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The Next Pandemic: SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19


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58 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

yes, improved outcomes like hospitalization and death...unimportant.  Science works on cures/treatments for rare diseases.  Should we stop cuz it only might result in improved outcomes for a few.  More than a few still are dying from covid.  you can't fix stupid.  maybe someday we'll find a cure and everyone will be better off.

We didn’t get science.  We got an exceptionally strange brew of political malfeasance and locks downs for some, but not all….especially and notably the political class.   That was layered with a heavy, heavy dose of citizens hysterically screaming at others about their choice to forgo the vax. 
 

I had a series of conversations with a poster professed to be a man of science, and he certainly seemed to be.  At one point, he waxed philosophically about removing children from their parents, and at another sequestering the unvaxxed on an island with exposure to other virus/disease.   
 

At the same time, when asked about protestors lining the streets during the height of the pandemic, he acknowledged (ultimately as a result of my pestering, as I recall) that such activities would lead to death…but absent was the rage that promoted such talk about removing children and placing people on islands.  
 

In a nutshell, that was the biggest takeaway for me during the pandemic—-the overlay of science, anxiety, rage, emotion and ultimately politics. 
 

Looking back, some of the people who were demonized were on the right side of virus management at least from their personal perspective.  Many of our politicians were on the wrong side and should be ashamed by their actions.  Some of the leaders of the scientific community were impotent and weak.

 

 

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44 minutes ago, JDHillFan said:

A feather in your cap. Theirs? 🤔

it was very enjoyable.  it was community based teaching and yes, both the students and the admin liked me.  Then corporate med took over my area and decided to affiliate with a much lower quality med school due to financial considerations.  They don't really like outspoken, independent thinkers and UVA has plenty as do most top schools.  Still occasionally hear from ex students.

35 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

We didn’t get science.  We got an exceptionally strange brew of political malfeasance and locks downs for some, but not all….especially and notably the political class.   That was layered with a heavy, heavy dose of citizens hysterically screaming at others about their choice to forgo the vax. 
 

I had a series of conversations with a poster professed to be a man of science, and he certainly seemed to be.  At one point, he waxed philosophically about removing children from their parents, and at another sequestering the unvaxxed on an island with exposure to other virus/disease.   
 

At the same time, when asked about protestors lining the streets during the height of the pandemic, he acknowledged (ultimately as a result of my pestering, as I recall) that such activities would lead to death…but absent was the rage that promoted such talk about removing children and placing people on islands.  
 

In a nutshell, that was the biggest takeaway for me during the pandemic—-the overlay of science, anxiety, rage, emotion and ultimately politics. 
 

Looking back, some of the people who were demonized were on the right side of virus management at least from their personal perspective.  Many of our politicians were on the wrong side and should be ashamed by their actions.  Some of the leaders of the scientific community were impotent and weak.

 

 

yes, I'm sure if you or NC were running the show, everything would have been just fine.

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14 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

it was very enjoyable.  it was community based teaching and yes, both the students and the admin liked me.  Then corporate med took over my area and decided to affiliate with a much lower quality med school due to financial considerations.  They don't really like outspoken, independent thinkers and UVA has plenty as do most top schools.  Still occasionally hear from ex students.

yes, I'm sure if you or NC were running the show, everything would have been just fine.

Red, we don’t grow as a society worshiping false idols and honoring sacred cows.  The next pandemic where we don’t get the opportunity to revisit mistakes made by leadership and science will likely be much more devastating if we don’t address the challenges and silliness of the last one. 
 

As a science guy, you seem unwilling to address the systemic challenges we faced as a nation as it came to messaging, consistency and delivery.  To a certain extent, that makes sense because great technicians don’t always make great leaders.    
 

As for me being in charge, I’m not trained in crisis management on a large scale, though I try to be adaptable and forward-thinking where I can in my life.  I’d suggest I’m moderately successful in that regard, and most importantly to me, I try to take ownership of things that go wrong in my plan.  
 

If your answer is to stomp your feet and pretend everything is fine, all I can say is between you running the show, and me running the show, I’d choose me. 

