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Trust those around you?

The world is upside down. We have around 30% of the population that still believes the Orange menace won the election. We had an insurrection. And there are still a subset of those people who believe the pandemic is a hoax and/or won't get a vaccine for supercilious reasons.

And the CDC tells us to trust those around us as we head back out to something-that-resembles normal.

But the reality is that fewer than 4/10 people have been vaccinated. So if I walk into a room with 10 people in it, I know I'm vaccinated, but 6 of the other 9 people will NOT have been vaccinated. (On average, of course, I'm just making a point)

But don't worry! It'll be okay!

Ummmm. That trust thing really troubles me.

Maybe I'm (relatively ?) safe. But there is still much research being done on whether that's true.

It's a giant Petri dish experiment we're conducting.

On the one hand, we are still all in this together. So we should still be trying to protect ourselves and those people we're being asked to trust.

And on the other, if people are stupid enough to fill plastic bags with gas, then what's the point? Because we are all doomed anyway.

I'm not liking the possible outcomes here.

Never forget: it’s always about the money

We're nowhere near the herd immunity, as vaccination rates remain too low (we are at about 36% of the population at this moment, where it is believed 70% will need to be vaccinated!), and yet the CDC (which I never believed was political until sometime last year) made a pronouncement that we've had some sort of "breakthrough" and it's okay to take off masks and return to something-like-normal.

This is surely about the broad "economy" and wanting to let companies start to turn profits again. The Biden administration appears to be taking a calculated risk, in favor of the almighty dollar.

Disney immediately responds by reducing the social distancing and not requiring masks outdoors. Money.

The cruise industry is battling to reopen. Because. Money.

But it doesn't stop there. You have the delightful members of the GOP, who, in no uncertain terms, want to continue to be profitable themselves. They change voting laws to protect their own interests (ie money) and when companies say something about it, they tell the companies to shut up and keep donating.

And their continued support of the orange menace is also nothing more than a cash grab. The former nincompotus still has his followers, and they still have their checkbooks open. And because the gop funds are managed by the covidiot, they have to "kiss the ring" to keep the money flowing.

It's actually kind of hilarious.

Then you listen to lil marco here in Florida. He told us after parkland he'd still take money from the nra because, well, they're big donors. And then twice over the last several months, he's repeated the same thing about issues where there are big donors. He doesn't care about you, the country, the environment, or anything else. He cares about that sweet, sweet cash.

A bit of a cautionary tale

The belief is that we'll need a 70% vaccination rate to reach a "herd immunity" meaning that there is enough antigens to ensure everyone is protected.

Right now, in the US, we are at about 30% of the population who have been fully vaccinated. We must remember, though, that this entire population includes children under 16 who (today) aren't eligible to receive a vaccine. And they make up close to 40% of the population.

That means that of the eligible 60% of Americans, only about half have received the vaccine. So if we extrapolate, that means that only half of the younger population will get it, too. And that only adds 20% of the population to the total number.

Which puts us at 50% vaccinated. Still much lower than what's required for the herd immunity.

In that case, the only option is to continue wearing masks and distancing.

But many states. Like Flori-duh. Have basically said "fuck that" and want to just return to whatever we had pre-covid. Exactly as it was.

Now here's the cautionary tale. India saw its infection rates skyrocket last year. Then, it leveled off, and started to decline. Some people in power made the rather presumptuous statement that so many people had been infected that surely they had reached the herd immunity.

They opened back up. And...infection rates soared once again. People who had gotten the virus previously, and even some that were tested and shown to have the anti-bodies, got the virus again.

There was no herd immunity from having it.

Now there's a story about another mutation that's evolved for which the vaccine "probably" will provide immunity. It's still being studied, but this one is 20x more likely to spread, and the severe illness rates remain about the same across those infected.

So we must remain vigilant. We must keep wearing masks to protect ourselves and those around us who can't - or selfishly won't - get a vaccine.

And we have to start seeing the vaccination rates go up here - and around the world.

Don't be a one of those folks who thinks you know your body and they can't take your freedoms.

This is going to drag on for much, much longer because of you.

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we should be better than this. Indeed.

THE ATLANTIC: Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines. What Are They Thinking?

The article is a non-scientific look at why the vaccine is being rejected. But even so, it provides a window into the larger issues at hand. 

The words "elite" and "civil liberties" and "liberal" come up a lot. And there's an undertone of a sense of what you might term "American exceptionalism." 

People figure they know their own bodies, are completely selfish, and don't understand a virus. They mostly care about the fact that are being told to do something. And gosh darn it, no one can tell them what to do. 

I sum it up as 'Murica. I got guns and I got religion. And that's good enough to protect *me* - so just let me live my life unencumbered by any rational thought. 

It's sad in a way. And this is what we're up against. In order to move forward as a society, we need to get a better message across. On many topics. 

We need to encourage people to think, and embrace science. 

Read in The Atlantic: https://apple.news/AVavfaaNMRaGi7n7oHxNg6w

Sports on TV

I cut the cord a while back, and that means that certain channels are unavailable to me. Among them are the (formerly) fox sports regional media channels. They air the local pro sports franchises, so we can't watch them.

And in a purely absurd move, we can't get the channels through any package (you can only get them if have local cable, which means cutting the cord is impossible) and due to outdated blackout policies, we can't watch them, even if we subscribe to the sports' league pass. I can watch every game of the Seattle baseball team or Oklahoma City's basketball team, but not my local teams. Go figure.

Anyway, I was visiting someone yesterday and the Marlins were on tv. I noticed that it's not fox sports anymore - it's the Bally network. What the frick is that?

I google it. It's complicated. Kind of. Going back, this was a small regional network that Wayne huizenga (owner at the time) invested in to get his Marlins and panthers (hockey) on the air.

Buy outs and acquisitions, it becomes a part of the fox sports regional networks and stays that way for a long time.

Then disney buys out fox - except for news, business, and sports.

News & business get turned over to the shareholders (not something they want to be in)

Sports ... well ... because they own espn, they can't own them under fcc rules and besides they don't really want it.

So they look for a buyer. Fox sports gets sold off on its own. But the regional networks get bought by Sinclair. They are this weird, conservative group that has been acquiring tv stations and having them air very specific pre-recorded things that are "opinions" that might just as well be tucker or hannity on Fox News. 

More on that topic here: https://www.vox.com/2018/4/3/17180020/sinclair-broadcast-group-conservative-trump-david-smith-local-news-tv-affiliate

So disney makes a buttload of money. And the regional sports have a new owner - but they try to bury their affiliation by finding a sponsor: the Bally casinos!

Because nothing says sports network like a casino tie-in. 

So, in a way, it's just as well that I can't see them and don't have to deal with their nonsense.