians say since you assume that's what other people do.

 

[uihawk82]

So after two years, you finally summarized we are basically dealing with a coronavirus, which we have done for hundreds of years.

First of all humans did not know about viruses at the start of the 20th century so not sure about your hundreds of years comment. But maybe they have found very old virus fossils.

And this is not your normal common cold coronavirus.

So your statement is not really very factual on this topic.

 

[uihawk82]

You make it sound like 75% of the US population is low middle class or poor. It simply is not the case. The US prob has the largest middle class of most developed countries or at least one of the healthier as far as numbers and percentages go. You make it sound like the US is a third world country in many of your posts.

Explains why everybody is flooding over the border to Mexico or Canada. Seriously think about it, if it is so bad and skewed here, why are there caravans of people migrating from South America and Mexico. Just doesn't make sense.

No, I never said that but the financial-type experts say about 50% of adults do not have even $6-700 in savings to replace an average main appliance in a house or a transmission, etc.. They live on credit and paycheck to paycheck. I didnt make this up

I would say the lower 50% of wage earning households, which are those making less than about $55K per household in Iowa, are not well off. By the time you take out the house and two car payments, all the utilities, food, insurance, clothes and stuff for the 2-3 kids and a vacation and some entertainment, let alone the $200 a month cell phone bill and the $120 a month internet service bill then they do not have much left. Oh yes and taxes

 

[PCHawk]

We should make rich people by everyone's cell phones and internet too. It's only fair.

 

[HuckFinn]

They’re useful to the geriatric crowd and the tiny, tiny population of folks who have compromised immune systems.

Those demographics ate not worth destroying an economy and closing schools down. And I’d say that just the same if I was 75 years old.

You don’t wanna get COVID? Stay home. The rest of us have lives to live and kids to raise.

I am getting tired of the implications that seniors are unimportant. I have 3 kids, their spouses, 7/grandkids who want me around as long as possible. You can proclaim that you will feel the same as you do now when you are 75. That statement shows a lack of maturity that is astounding.
Destroying the economy? Really? Nice try. This recent firestorm by you and a few others over schools is laughable. Kids will recover and move on faster than you guys who are still whining about horrible experiences like wearing a mask, getting a couple of shots, and limiting activity. I have 40 years behind me working with youngsters, and what many of them have to go through growing up makes the impact of this pandemic a walk in the park.
BTW. Never got Covid. My schedule this Fall started with season football tickets, Broadway Musicals in Milwaukee, pheasant hunting in South Dakota after 2 weeks in Canada in August. Also season basketball tickets, restaurants, movie theaters, bars, church services, Lions Club activities, Library Board meetings, and lots of family time.
Who the F are you talking about staying home? At least in my experience, I have a lot of company.

 

[HuckFinn]

Wel

At least I don't go around telling people what do to, demanding it's my way more no way.

I don't approve of smoking or drug use, alcohol excepted. But if you want to indulge, go ahead. This isn't Russia.

I don't approve of earing yourself to death. But if eight Big Macs and a loaded taco pizza make your day, then by all means knock yourself out.

I hate motorcycles. But if that's your thing, do it with every bit of passion you can muster.

I don't go into the woods and shoot things. But understand the lifetime lessons, values, and family bonding it can create.

Et cetera, et cetera. From my early childhood I've followed my arrow, stuck to what I believe in, took copious amounts of shit if it didn't comply with the masses, and hit the pillow at night with a clear conscience.

Unfortunately I can't speak for everyone.

Bravo! Next you might expand your ability to empathize with others. It is indeed fortunate that you can’t speak for everyone.

 

[HuckFinn]

We f'ed this up in Wuhan by trying to mess with mother nature. Again.

We will never learn. Nature has been making this planet go round and round for billions of years. Species come and go, including us.

This is just the latest of too many examples to list. If this virus can ravage the most isolated major country in the world it can ravage anywhere.

Don't hide from it. Learn from it, how to live with and deal with it. There are numerous things we can do to make ourselves less vulnerable to any illness.

Strangely, following your initial rants, your final paragraph describes precisely how Covid has been addressed. I had a good laugh. Thanks.