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9 minutes ago, leh-nerd skin-erd said:

Red, we don’t grow as a society worshiping false idols and honoring sacred cows.  The next pandemic where we don’t get the opportunity to revisit mistakes made by leadership and science will likely be much more devastating if we don’t address the challenges and silliness of the last one. 
 

As a science guy, you seem unwilling to address the systemic challenges we faced as a nation as it came to messaging, consistency and delivery.  To a certain extent, that makes sense because great technicians don’t always make great leaders.    
 

As for me being in charge, I’m not trained in crisis management on a large scale, though I try to be adaptable and forward-thinking where I can in my life.  I’d suggest I’m moderately successful in that regard, and most importantly to me, I try to take ownership of things that go wrong in my plan.  
 

If your answer is to stomp your feet and pretend everything is fine, all I can say is between you running the show, and me running the show, I’d choose me. 

not sure what false idols and sacred cows you mean.  Money is probably the most common one in the US.  Was the science always where we'd have liked it to be?  Of course not.  Covid was huge challenge to the best and brightest.  But scientists did remarkably well imo.  Shudder to think what the results would have been without them (Oh yeah, I linked a study modelling outcomes without the vax).  the messaging was horrible.  trump put politics above lives and introduced a new pandemic of science doubters. So yeah, it could have been much better.  not aware of any faculty positions for technicians.

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Follow the science.

 

How often did we hear that phrase during the pandemic?

 

As a scientist, when I heard that phrase I knew with 90% certainty that it would be followed by some non-scientist citing a scientist or "expert" in an attempt to shut down any debate, questioning or presentation of other data.

 

This approach is as anti-science as one can be.

 

Science in real practice is about having your results and conclusions constantly scrutinized and questioned by other scientists and perhaps most importantly by yourself.

 

If you go to a scientific conference you'll find scientists presenting data in talks, posters etc. What they present is supposed to be challenged.

 

Did you do x control? Why not?

 

Did you consider using y technique?

 

We looked at the same problem using another model and didn't come to same conclusion. What do you think?

 

And on and on...

 

Yet here we were in the middle of a pandemic when no medical expert or scientist could possibly know exactly what was happening in real time, telling us that they had all the answers. So just shut up and follow the science.

 

Totally ridiculous. 

 

Shutting down debate. You don't get any more anti science than that.

 

@redtail hawk should know better, but he/she/they like so many others have let politics pervert everything he/she/they should have learned about science.

 

 

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It’s Rand Paul so it’s automatically awful for the people that imagine themselves on the side of facts and data. My question - are universities in Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark run by stupid and selfish people? Anti-science types perhaps? Red state hillbillies??

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12 hours ago, JDHillFan said:

 

It’s Rand Paul so it’s automatically awful for the people that imagine themselves on the side of facts and data. My question - are universities in Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark run by stupid and selfish people? Anti-science types perhaps? Red state hillbillies??

Wow.  So Johns Hopkins, a private, exclusive university is practicing an abundance of caution with regards to Covid.  They have many more applicants than class spots.  No one is forced to matriculate there.  What does any of that have to do with Rand's role as senator.  Now if it was a public university in Kentucky or some other red state, he might have a minor point.  It's not as if the gov't is  forcing Liberty Univ to provide birth control to new students.

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12 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

Wow.  So Johns Hopkins, a private, exclusive university is practicing an abundance of caution with regards to Covid.  They have many more applicants than class spots.  No one is forced to matriculate there.  What does any of that have to do with Rand's role as senator.  Now if it was a public university in Kentucky or some other red state, he might have a minor point.  It's not as if the gov't is  forcing Liberty Univ to provide birth control to new students.

You did everything but answer the question that was asked. Conveniently avoided so as to not get off track. Why?

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6 minutes ago, JDHillFan said:

You did everything but answer the question that was asked. Conveniently avoided so as to not get off track. Why?

I have no idea as to Hopkins" thinking but they got them some perdy smart fellers there.  or it just might be, ya know, an abundance of caution?  why is it important to u or Paul?  doesn't the word private mean anything to you?  Maybe you and he can dictate Dartmouth's admissions policies.....

