mharmless
About
- Username
- mharmless
- Joined
- Visits
- 5,538
- Last Active
- Roles
- Supporter
- Points
- 98
- Badges
- 0
Reactions
-
Coronavirus / COVID-19
I stayed with Pfizer for all three. I know there's been some results showing a potential for a minor increase in protection from mixing and matching the mRNA (big boost is clear if the initial was J&J), but my extended family have all had pretty bad reactions to Moderna, even the booster, so there may be a predisposition in our gene pool to bad side effects to that particular shot. I considered looking for Moderna anyway, but in the end I wasn't quite ready to trade a few potential percentage points of protection increase for a really bad few days vs staying with Pfizer and getting roughly the same level of protection without the risk.
As far as my experience to the various shots: no reaction from 1st dose, 2nd dose left me tired for a day, 3rd dose was a minor headache the next morning but Tylenol was enough to knock that out and was otherwise fine.
-
The Expanse S6 Trailer
I have more confidence in the Expanse team to tell a good story in six episodes than the GoT Double D's, yet I'm also deeply disappointed that six episodes of roughly a normal length is all we'll get. The Expanse team may be able to tell a good story in only six, but there is so much room for more and I hate to say goodbye to these characters and the actors playing them.
-
Coronavirus / COVID-19
I agree people have a right to refuse a vaccine, as irrational as that choice is given the science on hand (excepting people with a medical reason not to get it), but if they refuse to be vaccinated they are giving up their ability to move freely in society. The public has a right to set guidelines for participation and anti-vaccine people are making themselves an unnecessary risk to others, it is not a choice with impacts on just that individual. The anti-vaccine people want all the benefits of being a member of society, but none of the responsibilities.
-
Protests Across the America
Dee said:Bloody hell. Not entirely surprising, but still horrifying. How on earth does a buffoon like that hold such a sway over so many people that they would be willing to act like deranged lunatics and potentially be killed (or kill others) for him?Because its not just Trump. This is what the GOP has been building toward for decades now, between talk radio and conservative TV, they've actively cultivated a following of people who are looking to be told that they're victims and need to "strike back." Trump just activated the base that the GOP has been building for years, and even without Trump, the USA is going to be dealing with these people for generations.I'm just continually amazed that someone as transparently a buffoon and a con man managed to do it, but not that this has happened.
-
Coronavirus / COVID-19
When thinking about the second and third order effects of this stupidity in the US, I keep thinking about all the PTSD and burnout we're likely to see in the healthcare workforce. It's not reasonable to expect the constant stress and burden we're placing on these people. Not only are they dealing with all of this sickness and suffering at work, the pains of having to be constantly vigilant to not get infected themselves or infect others at work, but then they have to isolate from their own families, cut themselves off from the very source of stress relief and comfort humans need to survive emotionally.And its all because people don't want to accept simple things like wearing masks and social distancing. People don't want to admit that their leaders in this culture war lie to them constantly.I've lost so much faith in humanity in this crisis, at least in American citizens. I've never been a Pollyanna, America has clearly always had its flaws in the way we've treated each other and the world at large, but COVID has made it clearer how far we are from the picture we like to paint of ourselves. Larger segments of the US population are the arrogant, ignorant, selfish brutish caricatures than I wanted to believe.I'd like to believe we can change minds and educate people, but at least in the middle of all of this, I have no idea how we can reach people who quite literally define "truth" as "that which I already believe" or "that which Trump says right now." What rational middle ground can you make with that?None of that is to diminish the signs of the same COVID stupidity overseas, as Dee has pointed out it exists to some degree everywhere, but it certainly seems to be a far worse problem in the USA than anywhere else.
