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What's "rugged" individualism? I'm very familiar with just individualism, but this term? Someone who's highly unique and an individual who's also a lumberjack or bodybuilder? Individualism has no physical or tangible characteristics, so this sounds odd.
I agree. I think that the closure of cultural institutions and restrictions on schooling that are short of closure, but crippling, seriously reduce the value of civilization. Religious and civic organizations are closed to in-person activities. This means speeches by notable people are confined to Zoom. There is no opportunity for interaction with new people. If I weren't happily married I'd be quite out of luck.
The depopulation of the urban core owing to the virtual elimination of restaurant dining, live theater and movies have left these places open only to criminals and people whose motives are not good. In New York City it feels as if one sees more homeless people than working people. It's a vicious cycle; working people are more opt to work from home or, in my case, a suburban office than to brave a trip into New York City. Grand Central Terminal (Grand Central Station is actually a post office) has extensive retail and dining facilities, most of which are take-out. Almost all of them are closed. The common seating area near these facilities are closed.
Masking and social distancing, then, are hardly the only things being asked. Basically, this is either lockdown or open-air imprisonment.
All the restaurants and bars are open here. I really don't see why the bars have to be open, but open they are.
I seriously think that what reduces the value of civilization are hundreds of thousands of deaths because of coronavirus and another element. That element is the fear that the disease creates for many people. Fear that they may catch sick and even die. Fear that they survive, but suffer permanent lung damage and end up a respiratory cripple for the rest of their lives. Fear that they may bring home a disease to a family member with a co-morbidity and that family member may die as a result of their actions.
At this point, every action ought to be directed at getting the population vaccinated. We can bring this to an end, but that is what is going to take. The sooner the better.
At this point, every action ought to be directed at getting the population vaccinated. We can bring this to an end, but that is what is going to take. The sooner the better.
You couldn't be more right. But Mr. Fauci himself said that vaccines do not promise the end of masks and social distancing. So... what's the point of getting a vaccine, again, if nothing will change, and the Covid lifestyle will not go away? Because that's the message being pushed, which is far from persuasive.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no antivaxxer. I even got my first dose (Moderna) this week. But I want getting stabbed with a needle and feeling nonfunctional all day to bring about a real end to the Covid lifestyle. If governors want people to get vaccines, the message has to change.
You couldn't be more right. But Mr. Fauci himself said that vaccines do not promise the end of masks and social distancing. So... what's the point of getting a vaccine, again, if nothing will change, and the Covid lifestyle will not go away? Because that's the message being pushed, which is far from persuasive.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no antivaxxer. I even got my first dose (Moderna) this week. But I want getting stabbed with a needle and feeling nonfunctional all day to bring about a real end to the Covid lifestyle. If governors want people to get vaccines, the message has to change.
I've toyed with a lot of ideas. One of them is allowing those who are vaccinated to do more than those who are not upon proof of vaccination. However, a key problem is that we don't know yet if those who are vaccinated can continue to spread the disease. There should be data on this fairly soon. If that data says those vaccinated do not spread the disease, I think its time to talk about undoing some restrictions on them. I also would like to structure the stimulus payments so that you don't get all of it unless you are vaccinated. There is some difficulty with this though because of the fact that many people would like to get a vaccination right now who just cannot. Perhaps, their stimulus could be applied later to reduce their taxes? Or, only part of it could be given now and the rest after vaccination has occurred?
Glad you got vaccinated. I guess every vaccine and every patient is different. I got my second Pfizer shot yesterday and except for a slightly sore left arm and mild headache I feel just fine. This stuff is not even serious enough to want to take a Tylenol for and I've been working the whole time.
I think messaging does need to get better. Warren Harding campaigned for president in 1920 on the theme of "a return to normalcy". The message I would send out is that when 70% to 80% are vaccinated we have herd immunity and than things can return to normal. There are so many things I want to do right now that I cannot do that it actually hurts. IMO, by summer we'll be in much, much better shape as a country.
I've toyed with a lot of ideas. One of them is allowing those who are vaccinated to do more than those who are not upon proof of vaccination. ... There is some difficulty with this though because of the fact that many people would like to get a vaccination right now who just cannot. Perhaps, their stimulus could be applied later to reduce their taxes? Or, only part of it could be given now and the rest after vaccination has occurred?
The problem with this is HIPAA. Unless you're a doctor or a nurse directly caring for a patient, you are legally prohibited from obtaining or sharing that person's health records without their written consent, or when it protects their life like for hospital workers. Jury is still out whether one's vaccination status is HIPAA information or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359
Glad you got vaccinated. I guess every vaccine and every patient is different. I got my second Pfizer shot yesterday and except for a slightly sore left arm and mild headache I feel just fine. This stuff is not even serious enough to want to take a Tylenol for and I've been working the whole time.
