winsor

Who’s Alex Jones?

Not hardly.

Who?

Nobody's perfect...

Yes

Never having actually cracked a supermarket tabloid before, when another patient in an orthopedic ward offered me a copy of the 'Star' to read, I said what the hell and perused it. One thing that leaped out at me was something to the effect that 'Two Headed Baby Baffles Commie Docs!' I had recently read a blurb in the New York Times that noted that a badly deformed pair of Siamese Twins had been born in the Soviet Union, and that the attending physician said that it was a shame, since cases like this usually miscarried. The editorial policies of various news sources have distinct ideological filters, and there have been irregularities on all points of the spectrum. Even The Onion is not as even handed as they once were. South Park tended to poke fun at straights, gays, believers, atheists, right and left, though I'm not sure how even handed they are these days. Trump was problematic, since it is hard to parody someone who is a parody in the first place. During the Vietnam War some of the stories that mainstream media wouldn't touch, many of them very well written, showed up in places like Penthouse. I suspect the people who would object to the content of the articles were too distracted by pictures of perky vulvas to note the editorial filler. Previously I might have relied on the New England Journal of Medicine or the Lancet for definitive peer-reviewed data, but there have been significant irregularities in the past couple of years that have me taking any source with a grain of salt. If it makes you happy to conclude that I'm delusional, fine. As far as how you deal with the pandemic, you pays your money and you takes your chances. BSBD, Winsor

If you ever saw fit to consider data rather than denigrating its source, your position might change. Then again, likely not. Carry on. Winsor

And to you as well.

While the excesses of Nobility in France in the late 18th Century were appalling, so was the reaction of the masses ('let them eat cake,' A Tale of Two Cities, etc.). Robespierre had it coming. Similarly, many of the issues pointed out by the Woke are real but, as is usual, just because what you point out is a problem, what you recommend is anything but a solution. I am hardly alone in noticing that: https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-black-moderates-awoke-the-woke The 'nature vs. nurture' discussion provides fodder for an endless flow of literature and scripts, including 'The Prince and the Pauper,' 'The Ugly Duckling,' 'Pudd'nhead Wilson,' Ellie in 'The Ice Age,' 'The Jerk' and so forth, but the inability to separate the two will forever muddy the waters in trying to address whatever problems relate to two differing populations. I enjoy reading Mencken. Though I'm hardly in lock step with his world view across the board, his insight was often right on the money. His observation that "for every complex problem there exists a solution that is simple, elegant and wrong" applies nicely to damn near anything Woke. BSBD, Winsor

It turns out that Elon Musk shares my view that Woke is a "mind virus," and the Woke crowd consists of humorless, hateful, divisive, totalitarian assholes. I recall Nietzsche's observation (auf deutsch) to the effect that those who do battle with monsters must take care not to become monsters themselves. Thus it is not surprising that the 'Anti Fascists' resemble nothing more than Brown Shirts reborn (Kristallnacht was largely peaceful...). BSBD, Winsor

Of course he was, but it was just a coincidence.

Fair enough.

I think this rather validates my thesis that source is valued over content. Good for you.

Elon Musk agrees that Woke is a 'mental virus' (aka mental illness). He makes a good case, and the synopsis is solid: When someone goes out of their way to tell you what they're not ("I'm not xxx, but...") they usually are a poster child for whatever it is. One case in point is AntiFa, who closely resemble Brown Shirts, and Anti Racism, which makes the KKK look egalitarian by comparison. Woke is repellent. BSBD, Winsor

These data: https://phmpt.org/pfizers-documents/ appear to check out. "5.3.6 postmarketing experience.pdf" is the document I cited previously. I'm 'fully vaccinated' (for all the good it does against Omicron) with Pfizer, but you pays your money and you takes your chances. Again, feel free to attack the source rather than the content. BSBD, Winsor

Hate the sin, not the sinner, or so I'm told. How I look at someone is circumstantial. If a person from a particular group makes their living by using blades on other people, there's a difference between a member of a street gang and a surgeon. Harvard graduates were behind the trials that got people hanged for witchcraft in what was then Salem (now more like Malden). This does not speak well of superstitious people in general or Harvard grads in particular. I know superstitious people of a broad range of origins, and I know rather a few who know how to fly below the radar. That's not a knack I've picked up. Like genitals, if someone can keep their religious delusions to themselves, it doesn't pay to dwell on it. If, OTOH, they want to lay either out in public, they should be ready for a modicum of criticism. Like Marxists, most 'Christians' haven't read the original texts. Some guy at work got to proselytizing in the break room, and wasn't prepared for anyone having more than a superficial understanding of the subject. Beyond a 'God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!" mentality, he did not have much else going for him. I also worked with a guy who thought he understood the Hebrew Scriptures better than a Rabbi (for real). I finally told him the we still hold the copyright on the original texts, and that he was working from unapproved translations. So yeah, it's okay to get into the mechanics of their delusions if they make the mistake of asking. BSBD, Winsor

This could go in a number of threads, but since either of these guys are the antithesis of Woke, this is as good a place as any. The usual suspects will attack the source rather than the content, but I'd worry if that didn't happen. Woke is a disease of denial, so have at it. BSBD, Winsor

You bastard! You owe me a new irony meter.