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It’s early and you are old-ish. Let me copy and paste so you can attempt to stay with the conversation. If you read slowly enough you will see that the question is not about JHU even though you’ve twice tried to make it so. Is that how they do it at UVA?

 

My question - are universities in Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark run by stupid and selfish people? Anti-science types perhaps? Red state hillbillies??

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19 minutes ago, JDHillFan said:

It’s early and you are old-ish. Let me copy and paste so you can attempt to stay with the conversation. If you read slowly enough you will see that the question is not about JHU even though you’ve twice tried to make it so. Is that how they do it at UVA?

 

My question - are universities in Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark run by stupid and selfish people? Anti-science types perhaps? Red state hillbillies??

Not familiar with the universities in Scandinavia.  I know a woman from Finland - she's pretty cool. Taught art for a while at UB and then a small, private liberal arts school.  Oxbridge is a pretty good place imo.  France and Germany have some good schools.  I believe many are state run and not private.  I doubt any are run by stupid people.  No way to know their level of selfishness but given that many could probably earn more in the private sector, I'd bet they are generally not.  And your point?

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1 minute ago, redtail hawk said:

Not familiar with the universities in Scandinavia.  Perhaps you are?  Oxbridge is a pretty good place imo.  France and Germany have some good schools.  I believe many are state run and not private.  I doubt any are run by stupid people.  No way to know their level of selfishness but given that many could probably earn more in the private sector, I'd bet they are generally not.  And your point?

My point, which has flown right over your head (being an ideologue has its drawbacks), is that you have declared anyone that is vax/booster hesitant to be stupid and selfish. When nations and institutions diverge from your vaccine wishes you play dumb about it. Tiberius-level dumb. In this instance you are trying to turn the conversation into a public vs private school matter. Why be so nakedly disingenuous? If you were consistent at all you would be calling these nations out as you do the awful people that live in red states. 

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16 minutes ago, JDHillFan said:

My point, which has flown right over your head (being an ideologue has its drawbacks), is that you have declared anyone that is vax/booster hesitant to be stupid and selfish. When nations and institutions diverge from your vaccine wishes you play dumb about it. Tiberius-level dumb. In this instance you are trying to turn the conversation into a public vs private school matter. Why be so nakedly disingenuous? If you were consistent at all you would be calling these nations out as you do the awful people that live in red states. 

its might be because public laws and policy supersede academic opinion at public universities.  I don't really care what they do at Oxbridge x that some Lancet papers come out of there.

As far as UVA, I do know that they don't think highly of neo nazis carrying tiki torches and driving murderously.

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1 minute ago, redtail hawk said:

its might be because public laws and policy supersede academic opinion at public universities.  I don't really care what they do at Oxbridge x that some Lancet papers come out of there.

As far as UVA, I do know that they don't think highly of neo nazis carrying tiki torches and driving murderously.

It’s almost as if you are trying to distance yourself from “stupid and selfish” with your insistence on inconsistence. Probably the right thing to do. 

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7 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

yup, try to distance myself from them.  self preservation is a basic human instinct.

It’s a shame all those European nations and institutions are hellbent on self destruction with their stupidity and selfishness even if you won’t admit that’s the case. 

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I'm sure @redtail hawk will stand up and defend his colleagues in the medical profession here. Harvard and Stanford educated doctors who had their tweets censored by citing CDC data.

 

But wait someone told him that these docs were "discredited" so he/she/they happily fell in line.

 

What an embarrassment.

 

:lol:

 

 

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41 minutes ago, redtail hawk said:

different strokes for different folks.  the Science is evolving as it always does.

That's why I cringe when some official claims the science is settled or claims everyone agrees with the consensus view on one thing or another.  Rarely is anything ever settled, as you state science is evolving with new information, discoveries, and ideas.

 

Just this week I read a Op/Ed from a doctor claiming the mRNA vaccines were "completely" safe for young children.  And vaccination would prevent them from getting sick and transmitting the virus to adults.  That statement is false on both counts.  As for safety, how can he know that without long term health data?  How can any medical professional be so negligent?  Nobody can be certain because there is no data to support that conclusion.

