I wonder how much of this effect is driven by the more nervous people getting tested more often.

I'm not surprised that omicron being milder has little to no impact on the perceived danger for a lot of people. Many of them got vaccinated, dropping their risk of serious illness by 10-20x, often from a low base rate, and this made little difference to how they live (they tend to think in terms of "doing what we can", or "making people do whatever might help"). No matter the evidence a lot of people won't give up on the idea that children are super vulnerable and all sorts of measures need to be taken to keep them from getting infected, even though a lot of them were already infected and even if you slow the spread their odds of infection will tend toward 100% over time given the way things are going.

If they did that, nobody would pass! Professor Jhunjhunwala would give those kids 4 hours of home work a day and have a rigorous, and with no half credit or no curve exam compromising of MIT level math problems. And we are talking 5th grade here. The only kids that would find it normal are your East Asian transfers and well, Indian kids.

Now, they would come out smarter, be able to read and write and do math along with scientific analysis. I think its a great idea!

Would love to be a fly on the wall during parent-teacher conference. When Professor Jhunjhunwala tells the parents that their kids aren't applying themselves and the parents flip out.

NJ has great school districts so long as one is not in a city school and especially if its in the inner city.

The world needs less Kardashians and more Professor Jhunjhunwalas. There are some great school districts in New Jersey, but there are also some that are not so great. Does anyone enroll their child into Camden, Trenton, or Lakewood public schools by choice? And since the parent-teacher conferences would all be on zoom, any obnoxious parents that can't engage in civil dialogue can just be muted. Zoom public meetings should really stay post Pandemic to be honest.

Or you just have a really robust immune system. :cheers:

You're friend sound like a bit of a Chad.

All my Homies have Omni.

Edit: Should've been Homiecron.

Chad's live in Lincoln Park, Chicago

So unless 10023's friend is an old buddy from Chi-Town, he's definitely not a "Chad" ;)

We've got Omni up and down and all over town.

This is how you get immunity the gangsta way. GANGSTA IMMUNITY!!!!

Last weekend I planned meatballs for dinner. One of the main ingredients in my meatballs is a grated Yukon Gold potato and because I'm shredding one potato I may as well make mashed potatoes as a side. I went out to the store and couldn't find Yukon Gold potatoes at Sprouts, Vons, or Costco. I almost gave up, but happened to come across a 1.5 lb bag of small Yukon Golds at Target for $4.49 while shopping for something else. Usually you buy these for $1.29/lb or less.

Then about 4 or 5 days after that, I saw on the news there's a global potato shortage due to Covid-19. In that news clip, they said French fries are almost impossible to find in Japan. Has anybody else experienced a potato shortage where you live due to Covid-19?

I have noticed some shortages on other items. At the grocery store over the weekend there wasn't much in the way of chicken at all. I couldn't find the chicken that I normally buy, which is almost always there.

Snoop's got a trunk full of homiecron.

The potato shortage in Japan is due to flooding in British Columbia. Back in November we were inundated with atmospheric rivers which flooded a huge portion of our agricultural land with the side effect of forcing everyone in Tokyo to settle only for size small fries at McDonalds.

Robust immune system or not, you would have gotten it. You would just be like me, and not know when you got it, but have had a positive antibody test before vaccination (and then another positive test 8 months later, again with no symptoms).

Chad's have swept their way across the English speaking world with their douchiness. There's also the Kyle variant as well.

I find it very hard to believe that there are no loner losers in London.

The news clip I watched didn't mention any floods as being the primary issue, but you're probably right and I'm sure those floods contributed to the problem. I did some searching and found this from the Seattle Times yesterday 1/9/2022: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-...apan-to-kenya/

“Everyone” is clearly hyperbole. But most people have had it, and probably everyone that goes out at night.

There's also this article from Canadian news sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sma...ding-1.6293768

Today in Austin/Travis County we have 539 hospitalized with covid. That's an almost 200 percent increase in just 10 days. There are 122 in ICU and 68 on vents. Last August we had a similar (near record high) number hospitalized with 191 in ICU and 116 on vents. I guess this amounts to good news, especially as it relates to patients requiring vents, but I find the number of ICU patients to be a bit of a concern. I know three people who are sick with covid at present. One is feeling quite ill., but he remains at home. He also has a long term HIV infection. My other two friends feel lousy but not in a scary way. As for myself (age 75), I am mostly avoiding crowds, doing mask and dash to the grocery, and not much else. More will be revealed.

Instacart and Door Dash are your friend. During the height of Covid around here, that's all we did. Wife still uses them when she doesn't feel like going to the store...which is a lot.

For the first time since the pandemic began, I have COVID. I've tested multiple times and always been negative. Not today. No symptoms outside of a slight headache.

Sounds like you got the 'cron.

Thoughts and prayers.

Yeah, that’s what I had in early December. It’s a cold now.