I think that's rather the point. At least it has some entertainment value. Subgenius, a religion disguised as a joke or a joke disguised as a religion, http://subgenius.com/ resulted in Slackware, which has merit.

The Onion put forth one of the better religions: https://www.theonion.com/scientology-losing-ground-to-new-fictionology-1819567847 The Invisible Pink Unicorn is entertaining. The Church of the Subgenius is classic. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is hard to beat. "Put the FSM back in Chrifsmas."

Yuletide is a time for eating, drinking and procreation; "Christmas" is just the lame attempt to insinuate the 'baby Jesus' into a perfectly good Pagan festival. To the extent the Christian Scriptures are accurate, Jesus was born in the spring anyway. Actually, Festivus has greater merit than the festival of overspending and adoration. FWIW, I think many people are breathing a sigh of relief at being spared the stress of getting together with their dysfunctional families. Bah, humbug! Winsor

This pretty much nails it. WRT SARS-CoV-2, it's advisable to do everything that comes to mind to minimize exposure, keep chance inoculum way low, use every prophylaxis that presents itself and hit it from all angles if exposed or infected. Having said that, my criticism of the vaccine(s) (we stick with Pfizer so far) is born of professional familiarity with the pharmaceutical industry in general, and clinical trials in particular. For whatever reason, "Post Pandemic Stress Disorder" seems common amongst the vaccinated, and is treated as unrelated to the vaccines: https://townhall.com/columnists/wayneallynroot/2021/12/12/if-the-vaccine-is-so-great-why-are-so-many-people-dropping-dead-heart-attacks-skyrocket-young-children-suffer-heart-problems-soccer-players-drop-on-fields-icus-overwhelmed-from-coast-to-coast-n2600456 I personally know as many people who have either died or been rendered invalid by post-vaccination effects than have succumbed to or been compromised by COVID-19. When people point to the clinical trials that were halted by a few deaths, my suspicion is that these deaths took place shortly after the needle was withdrawn, not a week later. The excess cardiac deaths amongst the vaccinated are significantly higher than in the same population before the pandemic (thus you have “Post Pandemic Stress Disorder”), which is suspicious to say the least. Since the vaccine is the lesser of the two evils, I say go for it in general. Having said that, I'm looking for sufficient progress in research that will render the vaccines superfluous. BSBD, Winsor

I'm in for the vaccine, but have no illusions about its relative safety. The whole idea is that it should have lasting and significant effects, and you don't always get to choose which effects result. Given the relative benefit to detriment determination, it's a slam dunk that I should be vaccinated. For a prepubescent kid, for example, the determination is not quite so clear. A few of the relevant factors are covered here: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/covid-vaccine-spike-protein-travels-from-injection-site-organ-damage/ I think I've used this one before, but it provides good background: https://www.covidviruslifecycle.com/ BSBD, Winsor

I left out a pony and a puppy for everyone as well.

While I agree that the data support only limited efficacy for either Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin, the fact is that they are over the counter medications in much of the world. Taken in nontoxic doses, they are no big deal. Bourbon or cigarettes are much more of a threat, and you can get them pretty much anywhere. The bottom line is that, like chicken soup for the recently deceased, it can't hurt. It concerns me that the guy who ran the show during the AIDS crisis is pushing vaccines as a 'solution' to the present pandemic. While the rapid development of vaccines is admirable, there is little to suggest that sufficient vaccination will lead to herd immunity or otherwise end the pandemic. Yes, I have some familiarity with the differences between HIV and SARS-CoV-2, but their commonality may provide a key to addressing some of the nasty effects of COVID-19. Early HIV treatments were every bit as fun as chemotherapy, some (e.g., DDC) causing crippling headaches, projectile vomiting, ballistic diarrhea, permanent nerve damage and the like, but the approach that is now the norm involves protease inhibitors. Pfizer's new 3CL protease inhibitor looks promising. Ivermectin is capable of achieving the same level of effectiveness as a 3CL protease inhibitor, but only using toxic doses (at therapeutic doses it works by other mechanisms to some extent, when used in conjunction with other meds). I do not suggest that there is anything out there that will put this whole thing to rest in short order, but am dismayed that people are blinded to anything but the orthodox. If people want to categorize me as an antivaxxer, fine. I go with vaccines as a matter of course, even though I am one of the people who had a breakthrough case of Polio (not fun) after receiving an early vaccine, as well as an active case of Smallpox after inoculation (I have Smallpox scars on my face). None of this makes me an expert, but does support a certain level of healthy skepticism. BSBD, Winsor