 

 

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1 minute ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

That's why I cringe when some official claims the science is settled or claims everyone agrees with the consensus view on one thing or another.  Rarely is anything ever settled, as you state science is evolving with new information, discoveries, and ideas.

 

Just this week I read a Op/Ed from a doctor claiming the mRNA vaccines were "completely" safe for young children.  And vaccination would prevent them from getting sick and transmitting the virus to adults.  That statement is false on both counts.  As for safety, how can he know that without long term health data?  How can any medical professional be so negligent?  Nobody can be certain because there is no data to support that conclusion.

 

 

it would have been negligent to withhold the vaccine based on all recent history and data.  I don't know any scientists that believe science is settled.  Otherwise they'd be out of work.

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1 minute ago, redtail hawk said:

it would have been negligent to withhold the vaccine based on all recent history and data.

I don’t think there’s a lot of people suggesting otherwise. The problem was people like you cheering on Joe Biden as people lost their jobs over vaccine mandates and to this day trying to defend it by declaring people stupid and selfish….only to pivot to different strokes for different folks because the science is evolving. Unbelievable. 
 

I imagine the next argument is “nobody forced those people to work in those jobs that required coerced vaccines”. Have at it. 

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3 hours ago, Irv said:

Demented Biden and his buddies botched this so bad.  Incompetent.  What a mess.  

 

He proved what I've been saying since early '20: no Admin would have handled this well and the Dems probably would have handled it worse.  I also said anyone who voted for him because they believed he would do better with it was fooling him/herself.

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15 minutes ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

As for safety, how can he know that without long term health data?  How can any medical professional be so negligent?  Nobody can be certain because there is no data to support that conclusion.

 

"I don’t think there’s a lot of people suggesting otherwise".  not nobody

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25 minutes ago, JDHillFan said:

I don’t think there’s a lot of people suggesting otherwise. The problem was people like you cheering on Joe Biden as people lost their jobs over vaccine mandates and to this day trying to defend it by declaring people stupid and selfish….only to pivot to different strokes for different folks because the science is evolving. Unbelievable. 
 

I imagine the next argument is “nobody forced those people to work in those jobs that required coerced vaccines”. Have at it. 

 

So science is ever evolving, but shut up scientists who have a different view about an ever evolving scientific understanding. 

 

This is the clown world in which they live.

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Honest question for our medical professional friends on here. Last night I saw a new TV commercial for Covid 19 featuring a bunch of Hollywood types and a few athletes. They were listing off the specific conditions they each had that are considered as pre-existing conditions one should be concerned about as relates to catching the virus. There were the obvious conditions like advanced age (although I noticed they now use 50 as advanced age), obesity, and asthma….but then they threw in depression. Since when has depression been added to the list? 
 

The commercial was of course paid for by Pfizer. 

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1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

Honest question for our medical professional friends on here. Last night I saw a new TV commercial for Covid 19 featuring a bunch of Hollywood types and a few athletes. They were listing off the specific conditions they each had that are considered as pre-existing conditions one should be concerned about as relates to catching the virus. There were the obvious conditions like advanced age (although I noticed they now use 50 as advanced age), obesity, and asthma….but then they threw in depression. Since when has depression been added to the list? 
 

The commercial was of course paid for by Pfizer. 

 

Many people have depression.  Hence more people will think they need to get it. :rolleyes:

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22 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Honest question for our medical professional friends on here. Last night I saw a new TV commercial for Covid 19 featuring a bunch of Hollywood types and a few athletes. They were listing off the specific conditions they each had that are considered as pre-existing conditions one should be concerned about as relates to catching the virus. There were the obvious conditions like advanced age (although I noticed they now use 50 as advanced age), obesity, and asthma….but then they threw in depression. Since when has depression been added to the list? 
 

The commercial was of course paid for by Pfizer. 

 

There are studies that suggest that things like depression, stress etc. can impair immune function. So they can cite those and get away with the claim.

 

However, I still don't think an otherwise healthy 20 year old with depression needs to be vaccinated.

 

 

 

 

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