Did you ever get an antibody test before you were vaccinated though? Because you could have had an asymptomatic case before and just didn’t happen to catch it with a test at the time.

A non-event, as expected.

It's really time for people to drop this nonsense. Stop testing people, stop the handouts to Abbott Labs and others for perpetuating what has become a veritable mythology at this point.

Luckily more people are waking up to this. Although I almost never watch CNN, even Brian Stelter was discussing this on his broadcast this past Sunday.

:haha:

Ok.....

I heard that Omicron is expected to infect 50% of the population over the next 6-8 weeks :righton::cheers:

I love it. Bring it on.

But I'm sure that the dipshit brigade (ie our current "leaders" and the CDC) are going to cling desperately to the mythology that this is the plague of doom and that we need to do everything we can to stop it from spreading :koko:

Test, test, test, test, then retest, retest, retest, retest.... Act like you have autism and run in circles while you're at it. Go crazy! Buy 500 million more tests from Abbott Labs and then just go PRINT MORE MONEY!!!! :???:

Did you see that the federal government will now require insurance companies to pay for EIGHT (8) at-home tests per month per covered individual?

I can’t be bothered to find the article but it was in the NYT.

That’s what’s going to drive up your insurance costs, whoever was complaining about that. Even if they cost $20 each that’s $160/mo. that insurance companies are potentially on the hook for every covered person, and that’s obviously going to be passed on through premiums.

^ Yeah, it's nonsense. Our so-called leaders just need to stop, they are a total menace to society. I can only hope that this is a temporary arrangement for only a month or two.

I for sure will not be doing any testing on myself except for in a few scenarios. Just plain dumb.

I'm on a personal boycott of all entities that contribute to the COVID mass delusion.

For example, I am hanging onto my money and not spending on the following:

1. Any international destinations. I will not travel abroad as long as they require COVID tests to go, or to return, the the US. Dumb.

2. I will not buy tickets to any theatre or show, or performance, if they state that they have the right to cancel "in case of COVID concerns". You ain't getting my money, I hope you go out of business. I used to attend Chicago theatre shows a lot. Now, fuck em, maybe the actors will find jobs down in Florida or Texas.

3. I will not pay to watch any concerts or attend any events that previously were done in person but are now being held virtually "due to COVID concerns". I will not spend a penny of my money in order to stare at my computer screen.


If anybody else feels the same way, join my boycott.

^
I don't support businesses that demand wearing useless masks and that includes theaters and museums that require it.

Although I find now that if a business states that you must wear a mask before entering I usually don't and nobody says a thing. The way to end this insanity is if people just stop doing what they are told.

^ :haha:

^ That's not feasible in Illinois because we have a statewide mask mandate.

Anyhow, I don't have much of a beef with masks as of now, but even with masks + vaccines + boosters this mythology of COVID still being a death sentence is just pure mass delusion out of a SciFi movie.

^
Yes and the constant fear mongering over hospitals being overran is mostly non sense spready by the media. Sure some hospitals are overran but overall, hospitals are not.

^ Our hospital is more full than it was during the original run of COVID.

However, that doesn't change anything. Omicron is thankfully spreading fast, but sadly a tiny percentage of those infected are getting ill, with mostly the unvaccinated bearing the brunt of this effect.

Still, our efforts at mitigation are nothing short of meaningless displays. Total waste of time, and as we all know they are greatly harmful to commerce. But dumb behavior always takes a long time to end. People need to do their ritualistic dumb shit to make themselves feel better, at least until they get tired of it. So here we are....

My kid's preschool is shut down two weeks bc one kid tested positive. And asymptomatic.

The school is intentionally set up so that none of the classes ever interact, so what is the point of shutting everything down for the other classes? Oh, I know, the email begins "Out of an abundance of caution...". Only the billionth time I've heard that the last two years. At least the preschool is still getting its $750 a week.

The idiocy, on both extremes, never ends. Wouldn't it be very odd if a preschool with 100 or so students, teachers and employees had zero positive cases during this wave?

That’s what is happening over here to an extent. The Brits are rule followers but they also avoid conflict, so if you just walk in somewhere without a mask (including trains) no one says a thing.

Wait. So you have to pay them even though they are shirking their job "out of an abundance of caution..." Jesus, what a racket they got going on.

New Orleans will reinstitute a mask mandate tomorrow. This has nothing to do with science, but is instead a political move to show "safety" during Carnival season. Omicron actually peaked here in late December, and there has been a trend of fewer cases on more tests for the past several days. Growth in hospitalizations have also slowed as less people are testing positive when they come in after getting shot during a carjacking.

218 people were murdered vs. 295 died of COVID in the city last year, but the mayor isn't doing anything about the skyrocketing crime rate. The masks are actually helping the criminals since someone walking around with a mask on is just commonplace now. Very ironic in my opinion.

