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How is that Biden's fault, exactly? We have had fewer than 1,000 deaths from COVID since he took office, not for lack of trying by some large segments of the population who refuse to participate in the societal efforts encouraged and/or enacted by the administration (championed by the president) that are proven to slow and stop the spread of disease. Do you expect him to wave some kind of magic wand to make it all go away? If his predecessor couldn't do it (again, not for lack of wishful thinking and public promises), how do you figure Biden would be able to stop this?

Hi Bill, Re: a consistent and cogent message We are in new territory; none of us have ever lived during a pandemic. We should expect that the messages will sometimes be not consistent and cogent. Every day, this is new ground for our scientists. Jerry Baumchen

It's hard to make progress when Luddites do their best to stand in the way. But in the end people like that are just speed bumps in the road.

Negative. Antivaxers are not considered socially inferior. They are considered to be an impediment to a more free existence for the rest of us. To wit: fuck 'em.

They should face license suspensions as well.

Hospital workers who refuse vaccination SHOULD be fired. They are ignoring best practice, setting a very poor example, and unethically putting patients and co-workers at risk.

I think many of us have put things on hold this past year... All I can say is that the sky isn't going anywhere and try to make sure you are good and ready to get back out there. xx N@

The 1993 French patent would have expired. BTW, for those that actually read the patent to try to figure out where Aerodyne might be infringing it, you might find the following useful: Only the "Claims" section specifies what the patent covers. The preceding sections help you understand things, and can define what terms actually mean, but unless it is in a claim, it is not something that is covered by the patent that they were granted. There are 21 claims, and for this patent, claim 1 is the broadest claim. All subsequent claims are based off of this one by adding one or more additional descriptions that further specify elements in claim 1 (and so, they narrow the coverage of the claim). For example in claim #17 they state that a particular "connector" in claim 1 is formed by a loop of the lanyard. This is typical of patents, where claim 1 is quite vague of about the particulars of an element, and then subsequent claims get more particular. (E.g., Claim 1: "A car with tires." Claim 2: "A car with 4 tires." Claim 3: "A car with 4 tires made of 95.3% rubber and 4.7% polyester") So, *IF* claim 1 is valid (i.e., that claim can *not* be defeated by proving that that claim of the patent should not have been granted), then if they don't infringe claim #1, they don't infringe the patent. You don't need to look at claims 2-21 (because they have to infringe #1 in order to infringe any of the others). And to infringe a patent claim, one has to infringe each and every element in the claim. [Now if claim 1 can be defeated, (for example, by showing that one element was prior art and thus not patentable) then you might have to look at the other claims. Maybe connectors were used in the past to do what they are doing for one element in claim 1, and so on that basis claim 1 is ruled invalid, but maybe it is novel to make a connector from a loop of the lanyard, in which case claim 17 could still be valid.]

Thanks for the information. Wendy P.

My wife has a compromised immune system, made worse by immunomodulatory drugs she is on. She's had 3 doses of Moderna, but was only at about the 2% percentile for antibodies after the 2nd dose. She is sad that she may never see one of her best friends again (they are not local, but still got together), because her friend is not getting vaccinated. Same for another friend. I wouldn't modify my behavior as much (only one very slight comorbidity, normal immune, not overly concerned), but I absolutely must avoid picking up anything (even common cold) and passing it on to her. Sigh. I will get a 3rd dose myself, as soon as it is authorized. I could just claim to be immunocompromized and get the 3rd -- it wouldn't get questioned, but will wait a couple of weeks to see what authorizations come down the pike.

Eric, it’s clear you have a beef with Aerodyne. You’ve shared your reason here, but please don’t have your friends come to a bashfest, because this thread will get either locked or deleted. And I really hope your lawyer is taking the appropriate steps for you Wendy P.

Perhaps, but you have your own choices to make. I won't have any guests at my home who have not been vaccinated. If your friend chooses to remain a carrier, that's his decision. You can choose not to hang out with people who are 10x more likely to carry, transmit, and mutate the virus, which ultimately would exponentially increase the risks to you and your family. Your justifications should be given the same respect as you're giving to his.

Removing that special character (') you advised solved the problem - thank you very much and hope it'll solve all the probs. But that type of the special character i used in the file names caused no probs in the past......

If you don't want your name known, well, you are too late. If you want a bus load of people to pass through Taliban lines what would be your solution? Have everyone lie and go without the documentation they will need to enter Kabul Airport? Send a SEAL Team to escort the bus? How about accept reality within the confines of the shit agreement Trump laid on us and play ball? Sometimes there are no perfect choices.

The only thing to change that would make a worthwhile difference is not leaving. Then pretty soon the Taliban, understanding that the deal is over, start attacking coalition troops again. Then you need another troop surge to push the Taliban back to where they were 5 years ago. Then you have a decision to make - do you stay forever with deployment numbers in the tens of thousands (because that's what it will take to stop the Taliban from rebounding again) or do you stay just for a generation with overwhelming numbers of troops, diplomats, educators, utility constructors etc. with a unified strategy and unlimited budget to do what it takes to actually build a sustainable Afghan state? That last one is a trick question, by the way. There has never been and never will be anything remotely resembling the political will to commit to building an Afghan state. Whenever we left, however we left, Afghanistan was going to fall. That it happened immediately instead of a couple of months later makes no difference to anything but the optics.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/afghanistan-your-fault/619769/ Interesting take in the Atlantic today

This was inevitable. The Taliban was on its last legs in Tora Bora in the Spring of 2003. Then GWB took his eyes off Afghanistan and invaded Iraq for no good reason. The puppet government in Kabul was not much different from the Vichy government in France.