Well, I wasn't entirely out of commission, but I was scatterbrained and sleepy for much of the day, like after a flu shot. My boss let me leave during work hours to get the shot. After I told him how I was feeling, he put me on a menial duty of packing boxes, rather than having me load the trucks (vans, really) using pallet jacks or sending me on deliveries. (We're a logistics company, delivering tech equipment to hospitals.) By Tuesday, I was strong as an ox.
The problem with this is HIPAA. Unless you're a doctor or a nurse directly caring for a patient, you are legally prohibited from obtaining or sharing that person's health records without their written consent, or when it protects their life like for hospital workers. Jury is still out whether one's vaccination status is HIPAA information or not.
Well, I wasn't entirely out of commission, but I was scatterbrained and sleepy for much of the day, like after a flu shot. My boss let me leave during work hours to get the shot. After I told him how I was feeling, he put me on a menial duty of packing boxes, rather than having me load the trucks (vans, really) using pallet jacks or sending me on deliveries. (We're a logistics company, delivering tech equipment to hospitals.) By Tuesday, I was strong as an ox.
HIPAA applies to healthcare providers and insurance companies, not to the general public. If I told you the medical conditions my mother has, or the date of her vaccination, I might be doing something morally questionable but I would not be committing a criminal offense.
You couldn't be more right. But Mr. Fauci himself said that vaccines do not promise the end of masks and social distancing. So... what's the point of getting a vaccine, again, if nothing will change, and the Covid lifestyle will not go away? Because that's the message being pushed, which is far from persuasive.
Don't get me wrong. I'm no antivaxxer. I even got my first dose (Moderna) this week. But I want getting stabbed with a needle and feeling nonfunctional all day to bring about a real end to the Covid lifestyle. If governors want people to get vaccines, the message has to change.
No. Fauci correctly stated that we don't have the data yet to know if vaccination prevents asymptomatic transmission. With the clinical trials, we weren't testing people weekly to see if they got infected. The Israelis have enough of their population vaccinated now that they've started collecting some encouraging data but it will be months before we fully understand if vaccination drastically reduces the odds of a vaccinated person spreading the disease.
So that's why vaccinated people still need to wear masks. We have no clue if those people can transmit the disease. And if they can, we don't know the likelihood of it. All we know at the moment is the vaccine protects you, not others. The most likely answer is that it does indeed drastically reduce transmission but it would be stupid to assume that now with only a couple percent of the country 2 or 3 weeks beyond their 2nd vaccine jab.
If it turns out that vaccination mostly stops transmission, then it's our civic duty to all get vaccinated. There will need to be severe penalties to do a Gwyneth Paltrow. The only way to get the economy to fly straight is if we completely control the pandemic.
We do know the Constitution. Which includes the 16th Amendment and the General Welfare Clause, which, combined, mean that it is constitutional for the government to collect taxes to pay for improving the well-being of the people.
You want to pick and choose the parts of the Constitution that you like and ignore the rest. That isn't how it's supposed to work.
And a “general welfare” clause is not a get of jail card to excuse tyranny. “General welfare” is like “faith”. Anything can be justified using it because it is not connected to reality.
I've toyed with a lot of ideas. One of them is allowing those who are vaccinated to do more than those who are not upon proof of vaccination. However, a key problem is that we don't know yet if those who are vaccinated can continue to spread the disease. There should be data on this fairly soon. If that data says those vaccinated do not spread the disease, I think its time to talk about undoing some restrictions on them. I also would like to structure the stimulus payments so that you don't get all of it unless you are vaccinated. There is some difficulty with this though because of the fact that many people would like to get a vaccination right now who just cannot. Perhaps, their stimulus could be applied later to reduce their taxes? Or, only part of it could be given now and the rest after vaccination has occurred?
Glad you got vaccinated. I guess every vaccine and every patient is different. I got my second Pfizer shot yesterday and except for a slightly sore left arm and mild headache I feel just fine. This stuff is not even serious enough to want to take a Tylenol for and I've been working the whole time.
I think messaging does need to get better. Warren Harding campaigned for president in 1920 on the theme of "a return to normalcy". The message I would send out is that when 70% to 80% are vaccinated we have herd immunity and than things can return to normal. There are so many things I want to do right now that I cannot do that it actually hurts. IMO, by summer we'll be in much, much better shape as a country.
If the vaccine ends up preventing nearly all serious life-threatening cases, we can ignore transmission entirely, like we do with the regular flu.
For a discussion of the "welfare clause" see link below. It was used and debated since 1775. In particular we are able to see the arguments about it, its meaning and use in the ratifying conventions. Madison did not think it a carte blanche.
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Because that's the message being pushed, which is far from persuasive. 