I was fine with showing proof of vaccination, but reinstating the mask mandate serves no real purpose (unless everyone is forced to buy N95 masks.) Needless to say, I will not be dining or soliciting any business in the city until this mask mandate ends. My money will go to the excellent local restaurants in the surrounding suburbs. I'll go watch a parade on St. Charles avenue during the peak of Carnival in late Feb., but I'll bring my own snacks and drinks.

I was there a few months ago and the vax requirement seemed like a logical solution to ditch masks and feel reasonably safe. Sounds like theater to bring them back and then still show proof of vaccination. Also, a good way to kill business even further with Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday around the corner.

This mandate will absolutely kill the drive in market from surrounding states. The vaccine mandate was already having a chilling effect, but this will just tank tourism numbers even further. Everyone is better off going to Mobile for Mardi Gras this year. If anyone decides to come here, stick to Metairie for the Mardi Gras parades. No vax or mask mandate there.

Which speaks to a larger change and is probably something discussed on the thread already, but for people living in more conservative areas have you seen an increase in visitors?

It's really hard to say where I'm at in OC if there's an increase in visitors because it is always busy, but ancedottally I do know folks in LA County that tell me they're jealous OC didn't have a mask mandate or vax requirement. I could be at one chain in OC and not have to wear a mask but go to the same chain in LA County and have to. Very strange.

I know when we were doing our road trips the past 18 months that hotels in the South seemed to charge more on average than the ones in CA which were super low in price.

Sewer samples from Altamonte Springs, FL (near Orlando) shows ~70% of the population is infected right now (most don't know it and probably have no symptoms). Crazy how fast omicron spreads across a town or city. I can't imagine that in a month or so there will be any one left that hasn't either been vaccinated or had the virus.
https://www.local10.com/news/florida...e-expert-says/

This is actually good news......

That means we are approaching herd immunity :)

Which means Summer 2022 will be "Hot Girl Summer II to the 3rd" - Get it? 2022 has 3 "2"s in it........

^^
Good news, that means this fear mongering is almost over perhaps. Although the media will probably continue harping on about endless non deadly “surges” for at least another 2-6 years.

:tup:

Our shit-for-brain leaders are essentially just in the bag of the pharmaceutical lobby, spending billions of our tax dollars on worthless testing. Literally they are doubling down on "test to stay", a completely useless (and corrupt) strategy that will do nothing for anyone anywhere.

Thousands of years of wisdom are down the toilet as we basically unlearn what we have already known forever. Let the kids be together in school, let them spread the infection around, and thereby develop their immunity to this glorified cold.

But nope. Abbott labs wouldn't want to let that happen......

Five people out of my office that employs eleven people are out with covid, and more of our clients are reporting symptoms and positive tests by the day, and need to be seen in their cars. Fun!

It’s time to take our medicine (pun intended).

If being vaccinated doesn’t prevent you from getting Covid, then there is no way to prevent getting Covid beyond the short-term, as all other protocols can only be short-term solutions.

This step is everyone, vaccinated or not, getting Covid. Hopefully it continues to mutate into something even more benign. The next step is to stop the testing and just have a cultural norm of staying home if you’re noticeably sick, not “positive” but asymptomatic. Longer term it’s just going to be something we are all getting periodically but not a big deal (and usually not even something we are aware of).

My family finally got the omicron!

We're all vaxxed so no one is seriously ill, just some sniffles/sneezes/coughs so far (fingers crossed).

The biggest irritation of this is that my kids can't go to school for the quarantine period, and this is literally on the same day that CPS School BUILDINGS just reopened.

Sonofabitch!

Probably the only thing Fauci has said that is correct. Everyone is going to get it even if you don't know it. You may already have had it.
People are just going to have to adapt to the new normal and stop concentrating only on vaccinations as a cure all. Even major hospitals are now letting COVID positive healthcare workers back to work now. No quarantine required.





https://thehill.com/policy/healthcar...bout-everybody

Dr. Fauci: Omicron will infect 'just about everybody'

The Hill ^ | 01/12/2022 | Lexi Lonas



Infectious disease expert and White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that “just about everybody” will eventually be infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will, ultimately, find just about everybody,” Fauci told the Center for Strategic and International Studies during a “fireside chat.”

"Those who have been vaccinated and vaccinated and boosted would get exposed. Some, maybe a lot of them, will get infected but will very likely, with some exceptions, do reasonably well in the sense of not having hospitalization and death,” he added.

...

Omicron is the most transmissible variant to appear so far, but seems to cause fewer hospitalizations and deaths than previous mutations of the virus.

Fauci’s comment follows a similar remark Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, made at a Senate hearing Tuesday, when she said “it’s hard to process what’s actually happening right now, which is most people are going to get COVID.”

Fauci defended Woodcock’s remarks in a COVID-19 briefing Wednesday saying Woodcock did not mean to imply “most of us were ultimately going to get sick with COVID.”


...

Oh shit, now will our resident germophobe change his tune now that his lord and savior Dr. Fauci has said what I’ve been saying for months?